Inn Vain by Dixie Davis

Author:Dixie Davis [Davis, Dixie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, North Carolina
Publisher: Dusky Cove Books
Published: 2018-06-13T04:00:00+00:00

The next morning, Lori warmed up some of her famous breakfast cookies to go with the standard weekday buffet of fruits, yogurt, eggs and hot cakes. Although they couldn’t really pass for “healthy,” the cookies had enough oats and dried fruit in them to make it seem like you were eating a granola bar.

A soft, chewy, sweet granola bar with tangy dried cranberries, crunchy walnuts, and enough butter and brown sugar to make it all sweet and tasty.

Yes, definitely not healthy.

The Valentinos loved the breakfast, then said they were planning to spend the morning in, with a video from the inn’s library to keep them company.

Lori figured they’d appreciate the privacy, so once she’d cleaned up from breakfast, she headed into her office to dial the number Jonah had given her for Nick.

He answered almost immediately. “Hello?”

“Hi, Mr. Buchwald?” Lori tried to keep her tone not too bright. She was talking to a man who’d lost his wife — and she did know a little about that.

“Yes?”

“My name is Lori Keyes. I’m a client at X-pressions.” She almost said she was the one who’d found Carly, but she didn’t know if that would make him feel better or worse.

“Okay.”

“I . . . I’m trying to make sense of everything that’s happened.”

“Aren’t we all?”

She had to give him that point. “True, true. I was wondering if I might be able to bring you something?”

Food. Food was always the way to get someone to talk, to let you in, to trust you.

Just . . . no tea today.

“Uh, that’s nice of you, but —”

“Would you prefer cookies or a dinner?”

Nick hesitated — Lori hoped because he was debating between two very good alternatives. “Well, I’ve had a few dinners brought in, and honestly, that food’s going to last me at least two weeks.”

“Cookies it is.” Good thing she’d made extra this morning. “Can I get your address?”

Nick rattled off the address in Boiling Spring Lakes.

“Okay, I should be there in twenty or thirty minutes. Would that be okay?”

“Yeah, sure. Thank you.” He sounded truly sincere.

Lori’s heart was a little lighter as she gathered up the leftover breakfast cookies. She was going to help a new widower, lift his spirits a little — and help her case, exonerating her friend. What was better than that?

Not much that she could think of.

After tying up a box of cookies with a pretty bow — and slipping her card underneath it — Lori drove to his address. Her confidence deflated a bit at the sight of the peeling white paint and the shabby screened-in front porch.

She climbed the stairs up to the porch and let herself in. The rickety door slapped shut behind her, announcing her arrival before she could even knock. A split second after the door slap, barking exploded from inside. Lori jumped back. A large Doberman pinscher appeared in the nearest window. He looked angry enough to tear the glass from its frame.

Shouting followed inside the house, and the dog, still upset, slowly came away from the window.

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