Cookies and Condolences by Donna Doyle

Author:Donna Doyle [Doyle, Donna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PureRead
Published: 2019-06-16T04:00:00+00:00

6

Two Heaping Tablespoons of Town Gossip

The diner wasn’t very busy the next day, but Sammy wished it was. She liked the distraction. Quite a few people popped in to pick up pastries or doughnuts, but most of them didn’t stay to eat.

Except for Julia Richardson, who lingered at her favorite table while she slowly ate the soup of the day—a delicious lentil soup that Helen had put together—and then leisurely drank a few cups of coffee. Sammy was spending most of her time in the kitchen, but she happened to be the one to come out and pick up her check.

“Oh, Sammy! I didn’t think you were here. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

She couldn’t make any excuses about being busy, considering the restaurant was nearly deserted. And the truth was that she wanted to get started on her list. “What can I do for you?”

“It’s more of what I can do for you,” Mrs. Richardson explained. “I wanted to say I’m sorry about what happened to your contractor. To be fair, I warned you not to use him, but I can’t say I expected that to happen. And now you have to wait to open.”

“It’ll be all right,” Sammy assured her with a forced smile. “We’ll get it all figured out.”

“Sit down, dear, sit down.” Mrs. Richardson gestured at the seat across from her. “I’ve heard about how you’ve been involved in a few of the strange things that happen around this town. I thought I might have some information that would help you out.”

Sammy sat, but she shook her head and waved off the customer’s notions. “This is a police matter, and it doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

“Pish tosh! You can’t kid a kidder, sweetheart! I know you’re at least thinking about it.”

She could at least humor her, and in the process she might learn something. “Okay. Lay it on me.”

Mrs. Richardson leaned forward. “Harold Woodland had been working in Sunny Cove for a very long time. He was known as a shrewd businessman, and it worked well for him for a long time. But the more money he made, the greedier he became.”

It sounded like quite the parable, but Sammy was interested in what she had to say. “I’m listening.”

“While I can’t talk poorly of him for wanting to make money, it was his methods that really made people start talking about him. He started using cheap materials that didn’t hold up, he cut corners to the detriment of his customers, and he wasn’t very nice to the men who worked for him. Why, there was one young man helping him with that bathroom of mine, and Mr. Woodland did nothing but yell at him the entire time!”

The contractor had seemed very nice when Sammy had interviewed him, but she was starting to understand that she hadn’t seen the entire picture. “I can’t say anything yet about the work he did or the quality of it. Things seems fine at SCS so far, but only time will tell.

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