On Pins and Needles (eBook)

Elizabeth Craig (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2018 | 1. Auflage
220 Seiten
Distributed via Smashwords (Verlag)
978-1-946227-33-1 (ISBN)

Infos

Some new residents don't deserve welcome baskets.

Small towns can be notoriously cliquey.  Dappled Hills, however, wasn't usually such a town.  The residents ordinarily welcomed newcomers with open arms.  But when Annabelle Tremont moved to town, the usual cheery greetings became angry whispers. Annabelle could be difficult and it wasn't a big surprise to anyone when she turned up dead.

Beatrice was surprised when Annabelle moved from Atlanta to Dappled Hills ... but she wasn't surprised when she made enemies.  That's because Beatrice knew Annabelle from her days as a museum curator. Now Beatrice must find the killer ... and clear her own name.

Textauszug

“SHE WOULDN’T EVEN COME to a guild meeting!”

Meadow Downey’s face was indignant as she looked around the table at her friends Beatrice and Wyatt, looking for sympathy. Her husband, Ramsay, was already rolling his eyes. They were seated in Meadow and Ramsay’s cozy kitchen for what had become a ritual—Friday breakfast. Their home was a transformed barn and signs of Meadow’s passion for quilting hung around them in the form of colorful quilts of different sizes. As usual, Meadow had cooked an enormous spread of food: vegetable omelets, pancakes, biscuits with homemade blackberry jam, and two different types of sausages.

“Meadow,” Ramsay said, “not everybody is cut out to be a quilter.” He took another fluffy biscuit off a plate in the middle of the table and slathered it with butter.

Meadow said, “Well, it worked for Beatrice!” Her eyes behind their red-framed glasses gazed at Beatrice, pleading for her to back her up. She impatiently smacked a long, gray braid of hair out of her way.

Beatrice said, “It worked once I got over the certainty that I was being kidnapped. You forcibly removed me from my house to attend a guild meeting.”

“And I wasn’t that firm with Annabelle,” said Meadow. “She should have no complaints whatsoever. I simply don’t understand why she’s not wanting to socialize with us all.”

Wyatt, considered this while he finished a bite of a biscuit. “Perhaps she hasn’t really settled into town yet.”

Beatrice smiled at her husband. “Trust a minister to have a sympathetic view of the situation.”

Meadow said, “But she’s been here for five or six months. She should be as settled as anyone can possibly be! How hard is it to settle into this town? All you have to do is find a church, talk to your neighbors, and either volunteer or join an organization of some kind.”

Beatrice said, “But Dappled Hills can take some getting used to. Particularly after having moved to town from a city like Atlanta. The pace is a lot slower. The people are chattier in the store. And people are a little more eager to make friends. That can be off-putting for people who aren’t used to it, even if everyone is friendly.”

Meadow said, “It would probably help if she had a job here, too.”

Beatrice chuckled. “I don’t think people like Annabelle get jobs. She doesn’t need the income and I’m sure it would seem like a major hassle to her.”

Ramsay tilted his balding head curiously at Beatrice. He pushed back from the table a bit to give his prominent stomach more room. “You’ve been pretty hush-hush about knowing this Annabelle. I gather, though, that you knew each other in Atlanta. What’s your impression of her?”

Beatrice deliberately popped a forkful of buttermilk pancakes in her mouth to delay her answer. Ramsay’s question had the touch of interrogation about it. But then, he was the Dappled Hills police chief. It probably came naturally to him.

After a moment she said, “Annabelle and I did know each other in Atlanta since we were both involved in the art world. I was an art museum curator, and she was a collector. An avid collector, at that.”

Meadow snorted impatiently. “But you still haven’t answered Ramsay’s question. What was she like?”

Beatrice shrugged. “She had excellent taste in art.”

Wyatt grinned at her. “How diplomatic of you, Beatrice.”

She grinned back at him before sighing. “To be perfectly honest, I didn’t much care for her. She could be a difficult person to work with and fairly demanding regarding her personal collection of art. But it’s been a couple of years since I’ve seen her and I wanted to give her another chance.”

Wyatt said, “Maybe we should plan a visit. You could bring her a casserole.”

Beatrice laughed. “The Annabelle that I knew wouldn’t want to eat a casserole. Let alone one of mine.” She considered it a second. “Maybe if we brought by some goodies from the farmers’ market in a basket or something? She might go for that.”

