Pumpkin Spice Lies: A Pumpkin Hollow Mystery, book 16 Read online

  She sighed. “The poor thing. Like I said, she’s always been a worrier. And now her worst worry has come true, and she’s beside herself. She blames herself, of course. I told her that was ridiculous. She had nothing to do with this. Her husband is a mess, too.”

  “Why would your sister blame herself?” I asked. Christy came to stand beside me.

  “It’s just that worrying tendency she has. Somehow self-blame just feeds itself into those thoughts. She was that way with both of her kids; always worried she wasn’t a good enough mother. That maybe she wasn’t doing enough to keep them safe or healthy.” She shook her head. “I never had any kids, so I didn’t have to deal with those sorts of worries, but I always thought she went a little overboard with it. But, I guess unless you have kids of your own, it’s hard to know if a parent is going overboard or not.”

  “I think I remember Hailey from when I was a teacher’s aide at the elementary school years ago,” Christy said. “It was my first real grown-up job; I was eighteen when I started work there. It was so much fun working with the fifth-grade class. And if I remember right, Hailey was the happiest child there. A little distracted, but it seemed like she was always laughing.”

  Angela beamed. “That was her all right. She laughed all the time. I just don’t know what the family is going to do without her. When I went to sleep last night, I swear I could hear her laugh echoing in my mind.” She shook her head sadly and wiped a tear away.

  Angela was about to make me cry with her. She spoke so fondly of her niece, that I could just picture it. I wasn’t sure that I had ever met Hailey, but the way that she described her, I felt like I knew her.

  “Angela, do you have any idea what might have happened to her?” I asked.

  She looked at me solemnly for a moment. “I really don’t, except that I know she had boyfriend troubles.”

  Now we were getting somewhere. “Oh? What kind of boyfriend troubles?”

  She put both her hands on the front counter and glanced at the closed door. We were the only customers in the shop.

  “She was dating Joey Harper. You know him?”

  I thought about it a moment. “I think I do know him. Doesn’t he work at the shoe store?”

  She nodded. “Yes, he’s worked there for a couple of years. He was still in high school when he started. He worked a few hours each day after school. But the last time I talked to Hailey, she told me the two of them were fighting. I didn’t think a lot of it at the time, but now that I think things over, I have to wonder about him.”

  “Did she say anything specifically?” I asked, glancing at the donuts in the display case. I had promised to bring a box of donuts back to the candy store. Mom, Carrie, and Linda were making candy to fill the orders we had taken over the weekend at the vendors’ fair.

  “She said he was crazy jealous, and she was tired of it. They were arguing all the time, I guess. He thought she was flirting with another boy, but she swears up and down that she never did anything like that.”

  “Was there a specific boy that she mentioned?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Yes, Matt Edwards. I’m not sure I know him though.”

  “Did she say why her boyfriend thought she was flirting with him?” Christy asked, leaning on the front counter.

  “Apparently he gave her a ride home from college last May. She said it was a warm day, and she’d stayed after class to get some help with an assignment. She’d been struggling with her schoolwork and she had been worried about her grade.” She chuckled dryly. “Hailey always struggled a little in school. If you ask me, it was because she was so sociable with all the other kids.” She shook her head and chuckled again. “That was the way she was. Just so full of energy.”

  “Sometimes kids have trouble with school if they’re the talkative type,” I said.

  “She certainly was. My sister and I were talking about her one night recently and wondering when she would settle down to get married. Her mother wanted her to get married right away because she wanted grandkids.” She rolled her eyes but chuckled when she said it. “I told her that Hailey needed to take her time and wait until she grew up a little more. Hailey’s silliness showed her immaturity, and I didn’t want to see her marry someone just because she wanted to get married. I wanted her to wait and do a little more growing up.”

  I nodded. “Do you know anything else about Joey Harper?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “I really don’t. I wish I did, and I’m thinking I might go over to the shoe store and talk to Joey and see if he knows anything about who might have killed her.”

