A Flicker of Doubt (Book 4 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) (26 page)

Ingredients

3/4 cup margarine or butter

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

3 ½ cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

4 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon cloves

½ teaspoon salt

3 cups applesauce

1 box raisins (16 oz.)

1 bag orange slice candies (16 oz.)

(Optional 1 cup chopped nuts)

Directions

Cream the margarine or butter and sugar, then
add eggs and beat Alternately, add the sifted mixture of flour,
baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt; add the applesauce
to the mixture. Add raisins and orange slice candies (nuts, too, if
you want them), and place the mixture in greased muffin or loaf
pans.

The dough will make two large loaves or 30
muffins. Bake at 325 degrees for 90 minutes (loaf) or 20 to 25
minutes (muffins), testing with a toothpick in the center. When it
comes out clean, it’s ready.

These are great hot out of the oven or
frozen, then defrosted in the microwave as needed. We especially
like this recipe during the holidays.

Candlemaking Tips: Poured Candles

Once you’ve mastered the basic pouring
techniques, it’s great fun to use different, creative mold forms
you can scavenge on your own. For example, egg shells make
fascinating candles on their own. Any shape that can handle the hot
wax can be converted into a candle. A teapot makes a particularly
nice candle as well.

Chunk candles of preset wax can make a
beautiful candle.

For a more ethereal look, trying adding ice
to the mold just before the pour.

If your candle sticks to the mold, try
putting it in the refrigerator to cool it.

If your candle looks frosty or has White
horizontal lines, the wax was probably too cool when you
poured.

If there are tiny pinpricks all over the
candle, the wax was probably too hot when you poured.

If there are cracks in your candle, it
probably cooled too quickly.

Bubbles in the base of the candle could mean
the water bath level wasn’t high enough.

Have fun, and don’t be afraid to experiment
with dyes and scents as well as unique shapes.

And now a peek at

INVITATION TO
MURDER,

Book 1 in the Cardmaking Mysteries,

written by Tim Myers

under the name Elizabeth Bright

INVITATION TO
MURDER

By Tim Myers

writing as Elizabeth
Bright

Chapter 1

“
You’ve got to tell her I
won’t stop it! She’ll believe you. Please, you’re the only one who
can save me.”

I frowned at the telephone, wondering if
someone was having some fun at my expense. “Who is this?”

“
Don’t you know? Donna,
you’re my last chance. She’s going to kill me if you don’t tell her
the truth.”

“
I’m sorry, but my name’s
not Donna. I’m Jennifer.”

“
Oh, no, she’s here.” There
were a few choked sobs, and then she added in a whisper, “It’s too
late for me, isn’t it?”

Just before the line went dead, I heard a
scream that will haunt me till the day I die.

Earlier that Tuesday morning I’d been
wondering if going into business for myself had been such a great
idea after all. My name’s Jennifer Shane, and I own and operate
Custom Card Creations, my very own handcrafted-card shop. My
specialized store was recently born from the need to get out on my
own and away from my big sister Sara Lynn’s scrapbooking
store—aptly named Forever Memories—a place where I had worked after
leaving my corporate sales ob peddling pet food all over the
Southeast As much as I loved being around my sister, I knew I had
to do something on my own when I’d tried to convince her that a
handcrafted greeting card corner was a natural

sideline for her business. Sara Lynn hadn’t
been interested. Not because it wasn’t a good idea, mind you, but
because her baby sister had come up with it and Sara Lynn hadn’t
thought of it herself first. So I took J a deep breath, withdrew
every dime of my savings and ; my inheritance from the bank and
opened my shop on the opposite end of Oakmont Avenue. We were ‘
bookends on the town’s main road where tourists ; browsed when they
came to Rebel Forge, Virginia. I Whether in the area for skiing in
the winter or boating in the summer, there was a steady stream of
shoppers most of the year. Scattered between our shops were I old
and charming buildings filled with crafters, antique « dealers, an
art gallery, a potter and a dozen other eclectic businesses that
somehow felt just right to me. . The first real chance I had to
make a sale for my ‘ shop was one I nearly turned down. I wasn’t
particularly interested in doing wedding invitations; that I wasn’t
why I’d opened my handcrafted-card store, but . | the check Mrs.
Albright waved under my nose convinced me otherwise. I

