Boston Cream Killer: Book 8 in The INNcredibly Sweet Series (2 page)

“For someone who is so laid back, I don’t have a clue how that man keeps up with everything that he does,” Missy remarked, shaking her head, impressed.

“Tell me about it,” Echo raised her eyebrows. “He’s almost twenty years older than we are, and he makes me tired just talking about his schedule, never mind keeping up with it.”

“There’s something to be said about men with that kind of stamina,” Missy teased, waiting for a reaction.

She got one. Echo blushed and turned away, snapping on a pair of gloves and reaching for a cupcake to frost.

“You seem to be more chipper this morning,” her friend changed the subject. “What’s got you so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed?”

“Chas and I had a date last night. It was just so nice to finally be alone with him and have his full attention. He gets pulled in so many directions that it makes me feel bad for him sometimes.”

“Well, if there’s anyone who can handle stressful situations and multiple tasks, it’s your hunk of a man,” Echo grinned.

“He is pretty wonderful,” Missy agreed. “Just frost the ones that you’re going to eat, and we’ll have some coffee and a snack before we finish up the rest,” she gestured at the cupcakes with a knife smeared in fudge.

“I’m all for that idea,” was the enthusiastic reply.

The two women sat down with their cupcakes and coffee at their favorite bistro table in the eating area of the little shop. Echo took the first bite and her eyes practically rolled back in her head.

“I don’t know about your version, but my cupcakes are amazing,” she declared, holding a hand in front of her mouth while she chewed.

Missy nodded, her own mouth full. “The pudding is so creamy, it’s insane, and the vanilla flavor, oh my…” she agreed. “I think that I could eat about forty of these.”

“Then you’ll have to bake more,” Echo joked.

“With pleasure. Hey, how are things coming with the bookstore?” Missy asked.

Echo owned two shops downtown, which she’d connected so that she’d be able to run both. The first was a handmade candle shop. She’d started out making candles that were scented like Missy’s cupcake flavors and selling them at the inn and cupcake shop. Her business quickly expanded via the internet, and in no time at all, she’d made enough money to open up the shop. When the sweet elderly owner of the bookstore next to the candle shop passed away, she willed her store to Echo, who had cut a huge archway between the two shops to allow access. Their mutual friend, Carla, who was a decorator, was helping her to remodel the interior.

“Oh, girl,” she gushed with pride. “It’s so adorable! We’ve done it in French Country style, with sage green walls and antiques and a black and white checkerboard floor. The crown moulding has gone up, we’ve created a kids section, and the rest of the furniture for the reading room should be in this week. I have three interviews scheduled today to find a manager,” Echo explained excitedly.

“Oh that’s so great, honey,” Missy reached over and squeezed her friend’s hand. “I’m so happy for you! Just let me know when the grand opening will be so that I can bake plenty of cupcakes.”

“I wouldn’t have a grand opening without you,” she beamed, impulsively leaning over to hug her best friend.

Joyce Rutledge dabbed at her forehead with a snowy white cloth hankie. Florida humidity in July was nothing to trifle with, and the curvy young woman felt the uncomfortably warm sting of the sun on her dark mocha skin, hoping that she wasn’t getting a sunburn. She glanced at her watch again and sighed, glancing up and down the street. She saw a striking woman with wild, curly red hair, and hoped that it was Echo Willis.

“Oh my gosh, are you Joyce? Am I late?” the woman said, approaching her.

Joyce chuckled. “Yes, ma’am, that’s me, and no, you’re not late. I always make it a point to arrive at a job interview a little bit early so that I can relax and check things out before I go in. I wasn’t counting on this heat though,” she admitted. “How did it become so oppressive so early in the morning?”

“I know what you mean. I feel limp already. I’m Echo Willis,” Echo stuck out her hand and Joyce shook it firmly and with a smile. “Let me find my keys…” she mumbled, digging in her oversized patchwork purse.

“I’m guessing that you’re looking to hire someone who’ll be able to open up the shop in the morning,” Joyce joked, watching the business owner paw through various items, searching for her keys.

