Cupcakes with a Side of Murder Read online

  Cupcakes with a Side of Murder

  Meredith Potts

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  “You slipped up,” I said.

  Henry Carter’s forehead wrinkled as he stared at me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  The tattooed muscular thirty-four-year-old wanted me out of his house, but I wasn’t going anywhere. Not until he was in handcuffs.

  My lean, handsome, detective fiancé, David Carlson, stood beside me and tried to make some headway with Henry.

  “We know what you did. So why don’t you just admit that you killed Frank Lofton?” David Carlson said.

  “Because I didn’t do anything,” Henry said.

  I folded my arms. “I hate being lied to.”

  “I’m telling you the truth,” Henry said. “What do I have to do to get you to believe me?”

  I scoffed. “The only thing left for you to do is come clean.”

  Henry vehemently shook his head. “You’ve got it all wrong.”

  “Keep talking all you want, but you already gave yourself away,” I said.

  Henry shot me a glare. “You’re crazy.”

  “That’s what you’d like us to believe, but you’re the only killer in this room,” I said.

  “Stop saying that. I didn’t do anything,” Henry replied.

  “I’m tired of the games. We know you killed Frank Lofton. Just confess already,” David said.

  “What makes you so sure I’m guilty?” Henry asked.

  “Remember when you told us that you didn’t strangle Frank?” I said.

  Henry shrugged. “Yeah. What about it?”

  “Frank’s official cause of death hasn’t been released to the public,” David said.

  Henry’s face went pale.

  I continued. “The only way you could have known that Frank was strangled was if you were the one who killed him.”

  “Look. You have this all wrong,” Henry said.

  I shook my head. “Nice try, but we’ve got you.”

  “Wait. But—”

  I cut him off. “Admit it. You killed him. Didn’t you?”

  He lowered his head, but remained silent.

  I pressed on. “Didn’t you?”

  Henry took a deep breath before replying, “Fine. Yes. I killed him. The man ruined my marriage, so I made him pay.”

  ***

  David handcuffed Henry, loaded him into a squad car, and hauled him off to the police station where he was booked for first-degree murder.

  A few hours later, after David completed a frustrating amount of paperwork, he swung by my house to see me.

  “You look exhausted,” I said.

  “I can’t imagine why,” David deadpanned. “It has been quite a relaxing past few days.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of that statement.

  “The sarcasm always comes out during the most stressful times, doesn’t it?” I said.

  “We all have our own ways of coping with extreme circumstances.”

  “I know what you mean. I have consumed more chocolate lately than I am comfortable admitting.”

  “But hey, at least now the case is closed.”

  “And just in time, too.”

  “Yeah. It turns out that crime stops for no one.”

  “Which is why I’m more relieved than ever that we were able to catch Henry today. I was worried that this investigation would still be going on through our wedding.”

  “That thought briefly crossed my mind as well. Thankfully, we were able to wrap this case up today.”

  “We can both thank God for that. If this case had intruded on our big day, it would have been a disaster.”

  “Absolutely. It turns out that timing really is everything.”

  “Although, prayer never hurts either.”

  “No. It certainly doesn’t.”

  “Anyway, we should both get some sleep,” David said. “We have some more busy days ahead of us.”

  “A different kind of busy, though. The happiest kind.”

  “You aren’t kidding. Just think, two days from now, we’ll be married.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  “Neither can I.”

  He smiled wide at me.

  Chapter Two

  Two days later

  Anticipation filled every bone in my body as my stepfather walked me down the aisle.

  I was wearing a long, flowing, satin, backless white wedding gown. It was exactly the kind of dress that I had always dreamed of wearing on my wedding day.

  I slowly made my way down the aisle toward my fiancé, who eagerly waited for me with a big smile on his face.

  As the minister began speaking, my thoughts raced. This was really happening. After years of dreaming about what it would be like to get married, my special day had finally arrived. I had found the man of my dreams, and now I would get to spend the rest of my life with him.

  As I looked around the church at my closest family and friends, one thought entered my mind—everything was perfect.

  I was in such an excited state that most of the ceremony went by in a complete blur. The only part that I remember with absolute clarity is when David and I exchanged our vows and both said “I do.”

  Then came the sentence that I had been waiting to hear all day.

  “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride,” the minister said.

  David leaned in and gave me a sweet kiss on the lips. It wasn’t the longest kiss of my life, but it was the best, because it was our first as a married couple.

  ***

  Everything that happened after that was a complete blur until the reception began.

