by Nicole Ellis
I looked out the window to make sure Leah wasn’t around. “Del, when I talked to Tyler earlier this week, he said something about you having things in your past that Jed wanted to tell people about.”
Del smiled. “Oh, that. He’s probably talking about my conviction for stealing from a bike shop when I was a teenager. I was under eighteen, so it was expunged from my record.” He peered at me. “I never hid it from Leah. In fact, I’ve been involved with the local youth here and use it as an example of what not to do. If I can keep one kid from ruining their life, I’ll be a happy man.”
“Oh.” I was quiet for a moment. “Thank you for telling me about it. I’m sorry to be so nosy, but I thought if there was something you were hiding from Leah, she should know about it.”
“No problem,” he said easily. “I understand your concern.”
Leah entered the café, and Desi and I gave them the details about what had happened earlier.
“Sela was the one who did all of it? The burned life jackets? The boats that were set loose?” Leah asked, her mouth agape.
“Yeah,” Desi said. “She was behind everything.”
Leah sat back in her chair. “I can’t believe it was her all along. I mean, I thought it could be somebody that worked at the resort, but I wouldn’t have guessed it was Sela.” She turned to Del. “Would you have thought she would’ve done that?”
He shook his head. “No. I knew she was a little bit off with the way that she was telling people she was dating me, but that was even crazier than I had expected.”
“Well, at least now you don’t have to worry about somebody causing more trouble at the resort.” I smiled at my friends.
Leah rubbed her thumb over the knuckles on her left hand and looked down at the table. “All of this has just been too much.” She cast a quick glance at Del and took a deep breath. “I think it’s time to sell the resort.”
Del put his hand on her arm and gazed at her with warm brown eyes. “No.”
Leah pulled her head back and looked at her soon-to-be ex-husband.
“What do you mean? I thought you wanted to sell the resort.”
He smiled. “I did. But everything that’s happened has made me re-examine things.” He took her hands in his. “Leah, you’re my family. If the resort is what you want, let’s make it work. All I know is that I love you and I can’t see a future for myself without you in it.”
Her eyes misted over and she threw her arms around him. “Oh, Del. I don’t know if owning the resort is what I see for my future, but I know I want to be with you. We’ll figure it out together.”
Desi and I looked at each other.
“I think this is our cue to get out of here,” she whispered.
A broad smile stretched across my lips. “I think so too.”
We checked out of the resort exactly at noon and drove home, stopping only once, to buy hamburgers and fries. Still, it was Mikey’s bedtime when we arrived home. As soon as we released Goldie from his in-car harness, he ran into the house. Fluffy came running up to see us, claiming she hadn’t been fed in a week.
“I know Grandma and Grandpa came over to feed you,” I admonished her. “But I’ll give you a treat.” I snuggled her close, which she tolerated in order to get her treat.
Adam carried Ella in and Mikey milled around, still groggy from falling asleep in the car.
“Time for bed for you, mister.” I offered my hand to him and led him upstairs to brush his teeth and put on pajamas.
“Ok.” He didn’t put up much of a fight and fell asleep immediately after crawling into bed.
Once both kids were down, Adam and I looked at each other.
“I hate to say it, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to check on work,” he said sheepishly.
I laughed. “I was about to say the same thing.”
He retired to his study and I called Beth, who was home from the office.
“Hey, how did everything go with the event yesterday?” she asked. “We fed the pets this morning and everything seemed fine at your house.” She sounded better than she had earlier in the week, although her voice was hoarse.
“It is. Thank you for watching over everything. Are you feeling better?” I sat back in my desk chair. She’d probably find out what had happened to Desi and me on our vacation, but I wasn’t going to tell her about it. Beth had enough to worry about without knowing her daughter and daughter-in-law had almost been killed.
“I feel much better. I told you not to worry—it was just a little summer cold.” She cleared her throat. “Although, I am glad that you’re back to deal with Angela. I’m really starting to regret offering up the Boathouse for the haunted house.”
“I know. But keep reminding yourself of all the good publicity. Goodness knows we could use it after the murder investigation there over the summer.” I got up and went into the kitchen to pour myself a healthy portion of Chardonnay.
“You’re probably right, but I can still gripe about it, right?” Beth laughed. “Anyway, everything else is fine. I’ll see you tomorrow, ok?”
“Sounds good. Thanks again for taking care of things here.”
We said our goodbyes and I hung up the phone, taking my wine out to the deck to gaze out at the setting sun. As the sun sank down on the horizon, flooding the sky with pinks, purples, and glowing orange, I contemplated the end of summer. The last few months had been an exciting time for our family. Adam had quit his job and started his own practice and I’d gone to work at the Boathouse.
I’d managed some challenging events there, and I was sure there would be many more in my future, but I was happy to have made the jump back into the workforce—even if it meant dealing with people like Angela Laveaux. I could feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about her, so I sipped my wine and forced myself to relax. After all, how bad could one demanding woman and her haunted house be?
How bad could Angela and her haunted house be? Find out in MURDEROUS MUMMY WARS, coming in October 2018.
Thank you for reading Stuck With S’More Death. I hope you enjoyed spending more time with Jill Andrews and her family. If you did, I’d really appreciate it if you left a review.
For information about my new releases and other exciting news, please visit my website, nicoleellisauthor.com and sign up for my e-mail newsletter.
BOOKS BY NICOLE ELLIS
Jill Andrews Cozy Mysteries
Brownie Points for Murder - Book #1
Death to the Highest Bidder - Book #2
A Deadly Pair O’Docks - Book #3
Stuck with S’More Death - Book #4
Murderous Mummy Wars - Book #5 Coming October 2018
Candle Beach Sweet Romances
Sweet Beginnings - Book #1
Sweet Success - Book #2
Sweet Promises - Book #3
Sweet Memories - Book #4
Sweet History - Book #5 Coming September 2018
Fortune’s Bay
A Map to Destiny
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