When Magic Is Murder (Sky High Pies Cozy Mysteries Book 4) by Mary Maxwell Read Free Book Online Page B

against her forehead. “You guys are so cute together. I’m
really glad Blanche Speltzer worked her magic and introduced you two.”
    I winked at Zack. He responded with
a smile. Our running joke was that Blanche claimed to have introduced us
through her matchmaking service although we’d actually met when he took my
picture for the Crescent Creek Gazette article.
    “That makes three of us, Rita.”
Zack smiled at her while nudging my leg under the table. “We’re so lucky that
Blanche waved her magic wand.”
    When Rita realized he was joking,
she giggled again and headed for the bar.
    “She’s great,” Zack said. “Luigi’s
got one of the best groups in town. Don’t you think?”
    “Other than the gang at Sky High?”
    “Well, yeah! Other than you, Julia
and Harper.”
    “I know what you meant,” I said.
“And I agree; Luigi’s got the knack for the business.”
    “And the place is packed tonight,”
Zack said. “A bachelorette party come through the door about ten minutes before
you got here. From the way they were carrying on, I’d say the cocktails started
flowing long before they climbed out of their stretch limo.”
    “They were supposed to be at
Crescent Creek Lodge,” I said. “But Connie quickly found alternate venues for
each of the three special events she had on the books for tonight.”
    Zack nodded somberly. “Do you know
what happened?” he asked. “With the guy in the gazebo?”
    I shook my head. “Dina’s on the
case,” I said. “So far it’s a deceased John Doe, a big headache for Connie and
a bunch of unanswered questions.”
    “I hope they find whoever’s
responsible soon.”
    “Can’t argue with that,” I agreed.
    “You know, I saw a couple of guys
that work for Connie get into a pretty intense scuffle the other night,” Zack
said, lowering his voice. “I don’t know their names, but it involved somebody
from Boulder. They really went at it until Eli bounced ’em out the door.”
    “Who’s Eli?”
    “Bartender,” Zack said, smiling.
“The guy’s a beast! Two hundred and fifty pounds of pure muscle.”
    “And where did this happen?”
    “At Bier Haus,” Zack answered.
“That new place on Overlook.”
    “The one with the giant sourdough
pretzels and ten kinds of mustard?”
    He smiled. “Somebody’s hungry,
huh?”
    “Starving!” I admitted. “I was
going to grab a smoothie or something earlier, but my plans got derailed once
Jasper—”
    “Can I interrupt?” Rita asked,
returning with our bottle of wine and two sparkling glasses. While she opened
the soave and poured for us, we listened to her describe the specials for the
night.
    “Do you need a few minutes to
decide?” she asked after reciting the two featured desserts, a Strawberry
Pistachio Semifreddo and Hazelnut-Honey Struffoli.
    Zack smiled at the mention of the
sweet treats. “I don’t know what either of those things are,” he said, “but I
think the answer is yes!”
    Rita snickered. “The Semifreddo is
kind of like frozen mousse,” she explained. “And the Struffoli is a scrumptious
mound of little fried doughy nuggets drizzled with honey and chopped
hazelnuts.”
    Zack’s eyebrows shot upward. “Well,
then the answer is absolutely yes!” he cheered. “We’ll have one of
each.”
    “And what would you like for
dinner?” Rita shifted her gaze between the two of us like a ping pong ball. “Or
do you need a few more minutes?”
    Zack reached across the table and
took my hand. “A few more minutes would be perfect,” he said. “We’re in no
hurry tonight.”

CHAPTER
10
     
     
    Three hours later, following a
leisurely dinner at Luigi’s, a moonlit stroll through downtown Crescent Creek
and an unhurried goodnight kiss that seemed to last forever, I pulled into my
usual parking spot in the back of Sky High Pies.
    “How is it possible?” I said to my
reflection in the rearview mirror. “A great man, a thriving business and a—”
    The jarring clatter of my