Shivers of Murder

by Gretchen Allen

  “I’m sure your trolleys are great,” Yvette assured them. “I’m so happy you all decided to come in! Everyone is so excited for the tour. It’s all anyone has been talking about since Amelia set it up.”

  “Aww. Amelia has been amazing to work with. I take it you’re familiar with her?” Cyndee asked.

  “She’s my best friend,” Yvette boasted.

  “I see you two are both business women, like myself, then,” April pointed out, nose in the air.

  “Speaking of business, what can I get for everyone?” Yvette asked trying hard not to be rude, but already a little turned off by April. She made a mental note to ask Amelia about her, knowing there’d be some type of comical story from Amelia’s point of view. Her friend was one of the most professional humans that she knew, but she never shied away from being snarky if the situation arose.

  Patrick spoke first, “I’ll try the Lemon Wafer Sundae. Can I have an extra scoop of the lemon ice cream and extra wafer cookies as well? I see you have chocolate-covered cherries, do you sell those individually?” he asked.

  Before Yvette got the chance to respond, Shannon elbowed Patrick so hard the whole table shook.

  “I’ll skip the cherries and extra cookies. Just do the one extra scoop of ice cream, thanks,” Patrick forced a smile and looked to Shannon.

  “Sorry about my extravagant boyfriend,” Shannon said. “I’ll try a scoop of black raspberry ice cream in a dish, with marshmallow and peanut butter. No whipped cream or cherry, please.”

  Yvette wondered why Shannon had acted so strangely when Patrick had tried to order his sundae but assumed it was none of her business, so she let the thought pass, and moved on to the next person at the table.

  “What about you, Jason, was it?” she asked.

  “That’s me,” he said. “I’ll have the Triple Brittle Blast. Can you explain it a little more in depth?”

  “Sure,” Yvette said. “It’s got peanut brittle, brownie brittle and cookie brittle throughout the sundae. On the bottom and middle layers, the brittles are crushed, and on the top layer, we use large pieces of each. You can choose which flavor ice cream you prefer, but I always recommend the Peanut Butter Brookie. It has all the flavors mixed together. Peanut butter for the peanut brittle and the Brookie part is a mix of cookie dough and brownie chunks which is just like the brownie and cookie brittle. If you ask me, it’s the most well paired option in the entire shop.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll have it exactly how you described,” Jason agreed.

  “Don’t you want to add some hot fudge or something?” April interrupted.

  “No. I want it just how I said,” he answered.

  April scoffed at his response before ordering. “Cyndee and I will both have the Salted Caramel Apple sundae. Doesn’t that sound amazing, Cyndee?” April asked.

  “Uh, yup. Sure, that sounds just fine.” Cyndee smiled.

  “Okay, then. The apples are baked before they go in the sundae, so it takes a little extra time.” Yvette warned the women. “Will that be okay?”

  “We can wait, right everyone?” April nodded.

  From what Yvette could tell, none of them had much of a choice in anything. Shannon didn’t let Patrick order what he wanted, and April seemed to not care about anything as long as she got her way. “Alrighty then. I’ll get everything started for you. We’ll get some waters delivered right away, and the drink cooler is right over there if you’d like something different,” Yvette said, gesturing across the room.

  “Thank you,” everyone but April said in unison.

  Yvette took off as fast as she could to the back, trying to get away before April began telling her how to make the sundaes, too. The entire group seemed pleasant enough, but April seemed to have let being the boss get to her head.

  Chapter Four

  Yvette got out of her SUV, and opened the back door so she could get the takeout bags she’d just picked up from Carlisle’s Bistro. She and Amelia usually met for lunch at least once a week, but with everything that had been going on in both of their lives lately, their plans had been postponed and the two had decided to have a quick lunch at Amelia’s house.

  Yvette knocked on Amelia’s door with her free hand before letting herself in. The two had been best friends for so long, it only seemed normal.

  “Ohhh. What did you bring?” Amelia asked, jumping up from her seat to help Yvette with the bags.

  “One of everything,” she joked. “Seriously, though. I got a chicken and waffle sandwich, French onion soup, sweet potato fries, and an arugula salad with fresh lemon balsamic dressing.”

  “Holy moly! Can we share everything?” Amelia asked, pulling out the boxes and stealing a handful of fries.

  “Jeez. When was the last time you ate?” Yvette laughed.

  “Yesterday at breakfast I think.”

  “What? I was kidding.”

  “I’m not. I did have some trail mix late last night,” Amelia admitted.

  “Not sure that counts. Dig in. Take what you want, and I’ll have the rest.” Yvette pushed the boxes toward her friend.

  “So, how’s life?” Amelia asked as she dug around for a spoon for the soup.

  “Let see. Last week, I catered Jamie and Evan’s wedding,” Yvette said, recalling the young couple that not only lived next door to her but had also recently been part of a murder investigation.

  “Yikes. How’d that go?”

