by Lyndsey Cole
Annie stopped suddenly, her arm coming loose from Jason’s elbow when he kept walking.
One booth was filled with four people she didn’t expect to see at the café. Thelma, Sylvia, Marvin, and Sean were all chatting happily. Leona and Mia fussed over Annie, hugging her, and checking that she was truly still in one piece.
“What’s going on?”
“Brunch. Get yourself a plate and help yourself to the food,” Leona said.
The counter was overflowing with two types of egg casseroles, quiches, sausages, freshly squeezed orange juice, sliced fruit, and Leona’s special hot cross buns.
Annie whispered to Jason, “Whose idea was this?”
“Marvin. After you left Golden Living last night, Christy told him that Sylvia was feeling better and obviously, with Gloria arrested, Sylvia was free to go back to her apartment once the hospital released her. He decided a celebration was in order.”
Annie suddenly felt ravenous and she piled a plate with some of every item before she and Jason sat together at the booth next to her friends. Just as she had a forkful of quiche ready to tickle her taste buds, Detective Crank slid in next to her.
“You sure know how to ruin my appetite,” Annie said.
“Nice to see you, too. Don’t go anywhere. I’m getting some coffee, then I’ll be back to talk to you.”
Annie looked at Jason. Jason shrugged. “This wasn’t part of the plan as far as I know.”
Christy returned with her coffee and a hot cross bun. “I couldn’t resist something to go with my coffee.” She took a big bite, then tested her coffee. “Ah, still too hot.” She sat back in the booth. “So, I thought you might like to hear what happened after you left last night.”
Annie waited.
“Just as I was driving out, I saw a silver BMW pull into the parking lot. I had always wondered how Dawn managed to afford such an expensive car, so I waited for her to park and go inside before I returned. You’ll never guess what she was doing.” Christy sipped her coffee. “Returning a pile of cash to the safe.”
“Returning it?”
“Yeah, she said she had taken it by mistake or some lame excuse like that. I told her I’d consider letting it slide if she explained who was skimming money from some of the accounts.”
“What if it was her?”
“Then she was in big trouble. She peeped like a little chick and handed over all the financial papers. It was her boss that pressured her to find residents and get them to sign over their houses for a nice bonus for her, but he was the one to control the accounts and skim off the money. So, I think everything’s all cleaned up over at Golden Living. Well, it will be once they find some new management.”
“There’s still one mystery,” Annie said. She leaned over to the booth and looked at Sylvia. “Why did you give Forrest so much money?” She couldn’t quite make sense of the big withdrawals from Sylvia’s account.
She looked at each of her friends. “He told me he was trying to protect it for me once he found out about how Golden Living was taking our money. I was too embarrassed to tell any of you about what I did, and now I don’t think I can ever get it back. I don’t know where I’ll live.”
Christy stood and moved closer to Sylvia. “Do you have any paperwork from Forrest?”
Sylvia nodded. “Oh yes. He gave me a receipt for every penny I signed over to him.”
“Get all that paperwork to me and I’ll see what I can do to fix that mess. What with everything else that was going on at Golden Living, I don’t want you to worry anymore.”
Sean handed Sylvia a wrapped package.
“What’s this?” She turned it over and over in her hand.
“Open it,” Sean said.
Sylvia pulled the tape off the ends and slid her Norma Rockwell lithograph from the brown wrapping. Her eyes sparkled. “How much do I owe you?” she managed to whisper.
“Nothing. I was always just keeping it safe for the right moment to return it to you.” Sean helped himself to another forkful of quiche.
Christy patted Sylvia’s shoulder and walked to the counter, grabbing another hot cross bun on her way out.
“I can’t believe everything is sorted out, then.” Annie said. She felt a warm glow fill her chest.
“Not everything,” Mia said.
The café door opened and Martha walked in with a small brown dog of nondescript breed. He pranced with plenty of energy and his ears perked up as soon as he entered. With a yip, he pulled away from Martha and ran straight to Marvin.
“Scout!” Marvin practically fell off the seat in his haste to greet his dog. Scout jumped into Marvin’s arms and licked his face.
Annie grinned from ear to ear. “Now, everything is sorted out.”
This is the end of Easter Buried Eggs. I hope you enjoyed the story. Click here and start reading my next book today!
About the Author
Lyndsey Cole lives in New England in a small rural town with her husband who puts up with all the characters in her head, her dog who hogs the couch, her cat who is the boss, and 3 chickens that would like to move into the house. She surrounds herself with gardens full of beautiful perennials. Sitting among the flowers with the scent of lilac, peonies, lily of the valley, or whatever is in bloom, stimulates her imagination about who will die next!
Also by Lyndsey Cole
The Hooked & Cooked Series
Gunpowder Chowder
Mobsters and Lobsters
A Fishy Dish
Crook, Line and Sinker
Catch of the Dead
Lily Bloom Series
Begonia Means Beware
Queen of Poison
Roses are Dead
Drowning in Dahlias
Hidden by the Hydrangeas
Christmas Tree Catastrophe
The Black Cat Café Series
BlueBuried Muffins
StrawBuried in Chocolate
BlackBuried Pie
Very Buried Cheesecake
RaspBuried Torte
PoisonBuried Punch
CranBuried Coffee Cake
WineBuried Wedding
Jingle Buried Cookies
