The Dana Potter Cozy Mystery Collection

by Liz Turner

  She had to admit, it seemed Mrs. Cleveland was right.

  ***

  Hours passed, but Dana could hardly tell any time had passed at all. In fact, she wouldn’t have minded if the day lasted forever. She barely noticed as the cake was cut and the dancing begun. She didn’t even notice when people shuffled passed her to talk to the newly weds, now seated beside her at the head table.

  Dana never married the love of her life, but something about this wedding made her to feel like he was there with her.

  “All right, everyone,” Clementine shouted, startling Dana out of her thoughts. She looked up to find her sister tapping her glass with her knife. “First, thank you all for coming, and thanks to those of you who brought gifts and well wishes! It’s been great to see so many old friends! Now that being said, we’ve got a few people here with us who have to make some long journeys back home tonight, so we’re gonna pause the music and dancing for a bit to throw the bouquet! So before it gets any later, all you single ladies, get on out to the open field over there! Let’s see which of you is next!”

  Dana chuckled as Angela nearly toppled over her chair to scurry toward the open space behind them. A herd of about three-dozen women pushed and shoved as they tried to center themselves as close to the front of the crowd as possible. Dana had never seen a group of girls act quite like this, but the sight made her laugh.

  Clementine stood several feet in front of the group, holding the bouquet in both hands much like a baseball bat. The crowd fell silent as she lifted her hands into the air several times, tricking the crowd of girls into thinking she had thrown the bouquet. Finally, after their reactions lost humor, Clementine threw the bouquet high into the air.

  Half the group looked up to see where the bouquet had gone, but were dazed by the sun.

  As the girls scuttled around bumping into one another, Angela smirking, still standing in her original spot. As if intended by fate, Angela gasped and threw her hands into the air as the bouquet descended upon her.

  Roger and Anton laughed as the bouquet slipped through her fingers and fell to the ground before her without any of the other women seeming to notice. Glancing around her to make sure no one saw, Angela picked up the bouquet, held it high above her head, and jumped up and down, screaming cheerfully.

  “We saw that!” Anton yelled, his hands cupped around his mouth.

  Angela winked. “Saw what?”

  Anton leaned over and whispered to Dana and Roger. “Does it really count if she dropped it?”

  “That’s up to Roger,” Dana said, chuckling.

  Wordlessly, Roger sprung up from his chair, held his shoulders back, and marched toward Angela.

  Anton raised his eyebrows. “Is he about to do what I think he’s about to do?”

  Dana made herself comfortable in her seat. “Looks like things are starting to get interesting between those two.”

  “I’ll say…” Anton said, still staring their way.

  Angela swayed back and forth, holding the bouquet like a trophy as Roger approached. Once close enough, he kissed her and whispered something in her ear.

  Angela’s jaw dropped and her eyes widened. “Really?” she squealed and resumed jumping up and down.

  Roger whispered into Angela’s ear again, causing her to cross her arms and glance suspiciously over at Dana and Anton.

  Dana looked down at her cake and Anton turned away whistling, both pretending not to notice.

  “That little rat just told her we were listening,” Anton muttered.

  “He should know we’ll find out one way or another!” Dana said, chuckling.

  “What’s that all about?” Clementine asked coming toward them. She gestured to Roger and Angela and then set another plate of cake before her.

  “Let me tell you, my dear,” Anton said, “love is in the air! The second Angela caught your bouquet, that curly-haired lovebird ran right over to her and told her he wanted to marry her. I’m sure of it.”

  Clementine gasped. “Did he really?”

  “I’m sure of it!” Anton repeated.

  “What do you think, Dana?” Clementine asked. “Oh, I’m not ready for this! My little girl, getting married?”

  “I dunno, honey,” Dana said. “But it sure does look like it! That boy sure is whipped!”

  “And you know what that means.” Anton smirked.

  “Yes, we sure do,” Dana said. “Looks like we’re about to be the bridesmaids in the not-too-distant future.”

