Powdered Peril (23 page)

Momma laughed. “I thought you might. Now shoo, you two. I’ve got work to do.”

As we closed the front door behind us, I whistled when I saw Grace’s rental. It was quite a bit nicer than the Jeep I drove every day, and it was even a little better than Grace’s wrecked company car. “My, my, my. We’re traveling in style, aren’t we?” I asked with a grin.

Grace didn’t return my smile, though. She was staring at the new car as though she thought that it meant to hurt us.

I added, “Hey, I’d be happy to drive, if you’re not ready to get behind the wheel again.”

“No, I can do it,” she said, taking one firm step after another toward the car. “I’ve got to face it again sometime, so it might as well be now.”

“Are you sure?”

She allowed herself a quick laugh. “It’s less than three football fields away to my place. I’d better be able to do that, since so much of my job these days is driving from one rep’s territory to another.”

I hadn’t thought about that. “You don’t have to go back to work right away, though, right? You still have some time on your leave.”

“Don’t worry,” Grace said as she got into the car. “By the time I go back to work, I’ll be fine. Come on, let’s see how this baby handles.”

We drove the brief route without incident, and as Grace pulled to a stop in her driveway, she stroked the steering wheel lightly. “You know what? I could get used to this.”

“And think,” I said as we got out. “This is just the rental. Your new one is going to be nicer than this one.” I laughed as I added, “Sometimes life just isn’t fair.”

“And sometimes it’s just right,” she said with a smile.

A BAKED OLD-TIMEY SPIN

A great many donut recipes use very similar ingredients, so sometimes I like to take an old favorite and play with it. Not all the experiments work out, but some are good enough to add to the family list of recipe possibilities, and this is one of them. The taste is different from what you might expect in a donut, and some love it as much as others don’t. If you’ve got a rainy day and feel like playing, this one’s worth a try.

INGREDIENTS

MIXED

1 egg, beaten

½ cup sugar, white granulated

½ cup buttermilk

¼ cup whole milk

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 teaspoon orange juice

SIFTED

1½ cups flour, unbleached all-purpose

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice mix

A dash of salt

INSTRUCTIONS

In one bowl, beat the egg thoroughly, then add the sugar, buttermilk, whole milk, melted butter, and orange juice. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice mix, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing well until you have a smooth consistent batter.

Using a cookie scoop, drop walnut-sized portions of batter into small muffin tins or your donut maker, and bake at 360 degrees F for 8–12 minutes, or until golden brown.

Yield: 8–12 small donuts.

CHAPTER 16

“What’s all this?” Grace asked as we drove back to the cottage I shared with my mother. She’d taken a little longer than I had to shower and change, but then again, I didn’t have a bandage on my head to protect from the water. I hoped that she’d be able to downsize it soon. It made her scratch look much worse than it actually was. There were two cars already parked in the driveway besides mine and Momma’s, so Grace had trouble finding a place to park. She ended up edging off into the grass, the only space she could have taken without blocking our visitors in.

“That’s Emma’s car,” I said as I pointed to it, “and the other one belongs to George. Since Momma told her that she couldn’t stay long this morning, she came back to find out what really happened yesterday.”

She looked at me for a second and frowned. “How many times are we going to have to retell this story over the next few weeks?”

“More than either one of us is going to want, I’m willing to bet,” I said. “Should we make a run for it while we can?”

“I’m feeling better after that shower, but not good enough to go on the lam,” Grace answered with a smile. “After all, they
are
our friends.”

“I know.” I opened the passenger side door, but Grace put a hand on mine. “Suzanne, we need to talk before we go in.”

“Why is that never a good thing to hear?” I asked.

“Nothing’s wrong. I just think we should get our stories straight. Now don’t take offense, but are you positive that the wreck was intentional? Because if you are, I’ve got your back. Just say the word, and I’m on board. We can tell the same story, and let folks believe what they choose to.”