She’d walked into my shop earlier that
morning I with her nose in the air and a look of complete and I
utter disdain plastered on her sharp ferret features. I | couldn’t
see why her reaction had been so negative. The shop was in a quaint
little tumbled-brick building with scarred hardwood floors and
exposed oak beams in the ceiling. It had formerly housed a handbag
boutique, but I hoped I had better luck than the last ten- { ant.
The poor woman had gone bankrupt, but before , the bank could
foreclose, she’d driven her car off the dam into Rebel Lake.

“
I’d like to speak with the
owner,” my visitor said in a voice that dared me to comply. She had
probably once been lovely, but the years hadn’t been kind to her.
Without even knowing her, I was certain that she was in a constant
battle to lose that last thirty pounds—a battle I was pretty sure
she was never going to win.

“
You are,” I said, offering
my brightest smile. “How may I help you?” I gestured to the
specialty areas I’d taken great pains to set up before I’d opened
the shop for business. “I have handcrafted cards and stationery for
sale up front, and if you’re interested, I offer everything you
need to make your own cards, as well. I have specialty scissors,
rubber stamps, cutouts, stickers, stencils, pressed flowers and a
dozen other different ways to enhance the cards you make. I offer a
variety of paper and envelopes in several textures, thicknesses and
colors, and if you want something totally unique, I can design and
fabricate a custom batch of paper just for you. I’ve even got a
computer, if you’d like to design something yourself that way. Oh,
and I offer classes in card making in the evenings, but if you’re
already a card maker, we’ve got the Crafty Cut-Ups Club that meets
here every Thursday night.” Okay, the last bit was a stretch, but I
honestly did plan to start the club just as soon as I found at
least two people who liked making cards as much as I did. I’d
memorized my sales pitch a few days before, and I promised myself
to pause for a few more breaths the next time I had the chance to
give it. I’d nearly passed out trying to get everything out in one
breath.

The woman’s disapproval was readily
apparent. She studied me with her querulous gaze, and it was all I
could do not to stoop down. I’m just a few inches short of six feet
tall, and when my long brown hair’s up in a knot like it was nearly
all the time, I knew I could be an imposing figure. Maybe if I was
one of those rail-thin nymphs that weighed next to nothing I could
still get away with my height, but I was solid—at least ten pounds
overweight even for my frame—and that was saying a lot.

She sniffed the air, then said, “No, I’m
afraid you won’t be able to help me after all.”

“
Come on, it’s way too soon
for you to give up on me. If it involves cards, believe me, I can
do it.”

Tm sorry, but I suppose I’ll have to use a
printing

business in a larger city. I had hoped to
offer something at least a little above the ordinary to our guests
and friends.”

As she started for the door, I said, “Why
don’t you tell me what you want? Then I’ll let you know if L can do
it or not.” -

She paused, which was a
good thing, because I was getting ready to tackle her before she
could get out of my shop. I’d only been open two days, but in that
, time I’d had three people come in to ask me for directions to
other businesses along Oakmont, and a spry ; little old man had
wanted change for a single so he | could buy a newspaper. I hadn’t
sold a card yet, not
¹
I a single piece of
card stock or stationery, or even a . stamp for that matter, and my
sister’s prediction of I doom kept echoing through my empty
store.

“
I need wedding invitations,
but they have to be different: something bold, yet dignified;
daring, yet classic.”

I wanted a pony myself, or at least a way to
make my first month’s rent. “How many invitations are you going to
need?”

“
This is a very exclusive
event,” she said. “We’re holding the guest list down to our four
hundred closest friends.” She looked around my small store, then
said, “Perhaps I’d better see if someone in Charlottesville can
help me. Thank you for your time.”

