Chair Massage & Chaos (A Cozy Spa Mystery Book 5)

by Jenn Cowan

  Abby blinks like she was off in her own world. “We were on our way back to town for Christmas when we got the call. We were hoping Josh would be done with this whole Celeste nonsense and we could all spend the holidays together.” She sniffles then begins to sob again.

  Brian steps forward and gives me a quick hug before murmuring softly to Abby, “Let’s go home, sweetie.” He gives me a small smile and says, “We’ll see you later, Autumn.”

  I nod as I watch him lead her out the door. He’s basically holding her up as if she’ll collapse at any moment. Those two are an inspiration to all couples. Josh and I will be them when we’re old. I turn back to the massage chair, swiping away tears from my cheeks. I can’t seem to stop my eyes from leaking. I’ve got to get it together. There are clients to tend to and money to make for the food bank. I jump when someone touches my shoulder.

  “Sorry.” Cat winces.

  “It’s fine.” I smile at her then take in her expression. “What’s wrong?”

  “I think we should close up and go home.”

  “What? Why?” I gesture to the line of people almost to the door, waiting for a chair massage. “We have a line and not everyone has gotten a chance to try your hot cocoa. How are we going to win if they don’t vote?”

  She bites her lip as if considering my words.

  I reach out and squeeze her hand. “I’m fine, Cat. Let’s get to work.”

  “If you’re sure,” she studies me like a doctor examining a patient.

  “I am.”

  She nods and hustles back over to the hot cocoa table.

  I feel someone watching me and lock eyes with Travis.

  He cocks his head and raises an eyebrow.

  I force my best fake smile, showing him my pearly whites then turn back to the next person in line.

  We continue on for another hour until the last person has left and Cat’s run out of hot cocoa. We quickly close up then hurry over to the park where the Mayor will be announcing the winner of the hot cocoa contest.

  People keep giving me sad smiles and squeezing my arm or hand, but at least no one is giving me any more condolences.

  Nikki comes rushing over to me with her dark locks swirling around behind her in the wind. Her cheeks are red from the cold and her ears have fuzzy blue ear muffs on them. She looks gorgeous in her puffy white jacket and black yoga pants.

  I almost fall over when she throws her arms around me, rambling and crying into my shoulder. I can’t make out anything she’s saying so I simply pat her back and take in her lavender essential oil. It calms me, but doesn’t stop the tears.

  When Nikki pulls back, she takes in my tears and yanks me back in for another long hug. She only pulls away when Bobby begins the award ceremony. Then she stands beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and staring at the stage.

  Bobby clears his throat. He’s wearing a black leather jacket with gloves and jeans. “Tonight, we are mourning the loss of one of our own. Josh was…”

  I tune him out as soon as he says the word, ‘was’. Josh isn’t a was. He’s an is. Josh is. He’s alive. I want to scream it from the rooftops. Sniffling and crying sounds come from behind me and I glance around to see almost everyone in the crowd dabbing their eyes and wiping their noses. My eyes start to water and my nose starts to burn. Not again. I have to stop crying. I’m crying over nothing. Josh is fine. He has to be. I blink back my tears and try to focus on Bobby.

  Bobby wipes a tear from his cheek then says, “Tonight’s Hot Chocolate festival is dedicated to Josh. He loved this festival and would have been ecstatic to be here for this.” He pauses. “Without further ado, the winner of this year’s Hot Chocolate Festival is…Vicki’s Day Spa. Congratulations Cat and Autumn!”

  Nikki smiles and drags me in for another hug, whispering, “Congrats, Autumn.”

  Cat squeals and practically tackles us. “We won! We won!”

  I laugh and try to mimic her excitement, but the tears are still falling. Maybe they’re happy tears. Bobby’s right, Josh loves this festival and will love hearing that we won. We’ll find the perfect place in the spa for the hot chocolate mug trophy. Together. Once he gets home.

  Cat tugs on my hand and leads me onto the stage. She takes the trophy from Bobby and gives him a quick hug. Then she turns and hands the trophy to me before gesturing to the microphone so I can say a few words.

