Death of a Chocolate Cheater: A Food Festival Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page B

found a small white box on my windshield. I checked the area for lurkers, but no one was around. Hesitantly, I opened the box and found a lemon meringue cream puff and a folded note inside. I took out the note and read it:
    Darcy, sorry again about having to cancel. I was looking forward to seeing you. I’ve missed you. I can’t explain now, but I’ve been dealing with something that’s taking up a lot of my free time. Hope to see you soon.
    —Jake.
    I smiled at the bittersweet note. Jake sounded sincere, and I wanted to believe him. But I couldn’t shake the image of that woman touching him, kissing him, and even a dozen cream puffs wouldn’t stop me from wondering what was going on. I assumed it had something to do with Lyla Vassar. Maybe she
was
doing a feature on him, but that kiss didn’t look like a thank-you peck.
    Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse ofthe woman who had been flirting with Jake. She was texting on her phone, just outside her late-model BMW, so I got in my car and watched her from a distance. She frowned as she typed in her message, her demeanor completely different from the one she presented to Jake. I wondered what she was typing—and to whom—and imagined it had something to do with her encounter with Jake.
    Finally, she put the phone in her purse and got into her car. With a quick look around, she backed out of the parking spot, then started driving forward.
    She was headed right for me.
    I ducked down like an idiot as she approached, but it was too late. She’d caught me staring at her. I was certain she would stop her car and confront me, but instead I heard her rev her motor and drive off.
    Well played, Darcy,
I scolded myself. She’ll probably text Jake and ask him why that woman from the school-bus truck was spying on her in the parking lot just before she tried to duck down out of sight. I felt a wave of embarrassment pass through me.
    Enough!
I told myself. I started the car, backed out of the spot, and headed for the safety of my Airstream home so I could take a long, hot shower and get started on that bottle of wine. Maybe that would help me wash down the bittersweet cream puff from Jake.
    *   *   *
    Dillon was sitting at the table with his laptop when I entered Abby’s home through the back sliding-glass door. I rarely saw him without an electronic device, except when he was helping Aunt Abby in the school bus.Even then he brought his laptop and cell phone with him and checked them every chance he got.
    “Darcy!” Aunt Abby exclaimed from the kitchen, as if she hadn’t seen me in years.
    She came over and gave me a big hug, followed at her feet by Basil, her Doxie, who barked a greeting. She cleared her throat to get Dillon’s attention. He grunted “Hey,” while keeping his eyes on the laptop screen. I sat down across from him, setting the small box with the untouched cream puff on the table. Aunt Abby immediately brought me a glass of Tournesol merlot—her favorite Napa Valley wine. I was tempted to chug it but didn’t want my aunt and cousin to think I had a drinking problem.
    “Thanks, Aunt Abby. Smells good in here.”
    “The pizza is just about ready. Enjoy your wine. Dillon has something to share with you—don’t you, Dillon?” She rested a hand on his shoulder. Basil barked again.
    Dillon blinked as if he were coming out of a trance and looked up at me. “Oh, uh, well. I’ve been doing some more research about the contest.”
    “You’re calling it research now?”
    “Dude,” Dillon said, “if you knew how easy it is to breach someone’s password, you’d be surprised.”
    “Okay, okay, you’re a genius. So did you find out anything else on the judges that can help us with the competition?” I took a sip of wine and felt my legs and arms begin to melt.
    “Not about the judges,” he said. “But I did find out a few things about the other contestants.”
    I sat up straighter. “Really? You know who they are? I didn’t think