As her hand touched the doorknob, I said,
“Actually, that might be for the best. After all, I’m certain my
designs would be too outré for you.”

As I’d hoped, she looked intrigued for the
first time since she’d walked into my shop. “What did you have in
mind?”

“
Let me get some samples for
you.” I raced to my workroom, a small space in back where I made
the customized cards and papers I hoped to sell. I’d just finished
a fresh batch of handmade paper, and I’d included some glitter and
tinsel in the mix on a lark. I took a few sheets from the drying
rack, grabbed a

handful of my more experimental selections
and hurried back before she could get away. If I’d been thinking
straight, I would have dead bolted the front door to keep her there
until I could make my pitch.

“
Here are a few
possibilities,” I said as I laid the sheets out on the counter in
front of her.

She studied the selection, paused over my
latest effort and picked it up. “But it’s still wet.”

“
Of course it is,” I said as
if it were the most common thing in the world to handle brand-new
paper. “As I said, this is all cutting-edge. The textures are
amazing, aren’t they? I can create whatever paper we decide to use,
based on your needs and tastes. There are lots of
variations.”

She looked around my shop again, then stared
at me for a moment before speaking. “And you’re certain you can
handle this?”

“
I can honestly say that I
haven’t had a single dissatisfied customer since I’ve been in
business.” Well, it was the truth. The man I’d made change for had
been extremely grateful, and if there had been anything wrong with
the directions I’d given, no one had come back to complain. That
made it a perfect score, in my opinion.

“
Then let’s do this. I’ll be
in touch sometime in the next few days about the details.” That’s
when she waved a check for the deposit under my nose. If I could
pull it off, my business would be on its way. It surprised me that
a woman who seemed to be such a control freak wouldn’t want to
settle the details on the spot, but Mrs. Albright seemed rushed, no
doubt already late for her next appointment. After she was gone, I
was still admiring the amount—afraid to put the check in my cash
register lest it disappear—when my big brother, Bradford, walked
in, decked out in his sheriff’s uniform. He was two inches over six
feet, and standing next to him, I somehow managed to feel
svelte.

Before I could even say hello, he snapped,
“When

are you going to get over your pigheaded
stubbornness and start talking to Sara Lynn again?”

“
Hello, brother dear, it’s
nice to see you, too. Did you come in to buy a card?”

He snorted. “Thanks, but I think I’ll pass.
Seriously, Jen, what’s going on between the two of you?” Brad- ford
was the middle child of our family, the consummate peacemaker when
it came to his sisters’ squabbles. I liked to think that all those
years of maintaining harmony in our house had carried over into his
career choice. Bradford was the sheriff for our ! resort community,
keeping the peace now on an entirely different level. I just hoped
he had more luck with the residents of Rebel Forge than he had with
me and Sara Lynn.

“
Talk to her if you don’t
like what’s going on between us,” I said. “I offered her a truce,
and she blew me off.”

“
You did kind of step on her
turf,” Bradford said.

“
You’ve got to be kidding
me. Listen, if you’re not going to buy anything, why don’t you just
go?” Then ; I realized that I was letting him off way too easy,
especially since he’d just taken Sara Lynn’s side instead of mine.
“Hey Bradford, since you’re here, you should buy something nice for
your wife.”

“
If I walk in my door at
home with a card for Cindy, she’s going to think I’m up to
something.”

“
If you don’t, she’s going
to be even more suspicious, especially after I call and tell her
you were in here shopping today and bought something romantic from
my store.” I scanned the room. “Let’s see, what did you buy again?
Oh, yes, that stationery and envelope set. You have excellent
taste, Bradford. It’s the very best I carry.”

He knew when he was beaten—I had to give him
that. “Give me a break, Jennifer. I’ve got two kick who will eat
anything that’s not nailed down. I’m having a tough time making it
on a cop’s salary, even with. Cindy’s income from the library.”