Murder Between the Pages: A Captivating Tea Shop Cozy Mystery by Harlow Cassidy

Author:Harlow, Cassidy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-02-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter eleven

The morning sun cast a somber glow over Willow Haven the following morning. Emily stood next to the small window in her bedroom, feeling the warmth of the sun fall across her face as she gently clutched the cup of tea to her chest. She watched as the sleepy town of Willow Haven began waking up to the news she knew the day would bring.

She breathed deeply through her nose as she braced herself for the impending announcement — Oliver Blackwood was dead.

She reeled at the reality that someone in Willow Haven had been murdered. She racked her brain trying to remember if the town had ever seen a case like this in her lifetime. She couldn’t remember if there had been, but she also knew that her father may have protected her more than she realized.

Somehow, she struggled to come to terms with the fact that the sleepy, innocent town she loved so much felt so different than it had just a few days earlier. The grip on her mug tightened as she considered how this would change things in the little town and for its residents.

The phone vibrating from its place on the bedside table interrupted her dark reveries. She slowly turned from the window to retrieve the phone. The screen illuminated to show Jane’s message, “Oliver’s death has been announced in the paper” along with a link to the article from the Willow Haven Gazette.

Emily’s stomach churned as she clicked the link. She held her breath, preparing to see what the town would be discovering for the first time this morning. Slowly, the page loaded to reveal Oliver Blackwood’s headshot with a title reading, “Olive Blackwood Found Dead: Mystery Surrounds Renowned Author’s Demise.”

She choked on the bluntness of the headline. Even though Emily had lived with this information for days now, seeing it printed in black and white brought the reality crashing down around her. She slowly scrolled through the article to see if there might have been any information that she didn’t already know.

“The Willow Haven police department is still investigating the details of the suspected crime,” read the last line of the article.

She closed her eyes, trying to imagine what the rest of the town must be feeling. There it was, in black and white, someone in their beloved town had been murdered.

She glanced down and tapped out a reply to Jane, “Got it. Thank you.”

She set her phone back down on her nightstand and dropped to her bed, holding her head in her hands. It surprised her to find out how much the article affected her. Emily blamed it on the conversation she had the previous evening with Daniel Carter. For years, she had schooled her emotions in check, being wary of allowing herself to get too carried away.

Thinking back on the evening, she scolded herself for allowing things to get that personal, even if she did notice the tightness in her chest did seem to be the tiniest bit looser. She checked the time and realized she was behind schedule again.

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