Death of the Family Recipe (A Scotti Fitzgerald Murder Mystery Book 3) Read online

  "Scotti?"

  I turned back to Ted, then returned to the table and shouldered my bag. "I finally got your family to like me. Now you’re suggesting I take the joy of planning your wedding away from them? Do I look suicidal to you?"

  <<>>

  By dawn, we had a plan. Since the baby was due in mid-May, and I wanted to get married without a baby bump we slated the wedding for November 15th. That gave us six weeks to plan the wedding, five days for a bed and breakfast style honeymoon and a return home just in time for Thanksgiving.

  Ted caved on handling the kitchen remodel himself and agreed to hire a crew to do the job. His brothers could help, and Dave could supervise. But the construction would have to continue seven days a week, so it would be finished when we returned from our honeymoon.

  After a lot of foot stomping and teeth gnashing, we agreed there was no plausible explanation for the short wedding date except the truth. Like it or not, we’d break the news about the baby at the Monday night family dinner — three days away.

  As we dragged ourselves up the stairs I said, "When our daughter asks me about the night you proposed, I doubt this is the story she’ll expect to hear."

  Ted shrugged. "You could just tell her about the good parts."

  I laughed. "All the parts are good, honey. Because they’re us."

  Chapter Three

  Saturday, the phone didn’t ring, Ted had no emergency calls from work, and neither of us received a single text. We slept until noon. Showered. Went to breakfast. Then back to bed. But my mind spun with everything I had to do. And that I only had six weeks to do it.

  I freed myself from Ted’s love-lock and got out of bed. "Fairytale time is over." I hopped into my underwear. "Take me home."

  Stubbornly, Ted lay back and pouted. "You are home."

  I pulled my dress over my head and tugged it down. "Okay, take me to my other home." I pointed a finger at him. "No whining. I have to bake all day tomorrow." I own a food truck that sells deserts and coffees, and Sunday is my baking day. I wiggled my fingers at him. "So get the lead out, mister."

  Ted grumbled, but fished his clothes from the floor and started dressing. "Fine, then I’ll stay with you." He pinched my butt. "Or do you have a slumber party scheduled with Zelda?"

  I paused and thought about that. "Now that Eric’s back in the picture, maybe not."

  Ted pulled on his sneakers. "What happened to Henry?"

  I shrugged. "Never got the story on that."

  Ted threw a few things in a duffel and we drove to my place. But when we got there, Zelda’s jeep was gone.

  We had a short conversation with my next door neighbor Marge, whose Doberman Daisy was my dog, Boomer’s best friend. Marge was dog sitting for Zelda and Eric, but she didn’t know where they went.

  I opened our communal gate and let Boomer into the yard. He danced on his little hind legs and wagged his stub. Daisy nosed the gate and whined. Marge let out a happy cackle. "Parting is such sweet sorrow." Her alert gray eyes drifted to my left hand and she grinned. "I see things have been happening."

  I blushed and held out my hand to Marge. "Lots of things."

  Marge reached a long skinny arm over the gate and took my hand. She whistled. "That’s a beauty. Congratulations you two." She looked at Ted and then at me. "He’s a keeper."

  I leaned against Ted and put my arm around his waist. "Yup."

  "Is it too soon to ask or have you set a date?"

  "November 15th."

  Marge reared back then flicked a look at my stomach. "You two in a hurry to start your new life, eh?"

  My lips twisted in dismay, and I rolled my eyes at Ted. "Zelda told you?"

  Marge straightened up to her full height of five-eleven. "Oh don’t be mad at Zee. I asked her straight out, and she don’t lie that well."

  I looked at Ted. "See what I mean about Zelda?"

  We said our goodbyes and went into the house. Which was surprisingly neat and uncluttered. I cleared the coffee table of an empty chip bowl and a couple of takeout cartons. Ted took the things out of my hands and said, "You sit. I’ll do this."

  I followed him to the kitchen and said, "I’m pregnant, not an invalid." From the doorway I watched him rinse and rack dishes, wipe down counters and empty the trash. "You’re pretty good on K.P." I chuckled. "Nice qualities in a future husband."

  He gave me a backward glance. "As long as I don’t go near pots, pans, or cooking ingredients." He rinsed his hands then dried them on a kitchen towel. Waggling his eyebrows he started toward me. "And since we’re alone, I have some other husbandly qualities to show you."

  I shook my head and backed into the living room. "Oh no you don’t." I plopped on the sofa. "I’ve already become acquainted with those qualities and..."

  Ted parked himself next to me and said, "Now what?" I sighed loudly and stared at the wall. He put his arm around me and said, "What’s the matter?"

  I took his hand and traced patterns on his palm with my finger. "Are you ready for this?" I lifted my eyes to his. "Everything?"

  He tousled my hair. "I’m ready for anything."

  "I’m serious, Ted. A wedding, a baby, moving into your house and all that comes with it?" I lay my head on his shoulder. "Your life is going go from normal to commercial baking, food trucks, people stamping in and out, baby formula, dirty diapers, and very little sleep." I looked up at him. "You ready for all that?"

