Frosty Blend (A Paramour Bay Cozy Paranormal Mystery Book 15) Read online

I smiled as I lowered my scarf, knowing that the young man behind the counter would think it was directed at him. It was, but Leo’s witty reply really did have me appreciating the direction that my life had taken in recent years.

  “Good morning,” the young man called out as he adjusted the knot in his apron string. His usual soda jerk style paper hat had been replaced with a Santa’s hat, bell on the end and all. “What can I do for you this morning?”

  “Actually, I was hoping to speak with Desmond. Is he in the back?”

  I hadn’t even made it halfway across the black and white checkered floor after the young man nodded when the sound of Leo’s gasp filled my ears. It caused a hitch in my step, but the small thud that I heard had come from the right of me…where a glass pane stood between the customers and the ice cream.

  Blueberries!

  I could picture in my mind that Leo had used the ledge to flatten his face against the glass to get a better look at the bluish-tinted ice-cream. The ledge was where the Barnes’ kept containers filled with straws, napkins, and other various items for easy reach. It had also been decorated in a lighted string of garland from one end of the counter to the other.

  I didn’t want the young man behind the counter to think that anything was wrong, so I forced myself to continue forward toward the back office. Leo would eventually make his way to where I was bound to have a very awkward conversation with Desmond Barnes.

  I mean, there was literarily no way to make this into a casual conversation.

  “Desmond?” I called out with a padded knock on the door. I hadn’t even bothered to take my gloves off, because it was doubtful that I would be here that long. “It’s Raven.”

  “Come on in,” Desmond called out in a distracted tone. He was a lot friendlier than his wife, but I didn’t mistake his congeniality for anything more than a front. He was all about taking the next step up the ladder, and I’d even overheard from Wilma and Elsie that he had purchased some bayside property with the idea of expanding the family business for this coming summer. “What can I do for you, Raven? I would have thought that you would be helping your mother get ready for her big day.”

  “Actually, that’s why I’m here,” I admitted truthfully, figuring it was best to go with the truth. “You see, Mom has been getting some odd notes recently indicating that she shouldn’t marry Beetle. I won’t go into the details, but something about them makes me think that she has an unrequited admirer.”

  There were times that I wasn’t so good at reading people, but I highly doubt that this situation went into that category. The surprise on Desmond’s face when he grasped the reason for my visit wasn’t something that could be feigned or hidden.

  I attempted to backtrack, most likely failing thoroughly.

  “I didn’t mean you,” I replied quickly, although I doubt my reassurance had done any good. “I know that you and Cora went to high school with Mom, and I was wondering if you could remember someone who had a crush on her and might still harbor those feelings? It’s a long shot, of course. For all we know, it’s some joke that someone thought would be funny.”

  Are you still trying to get out of the hole that you just dug? I could hear you all the way out near the ice cream. You should just go ahead and ask for a scoop of the blueberry flavor. There’s no denying that you need some help with your mental antioxidants.

  I did my best to ignore Leo as I gave an apologetic smile to Desmond, hoping that he wouldn’t take my being here as an accusatory visit.

  And here I thought I was the one with short-term memory loss.

  Had Leo been anywhere near me, I would have taken a step toward him in warning. I needed to turn this conversation around quick, but thankfully Desmond took pity on me.

  “Your mother’s light shined bright back in high school, and honestly it mesmerized every one of us. There wasn’t a teenage boy back then who wasn’t fascinated by her smile. I remember Leland offering to help her with math at least once a week, and Benji would go out of his way to bump into her every day at lunch.”

  Desmond had the same smile as Chef Amereldine had when thinking back on the memories of my mother.

  She’s not dead, you know.

  “I was just as bad, because I used to ride my bike past her when she was walking to school and offer to put her books in my backpack,” Desmond said with a laugh before covering it up with a cough. He purposefully shot me a look of warning. “Don’t tell Cora that little story, either. It was bad enough when your mother decided to move back to town last year, but my boyhood crush fizzled a long time ago. I love Cora, and I’ve built a life with her. To be truthful, I was shocked when we received an invitation to your mother’s reception. The two of them had a falling out a long time ago, though I don’t know all the details. If you think that Cora had anything to do with those notes being left for your mother, I can assure you that my wife would never resort to such a horrible trick.”

