Secrets and Stilettos (Murder In Style Book 1) by Gina LaManna

Author:Gina LaManna [LaManna, Gina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cozy mystery, hallmark, cozy, amateur sleuth, female sleuth
Publisher: LaManna Books
Published: 2020-01-09T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

“That latte machine is on back order,” June said when I got in line. “You’re going to have to settle for a black coffee again.”

“You’re doing this on purpose,” I chided the old woman. “All you need is something to make froth with! You can pick a frother up for twenty bucks at Target.”

“Getting to a Target in this weather is like hiking the Sahara,” June said. “The roads are slippery, there’s none within a forty-mile radius, and the—”

“Excuses,” I said with a laugh. “I recognize this for a pile of excuses. You just don’t want me to be right. You didn’t even order that machine, did you?!”

June broke into a broad grin. “Is the black coffee growing on you?”

I grudgingly shook my head. “It’s really good. It does warm the soul.”

“Go on and sit down,” June said. “I’m bringing you my specialty this morning.”

“Oh, I was hoping to grab a quick coffee to go—I have some things to take care of, and—”

“It’s the Lord’s day!” June said. “Take a seat on that there window seat and eat some breakfast with your coffee. There’s no place you have to be so urgently on a Sunday morning, I promise you.”

She was right, oddly enough, so I took a seat near the window without further argument. I had no particular place to rush off to in search of evidence against Becky, and I didn’t really want to sit in Gran’s big old house by myself.

May would be cuddling Joe and their little butterbean baby on this snowy winter morning, and my mom and Sid would be doing something similar—something I didn’t want to spend another moment thinking about. With a sigh, I realized that I was a true loner. I had nobody to snuggle on a Sunday morning except for the latest copy of Vogue.

“What are you sighing about?” Allie plopped herself across from me and unloaded her scarf and mittens without asking permission to join me at the window. “Oh, is that the new dress from the store? It’s cute. Is it true you ruined Mrs. Duvet’s entire house last night?”

“What? No!” I blinked, horrified. “Where’d you here that?”

She shrugged. “Word has a way of getting into my ears. That, and I like to gossip with the old ladies.”

Fortunately, the conversation stalled when one of June’s servers appeared with a pot of hot coffee and poured out mugs for both of us. I pulled my spring green cup toward me and took a sip, preferring to burn my tongue rather than delve into last night’s fiasco.

“Say, remember you said you’d help style my mother?” Allie blurted. “I was wondering if we could set something up. I didn’t pick a date on that planner thing before you left yesterday because I wanted to check with my mom first. I offered to style her myself, but she told me I was nuts. She has a different taste in clothes than me. Maybe demure would be the right word for her style.”

“Halleluiah.” Today, Allie had gone for faux-leather pants and a hot pink turtleneck.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.