Sweet Vows and Promises (A Sweet Cove Mystery Book 10)

by J A Whiting

  Sweet Vows and Promises

  A Sweet Cove, Massachusetts Cozy Mystery Book 10

  J. A. Whiting

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Thank you for reading! Recipes below!

  Books By J.A. Whiting

  About the Author

  Some Recipes From The Sweet Cove Series

  Chocolate Caramel Muffins

  Blueberry Cobbler

  Vegetable Lasagna

  Macarons

  Copyright 2017 J.A. Whiting

  Cover copyright 2017 Susan Coils at www.coverkicks.com

  Formatting by Signifer Book Design

  Proofreading by Donna Rich

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, or incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to locales, actual events, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from J. A. Whiting.

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  Created with Vellum

  For my family and friends, with love

  1

  After locking the door, Angie Roseland paused on the porch outside of her Sweet Dreams Bake Shop. The early May sunshine danced against her skin and the scent of spring flowers floated by on the gentle breeze. The family’s black cat, Circe, sat next to Angie’s feet and Euclid, their big, orange Maine Coon cat, rested on the porch rail, his eyes closing from the sun’s rays warming his fluffy fur. It had been a harsh winter and a wet spring in Sweet Cove, Massachusetts, but the weather recently had made a turn for the better with the promise of summery days right around the corner.

  The bake shop had done a good business during the cold months and since May’s arrival, things were really picking up with tourists returning in droves to the pretty North Shore seaside town. Angie loved everything about tourist season, the bustle in town, the hot days and pleasant nights, and all the activities that drew people to the beach and stores. Taking in a long, slow breath, happy contentment filled Angie’s heart.

  Things had been quiet after a January mystery … no murders, no missing persons, no evil-doers spreading their misery around the area and Angie was cautiously hopeful that was how life would continue. At least for the rest of the month.

  Angie’s fraternal twin sister, Jenna, would marry her sweetheart, Tom, at the end of May and the four Roseland sisters had been busy all winter making the arrangements.

  Euclid stood, arched his back in a stretch, and jumped off the railing just as Angie saw Jenna walking around the back corner of the Victorian mansion and heading up the driveway towards her. Jenna carried a small, black velvet bag in her hand.

  “Did you finish it?” Angie smiled.

  Jenna nodded, lifted her arm into the air, and with a tone of mock triumph said, “It’s finally done.”

  With Angie peering at her sister’s hand, Jenna opened the bag and tipped it, spilling a pearl and gemstone necklace onto her palm. The beads caught the light and sparkled. Jenna handed the bag to Angie and lifted the piece of jewelry to her neck. “What do you think?”

  Jenna had made and discarded dozens of designs and prototypes trying to create just the right look for her wedding day … simple, but elegant, is what she told the family she was trying to achieve. Even though her sisters praised each necklace, Jenna was a perfectionist with her designs and wanted the right look when she stood next to Tom and they took their vows.

  “It’s perfect.” Angie couldn’t keep her eyes from misting over when she pictured her sister in her wedding dress wearing the necklace.

  Jenna pointed to one of the four small blue stones incorporated into the design. “These are my ‘something blue.’”

  Circe trilled at the tall brunette.

  When Angie didn’t respond because of the emotion choking her throat, Jenna looked up and saw what was keeping her sister silent. “Oh,” Jenna smiled and hugged her twin.

  Angie brushed at her eyes. “If I can’t even look at your necklace without getting teary, how in the world am I going to get through the wedding?”

  “We’ll all manage somehow.” Jenna linked her arm through Angie’s as they headed to the sidewalk with the two cats trailing along behind.

  “At least you aren’t moving away.” Angie swallowed to clear the tightness from her throat. “I’d be a blubbering mess if you weren’t going to be around anymore.”

  Jenna chuckled. “Two doors down is as close to all of you as we could get.”

  Angie kidded, “Maybe the house in between ours will come up for sale and you and Tom can buy that one and move right next door.”

  “Stranger things have happened,” Jenna said with a smile.

  Approaching Jenna and Tom’s house, the foursome turned down the walkway to the front porch. The outside of the home had been freshly painted, grass seed had sprouted, bushes had been trimmed, and flowers were blooming in beds around the porch. Two big flower pots overflowed with spring blossoms.

  “The house looks really pretty.” Angie admired all the work that had been done to refurbish the old house. “Everything’s come together.”

  Jenna sighed. “I wish the inside was finished.”

  “You have enough done so you can move in right after the wedding.” Angie followed her sister up the steps to the porch. “You won’t need to move into the carriage house like you thought you might.”

  Tom and Jenna, with the help of family and friends, had completed the work on the living room, dining room, upstairs master bedroom, and part of the kitchen. Ten rooms still remained to be renovated, but they decided to move into the home together as soon as they were married and pick away at the rest of the rooms as they could. “I have a feeling,” Jenna said with a weary smile, “we’ll be working on this house for the rest of our lives.”

