Wedding Bell Blunders: A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery Read online

  Wedding Bell Blunders

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery

  By

  Kathleen Suzette

  Copyright © 2021 by Kathleen Suzette. All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination, or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.

  Books by Kathleen Suzette:

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery Series

  Clam Chowder and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 1

  A Short Stack and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 2

  Cherry Pie and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 3

  Barbecue and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 4

  Birthday Cake and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 5

  Hot Cider and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 6

  Roast Turkey and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 7

  Gingerbread and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 8

  Fish Fry and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 9

  Cupcakes and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 10

  Lemon Pie and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 11

  Pasta and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 12

  Chocolate Cake and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 13

  Pumpkin Spice Donuts and a Murder

  A Rainey Daye Cozy Mystery, book 14

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery Series

  Candy Coated Murder

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 1

  Murderously Sweet

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 2

  Chocolate Covered Murder

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 3

  Death and Sweets

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 4

  Sugared Demise

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 5

  Confectionately Dead

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 6

  Hard Candy and a Killer

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 7

  Candy Kisses and a Killer

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 8

  Terminal Taffy

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 9

  Fudgy Fatality

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 10

  Truffled Murder

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 11

  Caramel Murder

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 12

  Peppermint Fudge Killer

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 13

  Chocolate Heart Killer

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 14

  Strawberry Creams and Death

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 15

  Pumpkin Spice Lies

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 16

  Sweetly Dead

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 17

  Deadly Valentine

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 18

  Death and a Peppermint Patty

  A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 19

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery Series

  Apple Pie a la Murder,

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 1

  Trick or Treat and Murder,

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 2

  Thankfully Dead

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 3

  Candy Cane Killer

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 4

  Ice Cold Murder

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 5

  Love is Murder

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 6

  Strawberry Surprise Killer

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, Book 7

  Plum Dead

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, book 8

  Red, White, and Blue Murder

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, book 9

  Mummy Pie Murder

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, book 10

  Wedding Bell Blunders

  A Freshly Baked Cozy Mystery, book 11

  A Lemon Creek Mystery Series

  Murder at the Ranch

  A Lemon Creek Mystery, book 1

  A Gracie Williams Mystery Series

  Pushing Up Daisies in Arizona,

  A Gracie Williams Mystery, Book 1

  Kicked the Bucket in Arizona,

  A Gracie Williams Mystery, Book 2

  A Home Economics Mystery Series

  Appliqued to Death

  A Home Economics Mystery, book 1

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

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  Chapter One

  “Oh!” I squealed as I ducked my head and ran inside the house. The rain was dripping off the eaves and my knit hat was getting soaked as I crossed beneath it. My arms were filled with cardboard boxes. There was a larger box at the bottom, and three smaller ones were stacked on top of it, and I balanced them so they didn’t topple off. I stopped and looked around the empty house. The sound of the rain on the roof was hypnotic.

  “We had better hurry and get this done before we get soaked,” Alec said, coming up behind me with his own armload of boxes. “Why don’t we just set all the boxes in the ballroom for now? Then you can go through them and decide where it all goes.”

  I nodded and followed him into the ballroom. We set our boxes down in the middle of the room.

  “Isn’t this lovely?” I asked, looking around the ballroom. The old Jensen mansion was coming together nicely.

  Alec and I had bought the house late last year when the body of a woman that had been missing for ten years had been found in the bathtub upstairs. Turns out you can get a house for a steal when a dead body is found there. The first question everyone asked when they found out that we had bought the mansion is, aren’t you afraid of ghosts? The answer is, no. I don’t believe in them.

  We’d had workers come in and restore the original woodwork that had been painted over, as well as do some repairs to the house. There was a little renovation done upstairs, and the floors were restored to their original hardwood beauty. Alec and I had decided to wait to move in until most of the larger projects were finished.

  He nodded and glanced around. “It is nice. Can’t you just picture the Christmas tree placed up against those windows,” he said, pointing to the French doors.

  “We can’t put it right up against
them. We won’t be able to use the French doors if we do that.”

  He shrugged. “Why do you want to use the French doors in the wintertime? I can see that we’ll need to use them during the summer to go outside to barbecue, but when it’s snowing, we don’t need to use those doors.”

