Murder in the Library by Penny Brooke

Author:Penny Brooke [Brooke, Penny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Cozy Mystery
ISBN: 9798365715097
Amazon: B0BRXWNTSF
Publisher: Independently published
Published: 2023-01-09T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

T he sun was shining merrily on the day of Layla’s funeral, and the streets were busy with people going about their daily lives. It felt wrong somehow, like an insult to Layla’s memory that the whole world hadn’t stopped for a moment to grieve her passing. I woke up in a foul mood and had to fight the urge to snap at Aunt Daisy Mae for singing in the shower. Jasper must have sensed my mood, because he carefully avoided me all morning.

Just as we were about to leave for the funeral, I noticed Noah’s car making its way down to our campsite. My breath caught in my throat, but I reminded myself sternly that we were just friends. I had no business getting so excited to see him. What was wrong with me? I chalked it up to grief.

“Hey,” Noah said somberly when he got out of the car. “Sorry I’m late. I had some business to take care of first.”

“I forgot my shawl in the tent!” Aunt Daisy Mae announced loudly and randomly, causing us to look at her in surprise. “I will return shortly.”

“Return shortly?” I echoed in confusion.

“I think that’s your aunt’s way of giving us some alone time.” Noah chuckled good-naturedly while his words caused me to blush profusely.

“She’s kind like that,” I murmured, trying to fight through my embarrassment.

Noah’s eyes twinkled with amusement, but in a moment, his expression turned deadly serious. He looked at me intently. It felt like he was staring straight into the depths of my being and could read my thoughts. I shook my head at myself. This is what happened when I stayed up late reading. My imagination tended to run wilder than usual.

“How are you doing?” Noah asked, stepping closer to me. I could smell his soap; it had a citrusy scent. He lowered his voice so that Aunt Daisy Mae wouldn’t be able to hear him. “Really.”

I shrugged, trying to come up with a believable way of saying that I was fine, but I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. His brow furrowed worriedly; it was touching but I didn’t want to unravel before the funeral. I bit my lip and looked away, but he wasn’t about to let me get away that easily.

“Clauds,” he said gently, “it’s okay. You can tell me.”

“Everything is horrible,” I said with a watery smile. “Layla is gone, and there’s nothing that I can do about it. Even if we find her killer, she’ll never come back to us. I don’t know what to do with all these…emotions inside of me. There’s so much going on, and the only person I want to talk to about all of this is the one person I’ll never be able to talk to again.”

He let me ramble and listened quietly, nodding slowly to let me know that he was still following me. When I was done, I shook my head and crossed my arms over my chest so that I was hugging myself tightly.

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