About two months passed since she first tried the green tea cupcakes.
It wasn’t often that Amelia’s creations weren’t a smashing success. This made her worry that there might be something wrong. A bad omen. But she didn’t say anything to Lila or Dan or the kids.
It was something she needed to get through on her own. What she didn’t want to admit to herself was that she was getting a little burnt out. She loved baking. She loved her truck. She certainly loved how she was getting her loans paid off. But there was a wall on the inside of her mind that she was sure was closing in a millimeter at a time.
“Maybe you need to exercise more,” she’d mumble at five in the morning as she drowsily came to work. “Or dare you take a vacation? Where on earth would you go? You can’t leave the kids, and they can’t miss school. Even if Lila offered to watch them, where is there to go that would be of any interest?”
She didn’t have any answers to this, either, so it stayed deep inside her gut. A few weeks went by, and she realized she was sleeping later and rushing around in the morning, looking for her keys, her wallet, or the deposit bag.
By the time she pulled into her spot on Food Truck Alley, she was already exhausted.
“I need to hire someone,” she said out loud. “I’ll get Lila to write up a job description. Just so I can have an afternoon or morning shift to get some rest. That ought to do it. It’s got to be just exhaustion.”
For a minute, Amelia thought of Lila. She had had breast cancer, but it was gone now along with both her breasts. What were the warning signs? Was she tired a lot? Should Amelia get herself checked out?
“You are jumping to conclusions.” She put the coffee on. “Go get a check-up if you’re so worried.” That idea scared her even more. “I don’t know if I can afford a check-up right now. But that just sounds like a lame excuse to me. Yes, it does.”
She sipped the hot coffee and switched on the ovens.
Today was going to be vanilla cherry cupcakes paired with lemon cupcakes. The frostings were almost identical and could be shared without jeopardizing the taste.
“It’s rare to see you staring out into space.” Dan’s voice made Amelia jump and clutch her heart.
“What are you doing here so early?” She gasped before getting up to give him a peck on the cheek.
“Up so early? You mean up so late. I haven’t even gone to bed yet.”
“Busy night?”
“You have no idea.”
Amelia went and poured Dan a cup of coffee.
“Have a seat while the truck is still cool on the inside.” She dragged a stool from the corner for him to sit on. “So what kept you so busy?”
“Maybe you should be the one who takes a seat.”
“Why?”
“I just came from Luann Jameson’s house. Her new son-in-law died yesterday evening around four o’clock.”
“What?” Suddenly, Amelia’s heart started racing.
“He was up on her roof, fixing some shingles. Slipped and fell from the top of that huge house and landed on the only piece of driveway exposed beneath the roof.”
“That’s terrible. Poor Colleen. She must be devastated.”
“She didn’t say too much. I think she is still in shock.” Dan rubbed his face.
“Are they having a funeral and a wake? I don’t know. I have a weird feeling maybe I should go.” Amelia thought out loud. “No. I didn’t know them all that well. Still, how sad.”
“Yeah, well, like I thought would happen. According to Luann, Greg had been smoking pot and decided he was going to prove he was good at something. Climbed up on the roof and slid right off.”
Amelia shook her head.
“That’s not even the worst of it. Colleen is pregnant.”
“Oh no.” Amelia gasped, putting her hand to her chest.
“Oh yes. They didn’t waste any time.” Dan shook his head. “My head is throbbing. I gotta go. I’ll call you tonight after I sleep the entire day.”
“Of course. Would you like me to bring you something to eat?”
“Nope. Got a can of tomato soup with my name on it. I’ll be fine.”
Amelia continued getting the ovens preheated and starting on the day’s recipes. But her mind kept drifting to that day she spoke with Colleen. She mentioned her mother, and Greg winced. It was the look of a man who didn’t get along with his girlfriend’s mother.
Amelia might have been a couple decades older than them, but she wasn’t so old she didn’t remember how a suitor acted around her parents when it was obvious they didn’t like him. One-word answers to questions. Arms folded all the time. Plus an almost violent physical reaction when she would mention her parents. Not much had changed over the years.
“I hate to be the wet blanket at such a delicate time,” Lila said after Amelia told her the news. “But if the guy was smoking weed and then went up on the roof, he obviously wasn’t that bright. Maybe it was a blessing this happened.”
