Read Online The Lime and the Dead: A Key West Culinary Cozy - Book 3 by Summer Prescott - Free Book Online Page B

pot, and was
startled to see Tim Eckels face directly behind the fern. She was tempted to dump
the entire contents of her vessel on the annoying man’s head, but still had
doubts as to his sanity, so she refrained, her sense of self-preservation far
more keen than her desire for revenge.
    “So,
they caught the murderer,” he said quietly.
    “So
it would seem,” Marilyn answered, moving to another fern.
    “You
thought that I did it,” Tim moved around the side of the porch to stand at the
bottom of the steps.
    “What’s
your point, Mr. Eckels?” she stood, hands on hips, ready to sling her watering
can and run into the house if necessary. Fluffy twined happily unaware around
her ankles.
    “I’m
different,” he began awkwardly. “People think things about me because…I’m
different, but being different isn’t a crime. You should know that,” he
squinted at her from behind his glasses. “And I really do make great pies…my
grandma taught me,” he finished sadly, then turned and shuffled back to his
cottage.
    Marilyn
refused to feel guilty about having suspected the odd little man. He had
behaved in a manner that was unlike anything she’d ever encountered, making her
suspicion entirely understandable. Oh how she wished that Madge had never
moved, but at least she had the comfort of knowing that her neighbor might be a
seriously odd duck, but he wasn’t a killer, at least not provably anyway. She
stared after him until he closed the thick mahogany door of the cottage behind
him, then went back to her watering.
    “I
guess I owe you an apology,” a soft, nasally voice said from behind her as she
watered the petunias that were potted on either side of the door.
    Sabra
Remington had taken Tim’s place at the bottom of the steps and stood holding a
bottle of wine and a bouquet of flowers. She set both on the top step, not
wanting to presume that she’d be invited up.
    “I’d
say that was entirely appropriate under the circumstances,” Marilyn agreed,
setting down her watering can and folding her arms. Fluffy slunk over to the
steps, carefully examining the wine and flowers.
    “I’m
really sorry for the way that everything turned out,” the producer’s chagrin
was readily apparent. “I made arrangements with Tiara this morning and brought
my whole crew and as many people as I could find out on the street into your
shop this morning so that we could film everyone enjoying your pies. That
segment will be included in the last episode, along with endorsements of your
business from some very high profile people. I figured it was the least I could
do,” she bit her lip.
    Marilyn
nodded. “Well, thank you, I appreciate that.”
    “You
have a very talented daughter, you know,” Sabra said honestly. “I told her if
she ever wanted to give reality TV another try, she just had to look me up.”
    “How
did she respond to that?” the concerned mother raised an eyebrow.
    “She
laughed,” the producer smiled.
    “That’s
my girl.”
     

Chapter 15
    Tim
Eckels had stopped turning up on Marilyn’s porch unannounced, and had taken to
edging her lawn whenever he did his, slowly changing her perception of him from
dangerous to merely eccentric, so when she had the urge to go for a late night
walk, she felt no reservations, and headed out.
    The
beach was about four blocks away from her cozy cottage, and it was a beautiful
moonlit night, so she set out for sand and surf, gulping in deep breaths of the
cool, salty air. Kicking of her shoes the moment that she made it to the beach,
Marilyn walked along counting her blessings. She had an amazing daughter, who,
when push came to shove, not only showed tremendous courage and ability, but
who also seemed to have a maturity that caused her to make the right decisions
most of the time. She also had a thriving business that had been booming as a
result of the endorsements by reality TV stars and crew, and had finally found
an employee whom she could trust. Life was good