Invitation to Murder (Book 1 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) by Tim Myers

of that
already.”
    “ That’s great,
thanks.”
    As I raced for the door, Grady said, “Come
back in.”
    “ You know it.”
    Lillian was waiting in the doorway when I
got back to the Three Cs. “What is it?” I asked her as I brushed
past. “Is something wrong?”
    “ You took an awfully long
time, Jennifer. I was just out to call your brother.”
    That was all I needed, another episode with
Bradford attracting all of the wrong kind of attention to my shop.
“I’m glad you didn’t. It took me longer than thought to find what I
was looking for.” She gestured to the small bag in my hand. “And
you believe you found it?”
    “ There’s only one way to
find out.” I went back to the table, moved my drawings out of the
way, then retrieved a pair of small pliers and a hole punch.
Folding a piece of card stock into thirds, I attached section of
wire to each of the front doors of the card, threading a brass
fitting as I worked. A touch of hot glue to keep the pieces firmly
in place, and I had a card I could work with. “So what do you
think?” I asked Lillian as I handed the card to her.
    “ But it’s blank inside,”
she said as she opened the doors of the card.
    “ Of course it’s blank. I’m
fast, but I’m not that fast., Besides, I’m not sure what kind of
card I want it to be yet. I’m talking about the design on
front.”
    “ That? Why, it’s lovely. A
little modern, though isn’t it? It looks a little industrial to
me.”
    “ Good, that’s exactly what
I was going for. Now, what color pen should I use for the
calligraphy? Would gold be too common?”
    Lillian tapped the card with her fingers.
“Don’t you think a fancy script inside would be a bit jarring with
this exterior? I should think you’d want something a little
starker, don’t you?”
    I hugged my aunt, and she asked, “What was
that for?”
    “ For having a great idea.
Why don’t you search through the fonts we have on the computer, and
when you find something close to what you have in mind, I’ll use it
for the cards.”
    “ You mean you’re going to
print the invitations out on your computer?”
    “ Well, I could hand-letter
all one hundred, but she needs them in four days, and my arm would
fall off before I could manage that. Don’t worry; I have a good
idea about what I’m going to do.”
    “ You’re the one in
charge,” she said. “I finished cutting the stock just before you
got back. I thought she wanted a hundred even. Why are we making
more?”
    “ There’s always a chance
we won’t like our first few,” I said. “And besides, I want to be
able to pick our best efforts for her. I’m a little nervous about
my first paying job here.”
    “ You’ll do fine,” Lillian
said. “After all, you’ve got the best assistant in town. Now I’ll
just go find that font.”
    I started marking and folding the cards,
happy with my choices. I just hoped Mrs. Albright would be
satisfied. While I wanted Donna to be pleased, it was just is
important to me that the bride’s mother was happy with the results,
too. One bad bit of word-of-mouth would probably kill my shop so
soon after opening.
    Lillian found a font we both agreed on, and
we were busy tweaking the design when my aunt said, “Look at the
time. We should have locked up an hour ago. I just realized
something. You worked straight through your lunch, Jennifer.” My
stomach rumbled at the mention of lunch, and realized she was
right. That happened sometimes when I was absorbed in a new
project. “I’ll grab something later. We’re making real progress
here.”
    Lillian said, “Still, you have to eat
something. What time is your class tonight?”
    “ What class?” I asked
absently as I played with the wording inside the invitation. “The
class you’re teaching, young lady.” I’d forgotten all about my
private lesson scheduled for later that evening. “I don’t have time
to eat,” I yelped as I started gathering the materials together to
clear