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By the time she and Zoe closed that afternoon and cleaned, it was almost six.
“Want to come over for some chicken wings in the air fryer?” Zoe invited.
It sounded tempting, but ... “Not tonight.” She shook her head. “I need to work on my cupcake idea.”
“No worries.” Zoe smiled.
When she and Annie hit the cottage kitchen, she gave her fur baby beef and liver, and then sat down at the wooden table, grabbing a large notebook on the way. She consulted her notes.
“Brrt?” Annie jumped onto the chair next to her.
“I’m thinking up a new cupcake,” she explained, stroking the silver-gray velvet fur.
“Brrp.” Annie patted the butterscotch candy note.
“Butterscotch cupcakes?”
“Brrt!” Yes!
That was easy. She closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift. A butterscotch cupcake mixture with subtle vanilla frosting, and butterscotch sauce drizzled on top? Her mouth watered.
She jotted it all down. Now, when could she make them? Probably not until Sunday afternoon, if they were sleuthing on Saturday.
Another thought popped into her mind. Since she wouldn’t be experimenting with the new cupcake on Saturday, she needed to put aside four cupcakes that morning for pizza night. She wrote that down, too.
“I’m starving!” Mitch strode into the kitchen and she started. She’d been lost in reveries of butterscotch cupcakes lined up in a row.
“Is it dinner time already?” She checked her watch. A few minutes before seven.
“I ate lunch at my desk so I could come home at a decent time.” He bent down to kiss her.
“I’m glad.” She smiled at him, noticing that he didn’t look as tired as the night before. “But I have no idea what we’re having.” She gestured to her notebook. “I lost track of time.”
“Let’s order a pizza,” he suggested.
“But it’s pizza night on Saturday.”
“I don’t mind – do you?” he tempted her.
“No.” It was one of her favorite meals. “Okay.” Options were limited in the small town for home delivered meals.
Mitch ordered half pepperoni and half Lauren’s special. While they waited, he grabbed a bag of green salad from the fridge and started munching.
“How’s the case going?”
“I’ve finally got my hands on Jill’s photos.” He shrugged. “I don’t know why her boss made such a fuss about them. So far I can’t see anything significant in them.”
Maybe they wouldn’t need to visit Jill on Saturday afternoon, after all.
The pizza arrived, the tasty aroma of cheese and tomato sauce wafting through the house.
She enjoyed her slice of Lauren special: Canadian bacon, mushroom, and sundried tomato, while Mitch ate most of the pepperoni. Then they swapped, Lauren serving herself a piece of pepperoni, while Mitch ate a slice of hers.
Annie sat with them, looking at their meal with curious eyes, although Lauren knew she’d thoroughly enjoyed her dinner of beef and liver. She didn’t want the pizza to upset Annie’s digestion.
She filled him in on Martha’s new pet, and their proposed trip to Sacramento on Saturday afternoon.
“But we mightn’t need to go now,” she finished, “if you’ve got Jill’s photos.”
“True. But you might be able to get some information out of Jill that she wouldn’t let slip to me.”
She looked at him in surprise.
“You know I worry about your sleuthing, but I also admire your independence. And if there’s three of you there, plus Annie and the dog, I can’t see what danger you would be in. Unless Martha decides to go rogue,” he added.
“Don’t say that,” she groaned. “Martha already thinks she’s unstoppable at times. Now she has a dog, she might think she’s unstoppable all the time!”
“Brrt!” Annie said as they chuckled.
They ended the evening by watching a historical drama. Lauren snuggled in Mitch’s arm, Annie snuggled in her lap, and she wished they could stay like this forever.
***
“PHIL IS A REAL TIGHTWAD!” Thelma stormed into the café the next morning, just after they opened. “No cupcake Friday for you, Thelma!” she intoned.
“Brrt?” Annie asked, trotting up to her.
“Sorry,” Thelma apologized. “I just got a bit het up. We had our biggest issue last weekend, and Phil won’t spring for some cupcakes today.”
“That’s a shame.” Zoe zipped around the counter. “Did he give you a reason?”
“He said we have to wait for the money to trickle through, and then he’ll see.”
“You could always buy your own cupcake,” Lauren suggested, then wished she hadn’t by the look Thelma scorched her with.
“The point is, I shouldn’t need to, considering how successful my story was about the premiere.”
“True,” Zoe agreed.
Thelma looked at her consideringly. “How about a follow up story? What you’re going to do next, that sort of thing.”
“That’s a great idea, but I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do next,” Zoe replied. “Ooh – how about interviewing Martha? She shares my agent and she’s written another princess sequel, plus a script for a TV show.”
“And she’s just adopted a cute puppy,” Lauren added.
“I like the way you’re thinking.” Thelma pointed her finger at Zoe. “Good idea. Yeah, I’ll scoot on down to the senior center and see if I can catch her there. You might as well give me a cupcake, Lauren, and a receipt. If I eat it while I’m talking business with Martha, Phil will have to give me petty cash for it!” She snickered.
