Juniper Grove Cozy Mystery Box Set 3 by Karin Kaufman

Author:Karin Kaufman [Kaufman, Karin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-10-03T22:00:00+00:00

heading up Sophie’s wet gravel drive, I saw four cars parked near the cottage—the same four I’d seen earlier in the day. I didn’t know which was Sophie’s, but the other three belonged to the Cottage Women. They’d all chosen to stay for dinner.

Before getting out, I turned back to Royce. “Stick together, no matter what. Don’t separate and don’t go off exploring.”

“Julia’s safe with me,” Royce said.

Julia gave her gray curls a pat. “I’m trying to convince myself that this is exciting.”

“It’s better than TV,” I said.

I grabbed my bouquet of spring flowers, we walked to the door, and I gave it a loud rap. Mariette, a glass of wine in one hand, answered.

“Sophie can’t come to the door because we murdered her after she made the salad,” she said with a snicker.

I glared at her.

“Oh, flowers!” she said, snatching the bouquet. “Come on in, I was only joking. Don’t be so serious.” She flashed an inebriated smile at me, but her smile faded when she looked at Royce. “And who are you?”

“Royce Putnam, Julia Foster’s friend,” he answered politely. “And we’re getting a little wet.”

“It’s raining?” Mariette took a sip of wine as she gazed out the front door. She was wearing the same dress I’d seen her in earlier, but this time she was in a pair of high heels. Not the best choice, given the amount of wine she must have consumed.

“Julia!” Sophie called out as she strode for the door. She elbowed Mariette out of the way and ushered us inside. “I’m so glad you could come. I haven’t seen you in a while. And Rachel, thank you so much for coming.” She leaned in and whispered, “We have to talk when you have a minute.”

“Look,” Mariette said, holding out the bouquet. “Flowers. They’re pretty.”

“How many glasses have you had?” Sophie asked.

“Not enough.” Mariette spun on her heels, nearly tripped over her own feet, and headed into the living room.

“Sorry about that,” Sophie said as she shut the door. “And thank you for the flowers.”

Royce introduced himself again, and I explained Holly’s absence, minus the thumb-like-a-lemon part of the story.

“It’s nice to meet you, Royce,” Sophie said. “We’re all in the kitchen, having a glass before dinner. I’ll offer you some if Mariette left a bottle unscathed.”

Julia gave me a pained expression as we followed Sophie to the kitchen. It was going to be a wild night.

The other women were seated at the farmhouse table when we entered, drinking wine and snacking on large stuffed olives. I smelled chicken or turkey baking in the oven and saw an unopened can of crescent-roll dough on the kitchen counter.

“They brought the flowers,” Mariette said, pointing at the bouquet, which was still wrapped in its cellophane funnel.

Tyra sighed. “We figured that out.”

“Giving credit where credit is due,” Mariette said, playing with a short strand of her dark hair.

“And will you stop that!” Tyra cried.

Sophie, wisely ignoring their chatter, filled a vase with water, unwrapped the flowers, and set them inside.

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