Candy-Coated Secrets (3 page)

Ethan! Forget the burning. I reached for the faucet and turned it off. “Be right out. Tell him to hold.”

“He’s calling from Mexico.”

“I know where he’s calling from.” I stepped over the lip of the tub and opened the door, hiding behind it. “Here.”

“You can’t talk to him while you’re naked.” Aunt

Eunice’s horrified whisper echoed in the tiled room. “Shhh. He doesn’t have to know if you keep quiet.”

I slammed the door, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around me. “Hello.”

“Sweetie.” My heart melted at the sound of his voice. “We must have a bad connection. I could have sworn your aunt said you were. . .without apparel.”

“Uh.” Heat crept up my neck. “We do have a bad connection.” The line was filled with static, so it wasn’t a lie. I didn’t do that anymore. Not after making a deal with God back in July. “How are you?”

“Tired. Missing you. What have you been up to?”

Wow. Where to begin? I decided to save the elephant story until I saw Ethan, and I’d skip the part about finding Laid Back Millie. No sense in worrying him. “I’ve decided to sell solid chocolate carnival characters at the fair. I’m renting a propane-powered refrigerator. Do you think my candy will sell well?”

“With your pretty face behind the counter? Yep. Besides, people line up to buy from Summer’s Confections.” Since I’d opened the doors to my dream of owning a candy store, I’d been blessed with regular customers and growing Internet orders.

I left the bathroom and stretched my body across my bed. I hugged a pillow, my insides warming at his words. “You’re sweet. You’re still coming home in time for opening night, right?”

“About that. . .”

“Ethan!” My whine would have put a two-year-old to shame. “Can’t someone else build the house?”

“I made a commitment to chaperone the youth group on this trip.” Ethan sighed. “Would you rather I came home to take you to a carnival, or build a house for someone who doesn’t have a decent place to stay?”

“I miss you, that’s all.” Great. Now I had guilt. Forgive me, Lord. “I know you have to stay. What about the rodeo?”

“I’ll be back in time for that. Anything exciting happen over there?” Ethan laughed. “I got an interesting picture on my cell phone.”

“Oh?” Darn my cousin. I’d make him pay dearly next time I saw him. I’d spend the evening devising evil plots of revenge.

“How in the world did you end up herding an elephant?” The story seemed hilarious as I told Ethan, and I giggled along with him. With my flair for description, he swore he could see Big Sally and the other characters. His laughter washed over me like a fine rain in May. Made me want to offer my services again to the colorful people of the fair. Almost. He stopped laughing when I let slip about Millie, and how Foreman offered me her job.

Ethan cleared his throat. “Is your aunt going to cover the store while you run your booth?”

“I’m thinking about closing for the week. There probably wouldn’t be many customers anyway. The fair’s a big deal. Everyone will be there and can buy from my booth. Aunt Eunice has pickles and vegetables she wants to enter in the competition. She’d kill me if I did anything to prevent her from doing that.”

“Uh-huh. Speaking of killing and Millie. . .” Ethan went silent.

“Ethan?”

His sigh vibrated through the phone. “Joe told me you found her.”

“Yes.”

“Summer. Please, stay out of it.”

Chapter Three

The next morning dawned sunny and warm. A perfect day for another visit to the fairgrounds. I dressed in faded blue jeans and a flowered T-shirt. Aunt Eunice decided she would go with me to “scope out” the competition for the canning contest. Her hand rested on the top of her floppy hat as she thundered down the stairs in her steel-toed boots.

She darted past me, hefted a cardboard box from the table, and squeezed out the front door. Her hat flew off her head and landed in the gravel. I bent to retrieve it.

“I’ll drive!” Aunt Eunice set the box in the bed of her truck, then apparently thought better of the idea. She picked it up and thrust it in my arms.

Great. I get to babysit her pickles. I plopped the hat on top of the jars.

