Amanda could still feel the heat in her face when James simply reached over and caught her hand in his to help her down the steps from the tall trailer. He didn’t let go, though, and winked broadly at Meg as he walked off with Amanda. The realization of what she had missed spread over Meg’s face.
“Looks like this is a Harvest Festival you won’t forget, isn’t it?”
Amanda tried to pretend she hadn’t heard her friend, but James gave her hand a small squeeze.
“I won’t forget it, either,” he said as they walked back toward the Grange Hall. “This is the best Harvest Festival Ravenwood Cove has ever had, and a lot of it is because of the things you’ve done here in the town. I can’t even imagine what the Hometown Holidays Christmas fest will be like.”
“You don’t play Santa, do you?” She couldn’t help but tease a bit.
“You think I’ve got the belly for it?” James patted his flat stomach and Amanda grinned. “Not really. The Inn’s already fully booked for the Christmas season, and I’m starting to plan the decorations so the place will look amazing. I can’t wait!”
“I’m just glad the investigation is over and we can put the whole thing behind us.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “Here’s to looking forward, and moving away from things in the past.”
She looked him in the eye and smiled. “Sounds good to me.” With her nightmares behind her, somehow she knew she’d sleep well that night.
---------------------------------------
THE ENTIRE RAVENWOOD COVE SERIES:
Book 1 - BED, BREAKFAST, and BONES
Book 2 - DUNE, DOCK, and a DEAD MAN
Book 3 - MISTLETOE, MOONLIGHT, and MURDER
Book 4 - SEA, SKY, and SKELETON
Book 5 - TIME, TIDE and TROUBLE
Book 6 - SUN, SAND, and SECRETS
Mrs. Bitterman’s Blue Ribbon Blueberry Coffeecake recipe
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1⁄2 cup butter, melted
1 and 3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, pure
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen. If frozen, thaw and drain excess liquid.
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1⁄2 teaspoons cinnamon, ground
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan; set aside.
In small bowl stir together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl beat cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 3 minutes or until creamy. Add 1-3/4 cups sugar; beat until combined.
Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well. Add flour mixture; beat until combined.
Stir in vanilla. Gradually fold in blueberries. Batter will be very thick. Pour into prepared pan and smooth the top.
In small bowl stir together 3 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Sprinkle over batter.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
Lisa’s Trainwreck Pie recipe
Being a mom, I’m always trying to find things that are a healthier alternative than what’s available pre-made. This upside down ‘pie’ only uses one crust for an entire 9x13 cake pan, and no added sugar. You can choose to smash a frozen pie crust (I like Marie Callendar’s best) or make your own pastry crust and cut it into little pieces. I also love this recipe because it can be adapted so easily. What do you have on hand that would taste good in a pie?
3 large cooking apples, chopped. You can also use chopped peaches, pears, berries or a combination of cookable fruit.
¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes (optional)
¼ cup chopped almonds or walnuts (optional)
½ cup raisins (optional)
1 Tablespoon real vanilla extract
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon honey (optional. If you use pears, omit)
Pastry for one pie crust
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place chopped fruit in Pyrex or glass 13” x 9”cake pan. Sprinkle with nuts, coconut flakes, and cinnamon. Drizzle with honey. Break/cut pie crust into small pieces and sprinkle over top. Bake for 30 minutes or until fruit is soft and pie crust is slightly browned.
Mistletoe, Moonlight and Murder: A Ravenwood Cove Mystery (book 3)
By Carolyn L. Dean
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DEDICATION
For those who believed in me and those who did not. You both have motivated me to write.
For the amazing community of cozy mystery readers. I’m having such a good time getting to know you, and reading the books you recommend!
For Jon, who’s both an excellent brother and a great expert to consult.
Chapter 1
“It looks like Christmas exploded all over the inside of your coffeeshop.”
Meg pushed a stray blonde curl behind one ear and surveyed her handiwork critically. It had taken her most of the morning to decorate Cuppa with huge silver garlands and hanging red glass balls, not to mention the dozen or so strings of colored lights she’d carefully stapled to the ceiling and walls. She frowned a bit at Amanda’s blunt critique.
“Hey, I love Christmas, and we’ve got to do something to compete a bit more with Ivy’s Café. Did you know they’re starting to put out board games and free newspapers on the tables after the breakfast rush?” She brushed her hands together, apparently temporarily done with her decorating, and folded the metal stepstool shut. “Nobody can say we don’t have the Christmas spirit, and if it brings in more customers that’s definitely an added bonus.”
Amanda took a sip of her mocha and settled back into the overstuffed chair in contentment. Meg had added a subtle dash of cinnamon to the top, and it seemed to match the holiday mood perfectly. The only other customer, a bundled-up tourist with a metal detector leaning against his small table, seemed completely engrossed in his smartphone. Amanda wasn’t surprised when her bubbly friend plopped down in the chair next to her, a huge grin on her face. No customers to wait on meant more time to chat.
“You’ll never guess what my grandmother told me.” Meg’s face was expectant.
“I’m scared to ask.”
