Murder to Go (The Heights Bed and Breakfast Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) by Susan D. Baker Page A

to put the time and
energy into it.”
    “I’ll
say you are,” Carolyn replied. It’s a good thing for The Heights David is such
a competent handyman. I hate to think how much money you would have to spend to
get carpenters, plumbers and electricians from town to do all the repairs and
maintenance David does.”
    At
that moment, Carolyn’s husband, Karl, came in from the other end of the
apartment.
    Carolyn
crossed the room and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
    He
kissed her back. “I missed you last night.”
    “I
bet you enjoyed having the entire bed to yourself. You did miss out,” Carolyn
told him. “It was the presidential suite. Barry, the manager at the Golden Hind
Lodge, put me up in it for my overnight stay. I think he wanted to influence
the review I was going to write for him.”
    “Did
it work?” Karl askedas he grabbed the other
half of Carolyn’s turkey sandwich.
    Carolyn
gasped out loud. “Of course it didn’t work. I never let any perks of the job
influence my reviews. My readers expect an honest opinion of the restaurants
and hotels I review. I wouldn't let them down just because a I stayed in a
fancy room.”
    “Still,”
Karl remarked as he chewed, “it sounds pretty nice.”
      “You would have loved it,” Carolyn exclaimed.
We could have soaked in the hot tub on the balcony overlooking the mountains, and
had some wine. The whole place to ourselves.”
    Sarah
cried out in surprise. “Mom!”
    Carolyn
looked around. “What’s wrong with that? Your father and I haven’t been out
alone since we moved in with you.”
      “I could have used it,” Karl replied as he
rubbed his shoulder. “I knew I wouldn’t have made it back here in time to start
breakfast if I went with you. You’ll just have to enjoy these nights out on
your own.” He flung himself into a chair. “Oh, my feet.
    “What’s
wrong?” Carolyn asked. “Are you hurt?”
      “I’m okay,” Karl replied. “I’m just exhausted.
I was up at five in the morning to make breakfast and spent the rest of the
morning making lunchboxes for the guests.
    Carolyn
patted his arm. “You’re a hero. I’m impressed as always.”
      “Mom, your blog is really taking off,” Sarah
remarked.
    Carolyn
gave her daughter a grateful smile. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.
    Karl
snorted and turned away. “Blogging. Ha! We managed to run restaurants for
hundreds of years without bloggers. Now anyone with a keyboard and some free
time can take down your restaurant with their reviews.”
    “You
didn’t have bloggers,” Carolyn pointed out, “but you had reporters writing
reviews in the newspapers. It’s the same thing, only now it’s on the Internet.”
    “These
bloggers don’t know what it really takes to run a restaurant,” Karl countered. “Show
me one of them who could handle the pressure of cooking for a full house of
customers.”
    “What
about me?” Carolyn asked. “I think I know what it really takes to run a restaurant.
That’s why I make a point of giving the establishments I review a fair chance.
That’s more than you can say for a lot of the bloggers out there.”
    Karl
waved his hand. “You? You’re just dabbling in this writing business. It's a
hobby for you. It's not as though you're any kind of professional.”
    Carolyn
and Sarah exchanged glances.
    The
door opened, and Sarah’s husband, David, entered. He didn’t sit down at the
table with the rest of the family, though. He leaned against the kitchen
counter. Carolyn turned to her husband. “Where are the guests now?”
    “Everyone
is down by the lake,” Karl replied. “I think I’ll take a nap until dinnertime.”
    “Seriously,
Dad,” Sarah told him. “Don’t you think you’re working too hard? Maybe you need
to take some time off.”
    “No,
no.” Karl waved his hand. “I owe it to you to keep the kitchen running. I have
to contribute in some way to pay you back for taking us in. I wish we didn’t
have to crowd you out of your own