Cozy Christmas Murder

by Summer Prescott

  “He’s handsome,” Autumn said. “And confident. From what I’ve seen, he tries to treat everyone fairly. I think he has a good heart, even though he has a lot on his plate right now.”

  “Now the big question,” Alicia said. “Why isn’t he married?”

  Autumn raised her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, if he is as handsome and confident as you say, why is he single?”

  “Maybe he just hasn’t met the right person yet. Just because he’s single in his mid-thirties doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with him. Look at me.”

  “I didn’t mean to offend you,” her friend said. “You’re right, there is nothing wrong with being single. I guess it’s just that I know so many single women who always complained that all the good guys are taken, that whenever someone meets a single guy who seems too good to be true, I always worry that it is.”

  Autumn wished that Alicia hadn’t brought the subject up. Now, she couldn’t stop wondering. Why was he single? Trying to push the paranoid thoughts out of her mind, she straightened up and looked at the clock. He would be there soon.

  “Do you want me to leave?” her friend asked.

  “No, you should stay. You can meet him, then we can talk when I get back. There’s some wine in the fridge, help yourself. You know how to work the TV. If Frankie has to go out, just put her out back. She won’t want to be outside for long, not with the snow.”

  “A dog after my own heart,” the other woman said. “I’m not fond of all of this snow either. I need to live somewhere warmer.”

  “Don’t you dare move away,” Autumn said. “You’re my best friend, you aren’t allowed to go anywhere.”

  “I suppose I’ll stay here just for you,” Alicia responded with a grin. “My husband has nothing to do with it, of course.”

  “Oh, Rory would follow you anywhere,” Autumn said.

  “Maybe it’s a good idea. He and I can move somewhere nice and warm, and you could come with us. You need to switch careers anyway, so you might as well do it somewhere with nicer weather.”

  “I’m happy here,” she said. The truth was, she loved the snow. It was so beautiful, and she loved the changing seasons. She would not want to live somewhere that didn’t get snow in the winter.

  “I guess I’ll keep chugging along here, then,” her friend said. “Whatever happened with that guy that died at Asheville Meadows?”

  “Nothing,” she replied. “As far as I know, it was an accident. The police haven’t found anything incriminating. He was allergic to peanut butter, and the kitchen had some peanut butter powder to add to some of the residents’ food. A lot of them don’t eat as much as they need to, and it is high in protein and calcium. He ingested some, somehow, and that was that.”

  “It still seems suspicious, doesn’t it? What about the lady who didn’t get to the key on time?”

  “As far as I know, they haven’t found anything out about her either. Nick thinks that she just panicked and overlooked the keys. No one has found evidence to contradict him yet.”

  “So do you feel safe there now? No more weird incidents like when the kitchen almost blew up?”

  Autumn hesitated. Nothing else had happened, but a couple of time she had gotten goosebumps while she was in the kitchen, with the feeling that somebody was watching her. Maybe it was ridiculous, but her gut still told her that something there was wrong.

  “Nothing else has happened, so I suppose I do,” she said at last.

  “You don’t sound certain,” Alicia said.

  “It’s fine,” Autumn said. “I don’t think I’m in danger. Even if somebody was trying to kill the cook, it would be too dangerous for them to try again. The police have already been called out twice.”

  “Okay.” Her friend didn’t sound convinced, but it appeared that she had decided to let the subject drop. “Do you think you will keep working there after the holidays?”

  “I doubt it,” she replied. “I’m sure Nick will hire someone more qualified. I have already been looking for other jobs. I have an interview at the feed store later this week.”

  “The feed store? Will that pay enough?”

  “They’re looking for a full-time manager, and it includes benefits, so I’m sure I will be able to survive on it. I’ll miss the grocery store though. The people there feel like family.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be just as close with the new people wherever you end up working,” her friend said. “You’re good at that.”

  Autumn smiled at her, then shot up when she heard the doorbell ring. Frankie took off for the door, barking. “That must be him.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  * * *

  She saw Nick’s eyes light up when she answered the door, and she felt herself blush. He had cleaned up nicely; he was wearing a black button-down shirt and black slacks, with a wool coat over it all. There was a dusting of snow on his shoulders and his hair.

  “Are you ready to go?” he asked. “Or do you need a few more minutes? I know I’m a little bit early. Oh, who’s this?” He bent down to let Frankie sniff his hands.

  “That’s Frankie. She barks at everyone, just ignore her. I have to go grab my purse, then we can leave.”

  She hurried into the living room and took her purse off the coffee table. Alicia followed her back toward the door. Autumn made the introductions, then shooed Frankie back inside and left with Nick.

  “Thanks for picking me up,” she said.

  “I wouldn’t want to make you drive through the snow on your own like this,” he said. “I don’t think your car could handle it.”

