Revenge Is Sweet Read online

  In the picturesque tourist town of Fredericksburg, Texas, Tally Holt has opened a new candy store with a vintage twist . . .but there’s no sugar-coating a nasty case of murder . . .

  Tally Holt has poured her heart, soul, and bank account into Tally’s Olde Tyme Sweets, specializing in her grandmother’s delicious recipes. Tally’s homemade Mallomars, Twinkies, fudges, and taffy are a hit with visiting tourists—and with Yolanda Bella, the flamboyant owner of Bella’s Baskets next door. But both shops encounter a sour surprise when local handyman Gene Faust is found dead in Tally’s kitchen, stabbed with Yolanda’s scissors.

  The mayor’s adopted son, Gene, was a handsome Casanova with a bad habit of borrowing money from the women he wooed. It’s a sticky situation for Yolanda, who was one of his marks. There are plenty of other likely culprits among Fredericksburg’s female population, and even among Gene’s family. But unless Tally can figure out who finally had their fill of Gene’s sweet-talking ways, Yolanda—and both their fledgling businesses—may be destined for a bitter end . . .

  Books by Kaye George

  Revenge Is Sweet

  Revenge Is Sweet

  Kaye George

  LYRICAL UNDERGROUND

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  www.kensingtonbooks.com

  Contents

  Books by Kaye George

  Revenge Is Sweet

  Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Sneak Peek

  Twinkies Recipe

  Chapter 1

  Meet the Author

  Copyright

  To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

  LYRICAL UNDERGROUND BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  119 West 40th Street

  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2020 by Kaye George

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  All Kensington titles, imprints, and distributed lines are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotion, premiums, fund-raising, educational, or institutional use.

  Special book excerpts or customized printings can also be created to fit specific needs. For details, write or phone the office of the Kensington Sales Manager: Kensington Publishing Corp., 119 West 40th Street, New York, NY 10018. Attn. Sales Department. Phone: 1-800-221-2647.

  Lyrical Underground and Lyrical Underground logo Reg. US Pat. & TM Off

  First Electronic Edition: March 2020

  ISBN-13: 978-1-5161-0540-3 (ebook)

  ISBN-10: 1-5161-0540-0 (ebook)

  First Print Edition: March 2020

  ISBN-13: 978-1-5161-0543-4

  ISBN-10: 1-5161-0543-5

  Printed in the United States of America

  Dedication

  To Friendship, an awesome cat

  Acknowledgments

  I must thank the following for invaluable help with this book, and many more I’ve left off, I’m sure: Leslie Budewitz, for helping make a scene work; Brenda Miiller at the Fredericksburg Police Department; Peg Cochran and Daryl Wood Gerber, for early critiques; and all my Facebook friends who are Maine coon lovers, including Reine Harrington, Amy Mata, and Bret and Kimberly.

  Chapter 1

  Tally Holt hummed tunelessly as she stirred the marshmallow crème mixture for her Whoopie Pies, her spoon clanking on the metal bowl and keeping up a rhythm of sorts. Warm summer sunlight streamed through the paned windows of the shop kitchen, laying bright distorted squares onto the taupe granite countertop. The buttery yellow of the kitchen’s walls matched the sunlight this fine early July day.

  The name of her shop, Tally’s Olde Tyme Sweets, might have been a bit cumbersome and, according to Tally’s mother, ridiculous, but Tally liked it. She thought people would take note of the odd spellings. Already, people were stopping to gaze at her sign. She hoped that, after they’d gone home from a trip to Fredericksburg, Texas, they would remember it the next time they came.

  If her lovely shop was still here. It would be here.

  She’d gotten off to a slow start a few weeks ago, mid-June, but business picked up every day. Looking ahead to the near future, she knew August would be better, and by September the charming Texas Hill Country tourist town would be overflowing with shoppers and she meant to entice her share of them inside. She had to. She had invested everything in this venture.

  The soft chime on the front door broke into her thoughts, although the shop wasn’t open for the day yet.

  “Oh yum, I smell chocolate! Right?” Yolanda Bella burst into the kitchen after coming through the sales room. That was the way she usually entered a room, bursting into it. Today she wore an orange peasant blouse over a neon-yellow broomstick skirt. She managed to make it look good, tying everything together with a necklace of large amber chunks and a pink headband that struggled to tame her wild, curly mane of dark brown hair.

  Jeans and tees were Tally’s style, but she loved the way Yolanda always looked.

  “Don’t you touch them.” Tally pointed to the chocolate cookie wafers she’d taken from the oven minutes before. “I have exactly enough for this filling.” She gave the bowl of fluff some more strokes.

  Yolanda pursed her lips, but said she wouldn’t dream of it.

