Doughnuts & Deadly Schemes - Culinary Competition Mystery #3

Chapter 1

(Amy)

"These are so good," Carla said as she broke off a chunk of the cinnamon maple doughnut. She popped the pastry in her mouth and washed it down with a sip of coffee. "I want a mountain of doughnuts instead of a fancy wedding cake."

Carla had said the W  word—wedding. Amy sighed as she turned back to her work. She plunged her latex-gloved hand into the bowl of blueberry glaze to retrieve the warm doughnut she had dropped during the moment of shock. The cake rings were supposed to only be dipped halfway into the lavender-colored glaze, not released to sink to the bottom of the bowl.

Her fingers closed around the wayward doughnut as she reached with her other hand to free a square of waxed paper from the dispenser box at the back of the counter. She turned to look at her best friend as she let the excess glaze drip back into the bowl. "You're thinking about wedding cakes...or at least a version of one. Does that mean you've set a date?"

Detective Bruce Shepler had asked Carla to marry him at the beginning of the year. It was a huge milestone for her formerly commitment-phobic friend, who had asked Amy to help plan the wedding right after the glittering engagement ring landed on her finger. Great. Wonderful. She would love to help. But since then the couple had refused to actually plan the wedding, saying they were too busy or hadn't figured out what they wanted. Until now.

The quip about doughnuts instead of cake was the first time Carla had mentioned the big day on her own without being prompted by Amy.

Carla grinned. "June 15."

Amy plopped the overly glazed blueberry doughnut onto the square of waxed paper and set the extra-gooey baked good on the metal-topped table in front of Carla. They were in the smaller, original kitchen of Riverbend Café that housed the doughnut makers and a pastry decorating area. Carla had stopped in for breakfast, as she often did after she finished a night shift at the hospital. She ate and chatted while Amy worked through her morning baking tasks.

"So we have a year to plan? That should be enough time to come up with a fabulous wedding," Amy said as she resumed her icing duties. She needed to catch up. Sophie, the café's owner, had been quietly churning out doughnuts while Amy was distracted by the big wedding announcement. She deposited two perfectly glazed doughnuts onto a cooling rack and turned to look at Carla as she grabbed two more naked doughnuts. Her friend was pretending to be completely engrossed in studying the newly delivered sweet treat. Amy cleared her throat.

"Not a year." Carla looked up and met her gaze. "About three weeks from now."

This time both of the unusually slippery doughnuts escaped from Amy's grasp. They ricocheted off the edge of the stainless steel worktable then rolled across the white tile floor before ending their journey in front of the convection oven. Her mind would likely follow suit with all of her mental marbles rolling away, possibly never to be found again.

"We can't coordinate a wedding in less than three weeks! It would take an army of people working around the clock to pull that off."

"Awesome! Congrats," Sophie said as she used a chopstick to transfer a hot doughnut onto the cooling rack that was positioned on the counter between her and Amy. "You are a brave woman to put together a wedding that quickly. Heroically brave to spring this on the Over-Planning Queen."

Amy narrowed her eyes at her boss and second best friend who knew that she liked to plan things out, step-by-step, every last detail orchestrated to the minute. It was just the way her mind worked, and the propensity to plan ahead had served her well in many cooking contests. Amy grunted as she stooped to pick up the well-traveled doughnuts.