Kelly's Koffee Shop (A Cedar Bay Cozy Mystey Book 1)
Read Kelly's Koffee Shop (A Cedar Bay Cozy Mystey Book 1) Online
Authors: Dianne Harman
Kelly's Koffee Shop
By
Dianne Harman
Copyright © 2014 Dianne
Harman
All rights reserved,
including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form
without written permission except for the use of brief quotations embodied in
critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely
coincidental.
Website, Interior & Cover design
by
Vivek Rajan Vivek
Paperback ISBN:
978-1503015630
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As always, I could not
have written this without the help of my husband, Tom. He has become a master
chef and gardener, as well as king of the laundry! Thank you!
To Rhys, Pamela, Kay,
Deanna, Charlene, Kathleen, Janice, Christoph, Dave and Jeanie, and all the
rest of you who so willingly helped me and gave me feedback, thank you! A book
becomes a living thing, and all of your input definitely made it healthier.
And to all of you who have
read my books and taken the time to contact me and give me your input, please
know how very much it’s appreciated. Readers, none of this would be possible
without you. Thank you!
Table of Contents
Lush cedar forests
surrounded the town, named after the lumber industry that had given birth to
it. When the town was first built on the central Oregon coast, ships anchored
in the small harbor, and then transported the lumber to its final destination.
Even when the large ships were replaced by the railroads and logging trucks and
the harbor was converted into a small marina for recreational boats, the
loggers still came to Kelly’s Koffee Shop whenever they wanted a good,
home-cooked breakfast or lunch.
Kelly pulled into the
harbor parking lot next to the pier and noticed that Amber’s car wasn’t in its
usual place and there was no sign of her. She was usually standing at the door,
waiting for Kelly to open up. W
onder what that’s all about
, she thought.
“Amber, are you here?” she
asked in a loud voice as she opened the door and turned on the lights. Kelly
had given her an emergency key, but Amber was to use it only for that purpose.
She wondered if Amber had gone into the coffee shop even though no lights were
on when Kelly had pulled into the parking lot. Her question was met by an eerie
silence. There was no answer from Amber.
Swell, this is not a good
way to start the day. This is a first. Wonder why she’s not here.
She plugged in the big
commercial coffeepot and turned on the ovens, knowing that within an hour, the
popular coffee shop she owned would be filled with hungry and thirsty regulars.
Kelly knew nearly every shop owner and citizen in the little town and knew that
many of them would be starting their mornings or having lunch at the coffee
shop in the coming week. A few minutes later, Roxie, the longtime waitress at
Kelly’s, came through the front door, followed by Charlie, the short-order
cook.
“Roxie, did Amber mention
anything to you about not coming in this morning?”
“No. I said goodbye to her
yesterday afternoon after we finished cleaning up, just like I do every day,”
the blond blue-eyed waitress said. Kelly had come to rely on Roxie, who had
been with her for over ten years. Roxie never forgot a customer’s name, really
cared about what was going on in each of their lives, and while she didn’t have
the looks of a movie star, her welcoming smile and friendly blue eyes made her
just as attractive to the customers of Kelly’s Koffee Shop, particularly the
male customers.
Kelly and Roxie were like
Mutt and Jeff. In contrast to Roxie, who at 5’3” was rather short, Kelly was
tall with jet black hair she wore pulled back either in a ponytail or twisted
and secured at the back of her head with a large tortoiseshell clip.
Intelligent sea-green eyes never seemed to miss anything that was going on at
the coffee shop, or for that matter, anywhere else. It was a casual seaside
town and Kelly’s signature uniform was jeans and a red T-shirt, covered with a
white apron with the words “Kelly’s Koffee Shop” embroidered on it in large red
letters.
“Well, maybe she
overslept,” Kelly said, “although that sure isn’t like her. Glad you and Amber
set the tables before you left yesterday.”
Promptly at 7:00 a.m. the
first customer opened the door. “Morning, Rebel, morning, Kelly,” the big burly
county sheriff said, bending down and scratching Rebel’s ears. The more he
scratched, the faster Rebel’s tail wagged. “What’s the special breakfast
casserole today?” He was in his standard uniform which consisted of a grey shirt,
loden green pants, white Stetson hat, and his gun in its holster on his hip.
