The Bakers and Bulldogs Mysteries Collection: 20 Book Box Set Read online

  “I forgot my phone in my car and wanted to make sure Aunt Rita didn’t call with her family reunion order. I told her to call the shop rather than my cell, but she never remembers the number and can’t be bothered to look it up. Good thing I checked; as she did leave me a voicemail with what she wants, and she’s hoping to get everything tomorrow afternoon, even though the reunion doesn’t start until Friday evening!” Kerry’s words tumbled over each other as her hands gestured wildly. Melody wondered how Kerry was able to breathe while talking at such a rate.

  “I see you’ve gone over your quota of caffeine today,” Melody teased, noting Kerry’s messy blond bun slipping out of the hair net stretched crookedly over her head and the slight sheen of sweat on her brow.

  Kerry, plump and pretty, was engaged to Port Warren High’s beloved football coach, George Stanley, who adored her. In Kerry’s mind, this gave her free reign to play matchmaker with all her unfortunately single friends and acquaintances, especially her beautiful boss.

  “Yeah, might have overdone the go-juice just a tad.” Kerry chuckled, tucking her stray blond strands back into the net. Kerry then turned her attention to their visitor. “Hey, Al, you forget something? Weren’t you in earlier?”

  Alvin blushed and nodded, looking down at his shoes and rubbing his close-cropped brown hair.

  Kerry smiled wickedly at his obvious discomfiture. “I’m beginning to think this is your new office!”

  Melody gave her a quick, pursed-lip glare, knowing it would only encourage her would-be marriage broker to continue to tease poor Alvin.

  “Yep, completely forgot about Ma’s card deal tonight; she wanted me to pick up a cake; whatcha got in stock?” Alvin asked trying to recover himself.

  As the sheriff switched his embarrassed attention to his torturer, Melody took the opportunity to slip quietly back into the kitchen to finish the croissants, leaving Kerry to fill Alvin’s order. She concentrated, cutting and folding thin strips into perfect crescents.

  “That guy’s got it bad!” Kerry announced as she sailed into the kitchen, automatically beelining it for the coffee machine.

  “No! You’re cut off!” Melody was quick to see her assistant’s intention and she grabbed Kerry’s sleeve with a floury hand, “No more coffee for you!”

  Kerry sheepishly set the pot back down and crossed her arms. She eyed the tray of bakery rejects that failed Melody’s perfectionistic eye, sighed, and helped herself to a broken cookie. Nibbling, she glared at Melody.

  “You’ve got it bad,” Melody insisted. “You’re torturing that poor man, and you know it! What did he end up buying?”

  “Don’t try and change the subject! That dog is one whipped puppy. If he really forgot that cake this morning, I’m a one-eyed frog. His mom has bridge every Wednesday night, tonight is no exception!” Kerry exclaimed while munching through a second cookie reject.

  Melody shrugged, not wanting to encourage that line of thinking. She’d known for a while that Alvin had a thing for her. She tried her best to ignore it and avoid him as much as possible. With her busy schedule, she just wasn’t ready for anything serious, even if it was with someone like Alvin. Or was it really about her schedule? Whatever, she was just not into a relationship at the moment. She had to admit, he was a good guy. And he would probably treat her right if she ever gave him a chance. But it was just too soon.

  “He’s either going to have to man up and ask you out or go broke buying donuts and cakes! For a lawman, he ain’t very brave!” Kerry added.

  Melody let her rattle on, hoping Kerry would run out of words on the subject, though that seemed unlikely.

  Kerry propped her chin on her left palm looking all dreamy. “I think he’s cute, though, don’t you? A little on the puppy dog side, but still pretty manly when he’s not tripping over his tongue when you’re around.”

  Melody sighed, rolled her eyes, and kept silent. It was her weapon of choice and it worked well with Kerry, whose main hobby was verbalizing, combined with taking off on frequent, caffeine-infused rabbit trails. So, Kerry prattled on while Mel took a moment to mull over the situation.

