Country Cottage Mysteries Boxed Set

by Addison Moore

  The Cottage Café is bustling with tourists and townspeople alike this morning. And each and every one of them is clamoring to order the pumpkin spice mini muffins by the dozens. Not that I could blame them. Emmie and I worked hard to get that special spark in the recipe. She mixed and baked, and I stayed at the far end of the kitchen encouraging her lest I cast an inadvertent pox on the batch at hand. I would give anything if I could bake like Emmie. Baking was my singular obsession for as long as I could remember, and yet I’ve only managed to char or undercook anything I dared to put into an oven. And sometimes when I’m really good, I can do both.

  My sweet cat, Fish, sits at the base of the counter as if standing guard over the seaside café. Sherlock Bones stayed out by the front desk with Peanut and Nessa. Those cute pooches put a smile on everyone’s face that sees them. And I’d swear on my life that they’re drumming up more business as well.

  Georgie alert. Fish runs right over to the walking, talking human kaftan and Georgie is quick to scoop her up into her arms.

  “What can I get for you, Georgie?” A weak smile floats to my lips, something I probably couldn’t have achieved for anyone other than my sweet yet zany friend.

  Georgie’s hair is frazzled, her lips are painted a deep shade of pumpkin, and with that long purple and black dress on, she looks as if she’s getting into the spirit of the haunted season.

  “Have you ever seen so many people?” she practically mouths the words as she gawks at the crowded café.

  “Never,” I say, reaching over to pet Fish. “And I think it has every bit as much to do with the animals than it has to do with those pumpkin spice magic muffins we’re selling out of.”

  Fish arches her back and purrs at the thought. I am a showstopper, Bizzy. The dogs aren’t so bad themselves.

  Georgie shakes her head as if she heard the tiny cat. “It’s not the pets—and it’s not any dark magic you might be brewing in the kitchen.” She leans in, her eyes expanding wide. “It’s the murder.”

  “What?” I squawk without meaning to as I give a nervous glance to the crowd. As the manager of the Country Cottage Inn, it’s my job to make sure this place is looked at in a positive light, and murder isn’t anywhere near the list of things I’d like for this establishment to be known for.

  I glance to the stormy looking ocean just beyond the beach out front. Most people who stay at the inn love to buy a cup of hot cider and walk the sandy bay just outside the café. They come for the cozy cottages, the cobbled old-world feel that the grounds offer, the ivy covered walls, the people, the pets—but murder? “I’m sorry. I just can’t wrap my head around it.”

  “You don’t have to.” Georgie waves me off. “I’ve heard whispers all up and down Main Street. Now that I’m working on that mural for the city, I’m in the know with all the good and deadly gossip.” Her eyes narrow in on mine. “Speaking of which, a little birdie named Emmie told me you found a certain detective cavorting with a certain ex-girlfriend. I say we shank her, Bizzy. I’ll get her in a dark corner and you come at her with a broken bottle!”

  “No, thank you. Trust me, Georgie. She’s not worth prison.” I shoot a look to the corner of the café where Camila sits diligently clacking away at her laptop. I have no idea what she’s doing or why she isn’t at the high school out in Sheffield where she’s supposedly a counselor. I’m beginning to think everything about her is a fraud and the only genuine thing is the fact she wants to steal Jasper. Although, I guess she didn’t have to steal. I’m guessing he went on that haunted hayride willingly. Who knew the only one that would be frightened last night would be me? And I wasn’t even on the darn ride.

  “It’s true. Jasper and I are over,” I say it lower than a whisper, but Camila lifts a brow in this direction anyway.

  Figures. She’s had her antennae up the entire time. I bet she called in sick today just to hear me say those words. She’s working overtime, all right—to ruin my life.

  I haven’t dared to pry into her thoughts. The only time I’m bombarded with unwanted mental musings is when I’m about to pop with stress. And believe you me, with another homicide, an ex-girlfriend, and a mind reading deputy underfoot, I’m just about there.

  “What? You and Jasper, over? Just like that?” Georgie looks enraged by the thought. “You can’t just give up. You fight for your man, Bizzy Baker. That woman doesn’t have a ring on her finger. And you don’t stop until you get one.”

