Bun for Your Life by Karoline Barrett

couldn’t help but hear them. I know I shouldn’t have, but I paused right in front of the window. Luckily, they didn’t see me. “
    â€œOf course you couldn’t help but hear them.” I agreed as I put down my bagel; this merited my total attention.
    He took a sip of coffee. “Trey was the first one I heard. He said, ‘I can’t explain why, but I’m in love with you.’ Then Calista replied with, ‘I love you, too. It scares me. I’ve spent so much time hating you, I don’t know where to go with this.’ Then Trey replied, ‘I agree, it’s strange. I still can’t believe you actually agreed to go out with me. I want to marry you, Callie. I want to merge our orchards. Soon. Think of the money we’d make, especially since your new apple is coming out.’”
    I stopped scribbling. “He called her Callie?” Good thing there was no food in my mouth. I would’ve spit it out.
    Jamie nodded. “Yep. I hate to say this, but I was so interested in their conversation, I couldn’t move. I feel kinda guilty.”
    â€œNo one would fault you. Then what?”
    â€œTrey said, ‘I’m serious. We’d make a great team. I know our families have had their issues, and we’ve accused you and your ancestors more than once of stealing our land, but I really want to put that all behind us, get married, and merge our orchards.’”
    â€œThen Calista laughed, and said ‘Marry you? You’ve got to be kidding.’ Trey replied with, ‘I don’t see what’s so funny. You just said you love me.’
    â€œThen Calista said, ‘I do. But marriage?’ She laughed again. It sounded like a mean laugh, you know? It gave me a weird feeling. Like she was laughing down at him. Making fun of him. Only he didn’t know it. She told him if she ever did consider marrying him she’d demand he sign a prenup. Something about her land remaining as hers and his remaining as his, and the Calista Sugar Pink belonging to her only.”
    â€œWas this before or after his rant at the Jandellas?”
    â€œMaybe a week or so before.”
    I wrote at a furious pace, trying to accurately record everything Jamie said.
    â€œHe said he wouldn’t do that. That marriage was a sacred something-or-other. Then Calista told him she’d never marry him without a prenup, and if he was so in love he’d sign it. She said she’d give his proposal serious thought if he went to her lawyer’s office and signed a prenup. If not, he was welcome to get out of her life.”
    Then she laughed again. “I heard him curse and tell her she would be sorry in more ways than one if she didn’t marry him, then I quickly made my way to the garage. That’s the last I heard. I don’t know what she said back. Was that helpful at all?”
    â€œI think so. Wow, you’ve got a great memory. I really appreciate this, Jamie.”
    He smiled at my compliment
    â€œHow can you remember all that?”
    â€œI don’t know. I’ve always been able to recall conversations. In school, I barely had to take notes. I just remembered everything. How come you’re asking me about Calista and Trey?”
    I leaned toward him. “I’m hoping I’ll find something the police have missed, so a certain detective will stop thinking of your cousin and me as possible murder suspects. Although I think he’s mostly concentrating on me.”

Chapter Nine
    After I said good-bye to Jamie, I sat in my car. I wasn’t sure what to do next. I had to go to work, of course. I mean about Calista’s murder. I love reading mysteries, but it’s not like I actually run around solving them. I probably couldn’t anyway. The person I pick as the killer in the mysteries I read never is.
    My desire to find who, or at least help find who, killed Calista came from more than the desire to clear Olivia and