Murder Al Fresco (21 page)

She frowned at the heap of stuff, the car seat, the playpen, the baby gate, but didn't comment. She had a note pad, and she wrote something on it. Though I squinted, there was no way for me to read what she wrote.

"Does anyone else live here?" she asked.

"My grandfather and great aunt," I responded quickly.

"And are they here?" One penciled eyebrow went up.

"No," I willed myself not to shift under her scrutiny. "They're in town visiting with friends."

"I saw two cars out front."

The old battle-ax didn't miss a trick. "It's an extra."

"I see." She moved into the kitchen, opening random cabinets and taking more notes.

There was a noise from the closet, and Ms. Griggs frowned. "What was that?"

"Just the dog." Sweat had popped out on my forehead. "He has gas."

Roofus hadn't moved on his spot on the couch. He wasn't the world's best watchdog, but he was a good scapegoat.

"Which room will be Clayton's?"

"This way." I ushered her down the hall toward my bedroom.

She scowled at the space. "Someone's already living here?"

"Oh, I am. He'll be sharing with me. But it's only temporary."

She moved back out to the main room, taking it all in. "You say you're a chef. How much time will you really have to spend with Clayton?"

"Well, my restaurant is closed for the time being," I hedged, praying she wouldn't ask why.

"So you're currently without income." She paused before continuing. "I'll be honest, Ms. Buckland. It's unusual for a single woman living with two elderly relatives to be granted custody, even temporarily."

"Well, this isn't permanent," I assured her. "I was actually out looking at houses earlier and—"

"That doesn't change the fact that he would be moving into a single parent household, where that parent isn't able to provide for him."

"But I'm engaged," I showed her the ring. "See. So he won't be in a single parent family for long."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "And who, may I ask, is your fiancé?"

"I am," a male voice said from behind me. "Sorry I'm late, sweetie pumpkin."

I blinked, stunned at the new arrival standing in the doorway, his uniform tailored to fit his tall frame. "Kyle?"

Before I could utter another syllable, the sheriff hauled me into his arms for a massive kiss

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice Gelato

You'll need:

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

¾ cup sugar

1 cinnamon stick

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon cloves

¼ teaspoon ginger

½ ounce Goldschläger

Pinch salt

Directions:

Combine cream and milk in a saucepan, add sugar and spices. Bring to a boil then continue to cook on low heat until cinnamon stick breaks apart. Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour before adding Goldschlägers and salt. Put through ice cream maker, following manufacturer's directions.

**Andy's note: This recipe originally called for 1 ounce cinnamon vodka, which is made from potatoes (i.e. nightshades). The alcohol and starch acts as a thickening agent to bring your gelato to the right consistency and avoids ice crystals, so if you don't have trouble with nightshades, I'd say use that instead.

Kyle kissed me the same way he had when we were sixteen. My hands went to his chest to push him away, but he held firm. I wasn't sure if I was more stunned that he'd slithered out from whatever rock he'd been hiding under or that he'd decided to snag me in a lip-lock for no good reason.

But then his words registered, and I realized that he did have a reason. Kyle had told the social worker that we were engaged, and this stupid kiss was just part of the ruse. Being engaged to the sheriff was infinitely better than being engaged to the man sitting in jail on kidnapping charges, phony though they might be.

It was stupid to lie, to risk that the adoption wouldn't go through when the truth came out, but I had a feeling Ms. Griggs was on the verge of denying my claim for temporary custody. And once Jones was cleared, all this insanity wouldn't matter.

 When he finally pulled away, I saw the flash of warning in his eyes and decided to play along.

"Snookums," I said, just to needle him. "I wasn't expecting you. Have you met Ms. Griggs?"

"Ma'am." Kyle offered his hand and even winked at the frumpy social worker. "It's a pleasure."

"You're engaged to the sheriff?" Ms. Griggs blushed a little as he held her hand.

"We were high school sweethearts," Kyle told her with a wink. "Took us a while to find each other again, but now that we have, we're ready to start a family."

I let him work his magic. Kyle had that good ol' boy charm down to a science, and he was laying it on thick. The social worker ate it up like a meal.

