Dog Days of Murder (Country Cottage Mysteries Book 2), Page 3

  All my life I’ve wanted to be a baker, and considering my surname, it only seemed natural. But, unfortunately, I’m anything but natural in the kitchen. I tend to burn, undercook, or on rare occasions, both, anything I attempt to create—and honest to God, that itself seems to take a talent. But it doesn’t stop me from trying my hand at baking up a sweet treat.

  “Can you believe this?” Macy whispers as she nods to the front where Ginger seems to be wrapping up her psychotic spiel. “It’s like a coven in here, featuring all the prettiest witches Maine has to offer.”

  “Funny,” I say. “You’re not really buying into the spell she’s casting, are you?”

  “Are you kidding?” My feisty sister’s eyes bug out. “I’ve already downloaded the audio book so I can play it on a loop. I’m thinking about having it on while I sleep. You know, letting it sink in on a subliminal level. Do you know who’s not buying into it?”

  “Me,” I deadpan and she makes a face.

  “No.” Macy gives me the crazy eyes. “Our mother. Can you believe she has a boy toy to call her own? And here I am single and desperate to mingle.” She pops a mini muffin into her mouth and chews with haste. “I can’t wait to meet him at the Haunted Harvest Festival tomorrow. I’m not sure who’s more excited, her or me. I bet he’s old and wrinkly and has a bank account loaded with dead presidents.” She pops another mini pumpkin spice mini muffin into her mouth and moans as she heads back to her seat.

  “Dead presidents?”

  A riotous applause breaks out, and soon enough the bodies are circulating throughout the room. Emmie’s pumpkin spice mini muffins start disappearing at an alarming rate, and it only pleases me to see it. I’ll have to do a refill run quicker than anticipated. I’d say they were a bigger hit than Ginger and her manhandling ways—but, seeing that there’s a thick crowd mobbing her at the moment, I doubt others would agree with me.

  Georgie runs up with her purple kaftan flowing behind her, a huge rather naughty looking grin on her face.

  “Can you believe it, Bizzy?” she beams as she snatches up a few pumpkin spice mini muffins herself. Her gray hair is wild and wiry and adds an all-around charming granny appeal. “Every pot has a lid! Ginger said it herself. You can’t make that stuff up.”

  “Please.” I can’t help but avert my gaze. “She didn’t have to make a single thing up. She borrowed every tired adage that came from her mouth. You could be miserable and rich just as easy as you could be miserable and poor? No one should be wowed by that line. I didn’t realize she was shilling misery along with fool’s gold.”

  Georgie swats me up and down the entire right side of my arm. “Would you hush? You’re liable to get us booted right out of here.”

  “Georgie, I run the inn. No one is booting me out of…” I’m about to finish making my point when I spot a sight that makes my heart stop cold.

  Jasper is locked in what seems to be a rather cozy conversation with Camila Ryder, his ex-girlfriend who looks as if she should be walking a runway in Milan, not at some slimy seminar on how to snag a man. She obviously doesn’t need help in that department. A woman as gorgeous as Camila could snag any man she wants.

  And then it hits me. I bet she found out that Jasper was staying here. Of course. It makes perfect sense. She didn’t come here to listen to tips on how to snag a man. She came here to execute the plan—by stealing my man.

  Jasper glances my way and does a double take once he spots me ogling them.

  I turn away quickly and pop a pumpkin spice mini muffin into my mouth.

  Great. He’s going to think I’m spying on him. Worse yet, judging him for wanting to talk to someone that he’s clearly intimately acquainted with.

  Georgie leans in. “He’s headed this way, Bizzy. And he’s bringing a leggy brunette with him. What were you thinking bringing a sexy vampire like Jasper to this cesspool of wanting and desire? A dozen different women are bound to have their fangs sunk into him by the end of the night.” She glances back and shudders. “Incoming. I’ll be back.” She scuttles off just as Jasper steps up with his old plus one.

  “Bizzy”—Jasper’s pale gray eyes seem to be pleading with me on some level despite the tight smile on his face—“I’d like you to meet an old friend. This is Camila Ryder. Camila, this is Bizzy Baker. She’s the manager here at the inn.”

