Killer Colada: a Danger Cove Cocktail Mystery by Sibel Hodge, Elizabeth Ashby

never made that much of an effort with my appearance, preferring to use subtle makeup and keep my long waves au naturel, usually with a braid in the front to keep it off my face. I dressed for comfort rather than sexiness or fashion. Don't get me wrong. It wasn't like I grew my armpit hair or anything. But I was nothing like the glamorous Carmen, who obviously spent hours in front of a mirror applying her makeup and doing her hair to make it just so. She was polished and immaculately turned out. In contrast, I was kind of frayed around the edges and casual. Maybe it was about time I started paying more attention to my appearance.
    With that decided, I turned back to them. "So what can I get you to eat?"
    Carmen shot me a dirty look, as if she didn't enjoy the interruption.
    "I'm famished." Harvey rubbed his hands together, caught my eye, and winked at me. "What are the specials today, Hope?"
    "Um…" The specials had disintegrated from my head suddenly. I felt a bit sick, to be honest, seeing them together.
    That smug smile was back on Carmen's face, but it was only for my benefit. It morphed into a friendly one as soon as Harvey turned back to say to her, "The food here is amazing."
    Vernon stepped in for me then, rattling the specials off.
    "I'll have the prawn coconut curry." Carmen slapped her menu closed. "And then after dinner, how about you show me round the town?" She raised perfectly shaped eyebrows at Harvey, and I made a mental note to pluck mine later. With everything that had happened lately, I'd forgotten.
    Harvey glanced at me. "Er…well…I think Hope and I were going to catch up."
    "Oh, come on!" Carmen flashed another fake smile at me. "Holly won't mind, will you?"
    "It's Hope, actually," I corrected her.
    She ignored me and carried on. "I'm new in town, and I'd like to find out where everything is. After all, I'm going to be here a long time with the project." She pouted her red-glossed lips and fluttered her eyelashes at Harvey. I was pretty sure they were way too long to be real.
    Harvey swallowed hard, watching me, looking torn.
    Of course I mind! But I couldn't let my jealousy show. It would just make Carmen worse. Besides, it was a perfectly normal thing for Harvey to take his colleague around town and get her settled in.
    I waved a nonchalant hand. "No, you guys go. We can catch up later." I glanced uneasily at Harvey.
    "If you're sure?" Harvey asked. "I can—"
    "Of course she is," Carmen butted in.
    I tried not to look at them eating their dinner in one of the booths, but my gaze kept straying over there every time Carmen laughed, which she seemed to do a lot. And very loudly.
    "You want to watch her," Vernon whispered to me. "She's trouble."
    "I know." I wiped down the bar extra vigorously.
    It was quiet after Harvey and Carmen left, so Vernon suggested Ruby and I make a start on packing up Pandora's belongings to donate to the thrift shop. Someone would have to collect the furniture, but we could sort out all the smaller personal belongings and anything that needed to be thrown away. I didn't really want to leave Vernon, but he was looking a lot better, and he insisted.
    It was dark when we arrived, giving the house an eerie feel. We pulled a pile of flat-pack cardboard boxes and large black trash bags from the trunk of Ruby's car and carried them inside.
    Ruby flicked on the lights in the hallway. "We should probably take one room each. Let's start upstairs and work our way down."
    "Okay."
    Before climbing the stairs, I glanced in the living room, my gaze catching the photos of Jenna on every available surface. Surely Ian would want to keep them. Even though he said he didn't want anything from the house and it might be too painful right now, one day he might want to look at them again.
    Ruby decided to start in Pandora's room while I took the smaller one, which was the shrine to Jenna. I opened two boxes. One for the thrift shop. One for things that we should at least let Ian see before they