Thelma started eating the lavender cupcake before she even left the café.
“Wow, did you notice how quickly she switched from being upset to being normal again?” Zoe pointed out.
“Yes.” She nodded. Although she hadn’t wanted Thelma to be a suspect, her interaction with her just now made her wonder if Thelma had killed Nathan. But why?
More customers bustled in, and soon she was too busy with making lattes and cappuccinos to wonder about Thelma’s sudden mood swings.
After grabbing a quick lunch each after the midday rush, they relaxed on stools behind the counter, enjoying a mocha.
“Brrt!” Annie trotted to greet Martha, who slowly wheeled her puppy inside. Today the little guy wore a blue collar, which matched perfectly with Martha’s blue sweatpants outfit.
“Ruff!”
“Hi, Martha, did you talk to Thelma this morning?” Zoe asked.
“You betcha!” Martha grinned. “I had to leave this little guy at home because the senior center doesn’t allow dogs in, but Thelma came back to my house and took a real good photo of you, didn’t she?” she asked the white fur ball.
“Ruff!” the puppy agreed.
“That’s great.” Lauren smiled.
“When are you going to be in the Gazette?”
“Maybe Sunday. Otherwise, it will be the following weekend.”
Annie led Martha to a four-seater near the counter.
“Hot chocolate?” Lauren guessed.
“That sounds good.” Martha nodded.
“Does your puppy need a drink of water?” Zoe asked.
Martha looked at him consideringly. “What do you think, little guy?” After a few seconds, she said, “Yes, I think he does.”
Lauren grabbed one of Annie’s spare bowls from a drawer behind the counter and filled it with water. “Here you go.” She carried it out to them.
The puppy used a chair as a stepping stool to hop down from the walker, and eagerly lapped up the water.
“Would you look at that,” Martha marveled. “He was thirsty.”
“Brrt!” Annie leaped onto the empty walker seat, a slightly mischievous expression on her face.
“Ruff?” The puppy looked up at Annie, as if wondering what was going on.
“Brrt.” Annie patted the vinyl padded seat next to her, inviting him to climb back up.
The little guy hopped back up on the chair, then jumped up onto the walker seat next to Annie.
“I told you they’d be friends,” Martha crowed.
“That’s lovely, Annie.” Lauren’s heart melted as she looked at her fur baby.
“Definitely.” Zoe grinned.
The oak and glass entrance door opened and little Molly and her mom Claire walked in. Molly’s blonde curls were tousled, and her blue eyes widened when she spied Annie and Martha’s puppy on the walker.
“Look, Mommy! Annie – and a doggy!” Molly looked like she was going to explode with joy.
“Ruff!”
“Brrt!”
“Did you get a dog, Lauren?” Claire asked, looking athletic as usual in yoga pants and a blue T-shirt.
“He’s mine,” Martha said proudly. “Got him yesterday from the shelter.”
“Oh, he’s so cute,” Claire said. “What’s his name?”
“Doggy!” Molly chortled.
“That’s a great name.” Martha nodded in all seriousness. “I haven’t decided yet, though. I think I’ll know in time.”
“That’s a good way to look at it,” Claire agreed.
Molly tugged her mom over to the table.
“What can I get you two?” Lauren asked.
“Cino, cino!” Molly couldn’t stop looking at Annie and the puppy.
“Brrt.” Annie jumped off the walker and ran around the table, leaping up on the chair next to Molly, who showered her with ‘fairy pats’. The puppy looked like he was tempted to join her, but wasn’t sure if he should.
“You can follow Annie,” Martha told him. “Annie knows.”
“Ruff!” The little guy hopped down from the walker, using the chair as a stepping stool again, and scrambled up on Annie’s chair.
“Two!” Molly giggled, now ‘fairy patting’ the puppy as well.
Claire ordered a latte and a red velvet cupcake.
Lauren and Zoe headed to the counter. Steaming the milk, Lauren smiled as she watched Molly petting the two fur babies.
“I think it’s great Martha has someone to look after.” Zoe sounded wistful.
“Are you thinking of it?”
“No – well, not really. I think Chris would like to get a cat – or maybe even a dog – or both! – one day, though.”
“I can just see you two doing that,” she replied encouragingly.
“Yeah, I can too – one day.” Zoe smiled.
They brought the order over to the trio.
“Cino, cino,” Molly chanted. Her eyes widened when she spied the red cupcake, which was flavored with cocoa and a hint of vanilla, and topped with a generous swirl of tangy cream cheese frosting. “Molly have?”
“A small piece. I don’t want you to spoil your dinner.” Claire cut the cupcake into halves and gave her daughter the smaller piece.
“I bet you’ll still eat your dinner.” Martha winked at Molly.
“Yeah!” Molly grinned. She spooned up some cino froth, which consisted of warm steamed milk, mini pink and white marshmallows, and a dusting of chocolate powder. She smacked her lips together. “Yum!”