“Oh, goodness yes! I’m definitely not a morning person. It takes me a pot of coffee and a couple of cupcakes to get going on most days,” she chuckled, finally finding the keys. “Aha! Here they are. Let’s get inside, where it’s nice and cool. I’m so sorry that I kept you waiting.”

“No worries,” the young woman replied, tucking her handkerchief into the small clutch that she carried, which perfectly complemented her lemon-yellow summer suit.

Her eyes went wide with that special kind of joy, experienced only by bibliophiles, when she stepped into the candle shop and gazed through the archway at the nearly completed bookstore.

“Ohhhh… I can tell already that this place is going to become my second home, whether I work here or not,” she nodded, clearly longing to check out the selection of books that graced the richly-finished wood shelving.

“It’s cozy, isn’t it?” Echo agreed enthusiastically, tossing her purse on the desk in the office that the two shops shared. “I’m not quite done with it yet, but it’ll be finished soon. Let me give you a tour,” she offered, snapping on the switch for the coffee pot on her way.

Echo showed Joyce how the bookstore was going to be arranged when the renovations were done, and the rich scent of freshly brewed coffee wafted through the space, mingling with the delicious scents of the cupcake-themed candles on the other side of the building.

“I think I’m gonna put on some pounds if I end up working here,” Joyce laughed, patting her hip. “How do you stand smelling those candles all day without eating everything in sight?”

Echo grinned. “You get used to it after a while, but I have to admit, every once in a while, I’ll make an “emergency” stop at my friend’s cupcake shop after a long day.”

“You have a friend with a cupcake shop? That’s just plain dangerous, honey,” Joyce shook her head.

“Truer words were never spoken,” the redhead nodded. “Are you ready to sit down and have a little chat?”

“Yes, ma’am,” was the easy reply, and Joyce followed Echo back to the office.

“How do you take your coffee?” Echo asked, heading for the break room.

“Black and strong, just like me, ma’am,” Joyce grinned.

“Coming right up,” Echo grinned, enjoying the pleasantly plump young woman’s somewhat brash personality.

Several things were obvious to Echo by the end of Joyce’s interview. There was no need to interview anyone else, with the young woman’s education and experience, she was more than qualified. She was vastly overqualified in fact, and didn’t seem to care in the least. Her energy and intelligence would be a tremendous asset, and her enthusiasm would make her an instant hit with customers. She was bright, beautiful, and more than capable of taking charge and handling whatever challenges were thrown her way.

“You’re hired. When can you start?” Echo asked, after enjoying chatting and laughing with Joyce for nearly an hour. The well-read young bookworm was a delight to be around.

“Now works for me,” she joked.

“It works for me too, but you’ll want to go home and change into something more casual. We’re still finishing up renovations, and I’d hate to see you smudge that lovely suit. If you really would like to start today, I can certainly use the help. By the time you come back, I can have your new employee packet ready to go.”

“Sounds good to me, ma’am,” Joyce grinned, standing up and shaking Echo’s hand on her way out.

“Perfect, and please, call me Echo.”

“Yes ma’am, Miss Echo,” she waved. “I’ll be back shortly.”

Echo was thrilled. She’d now have someone to talk to when there were no customers in the shop, and someone who could fill in for her when she needed to run an errand or two. She had a feeling that hiring Joyce Rutledge, this spunky young gal who’d recently moved to Calgon from Georgia, was going to be the smartest thing she’d done in quite some time.

Hannah Folsom checked her hair in the mirror before leaving her hotel room, reluctant to emerge into the smothering heat of a Calgon, Florida, summer, but she had a job to do, and truthfully, the weather was just as sticky in NYC. At least the air was cleaner here, in small-town America. She’d have to put on her most wholesome front in order to interact with the locals, but the headline-making story that she’d get out of it, would ultimately make the charade worthwhile.