  I shake my head. My throat’s too full of emotion and there’s no way I can speak right now. I gesture for her to go ahead.

  She grins and steps to the microphone. “Autumn and I appreciate your votes and want to thank everyone who donated money to the food bank.” Before she can say anything else a tomato flies through the air and hits her right in the stomach. Cat flinches and grabs her midsection. The crowd gasps and stares on in horror. Another one hits her leg then another her shoulder.

  It takes a minute for my brain to register what’s happening then I snap to attention and hurry her off the stage. I spot Travis pushing through the crowd to see who’s responsible for this. When we get to the back of the stage, I give her a once over to ensure she’s not bleeding although with the red tomato juice, it’s hard to tell. “Are you okay, Cat?”

  She’s crying and trying to brush off the tomato from her light green pea coat. “It’s ruined. Why would someone do this?”

  I try to help her, but know it’s useless. Hopefully, Sharon at the Spot & Dry can get the stains out. “Do you have any idea who did this?”

  Cat continues to brush at her coat, all while shaking her head. “Why? I don’t understand. Was my speech that awful?” she inquires, stopping her attempt to clean her coat and staring up at me with desperate eyes.

  I take her by the shoulders and wipe the tears from her cheeks. “Your speech was lovely, Cat. I don’t know why someone would do this, but I promise you we will find out.”

  3

  “Another delivery for you, Autumn.” Liam holds up the red poinsettia.

  I groan and point to the rest of the flowers overflowing in the reception area of the spa. There’s red and white roses, carnations and poinsettias piling up all over the place. It’s starting to look like a flower shop in here.

  It’s Saturday afternoon, two days before Christmas, and the spa is busy. Lots of people are stopping in to buy a last-minute gift certificate. I wonder if I should start giving away a flower arrangement with each gift certificate.

  It’s not that I don’t appreciate the gestures, but it’s what the flowers imply. That Josh is dead and he’s not. People are wasting their money when Josh is going to be found. Alive.

  “Should I take the rest to the church?” Liam asks as I scribble my signature on the order form.

  “The church?” I hand back his pen with a frown.

  “For the funeral, tomorrow.”

  I almost fall out of my chair. “Wh-what funeral?”

  Liam turns pale. His face matching his stark white shirt peeking out underneath his puffy black coat. He runs a hand through his dark hair while his brown eyes dart around the room, looking anywhere but at me.

  “Liam.” I narrow my eyes at him and place my hands on my hips. “What do you mean there’s a funeral tomorrow? It’s Christmas Eve. Who died?”

  “Don’t answer that,” Cat says, rushing in and practically shooing Liam out the door.

  He doesn’t hesitate and disappears into the wintery afternoon.

  “Slow down, Liam. You’re going to slip on the ice and break your neck,” Travis calls after him before stepping into the spa and dusting snow off his coat. “Why’s he in such a hurry?” Travis glances back and forth between Cat and me.

  Cat is wringing her hands and shifting back and forth on her feet anxiously.

  I, on the other hand, am suspicious and interrogate Travis, “There’s a funeral tomorrow?”

  Travis’s eyes grow wide and he slides a quick glance at Cat, who shakes her head. “Um.”

  I cross my arms over my chest. “Whose funeral, Travis?”
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  Travis blinks and opens his mouth, but nothing comes out.

  The door behind him opens and two people I wasn’t expecting to see, come waltzing into the spa. “Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?”

  “Autumn!” My mother, who could easily be my older sister, comes rushing up to me and practically squeezes the air out of my lungs. “How are you holding up?” She strokes my hair and rocks me back and forth like she did when I was a child and she was trying to calm me down.

  I pat her back. “I’m fine. Why?”

  “Oh, sweetie. You’re always so brave. You don’t have to be brave for me. Just let it out.”

  I furrow my brow and sneak a peek at my dad. He’s shaking hands with Travis and they’re muttering back and forth with one another. My dad reminds me of Liam Neeson. They could be twins although my dad’s hair is white. He wants to embrace his age by graying naturally and not coloring his hair. My mom, on the other hand, keeps her hair a shiny coppery color and colors it as soon as she sees a speck of gray. “Mom, I can’t breathe.”