  Why did your mother decide to invite half the town to her reception, anyway? I swear, she just wants me to be mortified while trotting down the aisle in a bowtie that has two rings attached to it. Don’t think I won’t go for the tried-and-true sneeze and cough routine to get out of it. If all else fails, the only bright lining is that Skippy and his band of ninja squirrels are in hibernation and won’t bear witness to my humiliation.

  “Of course not,” I denied emphatically, not wanting Desmond to see that the thought had crossed my mind. “I was just wondering if you could think of someone I might not have spoken to from back then. It sounds terrible, I know. I don’t mean to accuse anyone, but I just can’t figure out who would be sending Mom notes about calling off the wedding. It’s put a grey cloud over the festivities.”

  “I’m sure it has, but I can’t imagine anyone from our group resorting to something so shady.” Desmond shook his head in disappointment, but he began to list off who hung out back in the day. “Leland, Benjamin, Scott, Paul, and I ran around together. We all still occasionally get together now and then, with the exception of Paul. He moved out to the West Coast.”

  Scott. Why does that name sound familiar? Scott. Scott. Hmmm. It’s on the tip of my tongue, Raven.

  “Scott?” I hadn’t heard the name before, not even from my mother. To top it off, I was relatively sure that I began to feel a few prickles of heat in the palm of my right hand. “Does Scott still live in town?”

  “Of course, he does,” Desmond replied rather heartily, almost as if I knew the man personally. “As a matter of fact, he—”

  “Can you believe that woman was able to get a famous chef from the city to come to our small town and—oh! Excuse me,” Cora Barnes muttered somewhat awkwardly as she realized that I was standing in the office of the malt shop. She began to focus on taking off her gloves one finger at a time. “I didn’t realize that you were here, Raven. I was just about to tell Desmond how good Chef Amereldine’s reputation was in the city, and that he was actually approached by one of the national television stations to host his own show.”

  And I’m a bobcat. She was going to roast your mother like chestnuts over an open fire.

  I definitely agreed with Leo.

  Cora Barnes hadn’t been going to tell her husband all about the famous chef. Well, she might have thrown that into the conversation, but for the most part she was going to complain about my mother. I get that the two women had a falling out in high school, but them carrying on a feud for over thirty-some years after the fact confounded me. It took a lot of negative energy to carry around that much animosity.

  I don’t know about that, Raven. I’ve spent years attempting to stop the squirrelpocalypse—on my own, mind you—and I still have a lot of energy to spare. Granted, it’s most likely due to my premium organic catnip intake. I’m including the minty herb in its original form and all assorted flavors, by the way. I look at the blueberries as icing on the cake.

  “I met Chef Amereldine yesterday, and he’s a very nice man,” I added in order to smooth over the tension in
the office. Desmond had rested his elbow on the arm of the chair and was rubbing his forehead in embarrassment. “I’m glad that both of you decided to attend the reception.”

  Now that I think about it, I’m relatively sure that your mother had nothing to do with the invitation. That honor fell onto my VVBFF’s shoulders. He’s such a thoughtful vampire, isn’t he?

  Leo was most likely right, because my mother was practically a professional at holding grudges. Right now, I needed to try and find a way to extricate myself from this situation before Cora took offense to my visit. The last thing our current situation needed was for Cora’s feud with my mother to intensify in nature.

  I don’t know about that, Raven. I might actually pay to watch a snowball fight between the two old crotchety bats. I mean, it would be on your dime, but you get the drift.

  “I should be going,” I said, feigning a bright smile.

  Desmond seemed to finally be enlightened as to why I wasn’t staying longer and carrying on our conversation. He quickly stood up from his chair and came around the desk.

