Murder on Maternity: British Cozy Mystery (Emily Elliot Mysteries Book 1) by Holly Greenland

Author:Holly Greenland [Greenland, Holly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sitting Duck Publishing
Published: 2020-08-12T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

It was Wednesday again, and I’d decided to skip the mum meetup for another week. I was sitting in my usual spot in front of the telly with Nellie out of sight but safe on the playmat, when there was a knock at the door which made me jump.

Immediately I was brought back to the last time I had an unexpected visitor and Tabetha had appeared back into my life.

I stood up quickly and checked in the mirror above the fireplace. I hadn’t looked in it today, maybe not yesterday either, or the day before. I didn’t look like me. Or maybe I did. My hair hung to my shoulders, lank and flat; my jaw line was dotted with spots; my face looked puffy and pale. Even my eyes looked strange. A bit greyer, or maybe just sad. I wasn’t sure. I quickly tucked my hair behind my ears to neaten up a little and went to the door.

I plastered on a smile and opened up apprehensively. But it wasn’t Tabetha standing there. I took a quick intake of breath as Toby came into view, eyes down at his phone to compose a message. He looked up with a nervous smile, which changed to that look of concern I’d seen before. It obviously wasn’t just in my head that I was looking terrible.

‘Hi. You okay?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, yeah,’ I tried to sound casual, ‘just knackered, baby’s been up all night…again!’ I said with a little laugh. ‘Thank God she’s cute!’ I followed up with a forced smile.

‘Sorry to drop by unannounced like this. Do you mind if we have a chat?’ he asked, his eyes half lowered, testing the water. I paused for a second, and he looked up and leant inside the door.

‘Of course,’ I said. Because what else could I say? I led him into the kitchen, hastily clearing away empty mugs and picking up a sponge to wipe the toast crumbs from off the side, as he took a seat at the breakfast bar.

‘Tea?’ I said getting down the teabags and he nodded.

‘Sorry I’m such a state,’ I apologised, as I caught a fuzzy reflection in the chrome kettle. ‘I wasn’t expecting anyone today. Sometimes it’s just nice to sit in with Nellie and have some one-to-one time at home, you know?’ And suddenly I remembered I’d left Nellie back in the other room. Casually I walked past Toby back to the front room and grabbed her from the floor, rocking her like a good mum as I walked back into the kitchen.

He reached out to take her for a cuddle while I finished making the tea and I handed her over gladly.

‘Any new leads in the case? Is that why you are here?’ I asked.

‘No, quite the opposite I’m afraid. Nothing. If anything, I feel like we are further from the solution than ever.’ His voice sounded defeated, but he put on a smile for Nellie as he lifted her in the air.

‘Tabetha was quite

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