Sour Apple and Animosity Read online

  Sour Apple and Animosity

  Sticky Sweet Cozy Mysteries, Book 9

  Allyssa Mirry

  Summer Prescott Books Publishing

  Copyright 2019 Summer Prescott Books

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication nor any of the information herein may be quoted from, nor reproduced, in any form, including but not limited to: printing, scanning, photocopying, or any other printed, digital, or audio formats, without prior express written consent of the copyright holder.

  **This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons, living or dead, places of business, or situations past or present, is completely unintentional.

  Contents

  1. The Dinner Party

  2. Taffy Dessert

  3. A Concerning Call

  4. At the Station

  5. Confusing Crime Scene

  6. Cars and Clients

  7. Invitation to Investigate

  8. The First Client

  9. Beach Talk

  10. Another Suspect

  11. The Sad Detective

  12. Caught Red-handed

  13. Taffy Shop Catch Up

  14. Thoughts on the Porch

  15. The Deal

  16. The Rescue

  Epilogue

  Also by Allyssa Mirry

  Author’s Note

  Contact Summer Prescott Books Publishing

  1

  The Dinner Party

  “You’re sure I’m not going to be a fifth wheel?” Trina asked.

  “I’m sure,” Lydia Doherty said firmly to her best friend.

  Trina still looked unsure. “Because this seems a bit like a double date.”

  “My brother and I have been getting along better since everything seems happily settled with our uncle’s will, but I’m not sure we’re at the point where we would agree to go on a double date together. He’s still not very pleased about how I got involved in some of his investigations.”

  “You mean solved his cases for him and saved the day?”

  “I don’t think we should phrase it like that in front of him. But I was trying to reiterate that this isn’t a double date. It’s a party. We’re celebrating that an offer was finally made on the family home we’ve been trying to sell,” Lydia said. “Now, are you going to help me with this taffy or not?”

  The two friends were in the kitchen of the Doherty house, near the Jersey Shore, that Lydia had been living in until the sale went through. Lydia was experimenting with a new salt water taffy flavor that she wanted to serve at the dinner party, and she had been pulling the treat to aerate it while she listened to Trina’s worries.

  “What do you want me to do?” Trina asked. “And I hope you say sample the candy?”

  “I think I’ve finished pulling it so now it’s time to cut it into bite-sized pieces, and it will be faster if we both do it.”

  “Sure thing. The sooner the taffy is finished, the sooner we can eat it.”

  Lydia smiled, and they began cutting the taffy into pieces to serve to her guests. She knew she didn’t have much time until they all arrived. She had been tinkering with this recipe until the last minute, and so she had to hurry to finish it. At least because she was going to serve it to friends, she could place the taffy on a decorative non-stick plate instead of wrapping each individual piece, which would save time.

  “I guess I should say congrats,” Trina said after a few moments of work.

  “Did you try one already?” asked Lydia, looking up from her portion of taffy.

  “No. I meant about Daniel. When you talked about tonight not being a double date, you didn’t list one of the reasons as you not officially dating Daniel. You kept saying that for a while. But I guess that’s changed now?”

  Lydia blushed. “Well, we’re not forcing a label on what we have. And we still are moving slowly. But Daniel and I did kiss on the 4th of July, and we have been seeing each other more often since then.”

  “It figures,” Trina said, stopping her cutting in order to lean against the counter dejectedly. “You start seeing some wonderful guy right as I broke up with my boyfriend. We can’t be single together and hit the town.”

  “I didn’t think we were big town-hitters,” Lydia joked. “I thought we were stay in with a good friend and a glass of wine and some taffy people.”

  “I don’t know,” Trina said with a sigh. “Maybe I should call Carl.”

  “Do you really miss him?” Lydia asked. “Or do you just miss being in a relationship? I thought that was why you broke up with him. Because he wasn’t a great boyfriend, but you admitted that you were scared of being alone.”

  “You know what I really miss? The discounts I used to get at his fish market!”

  They both laughed as Daniel walked into the room with some steaks he had prepared on the grill. Lydia’s French bulldog mix, Sunny, was keeping close to him, hoping that there was a chance he might drop something off the plate.

  “It sounds like you’re having a good time in here,” Daniel remarked with a smile.

  Sunny made a noise to alert everyone that she would have a better time if she were given some of the meat that was just placed on the counter.

  “Well, we’ve just about finished the salt water taffy,” Lydia said. “Thank you for watching the grill for me.”

  “I was happy to help. I know you needed a little extra time with the side dishes and dessert. Besides, I selfishly figured I would be rewarded—“

  “Guys, don’t be too couple-y,” Trina said, cutting him off. “I am right here.”

