Expresso Messo: A Cozy Mystery (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book 6) Read online

  Expresso Messo

  by

  Constance Barker

  Copyright 2015 Constance Barker

  All rights reserved.

  Similarities to real people, places or events are purely coincidental.

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  CHAPTER ONE

  I was in the back room of Coffee Cabana, the shop I ran with my aunts Hildie and Essie, grabbing the rest of the Valentine’s Day decorations when I heard the bell over the front door chime. I didn’t hear their usual chatter so it must be a customer. Not wanting to leave someone out there too long I dropped the decorations on the counter in the back room and hurried out.

  A cheerful looking woman stood reading the new Valentine’s Day menu, her eyes widening as she went down the list. Thanks to a brainstorming session with my aunts we had a few Valentine’s Day treats on the menu. All the businesses in the area were doing something special for the holiday so we thought it would be nice to offer new beverages for the customers. The woman stood straighter and smiled when she got to an item she liked.

  “What can I get you?” I asked.

  “I’ll have a large red velvet hot chocolate.”

  “Great choice. Did you want whipped cream and sprinkles with that?”

  She nodded so hard I thought I heard her neck crack.

  “And will that be for here or to go?”

  I looked around the empty shop. Having the company would be nice even though I didn’t chat with my customers while they drank. But before ten in the morning most people took their drinks and left, on their way to work. Except for some of the regulars who liked to come in and chat. They hadn’t arrived yet though I expected them soon.

  “To go, thanks.”

  I glanced in the display case for the baked goods. After the morning rush I was running low on the rolled waffle cookies and the special truffles I was giving away with every Valentine’s Day special drink. The drinks were selling well which had me thinking about flavors for St. Patrick’s Day, although I didn’t think green mint flavored hot chocolate would go over as well as the red velvet. I pulled out enough treats for her purchase then made the hot chocolate. If my aunts didn’t arrive soon with refills I’d have to resort to handing out chocolate chip cookies.

  I topped the large red velvet hot chocolate with whipped cream and red and pink sprinkles. It was almost a shame to put the to go lid on it but I did that too then dropped a couple rolled waffle cookies and pink foil wrapped chocolate raspberry truffles into a small bag. I smiled at my customer and handed over her purchase. As the woman left two more customers came in and sauntered up to the counter, reading the menu as they approached. I recognized Bob and Penny Carver immediately and I thought it was cute how they still held hands. I hoped Eli and I were still that in love after years of marriage.

  I wanted to do something special for Valentine’s Day but it could never be as good as the way he proposed to me. I had no idea and it seemed like the whole town had been in on it. Even my best friend Jules had been able to keep the secret.

  This was our first Valentine’s Day as an engaged couple and I wanted it to be memorable. Not the most romantic person, I was drawing a blank on what to do and what to get him. It’s not my fault really. I’d been single for so long I hadn’t had to think about celebrating any holidays with a significant other even though I’d had my eye on Eli for a while.

  I needed to enlist Jules’ help if I wanted to wow Eli with a surprise for the holiday. Maybe part of the surprise would be we’d celebrate before the actual day so on Valentine’s Day when everyone else was sitting in overcrowded restaurants we could just enjoy each other’s company. But I still had no idea what to do.

  “What can I get you two?” I asked when Mr. and Mrs. Carver smiled at me indicating they’d made their decision. At least someone in this place could decide on something.

  “We’ll have that delicious sounding raspberry latte,” Mr. Carver said.

  “Will that be for here or to go?”

  They looked at each other and nodded. “For here.”

  Some kind of psychic ability that develops when you get married I wondered. I set about making their drinks.

  “You can have a seat and I’ll bring it over,” I said. When it wasn’t busy I didn’t mind bringing the drinks over. It gave the place a special, personalized touch.

  They took a table by the front door sitting beside each other. They chatted quietly and I wondered what they were talking about. What did married couples talk about? I doubted it was much different from what couples who were dating talked about.

  Ever since Eli’s proposal my mind seemed to spin out of control. Various thoughts whisked into my head and out again, just like wondering what married couples did or didn’t do. I felt like I was on a whirlwind ride and sometimes I wanted to get off and other times I wanted it to last forever. Maybe this is what it’s like to be in love. I shook off my head in the clouds thoughts and resumed making Bob and Penny’s drinks.

  With their drinks made I pulled out the cookies and truffles to go with their festive purchase and put those on a plate. Carrying two mugs in one hand and the plate in the other I walked slowly to their table so I didn’t spill anything. I would need to make sure I didn’t fill the mugs so high the next time. I didn’t want to have to mop the floor every time someone got a drink to stay.

  “Here you go,” I said as I placed their order on the table.

