Tres Leches Cupcakes (14 page)

“Come in,” she called as she stood up and turned toward the door.

Caro opened the door. “I made some hot chocolate,” she said. “I could add a shot of brandy if you think that would help your head. Would you like some?”

It had been a surprise to Sadie that hot chocolate was so popular in New Mexico, but it was offered everywhere coffee was served, and it was always
so
good. What excuse could she possibly make to pass on Caro’s fabulous homemade hot chocolate?

“The hot chocolate would be perfect,” Sadie said, giving into the temptation. Besides, saying no would seem so out of character that Caro would know something was wrong. And her stomach may never forgive her if she denied it the opportunity.

On her way out of the room, she took her cell phone off the charger. Hopefully Pete would call her soon; she really needed to talk to him about what had happened with Rex.

Sadie could hear the whistles and squeaks of the basketball game from the living room TV. She sat at the kitchen table, and Caro passed her a mug.

“I just got off the phone with Lois,” Caro said after blowing across the top of her own mug.

“Oh yeah?” Lois was a friend of Caro’s who owned a bakery a few blocks from Old Town and had a booth at the upcoming Fiesta. Sadie and Caro had gone to the bakery at least once a week since Sadie’s arrival, and they had even helped out with a catered order a few weeks ago when Lois was shorthanded. It was fun to work in a commercial bakery, and Lois was a high-energy sweetheart who made Sadie feel right at home.

“She asked if we were still able to help with the booth at the Fiesta this weekend,” Caro continued.

“She doesn’t mind having a . . . wrongly-imprisoned potential felon working for her?”

“I told her it was all a big mistake, and she said she could use the help.”

“I’d love to,” Sadie said, relieved to have something to do and thinking, sadly, about how this may help her transition out of living in Caro and Rex’s house. The Fiesta could serve as an excuse for her to get a hotel in Albuquerque for the rest of her time in New Mexico. She glanced at her phone and willed Pete to call her. She really needed his perspective on this.

She took a sip of her drink and felt her whole body relax as the warmth enveloped her chest and drifted throughout her arms and legs. Sensational. “Does she need any help in the bakery beforehand? I don’t have anything to do with my time.”

“She didn’t mention that,” Caro said, shaking her head. “But I’ll ask her and see.”

The home phone rang and Caro excused herself to answer it while Sadie sat up straight. She’d called Pete from Caro’s home phone, maybe he was calling her back on that number.

“Nikki,” Caro gushed, identifying her daughter as the caller. “How are you, sweetie?”

Sadie leaned back in her chair, turned her attention to her own phone, and realized why Pete hadn’t called her—she hadn’t turned it on. Duh. The screen came to life moments later and immediately informed her that she’d missed several calls and three text messages. The text messages and the first four voice mails were from Caro last night, each message sounding a bit more frantic than the last. Sadie felt horrible knowing she’d caused her friend so much worry, but it supported what Rex had said about how concerned Caro had been, despite her attempts to make it sound like she hadn’t been too upset.

The final voice mail was from Margo. Sadie had looked for Margo in the crowd last night as the police cruiser had pulled away from The Conquistador, but she’d been unable to find her.

“Hey. It’s me. I need to talk to you. Call me back as soon as you can. This is bigger than you thought, and I’m going to need your help with something. I apologize in advance for . . . well, just call me ASAP.”

Sadie could feel her eyebrows pull together as she played the message a second time, listening to every word. What was Margo pre-apologizing for? After listening a third time, she toggled through her phone and confirmed that Margo had left the message around one o’clock in the morning—the same time Sadie was in jail. Where was Margo calling from? What had she figured out?
Bigger than you thought?
Had Sadie even gotten to the point of “thinking” anything in particular?

“Is everything okay?” Caro asked as she returned to the table. Sadie hadn’t noticed her end her phone call. Sadie’s thumb hovered over the connect button to call Margo back, but Rex’s words came back to her:
“It isn’t good for my wife to be involved in this kinda thing.”

