Mary bustled off toward what they assumed was one of the apartment’s bedrooms.
Susan looked like she wanted to cry. “I don’t know what to say. I’m so, so sorry about this. My mother is usually no trouble, but lately she’s been showing some signs of dementia, that’s why I had her come here to live with me. She’s a bright, happy soul and she’s always loved to sew. I must admit I didn’t pay much attention to where she was getting her crafting supplies. I assumed my sister was giving her everything she needed.”
“That’s okay. We completely understand,” Kathy said soothingly.
Soon Mary trotted across the carpeted floor to stand in front of the open door once more. “These are two of my newest creations.” She held them up for them to see. They were made of pale green nylon and fringed with white lace. She held one in front of her nose and inhaled deeply.
Oh no! Tori thought. Someone really is sniffing my underwear!
Mary handed a toy each to Tori and Kathy. “Please tell your friends about them.”
“Oh, we will,” Kathy promised, and Tori felt like giving her best friend a kick in the ankle.
“Again, please accept my apologies,” Susan said sincerely.
Tori nodded. “It was nice meeting you.”
“Likewise,” Kathy called as they backed out of the apartment.
The door closed behind them, and they heard an exasperated Susan wail, “Mother!”
They hurried out of the building and headed back for Tori’s car to retrieve the wine, glasses, and what was left of the cookies.
“Well, that solves that,” Kathy said, smiling.
“And though I’m out six pairs of panties, at least Daisy has something new to play with,” Tori said as they headed back to her apartment building. Upon closing the door, they retreated to their former position, put the glasses, bottle and cookie container on the coffee table, and collapsed on the couch and chair.
“Well, that felt great,” Kathy said. She grabbed one of the wineglasses and the bottle and poured.
“Hey, what if that wasn’t your glass?” Tori asked.
“Have you got a communicable disease?” Kathy asked.
“Not as far as I know.”
“Me, neither,” Kathy said and shoved a glass toward her friend. She poured another for herself and then raised it in a toast. “To us.”
“To us,” Tori agreed, and drank deeply.
“I enjoyed that,” Kathy admitted. “It was an adventure. Wouldn’t it be fun if we had more adventures just like that?”
“You mean like solving crimes or something?” Tori asked, incredulous.
“Why not? You’re right; we could be the Thelma and Louise of good guys right here in Western New York.”
“That’s the wine talking,” Tori said.
“So what if it is?” Kathy asked and laughed. “Tor, it’s too bad you’re married to your job. I think if you and I put our heads together we could do anything. Just anything!”
“You want me to give up my job? A sure thing for—for what?”
“I don’t know. I’m just saying that if the opportunity ever arose for us to do some kind of project together, there’s no one else I’d rather do it with—there’s no one else I’d trust to be my partner.”
“High praise,” Tori said and raised her glass. “Why not?”
Kathy raised her glass, too. “So, instead of blood sisters, we are now officially wine sisters.”
“I think you may have had a little too much to drink.”
“And I’m just happy we solved your problem. Go forth tomorrow and replace your panties,” Kathy said and laughed.
“Very funny, but I think I will.” Tori took another sip of her wine and sank back farther in her chair. “Do you really think we could one day go into business? What would we do? I don’t have any real skills. All I can do is teach.”
“And you don’t consider that a skill?” Kathy demanded.
“Oh, sure, but beyond tutoring, how could I apply it to another vocation?”
Kathy brandished her nearly empty glass. “Now is not the best time to ask me that question. But I’m sure if the opportunity presents itself, we’ll be ready.”
“But how will we know it’s an opportunity?”
Kathy smiled. “We’ll know. Until then—” she raised her glass in a toast, “let’s drink to it.”
And so they did.
Kathy’s Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup chopped walnuts (can substitute pecans)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (can substitute raisins)
Preheat the oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the oats, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonsful onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 12 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Yield: 3 ½ dozen
COMING SOON: With Baited Breath, the first Lotus Bay Mystery. Tori Cannon and her grandfather, Herb, return from her grandmother’s funeral, and it’s with sadness that she learns the bait shop and small motel they ran has fallen on hard times. Jammed into one of the motel’s units is the body of one of Herb’s customers, his mouth filled with spikes. The victim had no enemies, except for the rich woman who wanted to buy his eyesore of a home. But he’s also got a daughter who’s resentful her father wasn’t a major force in her life, and friends who were anything but.
Tori’s friend, Kathy, arrives to help spruce up the property, and the two of them find themselves mixed up in the petty jealousies and deadly consequences that murder entails. Can they save the bait shop and find a murderer before they, too, sleep with the fishes?
About the Author
The immensely popular Booktown Mystery series is what put Lorraine Bartlett’s pen name Lorna Barrett on the New York Times Bestseller list, but it’s her talent—whether writing as Lorna, or L.L. Bartlett, or Lorraine Bartlett— that keeps her there. This multi-published, Agatha-nominated author pens the exciting Jeff Resnick Mysteries as well as the acclaimed Victoria Square Mystery series, the Tales of Telenia adventure-fantasy saga, and the upcoming Lotus Bay Mysteries, and has many short stories and novellas to her name(s). Check out the links to all her works here: http://www.lorrainebartlett.com
Coming Fall of 2014
The Lotus Bay Mysteries
With Baited Breath
Other Books by Lorraine Bartlett
The Victoria Square Mysteries
A Crafty Killing
The Walled Flower
One Hot Murder
Recipes To Die For: A Victoria Square Cookbook
The Tales of Telenia (Adventure-Fantasy)
Threshold
Journey
Treachery (2015)
Short Stories
We’re So Sorry, Uncle Albert
Blue Christmas
An Unconditional Love
Love Heals
Prisoner of Love
Panty Raid (A Tori Cannon-Kathy Grant Mini Mystery)
Writing as L.L. Bartlett
The Jeff Resnick Mysteries
Murder on the Mind
Dead In Red
Room at the Inn
Cheated by Death
Bound By Suggestion
Dark Waters
Evolution: Jeff Resnick’s Backstory
Short Stories
When The Spirit Moves You
Bah! Humbug
Col
d Case the inspiration for the novel Bound By Suggestion
Abused: A Daughter’s Story
Writing as Lorna Barrett
The Booktown Mysteries
Murder Is Binding
Bookmarked For Death
Bookplate Special
Chapter & Hearse
Sentenced To Death
Murder On The Half Shelf
Not The Killing Type
Book Clubbed
A Fatal Chapter (2015)
Lorraine Bartlett - Tori Cannon-Kathy Grant 00.5 - Panty Raid Page 3
