Bed & Breakfast Bedlam (A Logan Dickerson Cozy Mystery Book 1) by Abby L. Vandiver Read Free Book Online Page B

considered “dapper.” The kind to wear a seersucker
suit and a straw hat, or pastel colored plaid pants.
    “Yes,” I said to Oliver. “We’re going for
a drive.” I didn’t want to say too much about us going out because I didn’t
know what Miss Vivee had told them. I had come to Yasamee to make amends for
being a liar and the first thing I did was hook up with one.
    “I heard she hasn’t been out of the house
for twenty years,” I said. I picked up a banana from the bowl of fruit sitting
on top of the island. “Is it okay if I eat this,” I asked Renmar.
    “Help yourself,” she said. “And I want you
to know how much we appreciate you taking Mother out. I don’t know what you did
to her, but she is just so excited. Isn’t she, Brie?”
    Brie nodded.
    “So you don’t mind her going out?” I
asked.
    “Oh. No,” Renmar said. “I’m happy that
Mother is going to do something other than sit around here all day in her coat
and hat, holding her pocketbook like she’s waiting for McIntosh Funeral Home to
come and pick her up.” She smiled at me. “And I’m glad you’re helping her out.
She thinks she fooled me. Telling me she was going to help you out on the
Island. It took no more than an accusatory “Mother”, drawing it out for
emphasis, for her to spill the beans.”
    “She told you what we’re really doing?”
    “Of course she did.” Renmar poured her
mixture into cake pans. “She told me that she wanted to stop by the church and
light a candle for Gemma Burke. Pray for her soul. And maybe stop at the
cemetery and put some flowers on Daddy and Louis’ graves. Don’t that just beat
all?” She walked over to the oven and put her cake tins in.
    That was just about as far from the truth
as one could get.
    “When she asked you to take her to the cemetery,
she tell you about Louis?” Renmar asked.
    “Uhm, not exactly,” I said. It was the
first I’d heard of him. In fact, it was the first I heard anything about going
to a cemetery.
    “Louis is my late husband, God rest his
soul,” Renmar continued. “Bay’s father. The love of my life.” She smiled at me.
Her eyes appeared to have mist up. “I was thinking, Logan.” She batted her eyes
to make the tears go away. “If you wouldn’t mind.” She looked over at me. Can
you take Mother over to the Jellybean Café? She loves their egg salad. It’ll be
such a treat. Not sure she’ll want to stop. But you could try, couldn’t you?”
    Won’t be too difficult to do since that’s
where we were going anyway.
     “I’ll try,” I said instead.
     “I’m surprised Momma didn’t ask Bay to
take her out,” Brie said. “We only get to see him every blue moon. Looks like
she’d want to spend the day with him.”
    “He couldn’t.” Renmar said. “He’s riding
with the Sheriff to accompany Gemma’s body up to Augusta.”
    “How long is your son staying?” I asked
Renmar as innocently as I could.
    “A week maybe. Maybe a little longer.”
    Crap.
    “He’s on vacation,” she continued. “And
instead of going on a trip to a tropical island with a pretty girl on his side,
he chose to come to Yasamee and see us. Ain’t that nice?”
    Just my luck.
    “Miss Vivee is a very compassionate
person,” Oliver said running his hand over his salt and pepper hair. “I’m not
surprised she wants to light a candle for Gemma,” he took a puff on his
e-cigarette. He seemed to always have one in his hand. “Nice of you, Logan to
take her,” he continued. “No one’s died around here in ages. And seeing it right
before your eyes can make a person want to make amends with their God.”
    “Oliver. Are you saying that my momma
needs to reconcile something with God?” Brie seemed insulted.
    He held up his hands. “No. Brie. We all
know that Miss Vivee is a saint.” He winked his eye at me.
    Ha! I know she wasn’t and I had just got
to Yasamee.
     “It’s just at her age,” he continued.
People like to have a good relationship with