Charlotte Denver Cozy Mystery Box Set

by Sherri Bryan

  “Yes. Most nuts. That’s why I never eat them. Why do you ask?”

  “Have you kissed Jess tonight?”

  “Uh, yes,” he said, quickly adding, “but before I was on duty, Chief.”

  “Sumalee was cooking with peanut oil tonight. You might not have eaten it, but Jess did. She tried every dish she made. So you might want to think about brushing your teeth, Jess, before you send him into full anaphylactic shock. Just a thought... ‘night.”

  Upstairs, Charlotte snuggled up next to Nathan, Pippin stretched out beside her.

  “Oh my, I’m so tired all of a sudden.” She put her hand over her wide yawn. “Better get some shut-eye, I suppose.”

  “Hang on, don’t fall asleep just yet.” A frown clouded Nathan’s face. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

  ººººººº

  The next morning, just after seven-thirty, Nathan and Charlotte took a drive to Nathan’s house.

  “She might be out doing her tai-chi and stuff,” said Charlotte.

  “No, I can hear someone moving around. She’s home,” replied Nathan.

  The door opened and Sumalee peered round it.

  Her eyes were red and puffy and her ever-present smile was woefully absent.

  Poor thing, she must be scared to death. Charlotte smiled. “Hi, Sumalee. Do you have a few minutes?”

  Sumalee stepped back and held open the door before following them into the living room.

  “I will not be here for long, Detective. I will be gone as soon as I can. I know I cannot stay here now.” She was struggling not to cry.

  Nathan shook his head. “Look, don’t worry about it. Stay here until you sort out what you’re going to do, okay?”

  “But I do not know what I am going to do,” she said and burst into tears.

  Charlotte put her arm around her shoulder. She hoped that Nathan’s idea would go down well.

  When her shoulders had stopped heaving, Nathan said, “Sumalee, I owe you an apology. I jumped to conclusions about you - all of which were grossly misguided. I’ve never met ... anyone like you before, and I’m afraid I didn’t handle it very well. I hope you’ll allow me to try and make amends.”

  Sumalee shrugged. “I know you do not like me - your eyes tell me so. And you never, ever smile at me. It is okay, though. You are not the only person I have met who does not like me. I am used to it.”

  “That’s as maybe,” said Nathan, “but it doesn’t make it right.” He glanced at Charlotte. “Anyway, we’d like to do something for you.”

  Charlotte nodded and grinned at Sumalee’s puzzled expression.

  “But it is not necessary to do anything for me.” Sumalee insisted.

  “Well, we’re going to, whether you like it or not. We’re going to pay for your flight back to Thailand. Charlotte will get together with you later and book the ticket and depending on when it is, one of us will take you to the airport. Okay?”

  Sumalee looked at him with wide eyes and burst into tears again. She covered her face with her hands and Charlotte hugged her.

  Sumalee shook her head. “I cannot accept. It is too much.”

  “No, it’s not too much,” said Nathan. “If getting home to Thailand and your family will help you more than anything right now, then it’s just enough.”

  Sumalee gulped. “I do not know what to say.”

  “Say yes,” said Nathan and when she looked at him, he was smiling back at her.

  Chapter 18

  Two months after they’d officially moved into the cottage, the day of Charlotte’s and Nathan’s housewarming had arrived.

  To allow guests to come and go as they pleased, they’d decided to have the party on a Saturday afternoon. Even though it was late November, the unseasonably good weather was holding and the sun shone down from a cloudless sky.

  In the garden, a heated marquee would ensure that the guest were kept warm and a couple of large outdoor heaters would take the chill off the night air later on

  Nathan had cleaned the barbecue, the fridge was stacked full of wine, beer, champagne and soft drinks, and Charlotte and Jess had been cooking all morning to get the food ready in time.

  At ten-thirty, when Charlotte was putting a tray of mini-steak pies, sausage rolls and a meat-free cottageless pie into the oven, there was a loud knock on the door, followed by Ava’s dulcet tones.

  “Charlotte! You at home?”

  Pippin went skidding to the door, followed by Jess, who answered it to see Ava, Harriet and Betty standing on the doorstep, each carrying a large plastic tub.

