Silenced by Sugar Read online

  I knew what it was like to have dreams that didn't come true. Although content with my life and grateful for all that I had—a wonderful husband, house, cute little dog, and my business—I still desperately wanted a child more than anything.

  I went to place a hand on her arm, but she quickly turned and strode into the back room, our kitchen and prep area. "Let's start cleaning up so that after this Kelly splits, we can get out on time. I promised the boys I'd make my homemade pizza tonight, and you know how they hate to be kept waiting. I'm using the crust recipe that your grandmother gave me."

  "Sure thing." Josie wasn't the type to cry over spilled milk, and I knew better than to pursue the conversation further. "Grandma offered to make braciole for us tonight since it's our six-month anniversary."

  "Your grandmother is the best cook I know," Josie said. Food and Grandma Rosa were always safe topics because everyone loved them both. "Are you going to your parents for dinner?" she asked.

  I shook my head. "No. Mike said this morning that he has a surprise for me."

  "I'll bet he does," Josie said wickedly.

  My cheeks warmed. "Ha ha. I think he's planning to cook for me."

  "No offense to your hunk of man there," Josie said, "but I think I would have taken the braciole. But then again, I'm not a newlywed anymore. Let me go put the garbage outside."

  As she let herself out the back door, the bells jingled again, and a woman about my age walked into the shop. She had short, light brown hair in a blunt cut, hazel eyes, a pert nose, and a wide mouth. Although we were the same five-foot-three-inch height, she had at least ten pounds on me.

  The woman approached me and tossed her head in an arrogant sort of way. "Hi, are you Sally Muccio? I'm Kelly Thompson, Donna Dooley's personal assistant."

  "Nice to meet you." I extended my hand. After staring at it for a moment, she reluctantly shook it. Something about this woman registered high on my dislike radar, but I always tried not to judge people. "I've been expecting you. Would you like to sit down?"

  Kelly pulled a chair back, flopped down on it, and pulled out a leather-bound notebook from a black designer attaché case. "Okay, let's see. Donna has you booked on Thursday's show. She's calling it "A Fortune Lover's Treat." Got any extras of the cookies lying around? I'd love to see what all the fuss is about."

  "Sure." I went behind the display case, grabbed a piece of wax paper, and lifted two of the cookies from the tray. Both had been dipped in chocolate and sprinkles.

  Kelly examined the cookies with interest and immediately broke one apart. As she read the enclosed fortune, her thin lips pressed together into a frown. "Wow. Is this some kind of a sick joke?"

  She held up the paper so I could read it. Too many sweets can be deadly.

  "The messages tend to be a bit weird at times," I admitted. "We don't write them. They come from a novelty store." Her fortune was not exactly great advertising for my bakery, but hey, it could have been worse. In the past year and a half, I had considered discontinuing the cookies because of their creepy messages, which always seemed to come true in some shape or form. However, they were a big attraction for customers, and with Thursday's show imminent, it looked like we'd be making them for quite some time to come.

  Kelly threw the paper on the table and scowled. "I'm a diabetic and don't appreciate messages like that."

  Of all the worse luck. "I'm terribly sorry. It certainly wasn't intentional."

  She looked down her nose at me. "I own a bakery too, you know. It's located over in Colgate and called Naturally Delish. We're entirely sugar free." The pride in her voice was apparent.

  "Oh yes, of course. I've heard of the place." It was more successful than my own, and I always saw paid advertisements for it in the newspapers. She had been in business much longer than me, at least seven or eight years. "I'll bet it's wonderful."

  Kelly glanced around the shop, and I felt a surge of pride as her eyes traveled over the blue and white checkered vinyl floor, cream-colored walls, and the silver-framed artwork that adorned it. After the fire at our former location, Mike had managed to transform this shop into almost an exact replica of the previous one. Some days I still couldn't believe it was all mine. I felt certain that Kelly was going to return the compliment and perhaps say something about how cute my place was. The words that did fall out of her mouth were quite a surprise.

