by Jemma Bard
The letter to Jacqueline. “So you tried blackmailing his wife next?” Violet asked. That was the part that gave him away.
Nate narrowed his eyes. “You sure are observant, aren’t you?” he asked. “Too bad you won’t get to use those skills much longer.” He gestured for Violet to move. She felt the metal gun press into her back as Nate ushered her through the door behind the register and into the back room, her chance of passersby seeing her current situation vanishing.
“Turn around,” he demanded, once she’d reached the far wall of her storage room. She turned and felt the edge of the wooden prep table pressing into her back.
Nate kept the gun aimed at her and continued. “Thursday night, right after I ran into you actually, I saw Gordon in town, so I followed him into the alleyway behind the shops. He said he was not only telling Jacqueline about the affair, but he was planning on confessing to you about everything, unless I agreed to sell my shop and get out of town.”
“But you just couldn’t have that, could you? Couldn’t lose your livelihood?” Violet asked, her voice shaking as she spoke. “You followed him inside, grabbing the only weapon-like device you could find, and killed him.”
“Of course I couldn’t have that. If Gordon went through with meeting you, town’s perfect flower—Violet Oleander—it would only be a matter of time until you alerted Richard of my blackmail. And I wouldn’t…couldn’t let that happen just as much as I couldn’t give up my shop.”
“So you killed two birds with one stone?” Violet asked, cringing at how literal the saying was.
“But as he died, he mentioned something about confessing and a letter to you.”
“And you broke into my shop to find that letter.”
He shrugged. “To see if my name was in it.”
Violet thought of the letter she’d received from Gordon that was now tucked safely in her purse. “Gordon sent the letter to my house; it wasn’t at my shop.”
“Right, but I know just as well as you do, my name wasn’t in it, or else Chief Odoom arrested me.” Nate laughed. “It was utter luck Willa had been at your little get-together that night, and worked out even better when her fingerprints landed on the weapon.” Nate paused and his eyes zeroed in on Violet. “Looks like I got away with it.”
Violet tilted her head to the side and stuck out her chest. “But you made two mistakes, Nate.” She put two fingers in the air and then brought her hand down behind her back.
Nate’s face wrinkled in confusion.
“First, you wrote the note to Jacqueline in the same script you used for Cale’s faux tattoo tonight.” She paused, narrowing her eyes. “Rookie murderer move.”
Nate’s upper lip curled up in a snarl. “And the second thing?”
Violet felt the edge of the sugar bowl under her fingertips behind her back. “You didn’t realize I tapped call before dropping my phone to the ground a few minutes ago.”
“What?” Nate’s eyes widened as the sound of sirens blared from the end of the alley. He shook his fist. “That man took advantage of us Cape Flower shop-owners,” Nate said, his voice quivering. “He was a money-hungry cheater who got what he deserved.” He raised the gun, pointing it at Violet’s chest, his hand shaking violently.
“This isn’t who you are, Nate.”
She watched as Nate’s neck bulged when he swallowed. “And now it’s your turn.”
Violet’s heart thrummed hard against her chest, and before she could think of anything else, in one swift movement, she grabbed a handful of sugar scrub and tossed it in Nate’s face. She launched herself to the ground while Nate stumbled backward, hands to his face.
She heard Chief Richard Odoom’s voice before she saw him around the corner, gun raised, with Cape Flower’s newest officer Ben following close behind. “Violet!”
She crawled her way to the door leading to the shop, opened it, and wrapped her arms around Ralphie. “It’s over,” she said into his furry little head as Richard pushed Nate to the ground.
Epilogue
Three Days Later
“Welcome to Bubbles Boutique!” Violet called when she heard the bronze bells jingle. She looked up from the front display to see Chief Richard Odoom walking through the door, a bouquet of flowers in his hands. “Hi, Richard,” she said, suddenly very aware of the fact her messy bun had fallen loose around her head and she’d chosen an old pair of ripped jeans to wear today.
“Hi, Violet,” he said with a smile. He stuck out his arm and handed her the flowers. “These are for you.”