  I glanced at Christy. “Maybe you should let the police handle that. If you’re worried that he may have had something to do with her death, you might just want to talk to Ethan about it and let him handle things.”

  She looked at me, her eyes widening. “Well, I guess I didn’t think about it that way. I just can’t imagine who would do that to my poor niece. I mean, they killed her and buried her at the park. That doesn’t even make sense.”

  I nodded. “Murderers seldom think things through. It seems like most murders are committed on the spur of the moment. It may be that they just happened to see that equipment there at the park and buried her there.”

  She nodded. “And there aren’t any cameras turned on at that part of the park. Can you believe it? There are some around the restrooms, the parking lot, and the snack bar that they use when they have events at the park, but none on the playground. It doesn’t make sense to me.”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” Christy agreed. “I would think they would want a camera on the playground in case someone has an accident, or in case, well, a crime is committed.”

  She nodded and sniffed. “I’m sure Ethan will sort things out and arrest the killer. Well girls, what can I get for you today?” She brightened as she said it, but I knew it was just an act.

  “We promised we’d bring a dozen donuts back to the candy store for everyone,” I said, looking at the display case that held the donuts. “They all look so good.

  “They are,” she said. “If I’m may say so myself.”

  I grinned. “Why don’t you get me three of your boo berry donuts, three muddy ghosts, three old-fashioned witches, and three pumpkin spice.”

  “And one more for a baker’s dozen?”

  I nodded. “A green goblin.”

  She unfolded the bakery box and opened the back of the display case. “I’m sure Ethan will find her killer,” she repeated. “I still can’t get over the fact that she’s dead. It was only a couple of weeks ago that I last spoke to her.”

  “So did she say if she and her boyfriend had broken up?” Christy asked as she watched Angela filling the box with donuts. “You said that they were arguing a lot. Did she mention them breaking up?”

  Angela stopped, a pumpkin spice donut in her hand, and looked at her, thinking. “You know, I don’t recall whether she said that or not. She just said they were arguing a lot, so I assumed they were still together, just not getting along very well.”

  Christy nodded. “Makes you wonder if they broke up or not.”

  “I wish she had. Maybe she would still be alive.”

  I felt bad for Angela and her family. It had to be crushing to lose someone who was still so young and had so much life ahead of them yet. Christy and I would do what we could on our end to discover whatever information we could, and hopefully it would help Ethan in his search for the killer.

  Chapter Seven

  “I hope you’re ready for donuts,” I said to Mom, Linda, and Carrie. They were working away in the kitchen, each of them making a different flavor of fudge.

  Mom turned to look at us. “Donuts? I don’t mind if I do.”

  I took the box of donuts and set them on the counter and opened the box up. The scent of donuts rose into the air, and for a moment drowned out the scent of fudge. Christy set two cardboard carriers with cups of coffee next to the donuts.

  “We stopped by Amanda’s and got
some coffee, too,” she said. “Vanilla mummies and pumpkin spice lattes.”

  “Oh,” Linda said, turning to look. “Pumpkin spice?”

  I nodded. “Brian decided that they had to have pumpkin spice lattes during Pumpkin Hollow Days. I told him that was an excellent idea.”

  She nodded and hurried over, looking at the cups of coffee in the carriers. “You can say that again. I love pumpkin spice everything. But then, who doesn’t?”

  “Only crazy people don’t like pumpkin spice everything,” Christy said, taking a step back and looking at me. “Maybe we should have gotten all pumpkin spice lattes.”

  “I’ll take a vanilla mummy,” Mom said, coming over and picking up a cup of coffee. “With all the pumpkin spice fudge I’ve been eating, the vanilla will cleanse my palate.” She chuckled.

  “Good, because I want a pumpkin spice latte,” I said. “We only got two vanilla mummies.” We had bought two extra coffees in case somebody wanted another one later, or for when Sarah and Lisa came into work later.

