Crime at Cripple Creek (The Sisters Week Series #1)
Page 7
Chapter 8
As soon as Beth sat down in the hot tub the tears flowed. She told her sisters, “I’m fine in a crisis, but when it’s over I fall apart.”
By the time she finished talking she sobbed uncontrollably.
“Is there anything we can do, Beth?” said Lynn.
“No. Just let me get it all out of my system then I’ll be fine,” Beth answered her younger sister between sobs.
Joy said, looking worried, “We’re here for you. Get it all out then maybe we can get back to our sisters’ week.”
Beth cried for a good twenty minutes then the sobs slowed to nothing. She began to feel more like herself. She relaxed now and knew both her sisters felt more relaxed also.
“Thanks girls. I feel much better now. Joy, are you feeling like eating something light for dinner?”
Joy laughed, “I got everything out of my system too so I do feel like eating something.”
“Why don’t we fix an omelet and some fruit? Or we can do fruit and cheeses. You two decide,” Beth suggested.
“An omelet and some fruit sound good to me. Then after we clean up, why don’t we have one of our famous marathons of Yahtzee?” Lynn giggled as she added the last words.
“That sounds like a plan. I’m off to shower and get comfortable in pajamas. I’m starting to wrinkle sitting here this long but it did the trick. The hot water changed my tense muscles to mush,” Beth laughed.
All three women stepped out of the hot tub and Joy turned it off for the night. They wrapped towels around themselves, and then each headed to separate bathrooms to shower.
Beth heard her phone ringing as she exited the bathroom. She saw by the caller ID that it was Tyler and she felt excitement creeping up her veins.
“Hi Tyler, is there anything new on the woman who was murdered?” she asked right away.
“Hello to you too Beth …No, nothing new yet. I actually called to see how you’re doing. You had a shock today which most people would’ve fallen apart if it happened to them,” Tyler spoke with concern in his voice.
“I did fall apart but I waited until I finally got back here before I let the waterfall start,” Beth informed him.
“Are you alright now? Should I come over?” Tyler asked nervously.
Beth considered his coming over but discarded it for now, “Not tonight, but if you wouldn’t mind stopping by tomorrow. That’s if you have some time. I’d like to see you and I need to tell you something. I just don’t want to get into it all tonight. I’m going to eat some dinner with my sisters and play a few games of Yahtzee and forget everything else just for tonight. Can you understand why that’s important to me tonight?”
She almost saw Tyler’s smile as he answered, “I understand better than you know. Why don’t I come over around ten in the morning? Will you all be up by then?”
“Yes, we’ll be up and I’ll have coffee on. Thank you, Tyler. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Goodnight.” She smiled by the time she hung up the phone. She still smiled when she picked up the clothes she wore today and put them in the laundry basket. Something hit the hardwood floor and when she looked down she saw it was the button she found earlier in front of the ice machine. She picked it up and placed it in her jewelry pouch. She knew she’d turn it over to Tyler tomorrow.
Walking into the kitchen Beth saw her sisters were busy as they got dinner together. Everything was almost ready, so Beth got plates and silverware out along with napkins and placed them on the table.
Lynn made a ham and cheese omelet that they split in thirds. That, along with grapes, peaches, watermelon, and mango, made a wonderful meal. The three women loved fruit so they ate some with just about every meal.
Sitting down to eat, Beth informed her sisters, “Tyler called and he’s coming here in the morning around ten.”
Both Lynn and Joy gave Beth their biggest smiles, “We were wondering when he’d show up”
“OK. Don’t you two start, please? Let’s finish dinner so I can slaughter you both at yatzee!” Beth looked forward to just the three of them having a little fun and laughs tonight. After all, that was supposed to be what this vacation is all about.
Now that the dishes were washed, Beth brought the game to the table, along with the container of no-bake cookies. She felt so much better than she did earlier.
“I think we all should have one margarita while we play,” Joy said. “My stomach’s up for it. What about you, Lynn?”
“Sounds great!” both Lynn and Beth said at the same time which brought all three to laughter yet again.
They settled down to a fun evening. Lynn could do no wrong. She got a Yahtzee just about every game. Joy seemed to be in second place. But by the time they finished the sixth game, Beth won with three Yahtzees in the last game. They finished their drinks and half of the cookies and now they were all so droopy eyed they knew its bedtime.
Beth almost suggested that the three of them sleep in one room but wasn’t going to scare her sisters. So she let them go to their separate rooms for the night and she went to hers. She remembered they never fixed the television in the one bedroom but knew no one felt like turning on a television tonight anyway.
Beth had a very hard time falling asleep, but finally towards early morning she did.
Beth was a little surprised nothing happened during the night, as she woke up. Her first task would be to get the coffee made. She would later clean up and dress before Tyler arrived. Just the thoughts of Tyler gave her a wonderful feeling and a smile to her lips. She hadn’t felt like a teenager in a long time. And she actually enjoyed the feeling this morning.