Blackberry Cream & Murder Read online

  “Yes,” Heather and Ryan said immediately. Then, they couldn’t stop from laughing.

  "Sorry," Heather explained. "Something is wrong with our heating and cooling system in our home. It's pumping in heat, so it's way too hot right now."

  “And we already made arrangements for our daughter to stay with friends,” said Ryan. “So this sounds perfect. We’d love to.”

  “That is,” said Heather. “If you’re sure you have room for us.”

  “I do,” said Bea. “When school just starts, it gets slow for a few weeks. I have a dozen rooms between this house and the carriage house and less than half are full.”

  “Really?”

  Bea considered her guest list. “Yes. The man I told you about and his wife have a room. And his secretary has another. They’re all on a working vacation. Then there’s a young couple having a romantic vacation. And one other young woman has a room, but I’m afraid she’s not been feeling too well. She probably won’t join us for meals.”

  “Then we’d love to accept the invitation,” said Heather.

  “Sure. You guys get all the fun,” Amy grumbled.

  "I could give you a room too," Bea offered, and Amy immediately smiled.

  “I’m sure Jamie would love to join me.”

  “Oh,” Heather said. “But can we leave the animals with Eva and Leila too last minute?”

  “If it’s a dog, he’s welcome to join you. But I’m afraid I’m allergic to cats,” said Bea.

  Heather nodded. Maybe Dave would come on another adventure with them.

  They were just settling on the details when there was a commotion at the door.

  “Why are we here?” a female voice whined. “I want to stay at the big hotel.”

  “This will be romantic,” the male voice reassured her.

  “It better be. It looks small.”

  Heather followed the sounds of the voices and saw the couple in the hallway. For all the complaining about the size of the hotel, they didn’t have much luggage that they were going to need to fit inside. All they had was one small bag between them.

  “Can I help you?” Bea asked.

  The young man looked like he had rolled right out of bed and came there. The young woman had spent more time on her outfit. Her dress and shoes matched perfectly. She moved her large sunglasses up on top of her head to hold back her blonde hair.

  “Hello,” the man said. “I’m Mike Crown, and this is my girlfriend Kylie. We were hoping that you might have a room available.”

  “If you don’t, it’s okay,” Kylie said.

  “We’ll see ourselves out and let you deal with this,” said Heather.

  “I’ll see you tonight,” Bea said, letting them know that this turn of events hadn’t affected her invitation.

  Heather, Ryan, and Amy left.

  “Those two seem like they might cause some drama,” Amy said. “Are we sure we want to stay there?”

  But for Ryan and Heather, the answer was still a resounding yes.

  A Late Night Fight

  “This place is adorable,” Amy said. “Everything in the rooms at this B&B is beachy and cute. Look at all the seashells. If we’re not careful, I’m going end up moving in here.”

  “Don’t tempt me,” Heather said. “If we don’t get our air conditioner fixed soon, I might consider the option.”

  “I really don’t want to move all our furniture again,” Ryan joked.

  Heather, Ryan, and Amy laughed. Amy nudged the quiet Jamie in the ribs.

  “Sorry,” he said. “What?”

  “Um,” Amy said. “We’re moving into the bed and breakfast, and we’ve nominated you to move all our stuff.”

  “Ha. Ha,” Jamie said. “But I am sorry I’m distracted. Rudolph Rodney was telling me about all the permits I’ll need to my pet grooming van going. I have a feeling I’m not going to be approved. I’m sorry I’m not good company right now.”

  “You’re always good company,” Amy assured him.

  “I’m just worried it’s not going to work out. And I really wanted it to. I was looking forward to working with all the dogs,” Jamie said, sadly.

  Dave went over to cheer him up. The wagging tail did work. Heather was glad that they were able to bring Dave to the bed and breakfast. So far he had been on his best behavior. It might have been because he was happy to be allowed to go on an outing with Heather again, or it might have been because he smelled the Blackberry Cream Donuts in her bag.

  The friends and their canine companion chatted for a while longer and then split into their separate rooms for some shut-eye.

  Heather was luxuriating in the cool room and fell asleep quickly. However, she was woken up that night by Dave licking her hand.

  “What’s going on?” she asked groggily.

  Heather saw Dave’s white furry form run to the door. She figured he needed to go out and pulled herself out of bed.

  “I’ll be right back,” she told the sleeping Ryan. He responded without hearing her and without making sense in his reply.

  Heather hooked a leash on Dave and was ready to take him outside. However, once she opened the door, he didn't pull her towards the exit door. Instead, he froze in place, listening. Heather listened too.

  “Good dog,” she said.

  She heard voices arguing, and they were starting to become heated. She didn't want to pry into someone's private business, but she did want to make sure that this fight didn't escalate into something more serious. She had investigated her fair share of "heat of the moment" murders and was not eager to have one occur under the same roof as her.

  “I can’t do this,” a female voice was saying, trying to remain quiet.

  “No time like the present,” a male voice replied. “Or maybe in the morning?”

  “I hate you more than I thought possible,” she said.

  “Then you do have feelings for me,” he replied.

  “Why here?”