Ramsay was still considering the elusive information on Annabelle Tremont. He said thoughtfully, “So what was it about Annabelle that you didn’t like?”

Beatrice said, “She made my job difficult. She was pushy and something of a perfectionist. And she could be condescending, too. We even had words over an ancient sword that had passed into my hands. She wanted it for her collection.”

Meadow said, “Well, I’ll try again to connect with her. Every time I see her around town, she looks absolutely miserable.”

Ramsay finished eating his eggs and then said, holding a finger up, “Now, Meadow. Don’t be the self-appointed goodwill ambassador for Dappled Hills. Some folks are happy being absolutely miserable. Besides, it’s none of our business.”

Meadow, who apparently didn’t hear a word Ramsay said, brightened. “I know! I’ll invite her to go to the Dappled Hills Art in the Park tonight.”

Beatrice said, “Isn’t that pushing her toward quilting again? The Village Quilters guild just happens to have a display there.”

“She won’t know that—art is art, right? Maybe she can find some local art for her collection. Besides, there will be live music and food. What’s not to like?” Meadow pulled her phone out and squinted at her contacts until she pulled Annabelle’s number up.

Ramsay snorted and shook his head at Beatrice and Wyatt. “She’s already got the woman’s name and number in her contacts.”

Beatrice and Wyatt’s corgi, Noo-noo was sitting quietly at Beatrice’s feet. She’d been excited to go to Meadow’s, despite Boris being there. Boris was Meadow and Ramsay’s massive dog, of indeterminate heritage. He had terrible manners coupled with a tremendous appetite. But Meadow, who was a consummate cook, somehow found the time to bake healthy homemade peanut butter treats. Meadow threw the corgi a couple more treats before dialing Annabelle’s number. Noo-noo gobbled down the treats while keeping a close eye on the voracious Boris.

Boris was in high spirits with Noo-noo’s visit and currently had a bad case of the wiggles. Boris’s wiggles were so joyously robust that they threatened to knock lamps off tabletops. Noo-noo, on the other hand, sat very still in comparison—likely hoping someone would comment on his being a Good Dog and offer another treat in reward.

Annabelle apparently answered the phone and Meadow quickly said, “Annabelle? It’s Meadow . . . Meadow Downey. I was thinking that you might enjoy going to the festival tonight, considering how much you enjoy art. There will be plenty of people there to meet, too. And, well, art, of course.”

Beatrice’s mouth twisted into a smile. If Annabelle would be at all interested, it would be the art that would rope her in.

And apparently, it had. Meadow beamed. “Yes, tonight. I think you’ll enjoy it. I’ll be there at 6:30 at the quilting booth.” There was a pause, during which Meadow frowned. “Yes, but there are many other crafts represented.”

Meadow hung up and smiled. “See? That wasn’t hard. Sometimes people just need a little push to get out of their shells.”

Wyatt said, “Are we sure she was in a shell?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” said Ramsay. “We should leave the poor woman alone. Maybe she came to Dappled Hills for some much-needed peace and quiet and here we are dragging her out to a festival.”

Meadow said, “This is my last try, Ramsay. If this doesn’t work, I promise I won’t hound Annabelle.” She paused. “At least, for a while.”

Ramsay said, “And I’ll hold you to it.”

Meadow said, “After all, people like living in Dappled Hills. It’s the perfect place. Or it would be, except for one small thing,” said Meadow, heaving a tremendous sigh that startled the dogs.

Wyatt said with a twinkle in his eye, “I think I can guess this one.”

Beatrice said, “No, let me. It would be perfect here in town except for the fact that our darling children no longer live in Dappled Hills.”

Meadow said fretfully, “I just want to have them near us again. I’m not asking for much, you understand. I just want my child near us in my golden years.”

Ramsay chuckled. “What do you mean, ‘near us’? They are near us. For heaven’s sake, he used to live on the opposite end of the country. They live just 25 minutes away. And it only takes that long because of stoplights and minor traffic.”

Meadow said, “You wouldn’t think that would end up being that far away, I agree. But the fact is that we don’t see as much of them as we would if they were in town all the time.”

Beatrice said, “Of course, Piper is still here at the elementary school every weekday.”

Meadow shook her head. “It’s still not the same....

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 27.11.2018
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• ISBN-10: 1-946227-33-1 / 1946227331
• ISBN-13: 978-1-946227-33-1 / 9781946227331