  “With taffy,” Daniel finished.

  As Trina giggled at her mistake, Lydia stepped forward with the plated bright green taffy. She offered it to her friends who each took one.

  “I was a little nervous about this one,” Lydia admitted. “I wanted to find just the right balance for it.”

  “Are you going to tell us what it is?” asked Daniel.

  Lydia laughed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be so secretive. This is the sour apple taffy. And you can be honest after you tried it. Did I balance out the sweetness and sourness properly?”

  Her friends both tried the candy, while Lydia busied herself by finding a more acceptable treat for Sunny. She wasn’t usually so nervous about her taffy flavors. Experimenting with candy was something that brought her joy, and she relished the challenge of creating new recipes. However, tonight she did want everything to go perfectly at her party. She didn’t want to sully the good news of the house with something too sour, and she also wanted to celebrate how she and her brother, Leo, were becoming friends again.

  “You’re crazy,” Trina said when she finished her snack.

  “It’s too sour?” asked Lydia, disappointed that she hadn’t made her human friends as happy as her dog.

  “No. It’s perfect,” said Trina. “It’s always perfect. I don’t know why you were worried about it.”

  “I have to agree with her. It is perfect,” said Daniel.

  Lydia grinned. She said that they were welcome to have some more but that they should save room for dinner and that there should still be some taffy left for Leo and his date Suzanne.

  She went to finish setting the table, but then Sunny ran toward the front door and started barking while wagging her tiny tail. Lydia was sure that she was announcing Leo’s arrival.

  “I’ll finish the table,” Daniel offered.

  She thanked him and headed to the door with Trina at her side. Sunny was dancing in the entryway, excited for more people she liked to join the party.

  “Last time I’m going to ask,” Trina promised. “You’re sure I’m not going to be a fifth wheel?”

  “I’m sure,” Lydia said.

  She
swung the door open, and they saw Leo and Suzanne embracing on the front porch steps. They took a step apart when they noticed the others.

  “You opened before we knocked,” Leo said.

  “Now I know not to,” Lydia teased. “But Sunny told us you were here.”

  “Sunny is such a smart dog,” Suzanne cooed as she bent forward to pet the playful pooch. Sunny was so enthusiastic that she knocked Suzanne’s headband askew, but Suzanne just laughed.

  “Come on in,” Lydia said, welcoming them inside. “Daniel just finished grilling. We ar having corn on the cob and some other great side dishes, and I made some sour apple salt water taffy for dessert.”

  “I don’t know,” Leo said. “That must be why Trina has that sour look on her face. Are you sure you got the recipe right?”

  “See if you’re brave enough to try it,” Lydia responded.

  Leo chuckled and headed toward the kitchen. Suzanne and Sunny joined him, but Trina held Lydia back a moment.

  “Liddy, I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t want to begrudge people their happiness, but I’m not sure I can be around other happy couples right now. It just reminds me of Carl. We were together for years. I know it was off and on because I’d have moments where I would decide I didn’t like being ignored or because Carl said he needed some time to find himself, which usually meant he wanted to play poker more often. But that was a big portion of my life, and it’s over now. And seeing couples reminds me that I’m not in a relationship. And who knows? I might never be in one again.”

  “Trina, we’re all just people. We’re your friends. Don’t think of us as couples. You’re my best friend. And we’ve been friends for so long that I’m sure Leo thinks of you as a little sister.”

  Trina nodded. “Or at least an annoying cousin.”

  “And you and Daniel have helped me solve cases before. And, yes, Suzanne is new, but I think you’ll get along great. She designs rooms just like you design hair. This is a party, and it will be fun,” Lydia said. “It will all be fine.”

  Trina seemed appeased, and they headed to the dinner table. Overall, Lydia was right about the night. They were all in good spirits as they talked about the house sale and the memories they had of the home. They remarked how glad they were that Aunt Edie had been able to visit and had seen the house again before it went to a new owner. Then, they talked about Aunt Edie’s latest postcard that showed she was visiting the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and tapping her toes to some country music. They talked about the beach and about their jobs as they enjoyed their meal.

  It was all going great until Leo blurted something out to Suzanne.

  “I love you,” he said.

  Suzanne froze with a forkful of macaroni salad to her mouth and stared at him. The others all sat there awkwardly.

  2

  Taffy Dessert

  Lydia felt sure that this was the first time that Leo had told Suzanne that he loved her. He didn’t seem embarrassed to say it or concerned that this was announced in front of other people. It had simply been something that he couldn’t keep to himself anymore.