His hairline was receding and there were a few extra pounds on his 6’3” frame,
but he carried himself with an air of authority. You only had to take one look
at the man to know this was someone you didn’t want to cross.
“Sausage and eggs, Mike,
plus I’ve got some sweet rolls about ready to come out of the oven,” she said
smiling at him as she poured his coffee.
“I swear Kelly, no woman
should look as good as you do this early in the morning. What’s your secret?”
“Wish I had one, but I
don’t. Mike, I’m a little concerned about Amber, She didn’t show up this
morning and she’s never been late before.”
“With graduation coming up
next week, she’s probably playing hooky. I wouldn’t worry. She’s a good kid.
Pretty impressive that she and Brandon, two of the town’s own, are going to
Oregon State in the fall on full scholarships. As tight as money is for Amber’s
parents, she probably couldn’t have gone to college without the scholarship.
Course Brandon’s family doesn’t need to worry about it. His parents could pay
for him to go anywhere he wants. Do you think they’ll continue seeing each
other after they’ve settled into college life?”
“Who knows? Been my
experience not many high school sweethearts stay together once they get to
college.”
“Speaking of romance, what
are the chances of me coming by for dinner tonight?” Mike asked with a twinkle
in his eye.
“Pretty good. Say about
seven?”
“See you then. I know, no
more talking. You need to get to get to work.” He looked at the large piece of
the breakfast casserole and the sweet roll Roxie placed in front of him.
“Thanks, Roxie. Looks great!”
“Wish I could say it was
my recipe, but it’s from Kelly’s mom. It’s one of our customers’ favorites.”
Mike cut a piece off of
the large swirled cinnamon and glazed sweet roll and put it in his mouth. He
turned his eyes up and made a swooning gesture and said out of the side of his
mouth, “I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.”
“Oh you! I know it’s good,
Mike, but I think you may be overdoing it,” Roxie said, playfully swatting his
shoulder.
“Trust me, this is manna
from heaven. If starting out the day with this sweet roll is any indication,
then it’s going to be a very good day.” Later that evening, he remembered those
lighthearted words because it turned out it would be a day the citizens of
Cedar Bay would long remember, a day that turned out not to be a very good day.
Rebel, Kelly’s big boxer,
was in his favorite spot in the coffee shop, lying on his dog bed next to the
front door, not far from the cash register. Every time someone opened the door,
he acknowledged them by looking up and hoping they’d scratch his ears for a
couple of minutes. A number of them did just that before they sat down at the counter
or at one of the tables. Rebel was a gentle giant, but the regulars knew he
felt his one purpose in life was to protect Kelly at all times. If she went in
the kitchen, he did too. She was never out of his sight.
“Roxie, I’ll have the
usual,” the handsome suntanned man said as he walked in and sat down at the
counter after first stopping to greet Rebel. He gave the room a once-over. “You
know, every morning when I come here I look around at all the old photos on the
walls of how the town looked years ago. There’s everything from photos of the
mule teams dragging logs to the harbor, to lumberjacks using huge handsaws to
fell the old growth cedar trees, to the Native Americans who lived here before
Cedar Bay was built. It’s kind of like a glimpse into the past of this area. I
seem to always find something in the photos I hadn’t noticed before.”
“Yeah, I know what you
mean. Kelly’s grandparents were some of the original settlers here. You can see
how the town grew just by lookin’ at the photos,” Roxie said as she poured his
coffee.
Chris Jones was a fairly
recent arrival in Cedar Bay. From what the townspeople knew, he’d come to Cedar
Bay a year ago from Idaho, smarting from a bitter divorce. The local high
school hired him as its English teacher and football coach. The Cedar Bay
football team won its first conference title in eighteen years under his
guidance. He was something of a loner and although he preferred to keep to
himself and spend time living alone on his boat which he kept docked in the
marina, he was a hero to the townspeople.
