A Spoonful of Murder Read Online Free PDF Page A

I’m hardly one to poke fun. When I see Elias, I can barely string a sentence together.

Chapter 6

    L UCKY DIPPED HER roller into the paint tray and carefully spread the last coat over the remaining wall. When she finished, she stepped back to admire her handiwork. What a difference some color made. Outside, the wind blew in short, angry gusts and ice crystals formed a thick layer of frost on the windows. But inside, the pumpkin-colored walls made it easy to forget the harsh winter. She pulled off the soggy roller and tossed it in the wastebasket, washed out the paint tray and stripped off her gloves. It was finally finished. Lucky had worked every night after coming home from the restaurant, one wall at a time. She gathered up the plastic on the floor and pulled the protective tape off the wainscoting.
    When all the mess was disposed of, she collapsed in a kitchen chair, imagining her pictures and her mother’s dishes and pots and pans here. If only her mother could be here to see her new place. She could picture her reaction but quickly pushed the image away. Too painful. Too fresh. She had considered moving into her parents’ home, but feeling overwhelmed with the business, it seemed impossible to take over a house with all its chores, not to mention a mortgage.Selling was the best thing to do. Maybe she’d keep some larger pieces of furniture, and her mother’s delightful blue handmade pottery dishes, but the rest she could happily donate to charity. Very soon she’d have to go through their house and make those decisions, but she’d wait until she felt a bit more stable.
    Lucky touched the nose of her kitchen witch for good luck and headed to the bedroom, stripping off her painting clothes. She slipped into her pajamas and climbed under the covers. Mentally, she reviewed the next day’s chores as she started to drift off to sleep. The first thing was to get to the bank to deposit the cash. A jolt ran up her spine. The cash! Where was it? Dear Lord, she had left the cash bag on the desk in the office. How could she be so forgetful? She’d have to return to the Spoonful and get it. It wouldn’t be safe to leave it lying in the open like that. Then she thought,
Why not leave it?
Only she, Jack and Sage had keys. It wasn’t as if crime in the little town of Snowflake was a problem, but what if…
    She groaned and rose from the bed, dressing again for the outdoors. If she hurried, she could get to the restaurant and back to her bed in half an hour. She put her jacket on over her pajamas, slipped on boots and gloves and pulled a cap over her head.
    The streets were deserted. It was almost midnight, and given the freezing temperatures, most everyone was in bed. She turned the corner on Broadway and heard laughter and music from the Snowflake Pub as she passed by. Streetlights were swaying in the wind. She hunched deeper into her coat and kept going, not anxious to run into anyone while she was wearing pajamas. When she approached the Spoonful, she ducked down the narrow alley leading to the back. She unlocked the door and hurried into the office, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw the cash bag sitting on the desk. How could she be so careless? Losing this money would hurt them terribly.
    Lucky stuffed the bag into her purse and locked the back door as she left. She retraced her steps, but this time as sheapproached the Pub she noticed two dark figures in a doorway ahead of her. Was someone lying in wait? Conscious of the large amount of cash in her purse, she hesitated and came to a halt. Perhaps she should cross the street and avoid whoever was in her way. Before she could make a decision, the shadows moved, revealing two figures. A woman’s voice carried clearly in the chill night air.
    “What did she mean?”
    A man replied. “I have no idea! I swear.”
    “Then why would she say that about you?”
    “I told you—she has it in for me. I told you…”
    “Yeah—your version…”
    The voices were