  I catch a quick glimpse of Camila rolling her eyes and I’m tempted to do the same.

  “Besides”—Georgie all but pushes Fish into her chest—“tonight’s the art show out in Seaview. I’m going and so is Macy, and both your mother and your father. Do you want to be the only Baker left out of the equation?”

  I make a face. “You forgot my brother. Hux isn’t going either.”

  “Okay, do you want to be the only important family member of your family who isn’t present?”

  A laugh percolates right out of me just as a dark-haired deputy strolls on in.

  “Not this again,” I mutter as he steps up to the counter. “Leo.” I nod over to him. “You remember Georgie.”

  Georgie waves me off. “Leo and I have become fast friends. He caught me behind my cottage hammering away at a bag of glass bottles and tried to wrestle me to the ground.”

  Leo grimaces. He’s comely, some might say handsome, but I’m not getting suckered into that again. Besides, my compass is still firmly set in a Wilder direction—perhaps unwisely so.

  Leo nods to her. “And I want to apologize again, Georgie. By the way, I drove past Main Street and I can see the vision you have for the mural. I can’t wait to see the finished product.”

  “Oh, you will, you sly handsome dude. You will.” She gives a flirtatious wink. “Anytime you’re up for another wrestling match, let me know, big boy.” She looks my way. “You’ll be at the art show tonight, Bizzy, because I said so. It’s at seven. We can’t be late. And yes, Detective Baker, that means you’re my ride. You know my night vision is atrocious. I can’t tell the difference between a skunk and oncoming traffic and, believe me, I’ve run across that test one too many times. I’ll see you later.”

  I come around the counter and take Fish from her as she takes off.

  “Follow me,” I say to Leo as we find a seat near the window.

  His lips curl and his dark eyes widen a notch as if he were finally getting what he wanted.

  “You said we were transmundane.” I tip my head to the side.

  Fish squirms as she struggles to get a better look at him. How can you trust those eyes, Bizzy? It’s clear he’s trying to bewitch you.

  Deputy Granger belts out a laugh before reaching over and touching her ear.

  “I’m not bewitching anyone.” He nods to me. “And we’re not witches.” He sighs over at Fish. “I’m just like Bizzy. I can hear you. And I think you’re sweet and special. Not all cats are as friendly as you are.”

  Fish purrs on cue. Ooh, I like him, Bizzy. Give him an extra piece of bacon, too.

  I make a face as I look to Leo. “That’s her way of likening you to a dog. Now extrapolate on that transmundane thing, would you?”

  Camila turns around and does a double take in our direction.

  Leo follows my gaze and gives a long blink.

  “Don’t worry about her,” he says. “And if you’re wondering—the reason I ended it with her was because she thought of Jasper more than she did me.” He leans forward and folds his hands together. “I guess that’s when this gift turns into a curse. It has a way of interfering with every relationship I’ve ever had.”

  “Well, if the rumors are true, you took her on even though she was with your best friend. That’s no man’s land as far as unwritten rules go.”

  He gives a wry smile. “I’ve always learned my lessons the hard way. I’m not saying it’s my best feature. It turns out, I threw away a lifelong friendship for nothing.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe you and
Jasper can work things out in the future?”

  He shrugs “Onto bigger issues at hand. Does anyone in your family have the same ability as you?”

  “No. Mayor Woods and I were friends in middle school right up until she pushed me into a whiskey barrel and tried to drown me. Three things happened that day—I became fiercely afraid of both water and confined spaces, I removed Mack Woods from my friend list, and I have been prying into other people’s minds without meaning to ever since.”

  “An accident.” He nods. “It’s happened before according to my aunt. But be warned, should you have children they might inherit your ability regardless of the fact. They think it’s some sort of sixth sense inside all of us, but for whatever reason, it flourishes in very few. And you, Bizzy Baker, are among the elite.”

  “The transmundane elite.” I nod as I try to take this in. “So, this is some kind of a superpower?”

