Dead Before The Wedding: A Carly Keene Cozy Mystery (Carly Keene Cozy Mysteries Book 1) (3 page)

Shell closed her little notebook with Mona’s order in it, and grabbed the cloth she’d been using earlier. Wiping down the counter again, she quipped, “I’m not sure where she’s getting the money from, but I do know one thing. There’s going to be one heck of a white trash wedding up at the big house in a few weeks, and you couldn’t pay me money to hang around and see what kind of craziness happens at the reception!”

Carly agreed, and wondered what she’d gotten herself into when she had taken on the job of photographing the wedding of the town’s worst womanizer and the hurricane that was Mona Durham.

On any given Saturday morning, the Chow Time restaurant is as busy as it gets. The simple little country-style diner could often be found packed with people who could very well cook their own breakfasts, but who preferred food prepared by Pete Wellesley and his group of merry chefs. Pete was a great cook, for sure, but it was his charming personality and kind heart that really brought the residents of Parkers Mill in to eat.

Carly was in Chow Time early this Saturday morning, not for food, but for a fresh cup of Pete’s coffee. She supposed she could just bring a coffee pot into Sweets & Eats, but it just wouldn’t be the same if she couldn’t stop by and chat with Pete and his customers a little, which she did most mornings. She and Shell had become such regular customers that Pete seldom charged either of the women for coffee anymore. In fact, Pete often had two to-go cups waiting, filled with coffee prepared just the way each woman liked it.

Carly preferred hers white with no sugar, because she liked the taste of coffee when it had a little bitter bite to it. Shell always had three sugars and cream, because, she’d told Pete, “coffee should complement the cake,” which she loved to eat with her morning brew.

Carly smiled at Pete as she walked in the door, and went straight to the counter where two white to-go cups sat waiting. “Pete, you’re spoiling us.” Carly smiled, and pulled a small white box out of her large purse. Sitting it on the counter, she watched as the man’s eyes lit up like candles.

“Well, it looks like you girls are the ones spoiling me. What’d she send this time? Cupcakes, or muffins?”

“Neither. She’s trying her hand at pastry-making. Those are something French, but I can’t remember what she called them. Macaroonis or something like that…”

Pete grinned even bigger. “Macarons. They’re one of my favorites. You tell Shell I owe her dinner for this.” He sniffed the box, then pulled one of the light, cream-filled cookies out of the box and put the entire thing in his mouth. Rolling his eyes back in his head and exaggerating a look of bliss, he chewed, swallowed and sighed. “I haven’t had these in years...when did she start making pastries?”

“Just recently. She wants to add some new stuff to the menu. I think she’s trying to impress her parents enough to let her take over the business permanently.” Carly shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know why she doesn’t just go out on her own and start up a brand new business. It’s not like there’s a whole lot of competition around here, and Sweets & Eats is popular enough for two locations.”

Pete wiped the crumbs from the corner of his mouth, and sat the remaining cookies under the counter. Running his hand across his fiery red hair, he reminded Carly of a little boy who’d just been given cookies before dinner. Pete was always just so open, so present, it kind of unsettled her. Could anybody really be that genuine, or did he just have a knack for making you feel that way?

“Please tell Shell I said thank you, and extend my offer for dinner.” He cast his eyes down for a minute, then leaned in closer to Carly. “Is she seeing somebody at the moment?” He seemed to want to ask something else, but stopped himself.

“No, she’s not. And you should ask her out. You are a nice guy, she’s a great girl, and y’all are the best cooks this side of Alabama.” Carly sighed. “You like her, I think she likes you, but neither of you will do a thing about it.”

Pete blushed. “I don’t know if she likes me. She’s nice, but she’s nice to lots of people. I’m not even sure I’m her type…”

“Oh, for pete’s sake, Pete! You and her are a real pair! I tried to tell her I thought you two should go out, and she said the same thing. Y’all may be geniuses in the kitchen, but you’re a pair of dim bulbs when it comes to romance.” Carly smiled, and Pete chuckled.

“I guess you’re right. Maybe I’ll call her, or come by the bakery some time.”

“Make it sometime soon. Don’t wait for her to fall for some loser with a motorcycle and a bunch of tattoos.” Carly said it with a laugh, but Pete’s face dropped. “What’s wrong, Pete? What did I say?”

“Oh, it’s, uh, it’s nothing. It’s silly.” Pete hesitated. “I have a tattoo.”

Carly felt her face turning bright red.

“And a motorcycle.” She wanted to crawl underneath the floor and hide.

“Oh,” she began, “I, well, I didn’t mean…”

“Gotcha.” Pete’s expression was deadpan. “I don’t really. I just wanted to see you blush.” Carly didn’t know whether to laugh or hit him, so she did both.

“You are not right, Pete Wellesley. But, you are perfect for Shell.” Carly picked up her drinks and turned to go, when she noticed a familiar face sitting at a table by the door. Tucker Gaston was eating from a plate filled to the brim with food, and he seemed to be relishing it.

“Well, howdy, stranger. Fancy bumping into you here,” Carly laughed, and Tucker gestured to the empty chair across from him. “Well, just for a minute. I’ve got to get back to Shell and the bakery.”

Tucker swallowed the bite of egg he’d been chewing. “You work at Sweets & Eats? I thought you were a photographer?”

“I am, but I don’t get enough work to pay the bills, so I help Shell out in the bakery. You remember Shell, don’t you?”

Tucker grinned. “Of course I remember Shell Summers. I sat behind her in history class our junior year. She never stopped arguing with the teacher about how wrong it was that women were treated so bad in history. She was always a firecracker, that one.”

Carly laughed. “Yeah, she got in trouble because she refused to do the essay about women’s role in the civil war because she said it was sexist and racist.”

