Ashley Crane Cozy Mystery Boxed Set

  Ashley Crane Cozy Mystery Boxed Set

  Laurie Anne Marie

  Table of Contents

  Long Paw of the Law

  Long Paw of the Law 2

  Long Paw of the Law 3

  Long Paw of the Law 4

  Long Paw of the Law 5

  Long Paw of the Law 6

  Long Paw of the Law

  Chapter One

  Ashley Crane lay in her bed feeling utterly miserable. Wads of tissue were crumpled up beside her. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying. She thought about how the deck was stacked against her and cried some more. There weren’t a lot of single men in her little town of Comfortville. A lot of young people around here went off to college then to the cities for work. Most got married and lived where they had landed for work. If you wanted to find someone new to date, one usually had to take a ride over to another town close by or to one of the big cities—or go on the internet dating sites, which grossed Ashley out. Even though pickings were slim at her age, she’d still felt that she had found the right guy when she had met Ray Darden.

  Unfortunately, he wasn’t the prince she had been hoping he was. He wasn’t even a frog. It was an insult to frogs to be compared to Ray. At the moment, she hated him with an intensity that she had not felt for anyone before. Just then, her mind reflected, remembering how she had thought everything was fine most of the time between them. They had their quibbles like any couple, but mostly she felt their relationship was in a good place.

  The last few months, he had been sullen and distant with her. Every time she asked him what was wrong, she got the standard “nothing.” She had recently caught him glancing at other women more than usual, and one particular night two weeks ago after he leered at the waitress when they were out to eat, she snapped.

  “Do you have to keep doing that in front of me? It’s disrespectful and it hurts,” Ashley said. She locked her eyes with him in a fierce gaze.

  Ray smirked. “Maybe I wouldn’t look so much if you lost some more weight.”

  “Are you kidding me? I’m going to the gym like you asked me to do. Plus, I’m not really fat anyway. I’m just curvy.”

  Ashley had felt nauseous all of a sudden. He always used to tell her he loved her full figure.

  “You say ‘curvy’, but you’re getting too big. I’m gonna be honest here. I never signed on for a fat girlfriend.”

  Ray glared at her like he couldn’t stand the sight of her.

  “You always told me that girls who are waif-like are unattractive. You always told me men liked meat on the bones. I don’t understand. You’re being so mean.”

  Her eyes started to well up with tears, and she looked at his face pleadingly for some compassion.

  “Let’s get the check and get out of here,” Ray grumbled.

  Not only was there no compassion, there wasn’t even an apology coming from him. They rode back in silence. When they got home, she ran into the bathroom to get some tissue and wipe her eyes.

  When she came out, he was gone.

  He had sent her a text that simply said, “Need some time for myself. See you later.”

  Ashley was upset at not being able to talk it out with him. She immediately went into the kitchen and grabbed some cookies and wolfed them down. They were snickerdoodles, her favorite.

  “If he thinks I’m fat, then who cares?” she thought as she munched away.

  The realization hit her that those were some of the best cookies she had ever made.

  “It was that new recipe. Wow, I’ll have to make them again,” she thought.

  She shuffled off to bed and hoped everything would be better the next morning.

  It wasn’t. Ray came home late that night then crawled into bed while she was asleep. He got up really early so he could get out before she woke up.

  He texted her that “things weren’t working out,” that he “needed some time,” and that he would be “back later to pick up his stuff,” but he didn’t say when.

  Ashley felt like she had been sucker punched. Who broke up with someone over text message? What a coward. Reading that text first thing in the morning was devastating. She felt like calling into work sick that day, but there was a huge luncheon party at the restaurant, and as one of the main cooks, she had to be there. She was on autopilot all day.

  When she got home that night, Ray was packing up his stuff. She had tried to reason with him, but he kept insisting that he didn’t want to talk. After her third round of imploring him, he snapped at her.

  “Leave me alone. We’re done.”

  Ashley stopped talking, as she didn’t want him to leave angrier than he already was. He went out the door with a quick “goodbye and good luck,” then left her sitting on the couch in shock. She had found out recently that he had moved in with the cute server that had just started working at her restaurant a few weeks ago.

  Suddenly she understood everything. He had probably already been cheating on her by the time he moved out. Her hurt turned to anger as her blood began to boil. She went over again and again in her head how she could’ve missed any clues and beat herself up over the breakup. Then she went into overdrive, eating as much comfort food as she could get her hands on. It would be a long haul to recovery. She was wounded from being dumped and turned to food and friends to help her recover. When her best friends Lara Longley and Sean MacDonnell called the following week to take her out to try and cheer her up, she was all too eager to cut loose and bury her sorrows.

  ***

  Ashley woke up in the morning feeling groggy and nauseous. She was a light drinker, but last night she had let her friends convince her that she needed to get out of her “breakup funk” and let loose. After two strong cocktails, she was happily buzzed. During the night, she had to admit she felt a lot better. She and her friends were having so much fun.

