One Last Bite_A Darling Bakery Cozy Mystery Page 11

  Saturday was supposed to be the bakery’s busiest day of the week but by noon Dani, Matt and Rhonda were just sitting in the kitchen staring at each other. Rhonda had scrubbed an already clean kitchen from top to bottom. Matt had polished the floors in the front of the store to the point that customers might need sunglasses to handle the shine. Dani had even attempted to organize her office — although that really only entailed shifting the visible stacks of papers into the file cabinet drawers, but not actually putting them in files.

  “This is ridiculous,” Dani finally said as she stared at Matt and Rhonda. “Why don’t the two of you take the rest of the day off. It doesn’t make any sense for the three of us to just sit here twiddling our thumbs.”

  Dani watched Matt and Rhonda exchange worried glances. No doubt they’d enjoy a Saturday off, but she was sure they were also concerned about not getting paid if they weren’t at work.

  Dani wanted to put their minds at ease. “Look, I don’t know how much longer business is going to be like this, but I know I can afford to give you today off with pay.”

  “Are you sure?” Matt said. “We know things are a little tough right now. I just wish there was some way we could be of more help.”

  “Yeah,” chimed Rhonda. “I really like working here, Dani. I’ve learned so much from you and you’ve got such a passion for your business.”

  Dani was touched by her assistants kind words. What they were saying made her want to figure out a way out of this mess even more.

  “Don’t worry you two. The Darling Bakery will bounce back from this little setback. In the meantime, why don’t the two of you go out and enjoy some sunshine? Things will be back to normal soon and then you’ll be complaining about not having any time off,” Dani said with a chuckle trying to prove she really believed her own words.

  After Matt and Rhonda left the bakery, Dani went into her office to get her laptop. She brought the computer out to the front of the store and set up a little work station on one of the bistro tables. From there she could look over her finances online and be available to help any customers who might come into the bakery.

  The first thing Dani did was check her bank balance. It was a lot lower than she wanted it to be, but she did have enough to cover Matt and Rhonda’s wages for the day. She was about to log onto Instagram to distract herself, but instead, she clicked the security camera icon to see how many customers had come into the bakery while she was at the Reynolds Ave. house yesterday.

  Dani tapped the rewind key and let the counter roll back in time. A lot of the footage was of the empty store or of Matt or Rhonda wiping tables or sweeping the floor. Then to her surprise a figure she recognized appeared on the screen. Dani hit the stop key and then pressed play as she watched the last person in the world she thought she’d see walk into the bakery door. Clint Johnson.

  Clint wasn’t wearing his usual work attire. He was dressed more casually in jeans and a t-shirt. Dani looked up at the time stamp to see when Clint had come into the store. Thursday at 5:30pm. That was the same day she’d seen him at the police station. Obviously, Clint had changed clothes when he left work, but Dani could hardly believe the detective had stopped by the bakery. Dani thought back to Thursday’s events. By 5:30 she was putting boxes of Guy’s clothes into her car and about to take Marla to the bus station. Was Clint at the bakery looking for Dani?

  To her surprise, as she continued to watch she saw Clint point to the display case. More than once! A minute or so later he reached into the pocket of the pleasantly snug pair of jeans and pulled out some cash. He handed it to Rhonda, who Dani could see standing behind the counter, and a moment later Rhonda handed Clint his change and a box of four cupcakes. Clint dropped the change into the tip jar on the counter and walked out of the camera frame.

  Dani’s mouth almost fell open. She hit pause on her computer. She was shocked. Not only had Clint purchased something, but he left a tip for her staff. What a difference a few days had made. Wednesday morning Clint had treated her like she should have been on an F.B.I. Most Wanted poster. Then at the police station the next day he’d apologized for his behavior. Now, just a few hours later, according to the video feed, Clint was one of the few customers to come into the bakery that day.

  Dani leaned back in her chair. It had been easier than she’d expected to forgive Clint for his initial accusations, but she wasn’t prepared for the overwhelming sense of gratitude that she felt after seeing him make a purchase at the store. Maybe Clint really was a nice Guy after all. If he could just figure out what happened to Guy, Clint might actually be the man of her dreams.

  ***

  An hour or so later, Dani got up from her computer and stepped outside to get some sun. She was standing there staring into space when the sound of a shrill laugh caught her attention. She turned her head and what she saw made her stomach churn. Stepping out of the bridal and tuxedo store a block away was a very slim, attractive woman laughing and flirtatiously patting Clint Johnson’s arm.

  If Dani had any doubts about whether she’d been attracted to Clint before then, seeing this sight confirmed it all. A flood of jealousy swept over her as her mind raced with questions. Who was this woman? Why were she and Clint coming out of a store that sold wedding dresses? Was Clint engaged?