  “Pretty well, actually. It was a little awkward at first, but they are both so sweet. They loved everything, and it was a lot of fun in the end.” Yvette took her half of the chicken and waffle sandwich and deconstructed it, finding chicken and waffles to be a rather odd combination. “Tonya told me that she’s moving so I’m going to need to find a new employee soon.”

  “Two, right?”

  Yvette tilted her head, surprised Amelia had thought about Sage as well. “Well, Sage is gone but she really only picked up shifts, so we didn’t rely on her quite as much as Tonya.”

  “No. I mean Joey,” Amelia said before slurping her soup.

  “What do you mean, Joey?”

  Amelia covered her mouth with her hands and closed her eyes. “I didn’t realize you didn’t know.”

  “Know what?” Yvette demanded.

  “Joey applied for a job in the recreation department for the town. I can’t believe he didn’t tell you.”

  “No. He didn’t tell me. If they’re all leaving, I may need to replace them with at least three new people. Joey is such an asset, it’d be like losing two employees.” Yvette sighed.

  “I’m sorry. I’ll put the word out that you are hiring. I wish there was more I could do to help.” Amelia frowned.

  “It’s okay. You’ve got a huge reach, so I’m sure it’ll help get some possible candidates. But really, what on earth am I going to do if it’s just me, Vanessa, and Stella? We’re good, but not that good.”

  “Don’t panic. You know everyone will do what they can to help you. Won’t Emma be back soon?” Amelia asked.

  “Yes! That’s right. I’m sure she’d love to work a few shifts. I’m bet my parents will help too if I need them.” Yvette nodded.

  “That’s the spirit!”

  “I can’t wait to see what Joey has to say about this. I’m not sure if I should confront him or just let it be.”

  “You’ll figure it out. You’ve always been a great leader, and you handle everything with grace.”

  “Thanks,” Yvette said. “Enough about me, what’s up with you and Mark?” She nudged her friend’s arm.

  “Everything is perfect! We’ve been hanging out after work almost every night this past week. I’m really happy we worked things out. Looking back, it seems so silly that we even broke up. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am that we get to work together during the tour,” Amelia confided.

  “I’m happy, too. You guys deserve it,” Yvette told her.

  “I can’t believe I forgot. I have the best story ever! I met with April,
the owner of the Trolley Tours and she was a real gem. My meeting was with her to discuss the contract and other financial things, but instead of coming on her own she brought her entire crew with her. Thankfully we decided that I’d meet her at the Bed and Breakfast because they are all staying there while they’re here, so I was able to get almost all of them to let us meet privately. She refused to let her assistant leave, though. April claimed she was training her assistant Cyndee to learn more about the business aspect of things, but I swear I saw Cyndee roll her eyes. April was harsh and barely let me speak the entire time.”

  “I know,” Yvette said, laughing. “I met all of them too. They came to Sundae Afternoon and April was the same way there. She even ordered for Cyndee and tried to change the order for another person. If that wasn’t bad enough, she wasn’t the only one. One of the women all but scolded her boyfriend for ordering extra cookies in his ice cream. If you ask me, the whole lot of them were a little off the wall.”

  “The short guy and the super tall woman? I figured they were dating. They sat next to one another, and I thought I saw the man try to hold the woman’s hand, but she pulled it away. I assumed they were in a fight or something. I certainly recall pulling my hand away from Mark a few times. I’m glad I’m not the only one that thought they were a little bit strange.” Amelia cackled. “That April woman ordered my drink for me too when Kelly asked us if we wanted anything.”

  Barry and Kelly Bradford owned the local Bed and Breakfast in town. Their home consisted of six bedrooms aside from their own, and they employed no staff. Barry cared for the grounds and took care of the money while Kelly did the cooking, cleaning and event planning for the guests. They adored their jobs are were almost always full, no matter the time of year. The Bradfords were one of the kindest and most generous couples that Yvette knew. She reminded herself of their patience as they had to live with the five people from the Trolley Tours for the next few days.

  “She didn’t! I let it go at work because I assumed they were close, but ordering for you is hilarious. I’m sure she’s gonna be a real hoot when then tour starts. Giving everyone seating arrangements or telling us how high to fill the cups for floats. Okay, I’m done now. I’m not trying to be mean, so I hope it doesn’t come off that way, but micromanagers really get under my skin.”

  “I’m aware. You are so lucky that Emma is your boss. She lets you guys run your shops however you want as long as sales stay up and customers are happy.”

  “If I didn’t have her, I’m not sure what I’d do with my life. Probably start a little restaurant or something.”

  “Huh. I had no idea that was something you even thought of,” Amelia stated.

  “I don’t really think of it, but if I had to, that’s what I’d do,” Yvette explained.

  “Are you gonna eat the rest of those fries?” Amelia asked, pointing to Yvette’s plate.

  “Go ahead,” she laughed, sliding the plate across the table.

  “Thanks,” Amelia said. “I’m so glad you got all this food, and we were able to catch up a little.”

