Bed, Breakfast and Murder (A Ryli Sinclair Mystery Book 4)

by Jenna St James

  I was sandwiched between Tina Collins and foul-smelling Aunt Shirley with Mom, Paige, and Colonel Musgaard across from me. Poor Olivia Banner had to sit directly across from Stewart. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but separating Tina and Stewart seemed like a good move. Dayna and Trent each took a side and served us dinner and drinks as we all made small talk.

  “Can I get you anything else?”

  I turned to my left to tell Trent no thank you, when I realized he wasn’t talking to me but to Tina. She giggled and took a long sip of her champagne. Without missing a beat, she reached out and caressed his leg as he stood near her chair. “Maybe later.” She’d whispered low enough that only I overheard.

  Stunned, I could do nothing but sit there stiffly. I knew my face had to be red from embarrassment…and anger. Never had I wanted to deck another human being as much as I wanted to deck Trent Starnes at this moment.

  Dayna righted herself from having just poured Colonel Musgaard a drink. She caught my eye and I could tell she, too, had seen what had just transpired between Tina and Trent. I averted my eyes so I didn’t further embarrass the poor girl.

  The rest of the dinner and dessert passed without incident. Even though I hadn’t done anything physical other than drive down to Mystery Farms, I could barely keep my eyes open. I wasn’t sure what the rest of the night was going to bring or when the first murder would happen, but I was hoping it would happen soon before I keeled over.

  “Let’s take this party back into the parlor and have a nightcap before we all turn in,” Gary Wainwright said at the end of dinner.

  “I’m so full,” Paige moaned. “I’m not sure I have room for a drink.”

  “I could probably have a little something-something,” Aunt Shirley said.

  Big surprise.

  “In fact, a nice margarita would hit the spot after the lemon custard,” Aunt Shirley continued.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Cybil Wainwright said. “I think Bessie has some fresh squeezed lemonade. How about that and tequila? Would that work for you?”

  “You bet!” Aunt Shirley said.

  We all made our way back into the parlor as Dayna and Trent served after-dinner drinks. Mom and Aunt Shirley were talking with Colonel Musgaard near the fireplace while Tina and Steward were hissing and spatting with each other in the corner. I sat down on the settee next to Olivia. She was staring intently at Trent while she nervously twisted her wedding ring.

  “Can I join this party?” Paige asked with a smile.

  I waited to see if Olivia would answer. When she didn’t I motioned for Paige to sit down.

  “Wasn’t dinner amazing?” I asked as Paige sat down across from us in a wingback chair.

  “It sure was,” Paige agreed. “What was your favorite, Olivia?”

  Olivia gave no indication she had heard Paige’s question. Seems she was too busy throwing hate vibes Trent’s way. I looked at Paige and shrugged my shoulders.

  “Trent,” Gary Wainwright called, “can you help Dayna pass out the champagne to everyone so we can toast Bessie on her wonderful meal and to a fabulous murder-filled weekend?”

  Bessie, Cybil, and Dayna carried in trays filled with different drinks. “Go pull Mom away from that weird Colonel guy,” I said. “I’ll go snag us each a glass of champagne.” I didn’t wait for a response from Paige. I knew she never turned down champagne.

  I walked over to where Dayna was carrying a tray of drinks. I smiled and told her how much I enjoyed everything so far. She tried to be polite, but her heart really wasn’t into her response. Like Olivia, she couldn’t take her eyes off Trent.

  After grabbing two flutes, I walked over to where Mom, Aunt Shirley, and Paige were huddled. Colonel Musgaard had moved to sit alone in a chair by the fireplace.

  Gary Wainwright lifted his flute in the air. “I always like to thank Bessie at the end of our first night together. She has been such an integral part of this business. Not only does she prepare the wonderful food we eat, but she also keeps our website up-to-date. You may not know it to look at her, but Bessie definitely knows her way around a computer. Please join me in raising a glass to Bessie.”

  “Here, here!” we all shouted.

  I took a healthy gulp of my champagne and watched as Olivia sat down at the piano bench and began to softly play.

  I looped my arm through Paige’s and clinked my champagne glass with hers. I took another drink. “Hey, why aren’t you drinking champagne? You love champagne.”