Tucker nodded his head. “Well, she has a point…” He took a sip of his drink and checked his watch. “I’m just keeping an eye on the clock,” he explained. “Gotta be at the pharmacy in half an hour.”

“No Betty Sue this morning? She must be behaving herself, then?” Carly grinned, remembering the boisterous lab from the park.

“She’s probably eating my shoes right now,” he replied. “I’ve taken her to three different obedience classes, bought every toy the pet store has, and still she destroys everything. It’s driving me crazy.” He looked at Carly with his big blue eyes, and reminded her of a puppy himself.

“Maybe she’s just lonely. Don’t you have a fenced in yard? Maybe if you left her outside for a little while when you go to work…”

“No good,” he interrupted. “The fence doesn’t go all the way around, so she can get out. Until I get a chance to fix it, she’ll just have to stay inside.”

Carly thought for a second, then offered a solution. “I have a fenced in yard and a bored hound dog. Has Betty Sue been spayed?” Tucker looked confused, so she went on. “You could bring her to my house, if she gets on with other dogs. My dog, Bo, is a big old sweetheart, and he’s lonely, too, since his brother died.”

Luke had been just as big and goofy as his brother, and it had broken Carly’s heart when he’d died suddenly last spring. The vet had told her that it was likely a heart condition that had killed the big dog, and she had mourned him for a long time, but not as much as Bo had mourned his brother. The police actually sent an officer out to make sure that somebody wasn’t hurting the poor dog because he had howled nonstop for two days, until he lost his voice and just lay there, looking sad.

He’d eventually perked up, but he still wasn’t his old self. Carly hoped that maybe Tucker would bring Betty Sue over, because it might just make her dog happy again.

“I could try her with him. She’s pretty good with other dogs, and that might just keep her out of trouble for a bit.”

Carly reached into her purse and pulled out a small silver box full of cards. Each one had her telephone number and email address, plus a little camera and her web address printed neatly on one side. “Here’s my number, just call me when want to bring her by, and you can leave her for a few hours. If she does okay, you can leave her with Bo when you go to work.”

Tucker took the business card and put it in his pocket. “Are you sure about that? I mean, won’t that be a lot of work for you?”

“Nope. I won’t be there. I’ll probably be at Sweets & Eats, but I have a secret set of eyes I can keep on them.” She pulled out her smartphone and tapped it a few times, then turned the screen so Tucker could see it. “I had cameras put in last May when all those houses were getting vandalized. My cousin is a police officer, and he got me a discount on the security stuff.”

Tucker looked at the phone, and he could clearly see a chunky hound dog ambling around a patch of dirt, chewing on a rawhide strip. “Good looking dog. Good quality on that camera, too.”

“I like it. It makes me feel more secure, especially with just us girls living there.” Carly immediately realized that she probably shouldn’t be telling Tucker that. He didn’t seem dangerous, but you really couldn’t tell these days. Her cousin, Brandon, would kick her butt if he knew she’d just told someone she barely knew that she lived alone with her best girlfriend and a fat hound dog.

Changing the subject, Carly mentioned Mona’s visit to the bakery, and she was surprised to see Tucker’s face darken. “I really don’t care what my brother is up to, and as for that woman he’s marrying, I think she’s a money-grubbing floozy. They’re made for each other.”

Carly was a bit shocked to hear Tucker’s condemnation of his brother and Mona, but she guessed she could see his point. Still, she didn’t think she’d ever talk that way about family. She was close to her brother, even though she hardly saw him anymore since he’d moved to Atlanta. Growing up, he’d been like a best friend, and she couldn’t imagine not getting along with him.

“I don’t mean to sound harsh, Carly, but my brother is no good. He treats women like they’re disposable, and honestly, I don’t see any reason why he’s marrying Mona. I mean, it’s not like she’s the prettiest girl in town, or the richest.”
Or the smartest
, Carly added in her own head.

“I just wish my brother would grow up and stop messing with people. Even Mona Durham deserves better than that.”

“Maybe this time it’s really love,” said Carly hopefully. “Some people just take longer than others to grow up. Maybe your brother’s getting tired of running around, and just wants to settle down. I can understand that. Being single has its own pressures, as I’m sure you know.” Carly smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. She really shouldn’t have brought up being single, because it could just open a whole other can of worms.

She was just about to say something about how she needed to run on along to the bakery, when a voice cut through the air just above her ear.

“Larry Gaston, you jerk...how can you show your face in here, with
another woman
, no less?! You said you were gonna call me, you liar! Do you think it’s funny to just mess with a girl’s feelings and
never
call?!” Carly turned to see a pretty blonde woman standing behind her. She was angry and upset, and obviously confused about who she was speaking to.

“I get it. You were just slumming when you were hanging out with me. I see you’ve cleaned yourself up, trying to look respectable, I imagine. But a haircut and a change of clothes don’t change anything. You can put a suit on a pig, and it’s still just a pig, Larry!”

Without warning, and before Tucker could explain that she was wrong about his identity, the woman reached over and slapped him hard across the face. “That was for standing me up, and for never calling me. And don’t you ever call me again!” The two of them watched as she marched straight up to the counter. Tucker spoke first.

“Well, he’s done it again.” He rubbed his cheek, which was now turning a deep shade of pink that might just leave a bruise.

“Oh my goodness...she called you Larry! Does she think you’re him? How messed up is that?”

Tucker shrugged his shoulders. “Actually, it happens more than I’d care to admit. At least this one just thought I was him. He’s also dated girls and told them he was me. Try explaining that when some random woman comes up to you in the grocery store and smacks you. I oughta put out a blanket restraining order against every female within ten miles of here, just so I’m safe from my brother’s conquests.”