“Everything’s good,” Sadie said, putting her phone back on the table and pasting on a smile. “How’s Nikki?”

“She’s fine,” Caro said in that longing, I-miss-my-kids tone Sadie knew from experience.

Sadie gave her a sad, sympathetic smile. “It’s quite an adjustment, isn’t it?” If not for having her dad to take care of when Shawn had left for school, she wasn’t sure how she would have handled her own empty nest. Of course, Dad passed away not long afterward, but that adjustment had been different.

“In so many ways that I never considered,” Caro said, then glanced over her shoulder and leaned forward. “The hardest part has been Rex.”

“Does he miss them that much?” Sadie asked, genuinely surprised. Most men adjusted much easier than women did when the kids left home. Rex, specifically, didn’t seem like the type of man who would waste much energy pining for his daughters.

“No,” Caro said, then softened her quick reply. “I mean, he does miss them, but since they left, he wants all my free time—every minute I used to devote to the girls.”

“Oh,” Sadie said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

“He’s talking about taking partial retirement next year. He’s fully vested next April, so he could cut back to twenty-four hours a week and take some of his pension and still keep his health insurance.” She paused and shook her head. “Honestly, Sadie, I think I might kill him.”

Sadie startled. She’d helped unravel too many murders to not react to threats, even idle ones. Caro continued, unheeded.

“I spent all those years raising the girls, and they were great years. I loved them. But a few years ago, I started this mental list of all the things I wanted to do when they were gone. I wanted to cut back at work, volunteer, make handmade quilts, and learn to cook with tofu—which actually turned out to be a poor goal to set, but anyway—I wanted to travel and buy a cute car and do all those things you can’t do when the kids come first, you know? Since they left, I’ve really been able to explore my own interests. It hasn’t completely filled the void, but it’s certainly helped. And it’s been so much fun.” She smiled, looking past Sadie thoughtfully. “I go to lunch with my friends, I took a calligraphy class, I get to cook with mushrooms—both my girls hated mushrooms—I’m in the best shape of my life and really enjoy my ‘me time.’” Her face fell and her eyes snapped back to Sadie. “But Rex hates it. He doesn’t like that I have all these new things I’m interested in that don’t include him. Never mind that I took care of everything for all those years so he could take hunting trips, and go to school and work, and not have to worry about home and family. I even cared for his mother for over a decade when she came to live with us. These days, when he’s around, he wants all my time, all my attention. As much as I enjoy spending time with him, I have so many other things I want to do that have nothing to do with him. He wants us to do things like redo the tile in the kitchen together or watch TV—so not my idea of a good time.” She paused to take a sip of her hot cocoa.

“Maybe you can find some things you both enjoy,” Sadie started, but Caro was shaking her head before Sadie finished.

“He doesn’t want to do any of the things I want to do. I’ve even suggested things like scuba diving lessons or getting season tickets to the Lobos games—you know, things I think he’d enjoy—but he gets irritated by them, won’t even try. He’s turned them all down. He was a linebacker in college, Sadie—sexy and full of energy. What’s happened to him?”

“Transitions are difficult,” Sadie said, willing her phone to ring and interrupt the increasingly uncomfortable conversation.

Caro smiled, softening the lines in her face. “You coming when you did was such a blessing. It seemed to change the dynamics just enough for things to feel more like they used to be, before it was just Rex and me.” Her smile widened even as Sadie found it harder to keep her own smile in place. “It’s like you being here made it easier for Rex to give me a little more space. And there’s someone else for me to talk to and be with—someone adventurous and fun. It’s been so great to have you, and”—she looked away guiltily for a moment before meeting Sadie’s eyes again and looking a little embarrassed, but a lot sincere—“I don’t miss my girls as much since you came.” She took another drink before returning the mug to the table, holding it with both hands. “Anyway, that’s the long answer to ‘it’s been hard,’ but it’s not so bad anymore.”

