Cupcakes and Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery (Book 5) (Frosted Love Mysteries) (6 page)

Cheryl
paced nervously, knowing that today was the day that her boss, Missy Gladstone
was coming back to work. She nearly fainted when the owner came in and greeted
her with a smile, a hug, and an authentic sombrero.

“Hi
Ms. G.,” she said, twisting her fingers together nervously.

“It’s
great to be back Cheryl,” Missy grinned, looking around her newly restored shop
with satisfaction. “Bring me up to speed.”

“Well,
umm…okay,” she hesitated. “Do you want the good stuff or the bad stuff first?”

Missy
smiled indulgently, knowing that she was so glad to be home, there was nothing
that Cheryl could say that would upset her unduly. “Gimme the good stuff
first.”

“Okay,
good. Well, we exceeded last year’s sales for this month significantly, and it
looks like it’s only going to keep growing. Grayson and I worked like crazy to
keep up, and I had to stay longer to bake extra batches sometimes. I guess that
could go in the bad stuff too,” she pulled her lower lip between her teeth and
chewed on it.

“No,
that’s fine. I figured that you’d have more hours than normal in my absence, no
worries,” Missy reassured her.

“Okay,
thanks. So then, we’ve been getting really good reviews and our lines are
longer than ever, even though we work really fast, so that’s good.”

“Yes,
it is – good job, I’m proud of you,” her boss beamed.

“Yeah.
Well. Then there’s the bad stuff.” The hand twisting intensified.

“Tell
me all about it,” Missy encouraged.

“Well,
the budget for the month kind of took a hit, because…remember when I asked you
about placing a dry goods order and you told me that I should just do it?”

Missy
nodded.

“Well,
I did place an order and so, even though we go through like 60 lbs. of flour
each month, I couldn’t remember, so I actually ordered 600,” Cheryl cringed,
awaiting Missy’s reaction. “It’s a lot, I’m really sorry.”

Missy
giggled. “Don’t worry about it, sweetie. Flour will never go to waste around
her,” she assured the nervous girl. “What else?”

“Well…Grayson
and I were wanting to do something creative one day, so we talked about what we
should do, and we both thought that it would be really cool if we made a black
cupcake with white icing. We called it the Black Tie, and they looked awesome.”

“Then
what was the problem?” Missy asked.

“Well,
the only flavor that we could think of for a black cupcake was black licorice,
and a few customers really liked it, but most of them really hated it, and I
didn’t want them to be mad because they bought something gross, so I gave them
a free cupcake or muffin of their choice to make up for it. It was kind of a
disaster,” she finished glumly.

Missy
laughed. “Well, I have to say, I love the Black Tie idea, maybe we can come up
with a more popular flavor for it. As for the free giveaways, you did exactly
what should have been done. We’re here to make our customers lives a little
sweeter, make their day a bit brighter. If we have to take a bit of a hit
because something we tried creatively didn’t work out the way we wanted it to,
so be it. Whatever makes them happy.”

“Soooo…you’re
not mad?” Cheryl sounded baffled and relieved all at once.

“No,
I’m not mad! You handled everything the way that it needed to be handled and
you made things work smoothly for our customers. Why would I ever expect more
than that? I love that you and Grayson make a great team, and I’m looking
forward to your cupcake ideas,” Missy reassured her. She made certain that Cheryl
and Grayson were set for the day, and then drove out to Dellville to check in
with Ben and Chris. The two young men had done an amazing job with the shop,
and had no ‘bad stuff’ to report, so after a supportive conversation filled
with gratitude, Missy made her way across the street to visit her friend Echo,
who had recently purchased the ice cream shop. The carefree woman from
California had turned an old-fashioned ice cream shop into a vegan, frozen
treat, ice cream alternative shop named Sweet Love, that oddly enough in this
small southern town, was thriving.

Echo
welcomed her with open arms. “I missed you, my friend,” she exclaimed, moving
in for a hug. “Tell me all about your adventures in Mexico,” she urged.

“Honey,
if I’m gonna do that, I’m gonna need a dish of your finest,” Missy shook her
head, remembering.

