Triple Dipped Murder Read online

  “Uh oh. This doesn’t sound like a good conversation,” she said.

  “Just hear me out.” Yvette leaned back in her chair. “When I met with Emma the other day, I told her about Henry and how it seems like he’s been struggling over there. Turns out, she wanted to meet with me to ask if I’d take over the Townsend location for a week when Henry goes on vacation. She wants to see what’s been going on over there and hoped I’d help her out a little.”

  “Okay, so how do I fit into this?” Vanessa tilted her head.

  “Well, someone needs to run our shop when I’m gone.” Yvette’s mouth curved up into a smile.

  “You mean me?” Vanessa was skeptical. “I’m not sure…”

  “Yes, I mean you and I am more than sure. It was actually Emma’s idea and of course, I agreed. You can absolutely do it. Tonya can take over your hours and then you can take over mine. Maybe Sage will come in for the week, and we’ll assume Joey will be here too, so it will all work out just fine.” Yvette offered her nervous employee a grin.

  “What happens if I mess something up? Or what if I forget to order enough ice cream? Then I’ll be in the same place as Henry. Yvette, I just…” Vanessa protested.

  Yvette interrupted with a little laugh. “I have no doubt that you can do this, all you have to do is say yes so I can let Emma know,” she said, reaching for her phone.

  “Look at you, already getting ready to call her knowing I’d say yes,” Vanessa giggled. “If you think I can do it, and Sage says yes, then I’m all for it. If Joey isn’t around though, I think I may need some more help.”

  “I’d never leave you to the wolves, girl.” Yvette gave her friend and employee an encouraging smile.

  “If you say so,” Vanessa shrugged.

  “I do say so. Now, let’s go see what Sage thinks.”

  The two women linked arms and went back out front.

  6

  Yvette could see Amelia’s bright red sports car from a mile away. She was meeting her best friend at Kline Family Farm on the outskirts of town. Amelia had just gotten in from her yearly trip to visit her grandparents, and Yvette couldn’t wait to catch up.

  Amelia and Yvette had been friends since college. They’d attended Hallsville University just a forty-five-minute drive from Heritage. The women had shared an off-campus apartment and became fast friends.

  Yvette pulled her SUV into the lot, got out and slammed the door shut behind her, jogging to meet her friend.

  “Hi!” Amelia squealed.

  “I’m so happy you’re home!”

  “Girl, me too. It’s been fun but I’m glad I got to come home a little early. My grandparents are apparently the life of the party at the campground. My grandmother is the head of the book club and the knitting circle, my granddad calls for Bingo, DJ’s the little parties they have and also helps out with security. I couldn’t even keep up with them,” Amelia chuckled.

  “I believe it,” replied Yvette, “they’ve always been active, but to be fair, you take after them. I can’t keep up with you half the time.”

  “Enough about all of that though, what’s been going on around here?”

  “Pretty much everything,” Yvette sighed.

  “Oh jeez, okay. Well, let’s go take a walk to see the animals. That always makes me feel better.” Amelia shared a smile with her worried friend.

  The women walked past the entrance of the farm down toward where the baby goats were. Something about the quirky little animals always put a smile on their faces. They’d even signed up for goat yoga in the fall, and neither could wait for that experience.

  “I just don’t know what to do. I’m really nervous about agreeing to work in Townsend,” Yvette finished telling her friend about Emma’s request to take over for Henry.

  “Wow, well I think it’ll be a nice change of pace for you and great practice for Vanessa if you ever want to take some real time off. You’ve been promising me a girl’s trip for like a year now,” Amelia playfully pushed her friend.

  “You’re right,” Yvette replied. “there’s one more thing, though. Honestly, I’ve been trying to avoid it. I just don’t know what to do.”

  “What’s wrong?” Amelia’s eyes widened.

  “Laura Hudson died. She drowned in her pool, and I just don’t know how to be there for Marie.” Yvette’s eyes glazed with tears.

  Amelia motioned for Yvette to sit with her at a nearby picnic table. “That’s just terrible. I’m so sorry. I know you were close to Laura too, how is everyone holding up?

