This story features characters from The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries.   There’s a heavy price to pay for loving cupcakes, Belinda thought, watching Victoria finish the remnants of the Cake Diva’s infamous coconut cream pie cupcake. Victoria reclined at her banquette off the kitchen, one hand on her baby bump, licking icing off her other fingers. Belinda watched in satisfaction, smiling as her friend relished every last morsel. “You have no idea how happy this has made me,” Victoria said, wiggling her peach-polished toes. “But you can have one too. You don’t have to keep your hands off just […]

This story features characters from The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries. The most fun Belinda ever had riding around in a car was when she and Kyle drove from Rhode Island to Florida, pausing only to eat and use the bathroom. Now that would be the longest three days or so of her life, but they were in college then and so hyped up on candy and soda and eardrum-blowing music that they barely slept until they got there. This was a close second, even though she and Bennett were stuck in traffic trying to get to the beach, which, mind […]

  A short story featuring characters from The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries. In this story, Bennett inherits a garden gnome.   “You’ve got to get this gnome off my property,” Bennett said, arms folded, standing on the threshold of his garage as Belinda got out of her car in his driveway. It was his day off and Belinda had swung by to drop off cupcake leftovers from the weekend. Between the tourists and her own lack of self-control, she only had four. “What gnome?” she said innocently, batting her eyelashes, holding the pastry box like a tray in one hand. “The one you […]

A short story featuring characters from The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries. In this story, Kyle’s love life comes between Belinda and her morning coffee. Belinda didn’t think she needed to vocalize that they were stopping for coffee. After all, Kyle was her twin and knew her better than anyone. And yet, there she was, watching the turn for coffee come and go at an alarming speed. “Kyle, where are you going?” His golden brown eyes, the mirror image of her own, darted her way. “To the marina.” “You’re going by the coffee shop.” “So?” Belinda paused. “You’re going by the coffee shop.” “I can’t […]

A short story featuring characters from The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries. In this story, Victoria’s husband has become a tad safety obsessed.   There were clear rubber bumpers on anything that looked even remotely sharp. Victoria’s house was covered in them. But there was something significant missing from several rooms. “What happened to the ceiling fans?” Belinda said, coming back to the banquette off the kitchen. “Dan took them all down last night.” Victoria poured pink lemonade, maneuvering her baby bump around the table to sit. “I woke up last night and he was rubberizing our entire house.” “I can see that.” Belinda […]