CHAPTER 1
If Cece had known someone was trying to kill her, she never would have gone out for cake.
Not an entire cake. Cece had more self-control than that, even with how supremely shitty the day had been. But the grocery store near her house sold individual slices of birthday cake, which Cece would not think about how depressing that was. Nope, instead, she would think about how delicious the cake was with its fluffy insides coated in icing so sweet it gave Cece heart palpitations.
Even better, the grocery store was within walking distance of her house, and with her car currently dead in the Sprouts Greenhouse parking lot, walking distance cake was exactly what she needed.
She studied the slices of cake in their plastic containers lined up in a neat row in the refrigerated display case. Did she want vanilla or chocolate? A tough decision, since the vanilla cake had adorable candy balloons, but the chocolate had… well, chocolate.
“If you’re trying to decide between them, my vote is for chocolate.”
Cece turned to study the woman standing beside her. She was tiny, although, to be honest, Cece’s height and weight made most women look small compared to her, and she had long dark hair pulled into a bun on top of her head. She had a sweet and open face and looked about as dangerous as a chipmunk.
Cece smiled at her. “I’m leaning toward the chocolate.”
“Great choice.” The woman stuck her hand out. “I’m Willow.”
“Uh, hi. I’m Cecelia.” Cece gave her hand a brief shake.
“Nice to meet you, Cecelia,” Willow said. “So, I guess I don’t have to ask you the age old ‘cake or pie’ question, huh?”
“Guess not,” Cece said. Was the woman hitting on her?
Willow hesitated. “Hey, totally random, but would you like to go for coffee with me? I saw a coffee shop not too far from here and -”
“I’m not gay,” Cece said. “Sorry.”
Willow blinked at her. “Oh, you don’t have to be sorry about that. But for the record, I’m not gay, either. I just thought maybe we could have coffee and talk.”
Okay, this was getting super weird. Time for Cece to step away from the nice but clearly unstable tiny lady.
“I have to go.” Cece grabbed her slice of chocolate cake and walked away.
“Wait! Just one quick coffee, what do you think?” Willow chased after her, stopping a few feet away when Cece whipped around and glared at her.
“Lady, leave me alone. I’ve had one hell of a day, and I’m not interested in whatever it is you’re selling.”
“I’m not selling anything,” Willow said quickly. “I promise.”
“Right,” Cece said.
She started walking again, but froze when Willow said, “Cece, wait.”
Cece turned around. “How do you know my nickname?”
“Oh, um…” Willow toyed nervously with her jacket zipper.
“How do you know it?” Cece repeated, her voice rising.
“Your Aunt Sybil told me,” Willow said.
“You knew my aunt?” Cece asked.
“Yes,” Willow said brightly. “Just had coffee with her a couple of weeks ago.”
Her brain screaming out warning signals, Cece backed away. “My aunt died over a month ago.”
Willow’s head cocked, and she stared at a spot to her left. Cece’s crazy meter notched up another foot when, after about thirty seconds of staring into space, Willow said, “Oh shit, I should have checked with you on the date.”
