by Olivia Swift
Also from Lirios Publishing
Click on the title to view in the Amazon Store
Sea Oak Mysteries
by Adele M. Cooper
Book One - Witness in the Park
Book Two - Tilted Justice
Book Three - Coming soon
Blooms, Bones and Stones Cozy Mysteries
by Olivia Swift
Book One - The Secret of Chestnut Hall
The Sampson’s Quarry Mysteries
by Sophie Tucker
Book One - The Road to Sampson’s Quarry
Book Two - Escape to Sampson’s Quarry
The Secret of the Jewel Shop
A Blooms, Bones and Stones Cozy Mystery - Book Two
Olivia Swift
Edited by
Sandy Chance
Copyright © 2017 by Olivia Swift
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
About the Author
Also from Lirios Publishing
1
The little shop front looked delightful and just the way Carly had imagined it would. She took a breath and a few seconds to stand and think about the thrill of stepping into her very own world. She had requested a crushed strawberry shade for the paint and it was deliciously quaint. The window was divided into three panels, and the doorway was an invitation to step inside. She could already see in her mind’s eye the colors of the necklaces, bracelets and earrings and the pieces of untouched amethyst and rose quartz that would decorate the shelves. It was a breathtaking moment to turn the key and step inside. A smile flitted across her face as she did just that and closed the door behind her.
“I must find one of those jingly bells that tinkle when anyone comes in,” she said out loud as she dropped her carpet bag on the counter. The interior was painted white; the landlord had been as good as his word. The counter was a scrubbed-clean wooden surface. There was a small archway that led into a rear section. She looked inside and did a little dance. It was hers, all hers, and she was so excited! She called her friend and previous employer, Jasmine Summer and squeaked out that she was inside the shop.
“I’ve actually got the place, and it is…it is…oh I am so thrilled.” She could hardly stand still. Jazz laughed at the sound of her friend’s voice.
“I’ll grab a jacket and come down. I really want to see this place,” she answered and then called to Evan that she was going to see the new shop. She jumped into the massive vehicle and roared off into town. She smiled as she pictured her friend. Carly was an individual who loved and sported bright shades of hair and clothing that changed constantly. She had an unbounded zest for life and was rarely negative about anything. She had been a wonderful and enthusiastic worker in Jazz’s garden restoration business. In her spare time, Carly made jewelry. In the end, she had taken the plunge to open a shop. Jazz knew it would be exquisite because the semi-precious stones which were made into pieces of art were so delicate and pretty. The contrast between the artist and her pieces of art was amazing.
Inside the shop, Carly was wearing bright-green jeans with a purple tank covered with a loose jacket covered in polka dots and swallows. She had her signature several necklaces around her neck, and her lavender hair was tied into a ponytail. Jazz ran in and hugged her friend.
“This is soooo exciting,” she cried and looked around. “When are you bringing stuff in?”
“Today,” Carly said. “I just needed to see if it was ready before I rolled up with a packed van.”
“It will be wonderful,” Jazz whirled around. “Can we see all of it?” Carly nodded and led the way through to the rear room. There was a table and chairs, a small bench where you could brew coffee, and a small bathroom off at the rear. A set of stairs led to the next floor on one side, and Carly started up.
“This building must be quite old,” Jazz remarked as they climbed the narrow staircase.
“The shops on either side and this one once were a hotel, I think,” Carly replied. “I really like that you can see the stairs are old and people have walked on them for years. The beams on the top floor are really ancient looking.” They stopped at the first floor and found three rooms that were not large but could be used for storage if needed, and then they climbed another flight up to the attic space. The roof sloped down on both sides and made the two rooms harder to navigate. Luckily both girls were not tall, and they peered out through the tiny attic windows to see the street below.
“It seems like another time and place up here,” Jazz said. “Nothing has been changed over the years.”
“I guess it was just too inconvenient to climb all the way up here. I suppose it was servants’ quarters when it was a hotel.” Jazz looked around and sniffed.
“Is it just me or can you smell lavender?” Carly turned slowly around and nodded.
“There’s nothing in here, not even a chair. Why would it smell of lavender?” she asked.
“Maybe when they cleaned the place out, someone came and swept it through. They could have been spraying something,” Jazz ventured, but Carly was looking at the doorway and clutched at Jazz’s arm.
“I could swear I saw a movement there,” she paused. “But it feels friendly in here. There is nothing negative.”
“You can try to read the crystals and see if anything comes to you,” Jazz suggested, and Carly nodded.
“When everything is in, and the place looks like a proper shop, I will,” she said. “But today I need to make a start.” Jazz said that she would talk Evan into being a removal man and come and help to unload all of the stock.
“Thanks,” Carly answered. “Let’s go and get things. I can’t wait any longer.” The two girls clattered back down the stairs, and Carly pointed out where she was planning to display things.
