Easy Bake Coven: Book One of the Vivienne Finch Magical Mysteries (7 page)

With
a mug of hot coffee in hand, she slid into the chair in front of the computer
and turned it on. This felt strangely different from her usual routine of
sitting on the sofa and casually browsing the newspaper for interesting
articles about local happenings.

Following
the instructions Kathy had given her, she was excited to see the little flower
garden icon highlighted with a red number one above it. She moved the cursor,
clicked the mouse, and a picture of her Mother appeared on the screen. Nora
Finch wants to join your friend garden, the text underneath it had explained.

She
sighed and took a sip of her coffee. How long had her mother been social
networking? She hadn’t even known she could use a computer. She must have taken
one of the free classes at the senior center. Why couldn’t she have taken
something like needlepoint or photography? As her finger hovered over the mouse
to accept the request she paused. Did she really want to give her mother this
much insight into her social life? Then again, denying one’s own mother as a
friend seemed rather harsh and she was sure it would lead to more arguments
than she really cared for in the future. With a click of the mouse she and her mother
were now officially friends, at least according to
Social Butterfly
.

As
she scrolled the status page, she found a link that Kathy had posted sometime
last night. It led to the page of the Cayuga Cove Historic Commission and an
artist rendering of Main Street after all the proposed improvements. Vivienne
navigated to the ‘What’s New’ button and clicked on it. She found that the
first meeting to discuss the Main Street Renovation Project was going to be
held in the library at seven tonight. In tiny text at the bottom, there was
mention that it was open to the public.

She
wasn’t sure she’d have to time to attend given all the baking that needed to
get done to fill her cases, but she was going to try her best to be there. The
future of her business could be at stake and she probably should be as
proactive as possible to make sure it remained her livelihood.

As
she parked her red Toyota Matrix near the dumpsters behind the bakery, she was
happy to see that no wayward trash had been deposited from careless trash
pickup. The sun was shining strong and bright on another fine morning. It
warmed her face as she walked to the back door. She felt energized to start the
non-stop baking fest and fill her store with tempting goodies.

An
hour later, she had her four commercial grade convection ovens filled with
batches of peanut butter, sugar, ginger, and oatmeal raisin cookies. Thanks to
the dual industrial mixers, she was able to churn out batches in record time
but still, she was running a little behind schedule and it made her just a
little nervous. Did she need to hire an assistant? It was the one question she
couldn’t really answer at the moment. Only time would reveal that.

There
had been no argument outside her store this morning, and the space where the
bright yellow fire hydrant reflected the sunlight had remained open. As the
smell of cookies filled the air, she walked over to the display window and looked
out at Main Street.

 
Despite nothing being open, the road was
filled with cars from all the tenants who rented the apartments above the
businesses. Mona Clarke had been right about the lack of parking for customers
and once more she felt she had a good point. True, some of the spaces opened up
as the tenants left for their jobs, but most remained full for the day and it
could be a challenge to find parking for some of the businesses.

 
Just how far was one of her customers willing
to walk a cake back to their car? What about rain or snow? She doubted people
would trudge very far through puddles or dirty snow banks to buy some cookies.

Another
hour of baking passed. Now that the first batches were cooled, she began to
fill the glass display cases with some of the goods. She placed paper doilies
down on the trays, arranging the cookies in neat rows that would look
attractive from the customer side of the case. Thanks to hours as a child spent
learning cursive in grade school, she was able to hand script little price and
product identification cards that perched on spiral place card holders above
each product. It gave the store a special homemade touch that felt nothing like
the impersonal corporate coffee shops and bookstores that spread like weeds
across America’s retail landscape.

The
air was now perfumed with the scent of decadent chocolate mocha brownies. Some
plain, others swirled with cheesecake and peanut butter. As she continued to
write up little signs perched on one of her bistro tables, she was startled by
a knock on the front door. She looked up and saw the smiling face of Mona
Clarke standing outside.

“I’m
afraid I’m not officially open until tomorrow morning at ten.” Vivienne said as
she opened the door.

Mona
Clarke smiled at her, dressed in a royal purple jacket that probably cost as
much as one of the commercial ovens in the bakery. “I saw the closed sign, but
I thought a little sneak peek might be okay for the Mayor’s wife.”

Vivienne
was at a loss for words. She had so much to do, but the chance to get some
inside information from Mona was too much to resist. She gestured for her to
enter. “What a delightful surprise. Come in.”

Mona
breezed into her store, trailing some sort of floral perfume that completely
overpowered the baking smell. “What a beautiful little shop you have.” She
gushed, taking in the view.

Vivienne
closed the door and gave her apron a quick pat down to shake off some of the
flour that had spilled during her morning baking. “Thank you. I did most of it
myself, except for the electric and the plumbing.”

“It’s
just so charming and warm.” Mona walked over the display case and admired the
fresh cookies inside. “These look absolutely scrumptious.”

“Would
you like a free sample?” Vivienne asked. “I’ve got plenty on hand.”

Mona
removed her coat and set it on the back of one of the bistro chairs. “That
would be wonderful, dear.” She knelt down to check her reflection in the glass
of the case, making sure her light blond hair, swept up into a fancy style with
a bejeweled clip, was still picture perfect.

“I
was just about to have some tea.” Vivienne sailed into the kitchen area and
turned on the electric kettle. “How about some honey lemon?”

“Don’t
go to any trouble.” Mona answered as she sat down.

“It’s
no trouble at all.” Vivienne put the tea bags into two ceramic mugs and
returned to the table with two peanut butter cookies on a small saucer.

“I
don’t know if you’re aware of the Cayuga Cove Women of Small Business
Association.”

