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  “You’re an easy man to please, Detective.” Amelia took a deep breath and patted her full stomach. “Are you interested in keeping me company while I work on this new recipe?”

  “Tell me it requires tons of butter and cream and sugar.”

  “Actually, I’m thinking of a green tea cupcake.”

  Dan wrinkled his nose.

  “You may as well have said a broccoli and Brussels sprout cupcake.”

  “Come on. You’ve had green tea ice cream?”

  “Where in the world would I ever eat that?” Dan stood up and helped Amelia reach into a top cabinet for a bag of flour.

  “At a Chinese restaurant,” Amelia answered, taking the bag and bumping Dan with her hip. “I’m making it with applesauce instead of sugar, and I’ll be using almond milk instead of the hard stuff. And instead of frosting, I was thinking a light dusting of confectioners’ sugar.”

  “That sounds real pretty. But I’ll believe it when I taste it.” Dan had been in Amelia’s kitchen more than once when she was baking and had learned where she kept most of her supplies. As she grabbed the jars of applesauce and a small bottle of vanilla extract, he got her mixing bowls, measuring cups and spoons, and electric blender.

  As she started to dabble with the basic ingredients, slowly measuring them, she couldn’t help but ask about Bud.

  “He lives in a nice part of town,” Amelia stated as she sifted the flour. “It’s a shame that is what occupies his time.”

  “The guy is really no trouble. Just once every month or two he gets a bee in his bonnet. His nearest neighbor is Luann Jameson. You’ve heard of her, right?”

  “Heard of her? Who hasn’t?” Amelia’s eyes widened at the mention of the woman. “Her real estate business is blasted all over every park bench and billboard across town.”

  “Yeah, she’s got to love having that Fort Knox bunker on the adjoining property.” Dan harrumphed.

  “Why would you say that?”

  “You’ve obviously never seen the Jameson property.”

  Amelia shook her head.

  “Her late husband left her quite a bit of scratch. Plus, the real estate in Gary has always been a cash cow for those who know how to work it. From what I gather, she does. The place is professionally maintained. Flowers, shrub sculptures, koi ponds, aesthetically lit at nighttime. It is quite a sight.”

  “Well, Luann is quite a sight, too.”

  The billboard images of Luann Jameson didn’t do her justice even though they were the most flawless glamour shots ever taken. With blond hair down her back and a 36DD chest in front, also compliments of her late husband, Luann was someone everyone knew about. But unless you were looking into buying one of her properties in Sarkis Estates, she had very little use for you.

  “Her daughter looks just like her,” Dan added.

  “I never see her,” Amelia said. “She’s been kept under wraps for years.”

  “Yeah. She’s real protective of her. We had a unit go out to the property because someone had vandalized their mailbox along with half a dozen others on the same stretch of road. Her daughter, Colleen, was telling the officer about finding the mailbox in pieces. Just a normal girl giving the facts, and Luann pulled in the driveway, yelling like a banshee for the girl to go inside.”

  “Yikes.”

  Dan leaned on the counter.

  “The uniformed officer said that Luann told him to get any ideas about dating her daughter out of his head.”

  “Really?”

  “Yup. Officer Harvey was engaged to a real sweet girl. Patricia, I think her name was,” Dan continued. “Didn’t matter to Luann. She was convinced that everyone was out to get her daughter. ‘No daughter of mine is going to date a civil servant.’”

  “She really said that?”

  Dan nodded and gave a slight eye roll.

  “How old is Colleen now?”

  “She’s got to be in her early twenties, and she still lives with Luann.”

  “Who does she want her daughter to marry?”

  “Anyone with a seven-figure bank account is my guess.”

  Amelia measured out the applesauce in the correct proportions to take the place of the sugar and tasted the batter before deciding it needed one more scoop.

  “Maybe I’m a bad mother,” Amelia admitted. “I’ve never talked about that kind of stuff with Meg. I mean, she’s still just a baby, but I know soon enough boys are going to become important. I just want her to be happy.”

  “Most mothers think the way you do.”

  “Is John back from his honeymoon yet?” Dan asked, letting her know it was okay to talk about it.

  “Does it show on my face that much?”

  “No. I’ve just learned how to read you a little bit.” Dan took a step closer to her.

  “He gets back next week,” Amelia admitted. “I had that big bank account, too. It went with John when he left. Now it’s Jennifer’s.”

  “Does that bother you?”

  “It does and it doesn’t. He pays his alimony, and that is enough to cover expenses for school and little else. I was just telling Lila today he is desperate to know about the books on the Pink Cupcake, but I’d rather cut off my own arm than tell him the truth. I’m nowhere near retirement, but Christmas ought to be a good one this year. We should be able to get the big goose hanging in the butcher shop before Mr. Scrooge does.” She winked playfully.

  Dan slipped his arms around Amelia’s waist.

  “I don’t have a fortune to offer you, Amelia. I wish I did.”

  “That isn’t what I’m saying at all, Dan. You know that.” Amelia leaned against him. “I’m just wondering if Luann is really all bad for encouraging her daughter to find someone who can provide for her in that way.”

  “How would you feel about a woman dating Adam for his money? Would you tell him that a girl like that would be a wise endeavor?”

  “You got me there. No. I wouldn’t.”

  “That kind of puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So what other kinds of poison are you adding to these health muffins?” Dan asked, kissing Amelia on the top of the head.

  “You’re going to love these.” She stepped back to her mixing bowl and continued to stir the batter. “I don’t have a fortune to offer you, either, Dan. But you’ll get all the cupcakes you can swallow for as long as you like.”

  “I’ll take it.”

  Desserts and Death is available everywhere