Caught Bread Handed

Scottie Ramone couldn’t be happier with the way things are going in her new bakery. She has an amazing assistant, and the town locals flock to her shop every morning for their breakfast treats. If only life outside the bakery was going as smoothly. Scottie is still confused about her friendship with Cade Rafferty. In the meantime, Dalton Braddock, the town’s ranger and Scottie’s lifelong crush, has been rethinking his marriage to Crystal Miramont.

The discovery of a possibly rare, valuable coin throws the whole town into disarray, and when the owner of the coin is murdered, there are plenty of suspects to go around. Scottie puts her personal troubles aside and throws herself into the case. She soon learns that some pennies are lucky and some are most decidedly not.

Book 4 of the Scottie Ramone Cozy Mystery series

A new spring sun winked at us from the eastern sky as Jack and I finished stacking warm loaves of bread in the baskets. Those same loaves filled my sparkling, new bakery with the sweet aroma that only freshly baked bread could produce. Outside the front window, pinkish, wispy clouds held the promise of a nice spring morning. The days were getting longer, but warmer temperatures were still a month off for those of us living in the Rockies. And our little town of Ripple Creek always seemed to be farthest behind on the winter thaw. A river ran through town, its icy banks and frothy snow melt keeping a chill in the air. We were also surrounded by tall peaks on three sides, shrouding us in cool shadows much of the time.

"Ahh, the life of a baker," Jack said. "What other profession gets to experience so many sunrises?" Jack Lucas had turned up at my bakery door at a time when I was in desperate need of an assistant. He was in his sixties, with scruffy gray hair and a naval tattoo on his meaty forearm. He looked more like a grizzly bear crossed with a lumberjack than a baker's assistant. His gruff appearance and troubled past had almost kept me from hiring him, but the man was a magician with bread dough. He could bake a sponge so light it practically floated off the plate, and he could decorate a cake fit for a royal wedding. He was reliable and hardworking and a great companion in the shop. It had been my lucky day when Jack walked into the shop, and I told him that every chance I got.

"Sunrises are one of the perks of the job. Although the flipside of that is dragging yourself out of a warm bed while it's still dark outside and the entire landscape is covered in frost." I pulled a stack of napkins and paper bags out from under the counter. Soon, a parade of regulars would line up at the counter of Scottie's Bakery to buy their usual morning pastries or muffins.

My dream of owning a bakery had come true. It had taken persistence and jumping over many obstacles to get here (including ditching a controlling fiancé), but it had been worth every hurdle and headache. After training in Paris, I'd landed a high-caliber job in a fancy restaurant, but I'd always kept my dream alive. A dramatic incident brought me back to my hometown of Ripple Creek, a place where nature met you at every corner and community meant more than anything. My grandmother, Evie, or Nana as I called her, had raised me after the tragic death of my parents. Now she'd welcomed me back into her life with open arms. In fact, the entire town was glad to have me back, and I was thrilled to repay them for all their love and support by providing them with delicious baked goods.

A timer rang in the back. Jack placed the last loaf of sourdough in the basket. "That'll be the brownies. I'll pull them out."

I walked across to the front door and flipped the sign to open. The rush would start shortly. Along with their morning treat, customers liked to grab a fresh loaf of bread before we sold out. I was just circling back behind the counter when the door opened. It was my first customer of the day and a person I never got tired of seeing. My unexpected return to Ripple Creek had thrown my childhood crush back into my path. I'd spent many of my younger years dreaming that one day I'd marry Dalton Braddock. But he moved away when we were in our early teens, and a piece of my heart left with him. It took many tears, love songs on the radio and dozens of Nana's oatmeal cookies for me to finally accept that I'd never see Dalton again. Then, suddenly there he was. I returned to Ripple Creek to discover that he'd become ranger for both the town and the resort above it. He was still as breath-stealing as ever, but he was also very much attached to Crystal Miramont of the Miramont Resort family. Growing up, Dalton had been one of my favorite people. At the same time, Crystal had been one of my least favorites. I was well into adulthood now, but those designations hadn't changed.

"Good morning, Ranger Braddock. What can I get you this morning?"