Free Pink Velvet Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 9 (Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries) by Carol Durand, Summer Prescott

about to be a very intimate
moment, then burst into laughter at the mayor’s typically bad timing.
    “Hello
Felton,” Missy grinned, as the boisterous official kissed her on both cheeks
and shook Chas’s hand.
    “Well,
my dear, it looks like we won’t be working together on a wedding for a while,
but I want you to know that you will be generously compensated for the time you
spent,” he opened his arms in an overly-magnanimous gesture. “You are quite the
treasure, young lady, and when my Prissy captures a new fiancé, I’ll be looking
for you.” He turned to Chas. “And as for you, sir, fine work as usual, damn
fine work,” he clapped Beckett on the shoulder. “Pardon my French, pretty
lady,” he winked at Missy.
    “Thank
you, Mayor Chadwick,” Chas replied, amused.
    “It
was grand seeing y’all, but I’m afraid I’ve got some business to conduct, so if
you’ll excuse me,” he bowed and headed toward a booth in the corner.
    The
mood shattered, and the moment lost, Missy and Chas signaled for their check
and left, both hoping that their delicate conversation would resume at some
point, sooner rather than later.

Chapter 18
    “Here,
you have to try this, it’s a new flavor that I created and I want your
opinion,” Echo said, placing a dish of frozen green goo in front of Missy.
    Poking
at it suspiciously with a spoon, Missy asked, “ummm…what is it exactly?”
    “It’s
green tea and pistachio, made with coconut milk, see what you think,” her
friend explained, leaning forward in anticipation of her reaction.
    “Okay,”
Missy agreed skeptically. “Here goes.” She spooned a small bite of the glop
into her mouth.
    “Well,
what do you think?” Echo prompted excitedly.
    “Oh
my gosh, I’m totally shocked, but this stuff is absolutely delicious! Wow,” she
said, taking a bigger bite.
    “Yay!”
the ice cream shop owner clapped her hands together. “I’m so glad! I mean, I
thought it was fantastic, but sometimes I’m too big of a fan of my own work,
you know?”
    “Nope,
this is awesome,” Missy said through a mouthful of the frozen treat.
    “Good!
Oh, and I have some good news too – I hired a new person to replace Donna.”
    “Really?
That’s good. Sad, but good,” she nodded, still enjoying her treat.
    “Yeah,
I’m going to miss that girl, but I found a guy that I think will do a really
good job. He’s close to our age and he’s an artist, so I think he’ll do really
well with presentation,” she gushed.
    “An
artist?” Missy asked, surprised.
    “Yeah,
his name is Antonio, he just moved here from New York. He sells his work
online, so he can live wherever he wants to, and he said the serenity here
inspires him,” she said dreamily.
    “By
the look on your face, I’m guessing he’s cute,” Missy teased.
    “Positively
dreamy,” Echo nodded happily.
    “Careful,”
her friend cautioned. “It’s not usually a good idea to get too involved with an
employee.”
    “Well,
if things work out really well, I can always fire him,” she winked.
    “There’s
that,” Missy agreed, shaking her head and laughing. She pushed her bowl back,
finished with the creamy goodness.
    “So
how are things with Mr. Wonderful?” Echo asked, taking the bowl to the sink.
    “Oh,
Echo, I never imagined that I could care for someone so much,” Missy admitted,
smiling a faraway smile.
    “Oh
girlfriend, you are head over heels aren’t you?” she beamed at the clearly
lovestruck woman.
    “Never
thought I’d say it, but yes, I absolutely am,” Missy blushed shyly.
    “That’s
adorable,” Echo grinned. “Have you told him yet?”
    Missy
shook her head. “Nope, it seems like every time the time is right, we end up
getting interrupted by Mayor Chadwick,” she giggled.
    “Odd,”
her friend commented. “Well, has he told you?”
    “No,
not yet.”
    “Hmm…well,
that’s kind of scary isn’t it? You being the first one to put yourself out on
that limb, come what may,” she observed,