Christmas Family Style in Savannah: A Garlucci Family Saga Novel (Made in Savannah Mystery Series Bo by Hope Callaghan (summer reading list txt) 📕

rest of the morning and afternoon free, Carlita trekked down the alley in the direction of Pete’s restaurant. Although there was a crispness to the morning air, making it feel more like the holidays, it was still a sharp contrast to the cold, dreary winters of New York.

She passed by Annie Dowton’s office and caught a glimpse of her friend in the window. She stopped long enough for a quick chat and to congratulate her on getting a contract on Pete’s place.

They discussed Carlita’s Christmas Eve dinner, and then the conversation shifted to Roxy’s death.

Annie’s eyes clouded. “It’s awful. Pete gave me a heads up, telling me the police had asked for a copy of the guest list, but I haven’t heard from the investigators yet.”

“I’m sure they’re working their way down the long list of guests and employees.” A client arrived, and Carlita continued her journey to Pete’s restaurant, where she found him already hard at work in the courtyard. “You started without me.”

“It’s a mess,” Pete shook his head. “It’s in worse shape than I thought.” He showed her the rusty entrance gate. The door squeaked loudly as chunks of rust fell off. “I have a friend who can fix this, but it won’t be ready in time for the New Year’s Eve get-together I was hoping to host.”

“Get-together?”

“A party to celebrate the New Year with family and friends.”

“A New Year’s Eve party sounds fun.” Carlita clapped her hands. “What if I host it instead?”

“I wasn’t hinting,” Pete said.

“I didn’t think you were.” Carlita warmed to the idea. The Christmas gathering would be for close family and friends, something she had done on a number of occasions, but a New Year’s Eve party was something she’d never tackled, mainly because her husband had never been a huge fan of parties.

Pete leaned in and sneaked a kiss. “I appreciate the offer, but I think I’ll have it here. It will be dark, and no one will even notice my gate looks like a prop for one of the ghost tours.”

“Why didn’t we think to have a Halloween party? We could have offered tours of the tunnel. We wouldn’t even have had to decorate. There’s plenty of spooky stuff down there without touching a thing.”

“Hold that thought…until next year,” Pete teased. “Right now, I need to get this mess cleaned up.”

Carlita tackled the sweeping while Pete trimmed the bushes that hung over the courtyard wall.

While they worked, they discussed Christmas, her children’s visit and then Roxy’s death. Carlita told him about the investigator’s surprise visit and ended with the female cop’s body search.

“Perhaps Roxy got one in on her attacker before she went over the side of the ship.”

“That would appear to be the case. The cops left my place and headed over to Elvira’s.”

“Thryce is on it,” Pete said. “He’s certainly making his rounds.”

The cleanup went quicker than Carlita expected. After they finished, they stood back to admire their hard work. “It looks great.”

“Thanks to you.”

A wave of dizziness hit Carlita, and she started to sway. She grabbed hold of the gate.

“Are you okay?” Pete reached for her hand. “Your face is red.”

“I feel a little dizzy. Now that I think about it, I never ate breakfast.”

“You’re working on an empty stomach.” Pete took the broom from Carlita’s hand and propped it against the wall. “We shall remedy the situation immediately.”

After stopping by the restaurant’s restroom to wash up, Pete guided her to a cozy table for two near the fireplace.

“You don’t have to feed me,” Carlita slipped her reading glasses on and perused the menu.

“It’s the least I can do.”

Everything sounded delicious. “What do you recommend?”

“You can’t go wrong with the homemade chicken gumbo.”

“Chicken gumbo, it is.”

During lunch, they discussed the sale of Pete’s home and business in general. The meal ended, and Carlita reluctantly stood. It was getting late, and she still had some things to take care of at home before the family returned from their outing to the zoo.

“How are you doing on your restaurant’s inventory?” Pete placed his napkin on the table and followed suit.

“I need to work on it this afternoon.” The holidays were unchartered territory for Carlita. She didn’t want to stock too much food, but she didn’t want to run low, either. The most frustrating part was every time she tried to run the numbers, she came up with something different. To top it all off, she struggled with trying to factor in the holiday parties.

“It’s time for me to do the same.” Pete walked Carlita to the door. “Would you like me to give you a ride home?”

“No. It’s only a few short blocks. The fresh air will do me good.” Carlita bounced up on her tiptoes and gave Pete a quick kiss. “Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For being you. For making life fun again.”

“You’re welcome. I can’t wait to see what the next year brings for us.”

“Neither can I.” Carlita thought about the bet Elvira and Dernice had, about Pete and Carlita becoming engaged. Would it happen? Whether it happened or not, Carlita was content with the direction her life was taking, and a big part of that was because of Pete.

During the walk home, Carlita counted all of her blessings…her health, her family, her businesses. If someone had told her five years ago that she would be living in Savannah and a business owner to boot, she would have laughed right in their face. Now, she couldn’t imagine her life any other way.

She rounded the corner, reaching the pawn shop where several customers were inside. Carlita started to walk by and then switched directions. She made her way into the shop to check on the employees.

With an assurance they had everything under control, she returned to the apartment and