Even though Cedar Bay was
a small town of only a few thousand people, and it was a month before tourist
season would be in full swing, Kelly’s Koffee Shop was doing its usual good
business. It had become something of an institution in the small town. The
coffee shop had been part of Kelly’s life from the time she was born. Her
grandmother had baked pies that she and Kelly’s grandfather sold out of a small
building on the pier. Most of their customers were the loggers who worked in
the timber industry. Over time, as the business grew and as her customers began
to ask for other kinds of food, the small shop had expanded several times. When
Kelly’s parents had taken over the coffee shop, they named it Kelly’s Koffee
Shop in honor of their daughter. They’d retired many years ago and moved to a
seniors’ community near Phoenix.
It was a given that Kelly
and her husband would run the coffee shop when her parents retired. A few years
later when Mark, Kelly’s husband, died unexpectedly at an early age from a rare
type of bone cancer, the coffee shop provided the money Kelly needed to raise
their children and also gave her a reason to get up in the morning. No one
expects their husband to die when he’s just thirty-one years old. It hadn’t
been easy, but she’d managed to be both a mother and father to her daughter and
son. Julia lived in San Francisco and worked for a large bank in their loan
department. She usually came to see Kelly at least once a month. Kelly’s son,
Cash, was a career Marine presently stationed in the Middle East, but he too,
made it home as often as he could. It had only been recently that Kelly had
made room in her life for Mike, the county sheriff. The children were gone, she
was lonesome, and he was a good man. A lot of relationships started with less.
The morning flew by with
regulars and a few tourists, all hungry and thirsty. The popular coffee shop
was only open for breakfast and lunch. If you wanted to eat at Kelly’s, you
often had to wait for a seat.
Like clockwork, promptly
at noon the door opened and Doc walked in, pausing for a moment to scratch
Rebel’s ears. “Hi Kelly, what’s the special today?”
“We just ran out of the
breakfast special, but I’ve got that barbecued brisket you like. Got some great
au gratin potatoes and a mini-monkey bread to go with it. How does that sound?”
“Great. I’d also like a
tall iced tea. It’s starting to get warm. We may be in for a long summer.
Where’s Amber? I didn’t see her when I pulled up. She and I usually come in at
the same time now that she doesn’t have cheerleading practice after class.”
“Don’t know. She didn’t
come in this morning. I’ve been meaning to call Ginger and ask her if Amber’s
sick, but it’s been so busy I haven’t had a chance. I’ll call in a few minutes.
How are things out on the ranch?”
Doc lived about five
minutes outside of town in an old ranch house surrounded by ten acres. Ever
since he’d come to Cedar Bay, he’d been a mystery to the townspeople. No one
knew anything about him other than that his nickname was Doc. Like a few other
people in the area, Doc apparently wanted to “live off the grid.” All Kelly or
anyone else knew about him were his food choices. He didn’t even bank at the
First Federal, Cedar Bay’s only bank. Grizzled and deeply tanned, the only time
anyone ever saw him was during the week at noon at Kelly’s Koffee Shop. Kelly’s
was closed on Saturdays and Sundays and there was some speculation among the
town gossips about what Doc did for lunch on the weekends.
Kelly looked up as the
door opened. “Hi, Mike. To what do I owe the pleasure of a second visit on the
same day?” she asked, laughing.
Mike had a serious look on
his weathered face. He looked every day of his fifty-four years. “Have you
called Ginger yet? I checked with Suzie over at the high school and Amber
wasn’t in class today. Brandon was in school so it doesn’t look like they
decided to take a ditch day. Did a little asking around and no one’s seen her
all day.”
“I’ll call Ginger right
now,” she said, picking up the phone.
“Hi, Ginger, it’s Kelly.
Wondering if everything’s okay with Amber.” She paused. “No, she never came to
work today. Mike checked with Suzie over at the school and she wasn’t in her
classes.” She listened. “She left earlier than usual and said she wanted to get
here and do some studying for a final exam? Well, don’t worry; I’m sure it’s
nothing. She’ll probably come in soon and help me close up and get ready for
tomorrow. I’ll call you if I find out anything. If you hear from her, I’d
appreciate it if you’d call me.”