“Oh.” Aunt Eunice fairly skipped to the passenger side. “Let me get the door for you. I don’t want anything to happen to my babies. Today’s the last day to bring in entries.” She opened the door and, with a bow, waved me inside.

“Why did you wait until the last minute?”

She looked at me as if I’d asked the most ridiculous question in the world’s history. “I had to see what Ruby and Mabel are entering. It wouldn’t do to put in the same thing.”

“Of course.”

She bustled back to the driver’s side and slid behind the wheel. “A person needs to scope things out to decide the correct way to proceed.”

This definitely didn’t sound like my aunt talking. Where did she learn to speak such proper sentences? With the box secured in my lap, I settled back. I’d bought the Dolt’s Guide to Private Investigating during the summer and successfully solved a murder. I knew all about scoping things out. Besides, I didn’t know there was a “wrong” way to proceed when entering vegetables in a county fair.

“Isn’t that the point of a competition? To see who has the best?” I glanced at my aunt.

“You obviously don’t know nothing about it.” Aunt Eunice backed the truck out of the drive, thrust the gearshift into place, then roared down Highway 64 toward the fairgrounds. “That might be why you’ve never won anything in your life.”

Ouch. She didn’t need to be so mean. “What’s got you so riled up?”

“You.”

“What did I do?”

“You went and found a dead body.”

“Excuse me?” Now I knew my aunt had lost her mind. She swerved the truck to the shoulder and stopped.

She turned to glare at me. “I promised Ethan I’d keep you out of trouble. And here you go, finding a dead woman. Since your uncle Roy decided to join Ethan on this trip, it’s up to me to keep you out of trouble.”

“That wasn’t my fault, Aunt Eunice. Besides, Joe said it was suicide. Well, he didn’t exactly, but there are clues pointing to that not necessarily being the case. . . .”

Aunt Eunice steered back onto the highway. “Last time you thought you could solve a murder, you got kidnapped and almost killed.”

Thought? “I did solve the murder.”

“Whatever. You just got lucky. Next time you might not get off as easy.”

Had I mentioned a desire to get involved? No. So why was everyone on my case? If I didn’t have a box full of pickles in my lap, I’d have crossed my arms and pouted.

“Summer’s gone and got all mad, do-dah, do-dah,” Aunt Eunice sang. “Won’t say another word all day, oh how I hope and pray.”

“Very funny.”

“Cheer up. We’ve only got your best interest at heart.”

A sign declared Arrow County Fair ahead of us. Aunt Eunice sped onto the grounds. A cloud of dust rose and drifted through the Chevy’s windows. I endured, trying to hold my breath until my aunt opened my door, retrieved her pickles, and the dust settled.

“I’m off. See you in an hour.” She fairly sprinted toward a squat, rectangular building, her arms stretched around the box. She kept the hat in place by squashing it with her chin.

I slid from the truck. More amusement rides spun with gay music and no screaming passengers. Workers scurried from one attraction to another. A steady stream of farmers and women in country clothes trailed from the building my aunt had disappeared into and from a large barn next door. Last-minute entries to floral, vegetable, crafts, and livestock, most likely.

Usually our county fair offered only rides, rodeo, freak shows, and contests. This year we’d hired a company that aspired to being a circus. Well, Eddy Foreman said carnival, but it all looked the same to me. The only thing circuslike was the elephant and animals. Well, maybe some of the people. The fair committee must have gotten a good deal on hiring this group. I shrugged. The change could’ve been nice, if death hadn’t gotten in the way.

Yellow crime tape encircled Millie’s trailer, and I couldn’t help but hope it would be gone by Friday. The tape wouldn’t be a good sign on opening night.

“We meet again.” Eddy Foreman stood next to me complete with gold chains, heavy cologne, and shiny polyester shirt.

“Oh, hello. Nobody seems very concerned about Millie’s death.” I breathed through my mouth and wanted to spit. The fumes from his scent hung heavy in the air.

“The circus must go on. Or the fair, in this case.”

