The Ghost of Christmas Past: A Honey Driver Murder Mystery (Honey Driver Mysteries Book 8) by Goodhind Jean G

Author:Goodhind, Jean G [Goodhind, Jean G]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781909520240
Publisher: Accent Press
Published: 2014-08-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Honey led Doherty into the dining room where boxes of crackers were piled up waiting to be placed on tables. She kicked an escaped balloon aside, poured coffee, and set it down on a table.

‘Was that balloon your ex-husband’s head?’ Doherty watched it float across the floor.

‘What made you say that?’

He shrugged. ‘Just a joke – I think.’

Carl was like a nasty taste on her tongue this morning, and she didn’t want to talk about him.

She handed Doherty a bag of balloons. ‘Blow them up and put them in the net. Once it’s full we can fix it to the ceiling.’

He lost the serious look. ‘I know a game using balloons. It’s best done naked, though.’

‘I bet you do.’ Her imagination went into overdrive when he returned her own knowing smile. She knew that game too; passing a balloon up between bodies – male and female bodies of course.

‘This is kids’ stuff. Lindsey should be doing this,’ he exclaimed suddenly.

‘Some kid!’

Lindsey was closing on twenty but Doherty was right. Usually she would be helping but she was in an uncharacteristic mood.

‘So?’

Honey knew what the questioning tone meant. Calling Lindsey a kid had been a leading comment. He knew things weren’t running too smoothly, and being a policeman he just had to ask questions. At Honey’s request, he had not mentioned the engagement to her daughter. He asked her about it.

‘She knows,’ she said and told him how a police constable had spilled the beans.

‘That’s not good.’ He frowned. ‘He should have kept his mouth shut. It’s that time of year. Nobody is concentrating on what they should be doing. How did she take it?’

‘She’s been very off and not terribly helpful. I would prefer that you didn’t mention it to her.’

‘I won’t.’

In sympathy, he slid his finger over her cheek. It should have soothed but it prickled. The fact was, it hurt that Lindsey was being so off with her.

It was as though a big sheet of glass had been placed between them. She could see Lindsey clearly but couldn’t touch her. It hurt. In one split-second everything had changed, and that was difficult to deal with, especially at this time of year. Since Honey had first bought the Green River Hotel, a massive investment for her at the time, her daughter had been totally supportive. Today, on Christmas Eve, she was far less obliging.

Anna was also proving to be a bit of a worry. She had presented herself for work despite the baby being due. ‘It is mostly sitting down work today, I think,’ she’d said in her soft Polish voice. ‘I will write up the name cards for the dinner tomorrow and the ghost story people. That will be no problem. I tell you, I have two more months. Two months. I know better than the doctor.’

‘And the doctor said …?’

Anna pulled a face. ‘He is wrong. I am not ready. Baby is not ready.’

There was no way Honey was going to insist. Being firm might upset Anna, and Anna upset might go into labour then and there.

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.