  “Thank you,” they said in unison.

  “You’re very welcome.”

  Mrs. Carver took a sip of her drink and a bite of her cookie. “This is delicious, Lily. I love the hint of raspberry.” She waved the cookie around and took another bite. “And this is divine. Your aunts sure have a talent for baking.”

  They did. And for that I was grateful. I liked being able to offer my customers more than caffeine filled drinks. The variety of baked goods wasn’t good for my waistline but until Eli went away with his dad on a fishing trip I’d been doing pretty well avoiding the treats my aunts brought in every day.

  “They should be by any minute with more. They’ll be glad to hear our customers like them.”

  I left the Carvers to their drinks and went back to the counter. As if on cue my aunts Hildie and Essie breezed in arms laden with replacement cookies and truffles as well as their usual muffins.

  “Just in time! Your truffles and cookies are going fast.” I rushed out from behind the counter to help them carry the trays in.

  With a huff Hildie placed a large tray of cookies on the counter. Essie snuck in between us to relieve herself of the pink foil wrapped chocolate raspberry truffles. I grabbed a confection, unwrapped it and popped the smooth chocolate into my mouth. The fruity raspberry flavored treat melted on my tongue. I loved the burst of freshness from the fruit.

  “If you didn’t eat as many as you gave away we wouldn’t have to replace them so fast,” Essie scolded.

  I swiped another one before she could slap my hand away. It wasn’t my fault. The old girls were amazing bakers, never failing to surprise me with their confections. And the customers loved getting the cookies and chocolates with their Valentine’s Day drinks.

  “I’m not that bad. This is my second one of the day.” Okay so maybe it was my second one that hour.

  “They’re for customers,” Essie’s tone broached no arguments so I stopped myself from stealing a cookie.

  “Leave her alone,” Hildie said. “Maybe she’s eating to compensate for Eli being away.”

  “Hildie!” I said.

  �
��What? You have been moping around since he want away with his dad.”

  My aunts weren’t ones to pull punches and Hildie was right. I hadn’t been engaged to Eli that long and though I was indifferent to Valentine’s Day for the most part, I had been looking forward to spending the day with him this year. If I could figure out what to surprise him with. The longer I couldn’t get in touch with him the more my insecurities bubbled to the surface. Deep down I knew I had nothing to worry about but my long single life was still fresh in my mind.

  I’d been looking forward to a quiet, somewhat romantic evening with him when he reminded me of his trip with his dad. I didn’t let my disappointment show at least not to him but my aunts were perceptive when it came to my mood. I guess I didn’t need the lead up to Valentine’s Day to be with him as long as he was here for the actual day. Or a day before the day would be better. Whatever I came up with I knew I wanted to spring it on him the day before. That would make it even more of a surprise.

  Essie came behind the counter and started putting the cookies and chocolates in the display case. Partially to keep busy and partially to stop me from raiding the trays.

  “I’m glad you ladies are here. You can help me with the decorations.”

  “You’re putting up decorations?” Essie asked.

  “Of course.”

  Essie huffed and continued arranging the baked goods.

  “Don’t mind her,” Hildie said. “Do you have the decorations already?”

  “I have some in the back. I’ll run back and get them. Jules is bringing more over.”

  “More?” Essie asked. “How many do you need?”

  “Enough to make the place look nice,” I said.

  “I think it looks fine the way it is,” Essie continued to move the baked goods around in the display case.”

  “I don’t. It won’t take too long to hang them anyway.”

  I dashed into the back room again to retrieve the streamers and hearts. Every once in a while I heard my aunts arguing about the validity of the holiday. While I usually couldn’t care less one way or the other, they on the other hand had distinct thoughts on the subject. I prefer autumn to the briskness of winter. Even here in Sweet Home, Florida the temperatures dropped below what I was comfortable with. Of course hanging out with Eli would make things a lot warmer but I wasn’t for sure he’d be back in time for the holiday. If they were catching lots of fish his dad Harvey might want to stay longer.

  Loaded down with pink and white streamers, pink and red hearts, and another sleeve of the red take away coffee cups, I returned to the front of the shop. I dropped the cups beside the coffee machines and brought the decorations to my aunts.

  “Why are we decorating the shop?” Essie asked. It was clear she didn’t want me to have the last word on the subject. “It’s a fake ‘holiday’ invented by greeting card companies.”

  I could practically see the air quotes over Essie’s head as she said holiday. “To make the place look more festive. All the businesses are doing something for Valentine’s Day.”