  “Oh, sorry, honey.” She lets go of me and steps back to inspect me. “You’ve lost weight. Greg, Autumn’s lost weight.” She gestures to my dad to join us.

  I tug on the hem of my black scrubs as if it will make me look thicker.

  “I think she looks great, Paula,” my dad responds giving me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “How are you holding up?”

  “I’m fine. Why do you both keep asking me that?”

  My parents exchange a look I make out as concern.

  “Really, I’m good. Why are you here?”

  My mom purses her red lips and smooths the front of her white wool coat. “Autumn, dear. We’re here for you and of course, Brian and Abby. I can’t imagine having to bury your child.” Her eyes fill with tears and she sniffles.

  “Bury your child?” My head starts to pound and I slump against the desk before my legs give out as realization hits me. “Josh’s funeral is tomorrow?”

  My mom studies me for a moment. “Yes, dear. Abby said she left you a message. She wants to have the funeral before Christmas. Doesn’t want to leave everything up in the air and ruin everyone’s holiday. She’s such a sweetheart. Always worrying about everyone else even when she’s hurting.” My mom dabs her eyes with a tissue.

  I blink and decide I’m dreaming. This is all a dream. I’m going to wake-up and Josh is going to be sleeping on the couch. I’m going to go in there and tell him I love him. We’re going to get married asap. There’s really no reason to wait. Yes, I’m going to pinch myself and wake-up right now. “Ouch.”

  “Autumn, what are you doing?” My mother inquires.

  “Trying to wake-up.” I pinch myself again. It’s not working.

  My parents exchange another look.

  “Autumn, why don’t we take you home. I think you need some rest,” my dad says, placing a hand over mine so I stop pinching myself.

  I shake my head. “No. I need to wake-up. This is a bad dream. Josh isn’t dead. He’s alive.” Tears sting my eyes as I glance around the room. Everyone is staring at me with pity in their eyes. I want to scream at them to stop, but my throat is thick with emotion.

  Cat steps forward and wraps her arms around me. “I can close up. Dad will help me. You should go with your parents.”

  I give her a squeeze back and take a deep breath. “No. I’m fine. The spa closes soon anyway and we’re selling a lot of gift certificates. I need to be here. I need to work.”

  My dad studies me for a moment then nods. When my mom tries to protest, he whispers in her ear and convinces her to let me stay. He squeezes my hand and says, “Call us if you need anything.”

  I give him my best fake smile and nod.

  My mom gives me another bone crushing hug before leaving.

  I pretend to busy myself with tidying up the front desk, but don’t think I didn’t notice my dad whispering to Travis. I’m sure he’s asking him to stay and keep an eye on me. My dad loves Travis. He loves Josh too, but Travis is his favorite. I think it has to do with the fact they both love putting criminals behind bars. Dad, the powerful prosecuting attorney, well he used to be before he retired and Travis, the crime solving detective. The work suits them and they make a good team. Even with Dad retiring, Travis still consults him on cases. My dad’s like a second father to Travis and Travis is like the son my father never had. It’s pretty cute.

  “Autumn.”

  I jump, not realizing Cat is still standing next to me.

  “Hmm.”

  “Sorry.” She gives me an apologetic look and bites her lower lip.

  I squeeze her hand. “Don’t worry about it. I’m kind of jumpy these days. Just a lot on my mind. I’m sorry, Cat.”

  She squeezes my hand in return. “You have nothing to be sorry about. These past few weeks…well, I know it hasn’t been easy for you.” Cat studies me. “Are you sure, you’re okay?”

  I nod and swallow the lump in my throat.

  Cat gives me a tight smile.

  I eye her curiously. Something’s wrong. I wonder if it has to do with the other night. “How are you doing, Cat?”

  She bites her lip again. “I know you have a lot going on right now, but I was wondering if I could talk to you about something.” she sneaks a quick peek in her father’s direction to ensure he’s still chatting with my dad.

  “You can tell me anything, Cat. What’s up?”

  She gestures to the hallway and I follow her.