  Ted laughed and pulled me closer. "Honey, my life hasn’t been normal since I met you. The baby is a surprise but so what? Surprises are good, right?" He tweaked my nose. "Are you worried?"

  I pulled away from him. "No. I don’t know. Sort of." I sighed and fisted my forehead. "Thinking about it makes my head hurt. It’s so much at once."

  Ted lost his grin and tensed up. "Are you having second thoughts?"

  I turned to him and shook my head. "No! God, no." His eyes doubted me. "I want to be your wife. You have no idea how much I want that. And this baby is a miracle. Honest to God, I feel so lucky and so blessed. But…it’s so much, so fast." I stroked his cheek. "I don’t want to lose us. You know?"

  Ted relaxed and stroked my hair. "That’ll never happen."

  "How can you be so sure?"

  He pulled me into a hug. "Because we’re for always, babe. It’s how it is. Try not to worry so much."

  Tears welled in my eyes. "You promise?" He nodded and wiped a tear from my cheek. "Even when I’m gigantic with child? When I’m middle-aged and sloppy? You’re still going to chase me around the house? You’ll still want me?"

  Ted nodded and chuckled. "Even then."

  I climbed into his lap and put my arms around his neck. "I hear breastfeeding really wrecks your boobs. And then there’s that whole stretch mark thing."

  He nodded. "I could lose my hair. Grow a paunch."

  I gasped and touched his hair. "No, not the hair. It’s so pretty."

  Ted slipped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer. "It’ll all work out. We’ve got each other. We’re good."

  And then the door banged open and Zelda said, "You better be engaged." Dressed in shorts, tee-shirts and hiking boots, she and Eric walked into the house. They stood at the doorway like models in a camping magazine — their faces and arms bright with sun burn.

  I fluttered my hand and Zelda grabbed it, examined the ring like a jeweler doing an appraisal, then finally let go. She clucked her tongue. "Definitely the right choice Teddy boy."

  Eric nodded. "Sweet."

  Zelda plopped into the easy chair. "When’s the wedding?"

  "November." I pointed at her hiking boots and smirked. "Where have you been?"

  Zelda stroked an imaginary beard. "Six weeks. That’s fast." She made a face at my stomach. "But understandable."

  "Were you hiking?"

  Zelda slumped in her chair and stretched out her skinny scraped up legs. "We climbed up to the Hollywood sign."

  Eric sat on the arm of Zelda’s chair. "It was awesome. We could see the whole c
ity from there."

  I smirked. "You’ve spent the weekend together too, then?"

  Zelda turned to Eric. "I’m hungry. Protein bars and water will not sustain me."

  Eric smiled and gave Zelda’s ponytail a tug. "Let me guess, Italian?"

  Zelda grinned. "You read my mind." She raised her brows at Ted. "Maybe Ted would like to go with you?"

  Ted was on his feet and checking his wallet for cash. Then he raised his eyebrows at me. I nodded. "Yeah, Italian sounds great."

  Ted hooked his head at Eric. "Let’s stop at the ATM on the way." He bent down and kissed me. "Find out what happened with Henry," he whispered.

  After they walked out I went to the window and watched them leave. I turned back to Zelda. "Okay, they’re gone."

  Zelda shrugged. "We’re back together. And whatever you said to him, thanks."

  I gawked at her. "That’s it? Where’s Henry?"

  She inspected her legs for scratches and bug bites. "With his cows I guess." Bored with her injuries, she stood and stretched. "Damn, I’m thirsty."

  I followed her into the kitchen. "Zee!"

  She poured a couple of glasses of iced tea and brought them to the butcher- block. She spooned sugar into her tea, clanging the spoon as she stirred. "Not much to tell." She stared hard at her iced tea. "Just sort of petered out."

  I snorted. "Are you kidding? You were going to marry him!"

  Zelda looked at me like I was crazy. "Marry him? Are you nuts? Don’t you remember what he did to me?"

  I pulled my hands through my hair and groaned. "You almost moved out because we fought about Henry. And last thing I heard was you were maybe moving to Nebraska." I glared at her. "Now you’re back with Eric? You better start explaining."

  Zelda stirred her iced tea again, closely studying the sugar granules swirling. "Don’t be pissed." She looked up. "Okay?"

  I wrinkled my nose. "Pissed? Why would I…" Then I glared at her. "You lied to me? You put me through all that crap for a lie?"

  Zelda covered her ears with her hands. "If you don’t stop screeching you’re going to break the glasses." I crossed my arms over my chest and waited. Talking fast Zelda said, "You know all that on again off again bullshit that Eric was pulling? I was sick of it so I signed up at one of those dating sites."

  I nodded. "Go on."

  "And who emails me? Henry. I couldn’t believe it. That bastard had the nerve to act like we were old friends and hinted our breakup was a mistake." She rolled her eyes. "Like I was just sitting around for five years pining for him. What a prick." She blew out a sigh. "I was so mad I couldn’t answer. But I kept it because I figured when I cooled down I’d tell the bastard off. Finally."