“Coconut-Pineapple
Dream, coming right up,” she stood with a swish of her gauzy skirt and a rattle
of beads. “Start talking!”

Missy
related to her friend the crazy experience that she had in Mexico, taking most
of the afternoon and a second dish of Dream to do so.

“Well,
sounds like Prince Charming saved the day as usual,” Echo teased, a bit envious
of Missy’s easy-going relationship with the handsome detective.

“He
always seems to, doesn’t he?” Missy nodded.

“And
I definitely think that you should make a vegan version of your guava tequila
cupcakes and the margarita ones. They both sound delicious!”

“Deathly
delicious,” Missy joked.

The
two chattered on for more than an hour, then Missy had to get back to LaChance
to take Toffee for her pre-dinner walk. Driving out of Dellville, she thought
about the many wonderful things in her life, she headed for the sunset,
thankful to be alive.

Melissa
Gladstone had an idea brewing that she thought would be a wonderful surprise
for her LaChance manager, Cheryl. While completely capable, intelligent and
accomplished, the young woman lacked confidence. There was a cupcake
competition coming up in East Texas that Missy wanted to take her to. The entry
would be under her name, but she wanted Cheryl to collaborate with her on the
creative development process and go through the rigor of participating in an
all-South competition, just to show her how capable she is, and how well she’d
measure up against some tough competition. Even if they didn’t win or place,
the experience would be good for a gal who hadn’t spent any time outside of
Lausanne County, Louisiana.

Ben,
Chris and Grayson were more than capable of shuffling schedules in order to
provide adequate coverage in the three stores, and when Missy had mentioned the
idea to Ben, he’d agreed wholeheartedly. He saw the potential in his girlfriend
and would happily be a part of any plan to unleash it. The timing of the
competition was perfect. It took place over a weekend and would have no impact
whatsoever on their preparation for the upcoming holiday season, their busiest
time of the year. She planned to make the arrangements and then spring it on an
unsuspecting Cheryl, counting on Ben to help keep her schedule clear so that
she’d be available to go.

Missy
hadn’t seen nearly enough of Chas Beckett since they’d returned from their
trip. He came over every chance that he had, but his desk had been piled high
with files when he got back to his office, and he’d spent many long, tedious
hours trying to catch up. Consequently, she was delighted when he came into the
LaChance shop, where she and Cheryl were preparing to close after a busy day.
Cheryl discreetly disappeared into the back when she saw the handsome detective
come in and kiss her boss soundly.

“I’ve
missed you,” Missy confessed, her arms wrapped around his neck.

“I’ve
missed you too,” he said, kissing her again. “And I have news.”

“Oh!
What’s the news?” she asked, excitedly.

“Michelle
Perez was convicted today on six counts of murder and one count of attempted
murder. She was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences. I thought you
would want to know.”

Missy
nodded, dropping her arms. “It’s sad that she made those choices, but at least
now, blonde women travelling to Cozumel will be safe.”

Chas
held her close. “I’m just glad that one particular blonde is safe,” he said,
gazing into her eyes. The emotion that rose up within Missy when he looked at
her like that was overwhelming, and she looked away, blushing. Someday she
hoped that she’d be able to return that clear, calm, gaze, but she just wasn’t
there yet, even though she longed to be.

“Okay,
Cheryl, today is all about creativity, Missy announced, breezing into the
kitchen at Missy’s Muffins and More, carrying bags full of ingredients. “I have
a variety of interesting things to choose from, and you’re going to pick out
your favorites and create something wonderful.”

Cheryl
brightened at the prospect, eager to see what was in the bags. Grayson shyly
asked how he could help, and Missy made his day when she told him that he was
in charge of the shop while she and Cheryl baked.

“Ms.
G.?” he said, hesitant.

“Yes,
Grayson?” Missy smiled at her shy, sensitive assistant.

“So…Cheryl
and I came up with an idea for a cupcake while you were gone, and…” he began.

“Oh,
no worries, Grayson, she told me about the Black Tie thing. It’s no biggie, I’m
glad that you two got creative” she interrupted him.

“Umm…no,
that’s not what I’m talking about. We, uh, came up with another idea when we
were both hungry one day, and I decided to try out the recipe at home last
night. I baked some for my mom and she said that it was the best thing she ever
tasted. I brought some for you and Cheryl, if you’d like to try them,” he
offered.

