AllFreeNovel
Share Us
* * *
“Who would do this?” Frieda asked, staring down at the evidence of the discarded hot chocolate. After checking the security footage and talking to Lorrie once more, Birgit had decided to call in her sisters. While Heidi looked pale and shaken, Frieda looked as if she was about to lose control of her anger any second. She was visibly shaking from her rage, and she was holding onto her upper arms so tight, she was leaving little half-moon marks on her skin from her fingernails.
“The cameras didn’t pick up anything, which I thought was odd,” Birgit explained, “so I went to check them. Turns out someone unhooked all of the ones in the employees-only sections of the hotel. We haven’t had feed from them in several hours.”
“So it was one of our employees?” Frieda practically screeched. “I want to talk to all of them. Right now!”
“We will,” Birgit promised, “when the cocoa crawl is over. But for now, we have to figure out a solution. Whoever did this dumped out the leftover milk and heavy cream, too. All we have left is what you keep in the bartender's fridge in the bar on the second floor.”
“That’s what? A couple of gallons each, maybe?” Heidi asked. “It would be better than nothing, right?”
“Are you kidding?” Frieda asked with a sarcastic, dry laugh. “We’re about to have over five-hundred tourists walk in to sample our hot chocolate starting in less than four hours. That amount is barely a drop in the bucket! We’d run out within the first hour, easily. On top of that, we’ve got to start prepping for the continental breakfast in an hour and the dairy doesn’t open up for three. We’re out of time!”
“Free, I love you, but now is not the time for your negativity, okay?” Birgit pleaded, looking around.
“There has to be something,” she murmured, throwing open the cabinets. “You’re one of the best bartenders I know. You can make something delicious out of practically nothing−ah! Here.”
Birgit grabbed the five-gallon bucket of powdered milk by the handles and dragged it out of the bottom cabinet.
“You’re kidding,” Frieda replied, giving her older sister a deadpan look. “That’s for emergencies, and you and I both know it tastesnothinglike real milk.”
“So, doctor it up a bit,” Birgit offered, going back to the cabinets. She went over to one of the small refrigerators and started pulling out the large containers of flavored coffee creamer. “Use some of these and a few cans of condensed milk. We have some dehydrated coffee creamer packets we can set out for the continental breakfast instead, and we’ll provide our guests with some free services for the inconvenience.”
Frieda’s eyebrows flew up as her creative wheels started to turn, and she slowly began to nod.
“That could work,” she agreed, going to the fridge to start pulling out the flavored coffee creamers. “But I’ll need both of you to help. What about all of the treats I made? Are they destroyed, too?”
“Nope, they’re completely untouched,” Birgit replied, happy to be able to deliver some sort of good news.
“Thank heavens.” Frieda sighed, pulling on an apron. “We could do with more help, but there’s no way we’ll be able to get anyone off to come in today, not with all the festivities kicking off. So we’re going to have to do without.”
“Well, we will do whatever you need,” Birgit replied, slipping her own apron on. As she washed her hands, she took another look around the kitchen, feeling an eerie sensation crawl down her spine. Who would do this?
ChapterFour
Birgit, Heidi, and Frieda all took a seat in the manager’s office. They were all exhausted. Every member of their staff was exhausted. But it had been a good day. With Frieda’s creative work, they’d avoided disaster in time and were able to make two new batches. Though they weren’t the original flavors, Frieda had been able to whip up a delicious hazelnut hot chocolate and a sweet cream one. The cocoa crawlers had absolutely loved them, and if anyone noticed they weren’t made with real milk or cream, they didn’t mention it.
As for all of the treats Frieda had made−there was now nothing left but crumbs, and a few dozen orders from other local businesses that were dying to get them onto their shelves. As stressful as the last few days had been for Frieda, Birgit noticed that she’d ended the day with a smile of success.
“I hate to say it, but Anita was right,” Heidi said, breaking the exhausted silence that had blanketed the room. Immediately Frieda sat up, her smile turning into a frown, and glared at her younger sister.
“What on earth would ever make you say that?” she snapped.
“Relax, Free,” Birgit sighed, “she’s talking about the SBA meeting last week. Anita warned us that this was going to be our biggest cocoa crawl event yet.”
“Oh,” Frieda murmured, sinking back down into her chair again. “Well, even a broken clock is right twice a day.”
Birgit chuckled dryly, shaking her head.
“You know she’s the one that did this, right?” Frieda asked, shooting her eyes over to Birgit. “No one else hates us enough to sabotage us like that.”
“We don’t know anything for sure,” Birgit replied calmly. “Not with the cameras down. I got Ronnie to put them back up today, and I sent out a staff memo to be on the alert, but there’s nothing we can do until it happens again.”
“Again?” Frieda snapped. “We’re going to have to wait for this to happenagain?!Christmas is the town’s busiest time of the year, B. We don’t have the time to be playing Scooby-Doo!”
“You’re preaching to the choir, Free,” Birgit replied in a weary singsong tone. “But we don’t have a choice. There’s not enough evidence to pinpoint one particular person, so we have to be ready if or when it happens again. I don’t like it either, but it’s our only choice.”
Frieda murmured something incoherent, and Birgit took the opportunity to switch topics.
