Chicken Soup & Homicide - Culinary Competition Mystery #2

Chapter 10

(Amy)

"Wonderful. I'll see you in about an hour," Amy said before hanging up the phone. The plan wasn't quite going the way she had expected, but she could improvise. Some of her best recipes were conceived when she needed to substitute an ingredient. Like using chunks of mango, when she couldn't find any decent fresh peaches, in a quick bread. That recipe ended up being printed in a magazine after it won a sweet bread contest. Going to Holly Neale's house, instead of her cupcakery, could yield some interesting results. It didn't sound like her son liked to help around the bakery, but there was a good chance he'd be at home.

She probably could've come up with a more creative excuse to talk to Holly than faking needing help with a cupcake recipe, but it got her an invitation to stop by. Anything was better than the truth. I was wondering if we could chat so I can decide if you or your son is capable of murder. Pitts had it easy. He didn't have to come up with excuses to question people. Didn't need to bake cupcakes to help pry out answers either.

In order for the ruse to work, she had to make the buttercream for the cupcakes she had baked the previous night. The problem was, she needed to turn on a mixer to whip the butter into fluff. Alex hadn't made it home until 3:00 a.m., and he was still sleeping. Even if she used a small hand mixer instead of her lemon-yellow Kitchen Aid stand mixer, the powerful engine still sounded like a tiny jet revving up for takeoff. The master bedroom was upstairs, and she had shut the door when she came downstairs, but the noise was still at a frequency that would burrow into a dream and give a person nightmares about going to the dentist.

Alex saved her from the mixer or no mixer dilemma by appearing in the kitchen doorway. "Please tell me there's fresh coffee."

"There will be in five minutes," Amy said. She had only made a small pot, anticipating that Alex would sleep in. The leftover brew to be used in the cupcake icing was cooling in the refrigerator. Luckily, she was well-practiced in making coffee at lightning speed since she often had coffee emergencies. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Alex wince when she pressed the button on the coffee grinder. "Do you have a headache? You must still be exhausted."

He rubbed the rust-colored stubble on his jaw. "I don't have time to be tired. I'll just take a couple of aspirin before I head into the office."

Not what she wanted to hear. He needed to slow down and rest before stress and exhaustion, along with the miserable winter weather, ganged up and made him sick. A whopper of a cold could be heading his way if he wasn't mindful of how worn down his body had gotten. She couldn't remember the last time he had used the exercise room next to his office. Her fitness-fanatic husband was too tired to exercise. Yet another disheartening sign that his job was taking over his life.

Alex grabbed one of the orange-and-raisin muffins out of the basket on the island. A little breakfast treat she had made especially for him. Bonus that they were packed full of healthy things like nutrient-rich fruit and whole wheat flour. His worn-out, stressed-out, but still smoking-hot body needed some good fuel. Amy did a quick mental inventory of the refrigerator and pantry, concocting an impromptu nourishing soup recipe that she could make for dinner. Kale, sweet potatoes, and quinoa fit the bill. "Why do you have to go into the office? You've barely gotten any sleep."

"Sorry, honey." He wadded up the paper muffin wrapper and tossed it in the trash can. "I can't stay at home. There's just too much to do to get ready for the show tomorrow."

"When are all of these ridiculously long work days going to end?"

He stared out the window as he chewed on a bite of muffin. Was he ignoring her question, or was he so lost in his thoughts he didn't hear it? He wandered out of the kitchen without answering or getting the mug of coffee he had come in looking for. Living in a gorgeous house with a designer kitchen and pantry stocked full of gourmet foods was nice. Barely seeing her husband because he was always working dulled the shininess of the money. She wanted Alex to be successful, but she also wanted him to enjoy his life...with her.