Amanda knew better than to venture a guess. Meg’s ninety-year-old grandmother, Mrs. Granger, may have looked like just an old lady with a walker, but she knew more about what was going on in Ravenwood Cove than a detective, a bloodhound, and a fortuneteller combined. She spent a lot of time quietly eavesdropping while she sat and knit on a bench by the warm woodstove in Petrie’s hardware store, chatting with everyone and learning about the lives of most of the small beach town’s residents.
Meg leaned forward, her eyes showing her excitement.
“You know that big empty shop next to Truman’s bike and kite store? The one that’s been vacant forever?”
Amanda knew it. It was rumored that the owner was some investor in Eugene that had bought it as a tax write-off, and then hadn’t bothered to even remove the plywood sheets nailed over the big front windows. The shop shared a common wall with Truman’s bike and kite shop, Ride the Wind, and the local florist was on the other side, with only a narrow alley in between them. Years before, the old place had been a store for auto parts, but it had been closed up for ages, and the townspeople had been grumbling about its sorry state ever since.
“Truman bought it.” Meg’s voice had an edge of glee in it, and Amanda’s eyebrows went up in surprise.
“He bought it? I didn’t think Truman had that sort of cash.”
Meg shrugged and continued, wanting to get her whole story out. “I guess he does. Anyway, Gram told me that he’s decided his kite and bike store won’t be a good business over the winter
months because of the Oregon weather, so he’s going to expand and open a bookstore, too.” Meg was practically bouncing up and down in her seat and Amanda grinned, knowing how much her friend loved to read. “It’s going to have used books as well as new ones, and some comfy chairs for people who want to stay and read a bit. Gram says he’s going to call it Benny’s Books.”
It made perfect sense that Truman would name his new store that. His little brown dog, Benny, was his constant companion wherever he went. Benny was a half-dachshund, half-Chihuahua mutt, and all friendly all the time. More than one person had secretly set aside a stash of dog biscuits in case Benny happened to stop by. Even though his owner Truman had only moved to town a few months before, he’d made quite an impression on the residents of Ravenwood Cove. Maybe his tattoos and constantly changing wild haircuts had put some people off at first, but his huge grin and willingness to help others quickly made him friends, including Amanda. The first time she’d seen a trio of cotton-haired church ladies clustered around Truman at a potluck, soberly discussing casserole recipes with him in rapt fascination, she knew he was going to be just fine, even if his hair did sometimes have orange or purple tips.
“Wow! That is big news! When’s he going to open it?”
“I guess the paperwork’s already done, and the first shipments of books are on their way. Gram says he’s going to try to catch the Christmas shoppers, so he may be open this week, even if everything isn’t quite ready yet. He’s got the bookshelves made and everything.”
Amanda set her coffee cup down and sighed. “I can’t believe I didn’t know about this. I’ve been so buried with work at the Inn that I haven’t talked to people much lately, I guess.”
“Well, with the farmers market closed down for the winter you haven’t needed to talk with the merchants as much and besides, you’ve been busy. Except for those cottage rentals down by the cannery, the Ravenwood Inn is the only real place for tourists to stay when they’re in town.” Meg reached down next to her chair and dug around in a paper bag, finally pulling out two more thick strands of tinsel garland, this time in green. “You and Jennifer have been so busy making sure that people are happy at the Inn that you haven’t taken much time for yourselves.” She shook an accusatory finger at Amanda. “Even if you are still doing renovation on the Inn – “
“Just the parts the guests aren’t staying in,” Amanda interjected, feeling a bit defensive.
Meg nodded, showing she understood. “Okay, so you’re not restoring the floors and painting the walls in front of the guests. You still need some time off. I know you’ve been doing a lot of work on the canned food drive for the food bank. I never see you stop working, and Jennifer seems to be at the Inn all the time, too.”
“Someone needed to organize the food drive,” Amanda said firmly. “And running an inn is hard work sometimes.”
The truth was, Amanda wouldn’t want any other job in the world. She loved her historic inn, even if she was still renovating it to its former glory. That reminded her, she needed to call the gutter cleaning guy to get the dead leaves out, and buy some smoked salmon for the incoming guests. She also needed to rake the old foliage out of the front flower beds and look into a linen delivery service and…
“Just remember that you need some fun, too, okay? I know Roy’s going to be taking a month-long vacation over Christmas. Maybe you should check with Solomon and see if he can help you with the remodeling stuff for a bit while Roy’s out of town.”
Amanda shook her head, adamant. “You know how hard it is to get a good contractor who shows up on time and knows what he’s doing? I’ll wait for Roy to come back. Besides,” she added, “I hear Solomon’s more of a small project handyman.” She’d seen Solomon around town with his small, battered pickup, and although she’d never heard anything bad about him, she was much more comfortable working with someone she knew.
Meg looped the tinsel garland around her hands, obviously getting ready for another round of over-the-top decorating. “They’re going be showing It’s a Wonderful Life at the Liberty this week. Why don’t you bring James and we’ll double?”
“Who are you going to bring as your date?” Amanda had a good idea of what the response would be, and she wasn’t disappointed.