"Did my Andy tell you that she's going to be on a televised cooking competition? Grand prize is fifty thousand dollars, right, sweet cheeks? Not that we need the money. My folks are loaded."

"That's right, butter bean," I cooed, making myself a little sick, though I hid it behind a saccharine smile. "I'm mostly doing it for the free advertising for my grand reopening."

"The whole town's buzzing about it." Kyle turned back to Ms. Griggs. Thankfully she wasn't from Beaverton, or she would have known exactly how off the mark our story was. I had no doubt that Kyle had lost his last marble, but I was in too deep to back out now.

"Yup, and as soon as we find the perfect house, we'll be moving right in," Kyle said. "Under normal circumstances we'd wait until everything was settled, but as soon as Andy saw Clayton, she fell in love with the little guy."

"It's the truth," I said, hoping my sincerity showed on this one essential point.

"Well, it seems like your situation is different than my initial impression," Ms. Griggs admitted. "I will let you know later today."

"Can't wait." I escorted her to the door, and Kyle came up beside me, wrapping an arm around my waist. We waved until her car disappeared then I shoved the sheriff away from me. "Kyle, what
the hell
were you thinking?"

"Ow," he complained as I smacked his shoulder. "I was only trying to help. You were sinking fast there, and it wasn't pretty."

 I walloped him again for good measure. "Sweet cheeks? Really?"

He gave a half-hearted shrug. "Figured I owed you one."

 I was contemplating hitting him again when the coat closet door was tossed open so hard that it rebounded against the wall, and Lizzy flew past me into Kyle's arms. "I thought you were dead!" she wailed.

"Why?" Kyle looked clearly surprised.

"Because you vanished without a trace, you big, stupid idiot!" She kissed him, grabbing him by the ears and hauling his mouth down to hers.

Stunned, Kyle stood frozen, letting Lizzy have her way with him. I cleared my throat a couple of times and was just about to leave and give them a minute when she pulled back and slapped him across the face.

"Ow," Kyle said again.

"That's for scaring me half to death. Where were you?" Lizzy shrieked.

Kyle glanced in my direction, but I put my hands on my hips. "Don't look at me like I'm gonna save your sorry behind. You left me high and dry with the food poisoning thing. So where were you?"

"Undercover," Kyle said.

"Undercover?" Lizzy asked. Her hands went to her hips.

Kyle looked at me as if I could step in and save him. "I'm not sure where to start."

"How about the day you disappeared," I prompted. "You took the prepped dishes from the Bowtie Angel, and then what?"

"I took them to a lab I know." Kyle rubbed the back of his neck. "Not the county lab, but a private one."

I folded my arms over my chest. "Why?"

"Because your real fiancé asked me to."

"Jones?" Lizzy and I exchanged glances, and I cleared my throat. "Why would he want you to do that?"

"In case someone on the
Diced
staff hacked the database the way Jones hacked into the ME's report on Chad Tobey. When I found out it was those mushrooms, I knew I needed to let you know what had caused the massive food poisoning, but I was already undercover and couldn't risk being spotted around town."

"I don't understand." Lizzy shook her head. "Undercover where?"

"Atlanta," Kyle admitted. "That's all I can say for now."

"Do you have a line on the killer?" I asked. "Do you know who wants to discredit me?"

"Andy, there is no killer," the sheriff said. "Chad Tobey's death has been officially ruled as an accident."

I sank down onto the couch. "So that's it? But doesn't his wife benefit from his death?"

"Whether she does or not, she didn't kill him, and there's no reason to think she had anyone else kill him either. A burglary gone wrong is much easier to stage than an accidental food poisoning."

"But the EpiPen. Tobey was found facedown in his dinner. Why didn't he go for his EpiPen?"

"I can't explain it." Kyle shook his head. "Maybe it hit him too fast, maybe he was disoriented or too weak to get up."

"So that's it then." I slumped in my chair, leaning my elbows on the dining room table. "And what about whoever is trying to discredit me? Any leads?"

