A Cuppa Cruise Conundrum: A Cozy Mystery (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book 7) Read online

  A Cuppa Cruise Conundrum

  by

  Constance Barker

  Copyright 2016 Constance Barker

  All rights reserved.

  Similarities to real people, places or events are purely coincidental.

  Chapter One

  At 10 am the double shot espresso I'd had when I woke up was gone from my system. Big time. I smothered a yawn and flipped the switch for the milk frother. It roared to life with gurlges that promised fluffy peaks of dairy and creamy goodness for my caramel latte.

  I was waiting for my aunts Essie and Hildie to show up with more baked goods for the display counter. Mid week at the Coffee Cabana, the shop I ran with them required a decent supply of pastries, cookies and muffins. Being excellent bakers they took up the challenge to keep the shop freshly stocked. Toe Thompson, one of our regulars, hadn't been to the shop yet today for his muffin but I knew any minute now he would walk through the door expecting a sugar fix.

  I poured the frothed milk into my cup of caramel flavored espresso and inhaled deeply. I loved the sweet scent of the caramel but I was in too much of a hurry to shake myself out of my sleep-deprived fog to savor the smell. I blew on the hot liquid then took a timid sip. A jolt of caffeine directly into my blood stream would work faster but this tasted better.

  I was up most of the night too excited to sleep. Once my aunts arrived to take over the shop for a few hours Jules, my best friend, and I were going dress shopping for my engagement party. It was fast approaching and I had nothing to wear. Well, nothing Eli hadn’t seen me in already. For the engagement party I wanted to look amazing and sexy. Eli would whirl me around the dance floor of the hall unable to take his eyes off me the whole time.

  My heart skipped a beat when I thought of my fiancé. The way he proposed to me during the Christmas holidays was romantic and surprising. Our first Valentine’s Day as an engaged couple turned out great after the mystery of Mildred’s disappearance had been worked out. He still thanked me for the gift I got him. The engagement party would be our first party as an engaged couple.

  I took another fortifying sip of my latte. The caffeine couldn't work fast enough. I yawned again and eyed the sugar filled muffins in the display case. A shot of sugar should perk me up. The sugar fix would be worth Essie’s reprimand for dipping into the shop’s stock. I swiped a chocolate chip muffin and pulled the paper muffin wrapper from it. I pulled off the crusty top and popped a piece in my mouth, washing it down with another sip of latte.

  The bell above the door jingled and I looked up hoping to see my aunts. Jules strolled through the door, the smile on her face infectious. I grinned as the excitement for our shopping trip oozed off her. She loved to shop as much as I did.

  "They're not here yet?" Jules asked scanning the empty room.

  "Not yet but they'll be here. They know we're going shopping."

  She leaned over the counter and eyed the espresso machine. "I could use a latte before we go."

  "No problem."

  I whipped up a caramel latte for her, putting it in a too go cup. Positive thinking that my aunts would arrive soon.

  I handed her the drink and she took a sip. "Ahhhh. That hits the spot."

  "I know what you mean. I think I should have made mine stronger."

  "Too excited to sleep?" She grinned.

  "You know me too well," I said.

  The bell jingled again and this time my aunts pushed through the doors, their arms laden with trays of baked goods. The smell of the muffins, pastries and cookies wafted in. A fine puff of steam rose gently from the offerings and my mouth watered. I loved it when they were still warm.

  "Sorry we're late," Hildie said. "We ran out of sugar and had to run to the store."

  "Looks like we're right on time," Essie said nodding toward the display and the half eaten muffin on the counter. "Dipping into the stash again, Lily?"

  I pulled off another piece of muffin and popped it into my mouth unapologetically. "I had a late night and needed a sugar rush."

  Essie waggled her eyebrows at me. "A late night with Eli?"

  While I had spent some of the evening with him we weren't up to what Essie suggested with her eyebrow waggle. At least not last night. He was trying to clear up some loose ends on his cases and I was getting the shop's paperwork in order.

  "For your information we watched a movie after a light dinner and some paperwork." I took a gulp of my latte this time since it had cooled down enough for me to be able to chug it. "I kept thinking about the party. I can't wait to celebrate our engagement."

  Hildie walked behind the counter and started putting the baked goods in the display case. Essie grabbed a damp cloth and wiped down the already immaculate tables in the front of the shop.

  “Is this your first shopping trip for a party dress as an engaged woman?” Essie asked.

  Jules laughed and gave a knowing nod.

  So maybe I was getting carried away with all the firsts but it wasn’t every day a girl got engaged. At least it was a common occurrence for me. Jules and Essie had been through marriage before. This was all sparkly and new for me.

  “As a matter of fact it is. I don’t count the Valentine’s Day dress because we didn’t go to a party.”