  Paige smiled. “I guess now’s the perfect time to tell you. Matt and I found out last week I’m about seven weeks pregnant!”

  Chapter 4

  Mom, Aunt Shirley, and I erupted into screams. We each took turns hugging and congratulating Paige. I couldn’t believe after all these months of trying we were gonna finally have a baby in the family.

  “I wanted to wait for the perfect time to tell you guys,” Paige said. “I’m just sorry I won’t be able to do any wine tasting on Sunday.”

  “This is the best news,” Mom said as she wiped a tear off her cheek.

  “When are you due?” I asked.

  Paige looked adoringly at Mom. “November 22. We counted back, and that means I got pregnant right around Valentine’s Day. Guess those chocolates of yours worked.”

  “And Mindy’s negligee,” I reminded her. I’d gotten the same gift.

  “How did Matt take the news?” Mom asked.

  Paige laughed. “Shocked. Excited. Scared. Just like me.”

  Aunt Shirley patted Paige’s arm. “You both will be great parents.”

  I was shocked at Aunt Shirley’s sincerity. I mean, I knew she wanted a baby to bounce, I just thought it was for purely selfish reasons.

  Aunt Shirley scowled at me. “Stop looking at me like that. I can be nice when I want to be.”

  I opened my mouth for a snappy comeback, but was interrupted by a squeal from across the room. Tina Collins was standing next to Colonel Musgaard’s chair, her hands over her mouth.

  “Looks like we got our first murder,” Aunt Shirley said gleefully. She took off for Colonel Musgaard’s body, the tassels on her dress flying in all directions.

  Aunt Shirley stopped in front of Colonel Musgaard and then bent down to peer in his face. The Colonel’s eyes were shut and the drink in his hand was dangerously close to spilling.

  Aunt Shirley sniffed at the drink then sniffed at Colonel Musgaard’s face again. At the same time Colonel Musgaard let out a loud sneeze…right in Aunt Shirley’s face.

  “Good God, woman. You have enough perfume on to kill someone!” Musgaard exclaimed before he closed his eyes once more and pretended to be dead.

  I couldn’t help it…I exploded into giggles.

  “Who served him the drink?” Aunt Shirley demanded, obviously choosing to ignore Colonel Musgaard’s declaration.

  Dayna looked at Trent Starnes and Cybil Wainwright before shrugging. “I’m not sure. We all were carrying a mixture of drinks on our trays.”

  “Who made up the drinks?” Tina asked, getting into the spirit of the game.

  I thought that was a great question.

  Again Dayna shrugged. “I don’t know. They were already poured and sitting on the trays when I got to the kitchen.”

  I turned to Bessie. “Did you pour them?”

  Bessie shook her head, and red frizz went flying. “I didn’t. I noticed they were already poured the last time I went back into the kitchen.”

  I looked at Gary Wainwright to gauge his reaction. He looked just as confused as the other suspects. These people were great actors.

  “I called the police,” Cybil Wainwright announced.

  A few seconds later there was a knock at the front door. I barely suppressed a giggle. That was the fastest call time I’d ever experienced. And I’ve had Garrett on the end of a phone line before, telling him I’d found a dead body. Garrett’s call time was still a little longer than this.

  Gary and Cybil left the room to get th
e door, and I went to go stand by Aunt Shirley. Olivia was still softly playing the piano. I guess since she’d already participated in the murder mystery before, she didn’t want to risk dropping a hint. Stewart was busy looking at his watch, obviously bored.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention?” Gary and Cybil returned with a distinguished-looking man in his late seventies or early eighties. His face was weathered from years in the sun. He was tall and fit—he looked like he could fight his way out of any given situation. His dusty cowboy boots made a heavy thud sound as he walked on the hardwood floor. “May I introduce Lester Simpson, our Sheriff.”

  Sheriff Simpson tipped his cowboy hat in greeting and slowly made his way over to where we were gathered around Colonel Musgaard. He stopped short when he saw Aunt Shirley. He carefully took in her funky hair and tasseled dress.

  Sheriff Simpson winked at Aunt Shirley. “Well, ma’am, aren’t you a lovely vision tonight.”

