Murder on the Boardwalk: a 1950s cozy historical mystery (A Rosa Reed Mystery Book 2) by Lee Strauss & Denise Jaden

Author:Lee Strauss & Denise Jaden [Strauss, Lee & Jaden, Denise]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781774090909
Publisher: La Plume Press
Published: 2020-04-27T22:00:00+00:00

13

According to the folded map in the glove compartment, Sunnyside Avenue was only a few blocks away. Rosa thought it unlikely that she’d catch Don home from work so early in the afternoon, but Joyce might be around, and Rosa wanted to speak with her alone anyway.

The Welks lived in a middle-unit town house in an area of town that supported those in a lower income bracket, which Rosa found perplexing, since, if memory served her, Joyce’s family were rather well-to-do.

Rosa’s timing was perfect, as she pulled up to the curb just as Joyce was leaving her home. Dressed in a summer dress with a full skirt, plain pumps, and a silk patterned head scarf tied under her chin, Joyce started down the sidewalk. Her square purse hung by short straps over one forearm, and her hands were covered by cute white gloves that ended at her wrists.

Stepping out of the Bel Air, Rosa called out, “Joyce!”

Joyce turned at the sound of her name, and cupped a gloved hand over her eyes. “Rosa?”

“Yes, hi. I was in the neighborhood, and thought I recognized you.”

Joyce’s eye narrowed. “What were you doing in this neighborhood?” Joyce’s gaze landed on the Bel Air, quite easily the most expensive vehicle on the street.

Rosa caught up to Joyce and offered a friendly smile. “Actually, I was looking for you.”

“I have an appointment. You can walk to the bus stop with me if you like.”

“Or I could drive you,” Rosa offered.

“Oh. Okay, that would be nice. I am feeling rather tired.”

Joyce relayed the address and short directions as they each opened one of the heavy doors of the Bel Air and slid onto the striped white and yellow leather seats. Joyce ran a finger along the chrome trim of the yellow dash. “Neat chariot!”

Rosa started the engine and pulled out into the wide street. “Thank you. It belongs to my aunt.”

“Yeah, you Forresters really suffer.”

Rosa ignored the jibe. “How’s your family, Joyce?”

“I wouldn’t know. They cut me off when I married Don.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Because he’s poor,” Joyce replied, as if the answer were obvious. “He works at a grocery store. My old man wouldn’t even consider him worthy of joining the Kilbourne family unless he owned the store. Actually, unless he owned a chain of stores.”

Joyce glanced at Rosa with eyes that burned with emotion. “I don’t care about money! It doesn’t make people happy, I saw that firsthand.”

“You must really love Don,” Rosa said. She remembered visiting Joyce at the Kilbourne home, a grand house not far from the Forrester mansion.

“I do,” Joyce said emphatically. “With all my heart. I don’t care that he’s poor or tall. My dad had a problem with that too. I think Don’s handsome, and funny and kind.”

Rosa’s only impression of Don Welks was what she’d seen of him on the dance floor at the fair, where he seemed very taken with his wife, and then an opposing picture of him fighting with Victor.

“Does Don still work at the grocery store?”

Joyce nodded.

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