  She glanced at the doorway then lowered her voice. "But the next day, I had a problem with my computer and took it to Eric’s. When he gave it back he said he’d accidentally opened my email." She smirked. "Then he asked about Henry." Her dark eyes danced and she grinned. "Then it all came together — I could use Henry’s email to teach Eric a lesson. So, I answered Henry’s email like I was thrilled to hear from him — really laid it on thick so Eric would freak out."

  I reared back. "You showed Eric the email?"

  Zelda laughed and shook her head. "Nah didn’t need to. Eric hacks into my email whenever he feels like it."

  My eyes popped open. "What?"

  Zelda sighed. "It’s how men are. You better believe Ted reads your emails."

  I scoffed. "Ted would never do that."

  Zelda chortled and slapped the counter. "Right, that’s why he has that tracking app on your phone."

  "App? What are you talking about?"

  She slurped her iced tea. "An app you download onto your phone and your target’s phone and you get real time GPS. You can see where they are every minute of the day."

  I shook my head. "Ted would’ve told me if he’d put something on my phone."

  Zelda laughed like I was cute. "Yeah like he told you when he put that GPS tracker on your car last winter?" She sat back and smiled. "Ted, who has ‘a guy’ for everything, not keep tabs on you? Please."

  I flapped a hand at her. "Whatever. Back to Eric hacking your emails."

  "Right. So he read my email to Henry, and it did the trick. All of a sudden, he’s calling and wanting to see me all the time. But I figured I’d let him suffer a little. Just kept telling him I was busy so he’d draw his own conclusions." She laughed. "And man did he ever."

  I shook my head in disbelief. "And making me suffer was part of your plan too?"

  She grabbed my hand. "No, absolutely not. I didn’t plan the fight, but when the opportunity presented itself, I knew it would really convince Eric."

  I rubbed my forehead. "So you used me to get back at your boyfriend?"

  Zelda sighed and slumped on the countertop. "I’m sorry Scotti. I know I hurt your feelings. You know I didn’t mean any of that right?"

  I nodded. "I guess I do now." I sighed. "So you stayed in a motel and pretended you were with Henry? Weren’t you afraid Eric would hack your email again and see it was a fake out?"

  Zelda giggled. "Nah. I have a software program to keep him out of my emails." She waved a hand at my confused look. "It’s a whole techie thing – the long and the short of it is that he can read my emails when I want him to and he can’t when I don’t."

  I rubbed my face and shook my head.

  "Okay, I’m a shit, and I admit it. But I knew you’d say something to Eric. Try to knock some sense into him. And you did."

  I frowned. "But I didn’t say anything to him until after you came back."

  Zelda shrugged. "So? I didn’t need to stay away anymore, he was already convinced he’d lost me. He called and begged me not to marry Henry —promised if I gave him another chance, I wouldn’t regret it." She smirked. "I waited a day, then told him I’d chosen him." She shrieked with laughter. "That night? Best sex of my life."

  I stared at her. "I can’t believe you."

  "I know, brilliant right?"

  "What part? The part about using your best friend to get back at your boyfriend? Or the part about building your whole relationship on a lie?"

  Zelda frowned and shook her head. "Not a lie. More like inspiration to get Eric to commit or walk away. Don’t judge. You would’ve done the same thing to get Ted off the fence. Besides, I love Eric. It’s not like I’m using him." She squeezed my hand. "I am sorry about hurting you though. Swear to God, I’ll never do anything like that to you again." She gave me the sad eyes. "Forgive me?"

  I smacked her hand away. "Damn it, Zee. You really made me think that you hated me and that our friendship was over." Just thinking about it made me weepy. "Do you have any idea how heartbroken I was?"

  She stared at me for a moment, then slid off her stool and fetched a wooden spoon. She handed me the spoon and bent over. "You’re right, I deserve a serious spanking. Go for it."

  I gripped the spoon and raised my arm and Zelda jumped back and gasped. Wide eyed, she said. "You’re really going to do it?"

  I pitched the spoon across the kitchen into the sink and laughed. "No, you big idiot." I cackled and pointed at her. "You should see the look on your face." She stuck out her tongue and sat on her stool. "Lucky for you I hate Henry so much." I shrugged. "It worked, so I guess, good for you."

  "What worked?" Eric asked. He and Ted stood in the kitchen doorway, arms loaded with takeout bags.

  "Did you get the cannoli?" Zelda asked.

  <<>>

  As we lay in bed, I studied Ted’s profile, frowning. He turned to me. "What’s with the face?"

  "Did you put a tracking app on my phone?"

  Ted chuckled like he’d been goosed. "Ah, yeah I did."

  I bolted up and stared at him. "Why? Don’t you trust me?" He reached for me, but I scooted away. "Oh no mister, you answer the question."

  He puckered his lips. "It’s not about trust. It’s about your talent for getting jammed up."

  I frowned. "Why didn’t you tell me th
en?"

  Ted propped against the headboard and sighed. "Because I knew you’d get up in arms about it." He smirked. "Like you are now."

  I cocked my head. "So you lied to me, so I wouldn’t get upset? Is that your story?"

  He puckered his lips. "I’ll take the app off your phone. Okay?" He threw back the covers and his big feet hit the floor with a thud. "I’ll do it now."