  I glanced around the kitchen. It looked like Mom had been busy since she had gotten in at four o’clock in the morning. I’d offered to come in when she did and help, but she had opted to have me and Christy come in a little later so there would be more coverage for the shop when we opened.

  “We got so many orders for fudge over the weekend,” Mom said, taking a sip of her coffee. “We’re going to be busy these next two weeks.”

  “We’ll be busy until after Valentine’s Day,” Christy corrected her. “Honestly, we’ve just got a few weeks between Pumpkin Hollow Days and the Halloween season, and I bet things don’t slow down at all.”

  Mom nodded and took another sip of her coffee. “Oh, this is good. But you’re right, Christy, there probably won’t be a slowdown in business at all. Except for the fact that we won’t have pumpkin spice fudge for a few weeks in between, I’m sure things will be jumping until after Valentine’s Day.”

  “I can hardly wait for the Halloween season,” Linda said and picked out a boo berry donut. “But I’m really looking forward to Christmas. There’s just something about all the snow on the ground and the Christmas decorations that I can’t get enough of. Sometimes I wish Pumpkin Hollow had been Christmas Hollow or something like that.” She chuckled.

  “That’s a great idea,” Mom said. “Maybe we could do both a Halloween theme and a Christmas theme at the same time all year long?”

  Christy groaned. “No, don’t say that. We’ve got too much work as it is. And now that I think about it, how are things going with finding the temporary employees?”

  Mom had decided to hire more temps for the next few months. We had done the same thing last year, and it had worked out well. Mom was hoping to be able to hire the same ladies since they had already been trained.

  “I called three of them and they are excited about starting back to work. Barbara said she had been going stir crazy and was just about to give me a call and see if we needed any extra help.”

  “Great,” I said, grabbing an old-fashioned witch donut and a napkin. “I’m glad we’ll have people that are already trained. That will make things go smoothly.”

  I glanced at the clock on the wall and saw it was nearly time to open the shop. “I’ll go out front and get things opened up.”

  “All right, dear,” Mom said.

  I straightened my tutu and went into the candy shop. I was excited about all the improvements we had made to the store when we took over the shop next door, making the kitchen larger and the shipping and receiving as well as the shop itself. It made everything so much easier. I glanced around. We had bought some new decorations over the weekend. There were paper mâché pumpkins scattered among the shelves and a large felt ghost stood grinning in one corner and a light up plastic jack-o-lantern sat next to it.

  “Looks pretty good, doesn’t it?” Christy said from behind me as she followed me into the shop.

  I nodded, still taking everything in. “It sure does. I just love this candy shop. Especially during the holidays. I think we must have the best job in the world.”

  She nodded and went back behind the front counter and set her coffee down. “I’m not going to argue with you there.”

  I went over to the front door and unlocked it, then came back and joined Christy behind the counter. I looked up as the bell over the door jingled, and Polly walked through it. She stopped and inhaled. “Oh my gosh, chocolate and vanilla, and everything that’s sweet and yummy.”

  “Isn’t it the best smell ever?” I asked.

  “I can’t get enough of it myself,” Christy said.

  She nodded and came up to the front counter. “I’m not here to put any pressure on your mother to make that pound of pumpkin spice fudge I ordered the other day, but that little piece that I got there at the vendors’ fair just wasn’t enough to hold me.” She looked at the display case. “Can I get another quarter pound?”

  “Of course you can,” I said. “How did you do over the weekend? Did you sell a lot?” I opened up the display case and took out the tray of fudge.

  “I did excellently over the weekend. I sold so many candles I was worried I wouldn’t have any left in my shop. I put in a huge order for some more Saturday night though, and I might have to order even more before the day is done.”

  “That’s what I like to hear. It makes me happy to see my friends doing well,” I said and cut a slice of fudge for her and wrapped it up.

