Chocolate Cream Cupcake & Murder (A Dana Sweet Cozy Mystery Book 3) Read Free

cupcakes went splat right into her face. She had whipped cream and tasty fruity-filled cupcakes on her face. Great!
    She was toast.
    She was done for.
    What the heck was in her way?
    She got up, rubbing her aching shin and took a better look.
    When she stood up and brushed herself off, she tried to wipe the frosting off her face along with the embarrassment she felt but it didn’t work quite well. She needed a mirror. She turned her gaze south to look down to see what she had tripped over.
    What she saw was a long pair of black dress pants and shoes sticking out from beside the gigantic stainless steel fridge.
    Oh, no.
    Dana felt her stomach turn over.
    Her heart stopped.
    She gasped.
    “Oh, my God!” Her heart pounded hard and galloped in her chest. She thought it was going to leap out of her body.
    If she was not mistaken, it was Mr. Renaldo!
    The rich elder groom-to-be. Or the rich elder groom-that- was !
    Her customer.
    This was terrible!
    Dana’s eyes swept across his lifeless-looking body. Mr. Renaldo’s eyes were closed and his lips and skin looked as blue as the blueberries in the kitchen. She didn’t need to check his pulse or anything to realize one thing...
    He was caput, all right.
    Who on earth did this? How did he die?
    Why, oh, why was it that she was always stumbling upon dead bodies?
     

Chapter 2
     
     
    “Has Dana left already?” Inga asked Katie. Inga had a spatula in her hand and some batter on her pink apron. A blond tendril was loose under her white chef’s hat. Her chef’s uniform was always pressed and in pristine condition and Katie often wondered how she kept it so neat.
    “Yes, she has,” Katie said, gathering a tray of freshly baked chocolate cream-filled cupcakes, blueberry cream cupcakes and fresh blueberries on the side as part of their healthy conscious balanced treats to bring out to the front. She’d just swung back to the kitchen for more. They were going like crazy today.
    Lizzy, their new barista, was busy at the side with the blender making some more apple pie smoothies. The sound of laughter and chatter coming from the dining area and soft jazz music playing over the speaker created a lively atmosphere as per the café’s new name and motto.
    During the chill of fall, the business had gotten even busier with customers coming in to try their delicious warm apple pie smoothies with cozy piled-high whipped cream. The chocolate cream-filled cupcake was the café’s delicious dessert of the week and they were selling like hotcakes.
    Katie had a sense of longing for Grandma Rae and wished she could have been there to see how they’d managed to turn the café around and bring business back.
    “Well, she forgot to bring the new gold spoons for the cupcakes,” Inga said, pointing over to the left where a large box of deliveries stood on the counter.
    “The new gold spoons?”
    “Yes. The bride to be had requested gold-colored spoons and some edible gold for the engagement cake.”
    Katie couldn’t resist but rolling her eyes. Though “edible gold” was actually 24 karat edible gold and was harmless, she often wondered why the super rich insisted on having some of that substance sprinkled on their cakes and desserts. Was it so that they could brag to their friends and acquaintances that they ate gold?
    But then again, the bride-to-be’s name was Goldie , wasn’t it?
    “No problem. I’ll just spin over there later and bring it to her,” Katie said, cheerfully. “The party doesn’t start until four o’clock. We should have plenty of time. I’m supposed to help Dana set up later, anyway.”
    “Good and make sure she doesn’t forget anything else.” Inga’s thick Russian accent became more pronounced. “I can’t do everything, you know. I have to cook around here.”
    “Sure, Inga. No problem.” Katie tried to keep as polite as possible. The best way to be around Inga was agreeable or else all hell would let loose. One would think Inga owned the café.
    But