Bite the Biscuit (A Barkery & Biscuits Mystery) Read Online Free Page A

the interest on the faces around me.
    “Thanks for coming,” I told their owners. “I’ll be back here with more samples soon, but I need to visit the bakery next door.”
    “I need to get back to the clinic,” Arvie told me.
    Impulsively, I gave him a hug. “I’ll be there for my shift tomorrow afternoon as promised.” I glanced at Reed, wondering if he’d be there then. No matter.
    But Reed said, “I’ll see you then.”
    Which made me smile.
    At least until I glanced at the corner where the Ethmans still stood talking with their uncle and Billi Matlock. Why hadn’t they left already? They didn’t like my place, and I didn’t like their being here.
    As if she felt my glance, Myra looked in my direction and scowled.
    Maybe I needed to give her a hint. I maneuvered my way through the crowd toward them. “I’m so delighted that you’re still here,” I lied, raising my voice so people could hear. “It shows how much you support my new venture.”
    “You know we hate it,” Myra responded icily.
    “Then you are very welcome,” I said sweetly, smiling all the more, “to leave.”

THREE
    I GESTURED GRANDLY, LIKE a TV hostess, in the direction of the door, then turned away quickly without confirming whether my now-even-more-unwelcome guests were heading toward it. It was time for me to go into the kitchen.
    Leaving the mostly happy rumblings of my customers behind me for a second, I stepped into the Barkery side of the kitchen and approached the center dividing shelves to fill another tray with sample dog treats. I headed back just long enough to lay the tray down on the counter near where Judy was working the cash register. Then I hurried into Icing.
    This shop was just as crowded with guests as the Barkery, and I knew some of them here too. I was thrilled! People were shoulder-to-shoulder even as my other assistant Dinah maneuvered her way among them with a tray of human treats: chocolate chip and sugar cookies and mini-scones and more.
    Brenda was still there too, schmoozing with our guests, handing out samples of our sweets, saying farewell to those she knew. I decided just to observe before stepping in and showing that I was now the boss—at least, Dinah’s boss. When and if Brenda would ever return was still up in the air. I’d promised Brenda she could always come back and help me—knowing that would only happen if her mother didn’t survive.
    In any case, I’d officially purchased her business, thanks to Arvie’s loan.
    I crossed my arms and rested my back against the jamb of the door into the kitchen, grinning as I observed. Dinah seemed in her glory, giving out the samples, smiling and encouraging people to taste and then buy some of the people-focused baked goods.
    When I’d first met Dinah, I’d thought her awfully young for the job of full-time bakery assistant. She looked as though she must still be in high school, with her huge blue eyes, slightly acned skin, and a body that appeared to bear some baby fat. Turned out I was wrong. She had even finished college, gotten her degree in English, and considered herself a writer in her spare time. For now, she said, she was not only studying baking while working with Brenda, but was using Knobcone Heights as a research venue while she studied people.
    I liked her. I also liked Judy.
    What I didn’t like was their incessant sniping at one another. When Brenda had started talking about having to leave to care for her mom, both assistants thought their boss would turn the bakery over to one of them. And each felt certain that she’d be the chosen one.
    Instead, Brenda had chosen me, as well as my modifications to the store—partly because she couldn’t keep the business, and also so she wouldn’t have to choose between Judy and Dinah.
    So far, neither had quit. Both were acting as if their former allegiance to Brenda had transferred to me—even though Judy had started dropping hints about wanting to open her own bakery one of these