  She followed him toward his SUV, which he had parked alongside the curb. He held the passenger door for her and she got in, admiring the heated leather seats inside.

  “This must be nice for snow,” she said.

  “It also comes in handy when I need to haul something for one of the residents. Not all of them have family that can move furniture for them.”

  He drove them to the Fresh Harvest Inn, parking close to the door and then holding the passenger door open for her. Autumn smiled as she got out of the car. So far, so good. She was looking forward to dinner. She didn’t eat out much on her own, preferring to cook at home or get takeout. Come to think of it, it had been a while since she and Brandon had been on a nice date like this.

  “Sorry, our options are a bit limited around here. I figured we shouldn’t drive too far, since the snow is supposed to keep coming down.”

  “I love this place,” she said. “They have great food, and the kitchen is run by one of my uncle’s friends.”

  “I know, he stops by the assisted living home pretty often. He’s actually one of the first people I called when I realized that we would need a new cook.”

  “Oh? Is he going to start working at Asheville Meadows?”

  “He politely declined,” Nick told her. “He said he wanted to stay in his own kitchen, and I understand that.”

  “I’ll keep volunteering there as long as I can,” Autumn told him. “I’m not sure what my work schedule will be like coming into the new year, though. I’ll be starting a new job soon.”

  Their conversation paused while they were seated and placed their drink orders. Once the server had walked away from the table, Nick said, “You said you’re starting a new job? Where?”

  “I’m not sure yet,” she said.

  “Do you have any leads?”

  “I have one. It’s just at the feed store, and I’m going in for an interview this week,” she said.

  “What about your restaurant?”

  She smiled. “That is just a silly dream. I need something that will actually make money.”

  “Well, would you be interested in working full-time as a cook for me? You would learn to make every low-sodium recipe in the book.”

  She laughed. “If only I had some actual experience cooking professionally, I would love it.”

  “Well, you’ve been getting plenty of experience this past week
. As far as I’ve seen, you seem to be handling it perfectly well. Everyone loves your food, there have been no complaints – which is a rarity – and I’ve seen you while you are cooking. You look happy.”

  She realized that he was serious. “Are you really offering me a job?”

  “If you want it, it’s yours. I will have to clear it with the board, but I don’t see why they would disapprove. The job description requires experience in the kitchen, but it doesn’t say how much, and as I said, you have already proven yourself.”

  “Wow. I… can I have time to think about it?”

  “Of course. Just let me know what you decide. I think you would be a good match for the position, but if you would rather work somewhere else, I completely understand.”

  She fell silent, looking at her menu as an excuse to be alone with her thoughts for a few minutes. The job offer had come as a complete surprise. Why had he done it? She really didn’t have any experience in a professional kitchen, other than the volunteer work that she had done for the past week. He was going out on a limb for her, and he didn’t even know her that well. Was he offering her the job because he thought she would be good at it, or because he was interested in her? It was a lot to think about, and she wanted to talk it over with Alicia first before deciding.

  Deciding to turn the conversation away from herself, she asked Nick about his job. “What made you decide to start working there? Did you move to town for the position?”

  “Well, like I said, I’ve seen the way that some of these places are run. My own grandmother was in one that wasn’t great. A lot of these people, well, they don’t really have anyone else in their lives. This is the end of the road for them, and if I can make the last months or years a little bit better, I’m happy to do so. It may not be what I thought I would want to do when I was a kid, but I’m happy here, and I don’t think I would want to do anything else now. And yes, I moved to town for the job. The position opened up just as I was wanting to move. It was like it was meant to be.”

  “I think it’s wonderful when people are passionate about their jobs,” she said. As she spoke, she realized that she had never worked a job that she was passionate about. She liked the grocery store, but she wasn’t crazy about the work itself. Working as a cook at the assisted living home, while it might not be the glamorous restaurant she had imagined as a child, she would be doing something that she actively enjoyed. She shook her head, not wanting to decide on the spot either way. She would go home and talk to Alicia about it, and come back to it later. Nick didn’t seem in a big rush to hire someone before the end of the year, so she wouldn’t be in a hurry either.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  * * *

  As Christmas got closer, she had less and less time to think about Nick and his offer. She saw him in passing when she was at the assisted living home, but both of them had their hands full doing their jobs. Christmas season was prime time for visiting, and there was a seemingly endless stream of people who were anxious to make sure that their family members were being taken care of. She often had to make extra for dinner, just to accommodate all of the guests. She was glad that they were visiting their families, but it certainly made more work for her and everybody else.

  She woke up earlier than usual on Christmas morning, filled with excitement even though it had been many years since she had woken up as a child to run downstairs and find gifts under the Christmas tree. She had always loved this holiday, though, and was looking forward to even her own small celebrations.