“I’ve got one a bit like that too.” Martha gestured to her hot chocolate crammed with mini-marshmallows.
“Did you buy the Gazette last Sunday, Claire?” Zoe said. “We saw your photos in there.”
“Yes, I did.” Claire smiled. “I’ve cut out the story and the photos, and put them in an album. I thought Molly looked wonderful in them.”
“So did we,” Lauren agreed.
“And Lauren, you looked so good. So did you, Zoe.”
“Thanks,” they chorused. They looked at each other and smiled.
“You looked awesome too, Martha,” Zoe said.
“Thelma’s good at taking people’s photos.” Martha grinned. “Hey, Claire, Thelma’s writing a story about me for the Gazette.” She told Claire all about it while Molly petted Annie and the puppy, between bites of her cupcake and slurps of her babycino.
“What about the TV reporter who died at the premiere?” Claire asked.
“We’re looking into that,” Martha replied proudly.
“You are?” Claire tried to hide her surprise.
“Mitch is investigating,” Lauren told her. “I’m sure he’ll catch the killer.”
“Meanwhile, we’re going to help him.” Martha grinned.
Lauren closed her eyes for a second.
“Tomorrow afternoon,” Zoe chimed in, “we’re going to grill Jill, the reporter from Sacramento.”
After glancing at Molly, Zoe lowered her voice as she gave Claire some more details.
“My little guy and Annie are coming along as well,” Martha finished. “I can’t wait!”
The puppy cocked his fluffy white ear and turned toward Martha. “Ruff!” He seemed to agree.
Lauren couldn’t help smiling.
When Molly finished her cino, she told them about a fun story the teacher had read them that day at school, about a flower that wanted to be a pig.
“Have you got any more photos of you and Kitty?” Lauren couldn’t resist asking.
“Yes! Show them, Mommy.”
Claire dug her phone out of her purse and scrolled. When the café had held a kitten adoption day where Annie had chosen Ms. Tobin’s sweet calico, Molly had fallen in love with a little gray girl that ‘looks like Annie but not like Annie’ and had named her Kitty.
They admired photos of Molly and Kitty playing in the garden, climbing a low branch of a tree, and cuddling together on the sofa.
“Aren’t you two sweet?” Martha smiled. “Look, little guy.”
The puppy peered at the photos with wide eyes.
“Kitty.” Molly tapped her finger on the photo. “And me,” she explained to the dog.
After a lovely visit, Claire and Molly said goodbye, Molly waving madly on her way out.
When five o’clock rolled around, she and Zoe cleaned the café. Martha and her puppy had left a short while ago. Since tonight was craft club, they had to get going if they wanted to make it to Mrs. Finch’s on time.
“Want to come over to my place for a quick dinner?” Zoe invited.
“Brrt!” Yes! Annie answered for them.
Zoe giggled.
After they finished cleaning, they headed to Zoe’s house, next door to Lauren’s.
“How about some chicken wings?” Zoe gestured to the air fryer sitting on the dark green countertop in the nineteen-sixties kitchen.
“Didn’t you have them last night?”
“And they were delicious!”
“Okay.” She loved to see her cousin enthusiastic about cooking.
“I haven’t forgotten you, Annie.” Zoe zipped to the pantry and pulled out a small tin of chicken in gravy.
“Brrp.” Thank you.
While the wings cooked in the air fryer, they chatted about tomorrow’s pizza night.
“I guess I should tell you that Mitch and I had pizza for dinner last night,” she said. “But I’m still looking forward to it again tomorrow.”
“I should really start making my own pizza again,” Zoe mused. A while ago, she’d come second in a local pizza making competition. “But it’s fun to order in and not have to do any work.”
“Brrt!”
They both laughed.
After Lauren munched on teriyaki wings with a healthy green salad, she took Annie home to quickly get ready for craft club.
Just as they were heading out the back door, Mitch came home.
“Hi.” She reached up to kiss him. “Any developments?”
“Not yet.” He kissed her back. “But Castern took that vacation day today. And another item’s gone from his desk. It’s pretty bare now.”
“Maybe he is retiring.”
“I hope so.”
After telling him there was some left-over chicken stew in the fridge, she left him to it.
After picking up Zoe, they zoomed off to Mrs. Finch’s, and told her all about Martha’s new puppy.
“My goodness!” Mrs. Finch looked a little surprised as she sank back in her armchair. “Do tell me more.”
They obliged, Annie adding a series of brrts and brrps to the conversation.
At the end, Mrs. Finch chuckled. “I can just imagine Martha pushing the dog around on her walker. I just hope she doesn’t go too fast.”
“So does she,” Lauren said, “but I think she’ll be careful.”
“Yeah, she was going very slowly today,” Zoe put in.
They told her about their trip to Sacramento tomorrow.
“You will be careful, won’t you?” Mrs. Finch asked in a worried tone.
“We will,” Lauren confirmed. “There’ll be five of us, including Annie and the puppy.”
“What could possibly go wrong?” Zoe asked.