  The food was completely delicious. A wonderful lemon-glazed chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and a side of steamed vegetables was served for dinner. A compliment to the chef was certainly in order.

  After that, the toasts began. Just as I expected, they took a number of different forms. My mother’s was serious and full of emotion. As was my stepfather’s. My grandma, meanwhile, told a funny story about my childhood.

  That was followed by Kelly, who spoke of New Age topics like my aura and my cosmic destiny. Shannon rounded things out by focusing on our shared love of chocolate.

  When the time came for dancing, I felt like I was floating on air. It was a good thing that it was David’s job to lead. All eyes were on us as we slow-danced to my favorite long song, but my focus was only on my husband. Not to mention, how lucky I felt to get to spend the rest of my life as his wife.

  The four-minute song only seemed to last thirty seconds. Soon, it was time for me to dance with my stepfather, a man who was not known for his outward displays of emotions. But
as Luke looked at me right then, he was misty-eyed.

  He wasn’t the only one. Emotions were hardly in scarce supply. But when the disc jockey started playing some upbeat music a few minutes later, everyone just cut loose.

  By the time the cake was brought out, I had danced so much that I felt like I had completely burned off all the calories I had eaten at dinner.

  What a dessert it was. As a chocolate lover, it should come as no surprise what kind of cake I chose for my wedding.

  I took my seat and dug in. One bite and I was in dessert heaven.

  I ended up polishing off the first piece of cake in no time. Not surprisingly, I didn’t hesitate to go back for a second piece.

  Shannon and Kelly approached me.

  “I guess this means you like the cake,” Shannon said.

  “Are you kidding? I can’t get enough of it,” I said.

  “A woman after my own heart,” Shannon said.

  Kelly spoke up. “Mine too. After all, this is the same cake I had at my wedding.”

  “It sure is. I’m not ashamed to say that I shamelessly copied you,” I replied.

  “You know what they say about imitation,” Kelly replied.

  “This cake definitely knows how to flatter my taste buds,” I said. “It is absolutely delicious.”

  “You’ll get no disagreement from me,” Shannon said.

  “If it wasn’t so expensive, I would have had the bakery make me another one to take on my honeymoon,” I said.

  Shannon laughed. “You know they sell cake in Hawaii, right?”

  “I doubt it will be this good,” I said.

  “You’ll find out soon enough,” Shannon said.

  “I’m trying not to look that far ahead,” I said.

  “Good call. This is your special day and you should appreciate every minute of it,” Shannon said.

  “I’m definitely appreciating every bite of this cake,” I said. “But yeah, when is a wonderful day like this ever going to come around again?”

  Shannon shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “If you really want to know, I could buy you a psychic reading,” Kelly said.

  “That won’t be necessary. I’ll just take every day as it comes,” I said.

  “Fair enough,” Kelly said.

  “I’ll tell you what’s unfair. That this night ever has to end,” I said.

  Chapter Three

  Before I knew it, the end of the evening was upon me. The guests all went home, leaving David and I alone. Thankfully, my husband had wisely booked a hotel room for the night. We exited the banquet hall and went back to our room where memories of every wondrous thing that had occurred throughout the day danced through my head like a graceful ballerina lighting up the stage.

  As I stood on the patio and watched the ocean waves crashing in the distance, David came up behind me and hugged me from behind.

  “So, did today live up to your expectations?” he asked.

  I scoffed. “It did a lot more than that. This was the best day of my entire life.”

  He turned me around and embraced me. “I’m so happy to hear that.”

  “Why can’t every day be like this?”

  “To start, because it took you six months to plan this.”

  I laughed. “Don’t I know it? But in the end, I got my dream wedding.”

  He gazed deep into my eyes. “Good. Today was all about making dreams come true.”

  “Thank you for such an amazing day.”

  “Trust me. The pleasure is all mine. But shouldn’t you be thanking your wedding planner? She did all the work.”

  “Don’t worry. There will be plenty of thanking to go around.”

  “There sure will. We’ll be writing out a lot of cards. It took a lot of work to make this go off without a hitch.”

  “It was all worth it in the end, though.”

  He nodded. “It sure was.”

  “That said, all the work in the world doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have the right groom.”

  “Or the right bride—which I definitely have.”

  “You always know the sweetest thing to say at any given moment.”

  “I don’t know if that’s true, but romance is definitely coming naturally to me today.”

  “Let’s see how long you can keep this up.”

  “Considering that our honeymoon is coming up, I have a feeling there will be plenty of romance to come by in the foreseeable future.”

  “I sure hope so. What kind of a honeymoon would it be if romance was in scarce supply?”

