Back Room Bookstore Cozy Mystery Boxed Set: Books 1 - 12

by Susan Harper

  “You don’t look like someone who just solved a major arson case,” Mona said. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Christmas Eve,” he said. “And we haven’t heard back from Monica. I was really hoping to spend Christmas with her this year… I kind of bailed on my family’s thing in the big city, and now I’m kind of by myself tonight… It’s just kind of a letdown.”

  Mona smiled. “My sister will be here. She’s never missed a Christmas Eve. How about you join my Aunt Wilma and I at the bookshop until Monica gets back?”

  Brian smiled. “That sounds like a great idea… You’re not making the coffee, are you?”

  Mona laughed. “No. I think I’ll leave that to my Aunt Wilma.”

  14

  “Not exactly how I expected to be spending my Christmas Eve,” Monica said as she looked around the large cabin filled with yetis. The yeti woman, whose name was RawR-Ruh, had brought them back to the village and invited them to the town’s mead hall for the annual Christmas party. As it turned out, Yawk Town was completely inhabited by yetis. The enormous creatures had quite the civilization in the middle of those mountains.

  The mead hall was more or less a bar and grill, and the chair Monica was currently sitting in was so large that her feet stuck out at the end, and she and Holly were sharing it with plenty of room. “Here you go, dearies,” RawR-Ruh said in a typical, grumbling yeti voice, setting one giant plate in front of them on the table.

  “Whoa,” Holly said, sounding quite impressed at the large plate of turkey, dressing, and various vegetables and casseroles.

  “What, were you expecting fried human or something?” one of the male yetis asked, and they all laughed hysterically at this.

  The mead hall was full of large wooden tables. The one they were seated at was RawR-Ruh’s immediate family. RawR-Ruh slapped the largest yeti on the arm. “Oh, Char-RuHK, you’re ridiculous,” she said, laughing and sitting herself down, fluffing up her fur at her cheeks before pulling her chair closer to the table.

  “We’re so sorry we screamed when we saw you,” Monica said again. “You just surprised me is all.”

  “I was honestly terrified,” Holly admitted.

  “Yes, let me make sure I understand,” RawR-Ruh said. “You are mystic, but you grew up believing you were mortal?”

  “That’s right,” Holly said as they had already had a riveting conversation with RawR-Ruh on the way back into the village.

  “So this is probably your first time seeing a bunch of yetis then?” a young boy yeti asked. He was wearing nothing but a backward ballcap on his head as he chomped down on his dinner. While he was probably only ten or so, the young boy still would have towered over Monica and Holly had they been standing near him.

  In order to reach the food on her plate, Monica had to sit on her knees in the chair. Holly did the same. “Yeah, this would be a first for me,” Holly said. “Monica here was the first mystic I ever met that I know of. I’ve now met a few vampires, goblins, trolls, centaurs, onocentaurs…but this is the first time I’ve had the pleasure of meeting yetis.”

  “So interesting,” the man, Char-RuHK, said. “Can’t believe my dainty little wife scared you two so badly.”

  “She just surprised us is all,” Monica said, trying not to offend. She elbowed Holly, as the woman seemed to be having a hard time with Char-RuHK’s choice in the word dainty.

  Abigail had found her way over to the large fire roaring at one end of the mead hall. A few yetis who had already dined were passed out in chairs around the fire as well, and Abigail seemed quite at home with them. RawR-Ruh’s ears twitched when a bit of music started up in the corner, and she dragged Char-RuHK out of his chair to the center of the mead hall where a number of other couples were getting together for some sort of line dance. Monica and Holly watched with great enthusiasm, clapping along with those yetis who had elected to stay sitting.

  “Awfully graceful for their size, aren’t they?” Holly asked, amused.

  As the music picked up, however, the whole building seemed to shake and quiver as the creatures jumped about. “This is fun and all,” Holly said. “But I’m really bummed out. RawR-Ruh says the next train won’t get in until tomorrow afternoon. We definitely won’t be home for Christmas.”

  “My aunt and sister are probably already out on the rooftop for Santa watching,” Monica said. “I’m sorry I traded my broom, Holly. I should have thought this through a lot better.”