  “Oh, hello dear, hello Pippin,” said Ava, stepping inside. “We thought we’d help out with the food. I’ve made strawberry cupcakes. Shall I put them in the kitchen?” She walked off before Jess had said a word.

  “And I’ve made a smoked haddock quiche,” said Harriett. “I’ll just go through and give it to Charlotte.”

  “And I’ve made some barbecue spare ribs,” said Betty. “Get down, Pippin! They probably won’t be as nice as Sumalee’s, but they’re very nice, all the same.”

  Jess grinned. “Thanks, Betty. I’m sure they’ll be just as good, if not better.”

  “Oh, thank you! You didn’t have to go to all this trouble!” said Charlotte, giving them all a hug.

  “Nonsense!” said Ava, peering through the glass door of the oven. “It’s a sad day when you can’t help out a friend.”

  “It certainly is,” agreed Harriett. “Now, what time do you want us later?”

  “Well, we should be all ready from about two, so come any time after that. I have a feeling the party will go on until quite late, though, so if you don’t want to come early, you don’t have to.”

  “Oh, no,” said Betty. “We’ll definitely be here early. We wouldn’t want to miss anything, would we ladies?”

  “Absolutely not,” muttered Ava and Harriett.

  I love them all to death, but sometimes they behave very strangely, thought Charlotte. “Well, I don’t think you’ll miss anything if you get here later, but it’s up to you. It’ll be lovely to see you whenever you get here. Won’t it Jess? Jess!”

  “Sorry ... what was that?” Jess looked up from her phone, a guilty expression on her face.

  “I was just saying to the ladies that it’ll be nice to see them whatever time they arrive.”

  “Oh, gotcha. Yes, yes, whenever. Looking forward to it,” said Jess, nodding and smiling at the three women.

  “Okay, well, I’ll see you later then.” Charlotte could have sworn she saw Ava wink at Jess, but thought it must have been her imagination. Either that or Ava had developed a twitch.

  ººººººº

  Three hours later, another knock on the door signalled the arrival of the first guest. It was Ben, complete with a bottle of champagne and the most enormous sunflower Charlotte had ever seen.

  “Hello, You do like sunflowers, don’t you?” Charlotte took the champagne and giggled as she watched him struggle to get the sunflower through the front door in one piece, collapsing in a fit of laughter as he resorted to a variation of limbo dancing to achieve the feat.

  “Thank you, Ben,” she said, wiping her eyes, “and yes, I love sunflowers. How did you know?”

  “The Chief told me,” he replied, pink-cheeked from his exertion.

  “Y’know, I’d love to know what the protocol is on calling the DCI by his actual name at his own housewarming party?” said Charlotte.

  “Well, I’m not asking him,” said Ben, as he disappeared off with the giant sunflower to find Jess.

  By five-thirty, the cottage was filled with guests, chatting and dancing as they enjoyed the food, the drink and each other’s company.

  The usual crowd were there, along with a few others who had made a special effort to get cover for an hour or so whilst they left work. Charlotte was particularly touched to see that Will from The Bottle of Beer, Adam and Yolanda from the Mini-Mart, and Fiona Farrell had all taken the time to come along to wish her and
Nathan well in their new home.

  Earlier on, she’d been brought to tears to find Ryan and his dad, Victor, at the front door when she’d rushed to answer it. “How could I not come and give you my good wishes after all you’ve done for us?” said Victor, as he gave Charlotte a hug and manoeuvred his way into the cottage in his state of the art wheelchair.

  “Nathan not back yet?” asked Laura when she bumped into Charlotte in the garden. “He’s put Garrett on barbecue duty.”

  “No, he shouldn’t be too much longer. He’s only gone to get some beers, although I’ve just found a load in the fridge in the garage. Oh well, never mind, it’ll all get drunk, I suppose. Garrett’s doing a great job with the hotdogs, I see. And those burgers look good. I might even have one of those myself.”

  It was dark outside now, but Nathan had strung tiny gold lights all over the garden and it had taken Charlotte’s breath away when daylight had started to fade, to be replaced by a mass of twinkling lights against the night sky.