  “That’s the thing, I have no idea how Marie is doing, because I haven’t even had the courage to call her. I’m a terrible friend.” Yvette glanced away.

  “That’s not true and you know it. Why don’t we make a plan to meet with her one day this week? We can go together. After all, she’s my friend too,” Amelia suggested.

  Yvette knew she could count on Amelia to make things better. “You’re right, let’s do it. I’ll give her a call tomorrow. Now, let’s go play with the animals before I have to meet Mark.”

  “Mark? Why?” Amelia scrunched her nose.

  “I need to set up another delivery. We’ve been super busy all week, the order we just got in a few days ago is already almost gone and Joey refused to accept the sample flavors because they weren’t on the order list. Those usually help tide us over until the next delivery.”

  “Of course he did. He’s so particular,” Amelia laughed, “I’m so going with you to talk to Mark though. I bet I’ll get some samples.”

  Yvette and Amelia strolled back up the hill to Mark’s office, stopping by the bunny cage. They each put a quarter in the machine that gave out bunny food rather than gumballs. Aside from the Autumn activities like pumpkin picking and corn mazes, the animal attractions were the highlight of the farm for everyone that visited.

  “Afternoon, ladies,” came a deep voice from behind them.

  Turning around, Yvette saw Armand, the groundskeeper walking in their direction.

  “I hope we didn’t cause any trouble,” Yvette said, “I have a meeting with Mark at two, but we got here a little early to enjoy the fresh air and beautiful views.”

  “No problem at all. I always love a familiar face,” the groundskeeper tipped his hat. “How’s life on the sweet side of town?” he laughed.

  Armand had been working at the Kline’s farm for as long as Yvette could remember. He joked that Yvette worked on the sweet side of town since she got to serve the ice cream and he worked with the cows.

  “Life is good,” Yvette told him.

  Amelia nodded her head in agreement.

  “Better get going, gals. You know how Mark is about punctuality,” Armand tipped his hat and went on his way.

  Yvette had known Mark for nearly her whole life, and he was like family. They certainly fought like family. As Emma’s brother, he was in and out of Sundae Afternoon for years before Yvette took over. It was as if he was checking up on his little sister, waiting for her to make a mistake. When their grandfather passed, he’d thought that he and Emma would be inheriting the farm to run together. When Mark learned that his sister was getting money in addition to her half of the farm, he was furious. He’d always held a grudge, saying that Emma got to have the fun while he had to do all the work.

  The women arrived at Mark’s office and Yvette knocked on the door.

  “It’s open.”

  Yvette went through and motioned for Amelia to follow.

  “Oh good, you brought a friend,” Mark said glancing at his watch.

  “You know you love it when I visit,” Amelia said flipping her stick-straight blonde hair over her shoulder.

  Mark rolled his eyes. “The highlight of my day.”

  The two had dated for a few years a while back. Like two peas in a pod, they did everything together. No one was really certain why it ended, they both just always said it was because they were so busy with their jobs. Mark was running the farm nearly on his own and Amelia was the director of
tourism and activities at the Visitor’s Center in Heritage. They claimed they just didn’t have time for a relationship. Yvette always held the assumption that it was because Mark wanted to get married and Amelia didn’t.

  “I really didn’t even need to stop by but since it’s a special order, I thought I’d see if we can add a few new flavors this time.” Yvette sat down in the rocking chair that Mark kept in the corner of his office. It was his grandmother’s, and Yvette knew it meant a great deal to him.

  “You know you can do the order with Millie at the actual place where they make the ice cream, right?” Mark sighed and looked toward Amelia, clearly annoyed by her presence.

  “I think I’m gonna head out,” Amelia said. “I’ll call you later, Yvette.”

  “Why do you do that?” Yvette leaned forward in the chair. “She didn’t have to come here at all, do you ever think it’s because she actually WANTS to see you? And there you go, acting like a big jerk. I know I didn’t need to place the order with you, but I did know Amelia would be meeting me here, so I set it up this way on purpose.”