  “Why do you think?”

  “You know what? It doesn’t matter. If you don’t leave tomorrow, then I will,” she said.

  “You can’t run away,” he said.

  “Watch me.”

  She heard movement down the hall and realized that the woman must have walked away. It seemed that the fight wasn’t going to turn deadly. Heather breathed a sigh of relief.

  Then, she saw the man from the lobby early walking down the hall. Mike hurried back to his room, not noticing Heather.

  When he was gone, Heather turned to her dog. “Never a dull moment, huh?”

  He wagged his tail.

  “Did you just want to show me that in case it was a clue on one of our cases?” she asked. “Or do you want to go out too?”

  He wagged his tail and started moving as if to say, “Well, since you’re offering…”

  Heather and Dave started towards the exit when they saw another figure in the hall. This one was a few inches shorter than Heather and was wearing a thick robe.

  “Who’s there?” she asked.

  “I’m Heather. One of the guests here. I’m taking my dog out.”

  “I heard voices,” the woman said. “Angry voices.”

  “I think there was a lover’s quarrel,” Heather said. “But it’s over now.”

  “Oh,” she said. “It woke me up. I was worried.”

  “It looks like everything is all right now,” Heather said.

  “This has not been the vacation I was looking forward to,” the woman said. “I’ve been sick as a dog. And now my rest is being disturbed.”

  “I’m sorry,” Heather.

  "Agnes," the woman said. "Agnes Stewart from Minnesota. I'm sorry I can't be more sociable, but it is late, and I'm not feeling well."

  Heather wished her a goodnight and Agnes returned to her room. Heather took Dave outside and let him sniff in the night air as a reward for his good watchdog skills.

  Heather was glad that she had brought him. She had a feeling that would need him again while they were stayin
g there. Though it was cool, The B&B By The Sea was not as calm as she thought it might be.

  The Other Guests

  “I was just walking the dog,” Heather said.

  “It sounds pretty close to your sleuthing,” Ryan said. “And if you were going to investigate anything, especially in the middle of the night, you should have woken me up.”

  “There was nothing to investigate,” said Heather.

  “I may not officially be on the force right now because Detective Smith is taking his time retiring, but I could be of help,” he said.

  Heather relented. She had thought that Ryan was annoyed because her habit of putting herself into harm's way was acting up again. However, he was starting to trust her ability to get out of those situations more and more. What was bothering him now was really that he felt like he wasn't able to help on cases anymore. While he had at first enjoyed being in Key West and waiting for his job to start, the longer it took, the less it felt like a vacation. Ryan was getting bored.

  “I promise you didn’t miss anything,” Heather said. “You can ask Dave.”

  That made Ryan chuckle. "He would back up whatever you say anyway. You're his mom and the bringer of donuts."

  “Did you mention donuts?” Amy asked in the doorway.

  Dave barked, but Heather said, “Not exactly. Are you ready to go down to breakfast?”

  “Definitely,” said Amy.

  The humans started down to the breakfast table. Dave was told that he’d have to stay in the room while they ate, but he was content to be left with a donut on his own.

  They were greeted with a wonderful smell wafting in from the kitchen as they sat down at the table. A couple was already seated.

  “Good morning,” the man said cheerfully. “Would you like some coffee?”

  “I’ll have some more,” the woman said.

  The man was bearded and exuberant but looked concerned as he looked at his partner. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she had some dark circles under her eyes. He poured her another cup.

  “Are you feeling all right?” he asked.

  “I didn’t sleep very well,” she said.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I slept like a rock.”

  "It's all right. I'm sure I'll sleep better tonight," she said. Then she turned to the group. "I'm Trish, and this is Travis."

  “Nice to meet you,” Travis agreed and started pouring coffee for everyone. They thanked him and introduced themselves.

  “We’re here for a romantic weekend,” said Travis. “We’re from the mainland, but wanted to get away. What about you? What brings you here?”

  “We’re actually newly locals,” said Heather. “But we were invited to stay because we’re donut makers that are going to be baking for the breakfasts.”

  “That sounds nice,” said Trish.

  “We’re figuring what we’d like to do today,” said Travis. “There are so many options.”

  “Maybe we should head out now,” Trish suggested. “Get a head start on the day. That way we can fit more activities into it.”

  “We can’t miss breakfast,” Travis said.

  “That is half the name of a B&B,” Amy commented.

  “I’d be fine with just coffee if you were,” Trish said.

  “I’m sure the food will be done soon,” Travis said. “And it does smell delicious.”

  The others agreed.

  Then a young woman in a business suit entered the room and frowned at the table that was not filled with food. She headed towards the kitchen and called in.

  “Mr. Ridgefield would like to know if breakfast will be served soon. He doesn’t like to be kept waiting after he’s sat down.”

  In response, Bea entered with plates of waffles and eggs and bacon.

  “I remember. And he can be served as soon as he likes. Breakfast is ready,” Bea said. “And you can tell him that I did manage to track down some elderberry jelly. So, everything should be to his liking.”

  The woman gave a slight smile. “He’d never agree that everything is to his liking, no matter the circumstance.”

