Wedding Cake Killer (25 page)

“You can have a lot of decorations and still be tasteful.”

“I don’t know. I’ve seen some places so lit up with Christmas lights, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could see ’em from space. But you know whatever you decide, I’ll be glad to give you a hand.”

“I know.” Phyllis nodded her head as she came to a decision. “I may regret it, but I’m going to do it.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Sam told her. “You want me to, uh, sample one of these cookies for you and tell you how it tastes?”

“Keep your hands off of them. They have to cool first. With that topping, you’ll burn your mouth if you eat one now.”

“I’ll try, but they smell mighty good.”

He wasn’t the only one who thought so. As Phyllis came back into the living room, Georgia Hallerbee said, “My goodness, those cookies smell delicious, Phyllis. Nothing smells much better than cookies right out of the oven.”

“I know. They’re cooling now. If you can wait a few minutes, you can try one.”

“I’d like that, but I really do have to be going soon.” Georgia paused. “So, have you thought about what I asked you?”

“I have, and . . . I’m going to do it.”

A smile lit up Georgia’s face. “That’s wonderful! Thank you so much, Phyllis. I can’t tell you how much it means to me, knowing that you’ll step in and do a good job, like you always do at everything.”

“I don’t know about that. I’m not going to have as much time to prepare as the others. But I’ll do the best I can.”

“I’m sure the place will be beautiful,” Georgia said as she stood up and started for the front door. “Thanks again. I’ll be in touch with all the information you need, like which stop you’ll be on the tour and when you can expect people to start showing up. And if there’s anything I can do to help you get ready, just let me know.”

“An extra six or eight hours in the day would be nice.”

Georgia laughed. “Don’t I know it! I’ve been wishing for that for a long time now, but it hasn’t come true yet.”

Phyllis opened the door and followed Georgia out onto the small front porch. Georgia’s stylish crossover SUV was parked in the driveway.

She paused and looked down at the pair of large ceramic gingerbread men that sat on the porch, one on each side of the doorway. “These are new, aren’t they? They’re adorable.”

Phyllis nodded. “Yes, Sam and I were out driving around one afternoon, and we stopped at that place between Azle and Springtown that has all the ceramic things. These gingerbread men were cute, and I thought they’d look good up here.”

“You were right.” Georgia gave Phyllis a look. “You and Sam . . . are the two of you . . . ?”

“Goodness, no, we’re just friends,” Phyllis said. That wasn’t
strictly
true, but she had been raised to believe that it was best to be discreet about some things.

“You know what you should do?” Georgia said, looking down at the gingerbread men again. “You should dress them up for the tour. You could make, I don’t know, elves or something out of them.”

“Or Mr. and Mrs. Claus,” Phyllis said, getting caught up in the spirit of the thing. “I’ve thought from the start that one of them was male and the other female.”

“Well, there you go. You see, I knew you’d be good at this.” Georgia lifted a hand in farewell as she started toward her SUV. “I’ll be in touch. Enjoy those cookies!”

“We will,” Sam said from behind Phyllis, then added, “You think they’ve cooled off enough to eat yet?”

Photo by James Reasoner

Livia J. Washburn
has b
een a professional writer for more than twenty years. She received the Private Eye Writers of America Award and the American Mystery Award for her first mystery,
Wild Night
, written under the name L.J. Washburn, and she was nominated for a Spur Award by the Western Writers of America for a novel written with her husband, James Reasoner. Her short story “Panhandle Freight” was nominated for a Peacemaker Award by the Western Fictioneers. She lives with her husband in a small Texas town, where she is constantly experimenting with new recipes. Her two grown daughters are both teachers in her hometown, and she is very proud of them.

Other Fresh-Baked Mysteries by Livia J. Washburn

The Pumpkin Muffin Murder

Killer Crab Cakes

The Christmas Cookie Killer

Murder by the Slice

A Peach of a Murder

The Gingerbread Bump-off