  "Then go shopping for that perfect dress. We've got this covered for you," Hildie said.

  I gave them each a quick hug, gobbled up the rest of my muffin, downed my latte then hurried to the back to get my purse.

  "We won't be too long," I said as we left. But I knew it would take hours. You never buy the first dress you try on. And we had to go to Sabina to shop. I hoped Sweet Home would get another dress shop soon. Maybe someone would come to town and buy the one left vacant by Lucille after she killed Carl Jefferies and was arrested.

  Outside the store Jules stopped me from getting into her car with a touch on my arm. "You know it's going to take a few hours to get the perfect dress, right?" Jules said.

  "I know. But if they think we'll be forever you know they'll complain. It's better this way."

  ***

  A few hours later I twirled into the shop with Jules holding the door for me. She laughed as I held the garment bag against my body and danced into the middle of the store. It had taken a while to find the perfect dress and the shoes to match but the sapphire blue satin hugged my curves lovingly and showed off my eyes. If Jules could tame my thin tresses I might just look awesome for the party.

  Aunt Hildie looked up and smiled. “Found a dress I take it?”

  "She found the perfect dress," Jules said.

  I couldn’t control the grin on my face. I didn't think I'd ever loved a dress more. Well, except maybe the dress I bought for Valentine's Day.

  "The hall called while you were out," Essie said.

  She was wiping down tables in the front of the shop while Hildie still stood behind the counter ready to serve the hoard of invisible customers. I didn't want to dwell on the fact that the shop was empty save for the people who worked there and a best friend. It was after all the slow time of day so the lack of customers shouldn't surprise me. After the party craziness was behind me I would have to think up ways to get more than a trickle of people through the doors between 10 am and 4 pm.

  "Thanks, I'll call them back. They probably want to confirm the final numbers for Saturday." I handed the garment bag to Jules. "Show them perfection while I'm gone."

  Even though it was going to be a semi-formal/casual affair and buffet style dinner they would need to know how much food to make. I'd toyed with the idea of a forma
l sit down dinner, and my dress was plenty formal, but I liked the idea of the buffet better. It gave everyone the opportunity to walk around and actually chat with each other instead of feeling like they were stuck with assigned seating. And if they wanted more they could get it. No worrying about getting something you didn't like on your plate.

  I hurried through to the back room and snatched the phone from its cradle. I needed to call the DJ as well to talk about the songs I wanted him to play after the meal was finished. I had a long list of tunes I wanted to hear. Fast ones, slow ones, sultry ballads that would allow me to float across the dance floor in Eli's arms.

  I dialed the number of the hall and waited for the receptionist to answer.

  After a few rings a breathless “hello” greeted me.

  "Hi, Sue. Lily calling you back. My aunt said you called earlier."

  "Yes. Thanks for getting back to me. I'm really sorry to have to tell you this but we can't host your party on Saturday."

  My stomach dropped like I'd just been thrown from a horse. "What? But it's all planned. Everyone has RSVP’d. Jules ordered a cake." At least I hope she ordered one. A party was not a party without cake.

  "I know and I'm so sorry. We had a flood. The kitchen pipes burst and most of the hall is ruined. The kitchen equipment is toast. Almost literally. If the appliances had been on there would have been a fire."

  I shoved aside my feelings of despair and why me. It wasn't the hall's fault. And it could have been a lot worse for them.

  "Is everyone okay?" I asked which is what I should have led with after she told me about the flood.

  "We're all okay. It happened overnight when no one was here. I have a few names of local places that might be able to help on short notice," she offered.

  I listened with half an ear as she rambled them off and I scribbled them down on a pad by the phone. Set backs happen. I sucked in a deep breath, squared my shoulders and wondered what I was going to do next. I had my heart set on a party, a celebration of my engagement to the best guy in the world. If we couldn't have it at the hall there had to be another place that could accommodate us.

  "Thanks, Sue. I'm glad everyone there is okay. If you need any help getting things cleaned up let me know. I'll be happy to go over and I'll even bring the coffee."

  "You're awesome," Sue said. "If we need you to help we'll let you know. But we could definitely use some coffee."

  "I'll send my aunts over a little later with some."

  After a few more moments of chitchat I hung up the phone and returned to the front of the shop.

  Jules was twirling the dress around showing how the skirt flared. The blue color looked brilliant even in the light of the shop. A kernel of sadness threatened to swarm through me at the thought of not being able to wear the dress. At least not in the way I had intended. If we didn't have a party I would find another excuse somewhere down the road to wear the dress, it just wouldn't be the same.

  "I might be returning it," I said.

  Jules stopped mid twirl. My aunts rushed over to me, concern lining their faces.

  "What's wrong? You didn't have a fight with Eli did you?" Hildie asked.

  "What? No. Why would you think that?"

