Baby Bundt Cake Confusion (Murder in the Mix Book 31) by Unknown (reading eggs books .txt) 📗

Evie and Carlotta help me waddle into my shop, with each of them attaching themselves to one of my arms.

“Hey, watch it,” I say to Carlotta as we stumble through the door. “You’re about to dislocate my shoulder.”

“Better that than a broken hip, Lot,” Carlotta shoots back.

The Cutie Pie Bakery and Cakery has been my baby for the last few years, but in just another week or so I’ll have a whole new baby to contend with.

The scent of vanilla with a hint of lemon is the first thing that hits me as soon as we step into the bakery. The walls are painted a buttery yellow, and there’s an opening from my shop into the business next door, the Honey Pot Diner, also technically my shop since my grandmother Nell basically left me everything in her real estate portfolio when she passed away.

In the center of the Honey Pot there’s a large resin oak tree whose branches flow over the ceiling of both that establishment and a part of my bakery, and each branch is lovingly wrapped in twinkle lights, giving both places an enchanted feel.

There’s a smattering of customers in the bakery, enjoying the coffee while noshing on my sweet treats. The shelves are well stocked with all things delicious, and I see both Lily and Suze taking orders behind the counter.

Since I’m the size of a building, and have about as much energy as a sea slug, Everett and Noah helped me hire a bigger staff around here until I can get back on my proverbial feet after the baby is born. And the way I’m feeling now, that should be at or about his or her senior year of high school.

It’s stunning to think that just a few short months ago I used to get up before the sun and race over to get the morning baking done all on my own. And nowadays, I more or less feel like a spectator at the bakery, and I don’t like that one bit.

The customers clear away from the counter and Evie steps up.

“Is everything ready to go?” she asks as Lily makes big eyes at her.

“Everything is under control,” Lily says the words slow and measured and a touch too loud as if she suddenly morphed into a robot with her batteries about to run out.

Evie’s shoulders jump. “Oops.” She glances my way. “I mean, I’d like to order a couple of those cream puff thingies. I’ll be hanging out with Dash in a little while.” She gives Lily a hard wink, and now I know for sure something is up.

“Good afternoon, ladies,” I say to both Lily and Suze.

Suze Fox is Noah’s mother. She’s tall, of stalky build, and has short platinum blonde hair that swoops over her eyes in the front and is shorn short along her neck. She wears a perennial frown on her face and has never cared for me all that much no matter how much I’ve tried to get along with her.

The strangest thing happened last week. Suze said that she spoke to me about working at the bakery. In fact, she said that I suggested the position to her, but the odd thing is that I have no recollection of the incident. I would have thought she hallucinated it, but Lainey said she saw me speaking to Suze that very night. One of us is losing their mind, and sadly, in this equation, it seems to be me.

“Morning, Lottie.” Lily slides a cup of coffee my way. “Decaf, just the way you like it. I’ve already put the kitchen staff on notice, and we’ve made more lemon Bundt cakes than I care to look at. And don’t worry. Almost all of them were of the smaller individual serving size. I think they’re cuter that way, and we’ll sell twice as many and charge twice as much to do it.”

“You’re turning out to be a real businesswoman, Lily. I appreciate that,” I say, glancing down at the shelves. “But there are hardly any Bundt cakes out here for people to see. We might want to sprinkle a few more here and there. Things sell better if they’re in abundance.”

Suze clucks her tongue. “That’s because not all of the Bundt cakes are at the bakery. We’ve already delivered more than half of them to the—”

“The hospital!” Carlotta shouts as if she were having a medical episode herself. She shoots Suze a beady-eyed stare. “That’s right, Lot. Suze here called this morning and said they were having a big meeting at the hospital. They’re down a few patients, so they wanted some of your poison pie to drum up business.”

I take a moment to glower at her. “Very funny. What’s going on?” I quickly inspect the four of them and they all have this deer in the headlights look on their faces. “Oh my goodness, something has happened, hasn’t it? You’re keeping something from me!” My stomach tightens again and my hands glide over my belly as I breathe out slowly just the way Serena Digby taught me. Who would have thought the same woman who put a hex on me would have been a saving grace during the most trying part of my pregnancy?

Serena wasn’t the only teacher in my birthing class. Lainey was her assistant.

“Mom?” Evie’s voice hikes a notch. “That kid isn’t going to fall out of you right now, is it?”

“What? No!” I wave the idea off. “Now someone had better fess up. What’s happening around here? And where did all those lemon Bundt cakes really end up?”

“Fine, I’ll tell ya,” Carlotta barks my way before checking her phone. “What’s this? It’s a note from your mother. She says there’s an awfully big emergency at the B&B and we need to get there quickly!”

“Oh my goodness.” I grip my belly as it gives me another firm squeeze. “We have to go. Who knows what Cormack and Cressida are up to. Or Wiley for that