Meringue and Mischief Read online

  Meringue and Mischief

  No-Bake Cozy Mysteries, Book 4

  Ramona Ransom

  Summer Prescott Books Publishing

  Copyright 2021 Summer Prescott Books

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication nor any of the information herein may be quoted from, nor reproduced, in any form, including but not limited to: printing, scanning, photocopying, or any other printed, digital, or audio formats, without prior express written consent of the copyright holder.

  * * *

  **This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons, living or dead, places of business, or situations past or present, is completely unintentional.

  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

  Also by Ramona Ransom

  Author’s Note

  Contact Summer Prescott Books Publishing

  Chapter One

  Nessa Pierce knew better than to try to take her grandfather’s pie out of the oven. Every time she’d tried, something bad happened. So far, she’d dropped one apple pie, hit the side of the oven and spilled a peach pie, and every single cheesecake she’d ever touched somehow came out flat.

  As of last week, despite her fear of touching the pie, she was the official owner of Crumbs and Confections, the bakery that her grandparents, Lex and Maude Pierce, had owned for well over thirty years. After her grandmother passed away over a year ago, Lex did his very best to run the place on his own but found that things had gotten too difficult. When he’d invited Nessa to visit, she’d expected a leisurely trip to Lake Wilawalo, Massachusetts, the place she’d visited nearly every summer since she was a child. While she’d enjoyed her trip, it ended up being less leisurely and more of a permanent move to the town where she would end up owning a bakery. All of which would be fine if she knew how to bake.

  Since she’d arrived, Nessa had learned enough to open the place and get things started for the day, but there was no way she could do everything on her own. When her grandfather gave her the letter that her grandmother had written before she died, the one that willed the bakery to her in the case that Lex could no longer do it on his own, she thought that everyone in her family had lost their minds. Sure, she’d worked at the bakery nearly every day during her summer visits, but she mostly ran the register and answered phone calls. As time went on, she realized that while she didn’t know how to do any real baking, there was so much more that went into running a bakery, and those were the things that she was good at. She could balance the books, advertise and market the business, and her customer service skills were fantastic. She knew that with her grandfather’s help, she’d learn to bake, and with her help, he could keep the bakery that reminded him so much of his late wife.

  Nessa called out to her grandfather, hoping he didn’t have any customers out front and could come in the kitchen to help her. The cherry pie he’d made was for a special order, and the thought of ruining it made her sick. Sometimes she wondered if she was jinxed. After all, she was an adult who owned her own home, she owned the bakery even, but for some reason, she didn’t have the magic touch when it came to simple tasks like taking a pie out of the oven.

  Realizing that no one was coming to her rescue, Nessa found her favorite pair of oven mitts, laughing at herself for having a favorite pair since she hardly baked anything at all, and opened the convection oven. She peeked inside, seeing that the pie both looked and smelled heavenly. She psyched herself up to get the job done and reached inside ever so carefully until her mitted hands were around the pie dish. Before she went any further, she turned her head to the side to make sure that no one was around her. She knew they weren’t, but with her luck, she’d take the pie out and move to put it on the counter but end up crashing into something or someone. Satisfied that there was nothing in her way but herself, Nessa pulled out the pie, slowly turned to her right, and placed it on the counter. She stared at the pie for a few minutes, as though she was willing it to stay there, before shutting the oven door.

  “You look beautiful,” she said to the pie, admiring how delicious it looked, especially in one piece.

  “Thank you,” her grandfather said, suddenly in the kitchen with her. “I spent forever on my hair this morning.”

  She turned to face him, grinning at his joke. “Now you show up! I’ve been in here wrestling with myself about taking the pie out of the oven without your help. But look!” She pointed. “I did it!”

  Lex looked at the pie and then at Nessa. “I’m glad you were able to make a decision. Had you left it in there any longer, it would have burnt.”

  “Oh. I didn’t think of that. I was so worried about messing it up that I could have messed it up by worrying.” She laughed and shook her head at herself. One day, she’d get over her fear and maybe even make a pie on her own. For now, she’d stick to brownies and apple fritters. They were the easiest things to bake, so long as her grandfather had most of the preparation done before it was her turn.

  Since she’d started working at the bakery, Nessa had worked a few of the early shifts that consisted of waking up at three in the morning. Not only was waking up that early not for her, but it turned out that she wasn’t quite ready for that shift yet. Lex, and Faye, their newest employee and grandmother’s best friend, had decided to take over the early shifts to give Nessa a chance to learn the ropes of running the business before they turned over the majority of the baking to her. She couldn’t and wouldn’t argue. She didn’t want to be there that early, and if she was too afraid to take a pie out of the oven by herself, chances were, she wasn’t quite ready for baking an entire bakery’s worth of items on her own, either.

  “No harm done. It looks excellent. I’m sure Renata will be happy.” Lex rolled up his sleeve and checked the time. “She should be here soon to pick it up.”

