The Chocolate Moose Motive: A Chocoholic Mystery by JoAnna Carl Read Free Book Online Page A

out you came to see me, or you’ll be going to a hotel.”
    “I told him I was going to see you, and he didn’t warn me off. How about a quick drink?”
    Sissy shook her head. “No thanks, Chip. I have to pick up Johnny.”
    “Later? Tomorrow?”
    “Thanks, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
    I suddenly realized I was staring, watching the whole scene as if it were any of my business. Wake up, I told myself firmly. Mind your own business for once.
    I slammed my desk drawer and moved toward my office door. Of course, to get to my parking space behind the shop I had to pass Sissy and the big handsome guy. I turned sideways and tried to edge past them.
    “Lee.” Sissy stopped me. “This is Chip Smith. He’s Buzz’s cousin, and he was also his best friend.”
    We shook hands and made polite noises.
    “I overheard you say you’re on leave, Chip,” I said. “Are you serving in the military?”
    “No, I work for a defense contractor. I’ve been posted abroad for two years.”
    “That sounds like hard duty.”
    “Not so bad.”
    All this time we’d had the door between the shop and the workroom blocked, and I became aware that Sissy was tryingto edge toward the front of the shop. I moved aside, trying to open a path for her. “Did you say you need to pick up your little boy, Sissy?”
    “Yes, I do. Chip, it’s great to see you.”
    “I want to see Johnny, too. He was brand-new the last time I was home.”
    “That would be nice. Call me and we’ll arrange a playdate for you. But be sure you feel up to a strenuous piggyback session.”
    She and Chip both laughed, and he also turned toward the outside door. “At least I can walk you to your car.”
    All of us in the shop—Tracy, Mary Ann, and I—were concentrating on Sissy and Chip, and Sissy and Chip were concentrating on each other. I guess that was why the loud banging noise made all five of us jump about a foot off the floor.
    We all whirled toward the sound, each of us gasping or even, in Tracy’s case, giving a tiny scream.
    The noise, I realized, had merely been someone rapping on the window.
    And that someone was Ace Smith, Sissy’s father-in-law.
    He was standing outside, peering inside, a hand raised as a shield against the sun.
    Sissy stopped short. “Chip, you go on without me,” she said.
    “Sissy…”
    “I don’t want to see Ace today. I’m sure you understand.”
    Chip’s big friendly face took on a miserable expression, but he nodded and left without further questions.
    “Come on, Sissy,” I said. “We’ll go out the back, and I’ll give you a ride over to the parking lot.”
    “Thanks, Lee. I didn’t mean to insert my family problems into the workplace. I’ll try not to do it again.”
    So Sissy and I talked about other things as I drove the two blocks to Warner Pier’s downtown parking lot, where one section is reserved for local employees. I resisted asking her about Chip, and she told me about Johnny, who was fourteen months old. He was, she reported proudly, a beautiful, intelligent, and lively little boy. We parted with a cheerful good-bye.
    So ended Sissy’s first day at TenHuis Chocolade.
    That summer, Joe and I had been sitting out in the yard after dinner every evening. We had a reason besides just enjoying the twilight; a great horned owl had shown up in the neighborhood, and if we sat out there, covered with mosquito repellent and talking quietly, we usually saw her glide silently along over our lane. We knew the owl was a she because Joe had spotted her nest in a hollow in one of our maples. Using binoculars, we’d seen the giant owlet the nest had held, and we’d even seen the young owl take one of its first flights.
    According to the bird book, a great horned owl has a wingspread of fifty-five inches. That’s about four and a half feet. This was one big bird. She preyed on field mice and other small rodents, so she was a very nice bird to have visiting our yard. But she was so huge and so silent