Chocolate Heart Killer: A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 14 by Kathleen Suzette (guided reading books .TXT) 📗

Christy nodded. “I’ll do that. I’ll stay there at the garage so that if he says something’s wrong, he’ll have to come and ask me before fixing it.”

I turned to Amanda, as I thought about this. “I’d like a raspberry mocha.”

“And I’d like a regular mocha,” Christy added.

She nodded and got to work on our drinks. “I hate to hear that about another business owner. I’d like to think Pumpkin Hollow has honest business owners,” she said over her shoulder.

“You and me both,” I said, leaning on the front counter.

“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t know it for a fact,” Polly said. “Honestly, I’m not just gossiping. If it hadn’t happened to me, I wouldn’t tell you about it the way I am.”

“I believe you,” I said. “I’ve known you long enough to know you aren’t going to make this up.”

If Polly said Fred had cheated her, then I believed it. I needed to talk to Ethan about it and see what he thought. If Fred really had cheated Logan, and Logan had threatened to file a complaint with the Bureau of Automotive Repairs, then maybe Fred had gotten back at him by cutting his brake line and killing him.

Chapter Eighteen

“What do you think about what Polly said about Fred?” Christy asked me, turning from the shelf she was straightening.

Fred’s auto shop might have been slow, but he wasn’t the only one. We’d had several slow days at the candy store, and it was a good thing we also had Internet sales, or we might’ve been in the same position Fred was in.

“I don’t know. I always thought Fred was a good guy, in spite of what people have said about him. It’s not the first time I’ve heard something like this, of course, and Logan’s parents sure don’t like Mel. But sometimes I wonder if that’s just because they are mechanics and people always think that mechanics are trying to cheat them.”

She came over to lean on the front counter. “It’s hard to know if they’re charging you a fair price when you don’t know anything about the mechanics of a car.”

“Exactly. How do you know if they’re cheating you when you have no idea how things are supposed to work under the hood?”

“Still, I’m a little worried about buying my tires from him after what Polly said. I don’t have money to throw away and I’d hate to think that he was giving me cheap tires if I pay for a better grade.”

“I guess you can solve that by just paying for cheap tires,” I said and gave her a cheesy grin.

She rolled her eyes at me. “I guess that would solve things. And honestly, that’s probably all I can afford anyway.”

“I guess you don’t have to worry about him cheating you then,” I said. We both looked up as the front door opened and Amber Gleason walked in.

She smiled. “Hi ladies,” she said and walked up to the front counter. “How are you two doing today?”

“We’re doing great,” I said. Her hair was striped with lavender and it looked good on her. “Who did your hair? It’s cute.”

“I did it myself. I know, I know, hairdressers aren’t supposed to do their own hair, but I do.”

“Wow, I really like that,” Christy said, admiring her hair. “It’s really pretty. Maybe I should do something like that.”

“Well I can hook you right up,” she said, nodding. “If we lightened your hair a little, and added the lavender highlights, I think it would be really cute.”

She sighed. “Except I’ve got to pay for an oil change and tires. Darn it, why do I have to be responsible?”

“Oh there’s that responsibility thing,” Amber said and chuckled. “I’m not too keen on it myself.”

“I can do your hair for you, Christy,” I said leaning on the front counter. “It doesn’t have to look good, right?”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “As a matter fact, it does need to look good. I don’t want people staring at me when I walk down the street, unless it’s because I look good.”

I shrugged. “Suit yourself. What can I help you with, Amber?”

“I’ve been itching for some more of your mom’s fudge. That raspberry white chocolate fudge was delicious, and I’ve got to have some more,” she said and moved over to the display case. “What are those?” She pointed at the truffles that were coated with white chocolate. Mom had drawn pastel colored flowers on with royal icing.

“My mom has been experimenting in the kitchen again. Those are truffles. The ones with the apricot flowers, have an apricot filling, the green have key lime filling, and the yellow have lemon, of course. And then we’ve got the raspberry and strawberry truffles that we usually carry.”

“They sound good,” she said. “How about if you give me two of each flavor? That way I can taste them all and decide which is my favorite. And some more of the raspberry fudge.”

“You got it,” I said, going to the back of the display case and removing the fudge tray. “How much fudge would you like?”

“How about a quarter pound? I’d like to buy more, but there’s no way I can keep myself from eating it all at once.”

I looked at her, eyebrows raised. Amber was petite and I couldn’t imagine her eating much fudge at once. I thought even a quarter of a pound would be too much to eat all at once. “Seriously?”

She shrugged. “That’s my deep dark secret, you know. I’ve got a tremendous sweet tooth and I can really put it away when we’re talking about candy.”

“I never would have guessed that,” Christy said. “So Amber, is anything exciting going on in your life?”

I glanced at Christy.