Murder and Salutations (Book 3 in the Cardmaking Mysteries)

MURDER AND
SALUTATIONS

By Tim Myers

writing as Elizabeth
Bright

Book 3 in the Cardmaking
Mystery Series

Praise for the Cardmaking
Mysteries written by Tim Myers as Elizabeth Bright

“
Independent-minded sleuth
Jennifer Shane tracks a murderer, crafts cards, and resists her
overprotective family with panache and good humor.”

--Carolyn Hart, Award winning author of Death
of the Party

“
Elizabeth Bright shines in
this crafty new series.”

Nancy Martin, author of the Blackbird Sisters
Mysteries

“
Elizabeth Bright writes an
engaging and fast read and incorporates interesting information
about card making while solving the murders.”

Armchair Interviews

Praise for the Candlemaking
Mystery series by Tim Myers

“
Excellent storytelling that
makes for a good reading experience…Myers is a talented writer who
deserves to hit the bestseller lists.”

 
---The Best
Reviews

“
A sure winner.”

---Carolyn Hart, author of the Death on
Demand series

“
An interesting mystery, a
large cast of characters, and an engaging amateur sleuth make this
series a winner.”

---The Romance Reader’s Connection four
daggers

“
A smashing, successful
debut.”

---Midwest Book Review

The Lighthouse Inn Mysteries
by Tim Myers

Innkeeping With Murder

Reservations For Murder

Murder Checks Inn

Room For Murder

Booked For Murder

The Candlemaking Mysteries
by Tim Myers

At Wick’s End

Snuffed Out

Death Waxed Over

A Flicker Of Doubt

The Soapmaking Mysteries by
Tim Myers

Dead Men Don’t Lye

A Pour Way To Dye

A Mold For Murder

The Cardmaking Mysteries by
Tim Myers written as Elizabeth Bright

Invitation To Murder

Deadly Greetings

Murder And Salutations

Murder and Salutations

by Tim Myers

writing as Elizabeth Bright

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2006 Elizabeth Bright (Tim
Myers)

All rights reserved.

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This is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance
to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events,
or locales is entirely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced,
scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without
permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of
copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. This is
a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either
are the product of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or
dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely
coincidental

Chapter l

For Eliza Glade’s entire life, she somehow
always managed to steal the spotlight from my sister and me, and
wouldn’t you know it, she kept her record perfect, even in
death.

“
You look absolutely
radiant,” I told my aunt Lillian, who was elegantly dressed in a
formal evening gown. She’s more than my aunt, though—Lillian is
also my only employee at Custom Card Creations. My name’s Jennifer
Shane, and I own the shop of my dreams, a little handcrafted-card
store tucked away on one end of Oakmont Avenue in the heart of
Rebel Forge, Virginia. It’s a place where customers can select one
of our own handmade cards, or buy the materials to make one
themselves.

After Lillian and I had worked at the store
all day, we’d changed into more formal attire, and now we were
ready to attend the Chamber of Commerce’s annual awards banquet.
The organization had held the ritual religiously for the past
sixty-seven years, but it was the first time I’d been eligible to
attend. The dinner was slated for Hurley’s Pub, an easy walk from
the store and a place I’d been many times.

Lillian was wearing an evening gown made of
a pastel material that was so sheer, it was nearly translucent. The
emerald green tint of the dress complemented her richly dyed henna
hair, and I’d never felt so dowdy in my thirty-something years of
life. While my aunt was petite and graceful, I tended to feel
big-boned and gawky, and it was never so obvious than when we were
both dressed up.

“
You look lovely as well,”
Lillian said. After casting a critical glance at my simple gray
dress, she added, “Though I do wish you’d let me treat you to a new
outfit sometime.” Lillian paused, then added enthusiastically,
“I’ve got a wonderful idea, Jennifer. Why don’t we go to Richmond
in the morning, shop all day, and then eat somewhere delightful
tomorrow night? I know the most charming place we could stay, and
we’d be back in time for lunch the next day. What do you say? I’d
be delighted to treat.” With several ex- husbands and a shrewd mind
for investing, Lillian could easily afford the gracious gesture.
She worked at my shop for materials and instruction in lieu of a
salary, and to my delight, my aunt had grown to love making cards
nearly as much as I did.

“
I’m tempted to take you up
on it sometime, but I you know I can’t afford to close the card
shop that long.”