  She got out of bed, putting on her favorite soft bathrobe and walking downstairs to let Frankie outside. Snow had fallen overnight, but the sky was clear now, and the fresh snow in the backyard glittered. After Frankie was done, Autumn gave her her breakfast – which was the best present in the world as far as the dog was concerned – and made herself a cup of coffee, to which she added a dash of peppermint extract in addition to the usual sugar and milk. Feeling content, she walked back into the living room and sipped her coffee while she listened to Christmas carols on the radio. At nine, she picked up the phone and called her mother, who lived half a continent away.

  “Merry Christmas, Mom,” she said.

  “Merry Christmas, Autumn. How are you doing? I hope you aren’t spending the day alone. I’m going to try to fly out to visit next year.”

  “I’ll be spending the evening with Uncle Albert and Aunt Lucy,” she told her mother. “I might stop and visit Alicia later today. For now, it’s just me and Frankie, but that’s okay.”

  “I miss you so much, sweetie. We have to have Christmas together one of these years. I love you.”

  “I love you too, Mom. We’ll see each other soon. It’s been too long already.”

  After getting off the phone with her mother, she called her sister and had a similar conversation. Michelle put her three-year-old daughter on the line, and Autumn chatted with her niece for a few minutes.

  “She loves the gift you sent her,” her sister said, taking the phone back. “Thank you, Autumn. You have got to come and visit sometime.”

  “I will,” Autumn promised. “Once things settle down here, I will drive out there for the weekend.”

  Feeling the first spark of loneliness that she had felt since waking up, she said her goodbyes and hung up. How had her family ended up so far apart? She missed them all. Once upon a time, they had been close, but now they were all so focused on their own lives that they hardly seemed to have time for each other.

  Deciding it was time for her own Christmas celebration, she put down her mug of coffee and knelt by the small tree that she had set up in the corner by the fireplace. There were a couple of presents that she had wrapped herself the night before. Two of them were for Frankie. She called the dog over and unwrapped the gifts, giving her a new squeaker toy and a couple of treats from the new package that she had bought. Then she turned to the small gift that she bought for herself; a pair of socks with Cairn terriers on them. It wasn’t much, but she wasn’t comfortable spending her own money on an extravagant gift for herself, especially not when her own financial situation was in such dire straits.

  “Merry Christmas, Frankie,” she said to the dog. “I’m glad you’re here with me.”

  The dog, who was busy tearing up the discarded wrapping paper, didn’t look up, but her tail wagged harder. Autumn smiled. She may not have a loved one to spend the day with, but that didn’t mean that she had to be lonely. She had her dog and herself, and even though they lived hundreds of miles apart, she knew that her family was there for her in spirit.

  A little bit before noon, she got dressed for the day and left the house, making sure Frankie was settled in with her new toy to keep her occupied. She had a bag of gifts for Alicia and Rory, who she was planning to visit before she headed to the assisted living home to start on dinner.

  Her friend gave her a hug when she got to the door and invited her in. Their house already smelled wonderful; Alicia had gotten an early start on Christmas dinner. Her friend offered her a small glass of wine, and they sat in the living room chatting for a good twenty minutes before Autumn excused herself.

  “I should get going,” she said. “I have to get started on dinner. We are eating earlier than usual, and there will be quite a few people there. The staff will be eating the Christmas dinner too, and a lot of relatives will be visiting.”

  “I just love that you’re volunteering there,” Alicia said. “You seem to enjoy it so much. As a plus, you get to see Nick a lot.”

  “I don’t talk to him much while I’m there,” she admitted. “He’s working. I don’t want to distract him.”

  “How have things gone since your date?”

  “Good,” Autumn said. “He’s always very friendly, and he said that he wants to go out again. I told him after the holidays are over would probably be best.”

  “Why do you want to wait so long?”

  “I have just been busy at the store, and working at Asheville Meadows in the evenings, and I’m sur
e he’s busy himself too. I’ve also been job searching, of course.”

  “You don’t think you’re going to take his offer?”

  “I don’t know,” Autumn said. “I don’t know if he’s offering me the job because he really thinks I would be good at it, or if he’s just doing it because he likes me and wants to do something nice. I don’t want to take it for the wrong reasons, and I don’t want to get him into trouble with the Board of Directors if I’m not up to the task.” She looked at the clock. “I really have to get going. I don’t think I will decide until after Christmas. We can talk about this more later.”

  It was wonderful to walk into the assisted living home. Nearly every inch of the interior was covered with decorations; there were paper snowflakes that the residents had made, beautiful lights, and two large Christmas trees in the main area. Having been there so much over the past couple of weeks, Autumn had gotten to know many of the residents and staff quite well, and people greeted her warmly when she arrived.