A's in the Hole Read online

  “We’ll seal the deal with a chocolate.” They each removed a drop from the tray, raised them in a mock toast, then gobbled them down.

  “Ah, that’s better,” Jake replied. “How about we seal the deal over two drops?”

  “Have as many as you like.” Olivia laughed. She loved it when her chocolates brought joy to people. This made her happier than anything else, even solving cases.

  “All right, so about this honesty thing,” Jake said. “Are you ever going to stop investigating cases in Chester?”

  “Weird you should ask that,” Olivia said. “I was just discussing it with Alvira. I’m really not sure to be honest. I don’t want anything to happen to my friends, my family. And I love this town.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes,” Olivia said. “I know it sounds strange coming from an ‘out-of-towner’ like me but I’ve already lost friends here. Jana is gone, you know, and she was a fantastic person.”

  “I know.” Jake gave a doleful nod and ate another chocolate.

  “So probably not. As much as I’d love to focus on my passion for all things chocolatey, I think that cases will be pretty important to me for the foreseeable future. But that’s not a huge deal. It’s not like this is a city. There can’t be that many murders, you know?”

  “From your lips to God’s ears,” Jake replied. “That was a really honest answer, Olivia, thank you.”

  “My pleasure. A deal is a deal, after all.”

  “Right,” Jake said, and grabbed one of the napkins from a dispenser. He dabbed it across his lips, then wiped off his fingers. “Which brings me to my next point.”

  “Which is?”

  Jake dropped the napkin, then walked around to her side of the counter. He wrapped his arms around her waist, drew her to him, then placed his lips upon hers in a light, sweet kiss.

  Olivia’s legs went all wobbly, but Jake held her upright.

  “There,” he said. “I wanted you to know that I meant everything I said. I hope I’m not out on a limb here, but I really like you, Olivia. I more than like you, and I figured if I hesitated any longer I’d end up putting it off and regretting it for the rest of my life.”

  Olivia stammered and pressed her fingers to her lips, still tucked against Jake’s chest. “But I thought you didn’t want to get involved with me in any capacity.”

  “I was angry and worried. Mostly it was because I didn’t want anything to happen to you. And you can be so darn impulsive when it comes to investigating.” Jake sucked in a breath, steeled himself visibly. “I’ve fallen for you, Olivia Cloud, but I don’t expect you to return those feelings yet.”

  “You don’t?”

  “No,” he said, and let go of her. He stepped back and straightened his shirt. “If you’d like to, I thought it might be nice to go out on a proper date. And this time it won’t be friendly. I’ll buy you flowers, take you to a more private restaurant and –”

  “Yes,” Olivia said. “I’ll go with you.” She’d set aside her feelings for Jake for too long now. She’d pushed them away for fear of getting hurt again and that wasn’t fair to either of them.

  “Wow, really?”

  “Yes. I’d love to go out with you, Jake.”

  “That’s great,” he said, and his cheeks reddened. He rubbed the back of his neck with his palm. “I mean, that’s perfect. When are you available?”

  Olivia opened her mouth to reply but the squeak of the kitchen doors cut her off.

  Alberta peered out at them. “Everything okay out here?” She asked. “You two dears are both red as tomatoes.”

  “We’re fine,” Olivia said. “But we’d prefer the term red as raspberries. Or strawberries?”

  “I love strawberries,” Jake replied, and colored a deeper shade of crimson.

  “What are you two up to?” Alberta asked, and sniffed as if she could smell the truth on the air.

  “Nothing at all,” Jake said.

  Olivia turned to him, a smile creeping across her lips. “I wouldn’t say nothing,” she whispered.

  Dear Reader,

  Hi there. Thank you for reading.

  I hope you’ll leave a review and/or rating at the retail website where you purchased it, I appreciate you and your feedback.

  Thanks again,

  Wendy Meadows

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  www.wendymeadows.com/cozy

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Wendy Meadows is an emerging author of cozy mysteries. She lives in “The Granite State” with her husband, two sons, two cats and lovable Labradoodle.

  When she isn’t working on her stories she likes to tend to her flower garden, relax with adult coloring and play video games with her family.

  Get in Touch with Wendy

  www.wendymeadows.com

  [email protected]

  ALSO BY WENDY MEADOWS

  MAPLE HILLS COZY MYSTERY SERIES

  Raspberry Truffle Murder

  Peppermint Chocolate Murder

  Blueberry Truffle Murder

  Sea Salt Caramel Murder

  Georgia Peach Truffle Murder

  Gold Flake Chocolate Murder

  Coconut Chocolate Murder

  Turkey Truffle Murder

  NETHER EDGE COZY SERIES

  Murder & Spice

  Where Pigs Fly

  Ink-Slinger Murder

  CHOCOLATE COZY MYSTERY SERIES

  Cream of Sweet

  Itsy-Bitsy Murder

  Fudgement Day

  ALASKA COZY MYSTERY SERIES

  The Snowman Killer

  Deep in the Snow

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Thanks for reading

  Be the First to Know

  About the Author

  Also by Wendy Meadows