Page 1 of Merry Murder Season
Chapter 1
As I watched the angry faces gathered around the tables in Coffee, Books, and More, my coffee shop and bookstore, I regretted signing a new ten-year contract to host and sponsor the business-to-business meetings here. Usually, the meetings went smoothly. Darla Taylor, owner of South Cove Winery, ran the meetings with an iron fist. Since it was the holidays, you would think that everyone would be in a festive mood. But there was no peace on earth, goodwill to men—I mean, personkind—feeling today.
No, Mayor Baylor had showed up to press the flesh because there was an election coming soon. The mayor typically only showed up around election time. He and his wife, Tina, didn’t care about helping to run the huge Christmas craft bazaar scheduled in a few weeks or hiring enough elves for Santa’s Village. The local power couple just wanted the votes to keep the smarmy Mayor Baylor in office. And the mayor had newsfor the group.
I’d broken the news last year that the mayor’s office had planned to close Main Street for the holiday season, but, like all things that we don’t want to deal with, people had already forgotten the warning. So, no one had petitioned the city council to rethink their idea.
No one except for one business that didn’t even attend the monthly business-to-business meetings. Chip’s Bar had asked for an exemption for motorcycles to use the street during the closure. With Diamond Lille’s owner, Lille Stanley, voicing her support, the council’s decision to grant the exception had been madeback in August.
On Thanksgiving morning, only two days away, the barriers would go up, and cars and trucks would be banned from nine a.m. to midnight. Then the street would reopen to vehicles, allowing businesses to restock. Most of the businesses, like mine, had an alley behind our shops for deliveries anyway.
Darla banged the gavel on the lectern. “Folks, you knew this was coming. If it doesn’t work, I’m sure the mayor and city council will be glad to discuss next year’s plan.”
Josh Thomas stood. “No one told us that there could be exceptions. My delivery truck needs to be loaded and unloaded in front of the store. What am I supposed to do? Unload in the dark?”
“There are streetlights…” Mayor Baylor interrupted what we all knew would be a long tirade from Josh. He was notorious for them, even when he was wrong. I thought this time, the antique dealer might just have a point. Instead of Josh continuing, another voice interrupted the mayor.
“And why are motorcycles allowed on the street? Those things are death traps. And they’re so loud. If you’re allowing motorcycles, you should just reverse the entire thing,” Matty Leaven pointed out. She owned a jewelry store in town. Since she’d joined our business council, she always seemed to take Josh’s side in discussions. “Maybe there needs to be new blood in City Hall. People who stand for the little guy.”
Josh looked at Matty like she’d just won a Nobel Prize for standing with him. He wasn’t used to someone agreeing with his ideas. Mandy, his wife, who came into my shop a lot for coffee, often laughed about Josh’s infatuation with the jewelry designer. I thought he was playing with fire.
“Hold up, folks. This isn’t about the upcoming election. We are a bipartisan group and our mandate doesn’t allow electioneering during the meeting.” Darla met my gaze and rolled her eyes. “Anyway, if we could get back on the subject, Main Street is closing. Any further comments can go to the mayor’s office or any member of our city council. Their names and email addresses are on the city website. We’ll talk more about the holiday festival next meeting, but Jill wanted to bring up our annual charity event. This year, we’re partnering with Chip’s Bar for a dart tournament to be held in the community center. The entry fee will be cash and a new toy, which will be donated to the California Central Coast Family Project for kids that won’t be on Santa’s delivery route this year. Jill, do you want to give us the details?”
I stood up, my list of talking points at the ready. None of them dealt with the closed road or the motorcycle exemption. I introduced myself, even though most of the people knew me. “Thanks, Darla. I’m Jill Gardner, I mean, Jill King. I own the coffee shop/bookstore you’re sitting in and I’m your council liaison for the next ten years. Wow, that sounds like a long time. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that the dart tournament is also being sponsored byCoffee, Books, and More and is the brainchild of Chris Aquilla and Carrie Jones. It was at Carrie’s suggestion that we started the book club last year.”
I could see people starting to put their notes away. I was talking too much and needed to get to the point, quickly. Chris was digging in her bag, trying not to make eye contact with me for fear I’d askher a question.
