Free Assault and Batter by Jessica Beck Page B

inedible.”
    “I’m sure you’re just being too hard on yourself.”
    “Obviously you’ve never tasted her cooking,” I said with a smile.
    Grace laughed at my comment. “You’re one to talk.”
    “Hey, I’m a specialist more than a general chef. I might not be able to do much besides make donuts, but I’m very good at what I do.”
    “Agreed,” Grace said as she stood and started gathering dishes.
    Momma stood as well. “Grace, leave those to me.”
    “We don’t mind helping,” I said as I joined them as they cleared the table. “After all, it’s the least that we can do.”
    Normally Momma might fight me on it, but this time she just smiled. “If you’re sure you two don’t mind, I’ve gotten into a new mystery that I just can’t put down. It’s about a diner, of all things, if you can imagine that.”
    “Is it all about the food?” Grace asked. “I might like to read that myself when you’re finished.”
    “Not just comfort food, but crime solving, too,” Momma said. “There’s a large family working at the diner itself, but the main amateur detectives are a granddaughter and her grandfather. I’ll be honest with you. I hesitated to start reading books electronically at first, but once I took the plunge, I was sold.”
    “Sometimes they make life easier than toting books around, don’t they?” I said. “My book group has been picking some huge books lately, and I have to admit, I enjoy the rest it gives my arms not having to hold a paper book up at night.”
    “Go on and read,” Grace said. “We’ve got this.”
    As we cleared the dishes and put the leftovers away in the fridge, Grace asked me, “Have you come up with any new ideas?”
    “About who killed Jude?” I asked.
    “No, I was wondering what you were going to do about the wedding donuts.”
    I hit my forehead. “Honestly, I forgot all about them.”
    “Well, you’d better come up with something,” Grace said. “Emily’s expecting miracles from you, and if I know her mother, she’s not going to accept anything less than perfection.”
    “After we finish the dishes, let’s invite Momma to brainstorm with us. She’ll get a kick out of it, and I could use all of the help I can get.”
    “I’m all for it,” Grace said.
    We made short work of the dishes, and when we came into the living room, we found Momma engrossed in her e-reader.
    “Do you have a minute?” I asked her.
    “Of course,” she said as she turned it off and put it on the coffee table. “What can I do for you?”
    “I’m afraid that I might be in over my head with something,” I said.
    Momma just smiled. “It wouldn’t be the first time that I’ve ever heard that in your life.”
    I laughed, recalling the times in the past that I’d said the exact same thing. “It’s different this time, since Emily wants me to create wedding donuts for the reception in honor of the role I played in getting her and Max together.”
    “Personally, I think it’s a wonderful idea.”
    “You don’t think it’s a little unconventional?” I asked her.
    “Suzanne, being the maid of honor in your ex-husband’s wedding sort of threw conventionality out the window, wouldn’t you say?”
    “So, what are your thoughts?” I asked.
    “How about devil’s food cake donuts for the groom, and angel-food cake donuts for the bride?” she asked with that grin of hers.
    “That’s it,” I said. “It’s perfect.”
    “Suzanne, I was just joking,” Momma said.
    “You may have been,” Grace replied for me, “but I think it’s excellent, too. Suzanne, you can ice the angel food cake donuts with white icing, and the devil’s-food cake with chocolate. Done and done.”
    “Hang on. Before we get too excited about this, I need to run it by Emily first,” I said as I reached for my cellphone. “She might not find it as amusing as we do.”
    A few minutes later, I hung up and stared at Grace and Momma.
    “What did she say?” Grace asked.
    “She loved