by Kathi Daley
When I arrived in town, I decided to park in the public lot near the marina. During the summer, it was usually packed due to visitors accessing the walking path along the waterway, but there were plenty of empty spots today, and it was centrally located for easy access to the craft and sewing store, the candy store, and the florist. I figured I’d start here and then head across town to the grocer and the butcher.
“Good morning, Eunice,” I said to the woman who owns the candy store.
“Abby. How are you, dear?”
“I’m doing well. Georgia sent me in to pick up the order she spoke to you about over the phone.”
“I have it all ready for you.” She lifted several large bags with carrying handles and set them on the counter. “It sounds like things are busy at the inn this week.”
I nodded. “We’re booked clear through the new year. Mylie and Jeremy have the list completion activity going on again this year, so there are multiple events every day to plan for and execute, which makes it seem even busier.”
“Georgia mentioned that the candy was to be used in goodie bags that she was helping Mylie make up for prizes.” She set a piece of fudge on the counter. “As long as you’re here, you may as well try our sample of the day.”
I picked up the piece of chocolate and took a small bite. “This is delicious. Is that rum?”
She nodded. “Just a smidge for flavor; you don’t have to worry about eating it and driving,” she joked.
I popped the rest of the small piece into my mouth. “Good to know. Do you have any peanut brittle?”
“I sure do.”
“I’ll take a small box. Enjoying peanut brittle at Christmas is one of the few traditions I still have left from my mother.”
“Did your mother make her own peanut brittle?” Eunice asked.
I bobbed my head. “Unlike my grandma, who loved to bake, Mom preferred making candy to baking cookies during the holidays. After my grandma died, if I wanted a frosted Santa cookie, I had to go next door to the neighbors, but Mom always made peanut brittle, divinity, chocolate-covered cherries, truffles, and, of course, fudge.”
“That all sounds wonderful.” She handed me a small bag with the peanut brittle. “It seems that fewer and fewer folks come in for the old fashion style candy, but I still make a few batches.”
Eunice slipped a few pieces of divinity into a bag. “On the house.”
“Thank you so much,” I said. “I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.”
After I left the candy store, I headed to the craft and sewing store where I needed to pick up the ribbon. The store owner, a woman named Nicole, took her time and showed me all the pieces she felt would work with the wreaths Mylie planned to have the guests who were interested make. I’m not really into crafting or sewing and didn’t have an opinion as to what might work best, so I decided to let Nicole make the selections.
“And finally, you’ll want to have this red velvet,” she said, pulling out a large roll.
That was the one I would have headed toward first, but the other items she’d selected would add variety and color to the wreaths. “I’ll take it all,” I said.
“I heard Sage Morris is coming back to town,” Nicole said as she began ringing up and bagging the items she’d selected for me.
“Yes, I believe she’s due to arrive today. Do you know Sage?”
“I met her when she was here just before Thanksgiving. She’s a clothing designer, you know.”
“Yes, I know. I guess the two of you have a lot in common.”
“Oh, we do,” she gushed. “She came in just to look around when she was here before. We got to chatting and found out we had a lot in common. We even went to lunch together a few times. I remembered her saying that she might be back for the Christmas holiday.”
“Yes, her sisters, Shelby and Sierra, are already here. I’ve spoken to them, but the last time I was at the house, Sage hadn’t arrived yet, but I know she did plan to arrive this week.”
“That’s good.” The woman leaned in and lowered her voice. “I was afraid she might cancel after the body of the ex-groundskeeper was found in the shed.”
“So you heard about that.”
She nodded. “Sure. Everyone has. I didn’t really know the guy, but Harold over at the sporting goods store said he’d been fairly good friends with the man, and of course, Buford over at the butcher shop knew the guy from the Halloween committee. I guess they worked on a few events together.”
I handed Nicole my credit card, signed the slip, and then headed out into the cold December afternoon. I figured I’d need both hands to pick up the flowers Georgia had ordered to make centerpieces, so I took the candy and ribbon to the car and then walked back along the main fairway to the florist. I’d been enjoying the holiday windows, exterior decorations, and abundance of twinkle lights that lit up the snow and gave the landscape the feel of a winter wonderland. I’d miss the gaiety of Christmas once the decorations were taken down and all that was left was the cold and the snow.
Once I’d picked up the flowers, I headed back to my car. The trip across town to the butcher shop was a short one. I parked parallel in front of the shop and then headed in to pick up the order Georgia had already called in.
“Here for Georgia’s order?” Buford asked.
“I am.”
“I have it in the back. Just give me a minute.”
I nodded and then wandered over to the counter where the cash register was located. When the man returned, he put three large bags on the counter and handed me a receipt. I gave him my credit card.
“I was just speaking to Nicole over at the craft store, and she told me that you worked with William Andrews on the Halloween committee.”
“Yeah, I did. The guy had a feel for all things gory and spooky. He made a real contribution. I was sorry to hear about what happened.”
