Lanterns, Lighthouses and Death (A Knick-Knack Boutique Mystery Book 5) by Constance Barker

Author:Constance Barker [Barker, Constance]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Constance Barker
Published: 2024-12-05T00:00:00+00:00

THE SMELL OF FRESHLY baked bread and cinnamon greeted us as we stepped into the small bakery on Main Street. Cody held the door for me, and as we moved toward the counter, I spotted Nora sitting at one of the corner tables, absentmindedly stirring a cup of coffee. Her eyes were fixed on the window, lost in thought, and she hadn’t noticed us yet.

Cody nudged me gently, nodding in her direction. “Looks like we’ve found our opportunity,” he muttered under his breath.

I followed him as he made a casual approach toward her table, his face calm, like we were just two old friends grabbing a bite to eat. As we reached her, Cody put on his best sheriff smile. “Well, if it isn’t Nora Hawkins. Mind if we join you?”

Nora blinked, startled from her reverie, then looked up at us. For a second, I saw something flicker across her face—unease, maybe—but she quickly smoothed it over, offering a faint smile. “Oh, Cody... sure, I guess. Go ahead.”

We slid into the seats across from her, and I could feel the tension building under the surface as Cody started in. “How’ve you been holding up? Must be a lot to deal with—everything with the lighthouse and your father’s estate.”

Nora shrugged, stirring her coffee with a little more vigor than necessary. “Yeah, it’s been... a lot. Just trying to get through it all.”

Cody leaned forward slightly, his tone casual but probing. “Your father was involved in some pretty intense stuff near the end. You ever get a sense of what he was up to?”

Nora shifted uncomfortably in her chair, her fingers tracing the rim of her coffee cup. I could see the tension building behind her eyes as she spoke, like she was reliving something she’d long tried to bury.

“My father and I were never close,” she said, her voice cold and detached. “After my mother left, it was just him and that lighthouse. That place consumed him. It’s all he talked about, all he cared about. It ruined our family.” She paused, staring down into her coffee as if looking for answers. “He chose that lighthouse over everything—over us.”

I watched her carefully, sensing the bitterness in her words, though she tried to mask it. “That’s why your mother left?” I asked, gently pushing for more.

Nora nodded slowly. “Yeah. She couldn’t take it anymore. The obsession with the lighthouse, the long nights he spent there. She packed up and moved out of town, and after that, he didn’t even try to stay in touch with me. We barely spoke. To him, that lighthouse was all that mattered.”

Cody, sitting across from her, leaned in. “So, why the rush to sell it now? Why not take your time, make sure you get the best deal?”

Nora shifted in her seat again, her eyes darting from Cody to me. “I just want to go back home,” she said, a little too quickly. “I don’t belong here anymore. This place... it’s filled with nothing but bad memories. The sooner I can sell that property and get back to my life, the better.

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