Knead to Know

By Liz Schulte

Maggie Edwards can’t sleep, eat, or die—but, she can bake. However, just before the Halloween grand opening of her bakery, a pesky reporter witnesses an accident in her kitchen and gets a little too close to the truth. If she can’t convince him to keep quiet, not only will she lose her chance at happiness, but they both could lose their lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Liz Schulte
• Release date: Jan 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310233265

Liz Schulte

Many authors claim to have known their calling from a young age. Liz Schulte, however, didn't always want to be an author. In fact, she had no clue. Liz wanted to be a veterinarian, then she wanted to be a lawyer, then she wanted to be a criminal profiler. In a valiant effort to keep from becoming Walter Mitty, Liz put pen to paper and began writing her first novel. It was at that moment she realized this is what she was meant to do. As a scribe she could be all of those things and so much more.When Liz isn’t writing or on social networks she is inflicting movie quotes and trivia on people, reading, traveling, and hanging out with friends and family. Liz is a Midwest girl through and through, though she would be perfectly happy never having to shovel her driveway again. She has a love for all things spooky, supernatural, and snarky. Her favorite authors range from Edgar Allen Poe to Joseph Heller to Jane Austen to Jim Butcher and everything in between.

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Smashwords Edition

Knead to Know

Copyright © 2015 by Liz Schulte

All rights reserved.

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Check out more books by Liz

About the Author

Chapter 1

My cupcakes only taste like dirt to me, was my new mantra. I muttered it aloud, chanted it in my head, and even wrote it down sometimes.

My hand flew as I whisked the egg whites, and my thoughts churned in a similar rhythm. Self-doubt was one of the many emotions that came with opening a bakery. It skipped along merrily, holding hands with anxiety, worry, and a general sense that I was making a huge mistake. But what else could a half-vampire with permanent insomnia and a penchant for baking do?

Living forever sounded like a dream come true until I was faced with the day to day of it. My human friends were going to get old and leave me—or, more factually, I’d have to cut myself off from them in just a few years so they wouldn’t notice I wasn’t aging.

My new friends of the paranormal persuasion were fun, but they all had lives that attracted danger and that wasn’t my thing. I didn’t mind helping people, but I didn’t want to spend forever surrounded by death and mayhem—which didn’t leave me a lot of options.

And topping off my socializing dilemma? Severe boredom. Filling twenty-four hours a day would’ve been hard enough even if I let myself hang out with my friends whenever I wanted to. Alone it was impossible. What was I going to do with an eternity of time? How was I going to keep from going completely mad? While hiding in my house was really tempting, eventually I had to find my place in the Abyss or the human world.

I continued beating the eggs and closed my dry, burning eyes for a moment. The contacts hid the red in my eyes, but they itched like hell.

The problem was clear. I needed something purely mine—a safe-haven. The bakery was only a temporary solution because my failure to age would force the doors closed eventually, lest some human get suspicious. In a perfect universe, the bakery would be successful enough that I could hire employees, perhaps those with eyes opened to both worlds and then I could retreat back into the kitchen and the safety of anonymity. The plan was weak, yes—and that I’d sunk my life savings into this venture terrified me—but I had the misguided notion that I needed control over at least one part of my life. Sue me.

When the egg whites were frothy, I added vanilla seeds and cream of tartar, whisked a bit more, and added in sugar. When stiff, glossy peaks formed, I set the bowl aside and released the breath I’d been holding. Everything was going to be okay. I gently folded the egg whites into the rest of a waiting mixture and scooped the chiffon batter into cupcake tins. My shop wasn’t going to go belly-up. I’d find a way to live a normal life. Cupcakes weren’t a passing fad. Everyone liked sweets. Well, most people anyway.

Waiting in the refrigerator were two fresh, perfectly ripe diced mangoes and a heavenly whipped cream I’d prepared in advance for my mangoes and cream chiffon cupcakes.

Damn, I missed the taste of sugar. The taste of anything, really.

I sighed. Surely it would get easier. Right now though,