Raisin the Dead by Karoline Barrett Page A

took a second myself to picture Sean in uniform and riding boots atop a large black stallion. Oh yeah, that would definitely work for me.
    â€œSo anyway, this Felicia woman showed up to see if he was okay, after all this time?” Olivia interrupted my daydreaming.
    I nodded as I bit into a salt bagel I had just topped with cream cheese.
    â€œHow did she know he was here?”
    â€œHe thinks his parents must have told her.” I replied after my bagel had gone down. I took a drink of my hot chai latte with soy milk.
    â€œYou aren’t worried are you?”
    â€œNot at all. I trust Sean. Why should I worry? Our relationship is going really well. I don’t own him, you know. He’s free to talk to whomever he wants. Just because she looks like his ex-wife, I need to worry?”
    â€œUh-uh.” Olivia crossed her arms and looked at me.
    â€œA little, I’m worried a little.”
    She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “I thought so. You wouldn’t be human if you weren’t. Sounds like she has an ulterior motive, but Sean’s a great guy; despite the way he questioned us about Calista’s murder, remember that? We can laugh about it now, but back then, it wasn’t so funny. He’s most definitely into you. I can tell.”
    â€œHe was intimidating, wasn’t he? I think Felicia has an ulterior motive, too. I almost smelled it, even though I hate to be so cynical. It’s not my business. Sean can handle her.”
    A customer interrupted our conversation. And not just any customer. Lola Lipinski. She owns Lola’s, a combination flower shop, tanning salon, and yoga studio that Olivia and I occasionally frequent. Oh, and she’s Brian’s—my previously mentioned ex-husband—fiancée. Destiny is a small town, so it’s impossible for us to avoid each other totally, although, in the last few months, our relationship has gone from frosty to almost friendly.
    I guess she finally understands I’m not a threat to her. Brian and I are through, the door on our relationship is closed and locked. Interesting that the more my feelings for Brian disappeared, the more I liked Lola. She didn’t seem as brittle to me as she did when I first met her, and she’d developed a nice fashion sense since her engagement to Brian.
    â€œHi Lola,” Olivia greeted her. “What can we get for you?”
    She looked away and hesitated before meeting my gaze and replying. “I understand if you want to say no, Molly, but I’d love if Bread and Batter would make my wedding cake.”
    Olivia was waiting for me to answer. I waited a few seconds. No sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, no desire to burst into tears at the thought of Brian not being mine anymore, no regrets that our marriage hadn’t worked out, no desire to run Lola out of town and confess my undying love to Brian.
    â€œWe’d love to,” I assured her. “Why don’t you come with me, we’ll discuss exactly what it is you’re looking for.”
    I guided her to the back of Bread and Batter. We had no sooner settled in the space Olivia and I generously refer to as our office, when a screech from the front of the bakery startled us both. We looked at each other with the same “What was that?” expression in our eyes, jumped out of our chairs, and hurried to the front of the bakery.
    â€œMy God, Kendra, was that you screeching?” I asked.
    â€œSorry about that. I didn’t know you had a customer. Hey, Lola. You guys are not going to believe this.”
    â€œWhat happened?” Olivia asked. “Tell us.”
    â€œOkay. Detective Corsino,” she slanted her eyes at me, “was at Castle Shore talking to Serafina about that Baldelli guy’s death.”
    â€œThat’s it?” I asked. “That’s the whole story?”
    â€œI told you my cousin works there, right? Her name’s Rochelle. She’s a