Sugar and Iced (Cupcake Bakery Mystery) by Jenn McKinlay Read Free Book Online Page B

patience.”
    “Well, maybe a week or two in the cupcake van will get him motivated to seek his fortune.”
    Angie made a grumbling sound that Mel took as assent.
    The swinging door to the kitchen opened and Mel glanced up, expecting to see Tate coming back ready to debate his tenure in the cupcake van now that he’d had a chance to think it over.
    Instead, it was Oz. He was dressed in his usual black clothing with his blue Fairy Tale Cupcakes apron on. His bangs hung down past his nose, which always made Mel regard him as the bakery’s own personal Muppet.
    “’Sup, Oz?” she asked. She did love to talk in teenspeak with him.
    “Lupe,” he said. “I’m concerned.”
    “About the pageant?” Mel asked. “See? Doesn’t it bother you to have your friend evaluated on her looks like she’s just a hollowed-out shell?”
    Angie rolled her eyes and murmured, “Scholarship.”
    “No, actually, I’m worried that she has no talent,” he said. “I mean, really, other than study, that girl can’t do a thing. What is she going to do?”
    “You seem awfully twitchy, Oz.” Angie narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. “Uh-oh, you’ve got it bad, don’t you?”
    “Got what?” he asked.
    “You’ve got feelings for Lupe, don’t you?” Angie asked.
    Oz shook his head and said, “Just friends.”
    At least that’s what Mel thought he said. It was hard to tell since he was growling.
    “Please,” Angie said. “Would you care this much if she was just a friend?”
    “Yeah,” Oz said. Sarcasm enriched the word with a sprinkling of attitude and more syllables than necessary. “I put up one hundred dollars. That’s one hundred reasons to care right there.”
    Mel raised her hands before Angie could poke holes in his defense. “Oz, between my mother and Ginny, they’ll have a talent for Lupe. Don’t worry.”
    Oz stared at her for a long moment, then nodded and went back to the bakery.
    “Really?” Angie asked. “You think they’ll be able to figure that out in a couple of days?”
    “Oh, heck no,” Mel said. “But there’s no need for Oz to make himself crazy over it.”
    “Interesting,” Angie said. She narrowed her gaze at Mel.
    “What?” Mel asked, not enjoying the scrutiny.
    “I just have to wonder,” Angie said. “Since you’ve obviously gone pro in the fibbing department, what else are you hiding?”
    “Nothing,” Mel insisted. She hoped Angie didn’t notice that she didn’t meet her eyes.

Eight

    They used the van to deliver the cupcake tier on the first day of the pageant. After helping them to set up, Tate took off to hit the downtown lunchtime crowd while Marty held down the bakery until Oz joined him after school.
    The resort had given Mel and Angie a nice piece of lobby real estate. They were nestled in an alcove between the bar that led to the pool patio and the hallway that led to the pageant events. Today was the interview day. This was the day when the candidates met individually with the three judges so that the judges could get a feel for their personalities.
    Cici dragged Mel and Angie into the interview room to meet the judges before the interviews began. Mariel had been too busy barking at someone on her cell phone to do more than wave at them, quite dismissively, but the other two were personable enough. Lexi Armstrong, a willowy brunette, stood and shook their hands.
    “I’ve heard an awful lot about you two,” she said.
    Mel and Angie exchanged a look. Was this good or bad?
    “Lexi is the features director at
Southwest Style
magazine,” Cici said.
    “Oh!” Mel clapped her hands together. She and Angie had become friends with the staff of the magazine after they did a spread on the bakery for one of their issues. “How is everyone at SWS?”
    “They’re doing fine,” Lexi said. She glanced at the phone in her hand. “Oh, but Justin Freehold wanted me to give you a message. Hang on. It’s in my phone. He said to say, “‘I like a woman who can take it