She took them from his hands, pulled them to her nose, and sniffed. “Sweet beauty berry?” she asked, shoving her nose in the vibrant arrangement and sniffing once more.
“Better them than me,” Richard teased.
“What?” Violet asked. “Oh, yeah…the awkward sniffing you thing,” she said. “These smell just as good…I mean…you don’t smell good…I mean,” she stuttered. She cleared her throat. “They’re lovely, Richard. Thank you.”
Richard looked amused. “I asked Fredlyn at Cape Flower Flowers to arrange the best autumn apology bouquet, and this is what she came up with.”
Violet smiled. “Well, I’ve ordered a few arrangements for the front display windows, so I’ll have to thank Fredlyn when I pop in to pick them up.”
“Look.” Richard reached out an arm. “I really am sorry about everything. We hadn’t ruled Nate out as a suspect, but then when Willa’s prints came back on the weapon it was just too…” He ran a hand through his dark hair, his bicep flexing as he did. It took all Violet’s strength not to stare at his arms.
“Perfect?” she finished.
“Yes.” Richard nodded. “And I shouldn’t have dismissed your hunch about the break-in being connected to Gordon’s murder.”
It was Violet’s turn to nod.
“I really can’t apologize enough.”
Violet appreciated the apology and before she could stop herself she said, “Maybe you could make it up to me with a cup of coffee sometime?”
Richard nodded, his amber eyes meeting hers. “I’d like that.”
She smelled the flowers once more. “Have a nice day, Richard.” Violet spun on her heels, hiding the giant smile that crawled up her face, and walked to the back of her shop where she placed the bouquet in a glass vase next to the cash register.
Michael had moved on, maybe it was her turn.
The bells on the door dinged once again, signaling Richard’s exit, but when Violet turned around she had a new visitor. “Willa?” Violet said, her eyes growing wide. “I thought you were leaving town?”
Willa smirked. “I know I should probably leave this place as soon as possible, but there’s something about Cape Flower that feels like home.”
Violet flinched, surprised with Willa’s words. “Oh yeah? Even with everything that’s happened?”
“Oh, you mean the town knowing about my affair, being dumped almost as soon as I arrived, my former lover dying, or the whole being-accused-of-murder thing?” Willa flicked her wrist and smirked.
Violet smiled back, surprised at how much she appreciated Willa’s sense of humor. “All of it, I guess.”
Willa pressed her lips together. “I want to stay a bit longer, make sure closing the shop and leaving Cape Flower is what I really want.” She looked to the floor and then back up to Violet. “I need to say a few things to you, Violet. First, I know I wasn’t particularly kind to you when we first met, so I want to apologize for that. Everyone talked about Bubbles Boutique this and Bubbles Boutique that, so I honestly think I was threatened by you.”
Violet smiled. “Apology accepted,” she said.
Willa took a step closer. “I also wanted to thank you for what you did. Richard told me it was you who pieced together who killed Gordon.” She took a tissue from her oversized purse and wiped a tear from her eye. She inhaled and then exhaled deeply after composing herself. “And I’ll forever be grateful to you for that.”
Violet smiled. “You’r
e welcome.”
Willa had said her piece and moved to the front door, but as her hand reached the doorknob, she spun around in her heels. “You know?” she asked, pausing for a second until she had Violet’s attention. “I think you’re kind of like Cape Flower’s very own…oh, what’s her name?” Willa muttered to herself, pulling her lips to the side. “That’s it!” She snapped her fingers. “Like Cape Flower’s very own Jessica Fletcher.”
Violet’s jaw dropped at the largest compliment coming from her biggest competition. “Thank you, Willa.”
Willa gave her a kind, genuine smile, then stepped into the October air.
“What do you think, Ralphie?” Violet asked. Ralphie got up from his bed, and came to her. She bent over and rubbed his favorite spot behind his ear. “Maybe I have a future in this whole sleuthing business?” She kissed him on his perfect furry head then got back to the front display. Ralphie whined. “Okay…I won’t quit my day job.”