“I’ll find someone.”
Amanda suppressed a smile. “How’s the internet dating going?” She tried to keep her voice light, but sometimes she worried about her bubbly friend and her nearly-constant search for Mr. Right. Meg hadn’t been lucky in love, that’s true, but Amanda wasn’t sure that the way she was going about it was going to have the best chance of permanent happiness.
Meg grimaced a bit and shrugged her shoulders. “About the usual. Gotta kiss a lot of frogs before I can find my prince, I guess.”
“Just make sure you don’t get any warts.” Amanda gave her a playful wink and Amanda laughed and threw the wadded-up ball of tinsel at Amanda.
“Hey, I’ll be careful. It’s not like all of us just have some handsome detective falling into our laps. Some of us have to go out and work a bit harder at finding love.”
“He didn’t just fall into my lap. And I wouldn’t call it love. We’ve just started dating, that’s all.” Amanda looped the garland several times and handed it to Meg. “I’ll check with James and see what his schedule is, but you know how that can change.”
She took a last sip of her coffee and stood up, gathering her raincoat and shrugging it on. “Think I’ll stop by and see what’s going on with Truman. Did you want me to take Benny those dog treats you talked about having him sample?”
Meg nodded and walked behind the counter, fishing around for a couple of moments before pulling out a small wax bag. “I’m hoping these will be popular enough we can add them as something new for the pet owners to buy, or to give out to dogs when they come in.”
Amanda was surprised. “You’re going to let dogs into Cuppa?” That was a first.
Meg gestured at the front window, the glass still being pelted by loud rain. “In this weather? Absolutely. We don’t have a covered place for the dogs to get out of the rain, and I don’t have any trouble with a well-mannered dog coming in with its owner.” She handed the bag to Amanda. “Sometimes I like dogs better than I like people. Don’t forget your umbrella.”
“Trust me, I won’t.” Peering out the front window doubtfully, Amanda’s view of Ravenwood Cove was smeared and blurred by the fat raindrops running down the glass. The sky was a flat, leaden gray. Since she’d moved up from Southern California she’d never seen so much rain. Several of the townspeople had told her that this year’s winter weather was unusually soggy, even for Oregon. Stepping out into the blowing drizzle, she gripped her umbrella tightly and headed off to Truman’s bike shop.
Chapter 2
Amanda’s windshield wipers could barely keep up with the downpour. It’s almost like the rain’s blowing sideways, she thought ruefully, keeping an eye on the brake lights of the car in front of her. She was already regretting her offer to pick up the carved wooden sign that Roy Greeley had made for Truman’s new bookstore. The road that led to the small town of Likely was full of potholes and twists, and in the dim, late afternoon gloom her headlights struggled through the rain to shine any light on the cracked pavement. Even the cheery Christmas music playing on the radio didn’t make this trip any more enjoyable.
It had been great to see Truman again and catch up on his big plans for the new bookstore. Like always, he was full of enthusiasm and wild ideas. He’d been happy to point out where the secondhand sofas would be, so that choosy readers could have some time to peruse a book or two before they decided to buy, and to show her where two overstuffed chairs would be placed. Benny had kept pace with his owner, seemingly pleased with the fresh smell of cut wood and maze of tall bookcases. Truman had installed a wide door between his bike and kite shop and the new store, explaining that he’d open it the days he wanted both businesses open, or he could keep it shut and just run one business at a time.
When he mentioned possibly hiring someone else to help him out, Amanda made a mental note and started thinking of possible candidates to point in his direction. Winters were tough for some of the residents of Ravenwood Cove, with the lumber industry stalling out and the recent surge of tourists tapering off to a thin, seasonal trickle. Mrs. Granger had mentioned how some families just scraped by, and a new job could be a blessing to many people. Maybe she could point someone his way.
It wasn’t too far out of town to get to Roy Greeley’s place, just across the road from Sandford Lake. She’d been there a couple of times before, when her contractor had been building special items for the Inn, but the last time she’d showed up to pick up a new porch swing her day had almost ended in disaster. Just as Roy was about to load the swing into the back of Amanda’s SUV, they’d heard the high whine of police sirens chasing an armed suspect and had scrambled to take cover in Roy’s basement. Waiting and watching from the small window, they’d been safe there, but Amanda hadn’t been on the road to Likely since then. Too many disturbing memories.
She was less than a quarter mile from Roy’s house when she saw the strangest thing. She’d been concentrating on the road, carefully steering around potholes and following the car in front of her, when a motion on the steep hillside to her right caught her attention.
It was surreal. The trees on the hill were walking down the slope toward the car.
Walking.
She could see them moving, their mostly-bare branches waving as they wobbled a bit, heading straight for the road ahead of her.
Only they weren’t actually walking. They were sliding. The entire hillside was sliding, picking up speed as the sodden earth gave way. Tons of rainwater had eroded the soil so deeply that boulders and trees were being pushed along in the churning, inevitable mass, now moving relentlessly downhill.
Ravenwood Cove Cozy Mysteries Books 1-3 Page 30