  Aunt Shirley tittered, and her face turned pink. “Why, Sheriff, thank you so much!”

  I’ll never understand the charismatic charm my Aunt Shirley has over men. I’m not sure if it’s the outlandishness they are attracted to or what exactly makes men fall over themselves to please her.

  “So this must be the dead guy?” Sheriff Simpson leaned down and peered into Colonel Musgaard’s face. He looked pointedly at the glass in Colonel Musgaard’s hand, then placed his own hand against the side of Colonel Musgaard’s neck. “Yep. He’s a goner. I think his drink was poisoned.”

  Again, I barely suppressed a giggle. I’d stumbled across my fair share of dead bodies over the last few months, and none of them were this simple. Usually it ended with me screaming, crying, and even throwing up on occasion. This was definitely the best way to discover a dead body. And the simple fact that the Sheriff could deduce Colonel Musgaard had been poisoned simply because he saw a glass was even better.

  “I will need to question each of you as to where you were right before the body was discovered and possible motives. I’ll start with the Wainwrights and work my way down the list to employees and then guests. Since it’s late, I probably won’t get to guests until tomorrow morning.”

  Thank God. I need a bath, hot tea, and a warm bed.

  “You know, Sheriff,” Aunt Shirley said. “My niece, Ryli, and I have had our fair share of run-ins with poisoning. Ryli here was given Ketamine against her will, and recently we were both drugged with Ambien and other sleeping pills.”

  Sheriff Simpson’s eyes widened in shock. “Is that so?”

  Aunt Shirley nodded. “And I used to be a licensed private investigator years ago in Los Angeles. We could probably be very helpful to you in your investigation.”

  Sheriff Simpson smiled. “Then I look forward to talking with you tomorrow.”

  “It’s a date,” Aunt Shirley said. “Now, if you don’t mind, it’s late and my dentures need to come out.”

  With that Aunt Shirley turned and walked out of the parlor. Mom, Paige, and I followed close behind. We had just gotten to the bottom of the stairs when Aunt Shirley turned around.

  “I get it!” She was laughing so hard she had to bend over to catch her breath. “Colonel Musgaard in the parlor with poison! That’s clever!”

  “Hey,” Paige said, “that is funny. I didn’t even get it until now. That’s why he was wearing that ugly yellow t-shirt under the tan blazer.”

  Gary Wainwright had moved to the archway between the parlor and foyer. He caught my eye and gave me a sly smile and a nod.

  Aunt Shirley was right…this WhoDunIt birthday weekend was definitely going to be a good time. No forever murder, no blood, no hostage negotiation with a crazy killer. Just clean, fun murder.

  We said good night to Paige and Mom, congratulating Paige one more time on her pregnancy before retiring to our bedrooms.

  “That’s pretty cool about the baby, huh?” I asked as I retrieved my pajamas from the dresser.

  Aunt Shirley sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed. “It sure is. It’ll be nice to have a baby running around.”

  I stopped getting undressed and stared at her. “Do you ever regret not having children?”

  Aunt Shirley gave me a sad smile. “No. It was my choice to make, and I feel I made the right one. But it will be nice to be around something so young and new.”

  “Am I getting too old for you to hang around?” I joked, hoping to pick up her mood.

  Aunt Shirley snickered. “Just a little bit. Now go take your bath and leave me alone. I need my beauty sleep so I look hot tomorrow for my date with the Sheriff!”

  I shook my head at the fact that only Aunt Shirley would think talking with a Sheriff about a murder could be construed as a date. Most people would be up half the night sick with worry. Only Aunt Shirley would be up half the night planning her wardrobe.

  I went into the bathroom and ran my bath water. I dropped in Vanilla Lavender bath salts and went back to ask Aunt Shirley a question while the tub filled.

  “Aunt Shirley, do you think the tension between Dayna and Trent is for real or part of the murder mystery drama?”

  Aunt Shirley shut off her lamp and snuggled down deep on her side of the bed. “I’ve noticed that, too. I don’t know. I think it’s real. Kinda hard to fake that kind of raw emotion.”

  I nodded. “I think so, too. Shame he wasn’t the one killed tonight.”

  Aunt Shirley chuckled. “There’s always tomorrow.”