  The questions paralyzed Dani as she stood on the sidewalk staring down the street in disbelief.

  “Hi there, Dani!” Clint said cheerfully as he and the woman walked down the block toward The Darling Bakery. “I was just talking about you!”

  Dani plastered a smile on her face, still processing what to make of the woman walking beside Clint.

  “Dani, I’m not sure if you’ve had a chance to meet Sarah Peterson. Sarah, this is Dani Darling owner of the famous Darling Bakery!”

  Clint waved his hand toward the sign hanging over Dani’s head. At that moment Dani kind of wished the sign would slip and hit her in the head to put her out of her misery — or it could hit Sarah, she thought.

  “A pleasure to meet you,” Sarah said in a less than sincere tone as she held out her hand toward Dani in a limp handshake.

  “I’ve been telling Sarah how wonderful your cupcakes are,” Clint said with a big smile.

  The comment reminded Dani of Clint’s Thursday visit to the store and of the fact that he was one of a very few remaining loyal customers.

  Somehow Dani managed to loosen her clenched jaw. “Thanks for the compliment,” was all she managed to get out before a tense silence surrounded the three them. Then Dani let out a long sigh. If this woman was Clint’s fiancé or even girlfriend, it didn’t change the fact the Clint was a loyal customer. She couldn’t afford to let her jealousy make her rude to him.

  “So, you two are out doing a little shopping?” Dani asked forcing cheerfulness into her voice.

  “Not buying, just renting,” Clint said with a laugh as he jostled the suit bag he had slung over his shoulder. “Sarah’s the president of the Daughters of Riley and they’re having a big formal gala next Friday. I’ve got to attend as a representative for the Riley Police Department and my boss made it clear that I couldn’t wear jeans or khakis.” Clint let out a big laugh. “Sarah graciously agreed to help me pick out an appropriate tuxedo.”

  “Well, we can’t have Riley’s most handsome detective dressed in anything but the best.” Sarah winked at Clint and touched his arm again the way she was doing when Dani first spotted the pair coming out of the store.

  Clint didn’t react to the flirtation. In fact, it seemed to make him a little uncomfortable.

  “So, how are things going inside,” Clint said stepping away from Sarah and towards the door of the bakery.

  “Not as well as last Saturday,” Dani said trying not to let any bitterness seep into her voice. “But we’re still hanging in there.” She wanted to give an honest answer, but she didn’t want to make Clint feel bad for his previous accusations.

  Clint shifted the tuxedo bag to his left hand and ran his right hand through hi
s hair. His nervous tell.

  “Well, you’ve got two customers right here who could use a sugar fix after a day or shopping! Right, Sarah.”

  Sarah looked like she had other plans for her afternoon with Clint, but wanted to appear agreeable. “Oh, yeah. Sure,” she said smiling up at Clint.

  “Well, come on in.” Dani held the door as the two walked into the bakery and then hurried behind the counter.

  Sarah’s right eyebrow raised as she eyed the half-empty display case.

  “I like the Red Velvet ones,” Clint said enthusiastically.

  “Whatever you recommend, Detective.”

  Sarah’s sugary replied made Dani’s teeth ache, but she masked her irritation and kept a smiling customer service face on.

  “Two Red Velvet cupcakes coming right up.”

  Dani put one cupcake in each bag and handed the bags to her customers.

  “So, you decided to come out of your office and work today,” Clint said nodding toward Dani’s computer.

  “Yeah, I let Matt and Rhonda have the day off. I was just sitting here looking at some video from my security camera. That’s how I knew about the coffee Guy bought on Wednesday morning.”

  Dani didn’t share the fact that she had actually been watching Clint’s visit to the bakery on Thursday.

  “What time did you say Guy left the bakery?” Clint asked.

  “About 8:30,” Dani said. “ I still think he must have been meeting someone? I asked Mr. Jones about it earlier, but he said he didn’t see anyone around the house.”

  Clint’s eyebrow raised. “Dani, what were you doing at Mr. Jones’ house,” Clint asked suspiciously.

  Before she could answer Sarah chimed in.

  “Well, aren’t you just a regular Sherlock Holmes,” Sarah said happily reinserting herself into the conversation. “Next thing we know you’ll be looking for a job with the Riley Police Department.”

  There was more than a faint hint of sarcasm in her voice as she glared at Dani.

  “I’m just saying if your little baking business doesn’t work out you may have a second calling as a private investigator.”

  With that Sarah bit into her cupcake for the first time.

  “Oh, my. This is wonderful,” she said and then looked at Dani with surprise. Clearly, Sarah wasn’t prepared to enjoy the cupcake as much as she did.