Her first stop was at a shop called Cupcakes in Paradise, which she hoped wasn’t as tacky as its name. She fully intended to befriend the owner, one Melissa Gladstone-Beckett, wife of her target, Detective Chas Beckett. She was hoping that the woman, who was originally from Louisiana, and had managed to snag one of the world’s most eligible bachelors, might warm up to her enough to reveal some significant information about her mysterious husband, Charles Beckett, one of the heirs to the Beckett fortune.

Hannah was on the trail of a juicy story about Chas’s family and some very questionable associates of the Beckett Holdings Corporation, and she’d stop at nothing to get to the ugly truth. She’d visit every cupcake shop and county fair in this sleepy seaside town if that’s what it took. She’d tried to dress down for her tasks, foregoing her usual designer wardrobe and choosing a more modest ensemble of a clingy knit skirt that swirled around her knees, a coordinating sleeveless top, and brightly colored kitten heels. Her nails were perfectly manicured—there was only so far that she’d go to fit in—and her hair was artfully arranged, but she’d kept her makeup light and natural-looking, hoping that she’d seem more genuine and trustworthy.

Hannah pulled her nondescript rental sedan into the parking lot of Cupcakes in Paradise, relieved to see that the little shop wasn’t sporting palm trees and hot pink flamingos in its décor, at least on the outside. Checking her look in the rearview mirror one last time, she pasted a plastic smile on her face, hoping that her professionally whitened teeth weren’t a dead giveaway, and headed inside.

“Hi!” she said brightly, when the bell over the door announced her arrival.

There was a pretty blonde woman behind the counter, and a younger gal seated at one of the tables. The two appeared to be engaged in a funny conversation, judging by the giggles that subsided when Hannah appeared. While she knew that the blonde was Melissa Beckett, she found it hard to believe that this seemingly down-to-earth, unassuming woman was the mate of Chas Beckett.

“Good morning. How are you today?” Missy greeted her with a charming southern accent.

“I’m great, thanks. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything,” Hannah’s face was beginning to hurt from the effort of smiling.

“Oh no, not at all. We were just visiting a little bit. What can I do for you?”

Hannah gazed with faked longing at the case full of obscene amounts of carbs in front of her, thinking that the young woman seated at the table looked familiar.

“Hmm… I don’t know… How does anyone ever decide which cupcake will be the perfect one? There are so many wonderful choices.”

“I just had one of the Boston cream cupcakes, and it was to die for,” Izzy Gilmore, the young woman at the table, suggested, trying to be helpful.

Izzy, a famous horror novelist, had moved to Calgon a few months back, and was currently dating the handyman who worked for Missy at the bed and breakfast next door. Hannah turned to Izzy, feigning interest while trying to place her.

“Boston cream cupcakes? Well, that certainly sounds interesting. What are they?”

This being Melissa’s area of expertise, she described, in nauseating detail, everything that one would ever want to know about Boston cream cupcakes. Knowing that she’d be depositing the fat capsule in the nearest trash can anyway, Hannah ordered one, gushing about how wonderful it sounded.

“Have we met?” Izzy asked, gazing at Hannah with a confused but pleasant frown. “You look so familiar to me.”

“Oh, probably not. I’m just in Florida on vacation, I don’t know anyone down here,” she shrugged, wondering who this woman was, and hoping that she wasn’t someone who could blow her cover. “But I get asked that a lot. Maybe I just have one of those faces that seems familiar.”

“Could be,” Izzy nodded, taking a sip of her coffee and letting the moment pass.

“Here you go,” Melissa Beckett handed over a small pink box topped with a cream-colored satin bow. “If you’re visiting here, feel free to come over and take a walk on our beach,” she gestured toward the window, which had lovely views of the ocean. “My husband and I own the bed and breakfast next door, and try to make it a point to make guests who visit Calgon feel welcome.

“Well, isn’t that sweet? Thank you,” Hannah replied, hoping that she was executing a fairly plausible impression of a non-city girl.

“Oh you’re more than welcome, sugar. I hope you’ll stop by and see us again, whether you want another cupcake, or to just chat, or if you have a question about what to do in our fair city.”