Cozy Creek

by K M Morgan

  “In a hurry to bulldoze this store and build another hotel, huh?” Kenneth snapped.

  Victor was caught off guard. “How did you know that?”

  “The business owners on this street talk.”

  “Apparently, you’re the only one who doesn’t listen. Brianna’s Boutique, Frankie’s Florist, Manny’s Meats—they know a good deal when they see one. You’re the only holdout. Four owners on this strip, and you’re the only fool.”

  Kenneth let his temper get the best of him. “You can try to pressure me all you want. I’m telling you loud and clear, this store isn’t for sale.”

  Victor dropped the nice-guy act. “That just goes to show how poor of a businessman you truly are. Instead of taking my generous offer, you’re going to keep running this place into the ground until you’re forced to go out of business.”

  “Get out of here. I’m not going to let you come in here and insult me!” Kenneth barked.

  “Instead, you’re going to let your pride cost you everything.”

  “You’re right, I do have pride—in my family. This store was opened by my grandfather seventy-four years ago. It’s not some faceless, homogenized chain hotel. It’s a place with character, quirkiness, and a legacy behind it.”

  “A legacy that won’t live to see seventy-five years. If people want to read, they’ll just go to Mega Books and get them on the cheap. The age of the mom-and-pop shop is over. You’ll see–sooner or later the bank will foreclose on this place, and I’ll be able to pick up the land this store is built on for pennies on the dollar.”

  “You heartless sleazeball.”

  Victor shook his head. “A heartless man would have never offered to buy this store from you for a reasonable price. As it is, you’re blowing your last chance. If I walk through that door, I’m taking my offer with it. So when the bank comes to foreclose on this place, don’t try crawling back to me.”

  Kenneth remained defiant. “Go ahead, leave. The sooner you’re out of my life, the better.”

  Victor couldn’t contain his frustration any longer. “You’re too stupid for your own good.” He then spotted something over Kenneth’s shoulder. “Maybe your wife can talk some sense into you.”

  Kenneth looked confused. Then he turned and saw his wife, Charlotte Gibson, approaching from the back room.

  Charlotte was in her early sixties, with shoulder-length black hair, an oval face, and a petite frame. Like her mother, Trudy Carter, she dressed very conservatively. Her dress went all the way down to her ankles. That, combined with her glasses and argyle sweater, made her look like a librarian.

  “You two sure know how to make a scene,” Charlotte remarked.

  “Charlotte, I have this under control. Go in the back and finish balancing the books,” Kenneth said.

  Victor greeted Charlotte with a nice big smile. “Charlotte, it’s always a pleasure.”

  Victor extended his hand to shake Charlotte’s.

  Kenneth cut him off. “Get your greasy hands away from her.”

  Victor addressed Charlotte. “Your husband doesn’t know a good thing when he sees it. Maybe you do. I’m doing him a favor by offering him a quarter of a million for this place, and he’d rather lose it all.”

  Kenneth scoffed. “Only you would pretend that you’re doing me a favor. And for the last time, I’m not going to lose anything.”

  “You’re right. You’re going to lose everything,” Victor said.

  Kenneth groaned. “You’re such a scumbag.”

  “Call me what you want. The fact is, I’m going to get what I want. I always do. This time will be no different.”

  “Victor, your name might be Wright, but you couldn’t be more wrong.”

  Charlotte then put her hand on Kenneth’s shoulder and gazed into his eyes. “Dear, maybe we should consider it.”

  Kenneth flew off the handle. “What? Are you crazy?”

  “Listen to your wife. She’s a smart woman,” Victor said.

  Kenneth still couldn’t believe what his wife had said. “Why would you side with him?”

  “Because I’m right,” Victor insisted.

  Charlotte tried to take charge. “Vic, I’ll take care of this.”

  Kenneth didn’t like what he’d just heard. “Vic? Why did you call him that?”