  A smug sense of satisfaction washed over Dani, but before she could gloat too much, Sarah said something totally unexpected.

  “Clint, don’t you think these would go over really well at the gala? I mean tiered cupcake displays are all the rage at events these days?”

  Before Clint could answer, Sarah turned back to Dani. “Do you think you can handle making 500 cupcakes for delivery on Friday afternoon?”

  Dani’s mouth almost fell open. Two minutes ago Sarah was glaring at her like she wanted to kill Dani and now she was throwing business her way.

  “Yeah, we can handle 500 cupcakes with no problem,” Dani finally managed to say.

  “Great. I’ll write you a check for the deposit now,” Sarah said as she flipped open her checkbook. “I assume the balance will be due upon delivery?”

  Dani was still a little stunned, but she managed to quickly calculate the amount of the deposit she’d need for an order that size.

  “I think you have enough of a flair for decoration to do something appropriate for our event,” Sarah said glancing around the bakery. “I don’t like getting involved in all that minutia, so I’ll just leave my assistant’s phone number. You can call her to work out the decorations so the cupcakes match the rest of the planned color scheme. We’ll need the cupcakes delivered by 5pm on Friday. The gala starts at 6:30, so please be on time. Well, I guess we’d better get going,” Sarah said as she turned to Clint. And before Dani could say much else she pulled and equally surprised detective out the door.

  Chapter 14

  Dani woke up on Sunday morning to the feeling of wet sandpaper scratching across her cheek. She opened one eye, tilted her head and glared at the orange fuzzball sitting on top of her pillow.

  “You do know that I have an alarm clock to wake me up, right?” Dani asked sarcastically.

  “Meowwww!

  That response could have meant Queen Sheba didn’t understand the question, but it more likely meant that Her Highness didn’t care what technology Dani had — it was time to get up and make breakfast. Dani lifted her hand to block the pink tongue that was descending toward her cheek again.

  “And I take showers, so there’s no need to lick me from head to toe.”

  “Meowww!”

  Dani shook her head and then reached out to scratch Queen Sheba under her chin. Sheba inched closer and nuzzled her head against Dani. How could she be upset with such a cute — and time conscious — companion.

  “Alright. I’m getting up,” Dani moaned as she rolled out of bed.

  She scooped Queen Sheba into her arms and headed toward the kitchen.

  “Coffee for me and Fish Delights for you!” Dani said enthusiastically. “With the money I got from Sarah yesterday I just might be able to afford to keep buying this expensive cat food a little longer!

  Sheba made circle eights between Dani prepared her morning meal.

  “Here you go, Sheba. Eat up. We’ve got company coming over this morning.”

  After Dani left the bakery on Saturday, Ben Campbell called to say he could come by her house on Sunday to give her an estimate on lawn care. Dani was really excited about getting her yard back in decent shape, but she was also looking forward to asking Ben some questions to see if he’d noticed anything strange at the Reynolds Ave. house last week. Getting the unexpected cupcake order from Sarah had allowed Dani to breathe a little easier where money was concern, but she still desperately wanted to find out what happened to Guy.

  As Dani sipped her coffee she replayed the recent conversations she’d had with people about Guy. Both Lisa and Marla said Guy’s work was falling off and Marla said Guy had been acting strangly. Guy bought a dozen cupcakes on Wednesday morning. Who were they for? And who was the second cup of coffee for?

  Something at the house had caused him to fall and hit his head. Maybe Guy had a drinking problem. Dani thought back to her meetings with Guy. He never seemed drunk when she saw him, but it had been almost six months since he’d done the appraisal at the bakery. That was just before he and his wife separated. Maybe he started drinking to deal with the stress? Dani was sure the autopsy with tell them whether Guy had been drinking, but who knows how long that was going to take.

  Dani was still mulling it all over in her head when she heard a car pull into the driveway. She got up and looked out the living room window and saw a big green truck with a sign on the door that read Campbell Landscaping.

  “Good morning,” Dani said cheerfully as she stepped out onto the wrap-around porch that encircled the house. “I’m Dani. You must be Ben.”

  “Yep.” Was the man’s only response as he kicked at the knee-high weeds.

  “I inherited my grandmother’s love of baking, but not her love of gardening,” Dani offered as a sad excuse for the condition of her yard.

  “Hmm.”

  If he was judging her for her poor gardening skills, he certainly wasn’t saying so out loud. Dani suspected if she was going to get any information out of Ben about Guy she was just going to have to dive right in with her questions.

  “I got your flier from Mr. Jones over on Reynolds Ave.,” she said introducing the topic. “He said you do a lot of the yards in that area and they all look so nice. That’s why I thought you’d be the perfect person to get my yard back in shape.”