Fudge-Laced Felonies (2 page)

Uncle Roy winked at Ethan. “She wears a pair of pink gardening gloves, and she has these flowered overalls.” He shook his head. “I haven’t the faintest idea where she gets that stuff. But she makes a purty picture.”

I rolled my eyes and folded my arms across my chest. From now on, moving out of Uncle Roy’s place and getting my own home was going to be a priority.

“Okay, Summer, we’ll get going.” Ethan’s arms bulged beneath his polo shirt as he hefted the bucket onto a nearby dolly. “I’d like to enjoy some of my Sunday.”

“I do appreciate this,” I told him. “I can plant the bush myself if you have other things to do.” Please say you’ll plant it. Don’t leave so soon.

“I’ll plant it. After all, I was responsible for its predecessor’s death.” My heart leaped with the abandon of a young colt.

Two minutes later, Ethan pulled into the driveway, crunching gravel. I swung open the truck door and slid from the seat. “I’ll pour us some cold drinks.”

As I limped up the porch steps and unlocked the door, I glanced back. Ethan was dragging the rosebush from the truck bed. The sun shone on his head, highlighting his blond curls with a halo. I sighed from the sheer beauty of the picture he made then opened the door.

The scraping of the shovel along with gentle thuds of dirt hitting the ground floated through the open kitchen window. I peeked out and caught a glance at the back of Ethan’s head as he stretched, his hands braced against his lower back.

“I’ll be right out!” I poured soda into a plastic tumbler. Pushing open the screen door, I stepped into the afternoon sun. My cairn terrier, Truly Scrumptious, squeezed past my legs and shot into the yard.

Hunkered beside the freshly dug hole, Ethan stared up at me as I walked out. “Summer, you need to see this.”

“What?”

“Uh.” He ran a dirty hand through his curls. “I didn’t kill your bush. Something clogged the drip line. The bush died of thirst. Take a look.”

I peered into the dirt. The forgotten tumblers containing our drinks slipped from my hands. Sticky soda splattered my ankles. About a foot down, a black velvet bag lay open.

Two

Dozens of diamonds sparkled, scattered among the deep brown dirt.

My breath caught, and I put my hand to my throat. My heart raced.

“I’m rich.”

I thought I’d mouthed the words silently, but apparently not, because Ethan glared at me.

“You can’t keep them.” He stood, wiping his hands on the seat of his pants. “Any idea how they got here?”

“Well, I don’t think they’re Uncle Roy’s.” I squatted and ran my fingers through the precious stones, reveling in the cool feel of wealth. “Why would someone bury diamonds beneath my Midnight Blue?” I lifted the drip line and scooped out a stone with the nail of my pinky. The sun shot glimmers of color through the diamond’s facets. Sighing, I let the jewel fall back with the others.

Ethan shrugged and held out a hand to help me to my feet. “The ground was already soft. If someone was in a hurry and spotted your freshly planted rosebush, then—”

I accepted his offered hand, glorying in the feel of its roughness covering my own. “Are you sure I can’t keep them? Finders keepers and all that?”

“Positive, Summer.”

Behind us, a vehicle roared into the drive. My plump, white-haired aunt opened the door to the 1965 Chevy pickup and bounded out. Aunt Eunice did everything fast. My uncle called her the White Tornado. She might be short and round, but she had the energy of a skinny woman. “What y’all looking at?”

“Come see.” I beckoned her, smiling at the way Aunt Eunice’s cheeks jiggled when she walked.

She shoved her glasses farther up on her nose and planted chubby fists on even chubbier hips. “Whooee! You two fertilizing with diamonds now?”

“Don’t be silly.” I bumped her with a hip. “We didn’t put them there.”

“Then who did?” She squinted up at Ethan. “You call the po-lice yet?”

“We just found them. I was about to plant Summer’s new rosebush.” He used his forearm to wipe the perspiration from his brow.

“Won’t be no planting it now.” Aunt Eunice turned to me. “Better find another place for your rosebush, Summer. I don’t think Roy will place another ‘emergency’ order for you if you don’t get that one into the ground.” Truly nosed around the other bushes. She made snuffling noises as she traveled with her muzzle to the ground. She let out a bark and started digging beneath my recently planted coral heirloom roses. Were none of my bushes sacred?

“Truly, stop that!” I took a small step away from the fresh hole, hesitant to venture farther than a couple of feet, the glittering diamonds entrancing me with shimmering rainbows of light. “You’re ruining my heirlooms!”