  *** The End ***

  long lost love

  a dana potter cozy mystery

  LIZ TURNER

  Chapter 1

  Summertime

  Fireflies buzzed and gravitated toward the lit porch light above the back door to the Williams’ residence. A group of children stood in a circle in the grass, playing a tag-like game Dana Potter had never heard of before. She laughed as she glanced across the lawn at the children’s older siblings, sitting in a circle of lawn chairs, engrossed in their cell phones.

  “For kids their age, does it count as spending quality time if they’re just together, even though none of them are talking to each other?” Dana asked, nudging the woman beside her and gesturing toward the group of teens.

  Celeste Winterbottom looked up from her own cell phone and glanced at the teens, laughing half-heartedly.

  Dana furrowed her brow, noticing Celeste’s laugh didn’t quite sound sincere. Further, it didn’t help that Celeste immediately looked back down and turned away from Dana.

  “It’s silly, I think,” Dana continued. “Cell phones…”

  “Well, it looks like I’m guilty of that too, today.” Celeste laughed nervously. “But in my defense, my mother doesn’t live as close to me as she used to, so I gotta check in on her every so often, ya know?”

  Dana chuckled and held Celeste’s gaze for a moment.

  In return, Celeste sighed. Her eyes nervously darted back and forth. It was clear she didn’t want to talk, but Dana’s unrelenting stare pressured her to. “Anyway,” Celeste said, “how are you doing, Miss Potter? Anything new?”

  “Fine, fine,” Dana said. “And no, nothing changes too much in my routine these days. Nice of the Williams’ to have this barbeque though, don’t you think?”

  “Oh, yes. Mrs. Williams is arguably the best cook in all of Pippin, as far as barbeque goes, I mean.”

  Dana pursed her lips and forced herself to nod. As much as she hated to admit it, Mrs. Williams truly was a better cook than anyone she could think of, including herself. Dana had lived next door to the Williams since returning to Pippin, and she had lived next door to Mrs. Williams’ family for many years before that as well.

  The current Mrs. Williams inherited her family’s home after her parents passed and now lived there with her husband and their three children.

  Dana thought back to when Mrs. Williams was small and the smell of her late mother’s cooking filled the air on Sunday mornings. Dana remembered complaining to her own mother that the smell of the neighbors’ cooking made her mouth water on the way to church.

  It seemed Mrs. Williams’s late mother had passed her skill on to her daughter, for the smell of her cooking filled Sunday mornings just as well.

  Dana wouldn’t admit it, but she was the one who had pressured Mrs. Williams to have a get together so that she could finally taste the mouth-watering food she’d been longing to try for so many years.

  Dana shook her head, snapping herself out of her reminiscing. She then noticed Celeste was staring at her phone again. “How’s your mother doing?” she asked.

  “Oh, she’s doing all right…”

  Dana raised an eyebrow. “Your tone doesn’t sound so convincing.”

  “My mother’s fine, it’s just… this time of year puts me in a bit of a funk, ya know?”

  “I see…” As intrigued as Dana was to know more, she knew better than to push for information on personal issues. So instead, she looked around the yard for something she could use to c
hange the topic.

  Near the grill in the back corner of the yard, Dana noticed Mrs. Williams and her eldest daughter setting out several flavors of pie, along with ice cream, on the serving table.

  “Ooh, looks like it’s about time for dessert!” Dana said.

  Celeste looked toward the serving table and smiled without responding.

  Scurrying over to the serving table to stack several scoops of cookies-and-cream ice cream on top of a slice of chocolate pie, Dana debated what she could say to figure out what was bothering Celeste.

  “Mmm, looks good!” Mrs. Williams said, placing a hand on Dana’s shoulder.

  “Yeah, it’s just what I needed. Thank you!” Dana said. “But hey, sweetheart—I wonder if you would know better than I would… You got any idea what’s got Celeste so down? She said something about this being a bad time of year, but it’s a beautiful summer night!”