  “It’s about Thursday night.”

  I frown. “About the tomatoes?”

  She nods.

  “Do you know who threw them? Did you tell your dad?”

  “No and no.” She plays with the end of her hair. Regina cut it last week into an angle bob. It suits her, but I’m not sure Cat’s loving the short hair.

  “Cat.” I tip her chin up so she’s looking at me. “What’s going on?”

  “It started a few weeks ago.”

  I furrow my brows. “What did?”

  “Text messages. Nothing big. I actually thought it was Liam.”

  “Liam, the flower delivery boy who looks like a younger John Mayer?”

  Cat blushes and nods. “He’s been flirting with me in algebra class.”

  I smile. Young love. Ah. Then I remember why we’re having this conversation. “Okay. You think he threw tomatoes at you as a way to get your attention?” I make a face and my anger flares. “That’s not very romantic. In fact, it’s downright rude. Bullying a girl to get her to like you is ridiculous. You two aren’t in second grade and you don’t have pigtails to pull.”

  “Autumn, breathe.” Cat shakes me slightly to snap me out of my rant.

  “Sorry.” I take a breath.

  “No, I don’t think Liam threw the tomatoes. I think the tomatoes have to do with Liam.”

  I quirk an eyebrow at her. “I’m not following.”

  “Someone is threatening me away from him. The tomatoes were a warning.”

  “A warning?”

  “Yes. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  “What did the texts say?”

  Cat runs a hand through her hair. “At first they were sweet or so I thought. Comments about my hair and my clothes. They were kind of snide, but I chose to see them in a positive light. I thought maybe Liam didn’t know how to talk to a girl so his words were coming across differently than he intended.” She sighs. “A week ago, they started getting meaner.”

  “Meaner how?”

  Tears shimmer in Cat’s eyes. “My new hair cut makes me look like a guy. My clothes make me look pudgy. Liam is too cute for someone like me. I’ll never have a boyfriend. Stuff like that.” A tear slips down her cheek and she quickly swipes it away.

  “Oh, Cat.” I yank her into a hug and feel the tears roll down my cheeks listening to the hurtful words some jealous teenager is doling out to my sweet Cat.

  She whimpers and sniffles into my chest. “I’ve ignored the texts, even tried to block th
em, but it doesn’t work. A day will pass with nothing then another private number will send one the next day. I’m afraid things are going to escalate.”

  I give her another squeeze before letting her go. “You should tell your dad.”

  “Tell me what?” Travis steps up behind us and it doesn’t take his detective training to figure out something’s wrong. “What’s the matter?”

  Cat wipes her eyes and shakes her head. “Nothing. Everything’s fine.”

  He narrows his eyes then cuts them to me.

  I blink back my tears and force a smile. If Cat doesn’t want her dad to know, he’s not going to hear a peep from me. Even though, I think she needs to tell him. He could trace the phone number although I’m sure they’re from a burner phone or several burner phones. What teenager has enough money to buy multiple burner phones and use them to bully a sweet girl? I need to talk to Cat more and come up with a list of suspects, but first I have to get rid of her dad.

  “Autumn, what’s wrong?”

  I shake my head and keep my lips sealed.

  Travis frowns. “Is this about the other night?” He fixes his eyes on Cat. “Do you know who threw those tomatoes?”

  “Dad, let it go,” Cat mumbles and moves to get around him, but he puts an arm out to block her.

  “Cat, talk to me. Is this about your mom?”

  Tears brim Cat’s eyes and she burst into tears before slipping past him and slamming the door to the hall bathroom.

  “Is that what’s wrong? Her mom?” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “I’m trying to be there for her. Maybe I need to take some time off work. Get away for the holiday,” he mumbles more so to himself than to me.

  I place a hand on his arm. “I think Cat needs to be here with her family and friends, but taking some time off to spend time with her isn’t a bad idea. I know you’re doing everything you can to be her mother and her father. You’re a great parent, Travis.”

  He smiles and places a hand over mine. “Thanks, Autumn. You always know what to say to make me feel better.” His eyes lock with mine and leans in closer.