A Twist In The Tail

By the time I was done telling them what had happened, the other guests were pulling into the driveway. Iona rushed to Ron to get the lowdown from him, and they beckoned Tina to join them, which she did reluctantly.

Mike had drifted off and was chatting with Stella. I didn’t really mind – I mean, he was free to talk to whoever he wanted, but for some annoying reason I kept glancing in their direction as if I cared. A few times I caught Mike’s eye. He had a smug expression every time he caught me looking, which I ignored.

Ava strode over to us, nodding her head as if she’d known what was unfolding the whole time. ‘Well, things sure are interesting at the Oyster Cove Guesthouse.’

‘Never a dull moment,’ Millie said.

‘I knew something was going on,’ Ava said. ‘It’s good to know my reporter’s instincts are still working. Too bad people don’t give a monkey’s banana about society happenings anymore. It’s okay though, I have something better in mind.’

Ava walked off with a satisfied look on her face and I got a little worried.

‘I hope she’s not going to write some sensational newspaper article about this,’ I said to Millie.

Millie’s brows drew together. ‘Me too. Then again, maybe it would bring in business. You know how morbid people are.’

‘Hmm… you have a point.’

‘Never mind that,’ Mom tugged on my arm. ‘Mike’s leaving. You’re not going to let him get away, are you?’

I glanced over at his car, half expecting to see Stella inside, but she wasn’t. ‘Yes, I think I am.’

‘Are you sure? Could be your last chance to get him to ask you out on a date,’ Mom said. ‘Millie said he finished up the last task on his list today.’

‘I’m not in the market for a date,’ I said. ‘Besides, it’s probably for the best if he doesn’t hang around here too much. The way he calls me Sunshine is annoying.’

As I watched his truck turn onto the road, I felt a little tug of regret. Now that he wouldn’t be working at the guesthouse, I probably wouldn’t see him much, but surely that was for the best?

Meow!

Meroo!

Nero and Marlowe joined our circle and Millie and Mom bent down to scratch their ears. The two cats strutted around, tails in the air and heads held high.

‘Sheesh, by the way they’re acting, you’d think they’d caught the killer,’ Mom said.

‘They sure do look proud of something,’ Millie glanced up at me, her brows raised in a question.

I looked down at the two cats. They met my gaze with intelligent, luminescent eyes. ‘Funny you say that. I think they did actually help out. It was due to them getting underfoot, that I was able to push Barbara into the basement.’

Millie looked adoringly at the cats, a proud smile on her face. ‘Well then, I say they are certainly taking good care of the guesthouse and their new human. What do you say, Josie?’

‘I agree, in fact I’m getting used to their company. I can’t imagine the guesthouse without them.’

Meow!

Meress!

Twenty-Three

‘I’m so proud that you caught a killer all by yourself while running a new business, Mom.’ Emma’s voice gushed over the phone, swelling my heart with pride. ‘But it sounds like that could have been dangerous.’

‘Not at all, Sheriff Chamberlain was right outside the door.’ I made it sound like I’d arranged for the sheriff to step in so Emma would think I was never in danger.

‘Even so, I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you,’ Emma said.

‘You don’t need you to worry about me. I’m sure nothing like that will happen again. I mean, what are the odds?’

Emma laughed. ‘Good point. I gotta run. You take care. Love you, Mom.’

‘Love you too.’ I barely got the words out before she disconnected. Kids these days, always running off. Truth was, I’d wanted to give her the same heartfelt warning about her job at the FBI. I took some comfort in the fact that she was an analyst and not in the field, but still, a mother never stops worrying. Unless maybe you were talking about my mother. She seemed to thrive on danger and it didn’t seem to matter which one of us was in it.

It was one week after Barbara’s arrest and Millie, Mom and I sat in the kitchen at the Oyster Cove Guesthouse.

Steam wafted up from mugs of coffee that sat beside warm pieces of sugary sour cream coffee cake on the table in front of us. Nero and Marlowe were there too, of course. They’d been treated like royalty all week and were now lapping up the last of a small bit of cream I’d given them as a treat.

‘At least Stella Dumont did the right thing and decided not to use my coffee cake recipe for the contest.’ Millie forked up a piece of the crumbly top.

‘That would have been cheating,’ My mother said. ‘What’s she using instead?’

‘Her Aunt Sally’s fruitcake, I think.’ Millie said.

Mom laughed. ‘I doubt that will win any prizes.’