  Mrs. Williams furrowed her brow. “I’m not sure. Did you try asking her?”

  “That would be the smart way to go, but you know how it is. These things can get pretty personal and emotional real fast…”

  Mrs. Williams nodded. “Scared of how she’ll react, huh?”

  “Girl, you know I ain’t scared of nothin’!” Dana said with a chuckle. “I just don’t want her getting the wrong idea about my intentions.”

  “I don’t know—sure seems like you’re scared to me…”

  Dana huffed and glared sarcastically at Mrs. Williams before picking up her plate and returning to her seat beside Celeste. Dana glanced back at Mrs. Williams as she resumed her conversation with Celeste. She knew it wasn’t necessarily a good reason to ask Celeste about such a personal thing, but Dana hated being challenged about her resolve.

  Besides, I probably would’ve asked her about it eventually anyway, she reasoned.

  “Sweetheart,” Dana said to Celeste, “I know it’s not really my place–and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to–but you really don’t seem yourself today. I’m curious to know what it is about this time of year that’s put you in such a funk.”

  “Oh…” Celeste sighed. “Well, it’s not that I don’t trust you or anything… It’s just that I feel so silly for being upset for something so… well, stupid…”

  “Oh honey, there’s nothing stupid about it,” Dana said. “People get upset about all sorts of things, but that doesn’t make them stupid. It just makes them human.”

  Celeste pursed her lips. “I suppose you’re right.” She locked eyes with Dana meaningfully. “This will have to stay between us though, okay?”

  “Of course,” Dana said. “I know how it can be to have everyone else knowing your business in this town. And I definitely wouldn’t subject you to that against your will!”

  Celest nodded. “I appreciate that.” She paused for a second. “Well, it’s just that it was this time of year when it all happened…”

  “What was that, sweetheart?” Dana placed her hand on Celeste’s shoulder.

  “Do you have a minute?” Celeste asked.

  “Of course, dear. From the sounds of it, you’ve been holding in this anxiety for a long time. I’d say it’s about time you had someone to tell!”

  “You’re probably right.” Celeste sighed again. “Well, it would’ve been fifteen years ago today that I met him. I know it sounds silly, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him since… It all felt so real! His name was William, and we met at a young adult conference in California. Are you familiar with those?”

  Dana nodded. “Yeah, I think I’ve heard of those. One of those church-organized events to help young folk mingle with those of their same faith, right?”

  “Right,” Celeste said. “I only went to this convention thing because one of my girlfriends convinced me it would be fun to go to Cali with her. I was young, wild, and I didn’t wanna get tied down to any man while I was there, but I also didn’t want my friend to go to some strange new place alone. Girls gotta watch out for each other, right? Even though I didn’t think I’d like the scene, I’d always wanted to go to Cali. So I figured, why not?

  “What’s funny is, she talked the whole flight there about how she was gonna find her Prince Charming and get married and have kids. I thought it was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard! It even got to a point where I flat-out told her to shut up because she was being stupid. Getting married after spending a week with someone? Ha! Like that would ever work out in the long run! But then, it was me who ended up falling in love while we were there…” Celeste paused again, her eyes glazing over with the memory.

  “Love is strange like that,” Dana commented. “You can never tell how it’s gonna hit you until it does.”

  “Yeah, I found that out,” Celeste said. “But I still feel really stupid for being this broken up about it, especially after these many years. I haven’t been able to date anyone else because I always keep remembering him. Nobody else makes me feel the way he did… I keep telling myself I didn’t even know him well, and I may have created a perfect image of a man in my head that isn’t truly who he is, for all I know. But still, it’s always been him…”

  “I don’t think that’s stupid at all, dear,” Dana said. “Your heart knows you better than your brain when it comes to love. So sometimes you gotta stop shutting it up and listen to what it’s trying to tell you. Sure, it may not always be the best idea to listen to your heart over your head. But you’re a sensible woman and I think your heart’s been telling you what’s right for you all along, and you’ve been trying much too hard for much too long to try to make sense of something that won’t always make sense… What did you say this man’s name was again?”