Kyle shook his head. "No. Although I think your culinary competition is the most logical place to start. The contest starts tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, I've been through the files a dozen times but can't come up with a viable suspect. And now I don't have time for it either." Speaking of time, I glanced at the clock. "Shoot, I have to go. Press conference."

"Wait!" Lizzy gripped my arm. "Have you heard back from Rochelle's lawyer yet?"

"No." The man picked a hell of a time to go on vacation. Then a thought occurred to me. "Kyle, Jones said he had the contact information for Clayton's grandparents stored in his phone and that it was taken into evidence. Any way you could get that for us?"

Kyle groaned theatrically. "Andy, I just got back into town an hour ago, and already you have me wrapped up in some scheme?"

I didn't have time to argue with him, but then glancing back and forth between him and his former fiancée, I thought about Kaylee's stepparent trap idea and murmured, "Lizzy, you convince him. I gotta jet."

"But—" Lizzy began.

Their two cars were in the road, but both Kyle and Lizzy had dropped their keys on the counter. Lizzy's house was a few-mile trek across the wooded slopes. I scooped up both sets, praying they didn't have spares on them, and then tossed their stunned faces a jaunty wave. "I'll check on you later. Toodles."

Not waiting for an answer, I sprinted for Mustang Sally, secured myself behind the wheel, backed up far enough to execute a three-point turn, and took off down the driveway—leaving them to either work it out or kill one another.

I really hoped they chose door number one because I'd found enough bodies for one week.

*   *   *

"Omg, have you seen it?" Kaylee asked me the second I exited the car.

"Seen what?" I glanced down at the phone in her hand. It was opened to the Foodie Fanatics page, and the headline read,
Romance in the Kitchen?
Underneath the headline was a picture of Rodrigo and me outside the hotel the night before. He had his hand on my back and though the shadows hid his expression, mine was clearly nervous as I looked up at him.

"So I guess Rodrigo isn't Fangirl#1," Kaylee concluded.

My teeth sank into my lower lip, and I swallowed the stream of cuss words that wanted to burst forth as I read.

Celebrity chef hook up in the small town of Beaverton, NC is all the rage. Andy Buckland's had a busy week—first with a case of food poisoning in her restaurant, then vandalism. Has she turned to superstar Rodrigo Lobo for simple comfort, or are things just heating up?

"Oh my God, Jones is going to lose it," I groaned, handing her phone back. "I can't believe someone snapped this picture, and I didn't even notice."

"Did you see anyone you recognized?"

I shook my head. "Donna and Mimi were there too, but of course that wasn't mentioned. We can ask them."

"If we can find them in time." Kaylee made a face as the crowd swelled like a blowfish.

Needing to take my mind off of the possible ramifications of this latest debacle, I turned to her. "By the way, you will be so proud of me when you hear this."

"Why? What did you do?"

"Stole Lizzy and Kyle's car keys and stranded them at the A-frame together."

Kaylee snort laughed then clapped a hand over her mouth. "That's hilarious. But won't Kyle arrest you?"

"Well, then at least Jones and I will be jailbirds together." Though my reply was glib, I really was concerned about keeping my image free and clear of any more scandal. Mr. White had called to inform me that I had been approved to take temporary custody of Clayton. I was walking a fine line with my grand public reveal today and didn't want to do anything that would reverse the custody decision. That stupid blog wasn't helping either.

"Are you really okay with this?" Kaylee asked me as she studied the gathering media frenzy over by the new gazebo. "I mean, announcing to the world that Jacob's your father is kind of a big deal."

It was, and yet it was a means to an end. "All the people I really care about already know the truth." I scanned the throng for any sign of Pops or Aunt Cecily. "Besides, I want to expose this blogger for the bottom-feeding scum bug that she is."

"There's Jacob and Lacey," Kaylee waved toward the left side of the town square. "I'm going to run over and say hi."

"I'll be there shortly. I just want to check in with Mimi and make sure we're all set."

 Since Jones still wasn't available, Mimi had agreed to dial the blogger's cell phone number when I gave the signal. Lacey had offered to do it, but Jacob had insisted that she stay by his side to display a united front. I wondered if he had ever considered running for public office—he had quite a grasp on the whole spin doctoring thing.