“Anyway, the fundraiser for CCCFP is this Friday night, sponsored by Chip’s. The entry fee is ten dollars, and the bar is kicking in the money for the players’ winnings so every dollar from entries goes to the charity. They’re also kicking in fifty percent of that night’s profits.” I handed out flyers. “Please have these available for people to take. I believe Chris and Carrie have already stopped by your businesses to give you a stash, but just in case you’ve already handed those out, here’s more. Both Greg and I are playing, and I hope to see the rest of youthere as well.”
“It’s Thanksgiving weekend. We might have family at the house,” a woman on my right side mumbled. She probably didn’t think I’d heard, but I had.
“Bring them along! We have family in town as well. The more, the merrier.” I pasted a smile on my face, hoping it didn’t look as fake as it felt. Greg didn’t want to go. He worried that the presence of law enforcement might dampen the celebratory mood. He also didn’t want to go out when his family would be in town. I was hoping they’d tag along at least for the charity part of the night. The charity event hadn’t been my idea, but I was supporting it like it had been. Besides, it was for the kids.
“Matt and I are coming too, but if you already have plans that night”—Darla looked pointedly at Marvin and Tina Baylor—“just drop a donation check off with Amy Newman-Cole at City Hall or before you leave here. We don’t want any child to go without a Merry Christmas.”
Josh glowered at Darla but didn’t object. I knew that Mandy had already committed to coming on Friday night, so he couldn’t say anything against the event. But I could tell he wanted to.
Darla ended the meeting and everyone scattered before Mayor Baylor could corner them. Tina had reached the exit first, blocking it and handing outBaylor for Mayorbuttons as people left. I noticed that Matty Leaven snuck out while Tina was handing a button to another person. The girl was smart, that was for sure.
After everyone was gone, I moved tables back in order with the help of my barista on deck, Deek Kerr. He seemed quiet, distracted, and not his usual chatty self. Deek was a writer, so it wasn’t unusual for him to be in his ownworld. I took his rag away when he’d cleaned the same spot for the last few minutes. “What’s got you all up in your head? Plottinganother book?”
He glanced toward the door. Everyone had left the coffee shop, and it was just the two of us. “I’m not thinking about a book. What do you think aboutMatty Leaven?”
“I don’t know her very well. She seems to think like Josh a lot, though.” I wiped the last table and went to the sink to rinsethe rag. “Why?”
“I can’t figure out her aura. It changes colors based on what she’s saying. I don’t think she agrees with Josh. I think she likes stirring up trouble.” He poured himself a cup of coffee after following me to the coffee bar. “I’m probably just overanalyzingthe situation.”
“I don’t like her at all,” Tilly North, my newest barista, chimed in as she filled the treat display case. “She’s nice to your face, then I overhear her saying mean things about people, like Josh and Mandy. She says awful things about Josh all the time to her friends while they’re getting coffee. She’s one of those people who thinks baristas or whoever is serving her are completely invisible. I worked with people like that when I was at the hospital. They think you can’t hear them when they’re talking right outside your room.”
Tilly had been in a car accident and suffered a brain injury. She’d lost many of her long-term memories, like the fact that she and Toby Killian, another one of my baristas and one of Greg’s deputies, had dated in high school. When she’d come to work for me, she’d been dating someone new. Now, that relationship was over, but Tilly had stayed in the area. She was a great addition to the bookstore team. And usually very perceptive about people.
“I’ll watch her more carefully.” I hoped that Josh wouldn’t figure out that Matty was messing with him. He had enough self-esteem issues. He didn’t need to know that Matty didn’t like him. I poured myself a fresh cup of coffee. I had back-of-the-house tasks to do, namely accounting and scheduling, since Evie was in the city visiting her cousin, Sasha, and her daughter this week for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Toby had also dated Sasha. The boy sure did get around. It was a small town. We had connections allover the place.
“Just be careful around her, Jill.” Deek was staring out the window again. “I have a feeling. Andit’s not good.”
Now I was worried. Deek Kerr liked everyone. He could read auras, or at least he thought he could. Sometimes he told me things that, when I looked them up, didn’t match the aura lore published on the internet. But when you’re talking about magic and seeing things that aren’t there, maybe the internet didn’t have all the information. Deek was a good guy and he saw people clearly, which made him an excellent baristaand bookseller.