My dislike for the slimy little man increased. “Could you point me in the direction of my booth?”

“I’ll take you there myself.” Foreman tucked my arm in his. I felt like a child who needed some cootie spray. “Have you thought more about taking Laid Back Millie’s job? I’d be your first customer.” His eyes traveled over me. Okay, make that a giant can of cootie spray.

“I already have a job running a chocolate business. But thank you.” I pulled my arm free. This guy was too smarmy for my taste. I wiped my hands on my jeans.

“Oh, I like a feisty woman. You and I are going to get along just great.”

Not if I have anything to say about it. What was with me and guys? At least Nate, the diamond thief I’d helped catch a couple of months ago, had been good looking. “I can find my own way. Thanks for the help.”

“Catch you later.” Foreman cocked his fingers, pointed at me, and winked. Something told me this was going to be a long week.

My booth faced the midway and sat opposite the Scrambler. Great. Fair attendees could eat my chocolate, ride the dizzy ride, and throw up all my hard work.

No, the candy booth should be considered more of a craft than a food. Despite the shivers that ran up my spine at the thought, I’d have to speak to Foreman about moving me.

A shadowy figure cut between two game booths. I squinted to try and make out who it was. The form looked hairy. Hairy? I stared harder. I shook my head and continued, deciding I imagined things.

Ahead of me loomed a fun house. From its size, it was obviously a huge hit with the fair attendees. A giant clown head wobbled over the entrance. This would be one attraction I definitely wanted to miss.

My slimy little friend leaned against the Ferris wheel talking to a voluptuous, platinum blonde. I took a deep breath and stepped forward. “Mr. Foreman.”

“Eddy, please.” He turned toward me, a smile across his smooth-shaven face. “Miss me already?”

“I’d like to request that you move my booth.”

“Really? The ones along the midway get good traffic.” He swatted the other woman on the rear and turned back to me. “Where do you wanna go?”

“The arts and crafts building.”

“Sure. I’ll see what I can do. With my connections, I ought to be able to get anything a pretty little thing like you wants.”

I swerved to avoid his touch.

From the corner of my eye, I caught another glimpse of my fur-covered friend. “Do you have bears here?”

“Yes. We have a bunch of circus animals, and one’s a black bear.”

“Could he have escaped?” The shadow disappeared behind the Toboggan Ride.

“Possible, but not probable. Besides, Samson’s very friendly. He likes to greet visitors with a kiss.”

Wonderful. The last thing I wanted was a kiss from a bear. “Does he ever get loose?”

“Scared?” He leered.

“Maybe.” Yes. Definitely.

As we passed the animal paddock, Ginger lumbered along the fence, keeping pace. Her trunk snaked out and nuzzled my hair. Ugh. I brushed her away. If she went for the water trough, I’d be out of there.

“We’ll put you in the middle of the arts and crafts building. Next to the quilts.” Foreman opened the building’s door. “You’ll still have a lot of traffic, but you’ll be away from the hustle and bustle. You might regret this decision.”

No way. The building had to be cleaner than the dirt-covered midway. “It’ll be fine. Can you get someone to move my refrigerator in here?”

“Washington!”

A reed-thin black man rose from where he knelt behind a partition. Foreman clapped a hand on the man’s shoulder. “This is Washington Bean. Washington, Summer Meadows.” He gave Washington the number of my booth and informed him I’d be moving. “I’m pretty sure there’s a vacant spot we can set up for her.”

Washington’s teeth flashed in his ebony skin. “I’ll get right on it, Miss Meadows.”

“Summer. Thank you, Washington.”

I turned to see a red-faced Aunt Eunice rushing toward me. Her chin quivered with indignation.

“Did you get your pickles entered?”

“Ruby Colville entered her bread-and-butter pickles. That sneak.” Aunt Eunice crossed her arms. “She waited until today to register.”

“Isn’t that the same thing you did?”

“She ruined my plan.” She glanced over the cubicle they’d assigned to us. “This our spot?”