Page 58 of Promise Me This Christmas
She sounded defiant, but guilt was written all over her face.Shelley couldn’t be a terrible person.Or she wouldn’t have been so bad at pretending to be innocent.She glanced at the back door as if considering bolting, but Carson, in a move Larkin had seen him use to good effect before, took a few steps and blocked her.
“Well, someone’s been a busy little saboteur this week,” Larkin said, giving rein to some affronted sarcasm.“The burnt cookies and coffee mix-up could have been accidental.The dead mouse and the brownies, not so much.Then there was today.”Larkin’s voice tightened with anger.“Amy could have been seriously hurt.Or what if one of the elderly guests had fallen?”
It could have been her grandmother, barely recovered from a hip operation.Shelley might be a young woman, only fresh from high school.But she was definitely old enough to know that what she’d done had been dangerous.
“Hang on,” Chet said.“What did Shelley have to do with the icy step?”
“I’m guessing after her date last night she stopped by and dumped some water on the top step.By morning it would have frozen into a guaranteed accident waiting to happen.”
All the blood had drained from Shelley’s face.But she still stuck her chin out defiantly.“Why would I do that?”
“I was wondering the same thing,” Larkin said.“And I think I got my answer when I went to talk to some of the other bed and breakfast owners in Marietta.I wanted some context, to see where Bramble House fit in compared to the local competition.One of the places I happened to visit was the Rocking Chair B & B.”
“That place is relatively new,” Jo said.She was standing in the doorway to the kitchen.Unwittingly, or maybe wittingly, blocking yet another of Shelley’s escape avenues.“A nice young couple opened it last year.”
“I met them and they’re lovely people,” Larkin said.“Their names are Chris and Dana Whitehall.While I was chatting with them, I kept feeling that Dana reminded me of someone.Only later did I realize who.Dana’s your sister, isn’t she, Shelley?”
Shelley hesitated, then finally nodded.“Yeah, but so what?”
Everyone in the room was totally swept up by the drama now.Even Robin was quiet, enjoying his perch on his uncle’s shoulders.Larkin wasn’t sure she should go on.Amy probably would have preferred she share her suspicions about Shelley’s motivations privately.But Larkin had needed to see Shelley’s face when she accused her.And that face had told her everything.
“Let me see if I can guess the answer to that.”Gibson, of all people, started to speak.“Shelley, did you take this job to spy on your sister’s competition?”
Suddenly Shelley’s pale face flooded with color.
“Since you were here anyway,” Gibson continued, “it must have been tempting to create a little havoc.Throw the cookies back in the oven for a few minutes to make them less perfect.Switch the coffee beans between the drip and the espresso machines.”
“Wh-why would you accuse me of these things?”
“I knew you put the dead mouse in my tub,” Gibson said calmly.“I saw you enter my room ten minutes before I found it.I assumed you were there to do some cleaning, so got myself a cup of coffee and waited in the sitting room until I saw you leave.”
“I didn’t notice you—”
“I can be very quiet and still when I want to be.”
“Now I’m really confused,” Amy said.“Gibson, why didn’t you tell me if you thought Shelley put the mouse in your tub?”
“I was curious,” he admitted.“I couldn’t figure out her motivation.I figured she wanted me to give Bramble House a bad review.But I didn’t understand why.”
“Did it not occur to you that her stunts could get dangerous?”Chet asked in a hard voice.“My wife was seriously hurt this morning, and it could have been worse.She could have broken a bone or suffered a brain injury.”
“I’m sorry, you are quite right,” Gibson said.“I should have realized the young woman’s pranks might escalate.I apologize for my silence.But also—I wasn’t sure you’d believe me.I didn’t have any proof.”
“Hang on a minute,” Amy said.“What did you mean when you said Shelley wanted you to give Bramble House a bad review?Why should she care about a review from just one of our guests?”
“You still haven’t figured out who he is, have you?”Shelley sounded scornful.“That’s the really maddening thing.Other than keeping up an Insta account and hosting a few charity events, you don’t spend anything on promotion.Yet, people around here can’t say enough nice things about Bramble House.You’re always full and you have so many five-star reviews.How’s a start-up bed and breakfast supposed to compete?”
“Just a few years ago, I was the new guy in town,” Amy said.
“Maybe.But you had a B & B with history and a following in town.You didn’t have to build your reputation from scratch.”
“And that’s a reason to try and hurt me?I trusted you, Shelley.I brought you into my home—you even played with my son.”
Shelley’s eyes filled with tears.She stared down at her entwined hands.“I didn’t mean to hurt you.I just thought if Bramble House’s reputation wasn’t so perfect, maybe it would be easier for my sister to build up her business.I’m really sorry about the ice.I wanted someone to slip, but I didn’t think they would get hurt.It’s only a few stairs, right?”
“I broke my hip stepping off a curb, young lady,” Ethel said, speaking up for the first time.“Can you imagine what might have happened to me if I slipped on that ice?”
Shelley covered her face with her hands.
