Brownies, Bodies and Bad Guys Read Online Free PDF Page A

that one on top,” he said pointing to a gooey cinnamon bun that sat at the very top of the tray.
    “I’ll take one, too,” John said as he walked over toward the self-serve coffee station by the window.
    “How do you take your coffee?” He called back to Brax.
    “Black.” Brax pulled his wallet out of the inside pocket of his jacket and paid for the order. Lexy put the pastries in a white bag which she handed across the counter to him. She noticed he made certain their fingers brushed as she handed off the bag. She pulled her hand back quickly afraid of the tingles that resulted from his touch.
    “We gotta run,” John said, then looked at Cassie. “See you tonight.”
    They walked toward the door. When they got there, Brax turned and looked back at them.
    “Nice meeting you both,” he said, then aimed his gaze at Lexy, “I hope I’ll see you again soon.” Then he followed John out, shutting the door behind him.
    “Wow. Did you get a look at him?” Cassie asked.
    “Yeah. How could I miss him?”
    Cassie sighed, “Boy, if I wasn’t married I’d be wanting to get to know him better.”
    Lexy laughed. She had to admit Braxton Daniels was attractive. If she wasn’t engaged to Jack, she’d have been looking a lot closer herself. But in her rule book, engaged people didn’t look around on the side. Her mind conjured up images of Jack and his blonde ex-girlfriend across the street from the day before. She just hoped he was playing by the same rule book.
     
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    Lexy had her head and shoulders inside the bakery case, stacking a plate of cannoli that she and Cassie had just finished stuffing with rich ricotta cheese filling, when the door opened and Nans, Ruth, Ida and Helen marched into the bakery.
    She smiled out at them from inside the case, finished her stacking, then unfolded herself from the awkward position and stood up.
    “We thought we would come and pick out what we want to serve at the memorial. It’s all set for 2 P.M. tomorrow in the Sunset Room at the retirement center.” Nans stared into the case. Her keen eyes scanned the pastries to see what would be most suitable for the occasion.
    “How many do you think will attend?” Lexy asked. She could better gauge how many items to bring once she knew how many people would be there.
    “Oh, I’d say about forty or fifty people, right Ruth?” Nans turned to look at Ruth who nodded solemnly.
    “Then I suggest we do five trays loaded with cookies and bars. I can cut the bars into bite size pieces so people can sample several of them.”
    “That sounds perfect. We’ll take some lemon squares, chocolate brownies, blonde brownies, hermits, chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal raisin, and snicker doodles,” Nans said, pointing to indicate each of her choices. “And we’ll have some samples to eat here with our coffees.”
    Lexy cocked an eyebrow at her. “Of everything?”
    Nans giggled. “No, just a couple of the brownies cut up will be fine.” The four women turned and settled themselves into a cafe table by the window while Lexy cut up the brownies which she brought to the table along with four ceramic coffee mugs.
    “… he ever mention any place where he might keep something important?” Lexy heard Nans ask Ruth, as she put the brownies and mugs down in front of them.
    Ruth scrunched up her face. “Not that I can recall. We didn’t talk about stuff like that?”
    “What did you talk about?” Ida giggled and Ruth blushed.
    “Do you all want coffee?” Lexy asked them.
    “Oh, we can get our own. You don’t need to wait on us,” Helen said grabbing a mug and going over to the self-serve station.
    Lexy grabbed a seat pulling it up to the table. She had been lucky to get this storefront in the old mill for her bakery. The floor to ceiling picture window was the perfect place to situate her cafe tables since it had a spectacular view of the waterfall the town was named for. Looking out now, she marveled in the beauty of the water