  “William.”

  “And what’s his last name? Because lucky for you, in this day and age, a name is all you really need to be able to get back in contact with someone!”

  “Yeah, but I… I don’t know…” Celeste said. “See, I told you I’m being stupid! I’ve been in love with this man for fifteen years, and I never even bothered to learn his last name! What if he has a really unfortunate last name, and I’ve been fantasizing about marrying a man who would make me Mrs. Butts or something? I’m not saying that would change my mind about loving him, but just… I was being stupid all along…”

  Dana chuckled. “Well, if his last name is Butts, at least we live in a time where you can make the rules about what title people call you by, even after you’re married.”

  “Why does it feel like you’re making fun of me, Miss Potter?” Celeste glanced sideways at the older woman.

  “Not making fun, just finding humor in the little things we tend to fixate on when we’re upset,” Dana said, smiling. “All these years with a broken heart, and you’re worried about being called Mrs. Butts? I think it’s good you finally got the chance to talk about this, because who knows what five more years of holding it in would make of you!”

  “Yeah, you’re right…”

  “Now, I’d like to know, if you had so little time to get to know each other that you didn’t even get the chance to exchange last names and contact information, what was it that made you fall in love with this man?”

  “Well, we were supposed to get the chance to do all that on the last day of the conference, but…” Celeste shook her head. “It’s a long story, so I’ll start at the beginning, if that’s okay?”

  “Sure,” Dana said. “I’ve got time.”

  “The first day of the conference, I really didn’t want to be there. All I could think about the whole day was how badly I wanted to leave and go to the beach instead. I was, well, sort of being grouchy and possibly a little stand-offish with every guy who tried to talk to me… I didn’t think I was being rude, but I was being worrisome to ruin my friend’s chances of meeting people, so she left me sitting on a bench in the corner.

  “While I was sitting there watching my friend talk with a group of guys, William sat on the opposite end of the bench to eat his sandwich. I glared at him, thinking he was gonna
try talking to me. When he noticed I was glaring at him, trying to let him know in advance I wasn’t interested, rather than leave, he made an exaggerated grumpy face at me. Then he burst out laughing. That reaction—it caught me off guard. How was I supposed to react to a guy who brushed off my bad attitude that easily? I kind of liked it…

  “Of course, I wasn’t gonna let him know that. I didn’t wanna be there, and it made me angry that he thought my grumpiness was funny. I don’t remember exactly what I said to him, but I yelled it loud enough that everyone around turned to look at me. Again, he just laughed and continued eating his sandwich. He wasn’t even bothering me, but I was being so rude to him…”

  “I’ve been there,” Dana said. “Emotions can be confusing, and sometimes it’s normal to react like that.”

  “Yeah, well, I took it too far. In fact, that evening, my friend told me she didn’t even want me there anymore because I’d embarrassed her so badly at that convention. I guess some guys she was talking to heard me yelling, and that prompted the conversation about how I shouldn’t have come if I was gonna bring bad vibes. She was embarrassed even leaving the place with me. She was so livid, she even asked me not to come back with her the next day.

  “That was kinda a wake-up call for me. I realized how rude I’d been to a random stranger, and how much I’d hurt my friend. I apologized to her for how I’d been acting and told her I needed to go back to the convention at least one more time so that I could apologize to the guy. I told her that afterwards, I would do whatever she wanted me to, even if it meant just staying in the hotel. I honestly didn’t expect it to go any further than that.

  “The next morning, I tried my best to behave and searched around for William. When I finally found him, I smiled and waved awkwardly, but he wasn’t even phased. He just said, ‘You seem like you’re in a better mood today,’ and left it at that. After I apologized, he was really understanding about the whole thing. Then we just talked for hours…