“Did you know him well?” I wondered as I signed the sales slip.
“No. Not really. William moved to the area this past spring. Before that, he worked for a company based in Houston.” He put the sales slip in the drawer of the cash register. “Or maybe it was Austin. I get those two towns mixed up in my head. I’ve never visited either of them.”
“It’s quite a climate change from Texas to Maine. Do you know why he moved here?”
He shook his head slowly. “I’m not sure why he looked for work in the area in the first place, but I do know that he moved here to take the job as groundskeeper when the guy who used to work at the Rosewood estate left. Guess he must have found out about the job somehow and decided to apply.”
“Did he enjoy working for Henrietta Rosewood?”
He shrugged. “Like I said, the two of us weren’t close, but we did go out for a beer every now and then. We didn’t really talk about his job much. In fact, the main thing we had in common was the Halloween committee. I’ve been volunteering for years, so when William told me that he was into the whole Halloween thing and even had some of his own props, I got him hooked up with the right people.”
After picking up the first of the three bags, I realized that I’d need to make two trips. “I know you said you weren’t close to William, but do you have any idea who might have killed him?”
He paused as if to give my question some thought. “Not really. I was surprised when I heard that he’d been murdered. William was mostly the sort to keep to himself and was pretty low key, not at all confrontational. As far as I know, he didn’t have any enemies, and he certainly didn’t have the sort of job that would cause him to anger those around him.”
“We found some props out at the house. Props like those that might be used for a haunted house. Did William ever mention having his props out at the mansion?”
“No. I think William kept all his stuff at that storage facility on the south end of town. I went there with him one time to pick up a few things he wanted to use in the community haunted house.”
I picked up the second of the three bags with my free hand. “I’ll
need to come back for the third bag. My car is right out front.”
“I’ll help you.”
He picked up the third bag and took the bag I had in my right hand from me as well. Once I was all loaded up, I headed to the grocer. I only had a few things to get there, but the store could be crowded at this time of the day. It was cold outside, so I wasn’t worried about the meat getting too hot, but I was somewhat concerned about the flowers getting cold. I supposed I should have gone to the florist last.
As it turned out, the flowers were okay in the car. Jeremy had just come in from the snowman building competition when I arrived at the inn, so he helped me unload everything. Once I’d filled Jeremy and Georgia in on the fact that according to Buford, William had his own props, I headed over to the cottage where it was quieter and called Colt.
“Have you actually seen these props?” Colt asked me after I’d filled him in.
“No, not really. Well, sort of.”
“Come again.”
“I haven’t actually seen any of the props, but I do know that Lonnie found props that may or may not have belonged to William out at the estate. When I talked to Buford, he told me that he’d seen a storage room full of props that William personally owned when he went to pick up a few items for the haunted house with him. I have no way of knowing if the props are still stored in the same storage unit, but it seems that as a cop, you can find that out.”
He chuckled. “I can and will find that out. I’ll call Buford to get some additional information. If William had his own props and we can prove that the props at the mansion belonged to him, then we have a starting point for our theory that William intentionally used the props to scare Henri and her granddaughters for some reason.”
“Do you think he was trying to scare her to death?” I asked. “Do you think murder was the goal, or is it more likely that he wanted to scare her so she’d move away or hire him to live in to protect the place, or something a bit less sinister than intentionally trying to scare her to death?”
“I don’t know. Unfortunately, William may be the only one who can answer that, and he’s dead. Still, someone killed him, so maybe he had a partner, who, if we can track him or her down, might have the answers we’ll need to figure this out. I’ll call Buford, and then I’ll have one of my guys head over to the storage facility and talk to the manager. If the props are still there, maybe something about the items stored at the facility can help us prove that the props at the mansion belonged to William.”
“And if we can prove that, then what? That still doesn’t give us a motive for William’s actions, and it still doesn’t tell us who killed William.”
“One step at a time.” He let out a long slow breath. “I’m happy to be able to spend time with the kids, but I do wish I was back in Holiday Bay.”
“I’m sure your guys can do the leg work on their own.”
“I’m sure they can. But it’s not just that. I miss you.”
“I miss you too.” I smiled.
“I spoke to Jeremy today. He called to ask me if you needed a permit to hold an event in the park for your guests, which by the way, you don’t need. Anyway, while we were chatting, he told me about your newest group of guests and some of the fun things you have planned for everyone. I found myself wishing I would have had the kids come to my place. I think they would have enjoyed joining in on the fun.”
“What about your parents?”
He sighed. “Yeah, I think they would have been sad without the kids. Maybe I’ll bring them all to Holiday Bay next year.”
“That would be fun. Maybe that will work out.”
Colt and I chatted for a bit longer, and then he hung up so that he could make the calls he needed to make relating to the props and the storage unit. Half of the guests had gone off on the sleigh ride with Jeremy, and the other half had stayed inside working on jigsaw puzzles. I was tempted to join the guests with the jigsaw puzzles, but it was a decent day out, and the dogs had been cooped up, so I added a few more warm layers and then set off with the dogs along the bluff. Rufus gave me a dirty look when I left him behind, but the snow was too deep for the cat, so I figured when I got back, I’d make a cup of coffee, turn on a Christmas movie, and curl up with my feline best friend.
