Strawberry Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 13 (Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries) by Carol Durand, Summer Prescott Page A

remember.
    “Introduce
Me,” Echo supplied. “I made a profile, and I’ve heard from a few men, but I
don’t think they read my information before sending me a ‘flirt blurt.’ I
mentioned in there that I’m vegan, and one guy who sent me a flirt blurt had a
prominent photo of himself holding up the bloody head of a dead deer,” she
shuddered.
    “Oh
no!” Missy sympathized. “Well, give it some time, you’ve only been on there for
a couple of days, right?”
    Echo
nodded. “Yeah, I’ve pretty much given up, but I’m leaving my profile out there
just in case.”
    The
two women chatted for just over an hour, refilling their mugs of coffee at
least twice, before Echo rose to go. The friends hugged goodbye, with promises
to get together again soon. It was a rare week when the two of them didn’t get
to see each other at least four or five times. After her morning break with her
bestie, Missy helped Cheryl tidy up the eating area, restock the cases, and
plan out the Cupcake of the Day for each day of the upcoming week.
    When
the bell above the front door jangled merrily again, she was delighted to see
the five members of her favorite book club, Burgundies and Books , coming
in, along with their newest member, Samantha Lemmon, a new nurse at the local
hospital. The founder, and generally accepted ringleader of the group, Sally
Higgins, came up to the counter with Samantha, to say hello and place the order
for the group.
    “Good
morning, Miss Sally,” Missy beamed. She sometimes joined the group for their
Thursday book nights, and always looked forward to their Tuesday coffee and
cupcake gatherings. “How are you on this fine Louisiana day?”
    “Spectacular,
thank you. Sam and I are going to have a meeting to make arrangements for a
Garden Walk in the spring, so we’ll be staying a little later than the rest of
the gals today,” the stylish woman who was about Missy’s age replied.
    “Marsha
isn’t heading that up this year?” Missy asked, glancing over at the table where
pale, thin, mousy-haired Marsha sat with the other ladies, trying to appear as
though she wasn’t straining to hear the conversation at the counter. She
glanced up briefly and Missy smiled and waved.
    “Uh…no,
she isn’t,” Sally replied without further comment, leaving Missy to wonder what
the story behind the change in leadership on the annual Garden Walk was all
about. Marsha and Sally had worked together on the event for years. Figuring
that she’d ask Sally about it later, Missy poured six mugs of coffee and placed
them on a tray to take to the ladies, while Cheryl plated and served six
Cupcakes of the Day. She noted with interest that, although Marsha had been the
one to introduce Sam to the group, the two sat as far away from each other as
possible, with Sam and Sally engrossed in a serious conversation.
    Once
the ladies were served, Missy untied her apron, hung it up on a peg in the
spotless commercial kitchen and headed for her office, where her phone buzzed
insistently on her desk. The caller’s number was one that she didn’t recognize,
but she answered anyway.
    “Melissa
Gladstone,” she said, flipping through some invoices and holding the phone to
her ear with her shoulder.
    “Please
don’t hang up, Melissa,” the somewhat familiar voice on the other end implored.
“I really need to talk to you about…”
    Missy’s
world was suddenly rocked by a loud BOOM! in the kitchen. “I’m sorry, there’s
an emergency, you’ll have to call back,” she said hurriedly, pressing the End
button on her phone and tossing it on the desk. She ran to the kitchen,
dismayed to see one of her gas stoves blackened, and the surrounding wall on
fire. Cheryl had come running in from the front, and Missy was relieved to see
that the hugely pregnant young woman hadn’t been hurt.
    “Get
any customers out of the store, and stay out of the building,” she ordered,
trying to stay calm. “I’m calling 911.”
     

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