Violet smiled to herself and looked around her shop, happy with where she was right now.
In a matter of weeks, the inheritance from Gordon would come in, and with the money, she’d finally fix Ruby and get Bubbles Boutique in tip-top shape. Maybe she’d take a much-needed vacation, something she hadn’t done since the divorce from Michael.
She watched as Cale and her aunt sat on a bench outside the shop, deep in conversation…in gossip…with Eloise Prinkett. I’m so lucky, Violet thought. She had a best friend in Cale, fantastic family in Aunt Loretta, and was surrounded by the most colorful characters in the residents of Cape Flower.
But best of all, Violet was happy with herself. Sure, she knew she had a long way to go, but she was ready to move on from her past and embrace her future. Whatever that may bring…
Romance, bubbles, and perhaps a bit more mystery.
THE END
***
READ the first chapter of Soaps & Séances: A Bubbles Boutique Cozy Mystery Novelette Below!
Chapter 1
Violet Oleander had never understood the excitement surrounding Halloween, so when her aunt Loretta asked her to go on a haunted trolley ride through historic Cape Flower culminating in a tour of the most haunted seaside estate in the entire village, she’d immediately said no.
“Come on!” Aunt Loretta begged. She fiddled with her dangling feather earring and sighed. “It’ll only be an hour and I’ll even pay for your ticket.”
Violet finished placing her most popular fall product, a pumpkin spice brown sugar scrub, in the front display window in her luxury bath product shop, Bubbles Boutique, and sighed. “You know I have too much going on,” she said, gesturing to her store.
Aunt Loretta pursed her lips and flicked her bangled-covered wrists at Violet. “There’s nobody here!” she laughed. “You close in two minutes, your shop is in pristine order for tomorrow, and I have an already-paid-for extra ticket to a one-of-a-kind ghostly experience.”
“One of a kind?” Violet rolled her eyes. “Haven’t you gone on this tour the past ten years?”
“Well —.”
“And have I ever said yes?”
Every year, the weeks leading up to Halloween in historic Cape Flower were filled with ghost walks, murder mystery dinners, graveyard tours, and Aunt Loretta’s favorite attraction of all — the combo haunted trolley and house tour. For the past ten years, Violet’s aunt Loretta had asked her to accompany her on the largest attraction of all Halloween attractions — the combo trolley and house tour — part trolley ride where a guide talks into a microphone, telling ghost stories to a bus full of tourists, other part home tour of the oldest and most haunted house, the Hugh Physik Estate, in the entire beach town.
And this year was no exception.
“You can’t sit around in that little cottage of yours watching murder mysteries with Ralphie at your side when there’s life to live,” Aunt Loretta said.
Violet pressed her lips together. “First, there’s nothing wrong with my furry canine companion curling up next to me every night.” Violet stuck a finger in the air. “Plus, do you really think I haven’t had my fair share of mystery?”
It was only two weeks ago that Violet pieced together a murder mystery that left her ex-father-in-law dead. Violet grabbed the broom from behind her checkout counter. “But most of all, you know I’ve never voluntarily done the ghost thing.”
Just the thought of scepters sent a chill up Violet’s spine. She’d heard the ghostly legends about Cape Flower ever since she was a child when her late parents would tell ghost stories around the campfire.
Supposedly, Cape Flower was one of the most haunted towns on the eastern seaboard for three reasons. One — spirits get their energy from water and Cape Flower (known to people ages ago as Cape Water) was a cape town surround by water on all sides. Two — there were “magical” stones found in the sand at the southern-most point of the village which were thought to give spirits even more power. And finally, three — Cape Flower was known as the Queen of Seaside Resorts, and because resort towns are luxury vacation destinations, the buildings have been moved and renovated and re-renovated through the years to keep up their appeal. It was thought spirits were stirred, unsettled, with that movement.
