Murder as Sticky as Jam (A humorous cozy mystery) (Cooking up Murder Book 1) by Orgain Diana

Author:Orgain, Diana [Orgain, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lemonade Press
Published: 2018-02-05T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Mona pulled into her driveway with thoughts bombarding her a mile a minute. On the drive home, she’d realized that she hadn’t yet put in an insurance claim and groaned out loud at the thought of all the paperwork.

As she walked up the stairs to her house, she ran a mental to do list, and on top of the list was proving that she was innocent.

Locking the door, she dropped her purse on the kitchen table along with the two mini pot pies and preheated the oven to warm them. She then walked down the hall to the bedroom. Looking in the mirror, she barely recognized herself. The girl she saw that morning who was singing, happy and had perfectly applied her make-up was gone. In her place stood a haggard woman with smeared mascara and a wrinkled blue shirt.

I’m not going to let them get me down!

She pulled her hair into a ponytail and put on a pair of boots. She hiked the short distance to some wild blackberry bushes on her property and harvested several pounds for the jam. Then she returned to her kitchen and donned an apron.

She rinsed the blackberries in the sink, and thought to herself, I’m going to get back on my feet if it kills me.

The oven beeped having reached the pre-heated temperature, and Mona put Vicki’s pre-made pot pies into the oven to warm.

At least, I have a purpose now. Selling on Alana’s blog could be good for her. Thank goodness for Aunt Bee’s Coupon Clipper Club. Mona was starting to feel a small glimmer of hope. Aunt Bee believed in her and so did Aunt Cee who’d lent her the money. If she gave up on her dream now, she’d not only be failing herself but her Great Aunts too.

For the first time in hours, Mona smiled to herself.

Forget Leo and his “she doesn’t mean a thing to me.” Forget Lacey and her awful gossip. Forget the stupid newspaper. Mona was strong, feisty and fearless. She would fight for her name, her reputation and her shop.

She put the blackberries, sugar, water, ginger and her special secret ingredients—cardamom and cloves—into a saucepan.

She was startled out of her daydream by the sound of a car coming up the driveway.

She wasn’t expecting company, nor did she recognize the sound of the car engine. It didn’t sound like Vicki’s old beater pickup.

For a moment, she thought of her vulnerability, her house sitting off the road hidden by the trees wasn’t safe. Fear surged through her as she thought of what she could use as a weapon in case this was the killer come to finish the job. Reaching into a drawer, she retrieved a butcher knife as the car came to a stop.

Her heartbeat raced as she gripped the handle of the knife. If this was the killer, maybe she would be vindicated. Mona thought of the newspaper headline proclaiming her innocence, but she would first have to survive the encounter.

The car door slammed,

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