Evil Eclairs Read Online Free PDF Page A

disloyal, if that’s what you’re worried about. You deserve to have a life of your own again; you know that, don’t you?”
    She frowned and said, “Don’t worry about me. I’m happy enough.”
    “Really? And just exactly how happy is enough?” I asked gently.
    She appeared to think about it for a moment, and then shook her head. “You’ve got customers. You need to go.”
    “You’re more important to me. They can wait,” I said.
    “Well, I can’t,” Momma replied, clearly finished with our conversation. “I have a full schedule today, so I’d better get started.”
    As I started to get out of the car, I said, “I promised you that I’d tell you about Lester. I can hang around and fill you in, if you’d like.”
    “I know the basics of what happened, and I’m sure the town gossips will fill in the rest. Have a good morning, Suzanne.” It was clear that she wanted to get away from me, and the conversation that we’d just had. There was no use arguing with her.
    “I hope you do, too,” I said as I closed the door. I waved to her as she drove back home, but if she noticed, she failed to return it. I hadn’t meant to push my mother so hard, but I worried about her just as much as she worried about me. I knew that moving back in with her after my divorce from Max hadn’t been all that easy on either one of us, but we’d come to a good arrangement since then, and most days we got along pretty well.
    But what if things kept progressing with Jake? Could I ever leave her alone again? As things stood, I couldn’t imagine abandoning her, for whatever reason. So I suppose, in a way, my urging her to jump back into dating had a hint of self-interest in it, as well.
    The bottom line, though, was that I wanted her to be happy.

 
    CHAPTER 3
    “What did I miss?” George Morris asked as I walked back into Donut Hearts. I should have known that, given his background in law enforcement, he’d be aware of what was going on before anyone else in town. He’d told me on more than one occasion that he went to bed at night with his police scanner on, listening to what was going on in April Springs, just in case.
    “Give me a second,” I said as I grabbed my apron from behind the counter. “We can talk about it after the rush.”
    “I’ll be over there when you’re ready for me,” he said as he pointed to the far end of the counter.
    “Who’s next?” I asked the waiting line of people.
    Emma looked so happy to see me that I thought she might start crying.
    After we got through most of our customers together, Emma said, “If it’s okay with you, I think I’ll get started on more dishes in back.”
    “That’s fine. And Emma?”
    “Yes?”
    “Thanks for pitching in.”
    “Glad to,” she said as she hurried back into our kitchen. Yet again, I wondered what I would ever do without her.
    As I knew he would, George had stuck around. I grabbed one of the experimental donuts I’d made that morning, marveling that it had just been hours ago, and not days. A great deal had happened since I’d worked on that batter.
    “Before we get into any details, try this,” I said as I offered it to him.
    George studied the donut, broke it in half, and then smelled it.
    “It’s peanut butter,” he said.
    “Very good. But how does it taste?”
    “I don’t like peanut butter,” George said with a frown.
    “Then don’t try it,” I replied as I tried to get it back from him.
    He was too fast for me, though. “Hang on a second. I didn’t say I wouldn’t at least taste it.”
    “If you don’t like peanut butter, I don’t think you’ll be able to give it a fair shake, do you? It’s no problem, you’ve tasted enough donuts for me over the years. You can take a pass every now and then. Let me have it and I’ll toss it in the trash.”
    George started to do just that, but at the last second, he popped a bit into his mouth.
    “You didn’t have to do that,” I said.
    “Milk,” he growled.
    I grabbed a