  “I appreciate you letting me know about that delivery truck on Monday,” Desmond said to cover up our original topic of discussion. “We don’t have anything scheduled until Tuesday, so the alleyway should be clear.”

  “Thank you so much.” I didn’t hesitate to make my way past Cora and toward the front door. “I’ll see the two of you later this evening.”

  I’d like to point out that each person who we speak to regarding the notes turns out to be a dead end. I’m not starting to question the influence of my blueberry edibles quite yet, but I really thought that my mental antioxidants were onto something with the unrequited love stuff.

  “Have a good day,” the young man behind the counter said as I walked past the ice cream case.

  Are you seriously passing up that blueberry ice cream?

  “You, too.”

  I waited a moment to respond to Leo until we’d crossed the threshold of the shop, sucking in the cold air as I adjusted my scarf. My eyes watered a bit at the sudden change in temperature. The low hum of carolers drifted our way from the direction of town square, and there was giddy laughter coming from our left as a group of children barreled past us on the sidewalk in their haste to get to the sledding hill.

  Leo made it seem as if he’d been waiting for me underneath a parked vehicle, stepping back just in time from being stomped on by the tread of numerous winter boots. His appearance had drawn my gaze upward, though.

  Across the road, Cecelia was walking side by side with another woman, and the two of them seemed to be arguing as they made their way across the intersection. I assumed the other woman was Debra, because I’d never seen her before. She didn’t look familiar, either.

  “I wonder what that’s about,” I murmured as I adjusted my scarf, never taking my gaze off the ensuing argument. “Shouldn’t they be back at the inn with Chef Amereldine? Leo, go on over there and see what they’re saying.”

  I’m starting to think that Crayola Head got the better end of the deal. If I’d stayed with my VVBFF, I would have been able to nibble on my blueberry edibles all day long. Instead, I’m out here freezing my tufts of hair off while you have me do the dirty work.

  I arched my brow and made it seem as if I was looking down at a watch on my wrist, not that I actually wore one. My phone was sufficient enough for that task, but at least I’d made my point.

  Fine, though I still don’t know why we’re out in the freezing cold when we could still be at the bakery enjoying some warm beverages. The cheating wizard will have answers for us shortly, and then I’ll be able to get on with my plan to get out of wearing that hideous bowtie.

  Leo snuck back underneath the car to do his invisibility trick, and I began to think about who else we could talk to who might shed light on the notes that were being left for Mom.

  “Oh!” I whispered when something came to mind, grateful when no one was close to overhear me. “Leo, wait! Come back here.”

  What now? Go over there. Come back. Do this. Do that. I’m getting whiplash, and you don’t even refer to me as Mr. Leo!

  “Who is Scott?” I murmured softly, bringing my arms close to my body to conserve heat. My winter coat did a great job, but the coastal breeze somehow snuck its way through the material from time to time. “The palm of my hand began to warm when Desmond brought his name up.”

  Leo remained invisible, but I could sense that he was nearby.

  If I didn’t suffer from short-term memory loss, maybe I’d be able to tell you.

  Leo did one of his gasps that told of one of his sudden realizations about something I’m sure that he was about to share with me.

  Sweet angel of weddings, that’s it! Raven, you’re a genius! I don’t need to feign getting sick in order to get out of being a ringbearer. I have short-term memory loss! I’ll simply forget to show up for the ceremony, and all is right with the world!

  I didn’t bother to reply to him, because I’m relatively certain that he took off in the direction of Cecelia and the woman who I assumed to be Debra. The last two days was like walking through molasses. We technically hadn’t discovered anything that would help us figure out who was sending Mom notes.

  I began to walk toward town square, figuring I might as well check on the rental chairs and tables that we’d ordered for this evening. The nice woman on the phone had promised that they would have everything set up in time for the reception, though the wedding itself was private. I doubt the work crew would be out this early in the morning, but it wouldn’t hurt to check since I had to wait on Leo, anyway.