  Jules was inserting a secret admirer column in her newspaper. I couldn’t wait to see how that turned out for her. Even Reva’s, the local restaurant, added something special to the menu in honor of the holiday. Other businesses that could offer couples anything jumped on the opportunity to get two people into their places instead of one. The thought of creating a couples item jumped to the front of my mind.

  I sold lots of single drinks but if I added a mix and match option for couples with a slight discount for buying together while still giving me a decent profit margin maybe I would sell more. Gears turned in my head imagining different combinations and price points. All would come with the cookies and chocolates but enough for two. I’d think about it a little more then run it by my aunts later.

  Maybe it was a little commercial but I wanted to make the Coffee Cabana the first place people thought about when they thought about Valentine’s Day. What was wrong with adding a little extra love to the world? I’d only started selling the new drinks yesterday but so far customers raved about them. I’d been so busy I hadn’t had a chance to try the raspberry latte myself, though I had sampled the red velvet hot chocolate.

  Decorating the shop had nothing to do with the fact that I couldn’t get in touch with Eli. Every once in a while I would pull out my phone, start to dial then stop myself. He was unreachable by phone right now and waiting for his voice mail to click in just so I could hear his voice sounded desperate even to me. I just wanted to know that he would be back in time for the holiday. Was that too much to ask for an engaged couple?

  Hildie grabbed some of the streamers and taped them to the walls. “Some help here please.”

  Essie frowned. “If you think it will help business, fine.” She walked over to help Hildie with a long streamer.

  The bell jingled as the door swung wide. Jules rushed in as the Carvers were leaving, her arms overflowing with more decorations from her paper, well, the gift shop in front anyway. In her hands she waved a copy of the paper. She walked over to the nearest table, the one the Carvers had vacated, and dropped the decorations, catching one of the mugs before it could be knocked onto the floor.

  “Hey, thanks for bringing more streamers and hearts,” I said rushing over to clear the table. I grabbed the mugs and plate and put them in the dishwasher behind the counter.

  “Yes, thanks ever so much,” Essie said with a frown. I was beginning to think she hated this lover’s holiday.

  “Essie!” Hildie scolded. “Pay no attention to her. She’s in a mood.”

  “Maybe this will cheer her up,” Jules said thrusting the paper at me.

  I walked around to the front of the counter and took the paper from her. It was already open to the secret admirer page. The residents of Sweet Home seemed to love the idea. All the available space for the column was full. My aunts joined me to read over my shoulder.

  “Who wrote that one?” Hildie asked pointing to one that referred to “shark man” in search of his shark woman.

  The message could have been from Harvey, Eli’s dad and Hildie’s frequent companion, with the shark comment referring to the golf cart he rode around in decorated with a shark fin on top.

  “I don’t know who wrote any of them,” Jules said. “The column is anonymous.”

  “You don’t think that’s Harvey, do you?” Essie asked.

  Hildie shrugged and looked at me. “Did you get a hold of Eli yet?”

  “I tried earlier in the week but it’s going right to voice mail.”

  “I’m sure it’s someone else,” Jules said.

  “Probably,” Hildie said grabbing another streamer.

  “What about this one?” Essie pointed to a message at the bottom of the page.

  It’s no secret that you’re my world. You carved a place in my life. Always.

  “That has to be one of the Carvers,” I said remembering how in sync they’d been earlier when I brought them their drinks.

  “This one sounds interesting,” Hildie said.

  Same place as before. Excuses for her but not for me. XO.

  “I think that one means someone is cheating on their wife,” I said.

  Jules frowned and took the paper. “I’ll have to keep an eye out for those. That wasn’t the intention of the column.”

  I wondered if someone would put a message in there to Jules. She was so busy lately it was hard for any guy to get her attention. Even if they did I doubted it would even register that it was directed at her.

  I always wanted to see her happy but now that I was engaged I wanted that even more. I didn’t want her sitting alone at night unless that’s what she wanted. Maybe when Eli got back we could look into fixing Jules up with someone. A double date so it wouldn’t be awkward.

  I turned my attention back to the decorating at hand. We had some pretty decorations. Hildie smiled as she taped streamers and cupids to the wall. Essie frowned the whole time but kept working.

&nb
sp; “Now that they have the decorations well in hand, I want to talk to you,” I said to Jules.

  A puzzled look crossed her face but she nodded. “Sure.”

  We walked to the back room.

  “You can’t keep secrets from us!” Essie yelled.

  I did know I couldn’t keep secrets from them and I would tell them later when I had something to tell. Right now I had nada which is why I needed Jules’ help.

  In the back room I shut the door part way. “I need your help coming up with something for Valentine’s Day.”

  “A present for Eli?”

  “A present or something we could do together. My mind refuses to come up with anything even halfway romantic. Will you help?”