Arsenic and Old Cake Read Online Free PDF

larger demographic.”
    My jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”
    “It’s a good idea,” Isabeau put in from her table. “I mean, it’s not as if people have stopped getting married or having babies or birthdays. They still want to make those occasions special. Maybe they can’t afford an expensive specialty cake, but maybe they’d order something less . . . unique.”
    She said less unique . I heard ordinary , and my defenses went up. It didn’t help that the two of them had obviously discussed this before, which made me feel like I’d been ambushed. “But that’s not what Zydeco does.”
    “Well, maybe it should,” Ox said. “Listen, Rita, I don’t know what our bank account looks like, but I know we can’t go on this way indefinitely. The staff isn’t just getting worried, they’re bored. A few more weeks like the one we just had and they’ll be at each others’ throats.”
    “It’s not as if we’re completely out of work,” I pointed out. “We just need to drum up more business. We can put people to work taking flyers to the upscale wedding shops around town and set up meetings with high-end wedding and event planners. Maybe even work out special deals for their customers. When you think about it, that’s something we should be doing already. The new website you’ve created is great, but it’s no substitute for face-to-face contact.”
    “I agree,” Ox said. “Let’s not ignore any possibility. But we’d be making a mistake to stick with top-of-the-line exclusively. We should do whatever it takes to keep Zydeco afloat, right?”
    I nodded slowly, considering his idea but still running into a huge wall of internal resistance. But was I against the idea because it was wrong for Zydeco, or because I hadn’t thought of it first, or because, once again, Ox was trying to steamroll me? “You’re suggesting a huge change,” I said. “I’m not convinced that it would be for the better. Would we be lowering our standards? Would our current clientele go somewhere else?”
    “Not if we do it right,” Ox argued. “I’m not talking about lowering quality, just about adding a line of cakes that people with moderate incomes can afford. At least let me pitch it to Miss Frankie and see how she feels about it.”
    He looked so earnest, I felt my resistance slip a little, but I couldn’t make such a big decision out of sentiment. Nor could I make it on my own. I added it to my mental list of Things to Talk About with Miss Frankie. I was pretty sure how Miss Frankie would react, but there was a chance I was wrong. She had surprised me in the past. And no matter what she thought of Ox’s idea, it was only fair that I let him throw his Hail Mary pass in person.
    “Okay. Fine. I’ll set up a meeting.”
    Ox beamed. “How about tomorrow after I deliver the retirement cake?”
    “I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t promise anything. And that brings up the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. I’m going to be gone quite a bit for the next few days taking care of a personal matter. I’ll need you to cover for me when I’m not here.”
    I knew Ox was disappointed at having to wait for his meeting, but he hid it well. “Anything wrong?”
    “Not really. I promised to help a friend with something. Since we’re running out of work for everyone this seemed like a good time for me to clear out for a bit. One less person to keep busy, right?”
    Ox reached for his pencil again. “Yeah. Sure. Whatever. Just let me know when we can get together with Miss Frankie.”
    I promised I would and went back to my office to gather my things. Twenty minutes later, I tossed my bag into the Mercedes I’d inherited from Philippe and pulled out of the parking lot into evening traffic. It was a beautiful evening, cool enough to drive with the windows down and still very low humidity, which made my hair and my dry-air-loving lungs happy. But beneath that feeling of contentment lurked a whisper of