  “When it’s this hot?!” Nessa asked. She could see the steam coming from between the latticework and started worrying all over again. “How is she going to transport it without burning herself to death with cherry filling?” She imagined the mess it would make and shuddered.

  “She does this every year, so I’m certain she has a way to get it done without hurting herself,” Lex explained, picking up a box for the pie. He laid a towel in the bottom of the box and carefully lifted the pie, placing it on the towel.

  “What are you doing? Why are you giving her our pie dish?”

  “Renata has a rental home, and every year she orders a cherry pie for one of her tenants. She likes to have it at the house so that when her tenant arrives, all they smell when they walk in is cherry pie. She’ll bring it back in a few days. She always does.”

  Nessa knew realtors who brought freshly baked cookies to a showing so the house would smell cozy and inviting, and she understood why they did it. Since Renata was only renting her home to someone who already rented it yearly, it was a little odd but still a nice gesture.

  “I see. Well, that’s sweet of her to do. I bet the tenant enjoys it.”

  “I’m not sure that Laverne enjoys much of anything, to be honest, but maybe I have the wrong idea of her. Honestly, I’m a little surprised to hear that she’s back already. She spends her summers here but she doesn’t usually show up for another couple of months at least. You’d probably recognize her if you
saw her, but I don’t suggest getting too friendly unless you have to. She can be a bit of a pain.”

  “That’s not nice!” Nessa said, swatting her grandfather’s arm.

  “It’s not, but I’m honest. Laverne can be… hard to handle,” he said. “And it wouldn’t be so bad, but every time she’s in town, it makes anyone who has any kind of relationship with her hard to handle as well.”

  “Sounds like fun,” Nessa joked.

  “Yelllooooooooo,” a voice trilled.

  For the most part, they tried to make sure that someone was always out front to tend to the customers, but on the rare occasion when that didn’t happen, everyone was always gracious and understanding. Nessa looked to her grandfather, who was already holding the box. He took a few steps, adjusted his posture, pasted on a smile, and marched out of the kitchen to greet who Nessa suspected was Renata, no doubt there to pick up her pie.

  Chapter Two

  Nessa opened her front door, excited to see Daniel. They’d been trying to find time to meet up, but life kept getting in the way. So, when she woke up that morning, the first thing she did was call him to see if he had any plans. He’d told her that he could come see her before he had to be at work. The bakery took up so much of her time, and for Daniel, it was The Shack. He’d started out washing dishes at the busy restaurant as a teenager, then became a waiter, then a cook, and now he was the manager. The owner, Carl, didn’t spend a lot of time in town anymore and looked to Daniel for more help every day.

  “Hey!” Nessa said, moving out of the way to let Daniel inside. “How are you?”

  He leaned in for a quick hug and then kissed her on the top of the head. “I’m great. And I brought snacks.”

  “Then I guess I’m great, too, because I love snacks.” Nessa closed the door behind them and followed Daniel into the kitchen. “Whatcha got?”

  “Cookies.”

  That was all he needed to say for Nessa to groan and moan.

  “I’m guessing they’re Bizzie’s cookies.”

  Bizzie Eadler, Daniel’s sister and one of Nessa’s least favorite people on the planet, owned a cookie business, Bizzie’s Cookie Cottage. Her cookies were amazing, Nessa couldn’t deny that, but after all the trouble that Bizzie had caused her, she didn’t care how delicious they were.

  She’d still eat them, of course, but wouldn’t be happy about it.

  “She feels bad,” Daniel said, taking a cookie and holding it out to Nessa.

  “Feels bad because she convinced my grandmother not to sell cookies at the bakery because it might be competition for her? Or maybe because she hid stolen money in my house even though I offered to buy cookies from her to sell at the bakery? I’m having a hard time navigating through her sadness.”

  Daniel harrumphed at her sarcasm.

  “She made a bad choice, but she’s doing her time.”

  “She’s doing community service at the senior center. I’d hardly call that doing time,” Nessa shot back. She didn’t want to be rude to Daniel, but Bizzie had made her bed. She’d lied and was lucky that the law hadn’t been harder on her.

  “Fair enough, but she made these cookies specifically for you.” Daniel waved the cookie around. “It’s peanut butter, and there’s no poison. I made her try one before I left her house.”

  Nessa snatched the cookie and took a bite. “Fine. I’ll eat her cookies, but I’m not speaking to her or of her again. Not until she apologizes for getting me involved in her mess.”

  “Got it.” Daniel chuckled. “You know, it’s no fun being Bizzie’s brother and your boyfriend, right? Seriously, it’s a real pain.”

  “She who shall not be named, you mean?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly who I mean.”

  Nessa grinned. “So, what’s up? How are things at work?”

  “We’ve been busy lately. What about you guys?” Daniel asked.

  “Same. I’m so glad to have Faye and Chloe to help us.”