  She nodded. “I’m pretty happy about it myself. Say, Mia, I heard about Hailey Strong. That she was murdered. Do you know anything about it? I suppose I shouldn’t be asking, but you know how it is. In a small town like this, rumors start flying. I just can’t get over the fact that she was killed and buried at the park like she was.”

  I put her piece of fudge into a decorated paper bag and folded over the top and set it on the counter. “I agree, it’s awful. Ethan doesn’t know much about it at this point.”

  She nodded and looked over her shoulder, then turned back to me. “Between the three of us, my sister works at the high school in the attendance office. She said Hailey was a real handful. She was in trouble all the time when she was there, and they worried she wouldn’t be able to graduate. I don’t know if that means anything, and maybe it’s just idle talk, but it was the first thing I thought of when I heard she was dead.”

  “What kind of trouble did she get into?” I asked, lowering my voice even though we were alone in the shop.

  “I don’t know a lot about it. We had had this discussion last year when I asked her about students that might not graduate. I just had never thought about it before, and I wondered if they had many that might be in jeopardy of not graduating. My sister isn’t supposed to be talking about students, so please don’t let this get around, but apparently, Hailey was a troublemaker. Her parents had to come down to the high school several times because she fought with other girls and was always having boy trouble.”

  “Boy trouble?” Christy said.

  I put my hands on the front counter. “Really. That’s interesting to know.”

  She nodded. “I guess she shouldn't be talking about the students, but she’s my sister, and occasionally we do. Not often of course, but when I heard who it was that was murdered, I just felt like maybe that was something Ethan needs to know about.”

  “I’ll let him know and tell him that it needs to be kept quiet. He’ll keep your secret.” I picked up a white cloth to wipe down the top of the counter.

  She nodded. “I hope they find her killer soon. It just makes me sick that a young woman was murdered. Do they know how she died yet?”

  I shook my head. “No, Ethan’s waiting on the report from the medical examiner.”

  She nodded and Christy rang up her fudge. “Well, with Ethan on the case, I feel safe. I just feel bad about Hailey.”

  “We feel bad about it too,” Christy told her. “I just can’t imagine what her family is going through. Her life was just starting, and now it
’s over.”

  She nodded and picked up the bag of fudge. “Well, I had better get back to the shop, otherwise we’ll be late opening. Tell your mother I said hello and that I certainly appreciate her fudge.”

  “We sure will,” I said as she left the shop.

  Christy turned to look at me. “Girls who get into trouble at school sometimes get into real trouble later in life.”

  I chuckled and shook my head. “Thank goodness most seem to grow out of it by the time they get out of high school. But you’re right, her murder might be a holdover from someone she had trouble with in high school.”

  Chapter Eight

  Joey Harper wasn’t hard to find. He worked at the Happy Feet shoe store. After Christy and I got off work the following day, we took a drive over there. If you looked at the weather outside, you would think it was a bit premature to be thinking about boots and sweaters, but sitting in the window was an array of suede and leather fall boots.

  “Well, will you look at those,” Christy said, looking into the window at a pair of rust-colored suede boots that came up past the knee. “Aren’t they a pretty little pair?”

  “Do those boots speak to you, Christy?” I asked. It was too hot to look at boots, but I had to admit, they were cute.

  She nodded. “Oh yes. They’re saying, take me home, Mama. And I’d hate to disappoint them.”

  I chuckled and pushed open the front door. The air conditioner was going full blast inside the shoe store, putting me in a slightly better frame of mind for looking at fall boots.

  “Oh, look at these,” I said, picking up a pair of suede oxfords. They were a dark chocolate brown and were as adorable as any shoes I had ever seen.

  “I can’t look now, I’ve got to try on a pair of these boots.” She picked up the display boot and ran a hand over the suede. “They’re so soft.”

  “I think I’ve got to try on a pair of these shoes.” I picked up the display shoe. The laces were rolled string, and I liked the way they looked with the suede.