Cookie Dough or Die Read Online Free Page A

about her health,” Ellie said.
    The kitchen door opened, and Maddie poked her head in. “Hi, Ellie. Livie, could you come out and watch the store for half an hour, pretty please with buttercream frosting on top? Lucas wants to buy me a cup of coffee. Thank you, thank you!” She disappeared before Olivia could open her mouth.
    “Are you sure you’re all right? I was planning to go to Baltimore,” Ellie said, “to take a seminar on natural healing, but I can skip that if you need me.”
    “I’m okay, Mom. I need to keep busy. You go ahead to your seminar and give me a call when you get back.”
    Ellie put her arms around Olivia and gave her a motherly squeeze. “I’ll keep my cell on vibrate, so promise you’ll call if you need to talk, okay?”
    “Thanks, Mom. I promise.”
    “Take care of yourself, Livie. Don’t beat yourself up about something you couldn’t have prevented.” She stood on tiptoes and pulled Olivia down by the shoulder to plant a kiss on her cheek.
    Olivia followed her mother into the empty store, waved good-bye, and finished her restocking project. And thought about Clarisse. She wished their last time together hadn’t been so odd and unsettling. Clarisse had seemed vague and scattered, at times unaware of Olivia’s presence. Clarisse was a hardheaded businesswoman with laser-beam focus. She did not dither. But dither she did on that last visit to the store.
    Olivia had the store to herself, so she sat on the high stool behind the sales counter and punched some numbers into her cell phone.
    After three rings, Sheriff Del answered. “Livie, hello there. Sorry I disrupted your sleep this morning.” Olivia heard some male guffaws in the background, then, “Hang on, I’m going outside.” A minute later, Del said, “Sorry about that, I wasn’t thinking.”
    “You’re a bit short on sleep, too.”
    “No kidding. What’s up?”
    “I’ve been thinking about Clarisse. We had dinner together last Saturday, and she seemed fine. But when she came to the store on Tuesday, she was distant, distracted. She behaved oddly, though I wouldn’t say she looked ill. I can’t help but wonder. . . . Maybe something was wrong. I think I’d like to talk with you about it. Are you free for lunch?”
    “Well, I don’t know, will you be wearing that sweet little number you had on last night?”
    “You get one pass for exhaustion, Del, then I start keeping score.”
    Del laughed. “Fair enough. Meet me at the café around one o’clock, and we’ll talk.”
    Olivia hung up and slid her phone into her pants pocket. When she twisted the stool seat around, her breath caught in her throat. At the front of the store stood Sam Parnell, postal carrier, holding a bundle of mail. She hadn’t heard him come in.
    Chatterley Heights had three postal carriers, two parttimers and Sam, who’d been delivering mail for fifteen years. Every day, freezing or sweltering, he wore an official U.S. Postal Service uniform, complete with hat. He never left home without it.
    “Anything interesting today?” Olivia had heard all the rumors about Sam. According to local gossip, he wasn’t nicknamed “Snoopy” for nothing.
    “Looks like a whole lot of bills,” Sam said.
    “Good to know. Thanks for bringing them in.” She busied herself sorting through a stack of new receipts.
    “Shame about Ms. Chamberlain.” Sam’s nasal whine reached across the room.
    Olivia glanced up at him, which he took as an invitation. He flipped through her mail as he crossed the store. “I guess there’s only so much stress a woman can take,” he said as he handed the envelopes to Olivia.
    “Stress?” she asked, then kicked herself. She knew how much Sam loved looking as if he knew more than everyone else, and she’d handed him an opportunity.
    “A woman her age, I mean, with all those businesses going at once. And two grown sons wanting to take charge. I heard she was thinking of changing her will. Must have been tough on her. I