Maple Hills Mystery Box Set Page 24

  Tori smiled sweetly. “Don't worry, Hawk, Nikki will give you a discount on her chocolate for all your help.”

  Hawk looked into Nikki's beautiful eyes. “Come on, lady,” he said in a loving voice, “let's go for that walk in the snow.”

  Nikki took Hawk's hand. “Someday you can put a ring on my finger,” she promised Hawk as peace and happiness consumed her heart. Even though the future still held dark corners, Nikki felt prepared to face them with the man she loved and two friends who would always have her back.

  Looking back at her chocolate store, Nikki drew in a deep breath of chocolate and closed her eyes. “Chocolate-covered mysteries on a snowy day...what a wonderful treat,” she whispered happily. “What a sweet, wonderful treat after a hard day’s work.”

  Turkey Truffle Murder

  Book Eight

  1

  The glorious smell of chocolate and pumpkin filled Nikki’s nostrils as she busied herself with scooping out her perfected chocolate blend onto a pan. It was only a little over a week before Thanksgiving, and she felt like the entire town had come out to try her fall recipes that morning. She had started to wonder whether or not the pumpkin-flavored desserts were ever going to attract any attention, but all of a sudden—a mere week and a half before the holiday—everyone wanted a sample of just about everything. Evidently, people were worried about impressing in-laws or parents or significant others with some special dish, so half the town was trying to decide exactly what they would bring to their families’ holiday celebrations.

  Nikki’s poor assistant, Tori, had already complained to her once about her hand cramping up from all of the orders that had come in. They were booking orders for Nikki’s specialty chocolates every thirty minutes; it was getting to the point that Nikki was worried she was going to have to call in some backup. The thought made her smile. Who knew Thanksgiving would be the holiday that made her shop so popular?

  Once the chocolate-pumpkin morsels were ready to go in the fridge, Nikki wiped her brow and exhaled loudly.

  “Oh my goodness!” a squeaky little voice exclaimed. Tori popped her head into the kitchen, grinning from ear to ear. “I just booked our biggest order yet, Nikki! Twelve dozen of your pumpkin-chocolate morsels, two dozen pumpkin spice cookies, three dozen chocolate turtles…” Tori droned on for a moment, listing off what sounded like the entire fall menu.

  “Who in the world placed such an order?” Nikki asked, following Tori out of the kitchen and to the front of the shop where several customers were still lined up. Three small children had their noses pressed against the glass of the sample display; they eyed the candies and chocolates with excitement.

  “Mr. Johnson. Says his wife hasn’t been feeling great lately, and she’s always been in charge of desserts at the family get-togethers. He told her he’d handle it this year, and by handle it, he clearly meant hire someone else to do it,” Tori said, giggling to herself.

  Lidia was busy behind the counter helping the line of patrons. She spun on her heels; sometimes Nikki could swear that the woman had a sixth sense. She always knew when Tori appeared. With the wave of her hand, Lidia summoned Tori toward her. “Tori, dear, mind making me four hot chocolates, please? Add some caramel drizzle to one.”

  “On it!” Tori exclaimed and scurried to the large coffee area. “All original?” she asked.

  “Oh, no, sorry. One peppermint please!” Lidia said, seeming a bit frazzled.

  “Okay, Lidia, go take a break. I’ll take over the counter,” Nikki insisted.

  “I’ll check those peppermint candies you made earlier,” said Lidia. “I want to put one out in the display.” She disappeared quickly, re-emerging before Nikki even had a chance to speak to the customer waiting patiently in front of the counter.

  The door opened, sending a cool whip of winter air into the shop as more guests lined themselves up. Nikki gazed outside the shop windows to see a good bit of snow layering the streets outside. A snow plow was making its way through Maple Hills as she placed the next order.

  The rest of the day continued in a similar fashion. It was busy and filled with people chit-chatting about the upcoming holiday. The new seating area turned out to be a huge hit. They had cleared up some room by placing some of the display cases in storage and filling the empty space with cushioned chairs and small love seats. They also had put out a coffee table and a bookshelf with a varied selection. People were staying longer and ordering more because of the comfy place to sit.

