The Cove Conundrum by Agatha Ball

Author:Agatha Ball
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: book store cozy, treasure hunter, culinary cozy, cat, island mystery, Beach reads, beach mystery, sweet romance, sweet romance mystery, clean cozy mystery, cozy mystery, cozy mystery at the beach, female detective, amateur sleuth, clean mystery
Publisher: Katherine Danley
Published: 2019-10-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

I left Nate to get back to his day and headed down to Main Street. I had so many questions. Had the person who owned Holly's store been a thief? Had we stumbled upon some criminal? But then... why did he leave the map? Was it for himself?

The door to Bitter Beans was shut and the sign had been flipped to "Closed." A slight pang of fear shot up my spine. Mom was supposed to be watching the counter while Granny and her posse talked over Holly's design options at Wanda's shop with wine and cheese. Had something happened? I couldn't help the memories of Granny's stint in the emergency room last month from popping up.

I headed straight toward Wanda's shop, my pace increasing with every step. But on the way, I passed by Yvette's café.

It was a trendy white-and-black ice cream parlor, which specialized in soups, sandwiches, and sweets.

Sitting there in the white-paned window were Mom and Hal, heads tilted toward each other in flirty conversation. And they were splitting a slice of red velvet cake, the traitors. But why had they come here instead of just staying at Bitter Beans?

But as soon as Mom saw me, I got a pretty clear picture that it was because she didn't want me or Granny spotting them together. She was like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Caught, she waved for me to come in and join them.

I opened the door with its stained glass inset, unsure what I was walking in on.

"Paige! You're here! ...why are you here?" she asked.

"Just looking for you." I folded my arms. "And you?"

"Oh this? This is just cake," she tried to explain.

Hal reached out and took her hand in his. "Paige, your mom bought me a slice of red velvet cake for old times’ sake."

"It used to be his favorite," she added.

"It still is."

"I thought you were supposed to be minding the store," I reminded her.

"Oh, it was slow, so I just flipped the sign to 'back in ten minutes'," she replied and guiltily took another bite of cake.

I knew it shouldn't have annoyed me that much, but she hadn't flipped the sign to 'back in ten', she had flipped it to 'Closed'. And I was a real hypocrite. I flipped the sign to head out and it was no big deal. But for some reason, it really bothered me.

"You could have texted me," I said. "I would have come back. Granny is here, too. You didn't need to close the shop."

Mom put down her fork. "It's not that big of a deal. I took a lunch break. Jeez, you're as bad as she is about that place."

A tightness rose in my chest. "I happen to love Bitter Beans."

"Well, I was supposed to be here and have a nice vacation while I helped my daughter get packed and moved back home, and instead I'm stuck behind a counter while she's off gallivanting around the island."

Hal held up his hands in apology.

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.