Something Borrowed, Something Blue and Murder by Patti Larsen

Author:Patti Larsen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: murder mystery series, female sleuth series, cozy murder mystery series, bed and breakfast murder, woman detective murder mystery
Publisher: Patti Larsen

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Chapter Twenty

Bernice Aberstock looked as much like Mrs. Claus with her round cheeks and white hair, her round body and sweet smile as her husband did the man in the red suit. Adorable, the pair of them, really, and no less so as she kindly beamed at me and Jill before ushering us inside their large two story.

“Fiona, Jillian, how lovely to see you both.” The (fittingly) red-clad woman closed the door behind us, rubbing her little hands together. “So chilly for this time of year, isn’t it?” She held out her arms to us. “I can take your coats. I’m sure you’re here to see Lloyd, aren’t you?”

I nodded to her, almost wanting to apologize to her for the state of affairs but she simply hung up my coat, taking Jill’s and her hat all the while chattering away like a five-foot-nothing bundle of Christmas cheer.

“Now, you two just go on into his study and I’ll be along with coffee. Or would you prefer hot chocolate, girls?” She giggled then, hands over her mouth. “I’m sorry, I know you’re not girls.”

I grinned back. “I’d love hot chocolate, thanks, Bernice.”

Jill seconded the request and followed me as our hostess disappeared at a clip, her slippered feet silent on the floor, deeper into the house, waving at a door at the far end of the hall.

I peeked inside, spotting the doc behind a big desk, bookcases behind him making him look very official, though when he looked up from his reading and noticed the two of us hovering at his door, that smile of his lit the room.

“Fee!” He stood, closing the hard cover with a thud, standing to wave us inside. “And Jill, how wonderful to see you both.” As if we were here for a social call and he hadn’t been basically fired from the job he’d held for ages.

“Hey, Doc,” I said, sitting in one of the overstuffed easy chairs that made up a reading nook on the far side of his office. Jill hesitated before perching on the edge of her own, though the doc didn’t seem uncomfortable with our presence at all, dropping himself into a third, the small coffee table between us not so much a barrier as it was a meeting space. Dr. Aberstock exhaled happily, folding his hands over the slight paunch of his tummy, his wedding band shining on his ring finger. I’d never noticed before, but it seemed embedded in his skin, as if he’d worn it for so long it had become a part of him and I caught myself twisting my engagement ring, thinking about Crew and the wedding and not wanting to wander down that mental and emotional road at the moment.

“We’re sorry to intrude, Dr. Aberstock.” Jill sounded as uncomfortable as she looked, cheeks pinking just a little while Bernice hustled into the room with a tray, the mugs rattling as she set it down on the coffee table.

“Not at all, Jill,” he said while his sweet

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