by Sonia Parin
“Hey, how did I get to my room? I only had a couple of beers and I remember asking you to lead the way. Did you herd me back?” Abby sat up. “Hang on. I think I might have tried to go into another room by mistake. I remember apologizing.” She groaned. She supposed the jet lag had already caught up with her…
“Okay. This is weird. I can’t get a connection.” After several more attempts and failing, she decided to feed Doyle, have a shower and get some food into her and then try to connect the video chat.
Half an hour later, she made her way downstairs and headed toward the dining room. Along the way, she bumped into Mitch. “Hey. Is something wrong with the internet this morning? I’m trying to get my mom on-line.”
“It’s working perfectly fine,” Mitch said.
“There must be something wrong.” Abby gasped. Had something happened to her mom? “She’s not answering. She always answers.”
“Who?” Mitch asked.
“My mom.”
“Oh. She came down earlier.”
“Huh?”
Mitch grinned. “I’m trying to get into the spirit of it all. Your virtual mom came down about an hour ago.”
“What are you talking about?” Abby waved her cell phone. “She can’t have come down by herself.”
“You must be jet lagged. She’s in the dining room.”
Abby swayed.
“Are you right there?”
“Please explain.”
“Last night, she exchanged numbers with a few people from the tour group and arranged to connect with them this morning.” Mitch clicked his fingers in front of her eyes. “Wakey-wakey. Remember, when your cell phone recharged, you handed it over to the person sitting next to you and your mom made the rounds so she could chat with people.”
Swinging around, Abby rushed toward the dining room and called out, “Who has my mom?”
Several people turned to look at her.
“Mom?” Abby called out again.
“Over here, Abby.”
“That’s her,” someone said.
Seeing a group of diners all huddled together, Abby approached their table. “Excuse me, please. I believe you have my mom.”
“They’ve been keeping me company while you slept, Abby.” Her mom introduced the group. The names went in one ear and out the other but Abby noticed they all wore name tags, to make the tour bus driver’s life easier, one woman explained.
“You go on and have your breakfast. I’ll be fine here,” her mom assured her. “They’ve been telling me about all the places they’ve visited. Would you believe it? They’ll be traveling right around the country. Go on. We’ll catch up later.”
Abby stepped back. Feeling slightly dazed, she strode over to a table.
“Looks like your mom ditched you,” Markus said in his gruff tone. “Makes you wonder what they have that you don’t.”
“I hate to admit it, but I do feel slighted.” Abby glanced over at the group. “Could I have breakfast and lots of it, please.” Doyle curled up by her feet and settled into one of his morning snoozes. Noticing Markus still hovering by her table, she looked up. “I’m giving you carte blanche. You can bring me whatever you want.”
Markus rested his hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure you’re still her little girl. You know, sometimes, parents need to enjoy their own space.”
“Markus. The carte blanche gave you freedom to bring me whatever you like for breakfast.”
He grinned. “Think of the advice as an added extra. Here at The Gloriana we make customer satisfaction our number one priority. Right along with ensuring it remains a crime free zone. Yes, we’re big on that too. Did I say that right?”
Rolling her eyes, she shooed him away.
As she waited for her breakfast, Abby tried to distract herself by reorganizing the sugar satchels but her gaze kept skipping over to the next table. She could hear her mom laughing and joking with someone named Alice and exchanging a recipe with Steph. Linda had spent some time in Iowa City where her husband had been a visiting professor. There were a couple of other women but Abby didn’t notice them saying much.
Abby sighed. Sometimes, she forgot her mom had a life of her own. Abby’s dad had passed on when she’d been a toddler so it had always been just the two of them. When Abby had moved to Seattle for work, she’d worried her mom would miss her but she hadn’t. After all, she had her job. Being a children’s book illustrator kept her busy throughout the year and she had her friends and neighbors. Since moving half way around the world, however, her mom had grown overly protective and worried about Abby’s wellbeing.
“Breakfast of champions,” Markus said as he set a plate down in front of her.