  In truth, she almost wished she reciprocated Alvin’s apparent feelings. She dreaded the day she would really have to reject such a nice guy. She blew out a breath of frustration, hoping against hope that he would never find the courage to approach her romantically because in that way she could avoid the whole ordeal. If he did ever find the courage to ask her out, she would just have to find a nice way to turn him down. Maybe she should start thinking about how she could get out of it without hurting his feelings.

  Her thoughts, generally practical, quickly switched over to Aunt Rita’s reunion and she broke into Kerry’s monologue.

  “Which cake did the sheriff end up buying? And what does Aunt Rita need by Friday?” Melody asked and Kerry cooperated with the subject change, her talking talent showcased by her ability to jump off and on any topic train.

  “He decided on the red velvet. Auntie said she needs three cakes: one devil’s food, one pineapple upside down, and one hummingbird. I think I should call her and steer her away from the hummingbird, as it’s too similar to the pineapple upside-down—don’t you think? Maybe a pecan Texas sheet instead? Add a little variety? Also, she wants two-dozen each of chocolate chip, shortbread and peanut butter cookies, an apple strudel and six dozen dinner rolls. I think I better tell her to freeze everything when she gets it tomorrow since she’s not serving most of it until Saturday and Sunday, and I wouldn’t think she’d like them anything but fresh. Really, she should get everything from us Friday afternoon; we could have it done by two, don’t you think? Maybe I should call her? Maybe not, as she never changes her mind once she makes a plan; maybe you should call her? She’d probably listen to you better than me. But maybe freezing them would be good enough and then we wouldn’t be as stressed on Saturday, as we have that wedding cake to deliver and set up, and Jeannette isn’t somebody we want to disappoint with shoddy work…” Kerry continued to ponder the quandary of her aunt’s order while she bustled about wiping counters, putting away clean tools from the dish drainer, and checking—and double-checking—the stores of supplies.

  Just then the bell dinged, heralding another customer, and Kerry whisked out of the kitchen.

  Melody opened the oven and placed the croissant trays inside, setting the timer as she finished. She could hear Kerry’s voice, presumably talking to a customer, and while tempted to start on tomorrow’s orders, she knew she should make an appearance in the shop as some of her customers took it very personally when she was too busy to greet them.

  Kerry’s Aunt Rita stood at the counter, her lips pursed as she listened to her niece’s flood of advice. Rita held up her hand, finally getting Kerry to slow her word flow. Aunt Rita had a closet full of old-fashioned, 50’s style dresses that belted at the waist, everything from floral, to stripes and plaids, to plain. She only ever wore dark brown, laced up walking shoes, white gloves, and netted hats whenever she ventured outside her house. Inside, she wore button-up housedresses, ones she deemed suitable for the constant cleaning she inflicted on her house. Dust was terrified to land anywhere in her vicinity.

  “I need everything by tomorrow afternoon, Kerry Ann, is that going to be a problem?” Just as Kerry opened her mouth to answer, Rita caught sight of Melody.

  “Thank God you’re here! My niece seems to think I don’t know my own mind, and I need her to understand that I need everything tomorrow afternoon. I will be extremely busy with other reunion tasks… of course, I have to do everything myself, the rest of the family cannot be trusted… so I need the desserts squared away tomorrow. Is that too difficult?” Rita glared at Melody belligerently.

  “Oh no, Rita, tomorrow afternoon is perfect! We don’t have another big order besides yours due until Friday afternoon, so it will work out just fine, and your choices show nice forethought and variety,” Melody assured her.

  “Hmph. Kerry Ann here seems to think I don’t have en
ough variety in the cake department. I keep trying to explain that Cousin Harold loves the pineapple upside down and my sister must have hummingbird. There is no room for substitutes. Now, I need to know if those choices are going to be a problem? I don’t want to take my business elsewhere, but my friend Alice’s cousin bakes and sells cakes out of her kitchen, so I do have other options,” Rita continued to scowl pugnaciously at her niece while she directed her question to Melody.

  “No, we can certainly bake all your choices,” Melody replied calmly. “All your selections are just fine, and there is no finer cake baker than your niece here!”

  Mollified, Kerry let go of her need to adjust Aunt Rita’s cake menu, and smiled at her employer, “Awww shucks, boss-lady! You’re the best!”

