A Mouthful of Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery Book 4 (Frosted Love Mysteries) by Carol Durand, Summer Prescott Page B

attorneys will be there with paperwork soon, we just wanted to come say
hello,” she explained. “I’ll definitely come back by later this week though, so
we can get to know each other better.”
    “That
sounds great,” Missy agreed, wondering what had suddenly made the new woman
seem so nervous. Chalking it up to her being in an entirely new world with a
whole new set of responsibilities, she dismissed her concerns and saw Clara and
Echo to the door, wishing them well.
    Missy
had been working for a while on a new recipe for fluffy lemon cupcakes with a
cream cheese frosting and a decorative drizzle of raspberry. Since Ben and
Cheryl were doing a fantastic job of running the shop, she decided to head back
to the kitchen to whip up a batch and see how they turned out. While the
cupcakes were baking, she prepared the cream cheese frosting, which turned out
lighter and fluffier than she had imagined, and when the light yellow cakes
were cooling on the rack, she pureed luscious, ripe raspberries, combining them
with the raw sugar and her secret blend of flavors. After frosting and
drizzling one of the moist lemon cupcakes, she took a huge bite, delighted to
find that they had turned out even better than she had expected.
    Frosting
the rest of the batch, Missy decided to take two of her delightful creations up
front for Ben and Cheryl to try. The combination of cream cheese, lemon and
raspberry flavors was one of her favorites, so she wanted to get an unbiased
opinion.
    “Hey,
you two,” she called out, carrying a tray with the cupcakes to the front with
her. “You have to try these and let me know what you think. They’re my new
lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and raspberry,” she finished, coming
up to the counter and noticing that a rather scruffy looking customer was
staring at her as she put down the tray. “Oh, hello, I didn’t know that there
was anyone in the shop. How are you today?”
    “Pretty
good,” the shaggy haired, bearded man in a rainbow t-shirt, faded jeans and
leather sandals said. “Those cupcakes sound good, do you have any more of that
kind?” he peered over the counter curiously.
    “Oh,
sure,” Missy said, caught off guard. “You can have one of these, and I’ll get
another one from the back.”
    “Thanks.”
The man accepted the cupcake and took a large bite, making a face as he chewed.
    “Oh
dear, don’t you like it?” she asked, worried.
    “I’m
not much of one for sweets,” the man shrugged, swallowing hard.
    Missy
thought that his response was a bit strange. Why on earth would he come into a
cupcake shop if he didn’t like sweets? “Well, then, I won’t charge you for the
cupcake, since you didn’t care for it,” she offered generously. The man looked
as though he was in need of a good meal, and perhaps couldn’t have one, so she
couldn’t, in good conscience, charge him for a cupcake that he didn’t even
like.
    “That’s
cool,” he nodded. “My mom would really be into this though…can I have one for
her?”
    Thinking
that this was the oddest person that she’d met in a while, Missy told him that
of course he could, and handed him a white paper bag with his mom’s treat
inside. Thanking her again, he pulled a piece of lime-green paper out of his
pocket that he had torn from an advertisement on her bulletin board. Cora
Nesbitt was looking for peach pickers, and had put up the flyer with tear-away
tabs that had her phone number on it.
    “Hey,
can I borrow your phone to call this lady? I’m looking for work,” he explained.
    “Certainly,”
Missy agreed, thinking that this strange stranger was really beginning to wear
out his welcome. She directed him to where Cheryl stood behind the counter, and
asked the hesitant young lady to hand him the phone. He got directions from
Cora and headed over the pick peaches. Missy shook her head in disbelief when
he popped the rest of his cupcake in his mouth as soon as he reached the
sidewalk. Cheryl and Ben both