  Fish taps her paw to my chest. I knew you were special, Bizzy. We need to have Georgie fashion a cape for you out of one of her dresses. The pink one with all the gold sparkles! You’ll be Captain Bizzy, and I’ll be your perceptive, yet adorable sidekick.

  A small giggle bounces through me. “You are both perceptive and adorable. No cape for me,” I say, landing a quick kiss to Fish’s little pink nose.

  Leo tips his head. “I don’t know. Fish might be onto something. I think both you and I can use our powers for good. But before we go there, I want you to know a little bit more of what these powers mean. Yes, we’re transmundane, but we’re further classified as telesensuals, or telepaths. Plainly stated, people who can read the thoughts of others.”

  “Telesensual,” I say, letting the foreign word roll off my tongue for the very first time. “I like it. Maybe more than telepath. So if we’re a classification, that must mean there are other classifications. What are they? Do you know?”

  “I do.” He leans in just as a hand falls over his shoulder.

  “Mind if I cut in?” a deep voice strums and we both look up to find Jasper looking like a deity with diamond eyes, and I can’t help but smile—albeit short-lived.

  Leo makes a face at me because obviously he doesn’t agree with my description.

  Fish chortles to herself. He looks good and jealous, Bizzy. I think you have him where you want him. Good move. Leo, why don’t we check on those ornery dogs and make sure they haven’t chewed the furniture to matchsticks? It might be a dog’s life, but around here a cat’s duty is never done.

  She bounces out of my arms and onto the floor and Leo nods to both Jasper and me as he follows Fish right back into the main hall of the inn.

  “Bizzy.” Jasper falls into the seat, his eyes glued to mine. He’s so stunningly handsome my stomach squeezes tightly at the sight of him. Never mind the fact my lips are suddenly having a serious craving for one of his lingering kisses. “I promise you. It’s not what it looked like.” His brows are furrowed and he looks ten times more vexingly handsome now that he’s distressed than he ever has before. So not fair.

  I glance over and catch a glimpse of Camila frowning in this direction.

  “You’d better hurry with your excuses. Your girlfriend looks as if she’s getting miffed.”

  His cheek lifts, no smile. “Would you believe my mother was involved in that mess yesterday?”

  My mouth opens for a moment. “Why, yes, I would.” It’s no secret Gwyneth is rooting for Camila to win over Jasper’s heart.

  “Good. Because she asked me to meet her at the fair when I got off work. It seemed innocent enough. She invited me to dinner. We had bratwurst.” His brows lift as if the bratwurst were just as much to blame as his mother. “Camila showed up out of the blue, said a quick hello, and took off to stand in line for the hayride. A few minutes later, my mother discovered Camila left her phone on the table—yet suddenly had an emergency.”

  I nod, seeing clearly how he got from point A to thorny-horny point C, as in Camila. “And you were kind enough to take it to her.”

  He winces. “Once I got there, she confessed to accidently buying two tickets and she was next up in line.”

  “And you hopped right onto the Haunted Ex-Girlfriend Express.” I shrink in my seat. “Sorry, I couldn’t help it.”

  “I refused to go.” He shakes his head. “But she suggested it could be a good opportunity to talk so we could both move on without any strain between us.”

  I bite down over my lip as I cast another quick glance her way. “That sounds reasonable—I guess.”

  “It wasn’t.” Jasper takes a deep breath. “With all the other people screaming their heads off, we couldn’t get a word in edgewise.”

  “Let me guess. She was so afraid herself, she hopped right onto your lap.”

  His eyes widen a notch. It’s like she was there. And how I wish I wasn’t.

  He gives a reluctant nod. “It’s true. But believe me, Bizzy, that’s when things came into focus and I put the manipulated pieces together.” And if I lose Bizzy over this, I will never forgive myself for being so gullible.

  A breath escapes me as I fill with relief, but my head and my heart are in two different places.

  “Look, Jasper, you and Camila had something for a very long time. I’m just someone you met a month ago.” My heart sinks as I relegate myself to such a trivial shelf. “I think maybe the two of you should talk so that you’re not in a strained place. I mean, we’re not officially together or anything.” Again, my heart aches as if it were about to explode. Of course, I want to be official with Jasper, but I have a feeling Camila will pull out all the stops to make sure that won’t happen.