“Huevos Rancheros?” Abby asked.
“Close enough. Eggy Vegetarian Delight with Savory Oatmeal.”
“I see.” Abby tried to sound impressed but failed miserably.
Markus smiled. “The way I see it, Hannah has taken oatmeal to a whole new level. Instead of sugar and cinnamon, she seasoned the oatmeal with salt and pepper and topped it with a variety of lightly sautéed chopped vegetables and a sunny side up egg. Enjoy.” Markus set down a piece of paper on the table. “When you finish, we’d appreciate your feedback.”
Looking up, she saw Markus trying to smile but his perpetual scowl won out.
Abby looked down at the form. “Customer feedback? I’m guessing Mitch came up with this idea.”
“I always knew the day would come and I’d have to own up,” Markus sighed. “Yes, I did drop him on his head. Call me clumsy.”
“Wow. I go away for two weeks and come back to this.” While Markus strode off growling under his breath, Mitch stopped by her table, a huge grin on his face.
“How’s the morning after treating you?” he asked.
“I’m guessing I drunk one too many beers but it worked a treat. I slept right through the night.” She held up the customer feedback form. “What’s this?”
“Oh, yes. Remember to fill that out, please. Markus and his bright ideas. I’m trying to humor him. You know he can be as grumpy as a bear with a sore head.”
The edge of her lip kicked up. “I thought it might have been your sister’s idea.”
“Eddie? Oh, no. She’s focusing on her own stuff. Now she’s in competition with us. Her restaurant is stealing all our best customers. Who would have thought with a name like Posh and Bull? Anyhow, we’d appreciate your honest opinion.” He looked down at her plate and grimaced. “That’s what Markus tried to impress you with? I told him to play it safe and stick with bacon.”
Hearing her mom calling her, Abby turned and saw one of the tourists waving his phone at her. “Your mom wants to connect with you now.”
Abby propped her cell phone against a sugar bowl. “I guess I won’t be eating breakfast alone after all.” Her mom proceeded to tell her all about the new people she’d met and appeared to have taken a liking to Mr. Howington.
“Bert’s a retired accountant.” Her mom lowered her voice. “You won’t believe this. He won a lottery jackpot. That’s how he funded his trip for himself and his friends. They’re actually avoiding the large cities and weaving their way from one small town to the next. Alice, that’s one of the women in the group, is a history buff so she has all these tidbits to share. They’ll be traveling around for several months.”
“And Mr. Howington is picking up the tab? Wow. That’s generous.”
Her mom gave a pensive nod. “So, what’s on the agenda for today?”
“I thought we might start with a proper tour of the town. We’ll drop in on all the stores and I can introduce you to the locals. Let me know when you feel like calling it a day. The time difference takes some getting used to.”
“Oh, I’ll be fine. I’ve changed all the clocks to Australian time.”
Abby finished her breakfast and washed it all down with coffee.
“Remember to fill out the customer feedback form,” her mom said as she appeared to be looking over Lexie’
s shoulder.
Turning, Lexie saw the tourists’ group organizing themselves to leave.
“They must have found another bus to take them on a day trip.”
Noticing a hint of interest in her mom’s voice, Abby said, “I get the feeling you’d like to go with them.”
“Nonsense. I’m here to spend time with you.”
“That’s lovely, Mom, but… if you want to go, I do have some work I need to catch up on.”
“Really? You won’t mind?” She didn’t wait for Abby to answer. “Call Bert over.”
“Bert?”
“Mr. Howington.”
Bert Howington jumped at the chance to take Abby’s mom along on a virtual tour saying, “I’m going to have a tale and a half to tell when I get home.”
One of the women held out her cell phone and asked Abby to take a photo of them.
“Abby, take a photo for me too,” her mom called out.
Promising to be back by dinnertime, the tour group left on their day trip taking her mom along with them.
“You look worried,” Mitch said.
