Maddie's Recipe Of Mysteries (A Rockcrest Cove Cozy Mystery Book 1) (5 page)

As she grabbed the container and slid it off the shelf, something fell from underneath. It was so fast, Madeline barely noticed it, but she did hear the soft thud as it hit the floor. She climbed down from her stool, placed the canister on the counter, and stooped down to pick up a small red notebook.

“What’s this?” she said to herself.

Turning the pages, Emma’s characteristic handwriting with her distinctive slanting and the curling of letters that shouldn’t be curled was apparent. Emma always was one to go against the grain. It didn’t take long to notice that nearly every page had notes about one of Maddie’s secret recipes on it. Other pages had scribbling marks she couldn’t decipher. It was apparent that Emma had been trying to copy her recipes, and had kept a record of everything Madeline had been doing since she had started working for her.

Madeline crunched up her eyebrows in a perplexing way. She looked through the pages and tried to figure out what all of it meant. Slowly, she began to remember.

Chapter Six

There was something about the notebook that seemed strange but familiar at the same time. As Madeline flipped through the pages, she noticed that Emma had made extensive notes on the very recipes that had made her bakery so popular. Recipes she had never shared with anyone, even Bailey, were being analyzed and tested to see if Emma could figure out the recipes. The strangest thing she found was a page with newer recipes that she was working on and new ideas she hadn’t even tested yet.

