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

days.
    Would their truce last? I wasn’t sure, but one thing I did know was that I appreciated the knowledge and dedication of both of them. Despite how much I loved to bake for dogs, my training and experience were all as a veterinary assistant. Though I’d fantasized for a long time about becoming an entrepreneur and being in charge, what I knew about running a store was only as a patron, not as an owner/manager. Till now.
    So far, both Dinah and Judy had been great about showing me how things were done. They knew the pastry recipes Brenda used and had each demonstrated how to bake cupcakes and muffins and more. Even though Brenda had tutored me on how to use the identical cash registers on the counters beside the display cases in each store, as well as how to do the bookkeeping on the computer kept in the office at the rear of the kitchen, the two assistants vowed to make sure I didn’t flub processing credit cards or cash when I rang up sales.
    The office was new, and very small. I’d added it during remodeling just so I’d have a door to lock my computer, credit cards, and accounting information behind. It held only a small desk, with a laptop computer that was usually closed, plus a chair and a two-drawer file cabinet.
    And my assistants? I suspected that having only two of them to help run two shops wouldn’t work well, especially when we’d be open every day and I worked part-time elsewhere. But both Judy and Dinah had seemed eager to give it a try, so I hadn’t spent the time or money to hire anyone else—yet. I’d just have to see how things worked out now that both stores were open.
    I’d been observing long enough. Smiling, I strode into the shop and approached Brenda. She was clasping hands with an older lady I didn’t know. When the lady looked at me, Brenda followed her gaze. Tears shone in her eyes.
    “Carrie, I want to introduce you to Cecilia Young. Cece is a teacher here in Knobcone—sixth grade—and she’s been a fan of Icing on the Cake from the moment I opened the doors.”
    “Great to meet you, Cece,” I said, holding out my hand. She grasped it in her own light and cool grip. She was a slight woman, clad in a shapeless gray party dress with a frilly hemline.
    “Likewise.” She looked up at me from brown eyes peering out among myriad wrinkles. “Are you going to do as good a job of baking as my friend Brenda?”
    I couldn’t help an uncomfortable laugh. “No one’s as good as Brenda, but I’m going to do my best. And fortunately she’s left her wonderful assistants to whip me into shape.”
    The woman nodded, and only then did she smile at me, baring teeth so white I wondered if they were implants. “Well, my favorites are the blueberry scones. If they’re not as good, I’ll let you know.”
    “Thanks,” I told her, actually feeling sincere. I’d rather someone tell me to shape up than to lose customers without knowing why. “Do you happen to have a dog?” If so, I’d make sure she got some of my canine treats from next door.
    “No, but I just adopted a kitten from Mountaintop Rescue.”
    That was the shelter run by Councilwoman Billi Matlock. Billi had already gotten a small selection of my treats as samples to take to her canine wards when she’d brought some of them into the veterinary clinic. Now that my Barkery was open, she would get even more.
    “Then maybe I’ll see you at the veterinary clinic,” I told Cece. “I still work there part-time as a vet tech.”
    “Just make sure you don’t bite off more than you can chew, Carrie,” she said. Her gaze now was hard and assessing, and even a little unnerving from such a small and wizened woman. I suspected that she had no trouble at all keeping her students in line. Even I nearly swallowed hard and promised to be good.
    But all I said was “Never!” punctuated with a friendly grin. “I’d better mingle a bit, so please excuse me, Cece.”
    She nodded and I moved away, glancing encouragingly at Brenda. Her