  Manager at the inn? Is that all I am?

  I blink back at the cordial yet cold introductions.

  Although, what was I expecting him to say? This is the love of my life?

  We’ve just exchanged a few heated kisses. My heart sinks despite the fact. A part of me was hoping he would have given me a warmer title. Camila here gets to be his friend, while I’m the manager.

  “So nice to meet you,” I say. “Will you be needing a room at the inn?” I blink in disbelief that I even threw out the offer. Of course she doesn’t need a room at the inn. She lives a hop and a skip away in Sheffield. Jasper told me as much just a few weeks back. And she happens to be the very reason he left that town.

  Her mouth rounds out. “Actually, I would love a room. I’m having my kitchen renovated. They just did the demo work yesterday and it’s completely useless to me.” Her lips curl my way. “What a great idea, Bizzy. And to think I thought I was doomed to a month of making coffee in the bathroom.” A warm laugh bubbles from her, and I can’t help but like her at least a teeny bit.

  Me and my big ideas.

  “What brings you to the seminar?” I clamp my lips shut tight because obviously I need a muzzle around the woman. I can’t help it, though. She’s so pretty and fun to be around. A ridiculous part of me wants her to like me.

  She bats her long lashes at Jasper. “Leo and I are over.” She shrugs. “Sometimes I do things that I really regret—and spending time with Leo Granger was one of them.”

  Perfect. It takes everything in me not to openly frown.

  I remember Leo Granger. He showed up at the café last month, prying into my mind, letting me know that he could read them, too. I still cringe at the thought. He threatened to come back and hunt me down for who knows what.

  Last month, at the Harvest at the Cove event, his aunt ran into Georgie, and Georgie inadvertently spilled the supernatural beans regarding the fact I can read minds. Word got back to Leo and he was immediately on the hunt. Needless to say, he tracked me down in record time.

  Jasper’s chest widens. And here we go. Done with Leo, huh? I don’t care to know the details. His lips contort just this side of a frown.

  Great. That must mean Jasper isn’t interested in picking up where they left off.

  Jasper nods. “I figured you woke up.” Woke up? “Leo applied for the Seaview Sherriff’s Department. Rumor has it, he got the position, too.”

  Camila chortles as if it were hilarious. “It seems all my exes head to Seaview.” She looks my way. “Be sure to book me in a room near Jasper’s. We’ve always been close.” She bats her lashes up at him. And I predict we’re about to get a whole lot closer.

  I swallow hard. I don’t wait for Jasper to reply, or God forbid have a single positive thought about the two of them getting back together. Instead, I nod over at her.

  “I’ll get on that right away.” I shoot Jasper a look without meaning to. “Excuse me.” I head off into the crowd, embarrassed and enraged that I could be so ridiculous. If she wasn’t already making inroads with Jasper, I sure as heck assisted.

  I bump into a body, a man with dirty blond hair and a determined look on his face.

  “Sorry,” he says as he threads his way past me and pulls Shelby Harris to the side.

  I bet he’s with that organization of men Ginger threatened us with. I glance up, and sure enough Carter O’Riley and the boy brigade stride into the room. Not that I know which one is Carter, but I do know a herd of decent-looking men when I see them.

  Here’s hoping Camila spots one or ten she’s far more interested in than she is Jasper. But that nagging feeling in my gut tells me that won�
�t be happening. Face it, I’m not that lucky. And I’ve never been lucky in love. And with Camila on the opposing team? I don’t stand a chance.

  I’m about to head for the kitchen when Nessa heads straight for me, snaps me up by the hand, and soon we’re sailing toward the front of the room with me trailing behind her like a kite.

  “Bizzy, please tell my friends that I am simply working at the inn while I wait for some very important endeavors to fall into place for me.”

  Not this again.

  Both Nessa and Grady are convinced their stint here at the inn is something beneath them.

  Shelby Harris, the girl with an open face and strawberry blonde hair, shoots a look to her blonde counterpart, Chelsea. If I remember correctly, they have some influencer superpowers that have cast a spell over the world.