I looked at the sincerity in her gaze, and realized that I could have no better friend. “I’ve been thinking about it, and honestly, I believe it might serve us better to say that it was an accident after all.”

She looked startled by my statement. “You were so sure, though.”

“I still am,” I admitted. “But what good does it do us to stir up any more trouble than we’ve already got? Besides, if we tell everyone that it was an accident, maybe the killer will get sloppy again and make another run at us.”

She shook her head. “We’re taking an awfully big chance here, aren’t we?”

“Hey, we can stop anytime. You just say the word.”

Grace frowned, and then asked, “You’d really do that? I know how you are when you get your teeth into a case.”

I grinned at her. “You got me. It’s doubtful that I could stop now even if I wanted to, which I don’t. Grace, I understand your reticence, but we need to see this through to the end.”

“No matter what?” she asked solemnly.

“No matter what.”

“Then let’s go inside. The quicker we can get rid of our well-wishers, the faster we can pick up our investigation. I’ve got a feeling we need a new sense of urgency for finding the killer.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Think about it, Suzanne. When whoever it was who ran us off the road realizes that we aren’t taking the warning to heart, they’re going to come after us again, and next time, they might not stop with just trying to scare us off. It would be a great deal better if we found out who they were first.”

“It’s a deal,” I said as Momma came out onto the porch.

“Are you two going to sit out there all day, or are you planning to come inside at some point? We’ve got company.”

“We’re coming,” I called out, and Grace and I soon joined her.

“What were you two nattering on about?” she asked as we approached.

“You know us,” I said with a grin. “What won’t we talk about?”

Momma had no trouble reading me, so she had to know that I was avoiding her question intentionally. She decided to accept that as she stepped aside. “Well, go on in. They’re waiting for you.”

We walked in the door, and I saw that Momma had outdone herself. She must have emptied the freezer entirely, putting out a spread that would have been fitting for a state visit from the president. There were chicken, ham, meat loaf, green beans, fresh mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and three kinds of pie.

“Who is going to eat all of this?” I asked, amazed by the splendor myself.

“Well, I can’t handle all of it,” George said with a grin, “but I’ll do my best to take more than my fair share.” He studied us, each in turn, and then asked, “How are you two doing?”

“A little sore,” I answered for both of us, “but we’re making a remarkable recovery.”

“That’s what I told them before.” Emma turned back to me and asked, “And the guy just hit you out of the blue?”

I saw that Momma was about to reply when I stepped on her next line. “What can I say? The weather was the worst I’ve ever seen it, and no one should have been out on the highway, including us. They call them accidents for a reason.”

Momma looked cryptically at me, and I nodded ever so slightly. She just shrugged, but I knew she’d caught on. “May I fix you both plates?” she asked.

“I think I’ll wait a bit,” I said.

“Suzanne, you have to eat something,” Momma said, and I knew that there was no use refusing her. Besides, it did look awfully good, and I hadn’t had that big a breakfast, well, not in the scheme of things. It was amazing how adept I’d grown at lying to myself when good food was involved.

I nodded as I took a plate, and Grace followed suit. We both tried to limit our portions, but soon enough, they were both full.

“George, you and Emma need to grab some plates.”

“We’re right behind you,” George said, handing one to Emma before he took a plate for himself.

“You didn’t have to wait for us, you know,” I said.

Momma’s cheeks flushed just a little.

I asked her, “Seriously? You wouldn’t let them eat until we showed up?”

“Of course I would,” she said. “I did my best to force plates on both of them, but they refused to take a bite until you two were back. You have better friends than you realize, Suzanne.”

“Oh, believe me; I know just how good they really are.” I turned to them both, and said, “Well, we’re here now. Dive in.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” George said, and then started heaping his plate with food. Emma took a much more conservative approach, but like us, she quickly added enough to it to visibly fill her plate.

“Your mother thinks I’m too skinny,” Emma said.

“Actually, what I really said was that you could use another pound or two,” Momma corrected.

“You can have a few of mine if you’d like,” I said with a grin.