  “Nathan’s done an amazing job on the garden,” said Jess, as she and Charlotte bopped away to Abba’s ‘Dancing Queen.”

  “Yeah, it looks great, doesn’t it?” said Charlotte

  The music had just changed to ‘The Timewarp’ when she caught sight of Nathan over the crowd. She waved to him and turned back to Jess who was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

  “What are you so happy about?” she shouted, above the music.

  Jess shrugged. “Nothing, just enjoying the party,” she shouted back.

  Charlotte suddenly became aware of someone dancing very close behind her. They weren’t touching her, but she could feel their presence and feel their eyes on her. She moved forward a little and carried on dancing, but when she saw Jess’s smile widen, she spun round to see who the recipient of her smile was.

  A moment of non-recognition was followed by another of disbelief and then a squeal of delight as Charlotte threw herself upon Nathan’s sister, Barbara, who had emigrated to Wisconsin with Nathan’s parents five years previously, and with whom Charlotte had become good friends on her return to St. Eves.

  She introduced her American boyfriend, Brody, who had made the trip with her.

  “Hi! I’m so pleased to meet you,” said Charlotte, shaking Brody’s hand and giving him a hug before clutching on to Barbara again. “Oh my God! What are you doing here? I only Skyped you a couple of days ago, why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

  As she flung her arms around her neck, chattering nineteen-to-the-dozen in her ear, she saw two more familiar faces creeping towards her through the crowds.

  George and Hattie, Nathan’s mum and dad, enveloped her in a huge hug, too emotional to speak but leaving Charlotte in no doubt of their pleasure at seeing her as they almost squeezed the breath from her body.

  She stepped back and gazed at them all, still not quite able to believe they were there. “I bet Nathan wasn’t very happy when you lot turned up on the doorstep,” she joked. “You know how he hates surprises!” She grinned and blew her nose on a tissue she pulled out from up her sleeve.

  Nathan appeared behind her and kissed her neck. “Where do you think I’ve been? I’ve been to the airport.”

  “What, you knew they were coming?”

  “Course I did. Everyone knew. Except you. Jess has been tracking their flight all day long on her phone and texting me with any updates. We thought you’d be less likely to become suspicious if she did it.”

  Charlotte looked around at her friends. All of them were nodding and smiling and Jess, Garrett and Laura were looking decidedly dewy-eyed.

  “Why did everyone know they were coming except me?” said Charlotte. “What’s going on?”

  “Okay,” he said, “I suppose it’s time to own up.” He took Charlotte by the hand and led her to the patio at the top of the garden. He cupped his hands around his mouth and called inside, “Can someone turn the music down please!”

  When there was silence, he turned to the assembled crowd.

  “Okay, first of all, I’d like to say a huge thank you to my wonderful family for making the trip to be here today. Thanks, all of you, I can’t tell you how much it means to have you here.” A cheer went up and Nathan’s mum dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief.

  “And of course, thank you to everyone else for coming out to share this afternoon, this evening ... this celebration ... with us. At last!”

  Laughter was accompanied by more cheers and applause.

  “Now. You all know that Charlotte and I have been together for a while now. And you all know what an amazing woman she is – God knows, I do.” He smiled at her and chuckled affectionately.

  “In every sense of the word, she is remarkable, and I am the luckiest man in the world that, for reasons I will never fully understand, she has chosen to be with me.” He took both her hands in his and brought them to his lips.

  “Anyway, some of the cynics amongst you might say that what I’m about to do is a little premature. Some might even say that it’s a little foolish. Me? I knew long before we even got together that Charlotte was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I loved her then and I love her even more now. And I know that twenty, thirty or forty years from now, if we’re blessed to spend those years together, my love for her will be even stronger then.

  “Now, I promised I wouldn’t do this without my family here, so now they are, I’ve got no excuse.”

  He took one of his hands from Charlotte’s, and put it in his pocket. Then, to the whoops and the screams of the crowd, he got down on one knee.

  “Oh, my gosh! Nathan!” Charlotte burst into tears as Nathan held a dark blue, velvet-covered box in front of her and flicked it open with his thumb. Inside was an exquisite platinum set, oval cut diamond ring.