“Look around you, Violet,” Aunt Loretta said, breaking her from her thoughts. She gestured toward the walking mall beyond the shop window where kids and adults alike donned costumes — zombies, witches, ghosts, super heroes. “You’d be the only one — yet again — not participating in one of Cape Flower’s largest past times.” She turned down a lip. “Do it for your dear old Auntie.”
Violet laughed at her aunt Loretta. “You might be a bit old, but I’m not so sure I’d call you dear,” she teased.
Violet had decided a few weeks ago it was time to move on with her life. She’d finally pushed her ex-husband and his new wife Cheryl out of her mind as best she could, so she guessed it wouldn’t hurt to do something out of the ordinary. “And it’ll only last an hour?”
“Mmm hmm,” aunt Loretta hummed. She raised her eyebrows. “Plus, Cale, Roberto, Tallie, and Eloise will be there. So you’ll have plenty of protection from all the ghoooo-sts.” Her voice wavered in an attempt to sound ominous.
Violet smiled at the mention of her best friend Cale and his new boyfriend Roberto going along. “Well …maybe …” She could take or leave the town gossip, Eloise Prinkett, and the busybody owner of Cape Flower Inn, Tallie Weston though.
Aunt Loretta smiled. “I can see in your eyes it’s a yes.”
Violet relented with a sigh. “I’ll go.”
Aunt Loretta clapped her hands together and did a little dance in the middle of her shop, her floral flowing skirt billowing behind. “I’ll get out the cards!” she sing-songed.
Violet rolled her eyes. “Me going on your little haunted trolley ride does not mean I want my Tarot read.”
“Fine,” she huffed. “Now the trolley will come on the corner of Washington and Ocean.”
Just as Aunt Loretta reached the door, she turned! “Oh … I almost forgot!” She smiled a mischievous smile. “Costumes preferred.”
Great, Violet thought.
***
Want more fun, clean, cozy mysteries, check out the Halloween novelette in Jemma’s Bubbles Boutique cozy mystery series — Soap & Seances!
For new releases, give-aways, and cozy freebies, become a member of Jemma’s Reader’s Club
Pumpkin Spice Brown Sugar Scrub Recipe
Violet and the town of Cape Flower just love this seasonal pumpkin scrub. In fact, it flies off the shelves faster than Violet can make it. The scrub exfoliates all your problem areas while being gentle on the skin. Oh, and bonus — it’ll have you smelling like a pumpkin spice latte.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
STEPS:
1. In a
bowl, mix all ingredients together. (Add more or less sugar/oil to get consistency to your liking)
2. Store in an air-tight container
3. Use within one month
TO USE THE SCRUB:
1. Spoon a small amount in your hands.
2. Rub on dry skin/trouble areas
3. Wait 2-3 minutes
4. Rinse well
5. Pat gently with a dry towel
6. Enjoy your smooth skin
*Although it will smell good enough to eat, please do not eat the scrub*
Acknowledgments
Ever since I was a child, I loved all things mystery. I remember sitting on an old, dusty couch in my grandmother’s back living room watching episode after episode of Jessica Fletcher solving mysteries in Murder She Wrote.
When I started writing books, I knew that I eventually wanted to write cozy mysteries — especially a series that would take place in a small coastal village like Cabot Cove. After visiting my mother in Cape May and the quaint shops, delicious restaurants, and historic sites, I realized I had the perfect village in which to base my Bubbles Boutique series. And so Cape Flower was born.
Thanks to my family, friends, and fans for your constant support. And a huge thank you to my husband and son who are okay with me missing the occasional soccer practice to get my word-count in. Love you both to the moon and back!
About the Author
Jemma taught high school English for 14 years and recently retired to pursue her dream of writing full-time. She's the author of the Bubbles Boutique and Cafe Prose cozy mystery series. When Jemma isn't writing, you can find her spending time with her family, reading with her dogs on her lap, or curling up under a fuzzy blanket with a cup of tea or a cappuccino in her hand. She loves all things cozy, sweet, and mysterious. You can learn more about Jemma at jemmabardauthor.com For new releases, give-aways, and cozy freebies, become a member of Jemma’s Reader’s Club