Scrappy Summer by Mollie Cox Bryan Read Free Book Online

street.
     She was drinking a glass of iced tea and watching the hummingbirds flit around from
     feeder to flower.
    “What are you all up to?” DeeAnn said as they made their way to her porch. All of
     them were there: Annie, Paige, Sheila, and Vera.
    Paige explained what they had been doing.
    “What?” DeeAnn said. “You all are crazy. Certifiable. I told you to leave it alone.”
    “Well, we couldn’t,” Paige said. “But we will after we try one more thing.”
    “Well, what would that be?” DeeAnn said.
    “Let’s take you through your morning when you baked the pie and took it over to the
     church.”
    DeeAnn paused. “You know, that’s a pretty good idea. It will set my mind to rest.”
    “Good,” Paige said. “How about now?”
    “Okay. Where do we start?” DeeAnn said.
    “Let’s start in your room, from the minute you got up,” Paige said.
    “Really? I don’t think we need to go that far back. Do you?” DeeAnn said.
    “Okay, let’s start in your kitchen. That the first room you go to?” Vera said.
    “Yes, after the bathroom. Do you want to go in there with me?” DeeAnn said, smiling.
    “Not really,” Paige said, heading inside the house. “Let’s start in the kitchen.”
    The women followed her in. DeeAnn led them through her morning at the house, up until
     she left for the bakery.
    “Why didn’t you bake it here?” Annie asked.
    “The ovens are much better at the bakery,” she replied. “And, now that I think about
     it, I was out of sugar and knew we’d just gotten in some supplies at the bakery the
     night before.”
    “Did you walk to the bakery or take your car?” Annie asked.
    “I walked. It’s only three blocks away. I take the car only if it’s cold or rainy,”
     DeeAnn said.
    “So let’s go,” Paige said. “Let’s make sure to take the same path.”
    “Well, that’s easy. I take the same path every day,” DeeAnn said.
    As they walked along the sidewalk, Annie suggested that DeeAnn should take another
     path every once in a while. “If someone were stalking you—”
    “Oh, Annie!” Sheila said. “This is Cumberland Creek. We don’t allow stalkers here.”
    The women laughed nervously.
    “No, just killers, apparently,” Annie said.
    “We’ve told you that was a fluke,” Sheila said.
    “Which time? There have been four murders since I moved to Cumberland Creek,” Annie
     said.
    “All of those times,” Vera answered.
    They were almost near the bakery. DeeAnn whipped out her keys. “All right,” she said.
     “So far, we’ve learned nothing. I’m not sure where this is going to lead.”
    “I disagree,” Annie said. “We’ve learned that you take the same route every day. And
     we’ve learned that you were out of sugar and that the ovens at the bakery are better
     than yours. That’s at least three things that might prove useful.”
    The women stopped momentarily and all looked at Annie.
    “You finished with that book yet?” Vera asked.
    “Yes, I finished it last week. Just waiting for the editor to get back to me.”
    “You need to find another project, woman,” Vera said.
    Annie laughed. “You might be right.”
    They continued to walk down the almost dark streets of Cumberland Creek. The streetlights
     were just beginning to glow. DeeAnn stopped in front of the bakery and opened the
     door. She flipped on the light and held the door open.
    “Quick. Get in. I don’t want people to think I’m open,” she said. Sheila, Vera, Paige,
     and Annie filed through the door, which DeeAnn locked promptly behind them.
    “Okay, what was the first thing you did?” Paige asked.
    “I made coffee,” she said, walking to the back, where the staff coffee machine was.
     “Do I need to actually make it?”
    “I don’t think so. Just go and stand over there. Maybe it will jar something in your
     brain,” Annie said.
    DeeAnn stood there and fussed around a bit with the coffee. “The new girl,” she said.
     “She never seems to get things