Blueberry Cream Cupcake & Murder (A Dana Sweet Cozy Mystery Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

Well, maybe just once but…”
    “Well, you haven’t missed much. Trust me.”
    “I see. Why would you think she was bad?” Dana leaned in closer to her, hoping no one would overhear their conversation in the busy café.
    The woman paused and rolled her eyes. “Come on. I’m his PA, remember? His personal assistant. I see and know everything.”
    “Right. Of course.”
    “Well, what else could you say about a woman who married her own cousin’s husband, or widower.”
    “Right, I heard that she was cousins with his first wife.”
    “Not only were they cousins but she was the bridesmaid at the wedding.” The woman smirked and lifted her dessert spoon to the tall blueberry whipped cream cupcake.
    Darlene took a scoop of the delicious blueberry whipped cream that was piled high on top of the dessert and shoved it into her mouth.
    “Hmmm, this is so good,” Darlene cooed, licking her lips. “And I love what you did with the place, by the way. Stressed is desserts spelled backward,” she recanted the Café’s slogan. “Way to go on the logo. I used to work as a copywriter, too, back in the day. I must say, your grandmother  was lucky to have you take over and revamp the place.”
    “Thank you,” Dana said. “It was my pleasure, of course. Grandma Rae was full of love and wisdom and I wanted to carry on her legacy.”
    Dana didn’t want the conversation to get off track. Nice try though, she thought. “So,” she said, getting the conversation back on track. “You mentioned that Karla and Lucy, I believe was the name of Uncle Max’s first wife, were cousins. And that Karla was the bridesmaid at Lucy’s wedding to my uncle?”
    The woman nodded. “That’s right. I guess you were living in New York at the time.”
    Dana noticed Darlene take out a vile out of her purse with a needle. She was taking her medication. Dana was concerned.
    “Are you all right?”
    “Yes, I’m just taking my blood thinner. Must be nice to be in perfect health.” Her voice was laced with sarcasm.
    Darlene discretely lifted her blouse slightly exposing her midriff and took out an alcohol swab and swabbed quickly. She then took the tiny syringe and injected herself, quickly releasing the medicine from the tube. She reached into her purse and took out a small container to put the syringe in and closed it and readjusted her clothes as if nothing out of the ordinary. Then she picked up her drink and took a sip.
    Dana was stunned at first then she got back on topic. “Oh, and to answer your question. You’re right, I wasn’t able to come for the wedding. I’d just started my new job and wasn’t able to get the time off.”
    “Well, you didn’t miss anything there either. And you know something?”
    “What is it?”
    Darlene looked around then leaned in closer to Dana as if someone could be listening in. “Just between us, I think wifey number two might have had something to do with the death of wifey number one?”
    “What? Why would you say a thing like that?”
    “I told you. I’m the PA,” Darlene arched her brow with confidence and a smug grin on her face. “The personal assistant. I know everything . I do all the personal shopping. I see all the credit card statements. You name it. She racked up a lot of debts at the casino whenever she visited.”
    “She did? And what else?” Dana felt the urge to go back to the office at the back of the kitchen and grab her laptop out of her draw and start tapping away this information. But that wouldn’t look right in front of all the café’s patrons in the middle of the café. For now, she’d mentally collect the information to her brain.
    “Karla, wife number two, was supposed to be the one to marry your uncle Max originally.”
    Dana’s jaw fell open. “What? Well, what happened? Are you sure?”
    “Yes, that’s right. Karla was supposed to be wife number one but her cousin, Lucy, snatched her away from them. They were both Vegas girls when they’d met Max.