Pick and Chews by Linda O. Johnston

Author:Linda O. Johnston
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: CVR09122017;fiction;fiction novel;mystery;mystery novel;mystery book;animal mystery;dog mystery;bite the biscit;linda johnston;linda johnson;linda o. johnson;bite the biscuit;barkery and biscuits;barkery & biscuits;CVR09142017;CVR11202017
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.
Published: 2018-03-15T19:00:40+00:00

Sixteen

I spent a while at the shops after my shift at the clinic was over and Biscuit and I had returned to them. I was glad my assistants could stay until closing time. They did the bulk of the work, and I treasured them.

I did wait on a few customers, though—particularly some who visited often. I wanted to make sure their experience today was as wonderful as always, despite the distractions that I was trying to keep in a corner of my mind.

One of those customers was Sissy, probably the town’s most loyal aficionado of our red velvet cupcakes—the recipe I’d bought along with Icing from my good friend Brenda Anesco. Brenda also had given me her slogan, “Make them sweet and make them good.” I kept it in mind for everything I baked and sold in Icing—though only the “good” part fit the Barkery.

Another of our long-time Icing lovers, Cecilia Young, whom we referred to as Cece, came in that afternoon, and I was glad to see her.

Then there were Barkery fans, both dogs and their owners, who also showed up frequently. I for the most part let Janelle wait on them that day, particularly since her real career was as a professional photographer and she often made arrangements with customers to take photos of their dogs—and people, too. She’d told me she was hoping to take a few days off soon and concentrate on using her camera, so finding subjects to photograph was one of her current goals. And it never hurt for her to mention this in the Barkery.

So the rest of the day went by busy and fast, but I was glad when closing time finally rolled around. As usual, I got help closing both stores, and soon Biscuit and I were on our way again. I took my pup home, walked and fed her and then left her there, since I suspected our dinner party would want to eat in the Knobcone Resort restaurant rather than hang outside with a dog—even though all of my companions for the night had to be dog lovers, or why would they be veterinarians?

But were any of them people haters—or at least, haters of one particular person, enough to commit murder? I hoped I’d have a better sense of that by the end of the evening.

Reed picked me up at home around six forty-five. Both of us were dressed fairly casually for an evening that might turn out to be momentous—or I hoped so, at least. He wore a light blue sweater over slacks, and I had on a yellow blouse tucked into black jeans.

“You look good,” he told me as he walked me to his car.

“You’re just complimenting me so I’ll want to do something nice for you tonight—like clear you of a murder.”

He laughed as he opened the passenger door to his car. “Yeah, I wish, although I still hope it wasn’t Oliver or Jon.”

And I hope it wasn’t you, I thought, but I said, “Well, let’s hope we can clear them of suspicion.

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