Tea Cups and Carnage by Lynn Cahoon Read Free Book Online Page B

shrugged. “I guess I have two beers then.”
    The rest of the evening sped by and we were just about to leave when Greg’s phone buzzed. He looked at the display and mouthed the word “sorry” to me as he walked away from the table.
    Darla had joined us and raised an eyebrow. The woman was the local reporter for the Examiner along with owning and running the winery. She was always on the lookout for a good story. “Something going on?”
    I feigned indifference. “Not that I know.”
    “Not that you’ll tell me.” Darla laughed and leaned into Matt. “We’ve got to go make the last call announcement so people will start paying up and getting out of here. Jill, I’ll see you later?”
    Matt followed Darla back to the bar. Alone at the table, I took a sip of my beer. I’d been nursing the second one for over an hour and the liquid had grown warm. Pushing the glass away, I watched Greg just outside the door where he could hear whoever had called. From his stance, I knew it wasn’t good news.
    Leaving the tasting room, I paused outside in the patio area and watched as he finished the conversation. He walked over to me and put his arm around my shoulder. “Date night is over?”
    He kissed the top of my head and angled me toward the parking lot. “Yep. Tim’s coming over to give you a ride home.”
    “And you?” Sometimes he’d tell me what was going on if it wasn’t too bad. This time, I had a feeling it was bad.
    “He’s taking me out to the Coastal Inn out on Highway One.” Greg watched the road for Tim’s lights. The Coastal Inn was a dive motel just inside South Cove city limits. The sign advertised rooms for rent by the hour, day, and week. And clean towels. Yep, it was classy.
    “What’s happened?” I could barely see his face in the dark parking lot. We stood on the edge of the road, outside the glow of the overhead lamps.
    Greg turned toward me and sighed. “They found a body.”
     

Chapter 5
     
    Thursday morning started off busy, mostly with commuter traffic, all wanting to talk about the upcoming weekend and the festival. No one had heard about the dead guy Greg had mentioned last night.
    “I wish you’d bring the coffee truck into town and park it in front of my office.” A woman said as she handed Jill her credit card. “I bet we could keep you busy all morning. The office gives us coffee, but its crap. You would think they’d give us good coffee just for the added productivity of the caffeine buzz.”
    “Robbie, that’s a great idea. Of course, we’d have to hire a full time driver and staff for the truck. Right now, just keeping it open for the weekend has proved a challenge.” I handed her back the credit card and her receipt with a smile. “I’m missing my reading time.”
    “Jill, you should be happy the shop’s busy, you’re a successful business owner. Enjoy the sales.” She sipped her coffee and smiled. “Now I can face my day. I might have to drive back at lunch for a refill.”
    “Well, the truck’s open at the beach so that would save you a little travel time.” I waved as she left the shop. Sasha came in right after Robbie left.
    She dropped her purse off in the back area. When she returned, washing her hands in the front sink and then putting on her apron, she still hadn’t said a word.
    “Not awake yet?”
    She poured a paper cup full of coffee and drank greedily. “Sorry, I haven’t been sleeping well.” Her eyes looked swollen like she’d been crying, not from lack of sleep.
    “Olivia okay?” Sasha’s daughter had started waking up in the middle of the night, wanting to play. The kid could get five hours of sleep and be wide-awake.
    Sasha yawned. “Oh, yeah, she’s fine. I have her on a better schedule and she’s almost sleeping eight hours. I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately.”
    “Something you want to talk about?” Toby’s comment about Sasha cancelling Monday’s date echoed as she pulled a chocolate chip muffin out of the case.