Dead and Berried (The Early Bird Cafe Cozy Mystery Series Book 3) Read online

  Dead and Berried

  The Early Bird Café Cozy Mystery Series

  by Ginny Gold

  Copyright © 2014 Ginny Gold

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author and/or publisher. No part of this publication may be sold or hired, without written permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the writer’s imagination and/or have been used fictitiously in such a fashion it is not meant to serve the reader as actual fact and should not be considered as actual fact. Any resemblance to actual events, or persons, living or dead, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication / use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. Glass is a trademark of Google Inc.

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  IN THE KITCHEN WITH GINNY GOLD

  CHAPTER 1

  Kori heard her phone ring letting her know she had a text message. She was still busy cleaning up after a wildly successful Friday morning at The Early Bird Café. With North Maple County’s Summer Strawberry Festival kicking off the next morning, there was a huge influx of visitors and they were all hungry.

  Thankfully, she had already set aside everything she’d be offering at the festival so she didn’t have to prep for the next morning. Instead of working from The Early Bird this weekend, she had a booth at the fairgrounds and would be serving waffles with sliced strawberries and whipped cream, crepes with strawberry filling, and strawberry rhubarb pie. She had no idea how Nora had been able to grow enough strawberries to keep Kori stocked and make jams to sell all weekend.

  When the last utensil was put away into the dishwasher and it was turned on so she’d be all ready on Monday to get back to work, she finally let herself check her phone and greet Ibis.

  As soon as Kori walked into her small office at the back of the industrial kitchen she should just start calling home because she spent more time than upstairs in her apartment above the café, Ibis jumped off her dog bed and wagged her entire body, thrilled to see her favorite person. Kori patted Ibis on the head before picking up her phone.

  Then she read the text from Nora, Ready to go to the lake?

  They were both bringing their dogs to Thrush Lake for an easy afternoon since they were both all ready for the weekend. Kori wrote back, Pick us up? They would all easily fit into Nora’s pickup truck but Kori’s Subaru wouldn’t be quite big enough.

  Kori’s phone chirped again and she read, On our way.

  Kori knew she didn’t have to change since it was hot for June and she’d just get sweaty on their short hike. Instead, she picked up Ibis’ leash and headed to the front door, ready to leave the café behind for the afternoon. They only had to wait a few minutes before Nora rolled to a stop just outside the café.

  “It’s like you have a weekend off,” Nora said, smiling.

  Kori led Ibis around to the back of the truck where Milo and Otis were excitedly prancing on their toes, ready for Ibis to join them. With Ibis safely in the back with her dog friends, Kori climbed into the passenger seat and Nora headed north toward the lake.

  “Almost. It will be nice to work outside for a change,” Kori said, thinking how lucky Nora was to have been able to create her job outside. Red Clover Farm was one of Kori’s favorite places to be, and not only because her best friend owned it.

  “Nothing better than absorbing all that vitamin D while I work.” Nora chuckled. “You’re all ready for tomorrow morning then?”

  “Yup. I have the waffle maker, portable gas stove and two cast iron pans packed in my trunk already. The batters and pies are already made and I just have to bring everything over in the morning. Since I won’t be the only booth offering food, it’s a little more relaxing.”

  “I don’t know how you do it day after day after day. All the cooking for everyone in town,” Nora said as she drove. “I love being able to not talk to anyone. Except the days you come over—that’s a nice break from just talking to the dogs.” They both laughed.

  Kori understood Nora’s surprise but she wouldn’t change her job for anything. She loved the short interactions she had with all of her customers, catching up on anything that was happening in town, and especially cooking delicious food that she was proud of and that she could see made people happy. Even visitors from out of town flocked to the café, and Kori was sure that it had something to do with her, not just the food.

  “But anyway,” Nora continued, “what’s up with you and Mr. I’m-Head-Over-Heels-In-Love?”

  Kori smirked. “Oh please. Zach’s not in love with me.”

  “I don’t know why you keep denying that.”

  Nora parked her truck in one of the very few parking spots left near the lake—everyone was enjoying the beautiful afternoon on the lake—and they both grabbed their leashes for the dogs. They didn’t want to risk having a dog run up to greet a non-dog person.

  “I’m not denying anything that’s not there,” Kori said as she clipped the leash onto Ibis’ collar. Ibis jumped out of the back of the pickup and started sniffing every single blade of grass. “We’re having fun getting to know each other . . . in a new way.”

  “In a new way,” Nora mocked, swaying her hips and waving her hands near her head. Milo and Otis were clipped onto their leashes and jumped out of the back, following Ibis and sniffing and peeing on everything.

  “Well, we’ve known each other just about our whole lives. But not . . . like this. I mean, did you know that Zach never went to camp on Thrush Lake? I spent every summer here. I assumed every kid from Hermit Cove did. But he didn’t.”

  Nora ignored the part about camp. “What do you mean you’ve known each other but not like this? Is he spending nights at your place now?”