“Lila, how can you say that?” Amelia smiled because she had been thinking the same thing but didn’t have the guts to say it. Not so bluntly, anyway.
“I’m not saying I’m glad it happened. I’m just saying…”
Amelia was about to reply when her cell phone went off. It was a number she’d never seen before.
“The Pink Cupcake. Amelia speaking.”
“Amelia Harley?”
“This is she.”
“Miss Harley, this is Luann Jameson. My daughter picked up your business card some time back and said you catered.”
“Yes, Miss Jameson. That’s true. What can I do for you?”
Amelia stared at Lila, whose eyes bugged out of her head as her jaw dropped.
“I’m having an intimate affair for about one hundred people, and I was hoping you could accommodate. My daughter says the double-chocolate raspberry cupcakes are amazing. I have to take her word for it. I don’t eat refined sugar of any kind.”
Amelia pulled a pen from her purse and began to scribble down what Luann was saying on the back of a receipt while she shrugged at Lila.
“One hundred double-chocolate raspberry cupcakes. Sure. When do you need them, and where should they be delivered?”
“I’ll need them delivered to my house at 667 Lahon Road. It’s the house with the pillars.” She sounded bored. “Tomorrow around four o’clock in the afternoon.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Amelia agreed and took a credit card number before hanging up the phone with a “Thank you, Mrs. Jameson. See you then, Mrs. Jameson.”
“Are you kidding me?” Lila gasped.
“She wants cupcakes for a small affair at her house.” Amelia shook her head. “Right when her son-in-law is being laid to rest?”
“You know what? I don’t think that’s strange at all.” Lila came to Luann’s defense. “When your whole life is work-work-work, when a crisis hits, the only thing you know how to do is stay busy. That was how Jacob coped with my cancer.”
“You’re right.” Amelia nodded. “But I think I might stop by the wake. Maybe.”
“It wouldn’t be the wildest thing anyone did.”
The next day, the details for the wake of Gregory Timber Scottson were listed in the Gary Bugle. Amelia showed up at the Brockheim Funeral Home and lingered in the back of the room.
I shouldn’t have come to this. She smoothed the nape of her neck. I don’t know these people. But when she looked at the front of the room, she saw Colleen sitting alone. No one was talking to her or offering their condolences, even though the room had a fair number of people in it.
Just then, Amelia saw Luann. She came sweeping into the room, wearing a rather low-cut black wrap-around dress that left very little to the imagination. Her long blond hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, and she was leading a very young, handsome fellow into the room behind her.
“Colleen, you remember Roger?” Amelia heard her mother say.
Colleen didn’t say anything.
“Colleen, you look really beautiful,” Roger gushed. It was obvious he couldn’t take his eyes off Colleen, but he was keenly aware he was at a funeral.
“Why don’t you and Roger go talk? Get some fresh air,” Luann urged.
“I don’t want to talk!” Colleen shouted. “I don’t want any fresh air! I want Greg back!”
She sounded so young, Amelia’s heart broke for the girl. It reminded her of the time Meg’s first pet died. She was only six, and her pet was a smelly hamster that she named Napoleon. Amelia hated the thing, but Meg loved it. She had it for two years before the little guy just fell asleep. Meg was beside herself.
“I just want to walk in my room and see him running on his wheel.” Her baby sniffled.
But this wasn’t a hamster. This was a husband. Amelia couldn’t stand it. She watched Colleen stomp out of the room and waited for Luann to follow after her. But Luann didn’t do that. Instead, she apologized to Roger and his parents, who were offering their condolences. Amelia couldn’t take it and followed Colleen out the door, unnoticed. She found her sitting on a folding chair in an empty viewing room.
“Colleen?” Amelia whispered. “I don’t know if you remember me.”
“The Pink Cupcake.” Colleen smiled prettily through running mascara and red eyes. “Yes, I remember you. It’s so nice of you to come.” She sniffed, stood, and offered her hand to Amelia, who shook it.
“I just wanted to say I was sorry for your loss. I know you don’t know me, but I thought you and Greg made a lovely couple that time I spoke to the two of you, and since I’m having some cupcakes sent to your house tomorrow, I—”
“You’re what?” A shadow fell over Colleen’s eyes.
“Having cupcakes delivered to your house. Your mother ordered them. They are your favorites. The chocolate raspberry kind.” Amelia felt like an inept kindergarten teacher trying to reason with a five-year-old. “She told me you liked those the best.”