  That miserable Ray Darden, who'd broken her heart, was far from her mind as the evening wore on with laughter and teasing from her friends. Unfortunately, this morning she was paying for it. She groaned as she lifted her head from the pillow and shuffled into the kitchen. She ignored her coffee pod machine and made a full pot from her old-school coffee drip.

  “I’m drinking the whole pot,” she grumbled, as her head throbbed in pain.

  Ashley stumbled back to the bathroom and grabbed two aspirin from her medicine cabinet and swallowed them without any water.

  Ugh.

  This day was shot. She grabbed her first cup of coffee and drank it black. It was barely gone when she poured another cup. Ashley then sat on the couch and noticed her cat Charlie staring at her with concern in his eyes.

  “Why are you looking at me like that, Charlie? So I had too much to drink last night. I guess I needed it.”

  Ashley put out her hand, and he licked it in sympathy. He then snuggled down beside her and put a concerned paw on her arm. What a great cat he was. Charlie was smart as a whip and knew her inside and out.

  Ashley could never understand why some people thought cats were aloof. Charlie was as full of love and fun as a pet could be. He also enjoyed riding in the car and walking on a leash. She took him out two times a day, just like a dog.

  Charlie was also very forgiving like many devoted pets were. She wasn’t so sure anyone who had seen her and her friends acting so juvenile last night would be forgiving. If you made a ruckus in a small town like Comfortville, many folks were bound to find out. Plus, the locals liked to have something to talk about when they saw each other in town. Especially the old folks. They would compare their generation to the next just like every older generation had done since time began.

  Ashley was only thirty-one, but that still was the time w
hen many women her age were already married around these parts. Most had already started a family. So when she had too much to drink and whooped it up with other friends who should also be “settled” in the locals’ eyes—well—they were bound to get talked about. That was just that.

  Still, as she looked out the window, Ashley realized how lucky she was to have grown up in Comfortville. It was so pretty and peaceful. It wasn’t right on the coast like some of the other picturesque towns in the area, but that spared it from getting the brunt of the tourists overrunning it in summer. It was a few miles inland, sitting up on an old and rounded hill with groves of trees everywhere. If you were at the very top of the hill, you could see a bit of the ocean in the distance and sometimes smell the salty breeze coming in. There were harvest festivals every autumn, and the town square had a tree-lighting festival during the holidays. A local farmers’ market set up in town every Sunday, and there was a duck pond in a pretty little park where the parents would gather with their children.

  It was a quiet place with simple lifestyles, so even though many of the young folk would go off to college and then left to live in the big cities, Ashley had preferred to stay here. Her parents and some of her best childhood friends from school still lived in town. In a place like this, routine and a sense of neighborly pride ruled the day. Even if folks talked about her or anyone else when they did something “irregular,” they were also there to rally around when any trouble came calling. That was very comforting, just like the town name.

  Ashley noticed her cat looking up at her as if to say, “I sure could go for my walk now on this nice day,” and she reached over to pet him.

  “I can’t walk you this morning Charles. Mom’s head hurts too much,” Ashley said.

  Charlie gave her a look that seemed to imply that he would let it pass for now, but tonight he expected to go for his usual jaunt. She petted him again.

  Just then, Ashley’s phone rang. Her cell phone ring sounded loud enough to burst her head open.

  “Hello? Oh hi, Sean. Yeah, I’m sort of okay. Biggest hangover I’ve had since college. Those were the strongest cocktails ever,” Ashley groaned.

  Sean MacDonnell guffawed on the other end of the line.

  Ashley had to hold her phone out, as the sound hurt her head.

  “I was wondering if you wanted to get something to eat later. You need some good food in you to soak up the remaining alcohol,” Sean said.

  “No thanks. I feel awful. I’ll just have some soup later.”

  There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds.

  Sean stammered. “Okay, I understand. And listen, I’m sorry if you felt awkward about what I said last night…”

  “Oh, Sean, don’t worry about that. It was very sweet. Thanks to you and everyone else, I had a great time and forgot about Ray for a while, so the hangover was worth it.”

  There was silence again on the line, and Ashley realized Sean still felt uncomfortable.

  “Listen, how about we see that movie you mentioned on Thursday night? That’s my next night off, and it would be a good break,” Ashley suggested.

  “Sounds great!” Sean said. His enthusiastic voice boomed into the phone.

  Again, she winced from the pain in her ear and sighed.

  “Okay, let’s talk on Wednesday and confirm the time. I’m going back to bed for a while. Thank God today is my day off, or I would’ve been in big trouble. Bye. Thanks again for last night.”

  Ashley heard him saying goodbye as she turned her phone off. She put her head back on the couch and thanked her lucky stars that she was off today. Her job as a cook left no room for an incapacitated head and body. As it was, they could still call her from the restaurant and ask her questions for help on what to do or tell her she had to come in at the last minute for an emergency if someone didn’t show up.

  That was life in the food business. It wasn’t a nine-to-five career. She had to always be prepared to change her day at any given moment. Ashley instantly felt like throwing up again and dashed to the bathroom. On impulse, she made sure to check the shutdown mode on her phone.