  I shook my head. “No, we’re going to get the biggest Christmas tree we can find, and we’re going to put it in the middle of this room. It will be the centerpiece. We need to be able to use the French doors to go outside and build snowmen when we have grandchildren.” I was looking ahead. My kids weren’t even married yet. Alec had been married once, but he had never had children, so my future grandchildren were also going to be his.

  He chuckled. “All right, whatever you say. I just don’t want to be called Grandpa. Let’s go get the rest of the boxes.”

  I laughed. “I guess they can call you Papa.”

  “We’ll see,” he muttered.

  We headed back out into the rain. Alec’s SUV was filled with boxes from my house. We were finally doing it. We were moving into our new house. Or rather, I was moving into our new house. I’m an old-fashioned girl, and I told Alec that I wasn’t going to live with him before marriage, and I meant it.

  Packing up my old house was sad. My husband Thaddeus had been gone for a long time now, but every corner of that house reminded me of him. As I was packing things up, the memories overtook me. The things we had done in that house, the things we had said to one another. So many memories. My kids had been born in that house, and now I was leaving it behind. I swallowed back the lump that was forming, along with the memories, and I grabbed two more cardboard boxes and hurried with them inside the house, slipping on the hardwood floor. “Whoa!”

  Alec chuckled. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m all right,” I said as I regained my footing and headed to the ballroom, placing these boxes with the others.

  “You better be careful on these wet floors. We should have brought a throw rug to put in front of the door. I didn’t even think about it.”

  I nodded. “I didn’t think about it either. It will be all right. We’ll just be careful.”

  “So what do you think? When do I get to move in here?” He looked at me, one eyebrow raised.

  I smiled. “After I get moved in.”

  I headed back out to the SUV to get more boxes.

  “Really? You’re going to let me move in with you?” he asked, following me outside.

  I chuckled and shook my head. “No. Or at least, not until we get married.”

  He groaned and rolled his eyes. “Okay then, when do we get married?” He picked up a big box that I knew was filled with books, and he grunted. “What did you do, pack all the bricks from the backyard?”

  I shook my head. “Don’t be silly. Those are just books.”

  He snorted. “Don’t you believe in ebooks?” He hefted the box, groaning, and headed toward the house.

  “Of course I believe in ebooks, but I still love my physical books.” I picked up two light boxes and followed behind him. “Don’t you miss the smell of books?”

  He nodded. “Sometimes. I miss going into brick and mortar bookstores too. Maybe when we get moved, we should take a drive by the one over in Bangor and spend a couple of hours looking through the stacks.”

  “That’s a great idea,” I said. “Especially with this cold, rainy weather, it would be fun to bring some books back here and read in front of the fire.”

  He nodded, and we headed into the ballroom and set the boxes down with the others. He straightened up.

  “Seriously, Allie, when are we getting married?” he looked at me, eyebrow raised again.

  I took a deep breath. And then I looked at the weather outside the French doors. The rain was coming down harder, and it was freezing cold. We had discussed having a beach wedding, and that was what I had in mind. But it was the end of March, and I knew we weren’t going to have real beach weather for a couple more months. If we were lucky, we would have it at the beginning of May, but May weather on the coast of Maine could be tricky. One day you’d have a clear, pretty day, and the next day it would look like it did it today. I turned to him. “I don’t know. I thought we were going to have a beach wedding?”

  He shrugged. “Does it really matter? I don’t care if we have a beach wedding, or if we just go down to city hall and get married there.”

  “Really? You would get married at city hall?”

  He nodded. “Sure. Why not? We’ve been married before, and you said you didn’t want the big white wedding dress and the fancy formal sit-down dinner. So why not go to city hall and get married there?”

  I sighed. “No, I don’t need a great big wedding. But I think getting married at city hall is going to be a little disappointing for me.”

  He nodded. “I figured as much. So what do you want to do? And why do we have to wait? We don’t need the beach wedding.”

  I nodded and then turned and headed back to get more boxes from the SUV. He was right, of course. We didn’t have to have a beach wedding. It was just something that had crossed my mind last summer. Now I wished we had done it then when my son Thad and his fiancée, Sarah, were visiting. My daughter Jennifer and her new boyfriend Dylan lived close enough that they could drive over anytime we decided to get married. But it was a little harder for Thad and Sarah. I picked up a big box that was filled with bathroom items from the back of the SUV, and Alec was right behind me.