  Chapter 5

  “So are you having fun?” Garrett asked.

  I shifted my phone from my right ear to my left ear. “Yes. I’m actually surprised at how fun this is. Great food, and we already had our first murder last night. The best part was when the guy who is supposed to be dead sneezed because Aunt Shirley had on too much perfume and she was leaning over him examining him! It was so funny. Oh, and Aunt Shirley has a date today with the guy that plays the Sheriff. So she’s having a great birthday weekend.”

  “Sounds like a good time.” Huge pause. “Anything else new?”

  I growled. “Garrett Kimble, did you already know about the baby?”

  Garrett laughed. “Only last night. Matt, Nick, Officer Ryan, and I got together out at my house and Matt made the announcement. He figured Paige was going to say something last night, so it was okay to tell us.”

  I gave a little squeal. “I’m super excited for them. A baby!”

  “Yeah,” Garrett sighed.

  I heard the wistfulness and started to panic. Even though Garrett hadn’t started pressuring me into a stronger commitment, I knew the time was coming. He would be thirty-nine this year, and he was ready to settle down and have a family. I knew it, but it didn’t help with the anxiety I always started to feel. It’s not that I’m not ready to settle down, it’s more I’m not sure if I’ll be any good at it. I still sniff my clothes to see if they are clean. I barely remember to feed my cat. I don’t cook very well, and I worry about what kind of wife and mother I will be.

  “Well, I need to head over to the office soon,” Garrett said. “Thanks for calling, Sin. Have fun finding another dead body today.”

  I laughed. “I bet you never thought you’d hear yourself say those words to me, did you?”

  Garrett joined in the laughter. “You got that right. Usually I’m lecturing you on not finding dead bodies.”

  I hung up, threw the phone down on the bed, and listened to Aunt Shirley getting ready in the bathroom. We still had another twenty minutes before breakfast was served at eight.

  I reached over to shut the bedroom window when I heard arguing out by the barn. I peered down closer through the screen and saw Trent Starnes and Olivia Banner going at each other. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but Trent was doing a lot of shrugging and shaking his head. In a flash, Olivia reached out and slapped Trent across the face.

  But why were they fighting? Was this part of the act, too? Or were Trent and Olivia somehow entangled with each other? That could account for t
he hostility, puffy eyes, and wedding ring twisting she’d been doing last night.

  “What’re you looking at?” Aunt Shirley asked.

  I let out a little scream and turned. “What the—you scared me to death!” I laid my hand over my heart and prayed it wouldn’t leap out of my chest.

  “You big sissy,” Aunt Shirley said. “When’re you gonna toughen up?”

  “I was going to wish you a happy birthday today, but I think I’ll change my mind if you keep it up. So how old are you this year?”

  Aunt Shirley snorted. “I’ll never tell.” She’d let it drop that this year was an important one, so I was going with seventy-five.

  Aunt Shirley put up her fists and took up a fighting stance. “Wanna try and give me birthday swats? I kinda feel like kicking your butt this morning.”

  I ignored her and turned back to the window hoping to see some more of the fight going on outside. Unfortunately, Trent was closing the door to the barn and Olivia was running back to the house.

  “Olivia Banner and Trent Starnes were outside fighting. I couldn’t hear what was being said, but Olivia slapped Trent across the face.”

  Aunt Shirley whistled and crept toward the window. “Sorry I missed that little drama.”

  I chuckled. “It was pretty entertaining. Let’s go down and see if anyone is having coffee or something in the parlor.”

  I turned from the window and really took in Aunt Shirley’s outfit for the day. She was dressed in what can only be described as a floral pantsuit romper. Her love affair with floral patterns was tragic.

  “Is that a one-piece pantsuit?” I asked.

  “Yep.” She turned around so I could see the zipper in the back. “I just step into it and zip it up. It even has pockets.” Aunt Shirley stuck her hands in the pockets and pulled the pockets out from the pantsuit, causing the pantsuit legs to billow out like a clown outfit.

  “It’s quite…something.”

  I had no idea how to compliment the hideous outfit. It was almost as bad as the tassel dress she’d worn last night. I had to wonder where she was buying her clothes lately. Her wardrobe had suddenly taken on a more dramatic flair.