Death by Scones by Jennifer Fischetto Read Free Book Online

loves."
    Although I was certain part of her reaction had to do with the fear behind that red velvet box. Once Tara felt a guy was getting too serious, she always managed to push him away. Usually not literally though.
    Jared frowned and looked over his shoulder. "Who was that? Was he bothering you?"
     "That was a reporter from the Danger Cove Chronicles . I'm fine now. Glad to see you though. I'm assuming you heard."
    Jared pulled me in for a hug. "Yep. The teachers were talking about it."
    I laid my cheek against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. Maybe everything would be okay. Nathan probably died of something else, something completely unrelated to the bakery. And we still didn't even know if he had allergies. It was all going to work itself out. It just had to.
    Tara stepped back inside. "I need to be getting to class. Will you be all right?"
    "I'll be fine," I said, reluctantly stepping out of Jared's embrace.
    "And she has me if she's not," Jared said with a lopsided grin.
    Tara patted his shoulder. "I'm glad you're back. Can't wait to catch up."
    I'd texted her about his return right after he'd left that morning. If felt like a week ago already.
    She walked into the kitchen and grabbed her purse. When she got back to the door, she pulled me in for a tight squeeze. "You call me if you need anything, understood?" Before I got a chance to answer, she turned to Jared and stuck her finger in his face. "And you take care of my girl while I'm gone."
    "Yes, ma'am."
    She smirked, headed out, and shut the door behind her.
    "Now what?" he asked.
    "Tara made drinks. They're heavy on the alcohol."
    "I bet they are. How about some food to go with our intoxication?"
    Jared ordered a pizza from his family's restaurant, Gino's Pizzeria. While we waited for it, we sat on the sofa in the living room, and I filled him in on everything that had happened at the bakery.
    "We don't use anything with nuts in our bakery. I didn't accidentally serve nuts," I said for the umpteenth time that day.
    He grabbed my hand and squeezed. "I know you didn't."
    His words should've filled me with relief, but they didn't. "Maybe it was something else, like a milk or wheat allergy." Surely I couldn't be responsible for lactose intolerance.
    He frowned. "I don't think you can die from either of those, but I'm not sure."
    It hadn't sounded right to me either. I buried my face into my hands. "I just can't believe this is happening. On my first day too." I realized what I'd said and looked up quickly. "Oh, that sounds bad. I don't mean to make this about me. A poor man is dead."
    The doorbell rang, and Jared rose to answer it. "I didn't know much about the man, and from what I've heard, most people didn't, so it's understandable to not feel a big sense of loss."
    I shut my eyes for a second and thought about the theater-loving man Mrs. Hendrickson had described compared to the disheveled one that walked into the bakery. I still had no clue what his cryptic question had meant, and now I'd never find out.
    I heard Jared laughing with the delivery guy at the door—probably one of his brothers. I got up, went into the kitchen, and grabbed the rest of the alcohol, paper plates, and napkins. By the time I got back to the living room, Jared was already by the stairs. I loved that I didn't have to ask or remind him. If we were alone, we always hung in our spot.
    He stepped aside and allowed me to take the lead, and we walked upstairs and into my bedroom. I set my items on top of my light-blue, distressed, and stenciled dresser, then pushed aside the sheer white curtain at my side windows. I lifted the pane higher and stepped out onto the roof that covered the kitchen. When Grams and Gramps had first bought this house, the kitchen had needed to be remodeled. They'd ended up extending it a few feet out, and the builders had set the roof so it wasn't too steep. It wasn't exactly flat, but as long as you were conscious of your position, it could be quite