  Holly sighed, but she smiled slightly as she watched RawR-Ruh and her husband bounce about while their children clapped and giggled excitedly over the music. “I suppose it could have been worse. We could still be stuck out on that ledge. If we were going to get ourselves lost on Christmas Eve, I suppose getting stuck in the middle of a big yeti Christmas Eve celebration isn’t the worst thing that could have happened.”

  “Hey, you got me,” Monica said. “That’s got to count for something, right?”

  “Right,” Holly said, laughing.

  Monica could hear the distant sound of bells, and the music suddenly stopped. The yeti children all screamed and squealed excitedly, darting out the door. “What’s going on?” Holly asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Monica said, taking another bite of mashed potatoes.

  A few minutes went by, and the children all came hurtling back inside laughing and giggling. Right behind them was a large, round man of average height dressed in red and showing off a large white beard. “No way,” Holly said, and she and Monica both jumped down.

  All the yetis laughed and spoke with the man, shaking his hand and welcoming him back. “‘Bout to get going on your run, Nick?” Char-RuHK asked.

  “Ho! I’ll say, but you all know I had to stop by before I headed out,” the man said, his large belly jiggling as he laughed. He smiled at RawR-Ruh in particular. “The missus wants me to thank you for that pumpkin pie recipe you sent her during the fall, RawR-Ruh. The elves were beyond themselves over that treat.”

  RawR-Ruh beamed. “Glad they liked it, Nick.”

  “The yetis are on a first name basis with Santa Claus?” Holly whispered just as Abigail made their way over to them.

  “Told you, he’s got a pretty impressive genealogy,” Abigail whispered. “His great-grandmother was a yeti…”

  “Santa’s part-yeti?” Holly whispered.

  “Ho! What’s this?” Santa had spotted them. They did stand out quite a bit.

  Holly was beyond herself. “Hi!” she exclaimed.

  The man smiled. “Holly, good to see you. You’ve gotten so tall, dear!”

  Holly’s jaw gaped open. “Oh!” she exclaimed as the man winked at her.

  “And Ms. Montoya!” he said, putting his hand out to shake, and Monica returned. “It’s been a while… Abigail…”

  Abigail grunted. “Nick…”

  “How in the world did this little group wind up in Yawk on Christmas Eve?” Santa asked.

  “Well, I traded my broom at one of the North Pole shops…” Monica said. “I greatly underestimated how much time we had left to get home for the holidays, and we wound up slipping and getting trapped in the mountains, so we missed the last train out of town.”

  “Stuck away from home on Christmas Eve!” he exclaimed. “Oh, that’s no good! You were in the North Pole… You didn’t happen to return one of the toy elves, did you?”

  “That was us,” Monica said.

  “Well, thank you, ladies! Happy to report that Thaddeus is doing better. I went by to see him before coming here,” he explained. “I have to thank you ladies for returning him. He could have gotten himself into some serious trouble if it wasn’t for you two.”

  Holly was acting starstruck. She gushed slightly when she spoke to him. “So, do you come here every Christmas Eve?” Holly asked.

  “I may be the busiest man alive on Christmas Eve, but I still make time to visit my cousins for a bit,” he said with a wink.

  “Whoa,” Holly said, still trying to fathom Santa Claus actually hav
ing yeti ancestry. Since Santa looked so incredibly human, Monica imagined that Holly was wondering what this might mean for her. It certainly seemed to open up a door of new possibilities.

  “Since you ladies helped me out so much by returning Thaddeus,” Santa said. “I think I might should return the favor. I know this is sort of against the rules since we’re on the mystic side, but why don’t I grant each of you a Christmas wish?”

  “Perfect!” Monica exclaimed. “I can wish us home!”

  “Me too?” Abigail asked hopefully.

  “Umm…no,” Santa said, and Abigail hissed at him. “But you’re welcome to have one as well, Holly.”

  Holly turned to Monica. “I wish that Monica was—”

  “I’m going to stop you right there,” Monica said firmly. “Don’t waste your wish on me, Holly. You’ve always wanted to meet Santa. Make yourself a real Christmas wish.”

  “But, Monica, you gave up your Christmas wish when you were a little girl to help your sister,” Holly said.