  It was finally getting close to closing time, and Nikki could feel her ankles swelling slightly. She could not recall whether or not she had sat once all day apart from her brief break at lunch. There were still four customers lingering around the seating area, and Nikki was somewhat confident the group was going to order some more hot chocolate to go before they left. Tori had done a good job at talking up the various flavors of hot chocolate they had, and it had sparked an interest.

  It was a bit early, but Nikki started on the closing duties in the back. Cleaning counters, washing dishes, and any sort of general tidying up was done just as she noted the time. Closing time had arrived. She headed back to the front to see the four patrons waving their goodbyes to the friendly Tori, each with a to-go cup in their hands. The little bell above the door jingled on their way out, and Nikki smiled. “Look at you, Miss Saleslady,” Nikki teased.

  “I’m telling you,” Lidia added from across the room; she was busy straightening up the bookshelf, “this girl knows how to up-sale. If someone came in here expecting to buy five of your chocolate-pumpkin morsels, they’d leave with an order of two dozen in one hand and a cup of hot chocolate in the other. I think we should keep her.”

  “I didn’t realize you were thinking about getting rid of me,” said Tori with a slight grin. She put her hands on her hips and declared proudly, “Yeah, I think I pretty much rocked it today.”

  Nikki laughed and shook her head. She headed out from behind the counter and began sweeping while Tori polished the display cases. “So, Lidia, do you and your family have any fun holiday traditions?” Nikki asked, making small talk while the three ladies did their closing work.

  The older woman exhaled heavily and stretched her back, taking a moment to brush her gray hair out of her face, mumbling to herself about needing a haircut before answering. “Oh, you know Herbert. Lazy old coot won’t do much anymore.” She laughed. “But there is one tradition we have that has managed to stand the test of time. Every year, the two of us bake cranberry pies together. Been doing that since we were still goofy young kids just dating. It’s one of his family’s recipes. Our first Thanksgiving together he whipped out his mother’s old recipe and tried to show off his non-existent baking skills. I had to save him from embarrassment and step in. It sort of became a tradition after that. Every year, we bake pies together.”

  “That is so cute!” Tori exclaimed as though the thought of a woman in her sixties still having casual fun with her husband was both unusual and adorable.

  There was just something about Tori that always gave Nikki the giggles. She used to be so shy when she had first met Nikki, but Tori’s personality had really started to show itself in recent days. And now that she actually talked more around her and Lidia, Nikki had learned that Tori was quite hilarious in her personality and mannerisms. Plus, now that she had come out of her shell a bit, Tori had become a much better salesperson. She was much less timid working the counter with customers than she had once been. “What about you, Tori?” Nikki asked. “What are you and your family doing?”

  “Oh, well,” Tori said softly. She had a stern frown on her face as though the question would result in a disappointing answer. “Normally we have our family’s Thanksgiving in a town a couple of miles south of here every year.” She sighed heavily. “But for some reason, the whole family has decided to go to my uncle’s up in New York.”

  “Oh, New York? How…festive,” Lidia said.

  Tori shook her head. “Not really. It’s so crowded and
loud, and my uncle’s home can’t accommodate the entire family, so we’re all on top of each other. I’ve decided not to go. It’s such an expensive trip for me, and I know I would just be uncomfortable the whole time.”

  “So, you’ll spend Thanksgiving with me,” Nikki said. “My son is coming to town from college, so I’ll probably wind up making way more food than necessary anyways. What do you say?”

  Tori smiled at her, and it seemed that it only took her a split second to make up her mind. “Nikki, that sounds just wonderful. Honestly, I was really disappointed about not celebrating, so thank you. I would love to spend Thanksgiving with you. Can I bring anything? I make an awesome sweet potato casserole.”

  “That’s quite a claim, Tori,” Lidia warned. “You know that Nikki is from Georgia. Those girls really know their casseroles. And sweet potatoes? You sure you’re up for making such a Southern dish for such a Southern lady?”

