Murder in the Pearl District (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery Series Book 5) Read Online Free Page A

5
                                                         
    The next day flew by for
Kelly and Sophie, both intent on making the upcoming dinner party for Donatella
a success. As the hour of 6:00 approached, Kelly put the finishing touches on
the cheese platters, while Sophie changed clothes and prepared to greet her
guests.
                Three hours
later, Kelly removed the frozen key lime pie dessert plates from the dining
room table, stacked the dishes for the kitchen help Sophie had hired to clean
up in the morning, and put the last of the food away. As she walked into the
dining room, she was met with a round of applause. Stunned, she looked at
Sophie. “Please, Kelly, join us. I introduced you to everyone earlier, but we
want you to know how wonderful the dinner was. I speak for everybody when I say
thank you.”
                Donatella
stood up. “Kelly, that was one of the finest meals I’ve ever had.” She turned
to the other guests, “Please join me in toasting Kelly Reynolds. I know I speak
for all of us when I say I wished we lived closer to Cedar Bay so we could eat
at Kelly’s Koffee Shop. Now I see why Sophie spoke so highly of you and was so
confident that you could fill in for her caterer. Thank you for making this one
of the best nights of my life!”
                A handsome man
with greying temples was seated next to Donatella. Sophie had introduced him to
Kelly earlier in the evening. He was Mitch Ramos, the owner of the television
station and the man Sophie had mentioned was very close with Donatella. He
stood up and raised his glass. “I would be remiss if I didn’t toast the woman
everyone in the United States will be talking about after tomorrow’s television
debut of Dining with Donatella. I know I speak for all of us when I say how
excited we are for the inaugural show.” He turned to Donatella, “Dede, here in
American show business there is an expression that means ‘do well.’ We say
‘break a leg,’ and that’s what we all wish for you, metaphorically speaking. I
know the show will even surpass the amazingly favorable media buzz it’s already
received. And now I think it’s time to end this evening. I don’t want the star
of the show to have bags under her eyes from staying out too late. Ladies,
gentlemen, I think it’s time to leave.”
                When the last
guest had left, Sophie turned to Kelly and said, “I can never thank you enough.
Everyone had a wonderful time, and the food was incredible. You really are a
very talented cook, and your frozen key lime pie was a perfect way to end the
dinner.”
                “Oh, thank
you, Sophie. I’ve never done anything quite like this. You never told me
specifically where the recipes came from. They really were good.”
                Sophie smiled
sheepishly. “I told you they were mine, cherié, and each one was created
by me. I love to cook, but I’ve never had the confidence to prepare and serve a
meal to a large group of friends. I like to experiment when I’m cooking for
myself. I pretend I’m cooking for a large number of people and they love my
food. I know, it’s très silly, but it’s my little secret.”
                “Well, if you
ever want to cook for a crowd of people, you’ll always have a job at Kelly’s
Koffee Shop. Those were excellent recipes, plus what I liked about them was
they were fairly simple. I’m sure everyone thought each item on the menu had
been slaved over for hours. Very well done.”
                “ Merci. You must be very tired, I know I am. Dede invited us to be her guests at the
filming tomorrow at 10:00 in the morning. After that I thought we would spend a
little time in the Pearl District, exploring. You mentioned on the phone that
you had always wanted to see it. I hope you’ll spend tomorrow night here at my
home and then go back to Cedar