  “And there’s no reason for you to give up yours just because I got to use mine to wish us home,” she said. “Go on, make a real Christmas wish for yourself. I’m perfectly happy being an unnatural witch. Really.”

  Holly sighed, but she smiled. She looked at Santa for a moment. “I want to see my dad…not like go see him, but…and I don’t mean my adopted dad…you see, I just…”

  “Hold on, I think I can help you,” Santa said, waving his hand toward Monica’s purse. Monica handed it over, and he pulled out the snow globe.

  “Whoa,” Monica said. “How did you know we got that?”

  He simply winked at Monica before waving his hand over the globe and handing it to Holly. Holly stared at the little image of the North Pole inside the globe. “What do I do?” she asked.

  “Don’t tell me you don’t know how to use a snow globe?” he asked.

  “Oh!” Holly exclaimed, then shook the globe. The fake snow inside swirled around, and then she saw a man’s face—a man none of them had ever seen before. He was lovely chestnut brown eyes and a heartfelt smile. He was laughing and sitting under a Christmas tree, talking with someone the snow globe couldn’t depict. The man seemed so kind, warm, and merry. “That’s my dad?” Holly asked.

  Santa nodded. “And from what I understand, Holly, you know where to find him.”

  “Yeah,” Holly said, a bit awestruck. “I thought I would reach out to him, but I just wasn’t sure.”

  “How about now?” Santa asked.

  Holly looked back at the image. “Yeah, I think I should…after the holidays…” she said.

  Santa nodded. “Well, I’ve got to get going. Busy night, you know!” The man clasped his hands together. “Have a Merry Christmas, ladies!” he said, and the door to the mead hall flung open. A bunch of snow came swirling in, and it surrounded Monica, Holly, and Abigail.

  The three of them shrieked and closed their eyes in surprise, but when they opened them again, they were standing outside of Backroom Books in Bankstown. The whole street was lit up with lovely Christmas lights.

  Monica looked down at herself. Her hair was done in bright red ribbons, and she was wearing the oversized Christmas sweater she had intended to wear to the Christmas Eve get-together they had planned. Looking at Holly, she could see she too was dressed up in a lovely Christmas attire and now holding several carefully-wrapped gifts. Monica, looking down at her hands, saw that she too had gifts wrapped up and a few casserole dishes piled up. “Whoa,” she said.

  “Look!” Holly exclaimed. The front door to the shop was opening, and Isaac popped his head out.

  “There you two are! Mona kept swearing to us that you guys were going to be here,” he said, laughing and hurrying over to them in his gawdy Christmas sweater. He took the casseroles from Monica to help, and they entered the shop that was now carefully decorated and looking quite festive. Abigail followed at their heels in her little kitty-cat Christmas sweater, hissing up at them a bit.

  “We actually made it,” Holly said, laughing.

  Monica smiled. They had made it home in time for Christmas.

  15

  “So, tell me again how you’re related to Monica?” Brian asked, and Monica grinned slightly as her Uncle Drac stood there in a brightly-colored Christmas sweater.

  “I am not,” Uncle Drac said. “I am Vilma’s ex, but zey love me too much to get rid ov me!”

  Brian laughed. “Is that a Romanian accent I’m picking up on?”

  “Ah! Zat iz correct, yes,” Uncle Drac said, shaking Brian’s hand.

  Monica was slightly nervous that Aunt Wilma had invited the count along since Isaac was also there for their Christmas Eve party, but he didn’t seem to be picking up on the vampire’s unusual behavior. “I am just so glad you two managed to make it back in time,” Aunt Wilma said, clasping each of their shoulders.

  “I am so sorry it took us so long to get here,” Monica said. “But you know us. We wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

  The back door to the shop opened, and the mystics in the room—everyone but Brian and Isaac—all cringed as Deimus, Mona’s boyfriend, stepped over the threshold carrying a pie. “I brought pumpkin pie!” he exclaimed.

  Brian, who had been rather distracted by Drac, didn’t seem to notice. Isaac, who had been standing near the counter, looked in his direction. “Did you just…” Isaac asked, staring. “Have you been in the storage closet this whole time?”

  “Er…” was the best reply Deimus could come up with.

