Beach House Mystery

Chapter 3

Morgan waited until the last car had gotten off the ferry before she left the parking area, not wanting to ride the bike in traffic or scare Misty, her kitten. But nothing seemed to bother the cat. Instead, she had poked her head up, letting her paws drape across the front of the basket, watching the cars leave with interest.

"Nosy little thing, aren"t you?" Morgan asked as she reached out and played with the cat"s soft paws, giving the extra thumb on each front paw a tap.

Once the last car had left, Morgan followed behind on her bike. Misty sat in her basket with her head above the rim. As she rode past some of her new neighbors on the island, they waved. Misty was becoming a common sight in Morgan"s basket. The first time she had jumped in the basket, Morgan worried the cat would run away when they reached their destination. But Misty had become attached to Morgan most unusually, almost as if she were watching out for Morgan. The woman couldn"t walk from one room to another without the cat meowing and following her. When they went for rides on the bike, Misty made no effort to abandon her driver. Instead, she would curl up in the basket and take a nap or accept coos and cuddles from people as they walked by.

It didn"t take long for Morgan to ride from one end of the island to the other. It was a beautiful day, and there was just enough of a breeze to keep her cool. As she rode her bike up to the front of the house, she wasn"t surprised to see a young man sitting on the steps, his violin next to him.

"Hey, Gabe, what"s up?"

Morgan didn"t bother to put the bike away; she knew she"d be using it again later in the day. She leaned it against the front porch railing and walked up to sit next to her friend. Misty accepted a scratch behind the ears from Gabe and then disappeared into the house through the cat door that Morgan had installed. It seemed like the cat trusted Gabe to look after Morgan, and she never seemed to stick around when he was there, trusting him to pick up the slack of her duties.

"So, did Kathy talk you into it?"

Morgan looked at Gabe, not at all surprised he was aware she had been with Kathy. It was a small community and not much got past the occupants.

"Was there any doubt? I agreed just to get her to quit nagging." Morgan laughed as she answered him.

"I bet." Gabe laughed out loud. "Kathy does have a way of wearing down your resistance. Did she also rope you into helping plan the party?" Seeing the look on Morgan"s face, Gabe"s laughter intensified. He had anticipated as much.

"Well, it"s for Jenny. She"s been a good friend to me, and she has been through a lot, thanks to that creep, Stanley," Morgan answered, referring to Jenny"s old partner, who was now sitting in a jail cell. "I"m not so sure the idea of a surprise party is a good one. Jenny"s pretty good at figuring things out. Besides, Kathy is never going to be able to keep quiet long enough to pull this off."

Still laughing, Morgan opened the front door, motioning for Gabe to follow her. They automatically went to the kitchen, and Morgan pulled out two bottles of soda, placing one in front of Gabe without asking.

"So, Gabe, what do you think about Kathy"s plans?"

Gabe took a long swallow of his soda before he answered. "It"s probably just what we need. Too many disturbing things have happened over the last couple of weeks. I think everybody needs a break and a little bit of fun. It’s different, which will create more excitement and get everybody"s mind on happier things."

Morgan nodded in agreement. Pearl Island needed something positive. Since the murder of her aunt and the subsequent arrest of one of their police officers, the residents had been quiet—almost fearful. Gabe had a point; they needed something fun to break the dismal atmosphere that had descended on the island.

"I think you"re right. And I"ll just swallow my uneasiness and have a good time. Besides, I think I will be so busy helping Kathy that I won’t have time to worry about my petty fears."

"Don"t downplay your instincts, Morgan. You have them for a reason, and you know as well as I do, they have kept you safe when facing danger."

Before Morgan could answer him, her phone rang, and she glanced down at the screen to see who was calling. She groaned as she read Kathy"s name.

"And, so it begins," she said to Gabe before she answered.

Morgan was right. Kathy had made up a list of things for her to get working on, and she was smiling at Gabe as she wrote it all down. Gabe started to leave her so she could talk to Kathy, but Morgan shook her head and handed him the phone as she laughed. "Your turn. Kathy has a list for you too."

Once the phone call ended, they each had a list in front of them. Working together, the pair began to make phone calls and make arrangements to ensure Jenny would have the best birthday party possible. Morgan fixed a quick lunch, and they ate in between phone calls. Finally, around 3:30, Gabe put down his pen and paper.

"I"m calling it quits for the day. I have a student waiting for me for her violin lesson, and then I have some work to do. Why don"t we get together tomorrow?"

"That sounds great, but it"ll have to be in the afternoon. I"ve got a stack of books that need to be evaluated. They just came in from an estate sale, and the owner wasn"t sure they were worth the money to have them repaired."

"Are they?"

"From the peek that I took, yes, he"s got some great first editions. It will be a chore to get them repaired, but I think he"ll find it will be worth it. I love new projects like this: saving old books and preserving history," Morgan answered.

They agreed on a time to meet the next day, and after Morgan walked Gabe to the front door, she turned and headed to her workroom, ready to start going through the boxes that had arrived yesterday, full of books. She planned on working for a couple of hours, and then she would continue searching the contents in her library. Many books were promising to tell her about the family"s history, and she knew secrets were waiting for her.