  Words were caught in Lydia's throat. She wasn’t sure whether she should say something to stir the conversation in a different direction to cover up Suzanne’s silent response or if she should give Suzanne a moment to figure out what she wanted to say. Should she serve the taffy so everyone could have an excuse to be quiet while they chewed?

  Sunny barked from the floor, and Suzanne was knocked out of her reverie. She set her fork down and smiled at Leo.

  “You know, Leo? I love you too. I just didn’t expect to hear it so soon, so I didn’t expect to say it.”

  They held one another’s hand at the announcement. Then tension at the table disappeared, but there was still some residual awkwardness.

  “It is a little soon,” Trina couldn’t stop herself from saying. “You’ve known each other – what? A month?”

  Leo shrugged. “We knew each other when we were kids. We’ve only just reconnected a few weeks ago.”

  Trina grabbed another piece of corn on the cob so she could focus on food instead of another couple’s happiness. Lydia looked over at Daniel, but his gaze was directed down at his plate.

  She could understand how this could feel strange for him too. Leo and Suzanne seemed to be moving at a much faster pace than he and Lydia were. She hoped that he didn’t think that she had orchestrated this moment so he would feel pressured to proclaim his feelings for her. She didn’t think of this as a race, and she liked that they were moving slowly. She knew that she had some trust issues after how things had ended with her fiancé when she needed to move back to Ocean Point to help care for her uncle, and though time had passed, he was still a widower adjusting to a changed life.

  “Would anyone like some coffee?” Lydia asked, saying the first non-romantic thing she could think of.

  “No thanks,” Suzanne said, tearing her gaze away from Leo. “It will keep me up all night if I have some this late and I have an early morning meeting tomorrow.”

  “Are you decorating a new house?” Daniel asked.

  Suzanne nodded. “I’m excited about it because the house has a good history. Apparently, it belonged to a man that used to own speakeasies in town back in the day. There should be some antiques that I can use in the design.”

  “It’s funny to think that there used to be speakeasies in Ocean Point,” Trina said as she refilled her wine glass. “But I guess we are a tourist town in the summer. That could have made it more of a party in the roaring twenties.”

  “The house just passed to a new heir, and the woman wants to turn it into a nice summer home with the possibility of renting it out. My friend, who is a contractor, and I are both going to meet her tomorrow to see what we can do with the space,” Suzanne continued. “I think it will have a lot of possibilities.”

  “Is the contractor Teddy?” Leo asked. “I met him once.”

  “That’s right. And he asked if we’d like to have dinner with him and his wife one night,” Suzanne said. “I think that would be nice. It would be a lot like tonight.”

  Trina must have thought that this did make tonight seem like a double date and sighed. Lydia jumped in to change the conversation topic.

  “We’re lucky that the person buying the house doesn’t want to take it until August, so I have a little time to finish packing everything up. And I can seriously start looking for a place of my own now. I had only been doing it half-heartedly before.”

  “If I come across any leads I’ll send them your way,” Suzanne offered. “Sometimes I hear about houses going on the market early.”

  “I’ll keep an ear out at the salon too,” Trina said.

  “And if you need any help with décor once you find the place, I’d be happy to help too,” said Suzanne.

  Since Lydia hadn’t considered anything about the décor of her new place other than she hoped it would have an ocean view, she nodded. She also thought that this would show Leo how she supported his relationship.

  “That would be really nice,” Lydia said. “I’d love your help.”

  Suzanne took her cell phone out of her purse that was hanging on her chair. She started typing into it.

  “I’ll give you my personal number instead of my business phone. And I’ll add you to my cell so I can tell you about any homes I find out about.”

  Lydia smiled, and they exchanged phone numbers.

  “Now you’re right next to Leo in my phone,” Suzanne said.

  “Make sure you don’t call her by mistake when you’re looking for a booty call,” Trina joked. Then, she became self-conscious as she realized that she didn’t know Suzanne as well as the others, and she didn’t know if she would appreciate the humor. “Not that you would… I mean, you are dating, but… Never mind.”

  “I think it might be time for some of Lydia’s terrific taffy,” Daniel said.

  “Right,” Lydia said, jumping to her feet to bring the platter over to the table. She p
laced it down so everyone could grab a piece, and hoped that the mix of sweetness and sourness would be the perfect end to the party.

  3

  A Concerning Call

  The next morning, Lydia headed to her taffy shop. She walked along the boardwalk and appreciated the ocean breeze as she made her way to Doherty’s Taffy and Trinkets.