Cast Iron Motive (The Cast Iron Cooking Mysteries Book 4) Read Free

a profit on it.
    “I’m afraid that it’s going to have to wait until we get back,” I said.
    “Fine. Sure. I’d be happy to do it. Does that mean that I get a bump in pay?” he asked me with a grin, which told me that he was going to be fine with the idea.
    I mentioned a sum, and his eyes brightened. “Per hour?”
    “No, that’s the total amount for the entire time we’re gone.” The lights in his gaze dimmed a little, so maybe I should sweeten the pot a little. “How about if we give you an extra shelf to sell more of your wares as well? It might give you a little more incentive to work hard.”
    “Two shelves isn’t that much better than one. Do you have anything else you can offer?”
    “How about keeping your job? Isn’t that incentive enough?” I asked him with a smile.
    “Four shelves,” he countered.
    “Two,” I said, holding fast to my original offer.
    “Can you at least go to three?”
    I had to laugh. “Fine. But I get to pick the shelves,” I said. We walked through the store, and I found enough items we could consolidate to make more room for him to expand his footprint. “This is temporary, remember?”
    “What if my offerings outsell what’s already there?” he asked.
    “We’ll increase your space if you do well enough, but you’d better not start hard-selling our clientele, or you’ll lose what you’ve got.”
    “Are you kidding? I wouldn’t dream of doing that,” he said.
    “Because our customers would complain about it as soon as we got back to the Iron?” I asked him with a laugh.
    “They wouldn’t even wait that long. They’d call you while you were still out of town,” he agreed. “No strong-arm tactics. It will be a fair test. You can trust me.”
    I put an arm around him. “Don’t you think I know that? After all, I’m trusting you with something I love dearly. I know you won’t let me down.”
    “You bet I won’t,” my young employee answered. “You can count on me.”
    At least that was taken care of.
    As the workday came to a close, I was surprised to see Kathleen come into the Iron.
    I had to guess that Annie had already updated her on our plans.
    So why was she there?

    “Hey,” I said noncommittally as I finished cashing out the register. I still needed to pack for the trip, and we had a long drive ahead of us, so I wasn’t in the mood for small talk, especially with my older sister.
    Kathleen reached into her pocket and pulled out a white kerchief, which she proceeded to wave in the air in front of my face. “How about a truce? I come in peace.”
    It was hard to resist, but I was still angry with her for holding out on us about Della. “I’m sorry, but I can’t just forgive and forget that easily.”
    “I understand,” she said. I hated it when she was reasonable with me. It made arguing with her that much harder. “Take your time. How about now?” she asked after a brief pause.
    “Kathleen, if you tell me you did it for my own good, I’m going to scream,” I said.
    “I wouldn’t think of it. This was all about Aunt Della’s wants and needs. The truth is she was afraid to face you and Annie.”
    “Why would she be scared of us? You’re the most terrifying one of the three of us, by far.”
    My older sister grinned. “As much as I appreciate the compliment, it’s not entirely true. I may be able to face down criminals, but when it comes to family issues, you and Annie are much scarier than I could ever be.”
    “Kathleen, do you honestly believe her? Is her life really in jeopardy?” I asked, deciding that I was projecting my anger at the wrong family member.
    “She sounded pretty convincing to me,” my older sister said. “You two need to watch your backs while you’re up there, okay? In Maple Crest, you know just about all of the players, but you’ll be on strange turf up there, and danger could come from a direction that you least expect.”
    “You sound as though you’re having second thoughts about sending Aunt