A Killer Carol by Laura Bradford

Author:Laura Bradford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2019-09-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Claire leaned against the door frame and stared out at the faces making their way up and down Lighted Way on what had to be her busiest day of the season to date. From the moment she’d let herself in through the back door and mad-dashed her way across the shop to unlock the front door, she’d been going nonstop.

She’d helped a few men decide on gifts for their wives . . .

She’d held up more than a few Amish quilts for potential buyers wanting to find just the right shade of blue or yellow or green . . .

She’d answered the near-daily question as to why the handmade dolls didn’t have faces . . .

She’d offered her opinion on the lunch options at Taste of Heaven(ly) . . .

She’d engaged in a lively discussion about the book a particular customer had sticking out of her tote . . .

She’d bagged postcards and napkin rings and place mats and a little bit of just about everything else she had in the store . . .

She’d gift-wrapped a few items . . .

She’d counted back change and tucked receipts into shopping bags . . .

She’d encouraged people to come to next week’s One Heavenly Night if they were in the area . . .

And more than a few times, while standing behind the register, she’d glanced longingly at the empty shelf where Annie’s lunch pail would have been if the Amish teen had been able to keep her shift.

It was a good problem to have—a busy shop. Especially when the holidays would soon give way to Lighted Way’s biggest nemesis: January. But try as she had to be in the moment all morning long, the persistent churning in her stomach had made it difficult to forget her visit with Ruth. In fact, more than a few customers had asked if she was okay when, according to one woman from Chicago, she’d looked as if she was going to cry. She’d covered, of course, by claiming she’d gotten something in her eye, but the second the lie was uttered, her thoughts had gone racing right back to the mysterious letter and her own decision not to confront Ruth about it when she’d returned from the barn.

“Busy day?”

Startled into a full stand, Claire turned toward the back of the shop and the somber-faced teenager looking around the room, wide-eyed. “Annie! I didn’t hear you come in!” Then, leaving her view of Lighted Way completely, she met her part-time employee in the middle of the room. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the viewing for Mary and . . .” She paused, sniffed the air, and then peeked around Annie into the back hallway. “Um, sweetie? Did you leave the back door open by any chance?”

“It is closed.”

Again, she sniffed the air, the answering aroma kicking off a very different churning inside her stomach. “Then why am I smelling cinnamon as if it’s under my nose?”

“Because it is.” Annie pulled her hand from behind her back and held up a covered plate.

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