  Charlotte and Victor both suddenly had deer-in-the-headlights looks.

  “Everyone calls him Vic,” Charlotte replied.

  “I’ve actually never heard anyone call him that.” Kenneth glared at both his wife and Victor. “There’s something fishy between you two.” He focused his anger on Victor. “You’ve been putting the moves on my wife, haven’t you?”

  Victor looked completely shocked. “You’re crazy.”

  “No, you haven’t seen me act crazy. But you will,” Kenneth said.

  Kenneth then took a swing at Victor.

  The punch didn’t land. Victor managed to duck out of the way.

  “That’s it, you blew your shot. I’m out of here,” Victor said, backing up towards the door.

  “Good riddance,” Kenneth replied.

  Victor then left the store, but the drama was far from over.

  Chapter Six

  For Deanna, that was enough drama to fill up an entire season of reality TV episodes. Instead of being able to grab her Wendy Whimsy mystery and cozying up on her couch, a new disaster loomed.

  Across the bookstore, Kenneth ripped into his wife.

  “You are sleeping with Victor, aren’t you?” Kenneth snapped.

  “I’m not even going to dignify that with a response,” Charlotte replied.

  “That’s a yes if ever I’ve heard one.”

  Charlotte glared at her husband. “You have a lot of nerve, especially with what you’ve been doing behind my back.”

  Kenneth dreaded where his wife was going with this conversation. As Fiona O’Dell entered the store, there was no avoiding the elephant in the room.

  “Speak of the devil,” Charlotte said.

  Fiona looked completely out of place in the store, and yet she wasn’t just a customer—she worked here. She would describe herself as a free spirit, but others threw around more colorful terms. Fiona was in her early fifties, with long wavy hair, jangly jewelry, and a caftan robe that made her look like she’d just come out of transcendental meditation class.

  Charlotte made no secret that she didn’t like Fiona. The feeling was mutual. The women exchanged glares.

  As Deanna watched from across the bookstore, she couldn’t help but notice how different they were. Charlotte looked like a librarian, while Fiona looked like a tarot card reader.

  Charlotte looked at the time on her phone then scolded Fiona. “You’re late.”

  Fiona ignored Charlotte and turned her attention to Kenneth, flashing him puppy dog eyes.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Charlotte folded her arms. “What lousy excuse do you have now?”

  “I was caught up meditating,” Fiona said.

  Charlotte scoffed. “Great. More flower-power mumbo jumbo.”

  “It takes a lot of work to line up my chakras,” Fiona explained.

  “Was that even English? Because it sounded like malarkey,” Charlotte snapped.

  Fiona shook her head. “You have a bad aura about you. Your soul could use some cleansing.”

  “That’s it. I’ve heard enough of your transcendental nonsense. You’re fired, you hippie-dippy wack job,” Charlotte said.

  Fiona’s eyes opened wide. She turned to Kenneth. “Are you going to let her talk to me like that? I can’t handle being assaulted with such dark energy.”

  Kenneth was stern with Fiona, most likely due to the death stare Charlotte was giving him.

  “Just get to work,” Kenneth said.

  Fiona was clearly expecting a warmer response. “That’s all you’re giving me?”

  Kenneth remained firm and all business with his response. “We’ll talk later.”

  Fiona couldn’t believe Kenn
eth was being so cold to her. She huffed off, but not without a parting shot.

  “Your wife’s toxic aura has infected you,” Fiona said.

  ***

  With Fiona heading to the back room to clock in and get to work, Charlotte and Kenneth were left alone again. Charlotte suddenly looked like a volcano that was ready to erupt.

  “That’s it. We’re selling this place,” Charlotte declared.

  Not to be outdone, Kenneth was plenty worked up as well. “You’re delusional if you think you have the authority to make those decisions.”

  “I’m not delusional, I’m your wife. Although I’m not sure for how much longer.”

  “Are you trying to threaten me?”

