The Chalmers Case by Diana Xarissa Read Free Book Online

summon up.   “Did you want
coffee or tea with your cake?”
    “We’re fine,”
Mildred told her.
    Janet waited a
moment and then returned to the kitchen.   Joan was busy filling two plates with shepherd’s pie and
vegetables.  
    “Did they want
anything else to drink?” Joan asked.
    “They didn’t,
but I want a glass of wine,” Janet answered.
    “I’m not certain
we should be drinking with guests in the house,” Joan replied with a frown.
    Janet thought
about arguing, but Joan was right.   At least with these particular guests in the house, she thought to
herself.   With a deep sigh, she
turned and walked back into the dining room, bracing herself for the unpleasant
conversation she was sure she was going to interrupt.  
    Instead, she
found Harold sitting with his head on the table, fast asleep.   He was snoring quietly while Mildred was
just spooning up the last of his slice of cake.   Her own plate was already scraped
clean.  
    “Oh, dear, I
do hope he’s okay,” Janet exclaimed.
    “Oh, he’s
fine.   Just had a few too many,
like.   He’ll sleep it off by
morning.”
    “Not at our
dining room table,” Janet said firmly.
    “Oh, I suppose
not,” Mildred shrugged.   “Help me
get him upstairs, will you?”
    “Help
you?   I’m not certain... ”   She trailed
off, feeling totally out of her element.
    “Harold, wake
up,” Mildred said loudly.   She gave
him a push and he nearly toppled off his chair.
    “What?   Huh?”  
    “Come on up to
bed,” Mildred told him.  
    “Oh, yeah, hey,
did you eat my cake?”
    “You ate it
before you fell asleep,” Mildred told him as she stood up.   “Now come on.”
    She grabbed
his arm and the pair stumbled their way out of the room, with Janet following
behind.   It seemed to take them ages
to get up the stairs and Janet wondered at one point if she ought to try giving
Mildred a push, but eventually they struggled their way to the first
floor.  
    Mildred
managed to spill the entire contents of her handbag all over the landing while
looking for the key to their door.   Janet swallowed a sigh as she helped the woman collect her things and
then opened their door for them.   Giving Mildred the keys back, she practically shoved the pair into their
guest room and shut the door behind them.   Leaning against it, she took several deep breaths before rejoining her
sister in the kitchen.

 
    Chapter
Five
    “Don’t say
it,” Joan greeted her sister as Janet walked in and sat down at the small
kitchen table.   “I’m so sorry about
all of this, I can’t even tell you.”
    Janet looked
at her sister and then began to laugh.   “I must say, teaching was far easier than running a bed and breakfast,”
she told her sister.
    “It isn’t the
least bit funny,” Joan snapped.
    “No, but we
might as well laugh,” Janet replied.   “It’s better than crying.”
    For a moment
Joan looked as if she might argue, but then she smiled and then chuckled
softly.   “I suppose you’re right,”
she said.   “We need to be far more
particular about our guests.”
    “I don’t
know,” Janet said.   “A little bit of
variety is always interesting.   They’re only here for a few days.   I’m sure we’ll survive their stay and laugh about it in years to come.”
    “You’re being
very understanding about all of this,” Joan said.   “I don’t know that I deserve it.”
    “Nothing
disastrous has happened,” Janet pointed out.   “Having a couple of unpleasant guests
goes with the job.   Anyway, it’s
entertaining in a train wreck kind of way.”
    Joan shook her
head.   “I’m not entertained,” she
said.   “I’m starving.”
    “Me, too,”
Janet said with alacrity.
    The pair
quickly ate their meal and very generous helpings of Victoria sponge with
vanilla ice cream, a special treat.
    “I don’t
suppose either of them said anything about breakfast,” Joan said as she and
Janet loaded up the dishwasher.
    “No, but