This notebook was new, but Emma hadn’t been working for her for more than two years. Who could have left it in the kitchen, and how could Emma have found out about it? Better yet, how is it that the police missed it when they went through her entire store just a few days ago? Madeline looked genuinely perplexed as she leaned on the stainless steel kitchen counter and flipped through the notebook’s tattered pages. A little anger was beginning to boil up inside her, and she regretted that she had ever hired Emma and brought her into her confidence. Her mind drifted back to the moment she realized Emma was not the true friend she had always believed her to be, the day the veil of innocence was lifted and she finally saw what everyone else had seen.

~~~

It was two years ago and Madeline’s store had grown fast. From its very beginning, her new pastry recipes were a big hit. She was relishing in her glory; the business was doing well and she had just gotten a great review in the local paper. The store had become so busy that Madeline was barely able to keep up with the customer demand. Instead of working in the back office taking care of administrative duties, she had had to put her paperwork down and help the girls in the front to keep up with the steady flow of traffic during the morning rush. 

Madeline ran her forearm across the brow of her forehead and gazed at the growing line of customers. She had mixed feelings at the sight. On the one hand, she was thrilled to see so many customers and she relished in her business’s success, but on the other hand, she was tired and frustrated. She began to doubt herself and question her ability to run a successful business. It was far more work than she had anticipated.

“May I help the next in line, please?” she announced to the crowd.

A stoutly business woman stepped up to the counter. “I’d like a dozen crescent rolls, please.”

“Sure thing.”

Madeline looked in the display case to see that the crescent rolls were nearly all gone. There were only two remaining.

“I’m sorry, we only have two left. If you don’t mind waiting a moment, there’ll be more coming from the kitchen soon.”

“Oh, great!” the woman said with relief. “I was worried that you were going to tell me you were out. I don’t mind waiting.”

“Thank you,” Madeline said. “How would you like a free cup of coffee while you wait? It shouldn’t take long.”

“Thank you,” the woman said appreciatively. She gracefully accepted the coffee and took a seat at a nearby table.

Madeline turned to Emma, who had been helping her during the rush.

“Emma, could you go in the back and ask Rita to bring out some more crescent rolls?”

“Sure thing,” Emma said and disappeared through the door leading to the back office.

Madeline immediately turned to help the next customer in line. But after she had helped three more customers, neither Emma nor Rita had returned. Relieved, she noticed that the morning rush was just about over. The line was beginning to thin out.

Rita appeared from the kitchen, her apron dusty with a spray of flour and her hands caked with wet dough. She carried a tray of crescent rolls and handed them to Madeline before turning to retreat back to the kitchen.

“Where’s Emma?” Madeline asked.

“I don’t know. She’s not out here?”

“No.”

“Hmm,” Madeline wondered out loud.

“She just came in and said you needed these and then left,” Rita offered. “I thought she had come back out here to help.”

Madeline looked at the two girls. “Do you two think you can handle it now?”

“Yes, ma’am,” they both agreed.

Madeline took off her apron and pushed through the door to the back. She checked the kitchen but Emma was nowhere to be found. As she walked past her office door, she could hear Emma’s voice.

Who was she talking to? She wondered.

She almost disregarded it and went back to the front, but then she heard Emma’s voice again.

“Yes. I have some of the recipes but not all of them.”

There was silence while the person on the other end spoke.

“Yes, that’s right,” Emma said. “But I haven’t figured out the combination yet.”

Another pause.

“It’s a blend of some sort. She mixes it and brings it in. I don’t even know where she buys the stuff, let alone what it is.”

Convinced that Emma was sharing her secret recipes, she pushed through the doorway to find her sitting quite comfortably in her chair, her feet on the desk and her back to the door. She was flipping through some small little book. Maybe it was the same one Maddie was holding now.

“Yes, that’s right.” She was nodding.

Emma paused while the other person spoke.

“Mmm hmm,” she said into the phone. “Maybe we can get some and have it analyzed at a lab or something.” Laughter.

“Emma!” Madeline shouted.

Startled, Emma visibly jumped at the sound of Madeline’s voice. She turned to see Madeline standing there, who was aghast at what she had just heard.

“What are you doing?” Madeline demanded.

“Um, ah, I was just talking to…”

“To who?” Madeline said harshly. It took a lot for her to get angry, but when she did, she had a fury like no other. She was almost at that point now.

“Uh, to my brother,” Emma recovered. “He just wanted to know what’s so special about your pastries.”

“And you told him my secret?”

“Well, I didn’t think it would cause any harm. I mean, he doesn’t even know how to cook or anything? He’s just curious.” She was scrambling hard to think of a way to wiggle out of this one.

“A lab?” Madeline questioned. “That doesn’t sound very innocent to me.”

“Oh,” Emma said with a nervous laugh. “We were just kidding. I told him how secretive you were about your recipes, and he said maybe we should get a lab to figure out your secret ingredient.” She laughed a little more until she noticed that Madeline wasn’t laughing along with her. “Anyway, what harm can it do? You don’t share your secrets with anyone. Not even me.”

Madeline stood there trying to decide exactly what to do. She debated whether Emma was telling the truth or not. Her instincts were telling her to fire her on the spot, but she knew Emma would not take it well, and right now she didn’t need the negative attention that firing her would undoubtedly bring. Rockcrest Cove was still a small town, and all her newfound prosperity could be destroyed with just one wrong decision. But she was still pretty angry that Emma would give out something so valuable so easily.

“Listen, Emma. These secrets are the heart of my business. I told you on day one that I don’t share this information with anyone, not even my own family.”

“Yeah, I know.” Emma tried to sound apologetic. “I just didn’t think it would be that big a deal. I mean it was only one recipe.”

“If I catch you sharing information like this again, Emma”—Madeline spoke with a forcefulness that Emma had never seen before—“you’re fired.”

Emma stood there, her apologetic face slowly giving way to anger.

Madeline watched a full transformation happen right before her eyes. For a moment the two women stood staring at each other.

There was no way for Emma to hold it in any longer. “How dare you.”

Madeline looked nonplussed at the statement, clearly taken off guard. “I beg your pardon?” she queried.

“You heard me,” Emma said. Her anger and jealousy had finally got the better of her.

“How dare you sit here in your precious little domain and treat me as though I had absolutely nothing to do with your success. As if you did it all by yourself.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about this store. How you cheated to get this store,” she said.

“I’ve worked this store from its very beginning with my own hands, with my own sweat.”

“And where did you get the money?” Emma demanded.

“The money?” Madeline looked confused.

“Yes, the money,” Emma said. “You used the money you won from the competition that the three of us entered.”

Madeline thought for a moment. She needed a minute to process the information Emma was spewing at her.

“Yes, I used the money from the competition that I won,” she said, putting a strong emphasis on the “I.”

“You should’ve shared the money with us.”

“What? Whatever gave you the idea that you deserved part of my winnings?”

“We entered the contest together.”

“Yes, we did. But you and Evan pulled out and decided to compete on your own.”

“But you used our recipe.”

“I most certainly did not.” Madeline was aghast. “I used my own recipe.”

“We had all agreed on the praline cupcake for the entry, and that’s what you won with.”

“Well, it wasn’t your recipe. You took yours when you pulled out of the team,” Madeline defended.

Now furious at the accusation, she continued. “And I’m going to say it again. If I ever catch you sharing my recipes with anyone ever again, I will fire you.”

“The day you fire me is the day I go public and tell the world how you cheated in the competition and bribed your way to success.” Emma’s voice spewed icy venom in Madeline’s direction.

“Well, then,” Madeline said with icy calmness. “Let that day be today.” She pointed in the direction of the front door. “Get out of my store.”

Emma looked shocked. She never really thought Madeline would actually fire her. She stood there still as a statue, her eyes red from anger.

“You’ll regret this,” Emma responded, but with less fire than she had before.

Madeline stood there, cold, angry, bitter, and deeply hurt. All this time she had thought that Emma was her friend, and now she saw her for who she really was. Emma grabbed her bag and stormed out of the store. She tried to slam the door as she left, but the electric device that allowed it to open and close slowly wouldn’t let her. She only made herself look more ridiculous as the other customers stared on. Humiliated, she left the store.

Standing in the office, Madeline worked hard to regain her composure. She picked up Astoria and stroked her soft fur to calm her nerves while she paced back and forth. Her thoughts were all over the place.

How long had Emma been giving away her secrets?

Who was she giving them to?

Why was she so convinced that she had cheated in the competition?

The questions wouldn’t stop running through her mind. Was she such a poor judge of character?

Why hadn’t she seen Emma for who she really was?

It took nearly an hour for her to calm herself down so she could get back to work. After a while she went into the kitchen to do what she did best. Bake. She had several orders she needed to fill before the day was over, so she’d better get to it. Both Rita and Sandra had heard the argument between the two women and thought it better to stay in the front of the store for a while. They both exchanged glances as Madeline entered the room and went to the register and started looking at the order slips.