The cloud passed as quickly as it had surfaced, and again Colleen smiled politely.
“Yes. My mother is arranging the luncheon at our house. She said she was.”
Amelia sensed uneasiness in Colleen’s voice and was suddenly wishing she had talked herself out of coming.
“I could tell when your mother called that she was very worried about you,” Amelia lied. “Some people just have a hard time getting it out. They make you look for the compassion with a fine-tooth comb. But rest assured, it’s in there.”
Colleen looked at Amelia as if she were getting directions.
“That’s very kind of you,” Colleen said. “I know my mother means well. But I’m not like her. I’m more sensitive, like my dad.” She sighed, and a fresh spring of tears welled up in her eyes. “I wish he were here.”
Amelia plucked a Kleenex from a nearby table and handed it to Colleen, who blew her nose loudly.
“I’ll leave you alone,” Amelia said soothingly. She watched Colleen take her seat again, and when the girl didn’t say anything else, Amelia took a step toward the door. That was when she saw the face peering in at them. A man had been eavesdropping.
Feeling her entire back bristle, Amelia took off after him. She saw a portly-looking guy in a wrinkled denim jacket and black slacks quickly stride down the hallway, to the lobby, and out the front door.
Are you really going to chase him down? Amelia thought for a split second. Yes, I am.
Without drawing too much attention to herself, Amelia pursued the strange man into the parking lot. He was fumbling with his keys when she saw him.
“Hey!” she shouted. “Hey, you! I want to talk to you!”
The man looked up and snickered.
“It’s no big deal, lady. I didn’t do anything.”
“I didn’t say you did,” Amelia snapped back. “But your remark makes me think you might be up to no good.”
“Oh, no. Not me. I’m the only one trying to do any good. I’m the only one who knows the truth, and no one will believe me.”
“How do you know Colleen?”
The man bit his lip. He wouldn’t be unattractive if he’d get his hair trimmed off his collar and maybe wear a pair of dress shoes instead of gym shoes with his slacks.
“I don’t really know her,” he muttered, looking up at the sky. He scratched his eyebrow. “I mean, I’ve just been her neighbor for over ten years. But her mother the pit bull never let the outside world infringe on her azaleas.”
Could this be the rarely seen Bud Fetzer?
“I don’t really know her either. My name is Amelia Harley.” She extended her hand.
“Bud Fetzer,” the man replied, looking down his nose at Amelia as if he were studying lobsters in a tank, looking for the healthiest specimen. His lips pulled down at the corners as though he smelled something bad.
“So Bud. Why were you eavesdropping on Colleen and me?”
“I wasn’t eavesdropping. I was hoping I might be able to get her alone for just a minute.”
“To do what?” Amelia’s eyes flashed with that same storm she’d seen in Colleen’s eyes.
“Please, don’t get your panties in a bunch. It’s nothing like that. Get your mind out of the gutter.”
Amelia gasped.
“I needed to talk to her about something that I’m not sharing with you, Amelia Harley.” Bud smirked. “It’s a matter for law enforcement, if you must know.”
“Law enforcement?” Amelia looked Bud up and down.
“For what it’s worth. The law enforcement in Gary is hardly the public’s first line of defense. If they knew what I knew. Let’s just say more people would have those decorative bars on their doors and windows. But they want to stay blind. Asleep. But all you have to do is listen.”
“Listen? To what?”
“My podcast.” Bud pulled a card from his pocket and handed it to Amelia. Clock-watcher’s Report was written in black letters over a plain white background with nothing but Bud’s name and an email address on it. “I’ve got over one million subscribers. Over a million people from all over the country are awake. But I can’t get my neighbor to flipping open her eyes for even a second. Not even one second.”
“Do you have a crush on Colleen?” Amelia asked kindly as if she were talking to Adam or someone his age.
“What?” Bud blushed. “No. I mean, she’s beautiful. But she knows it. It’s only a matter of time before she takes on her mother’s personality and the whole fantasy is ruined.”
“Fantasy?”
“Look, Amelia, I don’t know what you want from me, but I’m getting out of here. There are eyes and ears all over the place. I have to watch my back. Now that you’ve been seen with me, you better do the same.”
He climbed into a beautiful silver BMW and quickly zoomed out of the parking lot and onto the quiet street.
Before he hit the first traffic light, Amelia had Dan on the phone.