Fudge Brownies & Murder - Culinary Competition Mystery #4

Chapter 8

(Amy)

"Hey, where are you going?" Alex called as Amy tumbled out of bed.

It was mid-morning, and after skipping breakfast, her body was running on fumes. She needed some caffeine so she could enjoy her husband for a little while longer. Luckily, their bedroom was fully equipped for emergency coffee situations.

"I'm just making a quick cup of coffee," she said as she popped a filter pod of dark French roast into the coffee maker's basket. Not many people had a beverage station in their bedroom, but she wasn't like most people. Alex and her friends told her that all the time. "Do you want one too?"

"Sure. But I would like you to come back to bed even more."

Amy measured the water and got the lifesaving appliance brewing as quickly as possible. Both of her husband's requests were easy to fulfill. She giggled as she climbed over the end of the bed and crawled like a cat over the comforter. Making coffee in the nude was a bit chilly, especially after getting toasty warm under the covers with Alex. "Warm me up. I'm cold now."

"My pleasure," he said as he rolled to face her. His hand was deliciously warm as he slid it over her thigh and up to her waist.

She wiggled closer until every possible bit of her body was touching him. The rich scent of coffee drifted around them as Alex used his hands and lips to make her melt into a puddle. He had arrived home from his extreme sports adventure with his friends after 11:00 p.m. Both of them had been tired, her from freaking out that Carla's baby was so close to arriving and him from driving home from Tennessee. So they fell asleep nestled against each other as though they were a teaspoon and a tablespoon in a silverware drawer. The peaceful night of sleep led to a frenzied morning. Absence obviously did make the heart grow fonder. Or at least it made married people grow friskier. Poor Pogo had disappeared hours earlier, running down the stairs yelping in distress over the X-rated private display of affection.

When the coffee maker finished its chore, Amy got out of bed again, this time grabbing her flannel robe off the nearby chair. She made two mugs of coffee with lots of sugar and a touch of vanilla-flavored powdered creamer. Not her favorite way to take her coffee, but there was no way she was running downstairs to get half-and-half out of the refrigerator. The shelf-stable, non-dairy creamer she kept in a jar next to the mugs would do at the moment. The whole point of having the beverage area in the bedroom was to save trips to the kitchen. She set both mugs on the nightstand beside Alex then climbed onto the edge of the bed beside him. He scooted toward the middle of the bed so she had more room to curl up her legs under the warm robe. She grabbed her pink mug, took a sip of the coffee, and said, "I need to get cleaned up soon. I promised Shepler I would go to the airport with him to pick up Carla's mom. She's flying in from New Zealand this afternoon."

Alex traced his finger down her arm. She shivered despite being warm and cozy. "He's a big boy. I think he can handle picking her up on his own. Stay here with me."

She shook her head. No matter how much she wanted to stay with her husband, she still wanted to help Shepler since he had saved her life, married her best friend, and helped produce Amy's future godchild. Luckily she knew how to get her husband to ease up on his very convincing tactics to get her to stay. "I promised him I would go. This will be the first time either one of us has met her. Would you like it if you had to go to the airport to pick up my mom by yourself?"

"No, but I'd bet Carla's mom is very different than yours."

"Let's hope so."

He gently took the mug from her hands and set it back down. "Okay, I see your point. Go ahead and help the poor guy out. I'm sure he's stressed enough about becoming a daddy. He could use some help just in case the first encounter with his mother-in-law goes south. I doubt Carla's mom will be anything like yours, but you never know."