  "Yeah. My bakery has a lot of class. Unlike certain others."

  My mouth dropped open in shock, but somehow I managed to turn it into a smile. Wow. How rude is this woman? I was still trying to think of a response when I spotted Josie headed in our direction. She was cleaning her hands off with a disinfectant wipe.

  "Wouldn't you know that stupid bag broke? I had to—" Josie's voice trailed off when her eyes focused on Kelly's face. Kelly returned the gaze, and I couldn't help but notice how her tanned complexion quickly paled.

  Josie's hands immediately balled into fists at her sides, and her clear blue eyes practically bulged out of her head. "What are you doing here?"

  Kelly gave her a superior smile. "Hello, Josie. Long time no see."

  Josie pointed at the door. "Leave now before I throw you out."

  CHAPTER TWO

  Baffled, I stared at my friend. "What's the matter with you? This is Donna's assistant, Kelly."

  "Kelly Connors," Josie said as a way of explanation. "She sabotaged my dessert back in culinary school. I should have won that contest."

  Josie had enlightened me several times with the tale of a flambé dessert gone wrong. She swore that one of her classmates, jealous of Josie's near perfect marks and desserts, had done something to make her creation resemble a forest fire.

  "Thompson is my last name now." Kelly ignored the death glare Josie shot her and gaily showed off the impressive rock on her left hand. It was so large that it made my own one-carat diamond look like it had come out of a gumball machine. "I can't believe you're still sore about that. You have no one to blame but yourself."

  Josie gritted her teeth together in contempt. "Get out of here this minute before I tear your freaking head off."

  Unfortunately, Josie used another word similar to freaking. Startled, I rose to my feet and placed a hand on her arm. "Why don't you go ahead and take off. I'll talk to Kelly about the show on Thursday and then close up."

  "Like hell." Josie shook my hand off. "She might try to set you on fire too!"

  Good grief. "You're making a fool out of yourself," I hissed.

  Kelly leaned back in her seat, clearly enjoying the show that we were putting on for her solo benefit. "Still the same old Josie Brooks. Oh, wait a second. What's your married name now? Didn't you leave school because you suddenly got a little fat?"

  Josie started toward Kelly, and it took every ounce of my strength to push her in the direction of the back room instead. "Help yourself to a cup of coffee," I called to Kelly over my shoulder and then added a quick lie. "We need to have a quick chat about one of our orders."

  Josie picked up a dish from the counter, and for a moment I was afraid she might hurl it in the direction of Kelly. Suddenly she took a deep breath and then dropped it into the sink. Despite the fact she was taller than I was, I placed my hands on her shoulders.

  "I hate that woman!" Josie screeched.

  "Okay, this happened—what, ten years ago?" I asked. "You need to calm down and let it go."

  Josie closed her eyes for a moment, as if struggling for composure. "I can't believe that she's Donna's assistant. How is that even possible? From what I've heard, she barely passed culinary school."

  She picked the dish up again, and I braced myself, waiting for her to fling it at the wall. When Josie saw my face, the anger began to dissipate from hers. "I'm sorry, Sal. I shouldn't be taking this out on you. The problem is that I'm angry at myself for allowing her to pull that over on me. I was such a laughing stock at school for weeks after the competition. It still pisses me off that she played dirty and got away with it."

  "L
ook," I said. "Maybe this television appearance isn't a good idea. You're going to have to see Kelly during the taping and probably will have to talk to her." I remembered how in past episodes of the show, Donna sometimes called her assistant on stage to deliver ingredients or pass out prizes to members of the studio audience. I winced at the mental image of Josie flinging fortune cookies at Kelly's head. "Maybe I should call Donna and pass."

  Josie looked startled. "No. You can't miss out on an opportunity like this."

  "I'm more worried about your well-being." To tell the truth, I was also concerned about her and Kelly getting into a fistfight in front of the studio audience. Josie had been known to throw a few punches back in her day during high school, but fortunately, I'd never been the recipient of one. She'd even given her husband, Rob, a black eye once when they were dating, although he'd never laid a hand on her in return. He'd laughed about the incident with me and Mike and said it had only made Josie appear more endearing to him. Go figure.

