Read Chocolate-Covered Crime for Free Online

“I’ll be back after I help your uncle with the suitcases.”
    I enjoyed the view as he marched away then marveled as his muscles bunched beneath the royal blue polo shirt he wore as he hefted the luggage. Did he feel the same when he watched me? Petite, thin, with a head of red hair I dyed brown and called auburn? I sighed and rubbed the prickly feeling from my tingling legs. Definitely, God hadn’t spared any decoration when creating Ethan.
    “Claudia!” Aunt Eunice barged through the screen door and wrapped her plump arms halfway around her sister. Aunt Claudia abruptly burst into a loud wail in the middle of the driveway.
    “Oh, you poor thing.” Aunt Eunice kept an arm around the distraught woman and led her into the house. Thank You, Lord, that I didn’t have to comfort her . That was a characteristic God left out of my DNA.
    Legs back to normal, I pushed my foot against the wood floor of the porch and set the swing into action. How was I going to solve Mae Belle’s murder with the albatross of Aunt Claudia hanging around my neck?
    Conviction pummeled me. I wanted to be more compassionate. I did. I prayed for just an ounce. Enough to help me get Aunt Claudia through the loss of her only child. I straightened my shoulders. I could solve my cousin’s murder and be a shoulder to cry on for my aunt. Hopefully, I’d survive both.
     
     
     
    CHAPTER SIX
     
    Sleep drifted in like mist over a lake, sneaking among my tossing and turning on the sofa. Aunt Claudia and Uncle Fred had gushed their thanks earlier when I offered them my bed. Made me really wish I’d fixed up the spare room for guests instead of using it as a place to store everything that had no home. Sleeping on the couch could be dangerous. At least for me. I tended to roll off.
    The bickering of sibling voices woke me. Soft rays of light sifted through the partially open curtains. I groaned, pushed my cairn terrier, Truly, off my stomach, and pulled the pillow over my head. Even that didn’t drown out the voices coming from the kitchen.
    “She has a book. With Mae Belle’s appointments.”
    “I want to see it.”
    “Settle down, Claudia. I’ve got her tote bag right here. What do you plan on doing with the names?”
    “Hunt down my baby’s killer.”
    They’re going through my bag? I tossed the pillow to the floor and bolted upright.
    “It ain’t here. She must have moved it.”
    “What is all that stuff?”
    “Wedding notes, Claudia.” Papers rustled, and I threw off my blankets. They were going to get everything unorganized.
    “Only a harlot would wear a wedding dress with no shoulders in it.” Aunt Claudia’s voice cut through the walls to my buzzing ears. “Pure and demure. That’s what a bride should be. Is this a shotgun wedding?”
    Heat spread up my neck and set my cheeks on fire.
    “Of course not! Give me that picture.”
    “And what kind of a cake is this? That is not a traditional bride and groom on top. Why, they’re in an embrace! It’s shocking.”
    “It’s Summer’s wedding. She can have what she wants.”
    My heart warmed at Aunt Eunice’s defense. I slipped my feet into fuzzy teddy bear slippers, scratched Truly behind the ears, then padded my way to the kitchen. Aunt Eunice held a picture of my wedding gown. Aunt Claudia buried her face in her arms and sobbed.
    “My baby will never have a wedding. She had men standing in line to date her, you know.”
    “I know how upset you are, Claudia. I’ve lost loved ones, and I’m praying for you.” Aunt Eunice slipped an arm around her sister. “Did you and Mae Belle resolve your differences?”
    “No.” The crying stopped when Aunt Claudia spotted me in the doorway. “She still couldn’t finish anything she ever started. Now Summer, where’s the book with the names?”
    “I gave it to Joe. It might be evidence.” I made a beeline for the coffeepot. No way could I handle these two without a huge dose of caffeine. After filling my mug with the fragrant