  “Oh so, you can play matchmaker but no one else can? You know you and my friend Wyatt would be great together. Just give it another chance…” Mark began.

  Completely ignoring him, Yvette began listing the next set of flavors she wanted to try out.

  “Let me try some of that Peach Buttermilk. I’m really sad I missed out on that one. I can’t believe Joey refused the samples,” she sighed. “How about some Rum Raisin, Coffee Hazelnut, and Blackberry Chocolate Chunk as well? That’s in addition to our regular order,” Yvette added, just in case Mark didn’t remember.

  Kline Family Farm sold exclusively to Emma’s shops which was another reason Mark was always so bitter. He’d been fighting with his sister for years to bring the ice cream to grocery stores and other restaurants, but Emma refused. The two were the only living relatives of Hollis Kline and they each held fifty percent of the ownership of the farm. They’d agreed that since Emma brought in the majority of the revenue for the farm from ice cream sales that they would keep selling exclusively at Sundae Afternoon.

  The farm had a separate building where the ice cream was made, and Emma had hired several employees and a manager to oversee the process. Once the ice cream was finished, it was packaged and transported via refrigerated truck to each of the shops. Generally, if Yvette wasn’t phoning in the order, she went directly to see the manager, Millie, in her office to set up an order.

  “I think that’ll do it,” Yvette said, getting up, just as frustrated with Mark as Amelia had been.

  “Wait. I’m proud of you, you know.” Mark glanced up from his desk, his eyes softening. “I may give you a hard time, but you do a really great job running that shop. I know my grandfather would be proud of you too,” Mark said sincerely.

  “Thanks, that means a lot. But you should really try being a little nicer sometimes. It goes a long way, ya know.”

  Embarrassed, Mark glanced down at his desk before rising to walk Yvette to the door.

  7

  One unicorn cone coming right up!” Yvette couldn’t believe how well these were going over. She’d figured that the kids would enjoy them but hadn’t counted on the adults going crazy for them too.

  The bell on the door rang once. Then again. Then for a third time. Yvette finally looked up to see what was going on. She didn’t like when people stood with the door open, it let so much of the summer heat in. Seeing Heath, her father’s best friend, struggling with a large cardboard box, Yvette ran to help him.

  Heath Briggs was not only her father’s best friend but the Chief of Police in Heritage. She’d known him her entire life. The Briggs had always been very close to her family. Heath, his wife Audrey, and their son Nate had been on several family vacations with the Lockharts over the years and had even spent quite a few Sunday dinners with them. Audrey was retired now and volunteered at the local animal shelter and Nate had married and moved away with his new wife to be closer to her family.

  “What is this?” Yvette asked, holding the door open.

  He shrugged. “Ask your father.”

  “This is for him? Why is it here?”

  “Don’t ask me. He needed some of the extra paint Audrey had left over from when she redid our niece’s bedroom.”

  “My dad needed paint that was used for a child’s bedroom? He’s so strange sometimes.” Yvette laughed, thinking about some of the crazy projects he’d worked on over the years. The last one was a hammock made solely out of plastic bags from the local grocery store.

  “I just do what I’m told,” Heath chuckled.

  “Well, can I get you anything while you’re here? Something to cool you down a little, maybe? I’m sure it’s hotter than heck to be working out there,” Yvette asked.

  “Let me have one of those Mocha Woke-A whatever they are,” Heath answered.

  “I should consider renaming the drink,” Yvette laughed thinking about the caffeinated beverage, the Frozen Mocha Java.

  Taking out two scoops of coffee ice cream and one mocha fudge, Yvette dropped them into a large stainless-steel cup. She poured an ice-cold shot of espresso on top and pulled out the almond milk from the fridge. Adding just a splash, since Heath loved his shakes extra thick, she placed the cup into the milkshake machine and waited for the magic to happen. A few moments later Yvette poured the creamy concoction into a frosty glass and topped it with coffee infused whipped cream.