  For some reason I didn't think Donna would appreciate it if her assistant showed up at the taping with a fat lip. "I don't want Kelly upsetting you."

  Josie shook her head. "That's not fair to you. It's your shop, and this will be a great opportunity for more business. I can control myself around her."

  I deftly raised one eyebrow and wished that this was true but had my doubts. Josie was known for her quick temper, and if Kelly started something, she would be sure to finish it. "Jos, it's really not a—"

  "No. We're doing it." Without another word to me, she whirled around and went back into the front room as I followed, mystified.

  Kelly was texting on her phone but looked up as we entered. She gave us both a pretentious grin. "How are we doing, ladies? Ready to back out of the show on Thursday?"

  "Not a chance," Josie growled. "We'll be there. Just make sure that you stay out of my way."

  Kelly held her hands up in front of her face and shook them. "Ooh. Threats now. I'm so scared."

  Okay, I needed to get this woman out of my shop—now. I sandwiched myself in between Kelly's seat and where Josie stood, hoping to serve as some type of buffer in case they started to smack each other around. "Do you have something for me to sign or instructions for the show?"

  Kelly handed me a manila envelope. "All of the details are inside. You'll need to be at the station by one o'clock for the taping. It's being held at Channel 13's studio in Buffalo, WBSN, which is about 45 minutes away from here." She gave Josie a triumphant smile. "Right across the street from our alma mater. Well, my alma mater anyway."

  Josie sucked in so much air that if she'd been a helium balloon, she might have burst at that precise moment.

  "I know the place. How long will it take?" I hated to close the shop for the entire day. Right now, with business so slow, we needed every sale we could get our hands on. We did have a part-time driver who helped out at the counter sometimes, but I wasn't sure if he could handle things alone. At least we could stay open until noon.

  "You should plan on being there for the entire afternoon, although the actual taping segment should take under an hour." Kelly gathered her purse and briefcase and rose to her feet. She extended her hand to me. "Donna's going to be featuring my bakery next month. This is a great opportunity for your shop, so be sure that you don't do anything stupid."

  My cheeks burned. "Excuse me?"

  "Sorry, Sally," she said soothingly. "I meant make sure your employee doesn't do anything stupid." She handed me her business card. "Call if you have any questions." Kelly shot Josie an evil smile and then without another word pushed the door open gleefully, the bells jingling in time with her departure. She crossed the street to where her Lexus was parked.

  The first round was over. Kelly one, Josie zero.

  "That witch," Josie said between clenched teeth. "She hasn't changed a bit in ten years. Still the same conceited little snob who thinks she's better than everyone else."

  I turned the Come In, We're Open sign around to Sorry, We're Closed on the front door and pulled down the blind. "I've heard of her bakery. There are always ads in the Colwestern Times for it." They were usually a half page in size and raved about how the place used no refined white sugar. Kelly must be doing quite well for herself. The ads in our local paper were too expensive for my meager budget. The only advertising I could afford was in the local college newspaper.

  Josie had already whipped her phone out of her pocket, brandishing it as if she was in one of those old TV westerns. "Me too. But I didn't know that twit owned it. Check this out. Kelly even shows up under Wikipedia as the proprietor of Naturally Delish, a past winner on Cookie Crusades. We must have missed that episode because I'd know her mug anywhere. Then all of a sudden she's got an in with Donna and gets this job? She must have other people running her bakery. It's the only thing that makes sense."

  "It's kind of hard to run a bakery if you can't bake yourself. Then again, I'm certainly far from being an expert." Since a child, I'd dreamed of opening my own business. While I'd made a lot of progress in the last couple of years, I would never possess Josie's talent. "I'd be lost without your expertise."

  Josie flushed with pride. "Thanks, but don't sell yourself short, Sal. You have a great head for business, and you can make anything that I can."