Chapter 6
The sisters joined Jeremy for sledding the following day. Initially, I wasn’t going to go, but Annabelle really seemed to want me to come and watch her barrel down the groomed runs on the sledding hill, so I decided to tag along. Mylie and Georgia were holding down the fort at the inn, and, to be honest, wreath making really wasn’t the sort of thing I was interested in doing.
In addition to Jeremy, Annabelle, and the sisters, we were joined by Poppy, Avalon, and Alex, as well as a new guest named Blaine Beckett, who happened to be a single dad with two young sons named Elliot and Emerson. Elliot and Emerson were six years old and simply adorable. Both had dark hair and blue eyes, and both wore red sweaters, white turtlenecks, and dark blue snow pants. They really did look exactly alike, and for the life of me, I couldn’t tell them apart, but Annabelle seemed to know which was which with no problem.
We were also joined by Bethany and Bryce Covington. Bethany was thirteen, and Bryce was fifteen. I hadn’t had a chance to speak to the teens, but both seemed polite and patient with the younger children. Their parents, Adele and Howard Covington, had opted to stay behind and make wreaths.
Rounding out the group, we had Warren and Whitney Westlake, a young couple who were spending their first Christmas together as man and wife. I wasn’t certain how long ago they’d married, but based on the way they couldn’t seem to take their eyes off each other, I’d say it was fairly recently.
“I have to admit this is more fun than I thought it would be,” Sage said after joining me by the fire where I’d planted myself for the duration.
“It’s been fun to watch, but I’m pretty sure I’m too cold to risk getting snow down my back.”
“You probably should have worn a heavier jacket,” Sage commented as she glanced toward the sledding hill where Annabelle and Avalon joined Alex on a toboggan.
I smiled and nodded as I took in her stylish yet well-insulated ski jacket. “Is that one of your designs?”
“It is.” She held her arms out to the sides to show off the stylish cut. “It’s part of the outerwear collection I’m developing and hoping to place in ski resorts around the country.”
“So, do you have different collections for different clientele?”
“For now, I do. I started with clothing designed for women in their twenties, and I’ve expanded into outerwear and business dresses that both flatter and impress. I know it might be best to specialize at some point, but since I’m just starting out, I figured that developing several lines would expand my customer base. Although,” she paused, “now that I have enough money to grow and expand, I really should narrow my focus.”
“I guess that makes sense. Will you keep the skiwear line?”
“I think I will. The whole line has been popular, and I have an idea to expand into outerwear in general. The line I started with, the trendy clothing geared toward young women who love to party and go out on the town, is actually the line that has gotten the least amount of attention. I think there are a lot of designers doing that. I know that if I want a dress for an upcoming event and I don’t want to make it myself, I can find dozens and dozens to choose from, but when it comes to finding a warm winter coat that is both stylish and functional, the choices are significantly limited. I’m still not exactly sure where I’ll end up, but I have given a lot of thought to resort wear as an option.”
“Well, if that jacket is any indication, I’d say that you should do well if you decide to focus on that type of thing.” I waved to Annabelle, who’d made it to the bottom of the hill, picked up her sled, and started the hike to the top of the hill again.
Sage grinned. “I’m really excited about the future. I dreamt of having my clothing in major retail stores ever s
ince I was a little girl. I suppose there was a part of me that figured my dream would never come true, but now I feel like the sky is the limit.”
“I really am very excited for you. For all of you.”
“Shelby and Sierra have been so supportive. They’ve listened to me ramble on and on for hours and hours about the new designs I’m working on. I have friends and a family, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never had anyone in my life with as much patience as those two.”
“I suppose listening to plans and dreams is a sister’s job.”
“I guess it is.” She grinned. “I never had siblings close to my own age. After my mother remarried, she had another child, but when I was young, it was just the two of us. I never really missed having siblings, but I will admit that the time I’ve spent with my two half-sisters has been really special.”
I smiled. “I’m so happy to hear that the three of you are bonding. Family is the most important thing. When I spoke to Shelby and Sierra, they shared with me that they were finding items in the home that have allowed them to get to know Henri and your father a lot better.”
She frowned. “Yeah, I’m still not sure about that. Our father deserted us before we were even born. Yes, it’s true that Sierra found some old photo albums, artwork, and letters that seem to indicate that our father was a sweet kid who grew up without a father and adored his mother, but in my mind, that doesn’t excuse the fact that he grew up to be a selfish and irresponsible man. He didn’t have a male role model, I get it, but in my mind, there is no excuse for what he did to our mothers, and especially to Shelby’s mother. They had a relationship. She was in love with the man, but the minute she announced that she was pregnant, he bailed.”