The feisty little terrier snarled as her front paws hurled dirt and mulch from beneath her body. Within seconds, she shook a dirty piece of cloth in her mouth. I pounced, released from the trance of the sparkling jewels, and grabbed the material from the dog’s mouth.

“Ugh!” I let the garden glove fall to the ground. Russet brown covered the palm. “Is that blood?”

“Don’t touch anything.” Ethan appeared, his bottom lip between his teeth as he bent over the offending object. “Do you think it could be?”

“That’s not one of my gloves.” Planting my hands on my hips, I made a slow turn, my eyes searching the trees around my aunt and uncle’s property. But why would someone bury a bloody glove in one hole and diamonds in another? And why beneath my rosebushes? I spotted a shovel tossed to the side. “And why is Uncle Roy’s shovel out of the shed? He’d never do that.”

“There’s more.” While I’d searched the bushes, Ethan poked his foot at something beneath the bush where we’d discovered the glove. A rusty coffee can lay half buried in the dirt. “Look.”

“That’s where he stashed it.” Eunice snatched the can from the hole and pulled off the plastic lid. Inside lay a tightly bound roll of cash.

“Who’s ‘he’?” My eyes widened at the bundle of bills.

“Your uncle. This here can holds our cruise money. You know how much I’ve always wanted to take a cruise.” A smug smile spread across my aunt’s face. “Roy thought he was being so clever.”

“Uncle Roy hid your cruise money with a glove?” I couldn’t believe it. I knew my aunt and uncle were a unique pair, but this was beyond even them.

“You’ll have to ask your uncle about that.” Eunice hugged the can to her chest. “Now, where can I hide it?”

Ethan stared from me to my aunt, his mouth hanging open. He clamped it closed then opened it again to speak. “You shouldn’t have picked up the can. I’m going in to call Joe. You two do whatever it is you two do.”

“Ask him to stay for supper,” Aunt Eunice blurted once Ethan disappeared into the house.

“What?”

“Ask him to stay for supper,” Eunice repeated. “The boy’s been working hard all day.” She turned and nosed around the yard, peering beneath trees and bushes, apparently searching for the perfect hiding place.

Wanting to be wherever Ethan was, I called for the dog to follow and traced Ethan’s steps into the house. I glanced out the window as my uncle rumbled up the drive in his truck, which matched Aunt Eunice’s. My aunt shrieked.

She danced around, holding the can above her head. She reminded me of an ancient warrior princess in some weird ritual. I giggled. Ethan shook his head and lifted the phone receiver.

The afternoon sun came through the kitchen window, highlighting the light stubble on his chin. My gaze roamed to his mouth. I jerked away. What if he caught me staring at his lips? I’d be mortified. No matter that he looked thoroughly kissable. Even with streaks of dirt on his face. And no matter that ever since junior high, I’ve wondered what it would feel like to have Ethan Banning kiss me.

“What? Do I have dirt on my face?”

“Huh?” My cheeks heated.

“Dirt. On my face. You’re staring.” He narrowed his eyes. “Did you get sunburned today?”

Horror. “Yes. No. Dirt. Right there.” I pointed to a spot above his nose. I opened my mouth to say something witty to save myself from further embarrassment, but someone apparently picked up the phone on the other end, because Ethan started speaking.

“Hello. This is Ethan Banning. May I speak with Officer Parson, please? Yeah. Joe, there’s a problem at the Meadowses’ place. We’ve found a couple of things you should take a look at. . . . No, I think you should come over. Looks to be a bloody glove and a whole lot of diamonds. Okay.” Ethan hung up then glanced at his watch. “He’ll be here in about fifteen minutes.”

He lifted those gorgeous cobalt blue eyes of his to look at me, and I almost forgot what Aunt Eunice wanted me to ask him. “Uh. My aunt told me to invite you to an early dinner.”

“She did, huh?” A dimple appeared in Ethan’s right cheek. “Is that why you’ve been staring at me?”

“Of course.” I swallowed hard. No way could I let him know how I felt about him. My friend April, Ethan’s sister, knew; she thought it stupid of me not to say anything, but Ethan always treated me like a younger sister.

Since I’d first laid eyes on him the summer I turned ten and Ethan fifteen, I’ve been stark raving mad about him. Then he went away to college and returned a couple of years ago. I’ve never found the right time to open my mouth and spill out my feelings.