  Mona slyly whipped her wand out, and Monica saw mistletoe grow right over Isaac’s head from the low-hanging rafter. “Isaac, look! Mistletoe!” Mona called, and he looked up and gushed, because he was standing next to Holly, who promptly gave him a kiss on the cheek. He immediately forgot all about Deimus appearing from a storage closet.

  Brian, now noticing Deimus, approached him and shook his hand. Monica and Mona came over and did formal introductions for the guys. “Oh, hey… Hope you don’t mind me getting your girl something for Christmas,” Brian said jokingly and handed Mona a small box.

  “You got me something?” she asked.

  “Well, go on, open it,” Brian said.

  Mona smiled and opened the box, pulling out a knitted black Christmas sweater depicting a frowning bat with a Santa hat, the caption, “This is as jolly as a I get,” across the bottom. Mona laughed so hard she snorted slightly. “Wow, thanks, Brian…” she said, still giggling slightly.

  Deimus laughed as well. “Very you, Mona.”

  “I’ll say,” Mona said, still snickering. “Okay, I got something for you, Brian.”

  Brian smiled. “Really?” he asked.

  “Of course,” she said, scurrying behind the counter where she had left her purse.

  She turned around from pulling the wrapped gift out from behind the counter in time to see him standing there grinning with a large gift basket in his hands. “Brian!” Monica exclaimed in surprise as he set the gift basket down on the counter. She tried not to frown as she saw all the lovely bike accessories—the new seat, the beautiful purple rims, the bell, and even the gorgeous little basket for Abigail. “Brian, that is just too sweet,” she said.

  “You like it?” he asked hopefully.

  “Are you kidding? It is so thoughtful,” Monica said, handing Brian her gift.

  He opened it up. “Whoa, this is really nice,” he said.

  “It’s for your medal,” Monica said. “I could tell it was really important to you, so I wanted there to be a special spot for you to display it in your apartment.”

  Brian’s smile was huge and obviously overexerted, much like her own. From the corner of her eye, Monica could see Mona and Holly whispering to each other, giving one another horrified glances. “Monica, I love it,” he said, placing the shadowbox on the counter and pulling her into a tight hug.

  “Ahem! Mistletoe!” Isaac called from across the room.

  Monica looked up. The mistletoe that Mona had cre
ated as a diversion for Isaac was still right above where they now stood by the counter. Monica looked up at Brian expectantly, and he gave her the sweetest kiss. Her toes curled, and Monica could hear Isaac shout a “woohoo!” in the background.

  Monica laughed as they pulled apart. “So,” Brian said, his face now a burning red color. “How about I help you get all this set up on your bike? I want to see how it looks together!”

  Mona frowned. Of course he was going to want to see the bike. “Oh…” Monica said. “Oh, I hate this…”

  “Hate what?” Brian asked.

  “Brian, I traded my bike for the shadowbox…” she said. “It was really expensive, but I wanted to get it for you… The guy at the store saw my bike and really liked it…”

  She expected him to look gravely disappointed, but he didn’t. In fact, he started laughing. He pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her forehead. “You’re amazing,” he said.

  Monica smiled at him. “Well, we could go hang up the display box tonight after the party. See how that medal looks—”

  Brian laughed again and shook his head. “Yeah, well, I pawned the medal so I could buy you all this…”

  Monica’s hands went over her mouth in surprise. “No, we did not just do that…” she said, but she started to laugh too, and Brian pulled her in for a second kiss. She giggled and laid her head on his chest, both of them laughing quite hysterically at the two useless but mind-blowingly thoughtful gifts that now sat on the counter beside them.

  Mona stood by herself on the rooftop of Backroom Books, gazing up at the stars. She was now wearing the black Christmas sweater that Brian had given her, feeling that it was actually rather cozy. Her family had gotten too distracted laughing at Brian and Monica’s gift flubs to realize what time it was. Plus with two mortals downstairs, it wasn’t like they were going to attempt to wave St. Nick down with them. So, she was alone sipping on hot chocolate. Even Deimus hadn’t seemed to notice her slip away, so she enjoyed the moment of alone time.

  “This is way better than coffee,” Mona mumbled to herself as she sipped the chocolatey drink mortals enjoyed so much during the winter season. She was glad she had taken Isaac’s suggestions and added the sugary blobs called marshmallows to the concoction.