  “Hmph,” Rita grunted, clutching her giant purse more firmly to her chest, as if perhaps Melody and Kerry weren’t to be trusted; she then adjusted her old-fashioned hat and exited with, “Okay then. I’ll expect your delivery tomorrow afternoon, but no earlier than two pm, as I’ll need an afternoon rest with all this working myself to death. And for what? Some ungrateful relatives who don’t mind reaping the benefits of all my back-breaking labor!”

  Kerry groaned, shaking her head. As soon as her aunt was out of earshot, she commented, “Oh my God, Aunt Rita is something else, isn’t she? No wonder Uncle Leroy left this earth… her sunny disposition probably poisoned him to death!”

  Melody smiled, suspecting Kerry probably inherited her aunt’s opinionated personality, and ability to talk at lightspeed. Though Kerry was liberally tempered with cheerfulness, Rita lacked pretty much any positive modifying trait.

  Chapter Two

  Thursday was no different from any other day. Together, Melody and Kerry worked on Aunt Rita’s orders. They made the three cakes she wanted. While preparing the pineapple cake and hummingbird, Melody could admit they were almost identical. With the pineapple upside cake, the pineapple rings were on the bottom while the hummingbird had pineapple slices mixed within the batter. But as the old saying goes, the customer’s always right, Melody followed Aunt Rita’s wishes. Aside from Aunt Rita’s orders, they also prepared some small orders, a dozen muffins, a jar of cookies, and responded to occasional walk-in customers who wanted anything on hand. It was tiring but for Melody, it made her happy.

  Towards the end of the day, Melody and Kerry discussed the wedding cake decoration. She asked Kerry to confirm with Jeanette Simpson what she wanted for her cake because she did not want a bride to be upset over a mistake on the cake. She’d heard that brides could be overly sensitive during their wedding preparation. Melody wanted it to be perfect. Checking one more time wouldn’t hurt.

  Melody had always loved making wedding cakes because it allowed her to perform her passion—to bake delicious cakes and make them beautiful. A wedding cake was one of the most important things in the ceremony, almost equally as important as the bride’s gown. She loved the idea that her masterpiece was being admired. She had already imagined the wedding cake she would make for herself. That was, until the man in her dream wedding became a nightmare. Now the last thing she wanted was anything to do with men. No, she was happy to be single.

  After that heartbreak, Melody focused her mind and energy on baking but had specifically turned down wedding-related orders. It was too painful for her to remember her failed happy ending. Until recently, when she picked up the broken pieces of her heart. Although she was not yet ready for a new relationship because of the fear of failing again, she accepted wedding orders once more. She thought that she would make these cakes because she wanted to make people happy. Her first wedding cake order was torture, but when she kept reminding herself that her creation would make many people smile, it made her determined to get through it.

  If she was honest with herself, there was a tiny voice in her telling her that she should give her heart one more chance. Her dream wedding cake still got into her mind when she would sleep at night. Her groom was still faceless but sometimes she thought, would Al fit into that picture? Whenever that thought came in, she would shake it out of her mind pushing in other dreams she would want for her future. And she told herself, that a romantic relationship was not one of them.

  Her day in the kitchen was passing by like a fast-forward movie scene. She was like a robot—automatically mixing ingredients without thinking, decorating cakes like she was programmed. Although what she did every day was pretty exhausting, she never felt any fatigue while doing these things that she loved. But when she closed her shop and would see Kerry so excited to go home, Melody would have this sinking feeling in her stomach. The reminder that she had no one to go home to, no one to massage her back to relieve the pain after a long day at work, or just to hold her close to assure her that she was doing the right things for her life. Did everyone really need that person in their life? Again, in denial as she usually was, she pushed away those thoughts and convinced herself she was happy with her life right now.

  Chapter Three

  Melody arrived early in the shop on Friday. She wanted to prepare the decorating tools they would need later when they started working for Jeanette Simpson’s wedding cake. She colored the sheet of white fondant with a carefully measured dose of lavender color and kneaded the dough to spread the pigment throughout. Then, she started cutting and molding the petals. She was finishing her third set when Kerry came in.

  Kerry picked up one petal to examine.

  “Oh my goodness! Mel, this looks so real!” Kerry exclaimed.

