A Drizzle of Deception: A Cozy Mystery (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book 10) Read Online Free PDF Page A

school…just plain half and half for me.
     
    “Since the weather is cooling down, much better. Although the iced coffee drinks saved me this summer.” Lizzy was a petite girl, no more than 5-ft. tall with short blond hair. She liked dresses that flowed around her tiny frame and today was no different. A psychedelic pattern of green, gold, and brown covered her small body. She looked like a short version of Stevie Nicks.
     
    “I know what you mean. My business slacks off in the cooler months, but the ice cream cakes keep me paying the bills.”
     
    “I love your ice cream cakes. I had a slice of one at the harvest festival…it was delicious. I need to stop by and order one so I can keep it all for myself.” She giggled. Lizzy was a delight and I wasn’t sure why Stormi and I didn’t try to see her more often. It could be because she was married with two young children and we ran in different circles. She more with the couples who had kids. Stormi’s eyes glazed over when hearing about how little Johnny had performed his first poop in the kid’s toilet or how little Susie did so well reciting the alphabet. I know if you have kids you can appreciate these small achievements of fellow parents. But if you don’t have children, the endless droning can lead to coma moments.
     
    “Have you seen how big my oldest is getting?” Lizzy popped out her smart phone and scrolled. What did I tell you? She stuck the phone’s screen in front of my face.
     
    “Wow, she is getting big. How old is she now?” You’ve got to seem interested…it’s the polite thing to do.
     
    “She’s four. Already in pre-school and knows so much more than I did at four years old.” Lizzy pushed the cell phone back into her apron pocket. “They grow up so fast.”
     
    “Yeah,” I mused as I sat at a table to eat my muffin. “Why don’t you join me if you’re not busy?”
     
    “I think I will.” Lizzy grabbed bottled water out of her small commercial refrigerator and sat down next to me. “My dogs are barking.” She pulled one of the other chairs over and propped her feet up.
     
    I laughed. “I know what you mean. Sometimes I even soak my feet at night.”
     
    Lizzy grabbed my arm. “Oh, I do too! But I have to wait till the kids are in bed otherwise they’ll want to play and splash in the water.”
     
    We talked a bit more about the town and old school chums.
     
    “Hey, how is married life treating Stormi? I didn’t know if that girl would ever settle down. Oh and aren’t you engaged to her little brother Brandon?”
     
    “He’s not so little anymore.” I took a bite of my muffin and relished the delicious moist texture.
     
    Lizzy’s eyes got big. “I know. I’ve seen him around town. You have a knockout there Tara.”
     
    “He’s a nice guy too and funny.”
     
    Liz took a sip of her water. “Definitely. You need humor in a companion, especially when the kids are vomiting or pooping their pants in the middle of the night.” See, again with the kid talk. Okay, let’s change the subject.
     
    “Liz, do you know anyone in town that has yellow Labrador retrievers? There’s three labs that have been turning up out at Jeb Rogers place almost everyday for awhile, but we can’t figure out who they belong to because they don’t have tags.”
     
    Liz thought for a minute. “My neighbor has a chocolate lab. Seems I remember him saying that the Hodges family out on Route 22 have a bunch of yellow labs. They use them for hunting quail.”
     
    I turned on the GPS in my brain. “Route 22.…that’s pretty far from where Jeb lives. I doubt the dogs would go that far.”
     
    “Yeah probably not. That’s the only yellow labs I know about.”
     
    I dabbed at the crumbs left on my napkin from the chocolate chip muffin. “You say the dogs belong to the Hodges family?” The Hodges family was one of the oldest in Caesars Creek. In fact, they were one of the founders of the community. The Hodges mainly lived in