Punked by the Pumpkin: A Cozy Mystery (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book 4) by Constance Barker Read Free Book Online Page A

his cart close to the crowd and started calling people over, right in front of the Coffee Cabana. People were pulling out their wallets and digging through their purses. It looked like he was selling something. So were many of the other seniors.
    I was behind the counter filling orders, so I couldn’t really see what he was selling. I looked into the dining room to ask Essie or Hildie what Harvey was doing out there.
    What in the world?
    They were selling tickets too!
    “Essie! What are you doing selling raffle tickets? You should be selling coffee!”
    She walked up to the counter with her tray. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch, Lily. These aren’t raffle tickets…and I need three regulars and one decaf.”
    I gave her the coffee and asked,  “So, what are you selling then?”
    “These are tickets to the Methodist Church Harvest Dinner on Friday night.”
    “Tomorrow? Harvest Dinner? Where is it at?”
    “Of course, it’s tomorrow during the festival. Kind of an impromptu thing we decided on just the other night at bingo. We were just going to have a dinner for the bingo players, but I said we should raise some money for the Church since all these people are in town for the festival.”
    “Where, where, where?”
    “Why, in the church basement, of course.”
    Bingo! “Give me two…three…no, four.” Me, Eli, Jules, and a plus-one for her. I might not be able to get in during Bingo on a Tuesday night, but I could do plenty of snooping around at the Harvest Dinner. And I fully intended to.
     
    The evening ran quite smoothly. Hildie helped Jules and Moira outside, Gladys and Mildred worked the tables inside, Trevor and I filled all the orders behind the counter, and Essie bounced between the dining room and the counter. The girls must have baked all night, and Essie kept bringing out tray after tray of muffins – and the pumpkin smoothies were really popular too.
    The high school marching band came after the endless line of golf carts, followed by the long-awaited fire truck and a handful of floats from local companies and organizations. The finale was the Church choir in their black robes led by a very enthusiastic Pastor Miranda Cassidy.
    As soon as the choir had passed by, the park crew hauled out the pre-assembled pieces of the stage for the big street dance. Too bad I don’t have a license to sell margaritas and beer. I’d make a fortune. But the city council had a corner on the beer and booze concessions.
    I kept the lights on and the doors open to pick up a little coffee business from the big crowd. Surely a few people would want a cold non-alcoholic drink or some caffeine to keep them alert after a beer or two.
     
    When things settled down to a mild roar, Trevor and Moira took over the reins inside and the aunts went home to get some much-deserved rest. Toe and Carmen were sitting outside on the stools, and Jules and I joined them. It was a really pleasant night , and the tiniest sliver of a moon was just rising over the stage. A shaggy blond-haired guy carrying a drum waved at us from near the stage in the distance, and we waved back. We would have to tell Schooner that his espresso machine was working really well for us.
    “Is Eli going to stop by?” Jules sat next to Carmen, and I sat on the end closest to the door.
    “Not tonight. He’s on duty all night.”
    “Well, let’s start a riot so we can call the police.”
    I may have actually considered it for a moment. “Toe, where’s Harvey? I never see him around in the evening anymore. The parade’s been over for quite a while now.”
    “Ya, I thought he might stop in here too, but I don’t know. He hasn’t been out after dark lately.”
    Carmen reached across Jules and handed me a small candy bar and gave Jules one too. I was going to turn it down, but, drat…it was a Kit Kat.
    “How did you know, Carmen? These are my kryptonite.”
    “They’re everybody’s weakness, Lily.”
    “Not mine.” Toe pulled a little canister of