A Spicy Secret Read Online Free PDF Page B

in the world could be in that box? And why would Gram have labeled it? Most of the things Betsy had stored over the years were not labeled and gave no indication as to where they had come from or why.
    For some ridiculous reason, the box made her both nervous and curious. Annie grabbed it and carried it downstairs to the library and then went back up to retrieve the hatbox and a selection of blue and white yarns for her first afghan.
    “Well, well, well,” she said to Boots as she surveyed the labeled box, which she’d placed in the middle of the library floor. “I do hope this isn’t yet another mystery to solve. I’ve got enough on my hands with those recipes we found in the carriage house.”
    With no food in the offing, Boots didn’t reply, being far more interested in sunbathing on the window seat than worrying about yet another dusty old box.
    “Fine help you are,” Annie said, retrieving a pair of old office scissors from a desk drawer. In response, the cat rolled over, stretching her paws in the air to get some sun on her belly.
    Annie knelt in front of the box. Inexplicably, her hand shook as she sliced through the tape. Whatever could Gram have packed away?
    She lifted the flaps and almost laughed in relief. The box from the attic held patient files from her grandfather’s veterinary practice. She suddenly remembered that he had used the carriage house as an office, and most likely had asked Gram to pack up his desk when he retired. She wondered if Cecil Lewey, who had assisted him on occasion, might have actually done the packing and then given it to her grandmother to store.
    The phone rang, interrupting Annie before she could take anything out or really explore the contents.
    “Hello,” she answered, brushing some ubiquitous dust off her pants.
    “Hi Annie!” Alice exclaimed.
    “Let me guess. You’re bored—right?” Annie teased.
    “Yup. I sure am,” said the voice at the other end of the line. “Not to mention my furnace decided to be difficult again today and it’s freezing in here, so I can’t do any sorting. Mind if I come over? I know I’m not really supposed to be walking, but I think I’ll go mad if I stay here. And the sun has probably melted most of that evil ice.”
    Annie laughed at her friend’s theatrics. “Sure, come on over. I want to talk about the recipes some more. Plus, you can help me look through a box I found in the attic.”
    “Sounds fun.” Alice mock-groaned at the prospect. “See you shortly.”
    Annie went to the kitchen and put on another pot of coffee. She rummaged in her cabinets and found an open box of chocolate-covered shortbread cookies, arranged them on a plate, and put them on a small table in the library.
    By the time Alice arrived, the coffee was ready. Annie settled her friend into the library’s leather chair with a mug of coffee and pulled an ottoman over so Alice could elevate her ankle.
    Annie sat in Gram’s comfy chair, and the two sipped and munched companionably.
    “OK—about the recipes. Things we know,” said Alice.
    “That should be a short list, but I’ll get a pad of paper anyway,” Annie said, retrieving a pen and notebook from Gram’s desk.
    “So,” Alice said when Annie had sat back down, “one—we found the items in a hole under a floorboard in the upstairs spare bedroom of the carriage house. So they had to be placed there by someone who either lived in the carriage house or had easy access to it. It probably wasn’t someone just passing through.”
    She waited while Annie scribbled before continuing. “Two—following the logic of the first item, the floorboard was a different wood than the rest. Someone had to have pried up the original floorboard, which would have taken some doing. It either got damaged or lost, so the person also had to find a plank to replace it.”
    “And no one noticed it all this time.”
    “Yeah, that’s weird. So, three—that rug has probably been there for awhile.”
    “It was