  "Why else would you return the dress unless the party was canceled?" Essie asked. "Most likely reason for it to be canceled is calling off the wedding."

  Hildie scoffed at Essie. "Our Lily would not be calling off the wedding. Give your head a shake. It's something else."

  The bell above the door jingled as Toe and Harvey walked into the shop. Toe's gaze landed on the dress and he smiled.

  "Fine looking dress," he said.

  Harvey nodded agreement. Hildie hurried back behind the counter and made some coffees, grabbing two muffins from the display case when the drinks were done. She brought them all over to the table Toe and Harvey occupied.

  "She's returning it," Essie said.

  "Why?" Harvey asked.

  I slumped into a chair across from the two older gentlemen. I related what Sue from the hall said. It was hard to get the words out and not panic. The orderly fashion in which I'd planned everything was unraveling and I didn't like the feeling. At all. I took another deep breath trying to figure out how this was going to get fixed. As much as I wanted to believe one of the other places could take on my party I wasn't delusional. On such short notice I knew it was highly unlikely that they'd be able to fit me in. If they could it would be at a much higher price.

  I sighed, not knowing what to do next.

  "I have an idea. A great place you can have your party Lily," Toe said.

  ***

  As much as I didn't want to get my hopes up after having them crushed so thoroughly only moments before I sat up straighter and leaned forward. All eyes in the shop focused on Toe and he seemed to shine under the spotlight. I never thought he was one to like the attention but maybe he just liked being the save the day kind of guy.

  The bell chimed again and Eli walked in. Jules squeaked like a frightened mouse and grabbed my dress, scrambling away to the back room to hide it from sight.

  "Morning everyone."

  We all mumbled a greeting back. Eli's eyebrows knotted together as he leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

  "What's wrong?" he asked.

  "The hall had a flood. We can't have the party there."

  A moment of disappointment crossed his face, which lifted my spirits. Half the time I thought I was the only one looking forward to the celebration. I did tend to enthuse about it a lot, so much so I thought everyone was humoring me most of the time. It was nice to know my fiancé was looking forward to the celebration too.

  "There has to be another option," he said squeezing my hand.

  "There is," Toe said. "I have a suggestion."

  "He was just about to tell us before you came in," I said.

  Eli pulled a chair over and scooted in beside me. We turned our attention back to Toe.

  "What's your idea?" Essie asked the doubt dripping from her voice obvious. "You've never mentioned having connections."

  I shot her a withering look that didn't make her wither. "Let's hear what he has to say."

  "It's not a hall, really." He looked around at everyone in turn. We couldn't listen any more carefully than we already were. My nerves were so taught I wanted to scream for him to get on with his story. What is it with the senior crowd…they always like to build up a story. But I took a deep breath and waited.

  "If it's not a hall what is it?" Hildie asked.

  "Lily, how would you feel about having your engagement party on a cruise ship?"

  With the bombshell dropped we all sat back and thought about his question. A cruise ship. Could I afford that? Surely they would be booked solid so close to the weekend. How would we fit even a small party onto a ship? Moving to another venue, a floating one, I probably wouldn't have the same number of people able to attend. Especially because it wouldn't be a one night affair. I would still expect to have at least ten, maybe more, able to go.

  "A cruise?" Essie huffed and walked to the counter to get a cup of coffee. "How on earth could you arrange that Toe Thompson?"

  He grinned. "I have connections. It's the perfect option. My friend says this is the low season so there should be plenty of cabins available. They have a nightclub there for dancing. And a world class chef."

  The idea wormed its way into my brain and started forming other ideas. Scenarios flashed through my head of me dancing with Eli in a fancy nightclub. Another scene of all of us eating a delicious meal prepared by a world class chef. Then other ideas popped into my head. Relaxing by the pool. Drinks at the bar with Jules. Getting pampered in the ship’s spa.

  "I'm not sure," I said. As much as the fantasy was fun I didn't know if I could swing a cruise. And who would look after the Coffee Cabana? I couldn't afford to have it closed for even a few days. From what I knew the shortest cruise was three or four days.

  "It sounds like a lot of fun," Jules chim
ed in.

  "My friend is always trying to get me to go on a cruise. They have their port of call in Florida. They have a nice five day cruise that would give everyone plenty of time for some fun and relaxation,” Toe said taking a bite of his muffin.

  "What do you think?" Hildie asked me.

  Suddenly all eyes turned to me. I thought it sounded like heaven but that seemed out of reach right now. I didn't want my hopes to be shot down again. What if Toe's friend wasn't able to get us in? What if the ship was full?

  "It might be fun," Eli said.

  "How sure are you that your friend can arrange all this?" I asked.

  Toe's eyes sparkled and he grinned again. "Positive. Let me make the arrangements and you just get ready. I think the next cruise leaves in a few days."