Free Cupcakes and Killing: A Cozy Mystery (Sweet Shoppe Mysteries - Book 2) by Cora Wilkins Page A

frost the cupcakes if the shop isn’t too busy,” Kaye said. “I need practice for Daniel’s birthday cake in a few weeks. I’ve always been so messy with frosting. Hmm... or maybe I’ll just get you to do it for me.”
    Her eyes crinkled up around the corners with mirth, and I chuckled. The bell tinkled as the little old ladies left, and three more customers entered.
    “Oh, Theodore, you’re right….this place is just darling!”
    I turned to see Deputy Ted with an elderly woman and another dark-haired woman who appeared to be around his age, and I smiled. “Deputy Ted! How are you?”
    “Hello, ladies,” he said. “Anne, Kaye…this is my mother Amelia and my sister Evie. They’re visiting town for a while.”
    “Nice to meet you both,” Kaye and I said in unison.
    Amelia stretched out her right hand for us to shake and simpered. “My Theodore has been raving about your candy store for such a long time. I finally decided I had to come and see for myself. Do you have any orange sherbet?”
    “Sure, right over there,” I said, pointing to the lower left shelf on the side of the store.
    Ted’s cheeks looked slightly pink, and his sister Evie leaned in and whispered conspiratorially as Amelia inspected our sweets.
    “He always gets so embarrassed by her insistence on calling him by his proper name,” she said with a grin. “But sometimes she calls him ‘Teddy Bear’, which is even worse.”
    Kaye snickered. “Poor Ted. So how long are you in town for?”
    “A couple of weeks,” Evie replied. “I have some time off work, so my mother and I decided to come visit our favorite policeman.”
    “Yes, our favorite single policeman,” Amelia crowed as she inserted herself into our conversation. “Can you ladies believe my Teddy Bear still isn’t married?”
    Ted’s face grew even redder, and I stifled a giggle. The poor man. “Oh, Amelia, I think he’s just so busy serving our town that he doesn’t have a whole lot of time to meet Mrs. Right.”
    She pursed her thin lips. “Well, he better meet someone soon, or I’ll be taking matters into my own hands. There’s a lovely girl in my book club back home. Perhaps I’ll bring her here.”
    “Mom, that isn’t necessary. I’m actually seeing someone at the moment,” Ted replied, putting a hand up to shush her. “Anne, can I get some coffees to go?”
    “Sure.”
    Evie followed me to the coffee machine as Kaye kept Ted and Amelia entertained, and she leaned forward over the counter.
    “I don’t think he’s really seeing anyone,” she said. “He always says that just to keep her off his back. Can I get two sugars in my coffee, by the way?”
    “Of course. And you’re probably right, I haven’t heard anything about him dating anyone. And as you can imagine, I hear a lot of gossip in this shop.”
    She smiled and shrugged. “He’ll meet someone when the time is right. I didn’t meet my husband until I was thirty-five, can you believe it?”
    The trio eventually left with their coffees in takeout cups, and Kaye and I looked at each other for all of three seconds before almost collapsing with laughter.
    “Oh, my poor little Teddy Bear!” Kaye said in a perfect imitation of Amelia. “Won’t someone marry him? Anyone?”
    I snickered, trying to contain my giggles. “Oh, I feel bad for laughing. He’s such a nice man. But boy am I glad I don’t have a mother who pesters me like that!”
    “My mother was a bit like that when I was younger. Thank God I married Daniel so she had to stop harassing me. Speaking of getting married, how are you and Chris going?”
    I waved her away. “Oh, don’t be silly. We’re not getting married, at least not anytime soon. We’ve only been dating for what…ten months now?”
    Chris was the owner of Candyland, the wholesale distributor I purchased most of the sweets for the Sweet Shoppe from. We’d met last year, just before Mr. Frobisher’s murder, and after a rocky start we were finally happy.