Christmas Tree Catastrophe (Lily Bloom Cozy Mystery Series Book 6) by Lyndsey Cole Page A

end in the sunroom, sitting with her friend Bella.” Ruth Ann pointed to the left toward an open, sunny room.
    The hallway sparkled as Lily headed in the direction that Ruth Ann indicated. She glanced through an open door, surprised at how comfy the room appeared to be, with lots of light coming through the window. The hallway widened into a common living room decorated for the season with a six foot tall balsam fir. The room was filled with a pleasant woodsy balsam smell and the sunshine warmed the space perfectly. Two women sat at one end of the sun filled room, one knitting, and the other quietly gazing out the window. Carrying her flower arrangement, Lily approached the two women, assuming the one in the wheelchair might be Sara Moss.
    “Good afternoon, mind if I join you?” Lily said as she approached, not wanting to startle them. “My name is Lily and I’m delivering some flowers for Sara Moss.”
    The woman in the wheelchair turned her gaze from the window and smiled. “I’m Sara. There’s plenty of room.” She gestured toward a chair nearby.
    As Lily made herself comfortable, the other woman put her knitting down. “Did you say your name is Billy? That’s an odd name for a pretty girl like you.”
    Lily smiled. “No, it’s Lily.”
    “It sure is silly. My name is Bella Parker.” She stared at Lily. “You know, you are as pretty as those flowers. What was your mamma thinking to give you a boy’s name?”
    “Are you Eddie Parker’s mom?”
    “Eddie? No, my son’s name is Edward.” She picked up her knitting again. “I’m making a baby blanket for my friend’s granddaughter. My fingers have been knitting for so long, they have a mind of their own and fly through the yarn.” Her needles click-clacked back and forth through the pink yarn, making an airy design with the soft wool.
    “You’re lucky that Edward visits you so often.”
    “Soften? The wool comes this soft. It’s that new washable wool. I love it for the baby blankets.” Bella held up the nearly finished blanket and rubbed the soft wool against her cheek.
    “Edward’s visits? Did he visit you last Friday?” Lily tried again.
    “Speak up, I’m a little hard of hearing,” Bella said with her hand cupped behind her ear.
    Lily raised her voice and spoke slowly. “Today is Monday. Did Edward visit last Friday?”
    “I’m not sure. I think Friday is Bingo night and he doesn’t usually come then.”
    Lily made a mental note to double check the sign-in book with Ruth Ann before she left. Turning her attention to Sara, she asked, “Are you comfortable here?”
    “It’s okay. I’m waiting for Malcolm to come and take me home. I can’t remember where he is. That friend of his said I had to move. Well, I didn’t want to stay by myself after I heard someone in the house when Malcolm was gone. It gave me quite a fright what with all the racket they made looking through Malcolm’s room. I can’t imagine what they were after.”
    Lily patted Sara’s knee. “Eddie sent these flowers over to brighten up your room.” She wasn’t sure if Sara knew what happened to Malcolm or if it didn’t sink into her brain yet.
    Sara smiled before turning her gaze back out the window.
    Standing up, Lily said her goodbyes and found her way back to the main entrance. Ruth Ann lifted her head up from her stack of papers. “Did you find Sara?”
    “Yes. What a lovely room. Bella is quite the talker, but she had trouble understanding a lot of what I said.”
    Ruth Ann chuckled. “A conversation with Bella is a test of patience and control. Patience in trying to get her to understand what you are asking and control not to laugh at the funny misinterpretations she makes of your questions.”
    “I can see that. She seemed to be confused about when her son Edward, not Eddie, Parker visited her. I was under the impression he came last Friday evening.”
    Ruth Ann opened the sign-in book and scanned it quickly. “He was here yesterday, of course,