Read Online Death of a Chocolate Cheater: A Food Festival Mystery by Penny Pike - Free Book Online

was wearing—a smart black suit fitted perfectly to hismuscular body, paired with a bright Grateful Dead tie. I’d never seen him so dressed up before. Had he looked like that when he’d worked as an attorney? I had a feeling all he had to do was smile at the women in the jury box and they would have voted his way.
    “Jake!” I said, feeling a sudden heat wave envelop me. “Uh . . . you made it.”
    Lame, I thought. But what was I supposed to say at an awkward moment like this? How’s your ex?
    “You look really great,” Jake said, eyeing me up and down.
    I felt my face burn and let out a half smile. “Oh, this? I’m just trying to keep a low profile. It’s Aunt Abby’s night tonight.”
    “Well, you’d look terrific in anything. Here.” He handed me a brown-colored drink in a champagne flute.
    I set down my empty wineglass and took the one he offered. I held it up to the light to examine the unusual color. “What is it?”
    “Mocha champagne. It’s not bad.”
    I took a sip. Like the other chocolate drinks, it tasted weird, but at the moment, I figured I could use another boost of courage from the alcohol.
    “Sorry we’ve kept missing each other these past couple of weeks,” Jake said.
    “Yeah, you know . . . I’ve been helping my aunt get ready for this event, and you’ve been—” I stopped myself.
    He nodded. “I was surprised when I heard your aunt had entered the competition. You never mentioned it.”
    I wanted to say, “I never got the chance with your ex around,” but I didn’t. I kept it light instead of snarky. “Yeah. How about that?” I sipped the champagne. “So how’ve you been?”
    “I’ve missed you,” Jake said quietly. I turned aside so he wouldn’t see the hurt on my face, but I could feel his eyes on me as I watched the party guests.
    “I missed you, too,” I said as casually as I could. “I know you’ve been busy too.” I wondered if he’d get my drift and confess he’d been seeing his ex.
    Instead, Jake took the drink out of my hand and set it down, along with his. He took my hands and turned me toward him. “Listen, I really am sorry about being out of touch lately. Like I said, I’ve been dealing with something and it’s taken up a lot of time. But I don’t want to jeopardize our friendship. . . .”
    “Friendship?” I repeated. Was that what he thought this was? I pulled my hands away.
    “Darcy, I’ve wanted to tell you what’s been going on, but . . .”
    I took a deep breath. “But what, Jake?”
    “But it involved another person.”
    “I figured as much.” I looked out at the crowd. I knew who he meant—Lyla Vassar.
    He took my chin and turned my face toward him. “You know I was engaged before, right?”
    “I vaguely remember,” I said.
Oh boy. Here it comes.
    “Well, Lyla—that’s her name—she came by a couple of weeks ago—”
    “I know.”
    Jake blinked in surprise. “You know?”
    I nodded. “She seems to make regular visits to your Dream Puff truck. I assumed—”
    He cut me off. “Oh . . . you assumed . . . No, no, Darcy. She needs my help.”
    I’ll bet,
I thought.
    “She wants me to help with her divorce.”
    So she can marry you.
    “Brad—the guy she married, the guy she left me for—he was the DA who prosecuted me when I got disbarred. When I lost everything, she dumped me and ran off with him.”
    I suddenly felt sorry for him, but it still didn’t change anything.
    “Now,” Jake continued, “she wants out. She found out he’s been having an affair with the court stenographer, and now Lyla wants a divorce.”
    I frowned, trying not to show my skepticism. Had this Brad guy really cheated on Jake’s ex-fiancée? Or had Lyla come to her senses and realized what a great guy Jake was? Possibilities poured through my mind like a chocolate fountain.
    “Sorry to hear that,” I said evenly, “but I thought you weren’t practicing law anymore. How are you going to help her? And why? You