  As of right now, Rye was the only one who could gain access to the circuit breaker of the bakery without causing suspicion. We weren’t even sure that someone had tampered with the circuit breaker, but it was all that we had at the moment. I guess Leo and I should head over to Newt’s garage to pick up my car. I’d be able to drive everyone back into town before the ceremony, where Heidi could just pick up her own vehicle that I’d parked in front of the teashop.

  I hate to break this to you, Raven, but we aren’t picking up that death contraption just yet. Those women are hiding something, and I’m pretty sure that I just heard the assistant shrew mention murder! If that lump of grey wax let my VVBFF get slain, I’ll make sure that he’s nothing but a pile of grey goo!

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Beetle is just fine,” I reassured Leo after having called the man myself. “He and Ted are safe at the house where they are going over the vows that Beetle wrote for Mom.”

  And that’s supposed to make me feel better? I was hoping you’d tell me that my VVBFF was having second thoughts. I guess the silver lining is that he’s still alive, but there’s nothing wrong with hoping for the full package, wrapped up in a big red bow. Speaking of which, my Christmas present has already been ordered and shipped. I won’t ruin the surprise of what you got me, but you should know that you’re going to have to a hefty credit card bill after the holidays.

  I paced back and forth in Liam’s office, waiting for him to get back from questioning Cecelia. Leo and I had scurried as fast as we could over to the police station after he’d overheard Cecelia and Debra mention murder. Leo couldn’t even put the conversation into context, because it had taken him by surprise. The mere mention of murder had sent him scrambling back to me.

  “Leo, are you sure that Cecelia and Debra were talking about murder and not something to do with cooking or baking?” I asked, wanting a bit more clarification. The odd part of walking into the police station was that Liam hadn’t seemed all that surprised, and he’d even mentioned that he’d been wanting to speak with Billy and those who had traveled with Chef Amereldine. “I texted Heidi what has taken place today. I also reached out to Rye, but he hasn’t gotten back to me yet. Maybe you should head over to the bakery to see if he’s there and working on the spell.”

  I might have short-term memory loss, but I’ve got excellent hearing.

  “What ar
e you doing?” I asked in exasperation when I saw him knocking papers off of Liam’s desk. “Don’t do that.”

  The pad of paper was in my way, Raven. It’s getting to be that time, you know. With all that we still have on the agenda, I’m going to need my morning nap. This isn’t the most ideal place to catch some ZZZs, but it’ll have to do.

  “You’re going to have to wait until we pick up the car and head back to the cottage,” I muttered, tilting my head a smidge so that I could hear Eileen a little bit better. She was at her desk in the main area of the police station talking on the phone. “We also need to…”

  I couldn’t help but let my words trail off as my attention refocused from Leo to the top piece of paper on the yellow pad that he’d just tried to knock off the desk. Cecelia Murray’s name was what had caught my eye, but the other bits of information were just as compelling.

  “Leo, Cecelia Murphy wasn’t in New York last week like she told the police,” I murmured in awe as I managed to sit back in Liam’s comfy desk chair. It had originally belonged to Otis, but with the piece of furniture broken in and the leather feeling like butter, Liam couldn’t bring himself to get rid of it. “It looks as If Liam and the sheriff from the other town have been working nonstop on Rebecca Dunsbury’s murder.”

  See? Would you look at that? It’s proof that the good ol’ sheriff is actually somewhat decent at doing his job. Go figure! We don’t always need to be the ones to come and save the day, Raven. My moment to shine will be when the squirrelpocalypse comes to an end and I’m sitting on my throne in the middle of town square as aged-premium catnip is being served to me on acorn-shaped trays.

  Leo’s sigh of contentment as he went about having his fantasy play out in his head gave me time to read over the rest of the notes that Liam had jotted down on the piece of paper. He’d somehow discovered in speaking with Chef Amereldine, Debra Rubric, and Cecelia Murray that all claimed to have still been in the city when Rebecca Dunsbury had been murdered in a hotel room one town away from Paramour Bay. The reason for questioning them was that Rebecca’s name had been recorded in the reservation book of the restaurant numerous times.