Chocolate Dipped Death Read Free

tighter. Struggling to appear in control, I turned to Evie. “What seems to be the problem?”
    She whipped around so fast I worried she might fall off the soles of her platform shoes. Her eyes gleamed as she shoved the score sheet in front of my face—far too close for my almost-forty-year-old eyes to focus. “Have you seen this?”
    “No, and I can’t see it now, either.” I tried without success to nudge her hand away. “I take it you have a complaint?”
    “She wants you to rearrange the scores from tonight’s competition to suit her.” Savannah and her breasts moved closer. “Apparently, she’s having trouble believing that I scored higher than she did.”
    Years of pent-up fury flashed in Evie’s violet eyes. “Only because you ignored the requirement to use an original recipe.” She pivoted back to me, still lashing about with the scorecard. “She downloaded her recipe from the Good Cooks Network website, Abby. She should be disqualified. This isn’t the first time she’s done something like this, either.”
    Savannah’s mouth thinned, and her eyes narrowed. “I’d be careful if I were you,” she warned. “An accusation like that could get you in trouble.”
    Evie didn’t seem to care. She squared her shoulders and straightened to her full height, which put the top of her head roughly even with Savannah’s shoulders. “I’m not worried. It will be easy enough to prove. I warned you that your nasty little habits would come back to bite you one of these days.”
    I could feel the crowd closing in around us, angling to get a better view, trying harder to hear what the two women were saying. I was going to have to do something fast, or the whole weekend would be ruined.
    “Evie—” I began.
    Savannah cut me off. “Are you accusing me of cheating?” I don’t think anyone missed the sudden flush of color in her cheeks.
    Or the triumphant smile that crossed Evie’s face. “I’m saying straight-out that you’ve cheated again . But this is the last time, Savannah. Do you hear me? I swear to God, this time I’m going to stop you.” She gestured roughly toward her second-place red ribbon and the two-pound box of candy she’d just been awarded. “I didn’t almost kill myself making that fudge for that .”
    No, but she’d expect anyone else to be content with it.
    “Do something, Abby,” she demanded. “I’m counting on you to make this right.”
    I backed a step away, wanting to put some distance between myself and her anger and also hoping to prevent anyone from thinking that I was taking sides. “Evie,” I said quietly, “I don’t—”
    “You don’t what? Don’t believe me?”
    “I didn’t say that,” I assured her. “I just think it might be best to discuss this somewhere else.” I glanced over my shoulder at the rapidly gathering crowd. “Privately.”
    “Why? Everyone here knows what Savannah’s like. There’s probably not a soul in this room she hasn’t hurt.”
    That was going a bit over the top, and I worried about Savannah’s husband’s reaction, but if Miles heard the vicious accusation, he gave no sign.
    “Why don’t we try to stay focused on tonight’s contest?” I suggested. “Let’s not drag the past into the discussion.”
    Tall, blond, and surprisingly handsome considering what a nerd he’d been in high school, Marshall Ames left the judges’ table and came to stand beside Savannah. “Don’t you think you’re being unnecessarily harsh, Evie?”
    “Why don’t you let her fight her own battles?” Evie snarled, leveling Marshall with a look of disdain. “I told you, I can prove what I’m saying.”
    “Impossible,” Savannah said with a laugh. “If there’s a recipe for Kentucky Colonels on some website, I certainly didn’t copy it. This recipe has been in my family for generations.”
    The nervous ball of energy in my stomach grew stronger, and I tried again to take the argument away from the public eye, but Savannah straightened