  “I couldn’t go in and work even if the place was in chaos,” she thought. She then put her head over the toilet bowl.

  ***

  As she lay in bed with her head throbbing, Ashley reflected on how sweet Sean MacDonnell was. He owned one of the best bakeries in town, called Babycakes, and his personality was so nice and easygoing. He was medium height and handsome in a low-key way. They had grown up together, and he had always been one of her best friends. He had developed a crush on her as they grew older and had mentioned to her last night that he thought they would make a perfect couple. She knew that he had felt that way for a while. As sweet as he was, she couldn’t get past the feeling that they couldn’t be anything more than just friends.

  ***

  But Sean had always been there for Ashley when she needed comfort. He had visited her after the breakup and brought beer and mac and cheese. Not to mention the best-selling cupcakes from his bakery.

  “You have to let it go, Ashley. Obviously the guy is a turd. He was playing you while he was cheating with her. He doesn’t deserve you, and you’re better off without him.”

  Ashley knew he was right. All her girlfriends said the same thing. But like every failure in life, it was always tough to process it. That’s why they had dragged her out last night and got her tipsy. Anything to take her mind off the breakup. She winced at the crushing pain in her head and felt nauseous again.

  “Thinking about Ray leaving me is not the way to feel better,” she moaned.

  It was going to be a long day. She crawled under the covers and fell asleep.

  Chapter Two

  Sure enough, when Ashley finally woke up and turned her phone back on in the late afternoon, there were five calls from the restaurant. Two of them were from servers asking if she could come in and help out with the heavy crowd. Her boss Darren left her a few particularly harsh messages.

  “We need you now. I just got a call that Able Insurance wants to have a business lunch here today, and a cook and two servers are out.”

  “Ashley, where are you? Why aren’t you answering your phone? I’m running short today, and there is a big party here. I need you in the kitchen and on the floor to fill in. You need to call me back now!”

  “Ashley, I’m not putting up with this anymore. You better call me back soon. This place is in chaos. I want you over here immediately.”

  Each message from her boss sounded angrier than the last one. Darn it! She wasn’t a server; she was a cook!

  Every time there was a work shortage at the restaurant, her boss expected her to jump into server mode. He expected her to run from the kitchen and do dining duties then go back and cook some more. At the same time, he couldn’t put the servers in the kitchen if she was out. It wasn’t fair. Plus it was her day off. On top of that, she was sick as a dog. She loved to cook and make people happy with her delicious dishes, but she had started to hate her job lately.

  She couldn’t go on splitting up her duties; that was not what she was hired for. Even though she didn’t mind helping out in the dining room in the beginning, it was now a constant duty. All because her cheap boss refused to hire a few more employees. She groaned and called the restaurant. One of the servers named Sara answered.

  “Hello? It’s Ashley. Can I speak with Darren?”

  Ashley rubbed her throbbing temple as she waited for an answer.

  “Hi, Ash. He left for the day. But he was pissed. Where were you today?” Sara asked.

  “Sara, it was my day off! And I didn’t even get to enjoy it. I was sick all day, throwing up. I couldn’t have come in and covered for anyone. I just stayed in bed.”

  “I understand. I just hope he understands for your sake. Gotta go. The place is still busy. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Sara hung up the phone quickly.

  Ashley rolled over in bed and looked at Charlie.

  “Can yo
u believe it? This is the umpteenth time in two months they’ve expected me to come in and work on my day off. I’ve got to get another job. What do you think, Charlie?”

  Ashley never felt weird talking to her cat. He was one of the smartest creatures she knew. He put a reassuring paw on her arm again and stared at her. It was as if he was agreeing. He seemed to be saying, “Get another job with more time off so you can spend it with me,” and then he started to purr. She smiled and petted him. He was such a comfort. She got up to feed him and make herself some soup and hoped she could keep it down.

  Besides her phone messages, she had a bunch of texts from friends checking in on her and offering to bring her hangover remedies. Sean must have told everyone that she didn’t feel well. She smiled. Despite everything, it was nice to be cared for. She was able to keep the soup down and get a good night’s rest. She would need it for the coming storm at work tomorrow.

  ***

  Ashley got up early the next morning and ate a protein-packed breakfast of eggs and bacon. Normally she would’ve grabbed a yogurt and some fruit, but she needed lots of food after barely eating yesterday. What she really wanted was a chocolate chip muffin. She tried to eat healthy most of the time because she craved sweets and would try to sneak them in as often as she felt she could get away with it.

  After all, she was a cook who made really good food. But life was complicated, and eating was comforting. Work was stressful, and she had just gone through a breakup.

  Just then, she thought about how Ray had once told her that he loved her healthy appetite. Then, apparently she was too “fat” for him.

  “Don’t start thinking about him,” she warned herself.

  Ashley sipped her strong black coffee and steeled herself for a tough day. She said goodbye to Charlie as he shot her a woeful look. After looking at his face, she walked to her car feeling guilty about her cat. His beloved companion Emily had died a few months ago. She had promised herself she would get a companion for him so he wouldn’t be home alone when she went to work. She just hadn’t had the time yet to do so.