Mint Chip Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 6 Read Online Free Page A

in
frustration.  Nothing about this seemed to make sense, and Ryan had said he
couldn’t tell her much this time. 
     
    It wasn’t even really her business to
try to figure things out.  And she certainly wasn’t a professional.  But her
overactive curiosity gene wouldn’t allow her to let the mystery go.  Any
mystery, for that matter.  And this one was more important than most, because a
young woman had lost her life.
     
    Scratching at the back door alerted her
that Dave wanted back in.  She opened the door for him and contemplated, for
the thousandth time, having a doggie door installed.  But her friend Kathleen
had had one put in, and Kathleen’s dog wouldn’t even use the door.  He was
afraid of it, Kathleen said.
     
    “Guess I’ll just keep letting you in,
Dave,” Heather said, pouring some kibble into Dave’s bowl next to the
refrigerator.  She picked up his water bowl, dumped the water out in the sink,
and filled it with fresh water.  “Here you go,” she said, setting it down next
to his food.  Dave took a couple of perfunctory laps from it, and then went
back to crunching his kibble.
     
    She glanced at the clock on the
microwave, saw that it was 7:02, and decided she might as well get ready for
work.  She’d woken up early that morning—well, early for her, at least.  She
normally didn’t get up until 7.  But her employees—Maricela, Angelica, Jung,
and Ken—arrived at Donut Delights at 3 a.m.
     
    Heather shuddered just thinking about
having to be up that early on a regular basis.  Even doing it for just a couple
days when Maricela and Angelica had to miss work for a death in the family a
couple months ago had made her desperate for sleep.  And even more grateful
than she already was for her fantastic employees who, over the months or years
they had worked for her, had become like family.
     
    ***
     
    Sure enough, when she came through the
back door of her shop into the kitchen at 7:45, the four of them were hard at
work making donuts and serving customers.  She dropped her purse in the bottom
drawer of her desk in her tiny office and turned back toward the kitchen.
     
    Grabbing a hairnet, slipping it over
her hair, and tying on an apron, she joined Ken at the counter, where he was
cheerfully filling customers’ orders for donuts.  Jung worked alongside him,
but Heather knew Jung preferred to make donuts rather than help run the
register.
     
    “I’ve got it.  You can go see if
Maricela and Angelica need anything,” Heather said.
     
    “Thanks,” Jung said.  “Holler if you
need me.”
     
    For the next thirty minutes, Heather
and Ken were kept busy serving the customers who arrived in a steady stream,
ordering donuts, then lingering at the wrought iron tables and chairs as they
enjoyed a brief respite from their busy lives.  When the pace began to slow
down, Heather grabbed a coffee pot and circulated among the tables, refilling
people’s cups.
     
    Interacting with her customers was
Heather’s favorite part of her job.  To her, that’s what owning a business was
all about, providing her customers with an experience where they felt that not
only their money was valued, but they were valued.  And you just couldn’t
communicate that if you stayed behind the counter all the time.
     
    When she’d refilled everyone’s cup that
wanted a refill and brought two more donuts to a couple who had decided to try
another gourmet flavor, Heather slipped back into the kitchen.  “Everything
okay back here?” she asked.
    “Everything’s fine,” Ken said. 
“Actually, I have something for you.”
     
    “For me?  What is it?”
     
    “I’ll get it,” Ken said.  He walked
over to the employees’ lockers that were tucked in the back corner of the
kitchen and came back carrying something on a tray.  “It’s a coffee cake,” he
said, presenting it to her.  “My wife made this to thank you for hiring me on
permanently.”
     
    “That was nice of her,”