  “Charlotte, I bought this a long time ago. Like I just said, I knew when we first got together that I was in this for the long-haul. I’ve just been waiting for the right time to give it to you. I thought that as today was a day of celebration, it would be the right time, and also the right time for me to ask you something …”

  More loud cheers and whoops from the crowd.

  Charlotte was laughing and crying at the same time and Nathan kissed her hand again.

  “Charlotte Denver, I love you with all my heart, and I will love you with all my heart until the day I die. Will you marry me?”

  Charlotte leaned down and took his face in her hands. “Yes, Nathan, yes, yes, YES!”

  He stood up and caught her around the waist, swinging her round as he kissed her. Setting her down gently, he took her left hand in his and slipped the ring onto her third finger.

  With the sound of cheering in their ears, they looked around at their family and friends, happy that they were here to share the moment with them.

  “I will love you forever, Charlotte Denver,” said Nathan, and as he bent to kiss her, Pippin chased his tail round and round in circles before he settled happily at their feet and barked in agreement.

  The End

  Pumpkins, Peril and a Paella – Book 4

  Cast of Characters

  Charlotte Denver - Owner of Charlotte’s Plaice café on the marina in St. Eves. Our heroine.

  Nathan Costello - Detective Chief Inspector of the St. Eves police department. Also Charlotte’s fiancé.

  Pippin - Charlotte’s West Highland Terrier.

  Jess Beddington - Jess’s closest friend and co-worker at Charlotte’s Plaice.

  Detective Sergeant Ben Dillon – Is the tenant in Charlotte’s old house and is Jess Beddington’s boyfriend.

  Samuel Slade - Ex-con, recently released from prison for armed robbery. Brother of Trevor and Richard Slade.

  Trevor Slade - Ex-con, recently released from prison for armed robbery. Brother of Samuel and Richard Slade.

  Richard Slade - Ex-con, recently released from prison for armed robbery. Brother of Samuel and Trevor Slade.

  Maureen Slade - Mother of the above.

  Lionel Hall
- Owner of Hall’s Hardware Store.

  Heather Hall - Wife of Lionel Hall.

  Larry Hall - Son of Lionel and Heather. Council employee and drummer in the local band Night Vigil.

  Lavender Burridge - Sister of Marigold Burridge. Lifelong resident of St. Eves. A member of the St. Eves Ladies Association.

  Marigold Burridge - Sister of Lavender Burridge. Lifelong resident of St. Eves. A member of the St. Eves Ladies Association.

  Olivia Floyd-Martin - Chef of The President hotel’s rooftop restaurant.

  Ava Whittington - Lifelong resident of St. Eves. Has known Charlotte since she was born.

  Harriett Lawley - as above.

  Betty Tubbs - as above.

  Leo Reeves - lifelong resident of St. Eves.

  Harry Jenkins - lifelong resident of St. Eves.

  Garrett Walton - Lifelong resident of St. Eves and skipper of one of the St. Eves fishing boat fleet. Also Charlotte’s godfather.

  Laura Walton - Garrett’s wife and Charlotte’s godmother.

  Detective Sergeant Fiona Farrell – DS at the St. Eves police force.

  Adam and Yolanda - Owners of the Mini-Mart on the marina.

  George Costello - Nathan’s father.

  Hattie Costello - Nathan’s mother.

  Barbara Costello - Nathan’s sister.

  Brody Daniels - Barbara’s boyfriend.

  Lola Whitworth - Acquaintance of George and Hattie Costello.

  Remy Whitworth - Lola’s daughter.

  Jamie Whitworth - Lola’s son.

  Ian Bonneville - Lola’s ex-husband.

  Reverend Daly - Reverend of All Saints church.

  PC Milton - Police Constable in the St. Eves Police Force.

  PC Willis - Police Constable in the St. Eves Police Force.

  Ryan Benson - A friend of Charlotte’s.

  Will Goss - Owner of The Bottle of Beer.

  Sheila - Bank Clerk.

  Lydia - Sales Assistant at the Bakehouse Bakery.

  Virginia - Assistant at Hall’s Hardware Store.

  Prologue