  “You think so?” Melody asked as she rolled the pin over the edge of the petal she was working on.

  Kerry nodded with enthusiasm. “I’m so proud of you. You’re getting better at this every time! And this is not even finished. How many layers was it?”

  Melody smiled her appreciation. “Four round layers.”

  Melody instructed Kerry to create more petals and leaves using the shape cutter. With each flower they made, the cake became more and more alive. Mel brushed some glitter on the base of the cake making it look more spectacular.

  “I swear if Jeannette doesn’t fall in love with this cake, I will never speak to her again!” Kerry declared. “Have you ever seen more beautiful colors in your life? It’s a crime she picked the same colors I did; this cake would be perfect for my wedding!”

  “We’ll come up with something even better for yours,” Melody assured her, as she placed the final flower on the top. Kerry squealed in delight when they both watched their work for a moment.

  “Haven’t you thought of creating one for yourself one day, Mel?” Kerry asked with a soft voice. Mel felt Kerry’s concern and it warmed her heart.

  “You know my story. Of course, I did before,” Mel said and turned away from the cake to go to the sink.

  Kerry followed her.

  “I’m talking about now, Mel. Forget about your past. Don’t let that hold you back.”

  Melody did not respond and let the sound of the faucet be her voice. The bell of the store rang saving them from the confrontation.

  “I’ll get it,” Melody said and went out of the kitchen.

  Later that day, they discussed the wedding cake and decorations. She wanted desperately to avoid the happy couple especially after that talk with Kerry. Seeing the wedding preparations only made her more confused and brought back the feelings of hurt and betrayal. Did she really want to be involved with that kind of fuss, too? Guilt overcame her, the bride wanted to be treated like a princess, as she should be. The good thing was, Kerry was more than happy to talk about the wedding. She was happy to go through the whole of the wedding decorations in hopes of getting some inspiration for her own nuptials. She hadn’t yet decided on her colors, although she already had half a dozen bridesmaids lined up and waiting.

  To Melody’s surprise, Kerry had asked her to be her Maid of Honor. She was completely shocked when Kerry asked, and wasn’t expecting it at all. They had known each other almost their whole lives, but they didn’t start getting cl
ose until Kerry began working at the shop.

  Pulling herself away from thoughts of her the pain, Melody glanced out at the sunny day gaining force outside. A sudden urge to take a quick walk around the block overcame her. It was then she noticed a smartly dressed, middle-aged woman walking along the street, holding onto a small, leashed, gray and white puppy. Melody, a passionate animal lover, had always wished her vocation allowed for a dog in her life, but her hours at the shop precluded such a thing. She felt it wouldn’t be fair to a canine companion to be left at home alone for eight long hours, six days a week. Of course, there was the back office… Melody gazed longingly at the pup, identifying it as a French bulldog, the blue variety. It stepped daintily and proudly, with adorable, flared bat ears and a prominent white smudge decorating its back. The woman was strikingly beautiful in spite of her age, and looked familiar, but Melody couldn’t quite place her. As Melody watched, the woman stopped, looked up at the shop’s sign, and then walked over to a streetlamp and tied the pup’s leash to it.

  Just as the familiar stranger entered, Melody suddenly remembered why she recognized her. She was an Amanda or Amelia somebody, the wealthy-looking, fashionable lady who spent summers at the quaintly rustic lake house on Sandy Beach lane. The woman was dressed to the nines in an artfully simple floral skirt, twinset sweater top and cute shell encrusted sandals. To top it all off she wore an elegant brimmed hat which tastefully highlighted long loose curls. Even her jewelry, oversized shoulder bag and the sunglasses propped on her hat’s brim transmitted affluence.

  “Good morning, how may I help you?” Melody greeted her elegant visitor.

  “Oh, hello,” the lovely matron smiled, “I’ve been meaning to stop in every day I have walked past your place, but I really need to watch my figure.” She chuckled, patting her slim hips. “Only, today is a day for treats, and my neighbor told me you have some killer chocolate-covered strawberries here. Something about brownie bits inside?” She beamed a celebrity-worthy smile, reaching all the way up to her Sapphire-blue eyes.