  The sisters sat down in the porch rocking chairs with Circe on Jenna’s lap and Euclid sitting on the railing watching some people strolling by on the way to the beach.

  “What time is the delivery coming?” Angie asked.

  Jenna checked her watch. “In about five minutes.”

  As soon as the words were spoken, a large truck came down the street and slowed as the driver looked at house numbers, then turned the vehicle into the driveway.

  Euclid trained his huge green eyes on the man who emerged from the truck.

  “Afternoon.” The man looked over his paperwork. “Jenna Roseland?”

  Jenna stood, her long brown hair tumbling down her back, and stepped off the porch to speak to the two men who were delivering the new bedroom set.

  As the delivery men opened the back door of the van to remove the new furniture, Jenna unlocked her front door and she, An
gie, and the cats went inside. Jenna placed her phone and the velvet bag containing her wedding necklace on the foyer side table and then led the way up to the second floor master bedroom with the men grunting and struggling up the stairs behind her with the large dresser.

  “This is that haunted house,” the driver whispered to his companion.

  Halting at the top of the stairs, Jenna whirled around. “What did you say?”

  Angie, with her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open, stood at the bottom of the staircase with the cats … the three of them staring up at the men.

  When the men reached the landing, the driver said, “Haunted house. We heard this place is haunted.”

  “Who told you that?” Jenna demanded, her hands on her hips.

  “Um, can we get this piece into the room?” The driver’s breathing was labored.

  As soon as the dresser was placed in the bedroom and they’d started down the stairs, Jenna asked, “Where did you hear this house is haunted?”

  The driver glanced over his shoulder. “A guy was at the furniture store when we were getting ready to leave for deliveries. He overheard us talking about the order of the stops. When he heard your address, he told us to be careful because the house was haunted.”

  The other delivery man asked, his voice a little shaky and his eyes darting around the foyer, “Is it? Is it haunted?”

  “No. That’s nonsense. The man was pulling your leg.” Jenna used a forceful tone as she flicked her eyes at Angie with a warning look not to say a word.

  Angie and the cats made eye contact with one another.

  When the guys were out at the truck removing the new bed frame, Angie sidled up next to her sister. “But, it is haunted.”

  “Don’t tell them anything of the sort.” Jenna’s eyes blazed. “Who was that man at the store? What does he know about this house? It isn’t haunted.”

  Euclid let out a deep, low hiss.

  Angie kept her voice low. “It sort of is.”

  “A haunted house is where a ghost causes trouble, scares the people living there, tries to make them leave.” Jenna crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I didn’t know you were so protective of your ghost,” Angie kidded and noticed a funny look on Jenna’s face.

  The men struggled up the stairs once again and when they’d disappeared into the master bedroom, Angie asked, “Is something wrong?”

  Jenna took in a deep breath. “She hasn’t been around for a while.”

  “Katrina?”

  A spirit lived in Jenna and Tom’s old house and even though no one had ever seen her, her presence was felt by Jenna. Angie and their two other sisters had experienced noises and items being moved around that were unexplainable … that is, if a ghost wasn’t being considered the cause. The family believed that the ghost was an old friend of their grandmother’s … a woman named Katrina Stenmark who had once owned and lived in Jenna’s house.

  “I haven’t felt her around.” Jenna’s face was serious.

  Angie turned and faced her sister. “How long have you … not felt anything?”

  “A week.” Jenna heard the men’s footsteps heading for the staircase. “I’m afraid she’s left.”

  “Why would she though?” Angie cocked her head to the side.

  “I have no idea.”

  Every time the men passed by carrying another piece of furniture, the sisters stopped their conversation.

  “Let’s go in the kitchen.” Jenna led the way down the hall and bustled around removing a jug of iced tea from the fridge and taking glasses from the cabinet. They discussed possible reasons that Katrina had made herself scarce and after several minutes, one of the delivery men called for Jenna. The items had all been placed in the upstairs bedroom and Jenna was asked to look the pieces over. When she’d agreed that everything had been delivered without any damage, she signed the man’s logbook and the two guys hurried out to their truck.

  As Angie and the cats stepped out to the porch, Jenna picked up her phone and house key from the foyer table. Heading for the front door, Jenna halted, and looked back to the table. “Angie?”

  Angie poked her head in through the front door.

  “Did you take the velvet pouch? Did you pick up my necklace?”

  Shaking her head, Angie said, “I didn’t touch it.”

  Jenna’s face paled. “The necklace and my wallet. They’re both gone.”

  2

  Mr. Finch, the Roseland sisters’ friend and honorary member of the family, hooked his cane over the edge of the kitchen island and placed a white platter of sweets on the granite counter.

  Angie and Jenna sat on stools.

  The youngest sister, Courtney, put a delicate dessert plate in front of Angie and Jenna. “This is what we came up with to serve alongside the slices of wedding cake. There will be three cookies of different flavors.”