“Awesome!”
Cheryl exclaimed.

“Of
course we’d like to try, bring it on,” Missy encouraged.

He
went into the employee break room and returned carrying a foil-covered platter.
Uncovering a plate of snowy-capped cupcakes, he held the dish out to his boss
and co-worker so that they could take one. Missy peeled the paper away from her
cupcake and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully.

“Oh
my goodness, Grayson, these are fantastic!” she enthused, tasting elements of
sweet and savory that blended perfectly. Cheryl’s mouth was too full to speak,
so she just made an ‘mmhmm’ noise and nodded happily. “What’s in them?”

“Well,
like I said, we were hungry because we hadn’t eaten breakfast, so we thought
about different breakfast foods that we liked and came up with these. The
cupcake is chocolate chip, with tiny, freshly chopped bacon bits mixed in. For
the topping, I whipped some heavy cream with cream cheese and maple syrup,
making it taste like chocolate chip pancakes with bacon,” he explained, trying
to gauge her reaction.

“Grayson,
you have outdone yourself, these are fabulous!” Missy gushed. “These will be
our Cupcake of the Day on Friday. The morning work crowd is going to love them.
What did you guys name it?”

Exchanging
a glance they spoke accidentally in unison, “Breakfast Bonanza.” Cheryl raised
her hand for a high five, which Grayson gladly gave, grinning ear to ear. “Way
cool,” he said, blushing. He turned to take the plate back to the break room
and was stopped by Cheryl.

“Hey…wait,
wait, wait!” she laughed. When he turned around, she grabbed two more cakes
from the plate, handing one to Missy. “These things are addictive, you can’t
just limit us to one.”

Grayson
nodded happily, then returned the cupcakes to the break room and headed for the
front door to flip the sign from ‘Closed’ to ‘Open.’

“Alright,
young lady,” Missy said to her protégé after swallowing a mouthful of Breakfast
Bonanza. “Let’s do this!”

The
two unpacked Missy’s bags of goodies, with Cheryl oohing and ahhing over the
selection. Once all of the ingredients had been laid out on the counter top,
the young woman paced back in forth in front of them, her brow furrowed in
concentration. Missy stood back and watched, eager to see what she would
select.

Cheryl
picked up a bar of dark, Mexican chocolate, cut off a corner of it and nibbled
it thoughtfully, setting it aside as one of her choices. She then moved to a
pile of vanilla beans, held one up to take in the heavenly scent, then set it
beside the chocolate. Her next selection surprised and intrigued Missy. She
picked up a red chile, sniffed it, and put it in her pile, satisfied. Her last choices
were a mound of Mexican coffee beans.

“Well,
you have a unique selection of items,” Missy nodded her approval. “Walk me
through what you’re going to do with them.”

“The
dark chocolate and chile are both very strong flavors, so I’m going to blend
them together in a neutral medium, and surround them with smooth, sweetness,”
she mused, more to herself than to her boss. “I’ll melt the chocolate and
combine it with cream cheese and a bit of cinnamon, then add the tiniest bit of
powdered chile to make a filling. The cupcakes themselves will be a light,
moist vanilla, which should balance the strongly flavored center nicely. Since
nothing goes better with spicy chocolate and vanilla than a cup of coffee, I’ll
make a light espresso buttercream frosting, and top it off with a dark
chocolate-covered espresso bean. What do you think?” she turned to Missy, eyes
sparkling with excitement.

“I
think we’re going to make a great team, young lady,” she grinned, giving Cheryl
a hug. “Let’s get these made, I can’t wait to taste them!”

They
baked the treats, which Cheryl named Flaming Fiestas, and used Grayson as their
guinea pig for testing them. He gave the cupcakes an enthusiastic thumbs up,
and suggested that they arrange a platter of them in the glass case to sell.
The unique sweets were sold out in short order, and Missy knew that they had
another winner, congratulating Cheryl for her creativity.

“Oh
girl, do I have surprise for you!” she told her mysteriously, making up her
mind to definitely enter the East Texas cupcake competition.