  When Nessa had decided to move from her hometown of Granger, Connecticut, to Lake Wilawalo, she knew she would have to pack up her things. Not only did she not want to leave her grandfather alone at the bakery to do it, but she also hated the idea of having to pack up her things in the first place, as the process was never her favorite. She’d paid her neighbor in Granger, Chloe, to pack up the majority of her things, and when Chloe decided to visit Nessa, she never left. The young girl was having a hard time in college, and Nessa offered to help her out in more ways than one. She promised to help her with her schooling, give her a place to live, and a job at the bakery.

  “How’s it going with Chloe?”

  Nessa sighed. “Her parents aren’t thrilled that she moved away but are happy that I offered to help. I think they want the best for her, but they might be a little disappointed that she’s not loving her accounting classes.”

  “They think she’s going off the rails, will quit college, and decide to bake muffins for the rest of her life?” Daniel asked.

  “Hey! I didn’t quit college, but I did quit the finance world to bake muffins for the rest of my life,” Nessa reminded him. “But no, I think they’d be happier if she decided to bake instead of doing her design work. She’s really good, but they don’t think it’s a wise career choice.”

  “I think you’re a great role model for her. She’s lucky to have you,” Daniel told her.

  “And I’m lucky to have her. She may not be very good at numbers, but she can bake, and she likes hard work. She’s awesome at the bakery, both inside and out. Did I tell you about the new website she’s making for us?”

  “Why don’t you tell me about it over cookies?” Daniel handed her another peanut butter cookie. “Please,” he begged. “Bizzie is going to ask me if you ate them, and she can always tell when I’m lying.”

  Nessa groaned again. She took the cookie, pretending to be annoyed, but she was glad he gave it to her. They were the best cookies she’d ever had, even if it made her angry to eat them. Taking a bite, she smiled for Daniel’s sake. But really, she’d been pretending the cookie was Bizzie’s head.

  Chapter Three

  After Daniel left, Nessa had a few hours before she had to get to the bakery. Now that there were more employees to go around, she and her grandfather had decided that they could expand business hours. Basically, everything in town closed before dark except for The Shack, and now, Crumbs and Confections was included on that list. They wouldn’t stay open much longer, only two hours, but so far, it had made a world of difference. Customers were loving being able to pop in after work to pick up a few desserts for their family, and Nessa had to admit that she enjoyed the later shifts. She didn’t need to do any baking, but she could still be hands-on, and there was more time for her to work on her no-bake recipes later in the day than there was in the hectic morning hours.

  She decided to shower and get ready before Clint, her contractor, showed up. Things had been rocky with him at first, but he did great work, and Nessa loved all the progress he’d been making around her house. The closet doors were fixed, the ceiling fans and light fixtures had been replaced, and today, he’d be ripping up the carpeting on her stairs. They were currently covered in yellow shag carpeting, and she couldn’t begin to explain how badly she wanted it gone. Whatever had possessed the previous owner to do such a thing was beyond her.

  Her new home was on the lake and should reflect that, so she planned to get rid of any carpeting at all. She’d leave Clint alone in her home to do the work, something that she never thought she’d be brave enough to do, but she liked him. Of course, she was also paying him well and trusted that he’d not take advantage of that. She’d been paying him above what he’d quoted her because she knew he’d given her a discount because of Mavery Gallo, his girlfriend and Nessa’s newest friend.

  Nessa’s house already looked worlds better than it had when she’d first purchased it, and with Clint’s help, it was becoming exactly what she’d dreamed it to be. She planned on going shopping for some wall
décor and things for outside over the next few weeks. Once it warmed up, she wanted to host a party. Her pool would be open soon enough, and she knew with a house like hers, she had to entertain. That also meant that she’d need to learn to entertain because it was something she’d never done before other than hosting a little gathering or two amongst friends.

  She had just finished putting a coat of mascara on when she heard a knock on her door.

  “Hey, Clint,” she said, letting him in. “I cannot wait to see the finished product. Actually, I can’t wait to see what the stairs look like without that dreadful carpet.”

  Clint laughed. “What if the stairs are painted pink with polka dots?” he joked.

  “Still better than that carpet. I can’t even deal with it,” Nessa told him, staring at her stairs as though they’d offended her.

  “It is pretty terrible, huh?” Clint asked, getting a closer look. “I bet once we rip it up, you’ll find that the stairs will look perfectly fine underneath. The rest of your hardwood floors are in great shape, and I think the previous owner just liked shag carpet. They weren’t trying to cover up anything bad.”

  Nessa cringed. “They might not have been trying to cover up anything bad, but they were successful in making things look bad.”

  Finished complaining, she handed him a piece of paper.

  “More work?” he asked, smiling.

  “Only if you have time. I know the stairs will be a lot, but I was thinking about fixing up the gate around the pool and maybe even painting all the doors and…”