  “You’re not going to have to worry about that. This is going to be a honeymoon that you’ll never forget.”

  I nodded. “That’s my hunch too.”

  “Good. After all, if investigating murder cases has taught me anything, it is to trust your gut instinct.”

  “It’s safe to say that investigations are the last thing I want to talk about right now.”

  “You’re right. I guess you complimented me on romance a little too soon.”

  “Feel free to get us back on track.”

  He gazed into my eyes. “You look so beautiful.”

  “That’s a nice start.”

  “I love you so much.”

  “I never get tired of hearing that.”

  He leaned in and gave me a deep kiss. It was so good that I didn’t want him to pull back. When he finally did, I had to catch my breath.

  “I never get tired of that either,” I said.

  “Neither do I,” he said.

  Chapter Four

  David and I did a great number of things on our honeymoon, from going scuba diving, to kayaking, to swimming with the dolphins, to lounging at the beach. It was such an amazing week in Hawaii that by the time David and I sat down to have dinner near the end of our trip, the same question was on both of our minds.

  I just happened to be the first one to verbalize it. “Do we really have to go back home?”

  “I wish we didn’t,” he said.

  “That means we do, though, right?”

  “I think you already know the answer to that one.”

  I grimaced. “Yeah. Unfortunately.”

  “Go figure. It turns out there’s a good reason they call this paradise,” he said.

  “There sure is. I just wish we could stay here a couple days longer. Although, an entire lifetime would work too.”

  “I don’t disagree. But while spending the rest of our lives in Hawaii is out of the question, we do still have one day left here.”

  “True. There’s never been a better time for glass-half-full thinking than right now.”

  “There has also never been a better time to savor the rest of that glass of wine.”

  “That’s not all I’m going to savor. The memories we have made this week are going to stay with me forever.”

  “And what great memories they are,” he said.

  “Oh yeah. Magical days, followed by enchanting nights. That’s the life for me.”

  “It beats working for a living.”

  “I couldn’t agree more. It’s hard to have a bad time when you spend your day lounging by the pool.”

  “Or when you’re dipping your toes into the sand.”

  “I have to admit. I have loved every minute of this vacation.”

  “Same here. Like I said, the only thing I hate is having to leave. This has been the best week of my entire life.”

  David chuckled.

  I scrunched my nose. “What’s so funny?”

  “It’s just that ever since our wedding, you have gone to bed telling me that you just had the best day of your life.”

  “Hey, it’s the truth. Each day has been better than the last.”

  “That’s a pretty amazing feat.”

  “That’s Hawaii for you,” I said.

  “Don’t get me wrong. This place is a tropical paradise. But the real reason I’m so happy is because I’m here with you.”

  I leaned across the table and gave h
im a kiss.

  “With sweet talk like that, it’s no wonder I fell in love with you,” I said.

  “It’s more than just talk. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

  I gazed deep into his eyes. “Just when I think you can’t get any sweeter.”

  “Like you said, it has been a honeymoon of amazing feats,” he replied.

  “And it’s not even over yet,” I said.

  He smiled at me. “I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next.”

  Chapter Five

  A few days later

  Upon returning to Treasure Cove, it was safe to say that I had a honeymoon hangover. I spent the entire first day home in a complete daze, going over the wonderful events of the wedding and the honeymoon in my mind. The second day home, I kept my schedule light as well. Other than taking Snickerdoodle for a walk, the biggest thing I did was go to the grocery store to restock my fridge.

  By day three, I felt like the hangover was finally starting to fade and that my life was about to get back to normal.

  Then I received a phone call that turned my entire day upside down.

  An hour after getting off the phone, I headed over to Daley Buzz. The moment I entered the coffee shop, my jet-black-haired mother, Elizabeth Daley, and my feisty, octogenarian grandmother, Betsy Daley, stared at me from behind the counter.

  “So you’ve finally emerged from your honeymoon daze, huh?” Betsy asked. “Do I even need to ask if you had an amazing time in Hawaii, or can I just assume that it was the best week or your life?”

  “Let’s just say it was so incredible that David and I didn’t want to come back,” I said.

  “I’m glad you did return,” Elizabeth said. “Treasure Cove wasn’t the same without you.”

  “That might be the case, but Treasure Cove is going to have to learn to live without me for a few more days,” I said.

  Elizabeth bit her lip. “Why? What’s going on?”

  “It turns out that I’m headed off to Hollywood,” I said.

  Betsy’s eyebrows rose. “Really?”

  “Is this about the TV series that they are making about your life?” Elizabeth asked.