  “No. But we’ve had some late nights.” Kori blushed and let Ibis lead her ahead of the others.

  “Oo lala,” Nora teased, hanging back with her two dogs who were taking far longer to get over the new smells.

  “What about you then? Any new guy in the picture?” Kori paused to let them catch up and looked out over the lake. No boats with motors of any kind were allowed to use it but she saw plenty of sail boats, canoes and kayaks. There were two beaches near the parking lot and they were both packed. Looking at the crowd, she hoped she had enough food for everyone who would be coming to the festival over the next two days.

  “I wish. Do you even know the last date I went on?”

  Kori shook her head and turned around to look at Nora.

  “Forever ago.”

  “With who?” Kori asked.

  Nora gave Kori a look like she didn’t really want to tell her but they didn’t keep anything from each other. Kori was still in New York City at the time and couldn’t remember any potential relationship interests coming up for Nora.

  “Derek Spears.”

  “Hah!” Kori laughed out loud and then covered her mouth. “Like, the Dere
k Spears who is everyone’s handyman?” Nora nodded. “He’s not so bad.” Kori smiled and attempted to recover from laughing in Nora’s face.

  “Yeah, not so bad as a brother. He’s too nice. He’s friends with everyone. There’s not one sexual hair on his body. It’s like he’s asexual.”

  “I could totally see that,” Kori agreed. “Have you considered online dating?”

  “Not in a million years. Do you know anyone who does that?”

  “Yeah. I do.” Kori knew Jay wasn’t proud of his online dating and tended to keep it a secret from everyone. In fact, she thought she might be the only person he’d told.

  “Who?” Nora asked impatiently.

  “You have to promise not to tell anyone—”

  “Oh my God. You online dated. That’s why Zach is the first person you went out with since you moved back here over two years ago.”

  Kori blushed. She knew she shouldn’t be embarrassed since she was about to give away her brother’s secret. But she had never online dated and didn’t want Nora to think she had. She shook her head. “No. I don’t even have a profile—”

  “Then who? Your mom?” Nora guessed.

  Kori shook her head again. “You have to promise—”

  “Yeah, yeah. I won’t tell anyone. Who would I even tell? You, Milo and Otis? I think your secret is safe with me.”

  “Okay. It’s Jay. He’s been doing it for a couple years.”

  “Jay?! I thought he was gay and that’s why he didn’t date women in Hermit Cove.”

  Kori laughed again. “Have you ever seen him date a guy?”

  Nora paused, thinking about it. “Well, no. But it’s not like he’s very open about anything.”

  “No kidding. But no, he’s not gay. He just never leaves Hermit Cove so never meets anyone. Although . . .” Kori held up her finger and had a smirk on her face, making Nora twitch in anticipation.

  “Although what?”

  “He was spotted in a bar with Lani Silver right around your farm stand opening a month ago.” Kori couldn’t wipe the silly grin off of her face.

  “Lani Silver, like the detective Zach hired and you thought was going to steal your man away? That Lani Silver?” Nora’s voice rose with each word until she was practically squealing.

  Kori nodded. “They started talking online before she moved here. And Jay claims,” she added air quotes, “that she didn’t move here for him. But I wouldn’t put it past her.”

  “Wow. So, that was almost a month ago. What’s happened since then?” Nora asked, her interest piqued.

  Kori shrugged. “I don’t know. He hasn’t told me anything since I asked him about a month ago. And I don’t pry, like some people.”

  “Who me?” Nora asked, mock innocently. “Only with you.”

  “I actually believe that. But no, I meant like my mom. She asks him about Lani every chance she gets.”

  Kori, Nora and the dogs rounded a bend in the trail along a cove on the lake—how the town had been named. Well, that in combination with the Hermit Thrush that seemed to dominate the bird life in the area. They hadn’t passed many people along the trail so far so Kori reached down and unclipped Ibis from her leash. In the month they’d been together, Ibis had accepted Kori as the alpha and always responded to her voice. Kori was confident that she’d come back when called. Nora followed suit and the three dogs headed off the trail together in search of more smells.

  “So back to you and Zach—is he officially your boyfriend then?” Nora asked. It was easier to focus on their conversation without the dogs right there.

  Kori blushed and turned to look at Nora. “He is. Last night we had dinner together and decided to be exclusive. I mean, I think we were both exclusive from the start. But knowing that we’re both on the same page and I can call him my boyfriend and he’ll call me his girlfriend, it’s . . . I don’t even know.” Kori couldn’t keep the grin from her face.

  “That’s huge! Congratulations!” Nora bubbled over with excitement, at least as much as Kori was feeling.

  “Thanks,” Kori mumbled, still getting used to the idea of dating Zach Gulch.

  They walked on in silence for a little while, always keeping a close eye on the whereabouts of the dogs. All of the visitors must have stayed close to the public beaches and away from the trails because there were almost no people out here with them.