  “You’re just avoiding the question, aren’t you?”

  I shook my head and headed toward the house with my box. I was getting soaked from the rain and wished we had chosen a better time to unload the boxes. “I’m not avoiding the subject. I’m thinking.”

  I hurried into the house, but it was no use. I was soaked.

  Alec hurried with two more boxes behind me. “Well, what are you thinking? Can’t you think out loud so I know what’s going through that beautiful red head of yours?”

  I shook my head and laughed. “No, I can’t think out loud. But I’m thinking about the wedding. We don’t need anything fancy, but what about my mom? And my brother and sister? They’re going to have to travel from Alabama.”

  “Okay, then set a date, and they can travel. Why is this so difficult?”

  I set my box down with the others.

  “It’s not hard. I just don’t know what I want to do.”

  He set his boxes down, glanced around the ballroom, and turned to me. “Why don’t we do it here?”

  I stopped. “Here?” I glanced around the room. It was lovely. We could rent some chairs and do the wedding and the reception here. It was a great idea. I smiled at him. “All right, then. Let’s do it here.”

  He nodded and grinned. “It’s a plan then. When?”

  I stopped. “I’ll have to check with Sarah, and my mom, and Jake and Shelby.” A wedding meant wedding plans. It wasn’t like we could drop everything and just have a wedding.

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re trying to put me off again, aren’t you?”

  I shook my head. “No, of course not. But if there’s any chance they can all make it here, then I want to pick a date that’s convenient for them.”

  “Why don’t you just pick a date and tell him that’s when it is. You know they’re going to do everything they can to get here. And then if for some reason somebody genuinely can’t make it on that date, we can change it.”

  He had a point. Otherwise, I would have to call each of them in turn, trying to sort out everyone’s schedule. “Okay then. Next month.”

  He shook his head. “Next weekend.”

  I stared at him. “Next weekend? You’re out of your mind. How about two weeks from now?” It was out of my mouth before I had time to think about it. Two weeks? Could I put a wedding together in two weeks?

  He nodded. “Deal. We’re getting married in two weeks.”

  I opened my mouth. “Oh, wait a minute. That’s too soon. We can’t do it in two weeks.”

 
; He laughed. “You know what? We’re going to do it in two weeks.”

  And that was how I got roped in to getting married without enough time to prepare for my wedding.

  Chapter Two

  “Allie? Allie?”

  “I’m in here, Mama,” I called from the kitchen. I was working on the four-tier wedding cake that I had baked late last night. When you’re only given two weeks to prepare for your wedding, things tend to fall apart. So the wedding cake was baked late last night, a layer of buttercream frosting was put on it, and I was making it pretty with the final frosting touches. I would have preferred to use marzipan for its clean elegance, but there was no time to make it and get it put on the cake. The quickest and easiest frosting to use was buttercream. At the last minute I decided that I had to have pretty icing flowers, but like with everything else, there was no time. So I’d called the local bakery and asked them to make them for me. They were pale lilac pansies with light yellow accents. They turned out lovely, and I was glad I didn’t have to make them all myself.

  “Allie, what are you doing?” Mama asked, standing in the kitchen doorway now.

  I turned and looked at her. “Mama, the cake has got to be finished.”

  She clucked and shook her head. “Girl, that wedding cake is fine. Leave it alone and go get dressed. Your guests will see you in your bathrobe if you don’t get a move on.”

  I sighed and glanced at the cake. She was right, but I couldn’t help myself. I was a perfectionist, and I wanted to add some more last-minute touches to it.

  “Allie? What are you doing?” My best friend Lucy Gray asked me, standing behind Mama.

  I shook my head. “The cake. I’m finishing the cake.”

  Her eyes went to the cake. “It’s beautiful. Now get upstairs and get dressed. You don’t want everyone waiting on you, do you?”

  I sighed again and took one last, longing look at the cake. I had used some frosting to put some scalloped ribbons around it, and I wanted to put at least one more around all four tiers. This morning when my daughter Jennifer had picked up the royal icing flowers to decorate with, she had wisely asked them for a tub of white buttercream frosting. She knew me, and she knew I wasn’t going to be satisfied with what I had done with the cake. Thanks to her, I didn’t have to stop and make more buttercream frosting.