  Passing the drink across the counter, Yvette told Heath it was on the house.

  “You’re the best. But, you should really just bill your dad. He wants you to keep the paint here until he can stop by and get it.”

  “Of course he does.” Yvette turned to start cleaning the shake machine.

  “Do you have a second?” Heath asked quietly.

  “Sure, whatcha need?”

  Heath frowned. “Well, I’m sure you heard about Laura Hudson.”

  “It’s just awful.” Yvette nodded her head toward a table so the two could sit and talk privately.

  “What I’m about to say isn’t going to make you happy.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Do you know where Joey is?” Heath got straight to the point.

  “Joey? He’s off today, why?”

  “Well, it seems that Laura’s death may not have been accidental after all. The last person who saw Laura, aside from her family, was Joey. He was at their house that morning and I guess they had a bit of an argument about payment. Seems that even though Laura had been enjoying the financial freedom that came with Steve winning the lottery, she wasn’t willing to part with it quite as much when it came to making sure her workers got paid. Mrs. Aldridge, their next-door neighbor, was outside working in her garden when she overheard the two having a disagreement.”

  “Are you sure he had something to do with this? Joey may have been a troublemaker back in the day, but he’s doing so well now. I heard Laura wasn’t even that great of a swimmer, how do you know it wasn’t just an accident?” Yvette stared at Heath.

  “I can’t share that information with you. I really shouldn’t have said anything at all, but when we couldn’t find him, you were the first person I thought to ask. He has no family in town anymore and no real friends. You seem to be the only person that really knows anything about him.”

  “He’s on schedule for tomorrow. He’ll be here. I’m sure of it.”

  After Heath left, Yvette didn’t know what to do with herself. Making sure Vanessa and Tonya were fine on their own for a few minutes, she retreated to her office to calm down. Not only was there a potential murderer running around her little town, but her employee was a suspect. Her mind was swirling with thoughts and she could feel her heart start beating a little faster.

  “Sage was wondering if she could come work for a few hours,” Vanessa said coming through the kitchen doors.

  “Today? Definitely. I could use a little time to myself.” Yvette didn’t think Sage could have
had better timing.

  “Are you sure you don’t mind? She’s going to a concert this weekend with her friends and was hoping for some spending money,” Vanessa asked.

  “Not at all,” Yvette set down the bag of brown sugar she’d been holding. “How soon can she get here?”

  Once Yvette finished up making the hot fudge she’d been working on, she’d be able to run a few errands that she’d planned on taking care of the next day. This would allow her to have an entire day off from work that she could spend just how she liked, starting off with a stroll around the flea market and ending with a long hike up Thrasher Mountain.

  “Why don’t you just head out now?” Vanessa asked. “Tonya and I can handle it. We shouldn’t get busy again for another hour or so, but Sage will be here by then.”

  “Works for me,” Yvette said holding up her hand for a high five.

  Yvette went to her office, grabbed her purse and her iPad, shut off the lights and closed the door behind her. She was more than ready for some time off and had several things to do, but the first thing on her list was to find Joey. She couldn’t imagine why Heath was having such a hard time locating him. From what she knew, he was always either at his apartment or at Sundae Afternoon.

  It might have been silly, but she had a soft spot for the kid. He was young and had been through so much in his life. After his parents passed away when he was still in high school, he found himself in and out of trouble. He left Heritage for about a year and when he came back, everyone remembered all the bad things that he had done. No one was willing to give him a chance. No one but Yvette.

  “See ya later! Text me if you need anything,” Yvette called to Vanessa and Tonya, before pushing the bright yellow front door closed behind her and darting to her SUV.

  8

  Taking the last sip of morning coffee, Yvette carried her mug over to the sink and stared out the oversized window in her kitchen into the backyard. She was thankful for a day off even if she still had a few more errands to run. Unfortunately, her plans to get everything taken care of yesterday were a wash since she’d spent her afternoon and evening hours looking for Joey. Yvette was embarrassed to admit the thought that Joey may have had something to do with Laura’s death had crossed her mind.