This Heart of Mine (Chicago Stars #5)(39)



She regarded him with disapproval. "How could you even think to do that, Kevin? Some of these people have been coming here for forty years. And Judith spent every penny she had sprucing up the cottages and turning the house into a bed-and-breakfast. Do you have any idea how much it costs to advertise in Victoria magazine? And that Collins boy in town charged her almost a thousand dollars to set up a Web site."

"A Web site?"

"If you're not familiar with the Internet, I suggest you look into it. It's a wonderful thing. Except for all that porno."

"I'm familiar with the Internet!" Kevin exclaimed. "Now, tell me why people are still coming here after I closed the place down."

"Why, because I told them to. Judith would have wanted it. I kept trying to explain that to you. Do you know that it took me nearly a week to get hold of everyone?"

"You called them?"

"I used that E-mail, too," she said proudly. "It didn't take me long to get the hang of it." She patted his arm. "Don't be nervous, Kevin. You and your wife will do just fine. As long as you put out a nice, big breakfast, most people are happy. The menus and recipes are in Judith's blue notebook in the kitchen. Oh, and get Troy to look at the toilet in Green Pastures. It's leaking."

She headed off down the lane.

Kevin looked sick. "Tell me this is a bad dream."

As Mrs. Long disappeared, Molly watched a late-model Honda Accord turn into the lane and head toward the B&B. "As a matter of fact, I think you're wide awake."

Kevin followed the direction of her gaze and swore as the car stopped in front of the B&B. Molly was too tired to stand any longer, so she sank down on the top step to watch the entertainment. Roo yipped a greeting at the couple who came up the sidewalk.

"We're the Pearsons," a thin, round-faced, sixtyish woman said. "I'm Betty and this is my husband, John."

Kevin looked as if he'd taken a direct hit to the head, so Molly replied for him. "Molly Somerville. This is Kevin, the new owner."

"Oh, yes. We heard about you. You play baseball, don't you?"

Kevin sagged against the gas lamppost.

"Basketball," Molly said. "But he's really too short for the NBA, so they're cutting him."

"My husband and I aren't much for sports. We were sorry to hear about Judith. Lovely woman. Very knowledgeable about the local bird population. We're on the trail of Kirtland's warbler."

John Pearson outweighed his wife by nearly two hundred pounds, and his double chins wiggled. "We hope you're not planning on making too many changes in the food. Judith's breakfast spread is famous. And her cherry chocolate cake…" He paused, and Molly half expected him to kiss his fingertips. "Is afternoon tea still at five o'clock?"

Molly waited for Kevin to respond, but he seemed to have lost the power of speech. She cocked her head at them. "I have a feeling tea might be a little late today."





Chapter 9


? ^ ?



Daphne lived in the prettiest cottage in Nightingale Woods. It sat off by itself in a great grove of trees, which meant she could play her electric guitar whenever she wanted and no one complained.



Daphne Gets Lost





Kevin had his cell phone pressed to one ear, the B&B's phone pressed to the other as he paced the entrance hall barking orders to his business manager and somebody who was either a secretary or a housekeeper. Behind him an imposing walnut staircase rose half a flight, then turned at a right angle. The spindles were dusty, and the richly patterned carpet on the treads needed vacuuming. An urn filled with drooping peacock feathers topped a pilaster on the landing.

His pacing was wearing her out, so Molly decided to explore while he talked. With Roo trotting after her, she moved slowly into the front parlor. The pincushion settee and pleasing jumble of chairs were upholstered in pretty buttercup and rose fabrics. Botanical prints and pastoral scenes hung in gilded frames on the cream-colored walls, while lace curtains framed the windows. Brass candlesticks, a Chinese jardiniere, and some crystal boxes ornamented the mantel above the fireplace. Unfortunately, the brass was tarnished, the crystal dull, and the tabletops dusty. A lint-flecked Oriental carpet contributed to the overall air of neglect.

The same was true of the music room, where the traditional pineapple-patterned wallpaper served as a background for rose-patterned reading chairs and a spinet piano. A writing desk in the corner held ivory stationery, along with an old-fashioned fountain pen and a bottle of ink. A pair of tarnished silver candlesticks sat on top, near an old toby jug.

A Queen Anne table and ten matching high-backed chairs graced the dining room across the hallway. The room's dominant feature was a square, cutaway bay window that provided a generous view of lake and woods. Molly suspected that the tall crystal vases on the sideboard had held fresh flowers when his Aunt Judith was alive, but now the marble top was cluttered with the remains of breakfast serving dishes.

She walked through a door at the back into an old-fashioned country kitchen warmed by blue-and-white tiles as well as wooden cabinets topped with a collection of chintzwear china pitchers. In the center a sturdy farm table with a marble slab served as a workspace, but now dirty mixing bowls, eggshells, measuring cups, and an open jar of dried cranberries littered the surface. The very modern restaurant-size stove needed cleaning, and the dishwasher door hung open.

Susan Elizabeth Phil's Books