  "With directions," I chimed in. "For the record, I remember you telling me how someone had sabotaged your attempt to win the school's baking contest. I know I'm going to regret asking this, but what exactly did she do to you and why?"

  Josie narrowed her blue eyes. "It was more than just one competition. If I told you everything that chick did to me back then, it would turn your curly, black hair into a straight blonde. Kelly told lies about me to the professors and said I cheated off the other students. One time I made these ginger cookies in class that were absolutely perfect. The texture, taste, everything. Out of this world." She brought her fingers to her lips and kissed them, an Italian gesture she'd probably gotten from my father. "The professor ate one of mine and almost choked to death right on the spot. So I tried one. How interesting. It seemed that someone had replaced the sugar with salt."

  "Ouch." I winced. "But how do you know that—"

  "Let me finish," Josie interrupted. "I had one test cookie, ate it, and was happy with the results. Then I left the room for a minute—I had to take a phone call in private. A classmate swore to me later that she saw Kelly heading toward my station with the salt container. She didn't actually see Kelly commit the deed, but hey, that was good enough for me."

  Her voice choked up. "And then of course, there was the matter of the baking competition. The prizes were a gold apron and five hundred dollars. I could have used that prestige to help me hunt for a job after I learned I was pregnant. Cherries jubilee was my dish. For that dessert you normally use brandy as the liquor of choice. Someone replaced the brandy I had in the bottle at my station with Bacardi 151."

  My hands flew to my mouth. "Holy cow." That stuff was almost potent enough to burn holes through clothing. Mike's mother had been an alcoholic, and I vividly remembered the empty bottles of Bacardi at their house when we'd dated in high school. Tonya Donovan had ended up dying of cirrhosis while I had been married to Colin. "You never told me what kind was used before."

  Bitterness permeated Josie's tone. "It was too upsetting to talk about back then, even with you, so I skimmed over the details. Anyhow, it's a good thing that I only used a small amount. The smell of Bacardi is very strong, but I had a cold that week, and my senses were off. I used the torch to light the dessert and was lucky that the school and I didn't go up in flames. Good thing that there was a fire extinguisher nearby."

  "What makes you think it was Kelly?"

  "Later that night, I received a call from a private number. The person spoke only one line when I answered. 'Life's a cherries jubilee, but you're stuck with the pits.' I knew it was her voice, but how could I prove it? Kelly ended up winning the competition." Josie's lower lip quivered slightly.

/>   This rendered me speechless. How could anyone be so cruel?

  "Oh, and there's more," Josie went on. "Right before the competition, she found out through a mutual friend that I was pregnant and spread it around the entire school like wildfire. My professor treated me differently after that. Remember how bad I had morning sickness? It all became too much for me to deal with."

  It hurt for me to hear this story, but I knew it was important for her to get this boulder off her chest. In the early stages of her pregnancy, Josie had confided to me that just looking at food she had to prepare for class made her ill. Things had gotten so stressful between her parents' attitude, school, and constantly being sick that she was afraid it might affect the baby and had decided to drop out.

  I placed my arm around her shoulders. "What was Kelly's problem? Why would she single you out like that and be so rotten?"

  She wiped her eyes with her apron. "There was a guy in our class she had a huge crush on. His name was Will Chester, and he made it obvious that he was interested in me. I told him repeatedly that I was dating someone else, but he was very persistent. Every time Kelly caught us talking, she looked like she'd just sucked down a bottle of lemon juice."

  I burst out into laughter. "Well, I can certainly understand why you don't like her."

  "Don't like isn't strong enough," Josie declared. "I hate her flaming guts. Yes, pun intended."

  My phone buzzed at that moment. I removed it from my jeans pocket and saw Mike's name pop up on the screen. He didn't usually call during the workday. While my business was dwindling, he could not keep up with his. Winter was known as a slow time in the construction industry, but he had enough indoor jobs lined up to last him until spring.

  Josie saw his name and waved me off. "Take the call from hubby. I'll finish cleaning up so we can get out of here." She walked briskly into the back room.