  Mr. Finch said, “Miss Jenna, it is your job to decide which flavors you prefer.”

  Jenna smiled as she eyed the cookies on the platter. “I wouldn’t call this task a ‘job.’ It’s a treat. I’m practically salivating.”

  “Mr. Finch and I have made a bet over which ones you’ll choose.” Courtney winked at Finch.

  “Can I vote?” Angie asked.

  “No,” Courtney said. “It isn’t your wedding. You can taste them after Jenna makes her choices, but no influencing the bride.” Using silver tongs to lift one of the perfectly rounded macarons, she placed it gently on Jenna’s plate. “This one is strawberry with chocolate filling.” Courtney nodded to Finch. “Get ready for her comments, Mr. Finch.”

  Finch had a notebook and a pen poised to capture Jenna’s remarks.

  Jenna bit into the macaron and sighed. “Delicious.”

  “What about me?” Angie protested. “I’m her twin. I should have a say in the matter.”

  “Only Jenna and Tom get to vote.” Courtney lifted a caramel-flavored cookie for Jenna to try next and gave Angie a quick look. “You can sample them after Jenna gives her opinion. We’ve already collected Tom’s preferences.”

  “When did Tom taste the cookies?” Jenna picked up the macaron.

  “When you and Angie were at your house losing the necklace and wallet,” Courtney said.

  After the bedroom set delivery, Angie and Jenna and the two cats had searched the rooms of the house in a panic attempting to locate the necklace. “Did one of the delivery men steal my necklace and wallet?” Jenna had moaned.

  When Angie suggested that maybe one of the cats had taken the velvet pouch to play with, Circe and Euclid gave her withering looks causing Angie to quickly backtrack on her idea. “Okay, I guess they didn’t take it.”

  As they went through every room of the house, Jenna became increasingly frantic. “I’m going to call Chief Martin. Maybe he can have an officer intercept the delivery van before those guys have a chance to hide the necklace.”

  “Wait a few more minutes.” Angie had a feeling that the two men who’d brought the furniture probably didn’t have anything to do with the missing necklace, but the possibility couldn’t be dismissed. “Let’s make another pass through the rooms before you make the call.”

  Jenna followed Angie through the fourteen rooms with tears gathering in her eyes while she ranted about how on earth a person could ever steal from someone.

  Coming up empty, Angie sighed. “Let’s go back upstairs.”

  “Where are the cats?” Jenna asked.

  Right on cue, Euclid’s screech filled the air and the two sisters raced up the staircase to the second floor.

  “Euclid?” Angie called.

  The huge orange boy howled from the master bedroom and when Angie and Jenna hurried into the room, the Maine Coon cat was sitting next to the newly-delivered box spring and mattress. Circe sat on top of the bed with her tail curled around her paws.

  Jenna stared at the cats and walked over to the new bed as Euclid pawed at the spot where the mattress rested on the box spring. The drawstring of the
velvet pouch drooped from under the mattress. Jenna pushed her fingers over the box spring and felt the velvet pouch and her wallet. Pulling the items from their hiding place, she clutched the pouch to her chest. “Thank heavens. Thank you,” she told the felines.

  Angie narrowed her eyes. “How did they get in there?”

  “Did one of the delivery men take my things? They might have heard me coming up the stairs and stashed them under the mattress.” Jenna’s eyes widened. “Wait. What about Katrina? Did she put my things under the mattress?” Jenna glanced at the new bed. “But why? Why would she do that? She’s never done anything mean before.”

  Angie eyed her sister. “Do you feel anyone else in here?”

  A shadow of worry passed over Jenna’s face. “No, but … I really wasn’t paying any attention.” After flicking her eyes about the bedroom, she whispered, “Could there be another ghost in the house?”

  Angie didn’t have an answer for that.

  “Earth to Angie.” Courtney raised her voice slightly trying to get her sister’s attention.

  “What?” Angie blinked, bringing herself back to the present. “What did you say?”

  “Jenna gave her opinion on two of the macaron flavors. Did you hear her?”

  “I spaced out for a minute.” Angie turned to Jenna. “What did you think of the cookies?”

  “Would you like a cup of tea, Miss Angie?” Mr. Finch made eye contact with the honey-blonde sitting across from him.

  Giving the older gentleman a smile, Angie shook her head. “I’m okay, Mr. Finch. I was just thinking about the necklace.”

  When the twin sisters and the cats had returned to the Victorian, it was clear to both Finch and Courtney that something was amiss and the four of them spent time discussing the possible cause of the purloined wallet and piece of jewelry.

  “I wasn’t upset because the necklace is valuable, it isn’t … and I could easily make another one. I just felt … I don’t know … violated, betrayed, unsafe. I put my heart and soul into making the piece. I was so looking forward to Tom seeing it.” Jenna shook her head. “I’m sentimental about it. There are things about the design that symbolize things important to me and Tom. I was angry and heartbroken thinking that one of those men stole something that meant so much to me.”