  The copper-haired girl who walked in with them strides up. “Please, Nessa. You don’t owe anyone an explanation of what you’re doing with your life.” She shoots both Shelby and Chelsea with death rays. “In fact, if I were you, I’d stay away from toxic people lest they drown you with their good intentions.”

  Shelby gags. “Nobody drowned you, Scout. You sank on your own. Besides, you’re doing PR now for Ginger. You should be penning us a thank you note.”

  The blond man with the determined look on his face plucks Shelby by the elbow.

  “Shel, please, this will only take a second.”

  “Don’t you touch me, Luke.” She yanks her elbow back and elicits a gasp among us.

  A dark-haired man enters our midst, tall and strapping. His eyes glow like green orbs, and I could swear I just heard a collective sigh break out around him.

  “Shel.” He nods her way. “Chelsea.” He offers the two of them amicable smiles before turning to the rest of the women who seem to be hypnotized by him. “I’m Carter O’Riley. If you’re wondering where all the healthy, wealthy, and wise men are, they’re currently at the refreshment table. I hear the muffins are to die for.”

  Shelby shoots him a look that could kill. “And here’s another one that can thank me for the best career move he’s ever made.” And to think he’s begged to have me back every day since I walked away. Teaches him to cheat on me.

  “You’ve got a face that could launch a thousand ships, babe,” Carter says it sweetly, and there’s a tenderness in his eyes that lets me know he means it. You’ve still got my heart, Shel. Please, just give me a minute of your time, he pleads silently, and it’s hard to listen to—even if I am prying into his mind to hear it.

  Nessa scoffs. “More like the face that could sink a thousand mortgages. I’ve never been sorrier that I’ve ever met anyone before. If you’re done with your dog and pony show, I’d like to ask you to leave now.”

  “Nessa!” I practically jump back, affronted that she’s speaking to a guest that way. It’s clear we’ll have to revisit every golden rule of hospitality. I’m sorry that she doesn’t care for the girl, but she’s going to have to shelf it. Lord knows I’ve done it a dozen times myself whenever Mack shows her queen of mean face—and with Jasper hanging around, she seems to do it twice as often. Now there’s one boyfriend of mine she won’t get to steal—Camila just might beat her to it first.

  Chelsea steps in, her eyes wide as a vicious smile expands over her face. “Yes, Nessa. Get back to the front desk where you’re needed for important things like pointing people to the restroom.”

  Both Chelsea and Shelby indulge in a robust laugh, and Nessa looks as if she’s ready to strangle them both.

  “Oh, come on.” Shelby waves Nessa off. “You’re being ridiculous. And I’m certainly not talking mortgages with you. It’s not my fault your father got in over his head.”

  Her father?

  Nessa’s face turns red as a pomegranate. “And no thanks to people like my father, your family is living high on the hog. You don’t care. You’re heartless, Shelby. Oh, I could just kill you.” Nessa stalks off just as the blond man tries to pluck Shelby to the side once again, but Shelby snatches back her wrist as she growls at him.

  “And I could just kill you,” Shelby riots in his face before storming out of the ballroom herself.

  I’m about to do the same when Ginger heads this way. “Where did Shel go?” she snips, that faux plastered smile finally dissipating from her face. “I can’t hold this ugly mutt another second.”

  “Ugly mutt?” I balk at how brazenly rotten she’s being. “He’s adorable. Here, let me take him.” I hold out my arms and she practically tosses the sweet angel at me. I drop a quick kiss over the pudgy little pooch’s head and press his warm body to mine.

  Ginger grunts, “I’d better wash up. He slobbered all over me. My God, I probably have rabies.” She takes off and I can’t help but scoff at her.

  “How could she say those things about this precious little dumpling?” I sink another kiss right between his ears and his soft fur tickles my nose.

  “Easy.” Chelsea smirks. “She doesn’t want anything to do with pets or babies.” She shoots Scout a disparaging look. “Ginger’s PR girl gave her brilliant advice and told her to steal a pet and pretend it’s hers.”

  Scout straightens. “It was brilliant. That woman needs all the help she can to make her more likeable. She’s a walking, talking nightmare. I didn’t realize she would ask to borrow Shelby’s poor puppy.”

