“Now that,” Tripp mumbled through a mouthful, “sounded like a threat.”
“Really? You think so?”
He nodded and swallowed. “I’ve gotten to know Reeva a little better since I’m here so often.” He shivered. “She’s got a nasty side. It’s buried pretty deep, so it takes a lot for it to come out. I’ve mostly seen it when someone messes with her plans. She’s a kitchen witch and creates all of the recipes she teaches us. She gets pretty upset if someone tries to alter anything.”
My instincts tingled. “What plan do you suppose Flavia is messing with?”
Tripp shrugged as though this were obvious. “Reeva’s been trying to take back what she missed out on for so many years. Namely Martin and the village. Flavia’s trying to make her stop.”
Morgan’s words from seven months earlier echoed in my ear and made me shiver. “You don’t want to be around when the fury of a scorned witch lets loose. Especially fury that’s had twenty years to simmer.”
“We may be in for trouble,” I murmured.
“I think you’re right.” He popped a final bite of roll into his mouth and mumbled, “I’ve got news that will help, though.”
I brushed Reeva and Flavia out of my brain and turned to him. “What news?”
“Remember when my aunt called a week or so ago?”
“Yep. The invitation to join them on Maui.” I sighed as I imagined the warm Hawaiian sun on my face.
“We’re going.”
I sat straight. “What?”
“River and I talked. He wants to take Morgan on a trip before the baby comes. He was thinking the French Riviera or Venice or someplace else overseas but says Maui will ‘suffice.’”
“You mean they’re coming with us?”
“They’re thinking about it. Morgan isn’t sure she wants to leave Briar alone for that long, even though Briar says she’ll be fine.”
I deflated a little. “Then it’s not a given. Why are you teasing me like this?”
“I’m not teasing you. Black Bird Industries, River’s company, has a private jet and property in Kahului. Whether they come with us or we go alone, his jet is flying there with us in it. The only thing we’ll have to pay for is food and entertainment.”
I held my breath, waiting for the inevitable catch that would negate it all.
Tripp waited for me to respond and finally said, “Pack your bags, babe, we’re going to Maui.”
And just that fast, the snow blanketing the garden out back of Hearth & Cauldron disappeared. The bitter winter wind turned into warm ocean breezes. The pines morphed into palm trees. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder. As much as I loved Whispering Pines, I was willing to test that theory for a while.
Get ready, Hawaii, the villagers are coming.
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Shawn’s Other Books
WHISPERING PINES Mystery Series
Family Secrets, book 1
Kept Secrets, book 2
Original Secrets, book 3
Hidden Secrets, book 4
Rival Secrets, book 5
Veiled Secrets, book 6
Silent Secrets, book 7
Merciful Secrets, book 8
Justified Secrets, book 9
For Audio Versions Click Here
WHISPERING PINES Short Mysteries
Missing & Gone, prequel short story
Secret of Her Own
THE WISH MAKERS Fantasy Series:
Sticks and Stones, book 1
Break My Bones, book 2
Never Hurt Me, book 3
Had a Great Fall, book 4
Back Together Again, book 5
Short Stories
The Door
Escaping the Veil
Suspense and fantasy author Shawn McGuire started writing after seeing the first Star Wars movie (that's episode IV) as a kid. She couldn't wait for the next installment to come out so wrote her own. Sadly, those notebooks are long lost, but her desire to tell a tale is as strong now as it was then. She grew up in the beautiful Mississippi River town of Winona, Minnesota, called the Milwaukee area of Wisconsin (Go Pack Go!) home for many years, and now lives in Colorado where she is a total homebody. She loves to read, craft, cook and bake, and spend time in the spectacular Rocky Mountains. You can learn more about Shawn’s work on her website www.Shawn-McGuire.com
Whispering Pines Mysteries: Books 7-9
Copyright © 2020 Shawn McGuire. All rights reserved.
Published by Brown Bag Books
www.Shawn-McGuire.com
Cover Design by Steven Novak www.novakillustration.com
SiLENT SECRETS Copyright © 2019 Shawn McGuire. All rights reserved.
Cover Design by Steven Novak
MERCIFUL SECRETS Copyright © 2019 Shawn McGuire. All rights reserved.
Cover Design by Steven Novak
JUSTIFIED SECRETS Copyright © 2020 Shawn McGuire. All rights reserved.
Cover Design by Steven Novak
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and/or electronic sharing of any part of this book without the written permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Whispering Pines Mysteries Box Set 3 Page 74