  No, Tally thought, you’ll just do it. She thought it lovingly, though. Yolanda Bella was her best friend forever, almost like a sister. She was also the reason Tally was in Fredericksburg this summer. They had been in school together whenever Tally’s family had been in town, until Yolanda went away to a Dallas boarding school. They had stayed in touch even then, getting together at every school break. The big city hadn’t stuck, and Yolanda had come home immediately after she graduated. She had never left again, though Tally had taken off for Austin a few years later.

  Now Yolanda edged ever closer to the cooling Whoopie Pie cookie crusts and Tally shuffled to put herself in the way, still stirring the marshmallow filling mixture, which was beginning to smooth out. Yolanda hadn’t noticed the batch of Mary Janes cooling farther down the counter, waiting to be rolled thin. Tally was surprised she hadn’t detected the peanut buttery smell, since they were nearly ready to eat. They only needed to be rolled out and cut. The peanut butter must have been overpowered by the chocolate smell.

  “You can help me fill these Whoopie Pies and I might give you one,” Tally said with a sly smile.

  Yolanda had no interest in baki
ng or candy making, which Tally well knew. “You know you’ll give me one anyway.” She tossed her head toward the goodies.

  That was true.

  “Listen, I had a great idea,” Yolanda said, giving up on swiping a naked cookie wafer. Instead, she pulled out a wooden stool to perch upon. “You know those dessert carts in expensive restaurants? Where the desserts are made of wax or something?”

  “I think they’re plastic, but okay? What about them?”

  “Maybe you could get some of your candies replicated for my shop window. Using your candy in my baskets is working out great. If your candy were displayed at my place, maybe pieces of your mint fudge, or maybe those chocolate-covered caramels you made yesterday, would it help people picture our products better?” She fingered the thick amber of her necklace, still gazing sideways at the wafers.

  Not a bad idea, Tally thought. “Do you want to look into the fake display candies, or should I?” she asked.

  Yolanda sighed and dropped her chin to her hand, propped on the counter. “I might as well do it. My business is so slow lately, I need something to keep myself occupied.”

  Yolanda’s hope, Tally knew, was that the two shops would help each other out. It was hers, too. Business should pick up for both of them when they got their partnership going smoothly. Tally started scooping dollops of marshmallow filling onto the chocolate cookies.

  “Mm, that smells good,” Yolanda said, perking up and, no doubt, looking forward to a finished Whoopie Pie.

  Tally plopped a top cookie onto one and handed it to her.

  “Thanks a million.” Yolanda slid off the stool with a swirl of her yellow skirt. “I’d better get to my shop and check up on Allen and Gene.”

  “What are they doing now? They finished redoing the doors, right?” Gene Faust did handyman work for both of them and had recently hired Allen Wendt, who was new in town, to help him out.

  “Yes, my doors turned out great. But now my sink is backed up.”

  “It takes two of them to unplug a drain?”

  Yolanda grinned. “I don’t mind. They’re both nice to look at.”

  Tally sobered. Yolanda had a bad habit, in the past, of picking the wrong guy. She’d done it more than twice. More than three times, in fact. “Be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

  “Never. Never again.” Her curls bounced as she shook her head with vehemence. “I’ve learned not to trust guys that I don’t know.”

  “That’s the trouble. We do know Gene.”

  Yolanda headed for the front. “Don’t believe everything you hear,” she called over her shoulder. “He’s not like that.”

  Tally wondered what that was. Gene Faust was the son of the mayor, yes, but he’d been adopted as a teenager, a wild, in-trouble teenager. General opinion in the town at the time was that his adoption was a publicity stunt, since Mayor Faust had long championed helping troubled youth. That stance probably got him elected—and kept getting him re-elected year after year. Gene was certainly troubled before the Fausts rescued him from a series of foster homes and stints in juvenile detention. And it was true that he hadn’t been publicly picked up and charged with anything since then, but was that the mayor’s influence on Gene? Or was it the mayor’s influence on the law enforcement authorities? Gene didn’t exactly behave himself, ever.

  Tally vividly remembered the handsome, blond, gray-eyed Gene stealing cars and bicycles frequently when they were in junior high. He hadn’t been old enough to drive, but he looked old enough, and being underage hadn’t stopped him. Tally vowed to pop into Yolanda’s basket shop frequently and keep track of things while Gene was working there.

  * * * *

  Yolanda walked the short distance to her shop with eager steps, but she halted before going through the front door of Bella’s Baskets. She had defended Gene to Tally, but she had to, didn’t she? No one else would.

  She knew he was in despair sometimes, wondering if he’d ever live down his former reputation. She knew other things about him, too, things that not many other people did. For instance, his adoptive father, Josef Faust, the mayor of Fredericksburg, had regretted adopting him for some time now. Gene had confided that to her. His father had even gone so far as to try to have the adoption annulled. At least twice a week he threatened to disinherit Gene, and over the most minor infractions. A dented fender when Gene borrowed his beloved BMW, returning his wife’s vintage red Mustang convertible on empty, or even leaving all the dirty pots on the stove when it was his turn to do dishes. No wonder Gene didn’t always behave properly. His father didn’t expect him to. And, even worse, his mother didn’t care. She seemed to dislike Gene even more than his father did.