  Chelsea glowers at the rear exit. “I better find Shelby.” But that dog will be the last thing we talk about. She takes off for the rear of the room like a woman on a mission.

  Scout smirks in her wake. “Good luck with that,” she shouts in her wake. She won’t talk to Shel if I find her first. She takes off into the crowd as music filters through the speakers and the din of conversations picks up a notch in octave.

  I try to pry into the sweet pooch’s mind, but he’s practically shivering right out of his skin.

  “I’d better get you somewhere quiet,” I whisper to him as I head toward the door, but before I get there, I spot Jasper with a whole new, tall, beautiful brunette stapled to his side. Mack Woods.

  And there she is. Boy, Mack never misses a boyfriend beat.

  Just what I needed. A little competition for Camila. My heart sinks at the prospect of losing Jasper to either one of them.

  A part of me is beginning to wonder if this relationship has been one-sided all along.

  But I’m not sticking around to find out. Instead, I speed out the door and head right out of the ballroom where it’s dead silent compared to the boisterous crowd roaring to life in there. An explosive rattle goes off and I stop dead in my tracks. Hopefully, that refreshment table didn’t collapse on itself. I take a quick peek back inside, but everything looks as if it survived. I have a feeling that with this crowd that won’t be the last explosive sound I’ll hear tonight.

  I pull Peanut up and drop a warm kiss to his forehead. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to drop you off at the Critter Corner daycare. It’s still staffed for another couple of hours, and I’ll make sure to tell Shelby where to find you. I promise you’ll be safe and comfortable.”

  The tiny ball of fur shivers in my arms. Thank you.

  “Hey?” I give him a playful jostle. “You’re welcome. I can hear your thoughts, by the way. Don’t you listen to a thing that mean woman said. You’re beautiful and sweet, and you don’t have rabies.”

  He lets out a yelp that mimics a laugh. You can hear me! And you’re right. She is mean. A mean witch. I’d give anything not to be held by her again. Next time I think I’ll resort to biting.

  “I wouldn’t sink to her level. I’ll talk to Shelby for you and see what I can do.”

  I’d appreciate that.

  I speed us down a lone hall that leads to the rear of the building and note the back door is opened.

  Odd. It’s a staff only exit that leads to a dark courtyard. I’ve been meaning to string some lights up around there to give it a cozy appeal, but if anyone heads out there now they’ll be met with a cobbled pathway that leads to
Critter Corner and the forest that butts up to it.

  Outside, the autumn sky is dark, save for a burnt orange glow signifying a spectacular sunset that just settled. The air is crisp and the maples are already shedding their papery leaves to the ground in colors of red and orange. There is no prettier sight than fall in Cider Cove.

  An owl coos from high in the evergreens. A coyote howls into the night, and a mean shiver rides through me once again. It’s as if something evil has descended on Cider Cove this October, and I shake my head at the thought.

  Halloween will be here in just a few weeks, and that spooky night always gets the darker half of my imagination going.

  I’m about to head to Critter Corner when I spot something along the cobbled path and I take a quick step back, holding onto Peanut tightly.

  “Oh my God.”

  Lying on the ground with a bloom of crimson over her chest is Shelby Harris.

  It looks like I won’t be telling her a thing about Peanut.

  Shelby Harris is dead.

  Chapter 3

  A knife-sharp scream evicts from me, so bloodcurdling, poor Peanut howls right along with me.

  “Shelby,” her name rips from me so riotously loud my bones vibrate from the effort.

  Not my Shelby. Peanut howls all the louder. Shelby! Come back to me!

  In what feels like a blur, footsteps quicken from behind and a dark-haired man runs up panting. It takes a moment for it to register that it’s Carter O’Riley.

  “What’s happened?” he barks it out with a marked aggression, and it takes everything in me to point to the ground. Lying on the cobbled path with her limbs splayed over red and yellow foliage is Shelby Harris, her eyes still opened to the navy sky above.

  “Shelby!” Carter falls over her, doing his best to shake her to life as a barrage of footsteps hustle this way.

  A pair of strong arms grips me from behind.

  “Bizzy?” Jasper pulls me in momentarily, the stubble of his cheek brushing roughly over my face. “My God, are you okay?”