SLAY PAIRS WITH ROSE (The Kelly's Deli Cozy Murder Mysteries Book 3) by Sophie Brent (phonics reading books .txt) 📕

It was almost an hour later when Erin parked her van under the trees outside the back of her deli.

Instead of leaping out of the van as she normally did, Erin sat back in her driver’s seat and wound the window down. Birds were singing in the beech and oak trees above her head on the village green and children were playing and running around having fun.  On the other side of the green, she could see a family having a picnic around a brightly coloured tablecloth laid out on a picnic bench.

In other words, it was a perfect Saturday afternoon in August in Kingsmede. Tranquil, calm and unruffled by the outside world and the trauma that came with it.

Life here had carried on as though nothing had happened only a few miles away in Abbotsdown Hall. How was that possible? Did no one here understand the trauma and loss that she had experienced in a few short hours since she left here this morning?

Erin closed her eyes, rested her forehead on the hot steering wheel and took a couple of deep breaths.

This was her world and she loved it so very much. She couldn’t let Emma’s death take her special sanctuary away from her, but it was so hard to let it go.

“Is everything okay, Erin?” a man’s voice said, and she instantly snapped her eyes open and brought her head upright. Staring in through the passenger window was her temporary next-door neighbour Matt Ridley, who also happened to work as a private investigator. He had such a look of concern on his face Erin could not help but smile back in reply.

“Been better, Matt. Have you heard about the death at Abbotsdown Hall? Was that a nod? This has been quite a day!”

“Do you want to tell me about it over coffee?” Matt smiled. “I hear there’s a local deli that’s worth checking out. I’m willing to give it a try if you are.”

“Really?” Erin grinned as the tension eased from her shoulders. “That does sound good.”

Then she thought about the stack of suitcases in the back of her van containing the precious wedding clothes for a wedding that was not going to take place anytime soon, if ever. It would be terrible if someone broke in and stole the luggage.

“Actually, Matt, I wonder if you could help me to unload the van first? I should warn you, some of the bags are really quite heavy.”

Matt made a display of squeezing his biceps through his short-sleeved shirt with a big grin on his face. “This is why I pay for a personal trainer at the gym. Let me at them!”

The expression on Matt’s face when he saw the huge suitcases that Fiona had brought with her, made Erin laugh for the first time that day.

“Okay,” he said in an exasperated voice. “Where do you want them?”

That was a good question.

“There’s only one place they can be stored safely and that’s in my dad’s old bedroom. It’s the big front bedroom on the first floor over the deli.”

“Lead the way,” Matt grinned with a shake of his head and grabbed two suitcases to show just how impressive those biceps really were.

Erin chose the smallest suitcase with wheels and trundled it across the narrow lane and into the small patio area behind her deli. She quickly unlocked the kitchen back door and gestured to Matt where the entrance to the apartment was.

Matt’s uncle Lucien had the shop next door, and his apartment shared exactly the same layout, so Matt knew precisely where the large main bedroom was, facing the street.

Erin left the suitcase she was carrying at the bottom of the stairs and walked slowly up the steep stairs, holding the handrail to support her tired legs. When she got to the top, it was only a few steps to her late father’s room.

Opening the door, she stood to one side and watched Matt carefully slide the suitcases in front of the long wooden polished wardrobe that still held what was left of her father’s things. It had been almost two years since he passed away, but she still had not raised the courage and motivation to sort through them. One more thing to add to her already long list of things to do.

The air in the large room felt stuffy and hot and Erin instinctively opened the windows to try and catch some of the breeze from the high street and village square.

“That’s brilliant, thank you, Matt.”

“No problem,” he nodded. “Let’s get the rest of the luggage in while we still have use of our arms. There’s only three more to go.”

With that, he jogged down the stairs, grabbed the bag that Erin had left and was back in the room before she had time to reply.

“Nobody likes a show-off, you know,” she snorted.

“I’m planning on earning at least two coffees and several pastries,” he shrugged. “Ready to get the rest?”

In the end, it took three separate trips, because Maya had stuffed the two largest cases with unopened wedding gifts and stationery.  Even Matt was wiping his brow when Erin closed the bedroom door and sauntered down the stairs to the deli.

“Do you mind if I exchange that coffee for iced water or lemonade? It’s been a while since I moved home and that was during the winter. I’d forgotten what heavy work this is. Let me get changed and I’ll be right back.”

“No problem, Matt. See you soon,” Erin replied. She peeked into the deli from the kitchen and there were only two customers this late on a Saturday afternoon. Carol had already left to help her parents in the pub, leaving Prisha to hold the fort. The problem was, these two customers were leaning in and chatting to Prisha and looked