  “You all ready for tomorrow too?” Kori finally asked Nora, coming back to reality instead of daydreaming about her—dare she say perfect?—boyfriend.

  “Yup. I have so many strawberry plants and so many jars of jam for sale. I don’t know what I’ll do if they don’t sell.”

  “You could always plant them and grow more. I know I can keep you in business,” Kori suggested.

  “Didn’t you help pick strawberries this week? Did you even pay attention to how many rows I have or were you too busy thinking about Lover Boy.”

  Kori blushed and pushed Nora off the trail. “I saw how many rows you have.” But she had to admit she hadn’t really paid a whole lot of attention. “Have you run out of space for more?”

  “I guess I could plant a few more and let them take over everything. But I don’t know if I can handle picking them.”

  “I’m sure you could hire some high schoolers on summer vacation for a week to help out with that. I know you could sell more jam. And I could always buy more, and maybe even just sell it at the café. I never get sick of fresh strawberries. And neither do my customers.”

  “I’ll see how the weekend goes and if I even have any left over. How are you doing on your stock of strawberries anyway?”

  “I think I have enough for what I need, but I could always put more in the freezer for year round smoothies and jam. Hey, when are we going to can this year?”

  Nora laughed. “I have no idea. This is only the beginning of the harvest season and I’m already as busy as can be. Just keep everything frozen. Maybe I’ll get a break in November before Thanksgiving.”

  “Sounds good. I was thinking of asking Vera to help out too. She got me such a good dog and she loves the jams. If we need another set of hands I think she’d be up for it.”

  “Definitely keep her in mind. We’ll see how things turn out.”

  “What did you end up doing about the water problem?” Kori asked, changing the conversation again. Chemicals had been spilled into the river leading into Thrush Lake when a manufacturing company didn’t replace a rusted pipe in time. Water, and everyone downstream, was affected. Kori had installed a high end water filter for the café and brought water home for cooking and drinking until she could get it tested again. The town had declared that it was safe again but she didn’t trust the government. And with Nora growing organic vegetables, Kori couldn’t figure out how she was going to pull that one off.

  “With all the rain, I’ve setup a big catchment system in barrels. And I haven’t had to water because of that. But I think long term I’m going to have to dig a pond that can store at least a month’s worth of water in case we don’t have a wet summer sometime. It bothers me to no end that companies get away with so much pollution all the time. And then small businesses like you and me have to pay for the consequences.”

  Kori could tell Nora was about the flip into a rage. This had been a regular conversation for the last few weeks since the spill had happened.

  Just then, the dogs started barking and took off down the trail ahead of them. Kori immediately took off at a run, Nora hot on her heels. Kori knew the barks were friendly, but there was a leash law in town and it was always risky on event weekends to have the dogs greet someone who wasn’t a dog person.

  As they closed in on the barking, they heard a man shouting at the dogs to stay away. Kori and Nora rounded a bend and came face to face with a man holding a stick in attack mode, the dogs wiggling with excitement of a new human and wanting to play with him.

  “I’m so sorry,” Kori said, clipping the leash onto Ibis. Nora did the same to Milo and Otis. It seemed t
he man was unharmed and they could all go their separate ways.

  “You know there’s a leash law in effect? I could have you both arrested for this!” the man snarled, taking his gaze from the dogs and looking from Kori to Nora. He was wearing glasses that were too big for his face and were asymmetrical.

  Kori considered what Zach would say if she was turned in for having Ibis off the leash. He’d have to do something but she didn’t think he’d actually arrest her.

  “We’re really sorry,” Kori tried again. “They’re all so friendly and—”

  “Friendly or not, they sounded like they were out for blood!”

  Kori decided it was probably best to ignore his comment and continue on their walk heading away from the man.

  “It won’t happen again,” Nora promised.

  “You can bet it won’t,” he grumbled, and continued walking in the direction the women and dogs had come from.

  Kori and Nora headed further into the woods, the dogs now on leashes.

  CHAPTER 2

  Kori rolled over at five thirty the next morning, thankful that she didn’t have to get up for another half hour. Her normal four a.m. alarm got to take the weekend off, meaning Kori got to luxuriate in sleeping in, something she so rarely did.

  Ibis even seemed to be enjoying the later morning. She barely moved when Kori rolled over, content to remain asleep as long as she was allowed. Their afternoon with Nora, Milo and Otis at Thrush Lake must have really wore her out, Kori thought.

  As the sun peaked over the surrounding hills, Kori kept her eyes shut and thought about where she was heading with Zach. She was happy that she could finally call him her boyfriend, but what would the next step be? Would he move in with her? Would she move in with him?

  That made no sense to her because she lived above her place of employment. But her small upstairs apartment really didn’t offer enough space for a second person and everything he would bring with him.

  She opened her eyes and shook her head. “You’re over thinking this,” she said out loud, making Ibis stir and lift her head in question. “No, not you,” Kori reassured her dog and patted her head. Ibis lay back down and closed her eyes.