“I
just received one of your newsletters the other day, actually.” Vivienne
answered.

“Wonderful.”
Mona folded her hands together on the table, catching the late morning sunlight
with her diamond encrusted wedding band. “I’m the Director and we’d love to
have you join our little group.”

“That
would be nice.” Vivienne answered politely. “Aren’t you also involved with the
Historic Commission?”

“I
am indeed.” Mona reached for a cookie and took a tiny bite as a knock on the
front window startled them both.

Vivienne
saw the smiling face of Victoria Clemens peering in. She was dressed in workout
sweats that somehow looked better than any of the everyday clothes she wore.

Victoria
gave a little wave and then continued on what must have been her morning power
walk to work off breakfast. ‘How many calories could Irish coffee actually
have?’ Vivienne wondered to herself. Given Victoria’s trim figure, she doubted
a sugared doughnut or deep-fried fritter ever crossed her Botox-enhanced lips.

Mona
waved back and then let out a little sigh. “Unfortunately, we already have the
voting member chairs filled.”

“Oh,
I wasn’t interested in joining that.” Vivienne corrected.

“But
the meetings will be open to the public, of course.” Mona added with a little
smile. “We’re not expecting much of a turnout for the first one.” She took
another bite of the cookie. “These are just divine.”

“Thank
you.” Vivienne retuned a smile. “So why are you expecting a small turnout?”

Mona
paused for a moment, as if she were composing her thoughts in advance before
speaking. “Well, I hate to say it but our agendas will probably be quite dull
for the general public’s attention. First meetings usually lack a cohesive
flow.”

“I
would think quite the opposite to be the case.” Vivienne leaned forward in her
chair. “If you’re going to be taking on the challenge of updating Main Street
to attract more tourism, I think that’d generate quite a bit of buzz.”

There
was an uncomfortable silence as Mona listened to her words and processed them.
“I guess we’ll find out tonight for sure.”

The
tea kettle whistled and Vivienne jumped up to grab the hot water. “I’m hoping
to be there if I can catch up on all the baking left to be done.”

“Great.”
Mona’s tone was flat.

Vivienne
poured the hot water into the mugs and returned to the table. “I think that
once the right plan is presented, you’ll find everyone happy to jump onboard
for bringing in those tour busses that zoom by along the wine trail.”

Mona
sipped her tea and nodded thoughtfully. “It will have to be sooner rather than
later.”

Vivienne
took a sip of her tea. “Why is that?”

“Well,
for one thing those tour companies plan their bus tours about a year in
advance. In order to entice them to add us to their routes, we need to be able
to present them with our plan by late October.” Mona explained as she took
another sip of tea.

“I
didn’t know that.” Vivienne took care to keep mental notes for Kathy who would
no doubt want all the details.

“Not
many people do.” Mona sighed. “They think these bus tours just meander about
the roads and stop wherever it looks interesting. But the truth of the matter
is you really have to pitch your town to their corporate planning board. Even
after that, there’s a terrible amount of competition along the wine trail and
it’s just getting more crowded with each season.”

“Is
this what you’re going to explain at the meeting tonight?”

“Yes,
along with some other minor details.” Mona pushed her chair back and stood up
to retrieve her coat. “I hate to rush off, but I have a rather important issue
to take care of this afternoon.”

“Thank
you so much for stopping by.”

Mona
slipped her coat on and walked over the display of teas. “I may have to start a
standing order for some of these blends for the meetings. All that speaking can
be murder on the vocal chords.”

“Just
say the word and I’ll write it up.” Vivienne stood up from the table and
extended her hand.

Mona
gave her a firm handshake. “Let’s add a dozen cookies or so to that order.” She
turned to leave and then pivoted back around on her expensive-looking designer
heels. “What time is your grand opening tomorrow?”

“Ten.”
Vivienne’s voice cracked as she thought about all the last minute details that
were going to have to get completed.

“I’ll
see you tomorrow morning with the giant scissors.” Mona winked and sailed out
the door, trailing her perfume once again.

“You
must be crazy.” Kathy raised her voice from behind the counter of her store.

“I’m
telling you, she’s not as bad as she seems.” Vivienne had four cakes baking in
her ovens. Thanks to her Mother offering to watch the store, she had been able
to slip away for a little break to catch her friend up with her morning
encounter.

“Are
you sure she didn’t slip something into your mug of tea when you weren’t
looking?” Kathy folded her arms across her chest.

“Nice
as could be.” Vivienne insisted. “She was nothing at all like the woman arguing
with Joshua the other morning.”

Kathy
rapped her French-tipped nails on the countertop nervously. “Now I’m positive
she’s up to something.”

Vivienne
had made steady progress with her baking schedule and she was quite certain she
would be able to make the meeting tonight after all. “Want me to save you a
seat at the meeting?”

“I
thought your new friend didn’t think there was going to be a big turnout?”
Kathy raised an eyebrow.

“She’s
just an acquaintance.” Vivienne corrected. “Despite what she thinks, I imagine
it will be quite full.

“Oh,
it will be.” Kathy started typing on the keyboard of her computer.

“What
are you doing?”

“I’m
sending out a group message to all the local merchants I’m friends with on
Social Butterfly
.” Her fingers flew
across the keyboard. “I will need you to save me a seat because this meeting is
going to be packed.”

Vivienne
wasn’t sure if her friend was doing it for the good of the Main Street
merchants or just out of spite for her dislike of Mona. Either way, a healthy
crowd turnout was a good thing. More ideas could be brought up and perhaps
everyone would walk away with a better understanding of the whole situation. At
least, she hoped it would turn out that way. “That’s a great idea.”