Ginny Gold - Early Bird Café 03 - Dead and Berried Read Free

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.
    By now the sun filling her room made her feel like she’d slept half the day away, so Kori got up just before six and headed to the bathroom. At the sound of so much movement, Ibis leapt off the bed and headed for the front door. Kori found clean jeans and a black t-shirt. She considered wearing a red one instead of her normal black in honor of the weekend’s fruit but decided consistency and branding was important for The Early Bird Café. Especially until she finally got that logo worked out and put on a t-shirt. Not that she thought anyone would even notice. Maybe tomorrow, she thought and put the red t-shirt away.
    Kori still had two hours before the Strawberry Festival was set to start but she wanted to get there early. She took her time making breakfast and checking on the latest news on her smart phone. After her second cup of coffee, and Ibis continuously pacing around the whole house, she figured she’d better get moving if she didn’t want to clean up a dog mess.
    She picked up the leash and Ibis nearly jumped out of her fur in excitement. “Okay, okay. Sorry to make you wait so long,” Kori said and clipped Ibis to the leash. They walked through The Early Bird Café and out the front door, taking their normal loop around the block.
    Kori wasn’t used to being away from the café at this hour so wasn’t in tune with what was normal for Saturday morning along Main Street. There was more traffic than she would have imagined since it was still before seven. Plenty of people were walking up and down the street. Kori had no idea what they could possibly be up to.
    After their loop around the block and Ibis catching up on her form of latest news by sniffing every blade of grass, every leaf on the sidewalk and every flower—lending new evidence to the importance of stopping to smell the flowers—Kori headed to the kitchen in her café to get all of the supplies she’d need for the day. The big equipment was already loaded in the trunk of her small Subaru but she had to get the already-made pies and the batters, fillings and toppings for the crepes and waffles.
    It took multiple trips to get all of the coolers into her car and it was nearly full to the max but Ibis found a small space behind Kori in the back seat and curled into a ball, ready to stick by Kori’s side at all costs. They drove the few miles out of the center of town to the fairgrounds and found it already hopping with vendors setting up.
    There were dozens of teenagers who were fulfilling volunteer hours for either the just-finished school year or the one that would start at the end of the summer and they quickly swarmed to her car. Kori was known by nearly everyone in town, though she had to admit she couldn’t remember everyone’s names, family members, careers and complete history. But she did her best.
    “Good morning, Ms. Cooke,” a tall teen girl greeted Kori as soon as she’d parked and opened her door.
    “Hi Jackie. How’s your mom?” Kori asked, happy that she knew the first person who was willing to help her. Jackie’s mom, Melody “Mel” Styles, owned a local consignment shop, The Treasure Chest.  The store was also on Main Street and Jackie often spent her summers, weekends and even some weekday evenings during the school year working for her mom.
    “Good. She’s excited for this weekend. It’s usually one of her best since so many people come