Read Online Cloudy with a Chance of Ghosts (Destiny Bay Cozy Mysteries Book 4) by J.D. Winters - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: J.D. Winters
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for me. She’d made a Hawaiian Chicken Salad and spooned it generously into sandwiches made from large, flaky croissants, with a slice of avocado on the side. I sighed happily as I took in the feast to come.
“Oh, this is just what I need,” I said as I sank into a chair and took a sip of the Paradise Iced Tea she’d poured for me.
“Any news on the murder front?” she asked as she set out the food.
I quickly filled her in on what Jill and I had found out, as well as some of our speculations.
“So what do you think?” she asked. “Did Jagger do it?”
I hesitated a beat to long, then said quickly, “I sure hope not.”
Bebe nodded. “Me too. It’ll hit Jill hard if he gets charged, don’t you think?”
“Absolutely. She’s crazy about him.”
“She hasn’t known him very long.”
“No, but she’s head over heels right now. Of course, once she gets to know him better….” I left the obvious statement unsaid, but Bebe nodded her agreement and we both sighed.
“Okay,” Bebe said, sounding tense. “I asked you to come have lunch with me today because I have something I want to talk to you about.”
For some reason, the hair on the back of my neck was standing on end and a wave of nervous tremors swept through me. I don’t know what I was so scared of, but I knew that Bebe didn’t often make a special effort to prepare me this way and I didn’t know what to expect.
“Really?” I said, playing with my fork. “Is it…is it something I’ve done?”
“Oh no.” She reached out and covered my hand with her own. “Nothing like that. It’s just that, I’ve been promising you for so long that I’d talk to you about your mother, and I thought it was way past time I actually did that. So….”
I stared at her, more jumpy than ever. Was it really going to be so bad? If it was this hard to get out, I couldn’t imagine what it could be that she was about to tell me.
“You okay with that?” she asked, and I wondered how scared I must look to have her ask.
But I nodded. “Sure,” I croaked.
She smiled at me. “You look so much like her,” she said softly. “I just wish….” She sighed and shook her head. “Okay. Here goes. Your mother was born three years before me. Our Mom died when she was six and I was three. So it was just the two of us and Grandma Kalena from then on.”
I nodded. I knew all that. I’d heard it told often when I was very young. Hawaii was in many ways a magical place to grow up in—think tropical waterfalls, white sand beaches with flowers everywhere. Imagine soft evenings with neighbors barbecuing and calling you over to join them, with someone on a guitar, someone else on a ukulele, and soft voices singing familiar songs. Someone was dancing a provocative hula in the limelight and a couple was kissing in the shadows. That was nightly. Hawaii was the best.
But at the same time, if your mother was gone and your father was emotionally out to lunch, it wasn’t as easy as it should have been. I’d been lucky to have my grandmother and Bebe to take the place of parents most of the time. Still, I’d always known some very important components of family were missing in my life. And there had been times when I’d deeply resented it. Rose Carrington Keahi—my mother. Missing in action, but sorely missed.
“Rose was like the flower she was named for—beautiful, but surrounded by thorns. I loved her so, and we practically raised each other, along with our grandmother. But I never felt as though I could quite reach her heart, or read her soul. There was always a part of her that stayed distant.”
I felt tears stinging my eyes, thinking of those poor little girls who had lost their mother so early. Their father, I knew, was long gone by then.
All alone in the world.
It must have felt that way, despite Grandma Kalena being there for them. The mother and father every child needs—those were missing. But I knew a bit about
“Oh, this is just what I need,” I said as I sank into a chair and took a sip of the Paradise Iced Tea she’d poured for me.
“Any news on the murder front?” she asked as she set out the food.
I quickly filled her in on what Jill and I had found out, as well as some of our speculations.
“So what do you think?” she asked. “Did Jagger do it?”
I hesitated a beat to long, then said quickly, “I sure hope not.”
Bebe nodded. “Me too. It’ll hit Jill hard if he gets charged, don’t you think?”
“Absolutely. She’s crazy about him.”
“She hasn’t known him very long.”
“No, but she’s head over heels right now. Of course, once she gets to know him better….” I left the obvious statement unsaid, but Bebe nodded her agreement and we both sighed.
“Okay,” Bebe said, sounding tense. “I asked you to come have lunch with me today because I have something I want to talk to you about.”
For some reason, the hair on the back of my neck was standing on end and a wave of nervous tremors swept through me. I don’t know what I was so scared of, but I knew that Bebe didn’t often make a special effort to prepare me this way and I didn’t know what to expect.
“Really?” I said, playing with my fork. “Is it…is it something I’ve done?”
“Oh no.” She reached out and covered my hand with her own. “Nothing like that. It’s just that, I’ve been promising you for so long that I’d talk to you about your mother, and I thought it was way past time I actually did that. So….”
I stared at her, more jumpy than ever. Was it really going to be so bad? If it was this hard to get out, I couldn’t imagine what it could be that she was about to tell me.
“You okay with that?” she asked, and I wondered how scared I must look to have her ask.
But I nodded. “Sure,” I croaked.
She smiled at me. “You look so much like her,” she said softly. “I just wish….” She sighed and shook her head. “Okay. Here goes. Your mother was born three years before me. Our Mom died when she was six and I was three. So it was just the two of us and Grandma Kalena from then on.”
I nodded. I knew all that. I’d heard it told often when I was very young. Hawaii was in many ways a magical place to grow up in—think tropical waterfalls, white sand beaches with flowers everywhere. Imagine soft evenings with neighbors barbecuing and calling you over to join them, with someone on a guitar, someone else on a ukulele, and soft voices singing familiar songs. Someone was dancing a provocative hula in the limelight and a couple was kissing in the shadows. That was nightly. Hawaii was the best.
But at the same time, if your mother was gone and your father was emotionally out to lunch, it wasn’t as easy as it should have been. I’d been lucky to have my grandmother and Bebe to take the place of parents most of the time. Still, I’d always known some very important components of family were missing in my life. And there had been times when I’d deeply resented it. Rose Carrington Keahi—my mother. Missing in action, but sorely missed.
“Rose was like the flower she was named for—beautiful, but surrounded by thorns. I loved her so, and we practically raised each other, along with our grandmother. But I never felt as though I could quite reach her heart, or read her soul. There was always a part of her that stayed distant.”
I felt tears stinging my eyes, thinking of those poor little girls who had lost their mother so early. Their father, I knew, was long gone by then.
All alone in the world.
It must have felt that way, despite Grandma Kalena being there for them. The mother and father every child needs—those were missing. But I knew a bit about
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