  “You act like Virginia isn’t in the South, Lidia,” said Tori.

  “Not the Deep South,” Lidia teased. “I’m sure you make a fine sweet potato casserole, Tori.”

  “And I’d love to try it,” Nikki said. “This will be fun, I’m sure. I’ve got to bring out all the stops since Seth is coming. He’ll be expecting a Thanksgiving feast, knowing him.”

  “Kids,” Lidia griped half-heartedly.

  The three women finished closing up shop, and they bid each other farewell before exiting into the cold. Nikki wrapped her coat tightly around her, the slight frost in the air tickling her nose as she walked to her car. She began making a mental list of things she would need to get done before Seth arrived. There was a lot of shopping and meal prepping to be done, and that was just for home. There were also dozens of orders to prepare for her customers. She took a look at the time on her phone and nodded to herself, deciding it was not so late that she couldn’t make a grocery run. She had a new chocolate recipe she wanted to try out before the holiday, and she was running low on vanilla extract at the house as well as at the shop.

  After loading up into her vehicle, Nikki drove wearily down the icy road. Being from Georgia, she wasn’t quite used to this sort of hazardous driving, but she knew she needed to grin and bear it. The weather conditions certainly were not stopping anyone else in town from getting their errands done. She smiled happily to herself as she drove, thinking about the successful day at the shop–one of the most successful days since she had first opened–as well as daydreaming about her son coming to visit. She was going to make sure it was a Thanksgiving he would remember.

  2

  Nikki sat quietly in the passenger’s seat of her car as Hawk softly hummed the tune of “Jingle Bells” and tapped his thumbs against the steering wheel to the melody. They had been out of Maple Hills for close to forty-five minutes, and they would be arriving in the small city that housed the nearest airport within fifteen minutes or so. Her mind was on a number of things, but Hawk’s humming was distracting her. Though, truthfully, she really enjoyed his current state of merriment. “You know it’s not even Thanksgiving yet?” Nikki teased.

  “So what?” he questioned as though her statement made little to no sense to him. He continued humming for a moment until she spoke again.

  “Well, you’re humming Christmas music,” she stated the obvious.

  “Two things,” he said firmly and with an unnecessary level of seriousness in his tone. “One: it is never a bad time of year to sing Christmas carols. I will sing it in June, woman! And two: there is nothing about the song ‘Jingle Bells’ that makes it strictly a Christmas song. It is a winter song, and guess what? It’s winter.”

  Nikki laughed slightly. “It is so a Christmas song. What is the matter with you?”

  “Sing the lyrics,” he demanded. A triumphant smile appeared on his face as though, before she even conceded to his request, he had already emerged victorious.

  Nikki frowned. She did not sing them out loud, but she quietly hummed to herself and allowed the words to pass through her mind. “Oh, you’re right,” she said. “Wait, no…I’ve always been told it’s a Christmas song, but you’re right. It’s just a song about riding in the snow.”

  “Jingle all the way,” he sang slightly. Nikki nudged him and gave him a slight eye roll before slouching back down in her seat. Only a brief moment of silence passed before he questioned, “What’s wrong?”

  I need to be careful around him, Nikki thought. Here I thought I was hiding it well!

  “Oh, nothing!” she quirked, but she knew that would not satisfy his questioning.

  “Don’t you oh nothing me, Miss Bates!” Hawk said. “What is it? You can tell me, you know that.”

  “Okay, fine,” she said and sat upright. “I’m a little nervous about you and Seth meeting face-to-face for the first time.”

  “Is that all?” he asked with a whine and a shake of his head. He then sighed and gripped the steering wheel. Hawk seemed to be gazing out the window with such intensity that it appeared as though he was studying the snowflakes as they fell. He clicked his teeth a bit and popped his neck, attempting to buy himself some time to think before saying anything more. “Okay, so the truth is, I’m a little nervous too. From what I can tell, you and your son are very close. You seem very protective and supportive of him. You’re a good mom, Nikki. I don’t want to blow it with Seth because then I might blow it with you, too.”

