by Nicole Ellis
“Well, I can’t imagine why,” she grumbled. “The Boathouse was a disgrace.”
I bit my tongue to keep from lashing out at her. She had the power to make Mikey’s life and mine miserable. “I’m sorry you feel that way.” I held out the check. “Anyways, here you go.”
She plucked it roughly from my hand and tore it out of the envelope. “I suppose this wasn’t too bad, given the circumstances.”
I resisted her dig. “The preschool should be able to afford those special computers they wanted to order for the kids. Won’t that be great?”
“Well. I don’t know about that. I’m not sure this will cover it. But maybe.” She stuffed the check back into the envelope for safekeeping. “You’ll have to do better next year. We want to get new playground equipment, including a climbing toy and a playhouse.”
I stared at her. “Did you say next year?”
“Well, yes. I’m sure you’ll want to make up for the debacle this year with a better effort next year, right?” She said all of this while looking down her nose at me.
I floundered for the right words to say. “I thought you hated having it at the Boathouse?”
“Well, it is close and probably the best we can do with our budget. Of course, if we could afford something better, we would.”
“Of course.” My teeth were clenched so hard I was thinking again about visiting the dentist. “We’ll see about next year.”
Nancy looked at her watch. “You’re three minutes late to pick up Mikey.”
I raised my eyebrows and started to speak, then thought better of it. “I’ll pick him up right now. Have a nice day.”
I swiveled on my heel and rushed away from her as fast as I could without breaking into a run. I grabbed Mikey and his backpack, signed him out, and left. If I saw Nancy again, I’d probably tell her off, and I wanted to keep the peace, no matter how much I disliked her.
23
“I know it’s not much, but I wanted to give you something to thank you for believing in me.” Brenda set one of her Watkins Real Estate gift baskets on my desk.
Bile rose in my throat, but I forced it back and pasted a smile on my face.
“Thank you so much. Adam and I will enjoy the wine and chocolates.” I stood from my desk chair and walked over to her, giving her a quick hug. “And I knew you hadn’t done it. You don’t have it in you to kill someone.”
“Well, maybe my ex-husband …” she joked. Then she sobered. “I probably shouldn’t say that. If something happened to him, I’d feel bad, even with all of our differences.”
“Did he decide to take that job out-of-town? That would be rough on Dara and Sara to not see him very often.”
“No, he decided to stay here. He really does want to be a big part of their lives, and I think we’re going to keep our existing custody arrangement since we live so close.”
“Good. I’m happy for you.” I gave her another hug.
“Me too.” She scanned the room. “Hey, did you do something with your office? It looks nice.”
“I did.” I beamed with pride. “The desk and rug are new, and I hung up some of Mikey’s artwork.” Beth had given me a small allowance to redecorate, and I’d found a white Ikea desk and turquoise rug to liven up the dark space. I’d also framed some of Mikey’s crayon drawings in white wooden frames. With a small investment, the office now felt like mine.
“Well, it looks great.” She smiled at me. “And I should get back to my own work. With everything going on, I’ve neglected some of my clients. Have fun on your trip with Adam.”
“I will.”
Brenda left, and I sat back down in my chair to survey the room. Yes, it definitely felt like my office now and not an impersonal office given to a transient employee. The success of the auction had buoyed my spirits and made me realize how much I loved my new job at the Boathouse. Even so, I was excited about my upcoming couples-only trip to Jamaica with Adam.
A week later, I was lying on a white sandy beach in Jamaica, wondering how I was ever going to go back to Ericksville. I knew we’d have to leave in a few days, and I was starting to miss the kids a bit, but for now, I was enjoying relaxing and spending some well-deserved alone time with my husband.
I looked over to Adam, who sat reading a book in a white lounge chair next to me. I hadn’t seen him this content in a long time. Usually, he had his eyes glued to his work laptop or his ears connected to his cell phone. Having him open his own practice in Ericksville wouldn’t be easy for us in the beginning, financially or otherwise, but I knew having him get away from working and traveling so much would be the best thing for our family.
He saw me looking and smiled at me. “Are you ready for another drink?”
I stared down at the dregs of my piña colada. “Yes, definitely.”
“Do you want to check out the swim-up bar?”
I thought about the crowds at the pool. “No, but how about we get drinks at the bar and take them back to our room? We can order room service and pretend like we’re the only people here.”
His smile widened, and his blue eyes danced. “I like how you think.”
He grabbed my hand, and we walked off toward the bar at the edge of the beach. As the sun warmed my skin and the sand filtered through my toes, I glanced up at his face and knew that although our life may not always be fun in the sun, we’d always have each other and could work through anything that might come our way.
<<<>>>
From the Author
Thank you for reading the second book in the Jill Andrews Cozy Mystery series. I’ve loved writing this series and I hope to write more.
I’m writing a few series at the moment and as a book’s success is partially based on reviews, if you’d like me to write more in this series, I’d love it if you’d leave a review on Amazon. Thank you!
Other books in this series
Brownie Points for Murder (Book 1)
A Deadly Pair O’Docks (Book 3)
- coming May 15th, 2018
Available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited
Candle Beach Sweet Romance series
Sweet Beginnings (Book 1)
Sweet Success (Book 2)
Sweet Promises (Book 3)
Sweet Memories (Book 4)
Available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited
Acknowledgments
Cover by: Magic Owl Design
Editing by: Kristen Tate, The Blue Garret
LaVerne Clark Editing