  “Me too! I’m gonna take off, though. We’ve both got a ton to do before the tour tomorrow, and I want to get a head start making sure everything is set up at the farm.” Yvette gathered her empty to-go boxes and brought them to the kitchen before giving Amelia a quick hug goodbye.

  Chapter Five

  Everyone ready?” Yvette asked, glancing around at the team she had in place that would take care of the refreshments during the Fall Foliage Trolley Tour.

  “Can’t wait.” “Never been more ready.” “You betcha,” were the cheery replies from her helpers.

  Mark and Amelia were already at the farm and had been setting up since early that morning. The farm was the beginning point of the tour and the morning rides began at sunrise. Yvette had been there herself that morning, making sure that the coffee was ready and dropping off some of the whipped cream they’d made the evening before. Normally, Yvette wasn’t so involved in the setup of things but this being the first tour, and the fact that Sundae Afternoon was taking part, she wanted everything to be perfect.

  “Nate and I will stay outside in the parking lot, serving floats to the folks that are interested. Since we are an actual stop on the tour, the riders may get off the trolley and head inside for ice cream. Each stop is for fifteen minutes, so that means if everyone on the trolley gets off, you all have to be quick. Every order has to be made, and the riders have to have the time to eat their ice cream before the trolley heads out. We’ve got three extra people on staff today. My mom and dad, and Audrey. Joey will be in the kitchen, Sage runs the register, my dad is the floater, running around doing whatever is needed. Vanessa and Tonya are making the ice cream, and my mom and Audrey will take orders and deliver the desserts. Got it?” Yvette rattled off, looking around to make sure everyone was paying attention.

  “Who are you?” Vanessa laughed. “What’s got you so worked up this morning?”

  “I’ve had lots of coffee, and I really want this day to be a success. You all think I’m crazy now… you should have seen me at the farm at three-thirty this morning. I’d already set up the tents and stocked the freezer truck before anyone else showed up,” Yvette said, checking things off of her to do list.

  “I get to be outside with her all day. Doesn’t that sound fun?” Nate laughed.

  “Hilarious!” Yvette made a face. “I’ll calm down once everything gets going. I know how many people come to Heritage to see the foliage each year and I bet this time will be an even higher number than that because of the tour. I’m determined to make sure everything goes according to plan.”

  “Good luck, Nate,” Yvette’s father, Charlie, told him.

  “Dad!” Yvette yelled.

  “I’m just saying…” he trailed off with a gigantic grin on his face.

  “Anyway,” Yvette said, giving her dad the side eye. “The riders can order anything they want from the shop. If they request a float from outside, we have the hot drinks on a table in the warmers, and we’ll get the ice cream from inside. I expect people will do more of that since it’ll be faster. If we do happen to run out of ice cream, I’ve got Armand from the farm on standby, willing and able to deliver us what we need.”

  “Sounds like you’ve got every last detail figured out. I’m sure everything will be just perfect,” Stella nodded and clapped her hands together. “Now, let’s get this party started!”

  “See! I wish you’d all act a little more like Stella,” Yvette teased.

  “It’s barely five-thirty in the morning. What do you want from us?” Nate replied, shaking his head as the rest of the staff headed inside the shop.

  “Shhhh. Go grab the insulated cups I left on my desk. We can have some coffee outside while we wait for the first trolley,” Yvette directed.

  “Yes. Because more coffee is just what you need,” Nate joked, already halfway to the front door of the shop.

  “Look! The first trolley is here,” Yvette exclaimed, hopping up from her seat. “I’m so excited!”

  “This does look like it’s going to be pretty neat. The sun is just coming up, and the foliage behind the shop is gorgeous. Having a stop here was a great plan,” Nate admitted.

  The trolley pulled into the parking lot of Sundae Afternoon, and each of the riders got off. A few people went directly inside the shop, but most chose to stand in line and order one of the floats from the table that Yvette and Nate had set up. There were a couple of stragglers that headed behind the building to get a better look at the foliage and some photographs.

  “What can I get for you this morning?” Nate asked one of the riders.

  “That Ginger Praline Float sounds perfect,” the woman said after scanning the menu.

  “Coming right up!” Nate told her before speaking into the walkie talkie Yvette had given him. “Ice Cream Man One to Ice Cream Man Two. Ginger Praline, over.”

  Yvette stopped for a moment to shake her head before pouring a regular hot coff
ee into a cup for one of the riders. She’d thought that the walkie talkies would be a good idea, letting them communicate with her dad, so he’d be able to run the necessary ice cream outside for each float. It was only about fifteen feet from the door to Sundae Afternoon, but Yvette wasn’t sure that she or Nate would be able to get inside. They’d had vanilla, caramel, and chocolate ice cream outside in a cooler plugged in with an extension cord because she’d assumed they’d be the most popular flavors. If that turned out to not be the case, they’d be able to switch out the ice cream, so her father wouldn’t have to do so much running back and forth.