  Maybe Yolanda was able to understand Gene’s family problems so well because of her own. She was the older of two daughters, no brothers, and the child of a rich, strict father and mostly emotionally absent, but disapproving mother. Her father expected his two children to grow up to be as rich as he was. He had made all his money in real estate, buying and selling at the right times. Yolanda thought he had been extremely lucky in his transactions, but he attributed his success to his business acumen.

  As for Yolanda’s basket shop, Bella’s Baskets? The shop she was passionate about and had poured all of her energy into for the past year? It was not a rousing success yet. It wasn’t even breaking even. Mr. Bella was subsidizing it, and he did not like the fact that his own last name was on the sign. A basket shop? To him, it was a frivolous, unprofessional undertaking. His daughter should be selling real estate.

  Nothing interested her less than real estate.

  Her little sister, Violetta, on the other hand, was already helping with open houses. She was twenty-six and had an MBA, though not a real estate license. Yet. She was studying for it. Yolanda sometimes wondered if her sister was genuinely interested in business and real estate, or if she found it an easy way to show up her big sister. There was a seven-year age gap between them, and they’d never been close.

  She had to admit that her family was a better one than Gene’s, though.

  She tossed her head, flipping her hair over her shoulder, and went into her shop, which was fragrant with the scent of a vanilla candle she’d left burning.

  * * * *

  As Tally finished wrapping the individual pieces of the Mary Janes, popping only two into her mouth to savor the molasses–peanut butter combination, she glanced at the kitchen clock, the one she’d picked up at a flea market, with a rotund aproned baker using his arms for indicating time. It was nearly ten o’clock, and Andrea would be there soon. Andrea Booker was one of the two young women Tally had hired to help out with sales. So far, she had worked hard and been an asset. She kept her long, mousy brown hair neat and, though she was quiet, almost shy, she interacted well with the customers. She was a runner and Tally saw her around town jogging sometimes when the shop wasn’t open. She had also seen her riding around with Gene a couple of times with his convertible top down.

  If Yolanda started getting too close to Gene, she would have to mention that. Tally even debated warning Andrea off. Gene was probably taking advantage of her youth and inexperience. But, then again, maybe she shouldn’t parent her employees.

  The other hire was Mart Zimmer, who came in part-time during their midday peak hours. She had been in Andrea’s high school class and they knew each other slightly. She was more outgoing than the quieter Andrea, both of them thin with brown hair, one long and straight and one curly, and both of them taller than Tally’s five foot three. That was handy when Tally needed things from the higher cupboard shelves.

  Tally listened for Andrea to arrive through the sales room in the front of the store. Mart would come in later. She heard, instead, Andrea’s name being shouted from the front. She rushed to crack open the kitchen door to see what the commotion was.

  Andrea stood with the front door open, her left arm gripped by a
middle-aged woman, her large bag dangling from her helpless hand. The older woman had the same build Andrea did, both of them the same height and both with the same straight brown hair, the older woman’s shorter. Her features were so distorted by anger that Tally couldn’t tell if their faces resembled each other or not.

  A young couple was emerging from Fischer & Wieser, a cute stone building across the street, with carriage lights beside its front door. They almost dropped their bag of sauces and jellies gaping at the altercation. Others on the street turned to stare at the commotion, too.

  “Don’t run away when I’m talking to you, young lady.” The woman’s voice was harsh and grating as she shook poor Andrea. “I asked if you had done the vacuuming and you told me you had. I looked into the coat closet this morning and nothing has been moved.”

  Andrea had been staring at the woman, apparently her mother, at the beginning of the tirade, but her gaze dropped to her own feet by the end of it.

  Tally knew Andrea lived with her parents. A sedan idled at the curb with the driver’s door ajar. Had the woman driven here so she could scold her daughter on her way to work?

  The harridan continued. “Tell me, Andrea, how you vacuumed the corners of the closet without moving any of the boots. You tell me that.”

  Andrea’s reply was too soft to hear, but the woman eventually gave her one last glare, got into the car, slammed the door, and sped off.

  Tally ducked back into the kitchen so she could pretend she hadn’t heard the exchange. Andrea, Tally thought, meek and mousy, wasn’t someone who could weather blows to her self-esteem easily. She wondered what life would be like with that woman for a mother. What a difference between Andrea’s mother and her own.

  At the thought of her mother, Tally’s cell phone sang out as if it were psychic.

  “Tally, is that you?”

  “Yes, Mom. I’m answering my own phone.”

  The sarcasm sailed on past her mother. “Guess where we are, dear?”