Creamsicle Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 11 (Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries) (7 page)

“So,
you’ve now entered the ranks of the rich and shameless, eh?” Echo teased,
sitting across from Missy at one of the little tables in the eating area,
devouring her vegan Morning Glory muffin.

Missy
giggled, nearly choking on her coffee. “Me? Heck no! I’m not the one who’s a
billionaire, I’m just the poor little cupcake shop owner with the most
handsome, amazing boyfriend in the world, who just happens to be ridiculously
wealthy,” she shook her head in amazement. “I love that he hasn’t changed a
bit. You’d never know he just inherited more money than anyone could ever hope
to spend in a lifetime. He is getting quite a kick out of anonymously donating
to his favorite causes with wild abandon though,” she smiled fondly, loving his
philanthropic tendencies.

“Hmm…”
her friend mused. “That is really great. I just hope he proposes soon,” she
said casually.

This
time Missy did choke on her coffee, grabbing for a napkin and hoping it wouldn’t
come out of her nose.

“What?
Why on earth would you want him to do that?” she exclaimed, astonished.

Echo
sat back in her chair, enjoying her friend’s flustered discomfort immensely.
“Well, for starters, with your planning, it’d be the wedding of the century,
I’d have a reason to dress up for a change, you’d be locking down the most
eligible man on the planet, and purely from a practical standpoint, once word
of his financial status gets out, woman are going to be throwing themselves at
his feet from far and wide,” she warned, looking pointedly at her friend.

“Locking
down?” Missy scoffed. “Sorry, that’s not the kind of relationship that either
of us signed up for, thanks,” she made a face. “And as far as other women, have
you seen this man? Women have been throwing themselves at Chas Beckett for
years, and he’s managed to stay safe from their clutches.”

“So,
combine those movie star good looks with a Rockefeller-sized bank account, and
you think that they’re not going to try just a teensy bit harder?” Echo asked,
skeptically.

“They
won’t know. Chas is doing everything he can to conceal how much money he has,”
Missy asserted with confidence.

“Oh
it’ll get out, you can bet on that. Somehow, it’ll get out,” her friend
predicted ominously.

The
bell over the front door jangled, alerting the women to a new arrival, and
Missy was delighted to see the object of their conversation walking in. She
jumped up to wrap her arms around his neck, kissing him boldly.

“Wow,
good to see you too,” the detective chuckled, picking her up and spontaneously
swinging her around.

“You
two are so adorable,” Echo chuckled, shaking her head and standing to go.
“Thanks for the muffin, my dear,” she said, giving her friend a loud kiss on
the cheek as she went out the door.

“Don’t
leave on my account,” Chas waggled his eyebrows.

“Oh
honey, trust me, I’d stick around to stare at that handsome mug all day if I
could, but I’m a working girl. The creamery is calling,” she drawled, heading
to her shop across the street.

Missy
giggled and waved as Echo made her way to the door. Gazing up at Chas, she
observed, “You look like you’ve had some good news today.”

He
nodded with a smile. “I decided to sponsor a Junior High baseball team in the
Spring, and they asked me to be an Assistant Coach.”

“And?”

“And
I said that I would. I haven’t been on a baseball field in years, but I’ve
never lost my love of the game, so it’ll be a blast being out there and working
with the kids,” he explained, enthusiasm lighting up his features.

“Should
I whip up a cheerleader outfit?” she teased.

“I’m
thinking more along the lines of a snack schedule, and cheering from the
stands.”

“Ooooo!
I could make cupcakes!” she exclaimed.

“Uhhh…I
think nowadays, the snacks are more nutritious, and there are dietary
guidelines to pay attention to – no nuts, no strawberries, that kind of thing,”
Chas said, hating to dampen her enthusiasm.

“Oh,
right,” she nodded. “I have no idea how modern moms keep up with all this
stuff.”

“Don’t
sweat it,” he advised, pulling her into his arms. “We’ll figure it out.
Besides, you’re a terrific “dog mom,” how much different can it be?” he joked.

“Hey,
do you think I can bring the dogs to the games?” Missy asked, excited at the
prospect.

Chas
smiled indulgently. “We can check at the park,” he promised, inclining his head
to kiss her.

“Well…isn’t
this just perfectly quaint,” a nasal female voice with a pronounced “old money”
accent drawled sarcastically.

Missy
and Chas broke apart, both looking up in surprise, having been so involved in
their conversation that they hadn’t heard the bell over the door. Missy saw a
lovely, willowy brunette dressed in thousands of dollars worth of designer
clothing, peering around at her little shop as though it might contain scads of
roaches.

“Constance,”
Chas acknowledged the woman. “How did you know to find me here?” he asked,
reaching to shake the elegant creature’s hand.

“The
provincial folk down at that hovel of a police station said that you might be
here,” she curled her lip a bit.

“How
kind of them,” Chas responded, clearly not pleased. “If you’ll excuse me for a
moment,” he turned back to Missy, not waiting for her response.

“I
have a business meeting with Constance that shouldn’t take too terribly long.
Meet me for dinner at my house?” he invited, ignoring the impatient tapping of
a designer shoe on Missy’s hand-hewn floor.

“Of
course, what should I bring?” Missy asked.

“Just
you and the girls,” he replied, referring to Toffee and Bitsy, who had their
own beds, bowls and toys at his house.

“You
got it,” she grinned. He kissed her on the forehead and opened the door for the
delicate-looking woman, who left a cloud of expensive perfume undulating
through the shop.

With
Echo’s words of warning resounding in her mind, she watched the pair exit,
realizing that Chas hadn’t bothered to introduce her to his business associate.
At dinner, later that evening, she asked how he knew Constance.

“We
went to school together. Her father and my father had common business
interests, and Constance came out to try to negotiate a price for the takeover
of one of our current holdings,” he explained, chopping vegetables for a salad.

“Wow,”
Missy said, raising her eyebrows.

“What?”
Chas asked.

“I
don’t know, she just seemed to be really…high maintenance for a high-powered
negotiator,” she admitted, a touch embarrassed at what sounded like a judgment
on her part.

Chas
chuckled. “I agree. Connie is a rare breed. Her mother raised her to be a
perfect lady, skilled in the art of spending, dressing well, and throwing
parties, but she spent her spare time quietly in the back of her father’s
boardrooms, all while getting a top-notch education at one of the most
exclusive universities in the world.”

“Wow,
Super Woman, huh?” Missy smiled wanly.

“Hardly,”
Chas grimaced. “Spending any amount of time with Constance Braden reminds me
profoundly of every reason that I had for leaving New York,” he commented
dryly.

Missy
gazed at him in that moment, loving him more than she ever had. Coming up
behind him as he worked on dinner, wrapping her arms around his waist, she
sighed contentedly, leaning her head on his broad, muscular back.

“You
are absolutely wonderful, you know that?” she said, squeezing him tight.

“What
brought that on, crazy lady?” he teased, modestly.

“I
am crazy. Crazy about you,” she sighed.

The
detective lowered his knife and turned around to face the woman he loved.
“Let’s hope you stay crazy then,” he murmured, moving in for a kiss.

A letter from the Author

To each and every one of
my Amazing readers:
I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing
it.  Let me know what you think by leaving a review!

I’ll be releasing another installment in two
weeks so to stay in the loop (and to get free books and other fancy stuff)
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Stay Curious,

Carol Durand