Banana Muffins & Mayhem Read Free

had recently reduced her part-time hours so that she could concentrate on her blog. On one of Amy's many visits to The Cookbook Nook, Kendra had planted the seed of writing a cookbook in her mind. So she was using Amy's Kitchen as a vehicle for achieving that goal. Many food bloggers were also writing cookbooks, a trend she hoped to follow soon.
    "Thank you." Sophie wiped her hands on her chocolate-brown apron, leaving behind streaks of white flour from the bread dough she was kneading. "I'm glad it's been a slow morning, so we didn't need the seating in the dining room. I really appreciate you coming in today to help get everything back in order. I was so tired last night that I just left the mess, went home, and collapsed into bed."
    When Amy had arrived a little after 7:30 a.m., she found the room where the party had been still blocked off from the main coffee shop area with a rice paper screen. She had helped unearth the partition from the storage room before leaving the party the previous night. Amy had hoped that erecting the barrier would relieve some stress for the always-tidy Sophie. Her thought was that customers looking for their morning caffeine fix wouldn't be bothered by a mess they couldn't see, so the baker wouldn't wear herself out by trying to clean while doing her usual baking duties. And she had been right. Sophie had retreated to her happy place, the kitchen, while Amy and a couple people from the waitstaff returned the dining room to its normal appearance.
    Amy smiled. "Helping clean up this morning wasn't a problem. I had so much fun last night, it's the least I could do. You hosted a great party."
    "I wonder if it would've been as much fun if Phoebe had been present. Her entourage was in this morning, and they still have no idea where she is."
    Interesting. One—Amy didn't realize Phoebe was a big enough star to have an entourage. Two—what had happened to cause her to ditch them along with her guest appearance duties? "Wow. That's crazy and kind of scary. Do they think something is wrong?"
    Sophie rolled her eyes. "No. I guess she's notorious for walking away from things that don't go her way. They figure she probably went to the casino in Detroit to party because she was bored with little old Kellerton."
    "If only we could all do things like that in unpleasant situations." Amy batted her eyelashes and faked a pout. "I don't like waiting in long lines at the grocery store. I think I'll just go to a fancy hotel and order room service instead of bothering to shop and cook."
    "From all of the things I've heard about her over the last day and a half, I'd say that is exactly how she would act."
    Amy and Sophie chatted a few more minutes while Amy's orange mocha was being made by one of the café's skilled baristas. Once the warm beverage was ready, she bid good-bye to the baker. Alex hadn't called to say he was done working yet, so she would just join him in his office. The Quantum Media building was only a block away from the café.
    The sun was shining as Amy walked along the service road, which ran behind the businesses along the last block of the downtown district. Quantum's three-story building stood at the corner of the next block. As she walked, she sipped the sweet, chocolatey coffee and pondered what she had learned about Phoebe Plymouth. Watching a spring tablescape demonstration that the TV show hostess had done with Charlotte, the owner of Unique Decor, had been Amy's first glimpse at the star's tactlessness. The ill-mannered woman had declared that she did not like any of the items the local interior decorator used and suggested what she would replace everything with instead. Phoebe answered questions from the audience after the demo, but the tone of her responses made it sound as though she thought the inquiries were stupid. Had the minor television celebrity finally realized how rude she had been to the residents of Kellerton and fled like her friends figured she had?
    Since it was Sunday,