“I have some glass cabinets with lights inside as well and some lovely things made by other people to give some variety.” They locked the door and drove away planning to meet in about an hour.
Carly had been working day and night to build up a stock of her pieces made from semi-precious stones, but she also had some lovely floral and painted wooden items that would give the shop some atmosphere. The cabinets were quite heavy, and she was glad that Jazz had suggested bringing Evan to help move them. She fleetingly wondered when his brother would come back for another visit. She sat in the van for a few minutes before opening the rear doors to start her new venture. She had moved quite a lot of boxes by the time she heard the roar of Jazz’s motor and breathed a sigh of relief.
Jazz and Evan walked in, and with a little twist in her insides, Carly saw that Evan’s brother, Dex, was strolling towards her as well.
“Hi Dex,” she called. “All help welcome.” Dex smiled at her and asked her to show him what was to be done.
“I arrive at my brother’s and immediately get dragged out to use my muscles,” he grumbled light-heartedly.
“Take it as a training session for all the work ahead,” Evan added. Carly stopped and rested against the wall.
“What work?” she queried, and they all stopped.
“Have you got c
offee here yet?” Jazz asked and rooted around in the boxes to find the mugs. She started brewing and listened as Evan told Carly the news. She had not said anything before because she was not sure how certain Dex was. What she was certain about, but kept to herself, was that Dex and Carly liked each other--- even if they didn’t know it yet.
“Dex and I are going to divide Chestnut Hall into two separate houses, and he is relocating here.” Carly’s mouth actually dropped open, and for once, she was speechless.
“That’s fantastic,” she managed at last. “But why? What about work?” Dex grabbed a chair and sat.
“I freelance now as a building engineer,” He stated.
“Got sacked,” His brother added drily. Dex waved his hand in the air.
“Well yes, sort of.”
“The house is far too big for Jazz and me,” Evan continued. “I was going to do a lot of the updating myself, and another worker will be a great help.”
“There is me as well,” Jazz threw in, and Evan smiled at her.
“Yes, my fiancé is good with a hammer and electric drill.” The two of them had met when he hired Jasmine to restore the estate’s garden. “Next week we are going to New York to empty the apartment as it is more or less sold. Then I’ll be completely moved to Colorado.”
“Then there is the wedding to plan,” Jazz added and the two men visibly winced.
“I have put out one or two adverts, and I think there is plenty of work around here,” Dex added. “I’ll be moved entirely to Colorado as well. This is a sort of prepare-the-ground visit.” The man was like his brother in some ways but totally unlike in others. Both men were just short of six feet tall. Evan had been a famous mountain climber and now wrote about it. He was a best-selling author but preferred to be anonymous and stay away from the crowd. He was fit from years of training. It seemed a mystery why Dexter, who did not really care for exercise, looked exactly the same. There the similarity ended, because Dex looked like some college professor with the traditional corduroy jacket complete with elbow patches and dark-rimmed spectacles that gave him a very serious-minded look. He loved books, words, reading, and studying and liked to work things out in a logical and practical way. The dark ginger hair was like Evan’s and flopped continuously into his eyes. He ran his fingers through it over and over again, not realizing that it was such a noticeable habit.
“If you two men could get those glass cabinets into position for me, that would be so useful,” Carly said as she stood up to cover the flustered feeling of knowing Dexter was moving to the area. The little group swung back into action and started to unpack the items for sale.
“Crystals on this wall here,” she directed. “And wooden hearts and flowers opposite. The more expensive items, I’ll bring tomorrow and put in the cabinets.”
“Kim says that you asked for some houseplants to sell as well because it would help to decorate the shelves,” Jazz remarked. Her sister, Kim, had the plants ready to be delivered. “I’ll pop back with the plants.”
“The heavy lifting is done here,” Evan added. “I’ll go for the plants with Jazz. We’ll be back in half an hour.”
“Thanks,” Carly waved a hand as they left. “Dex, I really need to know if the blinds work for the windows at night.” He moved over to the window and found the mechanism that operated the blinds.
“These are for security and seem to be working just fine.” He operated them up and down and up again. “Out of interest, can I check out the whole place for you? After all, it is my thing.” Carly smiled and told him she had been upstairs and led the way. The first floor was inspected and proved to be empty and ordinary, but Dex was fascinated by the beams that were showing in the attic rooms.
“These look like the originals,” He said running his hand over the wood. “Well preserved and probably never much touched since they were constructed.”
“Can you smell the lavender?” she questioned, and Dex sniffed the air and nodded.
“Have you sprayed something?” She shook her head.
“I think there might be a spirit presence here. Feels friendly though. I wonder who she was?” Dex looked at her and then did another take.