Momma didn’t even shush me for it, a sign that showed she had been worried about me indeed. “I think you’re perfect just the way you are,” I said. “What do you think, George? Doesn’t Emma have a cute figure?”

He looked up from his meat loaf, a bite on his fork suddenly hovering in the air in front of his face. “What? Er, sure, I don’t know, what am I supposed to say when someone asks you a question like that?”

I laughed. “Well, one option is that you don’t have to answer the question.”

“Suzanne,” Emma said with a laugh, “you are a wicked, wicked woman.”

“What can I say? I do what I can.”

After we’d all started eating, George asked, “I’ve been wondering about something. Did you even see the guy before he hit you?”

“I’m sure they don’t want to talk about the accident,” Momma scolded. Funny, it worked better on George than it ever had with me. I was probably just used to it from all of my exposure over the years.

“We don’t mind,” I said. I might as well start getting used to the story I was about to tell. “Honestly, at first it felt deliberate when that truck rammed into us, but with the rain and hail covering the road, it’s a miracle he kept from hitting us as long as he managed it. I’m sure it wasn’t intentional.”

“Then it was a man?” George asked. It was easy to see the cop that was still inside there, just waiting to be let off the leash.

“The rain and hail were coming down strong, and the windshield was tinted pretty dark,” I admitted. “Honestly, I have no idea who it was.”

“Well, whoever did it should be roasted over a slow fire. I can’t believe they just left you like that.”

“They probably just panicked,” I said. “Help came along soon enough, and we’re both fine. That’s really all that matters. George, is there anything new with you?”

“No, not off the top of my head,” he answered, looking a little quizzically at me. “Why do you ask?”

“I just heard that there were a few women in town who had their sights set on you, and I was wondering if any of them had hit the target yet.” I couldn’t hide my grin as I said it, and I saw the other women at the table smiling covertly as well.

He dismissed the conjecture with a wave of his hand. “Suzanne, don’t listen to rumors around April Springs. Not a single one of them has ever been right, and we all know it.”

“Maybe so,” I said, “but they’re fun to speculate about, aren’t they?”

“Not for me. I have enough trouble keeping up with what’s actually going on in this crazy little Southern town of ours without adding nuance and innuendo into the mix.” He turned to Momma and said, “By the way, I’ve never properly thanked you for organizing that write-in campaign.”

“I assure you, no thanks are welcome,” Momma said.

“You’ve got that right,” George said with a grin. “You were clearly smarter than I was. At least you managed to back out before you were elected.”

“George,” my mother said, “that’s because I was ill-suited for the job, and I knew it. The main reason I was running was to throw Cam Hamilton out of office. Once he was no longer in the picture, I realized that someone more qualified than I was deserved to be at the helm.”

“And how exactly did my name come to mind?”

She smiled. “What can I say? I hate to see a valuable resource wasted when the town could benefit.”

“Hey, I had a full and productive life before I became mayor,” he insisted.

I tapped his arm. “Of course you did, but just look at how much good you’re doing now.”

He put another bite of meat loaf on his fork, but didn’t eat it just yet. “Does that mean you’re telling me that you don’t need me to help you investigate Peter Morgan’s murder?”

“I wouldn’t say that we don’t need you, but we’re trying our best to manage without you.”

He looked into my eyes. “You’re not trying to con me, Suzanne, are you?”

“No, sir. I’m telling the absolute truth.”

He nodded once, accepted the statement, and then popped the bite of meat loaf into his mouth. I was about to say something to Emma when someone rang the front door.

“I’ll get it,” I said, easing myself up from my chair.

“Suzanne, stay right where you are. You need to rest,” Momma said.

“The only way I’m going to get rid of this stiffness is by moving around,” I said. “I’ll be right back. Don’t worry.”

I made it to the door, wondering which one of my friends was taking time out of her day to wish Grace and me well.

Only it wasn’t exactly a friendly face I found when I opened the door.

It was Henry Lincoln, and what’s more, he had two bouquets of flowers with him.