“I feel worried. What if something happens?” Abby had planned this virtual tour right down to the last detail, leaving nothing to chance. She wanted to make a positive impression on her mom so she’d come down and visit her for real. Surging to her feet, she said, “I think I might follow them at a discreet distance. Come on, Doyle. We don’t want to lose sight of them.”
Chapter Two
“I lost them,” Abby wailed. She’d been doing so well, following the tourist bus at a discreet distance. It had been easy enough to do along the long stretches of country road, but then the bus had made a turn heading further up the mountain and along a winding road.
Sighing, Abby slowed down and checked her cell phone for directions. She’d definitely missed a turnoff. Either that or they’d taken a different route to the next town. “Okay, we might as well head back. I wouldn’t mind a second breakfast.”
Doyle huffed out a breath and sank his head between his paws.
“Hey, I’m not blaming you. Did you hear me say anything? It’s not your fault if nature calls. I had to stop for you.” She gave him a scratch under his chin and turned back toward town. “It’s just as well. I really should catch up with what’s been going on. And you know what that means… Yes, I’m going to Joyce’s Café. Well, maybe not straight away.”
As she drove back, Abby rehearsed what she would have said if her mom had been with her. “Let’s see… This is the dirt road Doyle and I turned into when we were looking for Kinsley Roberts. She has a magnificent house. Although, if you’d seen it then, you would not have agreed. Yes, we did find a dead body.” Abby shrugged. “It’s not as if we went looking for trouble.” Tilting her head, she tried to remember if she’d told her mom about Joyce blacklisting her and refusing to sell her coffee until she discovered the identity of the Eden Bloggess. “My memory is a bit hazy.” Yes, she’d gone through withdrawal symptoms, surviving on limited coffee rations for several days. At first, she had considered using the opportunity to wean herself and switch from coffee to tea. While she’d tried to make the best of the situation, she hadn’t quite embraced the idea of becoming a tea drinker.
“What do you think, Doyle? Should I make a permanent switch over to tea? It would be a bold move. I’m sure Joyce would issue a swift reprisal and accuse me of inciting rebellion within the community because, of course, I wouldn’t simply stop drinking coffee. I would make sure everyone knew about it with an article on the front page of the Eden Rise Gazette expounding the benefits of tea drinking. She has it coming. The woman had me on tenterhooks when she blacklisted me. Faith is right. She has way too much power, which she wields with the wrath of a Goddess.” Laughing under her breath, Abby heard a text message coming through. “Oh, it’s Mom.” Abby pulled over and answered the text. Moments later, she received a response.
“Okay. Looks like she wants a break from the tour group.” Checking the roaming signal, she connected the video chat and slipped the cell phone into the cradle she had customized for her dashboard. “Mom.”
“Oh, I see you’re out and about.”
“Yes.” She didn’t want to admit she’d tried to follow the tourist bus, so she prevaricated. Actually, she lied. “I wanted to check out the progress at Kinsley’s house. Work is well under way.”
“Is that the house where you found a dead body?” her mom asked.
Abby bobbed her head from side to side. Yes, she had found a dead body, but not on purpose. Abby shifted in her seat and decided to change the subject. “How are you feeling?”
“Jetlagged.”
Her armchair traveling mom… Jet lagged? “Did you enjoy hanging out with the tourist group?”
“They’re a lively lot. Yes, I had fun but… I think Alice and Linda have their eye on Bert. It felt a little awkward. Also, he looked a little tired. So, I thought I’d ease off.”
Abby had noticed their name tags but she couldn’t recall which name belonged to which woman. “What about the other women? Are they making eyes at Bert too?”
“I think they’d like to. They’re probably waiting for an opportunity to get a word in edgewise. Alice and Linda are quite chatty. Anyhow, where are we going?”
“I’m famished and craving a steak or a second breakfast. I haven’t decided which one I want more yet. I’m headed back to town. Now that you’re here, I thought I could give you a bit of a tour. Oh, look… We’re coming up to the lake where we had the picnic a short while ago.”
“The lake where you found a dead body?” her mom asked.