“I’d love to. Do you think Eunice would mind if April came? Since our parents went to heaven, we usually spend Sunday together.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t.” Great. Ethan had never stayed for dinner before, and now April would be all eyes on the two of us. A smug grin on her pretty round face.

The screen door banged against the wall with a loud crack as Aunt Eunice and Uncle Roy stormed inside. Uncle Roy stepped back as Aunt Eunice shoved past him, the coffee can still clutched in her hands. She slammed the can on the Formica-topped kitchen table.

“This isn’t our can.” She folded her arms across her ample bosom, her face creased. “Roy said he hasn’t seen it before. And he won’t tell me where he hid our cruise money. Did you call the po-lice yet?”

“I did. Joe will be here soon.” Ethan took a step away, his gaze glued to the rusty coffee can. “So, someone buried diamonds beneath one rosebush. Money and a glove beneath another. The question is, why here?”

“Don’t forget this someone killed Summer’s rosebush.” Aunt Eunice nodded, her lips set in a straight line.

I stared at my aunt as if she’d sprouted antennae. I’d always thought of myself as an amateur sleuth, having grown up reading Agatha Christie and Nancy Drew. The thought of a mystery of this magnitude raised goose bumps on my arms. Killed my rosebush? Amazingly, I no longer cared about the bush.

“Uh-oh.” Ethan shook his head. “I recognize the gleam in Summer’s eyes. She can’t wait to sink her teeth into this.”

“I just want to find out why someone chose our yard to bury the diamonds and cash in. What if someone is trying to frame us somehow? You can help me, Ethan. It’ll be like old times.” Before you went away to college. And, maybe, if I solve this case, you’ll see me as something other than the empty-headed little girl who used to follow you around.

I leaned against the counter. Excitement bubbled inside me like sparkling cider. “Remember when someone stole my bike? I investigated and found out a mean kid down the block took it, and then you went and got the bike back.”

“This isn’t the same thing.” Ethan pulled a wooden chair away from the table, and its legs shrieked against the linoleum floor. “We have something more valuable than a banana seat bike. We have diamonds, money, and possibly a bloody glove.”

Uh-oh. I recognized the tone in his voice. Ethan would try to stop me.

“I agree, Summer.” Uncle Roy pulled out another chair and squeezed his bulk onto it, the wood protesting beneath him. “This isn’t a game. Could be dangerous.”

“I’m perfectly capable of ”—a car pulled into the driveway, and I glanced out the window—“solving such a simple mystery. You know how small towns are. People will think I stole the—” A handsome man in a tan officer’s uniform sat behind the wheel of a squad car.

Matchmaking reared its lovely head. Maybe I could get my cousin, Joe, to stay for dinner, too. He and April could get better acquainted. Why should I be the only one mooning over a guy?

The officer’s shoulders slumped as he made his way to the porch. Aunt Eunice bustled toward the door and flung it open, her cheeks rosy from the day’s events. “Good afternoon, Joe. How’s your Sunday?”

Joe removed his hat and stepped inside. “Wish I could say things were better. Y’all found a glove and diamonds?”

“Yes.” Aunt Eunice pointed to the table. “And a can full of money.”

Joe frowned as his gaze flicked to the can. “You touched it?”

“I thought it might be the money Roy’s been hiding for our cruise. The old coot doesn’t want me to spend it.” Aunt Eunice tossed her husband a frustrated look.

“Where are the diamonds?” Joe ran a hand through his hair.

“Out here.” Ethan rose, shook Joe’s hand, and then led the group back into the yard. Despite myself, I couldn’t help but compare the two men.

Ethan stood tall, slender, and muscled, like a jungle cat, whereas Joe stood shorter than Ethan’s six feet four by several inches. Stocky, built more like a bear. I recalled how Ethan towered over me during my high school years, teasing me because of my five-foot-two-inch frame. He called me Tinkerbell. I’d hated it, even as I longed for him.

Three

The two men stared into the freshly dug hole, looking like a pair of mismatched bookends. Both placed their hands on their hips. Then Joe changed the picture by squatting and lifting a sparkling diamond from the dirt.

“Well, look at that.” He held the stone high. The sun’s rays cast bolts of light through the stone, and my materialistic heart leaped. “Ain’t that a pretty sight.” He dropped the diamond and straightened, brushing the dirt from his hands by rubbing them together. “Summer, when’s the grand opening?”

“Tomorrow.” Summer Confections opened in the morning, and my excitement knew no bounds. I’d wanted to open my own candy store for years. Now my dream would become a reality.