Call me right now, Pete!
“You and Rex have been great,” Sadie said, carefully. She hated that she couldn’t return Caro’s enthusiasm. “I can’t thank you enough for letting me stay all this time.”

Caro’s eyebrows came together as she seemed to properly interpret the tone of Sadie’s voice. She sat up a little straighter. “You’re not going anywhere, are you?”

Sadie took a breath and said a little prayer for help on how to say this the right way. “Pete thinks I need to move on, what with the arrest and everything. My name’s on public record now.” Sadie hated lying, and she felt even worse when Caro reached across the table and put her hand on Sadie’s arm.

“Please don’t go,” she said, tears actually coming to her eyes. “Can’t the police block your name or something? Can’t the judge do that so you can stay?”

Sadie covered Caro’s hand with her own. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, exactly,” she said, hoping to let her down easily. “But you have been amazing to me, and I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done. I’ve loved being here.”

Sadie’s chest ached with regret.
This is not the way things should have gone.

“I knew it wouldn’t last forever,” Caro said, removing her hand from Sadie’s arm and taking another long sip of her cocoa. She looked away, a kind of forced nonchalance in her tone and posture. She couldn’t hold it long, though, and after a moment, her shoulders sagged. She let out a long breath, and when she looked up at Sadie, her eyes were sad. “Are boredom and annoyance grounds for divorce, do you think?”

“Oh stop,” Sadie said, trying to laugh off the comment. “You don’t want a divorce.” She kept her tone soft. “You guys just need to find a way to better adjust to a new life. Maybe you can talk to him, really open up about how you feel.”

Caro shrugged and seemed to blow off the idea. She took another sip of her drink, then stood and took her mug to the sink. “Don’t go unless and until you have to, okay?”

“I’ll do my best,” Sadie said, wondering how she would talk to Pete about this without betraying Caro’s confidence. “Until then, let Lois know I’m happy to help at the bakery any way that I can.”

Mexican Hot Chocolate

2 (12-ounce) cans evaporated milk (or regular milk if you like; it won’t be as rich)

1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pinch of cayenne pepper

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

In a medium saucepan, whisk together milk, cinnamon, vanilla extract, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper on medium heat. When mixture is hot, but not boiling, add chocolate chips. Stir until chocolate is melted. Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes. Whisk and serve. If desired, dust finished mugs of hot chocolate with cocoa powder.

Serves 4.

Note: To cook in a slow cooker, combine all ingredients, cover, and cook on low for 2 to 3 hours, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes.

Chapter 14

Wednesday morning, Sadie hid in her room with the lights off until she heard Rex leave for work and Caro leave for her spin class. One bowl of leftover posole—surprisingly good for breakfast—and a clean kitchen later, Sadie texted Margo again. Before going to bed the night before, she’d sent two text messages and then called—it went straight to voice mail and there was no response to her texts. Sadie was eager to find out what Margo had discovered Monday night. Having a goal also helped distract her from the situation with Rex and Caro.

Pete had finally called Sadie back around ten o’clock, and Sadie told him about Rex’s ultimatum. Pete had wanted to talk to Rex, but she made him promise not to. She wasn’t going to stay where she wasn’t wanted, and she didn’t want to cause more discord between Rex and his wife. Sadie didn’t tell Pete about her conversation with Caro regarding her marital issues—it didn’t seem appropriate.

Once she was showered, dressed, fixed up, and ready to go, Sadie checked her phone for a reply from Margo. Nothing. However, there was a text from Caro inviting Sadie to lunch and then to Lois’s bakery to help with the cupcakes.

Sadie frowned. She hated the necessity of creating some distance in their relationship so as to make her leaving easier on both of them. She bowed out of the lunch, but agreed to help with the cupcakes; she loved working at the bakery and needed something to do. If not for having her retirement plans derailed by her odd penchant for murder investigations, Sadie may very well have opened up her own corner bakery.