Ganache with Panache: Book 2 in The Chocolate Cafe Series by Valley Sams Read Free Book Online Page A

about broadening the theme to suit this amazing garden. I’m thinking herbs. We need to do something with herbs.”
    As Vanessa, Sabrina, and Amelia set to work brainstorming, Mac found herself wandering away from the group. It was starting again. She could almost feel the gears in her head begin to engage at a speed that would be nearly impossible to contain.
    Why would Lau’s sister try to pass off her late brother’s work as her own? Grief? Possible. Greed? More likely. But what if it was something blacker, something more insidious than even the lust for money. What if it was something that came from a darker place entirely?
    The gears had already ramped up their pace. She did her best to remember her stalwart detective’s pre-sleep pleas. She had managed to be dutiful this long, why couldn’t she keep it up?
    Because you’re not the dutiful girlfriend type. Her inner voice cut through the noise of the turning gears with a sudden burst of truth. You never have been and you never will be. You’re the type that climbs over fences and jimmies locks.
    Mac sighed and looked at the happy trio next to the lilac bush. She didn’t belong there either. There was one place she belonged right now and that place was only going to get her in a ton of trouble.
     

CHAPTER EIGHT
    Mac counted her footsteps as she ran. Every third step she took a ragged breath in and every sixth step she exhaled. Sometimes the force of her own exhalation sent droplets of sweat on her face fanning outwards.
    Nothing made her stop thinking quite like exhausting her body.
    She had left early enough in the morning to be assured that the streets would be empty. There was always a moment of guilt when she passed other people where she felt she had to break her concentration and make eye contact. Those social skills were so deeply ingrained in her that the shame when she didn’t do it often knocked her off her running game.
    Not today, however. Today she was on fire. No Toby to slow her down, no tourists or news vans to distract her, she had made her way down the hills to the main thoroughfare and was now on her way to the beach.
    Mac was concentrating so deeply on her steady cadence that she didn’t hear the almost noiseless hum of the car engine behind her. It was only when the tank-like Range Rover pulled into the crosswalk directly in front of her that she even noticed it. How long had it been following her?
    Annoyed, Mac came to a stumbling halt. She yanked her earbuds out and glared at the tinted windows.
    “What the h…” She stopped her imminent curse-filled tirade when the window rolled down to reveal Harper Hood’s lineless face. Harper attempted what should have been a smile.
    “Good morning, Catharine,” she said. There was a click as Harper opened the side door. “We’d like to take you for coffee.”
    The window rolled down so that Mac could see Olivia in the backseat, the same forced smile on her face. The two of them reminded Mac of crocodiles and she immediately regretted leaving Toby back at the mansion. Olivia patted the leather seat in front of her with her bony hand,
    “It’s a beautiful morning. Come for a ride,” she said. Her voice had a forced friendliness that sent warning bells ringing loudly through Mac’s head.
    “I’m not a big coffee fan, but thanks.” Mac said. She stuffed her earbuds back in hastily and made to move around the front of the Range Rover to cross the street. Before she could take more than a few strides, Harper lurched the vehicle forward, blocking Mac’s path once again.
    Mac frowned. She was more than a little annoyed now and was starting to get a little nervous as well.
    “Really?” she asked. “Harper? Are you serious?”
    Olivia leaned forward more, those big white teeth of hers glinting in the dark of the backseat. “We won’t keep you. We swear,” she said.
    Harper lowered her sunglasses and looked at Mac coldly. It was clear she wasn’t going to try to charm Mac into