Free Sweet Suspects (The Donut Mysteries) by Jessica Beck

me.”
“That’s still a huge step for you,” Momma said.   “Maybe someday you’ll even find a way to take a vacation.”
“Jake and I have been talking about taking a long weekend away the next time he finishes up with a case.   There’s a cabin in the mountains that sounds perfect.”
“Then by all means, you should do it.”
“I hope to, but I don’t think it’s going to be anytime soon.   He’s up to his chin in a pretty gruesome case in Wilmington.”
“Do I want to know about it?” Momma asked.
“No, you’re better off not hearing any of the details.   Anyway, it might be awhile before he’s off again.   I’m not here long myself.   I just wanted to pop in, take a quick shower and change my clothes, and then I’m heading out again.”
“Should I make you something for lunch?” Momma asked as she started to get up.
“Thanks, but Grace and I are going to grab a bite to eat out together.”
“That sounds lovely,” Momma said, and I realized that she usually spent her days all alone.  
“You’re welcome to join us, you know,” I said.
She pursed her lips, and then Momma said, “It’s tempting, but I have a dozen account statements I need to go through by five this evening.”
“Are you having trouble with one of your investments?” I asked her as I looked down at the stack of documents on her desk.
“I’m not sure yet.   Either one of my partners has had an extraordinary run of bad luck lately, or he’s stealing from me.”
“And you can tell which it is just by those statements?” I asked.
“You’d be amazed what tales numbers can tell,” she said.   “You don’t have to keep me company, or worry about me at all.   I’ve got more than enough on my plate as it is.”
“Good luck with it,” I said, and then I headed upstairs.   I loved my shower at the cottage, and the fact that I had the small upstairs to myself.   In many ways it was like having my own suite, since no one else ever came up there unless Grace was sleeping over in the guest room next door to mine.   I’d been reluctant to move back in with Momma after my divorce from Max, but it had been a blessing in disguise.   We’d grown beyond the mother-daughter stage into roommates and friends, something that I cherished.   Sure, she was still overprotective of me at times, but mostly we got along just great.
Twenty minutes later, I came back downstairs, washed, shampooed, and wearing clean clothes.   It was almost as good as a nap, not that I had time to take even the shortest one of those.   Grace would be waiting on me, and I needed to get going.
“I’ll see you this evening, Momma,” I said.   “Do you have any plans?”
“Phillip is taking me out if he can make the time for it.”
“Don’t you mind being an afterthought like that?” I asked her.
“Believe me, he is most attentive normally, but I understand when he’s working on a murder case that his attentions have to be divided.   I’m sure that you’ve learned the same lesson with Jake.”
“I could be wearing a nightie made of bacon, but if he’s thinking about a case, he wouldn’t even notice me,” I said with a smile.
“And do you mind that?”
“Honestly, I’ve come to expect it,” I said.
“As have I.   Thus are the perils of dating a lawman,” she said.
“I can live with it,” I said.
“As can I.   If we don’t go out, I’ll put something together for us both for dinner,” she said.
“Don’t go to any trouble on my account.   If I get hungry, I’ll just raid the fridge and the freezer.   There’s enough food to feed an army stored there.”
“Help yourself then.   I’d say to be careful, but you’d just roll your eyes, so I’ll tell you happy hunting instead.”
I rolled my eyes in exaggeration as I said, “Momma, you know that I’d never do that.”   After kissing her cheek, I headed back out to the Jeep.   It was time to take the short drive down the road to Grace’s so I could pick her up