Beach House Mystery

Chapter 2

Morgan Seaver and eight-year-old Cordelia Wright sat in the living room of the Seaver beach house looking out the windows, watching the wind bend the fronds of the palm trees. It was mid-morning, and the winds had been steadily increasing since dawn. There was a storm offshore, but it was still several days before it would reach land. A rare March northeastern storm had its mark set for the Florida coast.

The two had cut their walk short this morning, the chilly winds forcing them indoors. And now they were enjoying the fire Morgan had started in the living room fireplace, each reading between glances out the windows.

"Ouch, Misty, don"t dig your claws into my leg," the little girl scolded halfheartedly. Misty looked up at Cordelia, noticing the ribbon tying her long blonde ringlets had come loose. The kitten reached up one of her paws and swiped at the ribbon, the extra toe on her paw making it look like she was grabbing it. Cordelia giggled, rather than get mad at the kitten, and hugged Misty close.

Before Morgan could say what was on her mind, the sound of the front doorbell interrupted them.

"You ready for this?" Morgan asked.

"You bet! This is gonna be fun. You wait and see, Morgan."

The two of them got to their feet and headed to the front door to welcome their guests. Morgan wasn"t so sure how much fun this was going to be. A natural introvert, she"d barely gotten used to Cordelia being a permanent houseguest. Cordelia reached the door first and swung it open to reveal three women standing on the doorstep. Cordelia threw her arms around the waist of the oldest of the women, happy to see her friend. Clearly, Cordelia was no introvert.

"Hi guys, don"t stand there. Come on in," Morgan greeted her guests, waving them into the house.

But when her eyes fell on the pile of suitcases, she couldn"t help but gulp. It was obvious they were planning to stay more than overnight, and Morgan felt the walls closing in on her.

"We really appreciate this, Morgan. And I"m sorry that it"s going to be longer than just overnight," Jenny Colbright said to Morgan as she passed by her on the way into the house.

"Yeah, Ben gave us the bad news about the damage. It"s not going to be an easy fix," added her sister, Kathy. Her long, dark curls blew in the wind as another gust seem to push Morgan"s guest into the house.

The oldest of the three, and the grandmother to Jenny and Kathy, still had her arms wrapped around Cordelia when she looked up over the little girl"s head to catch Morgan"s expression.

"Not to worry, Morgan, we"ll stay out of your hair. As a matter of fact, I"ll do all the cooking while we"re here," Winnie offered.

"You don"t have to worry about that, Winnie. Besides, you"re my friends and you"re welcome to stay as long as you need to. The Seaver beach house is big enough for all of us and then some." Morgan hastened to assure her guess they were welcome and then turned to Cordelia. "Cordelia, why don"t you show everybody what room they"re going to be in? Then we can drag the luggage in."

Cordelia squealed with excitement, and Morgan realized how lonely the little girl was. It was just the two of them living in the large house, and Cordelia had recently had two tragic losses in her life.

First, her mother died after a long sickness, and then her grandparents who had adopted her were tragically killed out at sea. The last couple of months had been a period of adjustment as Morgan and Cordelia got used to each other. Morgan thought they were getting along very well but seeing the excitement on Cordelia"s face reminded her the child needed more than just her company.

The Colbright family was just what the little girl needed. Winnie with her wisdom, Kathy with her carefree, Gypsy manner, and Jenny, one of two police officers on the island, a steady influence, but always with a quick smile. Between the three of them, plus Morgan, they would keep the young girl active and entertained.

Cordelia grabbed Winnie"s and Kathy"s hand and led them towards the staircase. Morgan and Jenny walked a few steps behind.

"How bad were the damages?" Morgan asked her friend.

"Pretty bad, a lot more than it appeared on the surface. Who knew a family of raccoons could do that much damage in such a short time? Thank goodness Ben is getting right on it for us."

Morgan shook her head, not understanding the powers of the raccoons any more than Jenny did. The Colbright family had gone for a weekend to the mainland to enjoy some cultural entertainment and a couple days of shopping. When they returned, they found a family of raccoons had broken into the screen porch and somehow found a hole that they quickly widened leading into the main house. From there, they started in the kitchen and worked their way from room to room searching for food, playing with Winnie"s antiques, and finding a soft spot to sleep in. Kathy had jokingly said it was like they’d been visited by the Three Bears on steroids.

Thankfully, they’d left the bedroom and closet doors closed. But the damage to Winnie"s kitchen was overwhelming, and the raccoons had destroyed most of the furniture in the living room. The animals ripped apart the cushions and knocked anything in their way onto the ground. What didn"t break on impact, they played with it until it was too damaged to be salvaged. Losing some of her precious antiques devastated Winnie, but with the usual shrug of her shoulders, she took it all in stride, proclaiming it was another excuse for a bigger shopping trip.

"We’re lucky Ben"s around,” Morgan answered. “The man has more talent in his pinky finger than anyone I know when it comes to craftsmanship and handyman work. And you know as well as I do that everyone he was working for before this happened is happily sitting back waiting until he finishes with your house." Her voice was loud enough that Winnie and Kathy heard her.

Kathy turned around and smiled brightly. "It all works out for the best. I"ve been after Gram to get rid of some of that nasty old furniture for years. Now she has no choice. I"m looking forward to shopping and modernizing our old house.”

"There was nothing wrong with that furniture," Winnie said, getting cut off by the laughter of her two granddaughters.

Morgan and Cordelia joined in the laughter. They had both been in the Colbright home many times and knew for a fact there was one chair there that was so uncomfortable it felt like the springs were digging you in the backside. Yes, Kathy and Jenny were right. It was time for a change in their home’s furnishings.

It didn"t take long for the women to get settled into their separate bedrooms. Morgan was happy she could help her friends and grateful the beach house was big enough that they would all have their own bedrooms. Cordelia had given up her bedroom and agreed to sleep in her art studio downstairs, eager to try out the Murphy bed Ben had recently installed.

Winnie was going to stay in Morgan"s Aunt Meredith"s bedroom. It seemed fitting since the two women had been close friends when Meredith was alive, and Morgan didn"t feel a sense of invasion into Meredith"s room like she usually did when they entered. It was almost as if the ghost of Meredith Seaver was welcoming her old friend.

That left the sisters in the two adjoining bedrooms across the hall from Morgan. They were smaller bedrooms, but the women didn"t mind; they were happy for a place to stay. Jenny promptly locked the connecting door between the two bedrooms, getting a laugh out of her sister.

"Listen, if you have any secrets you"re trying to keep for me, locking the doors isn"t gonna work," Kathy joked.

The others joined her in laughter, and then Morgan left her guests to get settled.

"Come on, Cordelia let"s let them unpack," Morgan said, touching the girl’s shoulder to stir her out of Jenny"s room.

"Can"t I stay and help?"

Morgan was about to refuse her request, but Winnie interrupted. “I could use some help getting my bag emptied. You"re welcome to stay and I"ll put you to work."

The glee in Cordelia"s answering smile made Morgan bite back her refusal. Instead, she nodded and warned the girl not to get in the way.