  She left to tell Mr. Ridgefield the news. Bea handed out the meals, and the table thanked her.

  “I can’t wait to dig in,” Travis said.

  “Should we wait for the others?” Heather asked.

  “You go right ahead and eat,” said Bea.

  “Besides we might end up losing our appetite if some of the guests are as difficult as they seem,” Amy said.

  “Most of us are here anyway,” said Bea. “Agnes won’t be joining us. She told me that she’s still not feeling well. Poor thing.”

  “We’re all here?” Trish asked, perking up.

  “The Ridgefields and the secretary you just met will be down soon,” said Bea. “And…”

  “Looks like we’re just in time,” Mike said, entering the room with his girlfriend.

  “Great,” Kylie said, unenthusiastically.

  Bea added some jars of jelly to the table, and then put her hands on her hips. “Now don’t be eating the elderberry jelly until Mr. Ridgefield has had some. This was a special request of his.”

  “That’s fine,” Heather said. “Everything else looks fantastic anyway.”

  Jamie was looking in better spirits surrounded by yummy food instead of worried about potential permit problems.

  “What type of jelly would you like?” Travis asked his significant other.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Trish answered.

  “Doesn’t it?” Mike asked. “I think a proper pairing is very important. Don’t you think so too, sweetie?”

  “Sure,” Kylie said, but she was bored and was playing with her cell phone.

  Amy whispered to Heather, “I’m not sure why there’s tension, but I do have a butter knife here if we want to cut it.”

  “So, what do you think we should do first today?” Travis asked Trish.

  “I don’t know,” Trish said.

  “We went to the Aquarium yesterday,” Ryan said. “It was a great trip.”

  “Then you can see how there’s plenty of fish in the sea,” Mike said.

  “We were thinking of taking a bike tour around the island,” Travis said.

  “Then you’ll be able to see everything that is available to do and see some scenic sights,” Heather agreed.

  Travis said, “And we were thinking of visiting the butterfly conservatory.”

  “We haven’t done that yet,” said Amy. “Maybe we should go there too.”

  “And we definitely want to spend some time on the beach,” Travis said.

  “I want to do that too,” Mike said. “Kylie looks amazing in a bathing suit.”

  “Thanks,” Kylie said.

  Mike rose from his chair to stand behind Kylie. He started massaging her shoulders. The rest of the table started to feel awkward that this was happening at breakfast.

  Then the Ridgefields arrived. Before they saw them, they heard Gideon Ridgefield’s voice yelling, “They better be prepared!”

  He was referring to breakfast, but the other guests knew that they had better prepare themselves to meet this picky man.

  Pickiness and Poison

  “Marigold, where’s my meal?” Mr. Ridgefield barked.

  The secretary hurried to pull a chair out for him to sit down on and then hurried to the kitchen. Before she had to call, Bea arrived with more plates for the trio that had arrived.

  “About time,” Mr. Ridgefield said.

  He gave the impression of being a crotchety old man but was still only middle-aged. His wife was the same age but was trying hard to look younger.

  "Good morning," Travis said, giving them the same kind greeting that he had given Heather's group. "I'm Travis, and this is Trish."

  "Gideon Ridgefield. Of Ridgefield Industries. This is my wife, Cara."

  “Charmed,” Cara said, nodding at the table with grace.

  “And my secretary Marigold.”

  “We’re here on a bi
t of a working vacation,” Cara explained. “Gideon must conduct business during the day. But in the evening, we can have some pleasant relaxation time together.”

  Heather doubted whether any time spent with Gideon Ridgefield would really be pleasant. He was lifting his plate of food up to his face and grimacing.

  “Where’s my jelly?” he asked.

  “Bea said that she found it especially for you,” Marigold said.

  “Of course, she did,” he said. “Who else would have so sophisticated a palate around here?”

  Ignoring the insult, Mike continued introductions, "I'm Mike, and this smoking hot lady here is my girlfriend Kylie. We're here for a romantic weekend. Because this is our special place to go."

  “I guess so,” said Kylie.

  Heather thought it was only proper to finish the introductions and told the newcomers their names.

  “Donuts, eh?” he said. “I never understood donuts. The hole in the middle always made me think I was being cheated out of some of the pastry.”

  “Then maybe you’d like the jelly or cream filled ones without the hole,” Heather said calmly.

  “Maybe,” he said. “Marigold, open this jelly for me.”

  He handed it off. Marigold obliged and opened the jar for her employer. Then he waited for her to spread the jelly on his pancakes for him.

  “Poor Marigold,” Cara said. “Always working.”

  “I don’t mind,” said Marigold.

  “No, I suppose you wouldn’t,” said Cara.

  Heather and her friends tried to focus on their breakfast but found there was drama commencing on both sides of the table. Gideon Ridgefield was being picky about how his jam was spread on his pancakes but was refusing to do it himself. After the two couples finished comparing who was going to have a better day on vacation, Mike was trying to convince Travis to arm wrestle him.

  “I thought it was usually dinner and a show,” Amy commented.

  “After we eat, we can skedaddle,” Heather whispered.