“You are serious, aren’t you?” he asked incredulously. Carly knew immediately that he was a sceptic. She met them all the time.
“I’m not a medium or anything, but I do crystal readings, and I know there is more to the world than we can understand.” He shook his head.
“Prove it.” She took a chain from around her neck and on the end of it was a pointed quartz crystal. She held the chain delicately between thumb and forefinger and kept her hand as still as a stone.
“It will go clockwise for yes and counterclockwise for no,” she paused. “You can put your hand on mine to feel that I am not moving it in any way.” He folded a hand over hers. “Is this man called Dex?” She waited and felt the crystal start to turn in a counterclockwise direction. Apart from being amazed that the rock moved, he was sure he was right.
“There. It’s wrong. My name is Dex.” She shook her head and steadied the chain.
“Is this man called Dexter?” She asked and waited. It started slowly. He knew she was not helping it in any way. The stone swung wider and wider and in a clockwise direction.”
“Proof,” she said triumphantly and set off down the stairs. He was about to follow when the scent of lavender became so intense that he could almost feel it. It surrounded him and left his logical mind just a little bit shaken. He followed her down the stairs and into the reassuring chaos of the shop.
2
The two of them had made some sort of order by the time Evan and Jazz returned, and Dex had collected all the cardboard boxes and stacked them neatly out of the way.
“It’s starting to look as I want it to be,” Carly said looking around. “Those painted wooden hearts are so lovely.” She touched one hanging from a shelf by a pink ribbon. It was a pink-painted wooden heart against a bleached wooden background, and written in the center was ‘It’s a girl’. Another ring of twisted branches had pastel-colored paper roses woven into one side. It was a cute wall hanging. “People are so talented,” she added as more of the wooden collection was added to the shelf.
“You are pretty talented yourself,” Dex answered and picked up a necklace of twisted snowflake obsidian and black jasper on three different silver chains that were artfully wound together. They were displayed against a white, porcelain pear and the stones picked up the black stalk at the top of the pear.
“The pear serves two purposes,” she answered and took it from his hand. “It’s for sale as an ornament but a good display object as well.” She handed him the untouched versions of snowflake obsidian and asked him to add those to the shelf with jewels of the same shade. “Color coordinated shelves,” she grinned and looked around. “I’m trying to use the colors of chakras to make some sort of order. I bet you don’t know what they are.” Dex admitted that he had no knowledge of that but did say that he knew colors were important.
“Yellow is cheerful and red is dominant,” he told her. “I am not completely idiotic.” She smiled in reply and handed him the amethyst to go on the lavender-shaded shelving. Jazz and Evan arrived back with boxes of neat rows of plants. Carly gave them planters to display the plants at the doorway.
“I’ll put one or two in plant pot holders on the shelves, but I’ll leave that until the opening. It will be easier to water them at the door.”
“When is the grand opening?” Evan asked.
“The day after tomorrow. I need all the help I can get to hand out drinks and snacks,” she answered. They all said they would be there.
“Kim as well,” Jazz told her. “And Ben will try not to knock things over.” Carly raised her hands in the air as she thought about the colleague that she had worked with for three years.
“Ye gods, the man will seem like a mountain in here,” she smiled. “But he always tries to help.”
“So what time?” Dex queried. They ag
reed to be there at nine thirty to prepare for the day.
“I hope people actually come,” Carly worried, but Jazz assured her that every customer at the nursery had gone away with leaflets and instructions to spread the word. “The next day we go to New York for a couple of days.”
“I am trusted to house sit and start on some of the alterations.” Dex thumped his brother on the shoulder. “Better you than me in the city.”
“If that ex-wife appears again, she will bite off more than she can chew,” Jazz said. “This time I will be ready.” She laughed. “I know she’s in jail and you are right, I’ll want to be back in the country again.”
“But not before you hit some of the shops,” Carly added and Evan sighed at the thought.
“This looks wonderful, Carly,” Jazz told her friend.
“I’ve got tomorrow to add the finishing touches. Thanks for the help.” Evan and Jazz headed for the door, but Dex asked if she needed someone to stay.
“The ghost might get you,” he joked, and she shook her head.
“You will see I am right in the end.”
“Whoa. Whoa.” Evan said. “What’s this about a ghost?” Jazz smiled and told him about the scent of lavender upstairs and, of course, he wanted to go up and check it out. The two men set off up the stairs as Carly continued to put displays in place.
“Dex does not believe in anything like that. He will be trying to explain away the scent by saying it's from the cleaning,” Carly said as she handed some pretty painted coasters to Jazz for the lemon- shaded shelf. “I dowsed with the crystal on my chain; he knew I was not nudging it in any way.” She laughed. “He was convinced I was wrong and then I asked if his name was Dexter and the crystal swung high and wide.” Jazz laughed.