First Edition Murder (A Sandie James Cozy Mystery Book 1) by Tessa Kelly

Author:Tessa Kelly [Kelly, Tessa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tessa Kelly
Published: 2019-07-29T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Kathy met me at the bakery door. I couldn’t be sure if the deep circles under her eyes were due to finding out about the new murder, or the fight she'd had with Jeff the night before.

“Will called me about Dora.” She gave me a hug and walked me in. “I spoke to Dad, he sounded devastated. I can't imagine how you must be feeling. You really didn’t have to come in today.”

“No. I knew you needed me.” I decided not to mention my rent. Kathy would just try to pay me for the catering, even though she hadn’t been paid herself, and Jeff would take issue with that. The last thing I wanted was to cause more tension between my sister and her husband.

“At least sit down for a few minutes.” Kathy pointed me to the couch and sat next to me.

A cheesecake brownie and a large mocha with whipped cream appeared on the table in front of us. I looked up, expecting to see Valeria. To my surprise, it was Josh. His cheeks were slightly pink.

“You look like you could use a whole lot of comfort food,” he said.

I was touched by his unexpected concern. “Thanks, Josh.”

“No problem.” Pivoting on his heels, he stuck his hands in his pockets and walked behind the counter.

I thought he would get back to whatever he was doing when I came in, but he returned with an iced coffee for himself and a root beer for Kathy. It was still early for customers— assuming we had any today—so he pulled out a chair and sat down. His deep brown eyes fixed on me for a moment longer than usual before flicking away.

“I was sorry to hear about Dora,” he said. “She seemed like a nice lady, always friendly when she came in.”

I nodded. “She was. We all hoped she and Dad would...” No. It was too sad to think about. I concentrated on getting all the whipped cream off my mocha instead.

“How did it happen?” Josh asked.

My breath hitched. I had spoken to Will on my way over, and he filled me in on the details. Knowing them hadn’t made me feel any better, especially since it was a fair guess that by the days’ afternoon the whole thing would take center stage in the neighborhood’s gossip mill. Josh might as well hear it from me, instead of the colorful versions that were most likely going to sprout from this.

“A dog walker found Dora’s body early this morning,” I told him. “It was just a block away from my house. The police say she was strangled. They thought at first it might’ve been a mugging gone wrong, but nothing was taken from her, so they discarded that version.”

The door opened and Tyrone and Will walked in. They made a beeline over to us.

Tyrone shook his head in a stunned way. “Can’t believe what happened! You okay, girl?”

I felt tears coming on, but I quickly blinked them away and took a swig of the hot mocha.

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