  “I’m just stating a fact. Like how I’m going to call Victor up and take his offer.”

  “Have you forgotten whose store this is?” Kenneth asked.

  “The real question is, have you forgotten that as your wife, half of everything you own is mine—including this store. I want my half,” Charlotte replied.

  Kenneth was defiant. “As long as I’m alive, you won’t get any of it. I’ll make sure of that.”

  Charlotte shook her head. “It has taken me over thirty years to realize it, but my mother was right about you. You’re rotten to the core.”

  “I’d look in the mirror. After seeing how you were looking at Victor Wright, I know there’s been some wrongdoing on your part.”

  Charlotte fired back. “You don’t get to talk to me about cheating, especially with that tarot-reading fruitcake around. Do you think I’m stupid? I know you’re sleeping with Fiona.”

  Kenneth deflected. “You know, I was wondering why you’ve been pressing me to sell the store so much, but now that I know you’re sleeping with Victor, it all makes sense.”

  Charlotte put the ball back in her husband’s court. “We’re talking about you.”

  “All right, you want to know the truth? Fine. I’ve been cheating on you. Unlike you, I at least have the decency to admit it.”

  “Decency? You scumbag. How could you cheat on me like that?” Charlotte asked.

  “I didn’t intend to, but Fiona just makes me feel so alive.”

  “And what, I make you feel dead?”

  “In a sense. I feel completely stifled with you, constricted. I’ve had you and your mother bossing me around for decades, always having to have things done your way, never asking me what I want. I just didn’t realize how bad things had gotten until Fiona came around and opened my eyes. She made me realize there’s a whole different world out there.”

  “You’re crazy. She’s a space case. You actually buy into that ethereal crap?” Charlotte wondered.

  “I know this—Fiona believes in me. I used to have dreams. And when I’m with Fiona, she makes me believe I have the power to achieve,” Kenneth explained.

  Charlotte was in a state of complete disbelief. “That would make a great hippie bumper sticker. Unfortunately, life doesn’t work that way.”

  “I’m tired of you putting my dreams down and telling me who I can and can’t be,” Kenneth replied.

  Charlotte laughed. “Talk about irony. Here you are, telling me you want to be accepted for who you are, but you won’t accept your son for who he is.”

  “That’s because Wyatt is a freak.”

  “And you’re a lying, cheating sleazeball.” She then slapped him across the face.

  Charlotte then stormed out, trying to keep herself from tearing up. As Charlotte left the bookstore, it sure looked like she had no intention of ever coming back.

  After witnessing the explosive confrontation between his parents, Wyatt glared at his father then chased after his mother to comfort her.

  Kenneth just stewed with anger.

  Chapter Seven

  After all she’d just witnessed, Deanna couldn’t wait to get out of that store. Unfortunately, she had to stick around a little longer. She didn’t want to bail on a friend.

  Amelia Brady looked shell-shocked. The entire bookstore seemed to be coming apart at the seams, right when Amelia was in the middle of her work shift.

  Deanna tried to cut through the tension in the air. She figured a joke might be able to do the trick. Anything to get the look of shock off of Amelia’s face.

  “At least it’s a quiet day, huh?” Deanna joked.

  Deanna’s plan didn’t work. Amelia was so tense that she didn’t even crack a smile.

  “There’s no such thing as a quiet day around here,” Amelia replied. She then groaned. “Why couldn’t this have happened on my day off?”

  Deanna once again tried to bring levity to the situation. “Look at it this way—things can’t get any worse.”

  Amelia didn’t seem too convinced of that.

  As Kenneth approached Amelia, it appeared that Deanna had spoken too soon.

  Kenneth wasted no time. He stared Amelia down.

  “We need to have that talk now,” he insisted.

  Amelia looked like she’d rather be any other place in the entire world at that moment. She tried to talk her way out of this situation.

  “But I’m due for a lunch break,” Amelia said.