  Nikki smiled. From how intense he appeared, she could tell that this had certainly been something on his mind. She began to imagine Hawk worrying throughout the day, knowing that this evening they would be picking up Seth. She wondered how much time had been spent that day worrying over meeting Seth. Had he lost sleep over it that week? The man continued looking straight ahead with a nervous disposition as though he had never driven in snow before, but he was a native to the land, and this little bit of flurries was certainly not what was making him anxious. “You really are worried, aren’t you?” she questioned. “Hawk, don’t be. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “No, you definitely should have. You can always talk to me about what’s bothering you, even if it’s something that’s going to make my hair fall out,” he said and then laughed and glanced her way for a second. “Is this really the best your car’s heat can do? It’s freezing in here.”

  Nikki nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. Look, there’s a café coming up. Looks like they have a drive-thru. Why don’t we get some hot chocolate?”

  “Sounds good,” he said, and he turned into the parking lot of the corporate café.

  There was a small line in the drive-thru, but they were making good time. They would arrive at the airport with plenty of time to spare, so they waited patiently behind the line of cars. “So,” Hawk said as they waited, “you think Seth will like me?”

  “I think so,” Nikki said.

  “Then why are you nervous about us meeting?” he asked.

  Nikki paused to think about this for a moment. Seth and Hawk had similar interests, and their humors would certainly be in-sync. They were bound to hit it off, and it wasn’t like she was going to shock Seth with the surprise of a new boyfriend. Seth knew all about Hawk from their phone conversations and emails. Nikki had even sent Seth a picture of the two of them standing in front of the chocolate shop in one of the monthly care packages she liked to send him. She smiled, thinking about how he would always call her and tell her how much he loved the chocolates she sent and how he couldn’t wait to see her shop since it had been refurbished for the winter season. He had joked about Hawk looking like a hobo in that one picture she had sent due to the old coat he had been wearing and the fact that he hadn’t shaved in a few days. It probably hadn’t been the most flattering picture she could have sent, but now there was a fun running joke between mother and son about her dating some guy she picked up off the street. It was a joke she intended to never let Hawk in on because it was bound to embarrass him.

  After giving it some thought, Nikki answered Hawk with caution. “It’s not that I d
on’t think he will like you, because I do. I just haven’t really been with anyone since Seth’s father left. I’m worried he’s going to feel like I’m trying to replace his father.”

  Hawk nodded, but he still looked tense. They ordered their hot chocolate, and soon they were sipping on the warm, sugary drinks as they made their way back to the main road. “I guess I understand that,” Hawk said. “I grew up with parents who were happily married. It would be weird to see either of them with someone else.”

  “That’s all it is, really,” Nikki said. “Just nervous about how he’s going to feel about it is all. I’ve told him about you, but that’s just talking. Being around the two of us together is another thing entirely.”

  Hawk gave her a goofy grin. “You talk about me a lot, Nikki?”

  “Oh, shut up,” she said, giggling and slapping his arm.

  “Easy, you’re going to make me spill my hot chocolate!” he exclaimed, but he still had that same silly grin on his face.

  Nikki rolled her eyes. Hawk was in a silly mood tonight; it was probably to make up for his nervousness. “Well, I guess both Seth and I will be doing introductions this evening.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He’s bringing his girlfriend.”

  Hawk’s joyful demeanor suddenly left his face, and he became serious, placing his hot chocolate in a cup holder. “Oh?” he questioned. “You didn’t mention that to me before.”

  “It was a very last-minute decision,” Nikki moaned. “I’m not really looking forward to it. I didn’t even know about a girlfriend until this morning. He’s not one to keep things like that from me, but I guess things are a little different now that he’s off at college.”

  “I wish you had told me,” Hawk said.

  “I know, but like I said, I didn’t even know until just this morning. A part of me is upset about it because I was hoping to get to spend some time with just him. But then again, another part of me is kind of relieved.”