Raspberry Mojito Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 20 (7 page)

“Is everybody ready?” Heather asked.

The chorus of whoops and cheers
answered her. The assistants stood behind her, along with Eva, and lifted Donut
Delights boxes. Ronald Tombs stood off to one side, twiddling his thumbs over
the screen of his cell.

Heather jangled the keys to the front
door of the new and improved store. This wasn’t the grand opening, but it would
be the first time she’d seen the new store. It’d finished the day before.

“C’mon, already, some of us aren’t
getting any younger,” Amy said.

“Speak for yourself.” Eva patted her
plum-colored hair and chuckled.

Heather inserted the key into the
front door and turned it. The lock clicked. She inhaled, then opened the front
door of Donut Delights.

“Wooo! Let’s go,” Ken yelled.

Heather strode into the interior and
looked around. Her jaw dropped. She grabbed at one of the wrought iron chairs,
the same Eva always sat in and held herself upright. “It’s huge. It’s amazing,”
she stammered.

The storefront of Donut Delights had
doubled in size. More wrought iron, glass-topped tables had been brought in.
The golden boards beneath Heather’s feet shone beneath rows upon rows of
downlights.

The counter at the front stretched to
accommodate double the amount of donuts.

Heather’s assistants and friends filed
into the store. Gasps and giggles rang out, echoed in the massive space.

“There’s a new coffee machine,” Amy
squeaked.

“Yeah, we got rid of the old one.
You’re going to need to serve a lot more customers in the coming days,” Ronald
Tombs said, and looked up from his phone. “That’s an industrial grade machine.
Same as the mixers in the kitchen. Ovens too.”

Heather stumbled from her position and
linked arms with Eva.

“Are you all right, dear?” She asked.

“Overwhelmed,” Heather replied. It was
the best she could do, given the circumstances.

Jung burst out of the kitchen doors.
“You have got to see this. Oh wow. Oh my gosh.”

Heather, Eva, and the gang hurried
through to the kitchen. The doors swung inward, and they stepped into…
Heather’s grandmother would’ve named it ‘paradise.’ Because that was what, this
was.

Silver counters stretched through the
space. Ovens lined one wall, big enough to take triple the amount of batches
Heather had even made in a day.

“And this is something I’ve been
keeping secret,” Ronald Tombs said. He strode between them and to a silver door
at the end of the room. He grasped the handle then pulled.

Shelves filled the room to capacity,
and a light fog rolled into the kitchen, through the open door.

“Is that –”

“A walk-in refrigerator. For
perishables,” Ronald said.

Heather’s stomach whooped. A
hysterical giggle escaped her lips. “This is unbelievable. I can’t thank you
enough, Ronald.”

“Oh you can thank me, Mrs. Shepherd,”
he replied, and straightened his tie. He shut the door and clunked the handle
to the lock position. “You can thank me by returning on my investment with
massive profits.”

The joy turned into a kaleidoscope of
butterflies. They pummeled the lining of her stomach and attacked her senses.
“We’ll do everything we can to make Donut Delights the success it was made to
be. Right, guys?”

“Right,” the group yelled, as one.

Eva shook her fist and beamed around
at everyone.

The one thing Heather refused to skimp
on was quality.

“That’s all I needed to hear,” Ronald
said. “I’ve ordered a full feast from Dos Chicos. It should be delivered within
the next twenty minutes.”

“And we’ve got dessert,” Heather
replied, and pointed to the Donut Delights boxes, packed to the brim with
delicious Raspberry Mojito Donuts. “Which reminds me. We’re going to have to
recreate these for the grand opening in a few days. I was worried about it, but
after seeing the size of this kitchen and the equipment, we have access to –”

“Yeah, the only thing you’ve got to
worry about is Ang eating all the raspberry jelly,” Amy said.

“I get the rolling pin for you,”
Angelica said and narrowed her eyes. She winked a second later.

Heather laughed and led the way out
into the front of the store. The task ahead of their team would define their
futures. This would be the start of a new –

Lilly stood in the center of the
store. Pamela, her social worker, stood beside her.

The laughter at the back of the group
cut off. Confused looks spread between the assistants. Amy sucked in a breath,
then reached out and squeezed Heather on the shoulder for support.

“Mrs. Shepherd?” Pamela said. “We need
to talk. I couldn’t get hold of your husband to organize a date and time.”

“I – that’s all right. I’ll call him
right away. Is everything all right?” Heather asked. “I mean, Lilly, can I talk
to you? Can I talk to her? Are you all right?”

“Heather, you’re rambling,” Amy
whispered, and nudged her forward.

Heather’s arm slipped from Eva, and
she took two steps toward the woman and the young girl. She stared at Lilly,
unblinking.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” she replied. A hint of a
smile played across her lips. “I’m great.” She took a step forward, and then
another.

Heather’s breath caught in her chest.

Lilly broke into a jog, then flung her
arms around Heather’s waist and hugged her tight. “I choose you, Au-Heather.”

Tears streamed down Heather’s cheeks.
She couldn’t swallow or speak around the lump in her throat. She dropped to her
knees and hugged Lilly.

“Yes, Lilly has chosen to stay with
your family, Heather,” Pamela said. “But there’s a wealth of paperwork and
information we need to get out of the way first.”

Heather looked up at the social
worker. “That’s not a problem,” she replied.

Nothing was a problem, now that her
little family was finally complete.

THE END

A letter from the Author

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Susan Gillard