  Deanna added to Amelia’s story. “Yeah, I’m treating her to a meal at Joe’s Diner.”

  “It’ll have to wait. My office, now!” Kenneth insisted.

  Amelia gulped. “Yes, boss.”

  Amelia then followed Kenneth back to his office with a look of impending doom on her face.

  ***

  Deanna suddenly found herself alone. She waited uncomfortably for her friend to return from the back office. It was the longest ten minutes of Deanna’s life. The problem was, there was no question bad news was waiting for Amelia when she reached her boss’s office. The question was, how bad?

  When Amelia came out of the back room with a scowl on her face, Deanna knew this was serious trouble.

  It was even worse than Deanna imagined. Amelia was usually such a levelheaded person. She rarely lost her temper. This was one of those times.

  Amelia let out a big groan then turned towards the back room and yelled.

  “This isn’t over. I’m not going to stand for this favoritism!” she said.

  Amelia then headed to the front of the store and gave Fiona a glare just before she exited.

  Deanna couldn’t believe what she’d just seen. What had happened in that back office? More importantly, why had Amelia barreled out of the store without coming to Deanna first? This was crazy. Deanna had to get to the bottom of this.

  ***

  Deanna left the store then circled around to the parking lot, where she saw Amelia with her head in her hands. Her friend was a complete wreck. Part of Amelia looked like she was ready to cry. The other part seemed primed to erupt with anger.

  “What’s the matter?” Deanna asked.

  Amelia looked up at her friend and appeared to be embarrassed. “Oh, Deanna. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have rushed out without coming to you first.”

  “It’s okay. Just tell me what’s wrong.”

  “I just got let go.”

  Deanna furrowed her brow. “What?”

  “Kenneth just laid me off.”

  “But wait, where did that come from?”

  “How do you think I feel? I’m just as shocked as you are.”

  “What reason did he give you for letting you go?” Deanna wondered.

  “He said he’s having trouble keeping the doors open. That there just isn’t enough business to keep me around,” Amelia explained.

  “Yet he’s able to keep Fiona around.”

  “That’s what I said, but he told me his decision was final.”

  “That’s crazy.”

  “No, it’s favoritism. The only reason Fiona didn’t get the ax is because he’s sleeping with her. I’m a much better employee than her. She can’t even show up on time.”

  “This isn’t right,” Deanna said.

  Amelia sighed. “Everything about today is all wrong.”

&nb
sp; “I’m so sorry this happened.”

  Amelia looked like a lost puppy. “What am I going to do now?”

  Deanna had an idea. “I know a good first step.”

  Chapter Eight

  When Deanna was having a tough day, there was one thing that never failed to cheer her up. It was no surprise that ice cream was the first thing to pop into Deanna’s mind. In Desert Palms, there was no better place to get her fix than The Perfect Scoop.

  What woman could turn down a scoop of chocolate ice cream? Surprisingly, maybe Amelia was the exception to the rule.

  “I don’t know. I’m not really in the mood,” Amelia said.

  “How could you not be in the mood for ice cream? Chocolate makes everything better.”

  On second thought, Amelia changed her tune. “It’s hard to argue with that logic.”

  “Arguing is overrated,” Deanna said.

  Amelia laughed. “I’ll take mine to go, though.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Amelia nodded.

  Deanna wasn’t ready to give up quite yet. “I’d be happy to talk this through with you and figure out your next step. Sometimes putting it all out there really helps.”

  “Deanna, you’re a great friend—”

  “But let me guess, the answer is no.”

  “I can’t explain it. I just kind of want to be alone right now.”

  “Fair enough. You’ve been through a lot,” Deanna said.

  “In one day, no less. When I got up this morning, I couldn’t have predicted any of this would have happened,” Amelia replied.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

  “I’ll let you know when I do.”

  “All right. I respect that.”

  “Honestly, there’s so much swirling around in my mind right now, I haven’t been able to make sense of it myself.”