Abby bit the edge of her lip. “You can see there are farmhouses dotting the countryside. Some are close to the road with the paddocks undulating into the distance. And here’s the farmhouse where I…” Abby broke off and sighed. The farmhouse where she’d cornered a person of interest. In fact, the woman had been a killer and Abby had come close to meeting an unhappy end. “Isn’t the countryside pretty, Mom? I love driving out early in the morning. Sometimes, the mist hangs low over the hills and makes everything look haunted.”
“An ideal destination for ghosts,” her mom mused.
Abby looked down at Doyle in time to see his worried expression. “I’m sinking here, Doyle,” she mouthed.
“Oh, can we drop by the antique store?” her mom asked. “I want to meet Joyce’s fiancé properly. You rarely talk about him. I’ve seen him from a distance but I’ve never had the chance to have a proper chat with him.”
“He’s not exactly the chatty type, Mom.” Abby sank into her seat. Bradford Mills didn’t like people going into his antique store. While he opened the store every day, he enjoyed settling down at his counter to read and write… in peace and quiet.
“I seem to remember you saying he’d worked as a newspaper reporter.”
“Yes. He’s writing a book now, but he doesn’t like to talk about it. I think it’s a thriller.”
“With all the incidents taking place in this town,” her mom said, “you’d think he’d be inspired to write a murder mystery.”
“So, did Bert ignore you?” Abby asked as she tried to change the subject.
“Oh, no. We had a lovely chat. He showed a lot of interest in my job saying that as an accountant he’d always envied people who could spend their days doing something fun and creative like drawing. I thought he was being polite but then he told me his wife used to love hunting down original book illustrations. You’ll never guess, so I’ll tell you. He told me he’d put all his wife’s belongings in storage and he remembered seeing a drawing of a rabbit. I asked him about it and I’m sure it’s a Beatrix Potter drawing of Peter Rabbit.”
“Wow. That must be worth quite a bit.”
“That’s what I told him. He actually offered to send it to me.”
“Double wow.”
“Exactly. I made it clear I couldn’t possibly accept such a gift but he insisted. Even after I told him he could sell it for a profit. He said
he had more money than he knew what to do with. He’s quite a gentleman and made sure to always include me in the conversation.” Her mom sighed. “A couple of times, someone dropped a serviette on top of the cell phone. I’m sure they did it by accident. Anyhow, Bert acted promptly and removed it.”
“Does he have family?”
“Yes, a son and a daughter. He’s been a widower for a number of years.”
“And he’s picking up the tab for this trip?” That struck Abby as odd. People could be generous… Up to a point.
“He mentioned something about his kids doing quite well. I’m sure he gave them something. Or maybe he put some money aside for the grandkids. His daughter has two children but his son is still single.”
“He must have won a large amount to be able to afford such a trip,” Abby mused.
“Yes, I suppose. He said they’re traveling right around the country. Most tourists stick to the main cities, but he wanted to do a thorough tour of out of the way places.”
When they reached Eden, Abby pulled up outside the antique store, Brilliant Baubles. She could see Bradford Mills standing behind the counter. Hard to miss him, she thought, as he always wore a khaki shirt and hunting jacket with a variety of pens poking out of his pocket.
“How about we look at the window display first?” Abby suggested. From experience, she knew she needed to play it safe by getting the lay of the land first. At some point, she expected Bradford would look up. When he did, she hoped she’d be able to pick up on his mood. Although, his deadpan expression sometimes made it difficult to gauge how he felt.
“If he doesn’t like customers coming into his store, why did he go into business?” her mom asked.
Abby scratched around her mind for an answer. “From memory, he inherited the store. When he came to check it out, he decided to stay on. His uncle had been well known in the area and he wanted to keep his memory alive.”
Her mom sighed. “And now he’s engaged to Joyce. So, he found happiness.”
Yes, Abby thought, there’s still hope. Her mom had never pushed her to settle down but she knew she’d be happier if her only daughter found someone special to share her life with.