  “We can be.” He reaches over and picks up my hand. “Bizzy, I don’t care if I’ve known you a month or ten years. I feel very strongly about you. And I don’t want to walk away from what we have.”

  “Then don’t. But do talk to Camila. Whenever you’re ready to do so, and might I suggest, you choose the venue.” I take a moment to frown over at her. “I just need your heart and your mind to be clear and open to another relationship and hopefully one with me. But if you decide to give it another go with Camila, I will totally understand that as well.”

  Liar, liar, Bizzy Baker on fire.

  I press out a short-lived smile.

  Jasper shakes his head, those lightning bolt eyes of his still very much pinned to mine. “I’ll talk to Camila, but only to bring closure to an already closed-off situation. I’m not remotely interested in her that way anymore.” His thumb bounces over my hand. “Tonight’s my sister’s big showing down in Seaview. I hope you haven’t changed your mind about coming. You’ll be my date. We’ll drive out together.”

  I bite down on my lip to keep from grinning like a loon who was just asked to the dance by the cute boy in class—even though it’s true in every adolescent sense.

  “Okay. But would you mind if another person tagged along with us?”

  He tips his head to the side. As long as it’s not Leo Granger.

  “It’s Georgie,” I mouth her name and his chest bounces with relief.

  “I guess it’s a double date then. I’ll pick you up at six-thirty?”

  “Sounds good.”

  He sits back a moment. A part of me wants to discuss the case with her, but another very real part of me doesn’t want to drag Bizzy into danger. I know she’s interested. But I’m too interested in keeping her safe to go there. Besides, once she sees who else will be at the showing tonight, I’m pretty sure her natural thirst for justice will take over.

  “I’ll swing by the cottage at six-thirty. I’ve got to run to the office.” Jasper pulls me up and lands a chaste kiss to my lips before taking off and leaving both my lips and curiosity thirsty for more.

  Who could be showing up tonight that has the ability to foster my thirst for justice?

  I suck in a quick breath as it hits me.

  A suspect!

  Perfect. I’ll have a romantic date with Jasper tonight and a shot at discovering who killed Shelby Harris. />
  A breeze filled with sugary perfume takes over my senses just as Camila strides up.

  “I guess I’ll see you at the showing tonight, Bizzy.” Her lips curve with a malevolent smile. “Jasper’s sister, Ella, and I are such good friends.” And by the time I’m through with Jasper, he won’t know what hit him. Neither will you, Dizzy Baker.

  Her fingers flicker my way as she waves goodbye.

  A date, a suspect, and an obnoxious ex-girlfriend.

  I’m looking forward to two out of three.

  That’s not bad.

  But something tells me Camila Ryder is bad to the bone indeed.

  Chapter 8

  The Seaview County Museum of Art is a stunning building with a water display out front that shoots two stories into the sky. Inside, it’s polished and cosmopolitan, with expansive ceilings and a cavernous maze layout laden with oversized acrylic and oil paintings, all of which I’m looking forward to spending time admiring.

  Georgie hits the ground running as soon as we step inside the brightly lit museum, but Jasper pulls me to the side, that naughty smile twitching on his lips as he presses his gaze to mine.

  “Have I told you how stunning you look tonight?” The scent of his thick, spiced cologne has the power to hypnotize me just about as much as his eyes.

  “Only sixteen times on the way over. Georgie is beginning to wonder if I’ve fractured your mind.”

  A dull moan evicts from him. “Would you think less of me if I said you’ve fractured my mind and body?”

  A laugh bounces from me. “I’m not sure how to take that. But if I can kiss it and make it feel better, let me know.”

  “I’m officially putting you on notice.”

  “What’s this?” a female voice calls from behind and we turn to find the artist herself looking adorable in an A-line denim dress that accentuates her baby bump. She laughs as she pulls Jasper into a brief embrace. “Bizzy, I knew my brother was smitten, but I’ve never seen him like this.” She leans in. “Don’t tell Camila I said so.” She winces as she looks to Jasper. “Does she know about Camila?”