She waved a hand in the air, dismissing my
protest. “Yes, I know how thoroughly wed you are to your business.
Speaking of marriage, I’m still not certain you should have invited
me to this banquet as your guest. Surely you could have found a
suitable young man to escort you.”

I wasn’t about to have that conversation
with her again. I hugged my aunt and said, “We both know that I
probably wouldn’t still be in business without your help. There’s
no way I could have asked anyone else tonight.”

She raised an eyebrow in consternation. My
aunt had perfected the look from a great deal of practice over the
years. “At least promise me you’ll find some time to chat with the
eligible young men there. Will Greg be attending?”

Greg Langston was my two-time former fiancé,
but never my husband. He ran a pottery shop a few doors down from
Custom Card Creations, and we were just starting to manage the
awkwardness inherent in our proximity. Lillian had a dream that
we’d make the third time a charm someday, and I was getting tired
of trying to rid her of her delusions. “I suspect so, but I really
don’t know. We quit coordinating our social calendars a long time
ago.”

There must have been something in my voice
that told her I was through talking about it. “Shall we go,
then?”

“
Just let me lock up and
I’ll be ready.”

As I secured the last dead bolt on the
shop’s front door, I heard my sister’s voice calling me from up the
street. “Jennifer, wait for me.”

Sara Lynn had been cut from the same cloth
as my lovely aunt; they were the only two petite people in our
family. She ran Forever Memories, a scrapbooking shop, but that had
inadvertently led me to custom card-making. I’d been her employee
there not so long ago, and when Sara Lynn had rejected my idea of a
cardmaking corner, I’d gone out on my own to prove there was a
market for handcrafted cards in our resort community. Our brother,
Bradford, was the sheriff for your Rebel Forge, though at times it
seemed his main duty was keeping our family together.

“
You look award-winning,” I
said, appreciating the effort my sister had gone to. Sara Lynn
normally eschewed makeup and fancy formal wear, but she was now
skillfully enhanced, from her brand-new hairdo coif all the way
down to her expensive pumps.

“
It’s nonsense, and we all
know it,” Sara Lynn said. It was rumored around town that Sara Lynn
was slated to receive the Rebel Forge Businessperson of the Year
award, something that she’d yet to receive in all her years as a
small businesswoman. The reason for the slight was obvious: there
was bad blood between my sister and Eliza Glade, the woman who ran
the chamber—along with her businesses—with a velvet fist. However,
it appeared that it was finally going to be Sara Lynn’s turn, and
she was long past due, in my opinion.

I looked behind her and asked, “Hey, where’s
Bailey?” Sara Lynn and her husband had been having marital troubles
for months, but I had expected him at least to show up for his
wife’s crowning triumph. The Bippy—as we affectionately called the
award— was the Oscar, the Emmy, and the Obie combined for the folks
who ran businesses in Rebel Forge, and I knew that, despite her
protests to the contrary, Sara Lynn had a place ready in the
display behind her checkout counter for the small golden anvil
award.

“
He’s not coming,” Sara Lynn
snapped. From the tone of her voice, it was pretty obvious she was
finished with that particular conversation.

Not that Lillian was going to accept the
dismissal. “When are you going to kick him to the curb like he
deserves?”

I was shocked by the harshness of my aunt’s
comment. “Lillian, that’s out of line, even for you.”

Our aunt was prepared to protest, when Sara
Lynn put a hand on my arm. “She’s right, Jennifer.” She took a deep
breath, let it out slowly, then said, “You’ll hear about this
sooner or later, so it might as well be from me. Bailey and I have
decided to split up.”

I couldn’t believe it. They’d been married
forever, and while I knew they’d had their share of problems, I
never imagined it would come to this. “Sara Lynn, it will all work
out. I just know you two are meant to be together.”

She touched my shoulder lightly. “Thank you,
Jennifer, but I don’t think so.”

Lillian nodded her obvious approval. “You
had every right to toss him out after what he did.”

“
What happened?” I asked.
“Is there something I don’t know about?”

Sara Lynn frowned. “If you haven’t heard the
rumors yet, you will tonight. Bailey and I are completely and
utterly finished. I could have probably forgiven him having an
affair—I know he’s just human—but I will never be able to get the
image out of my mind of him in Eliza Glade’s embrace.”

I was shocked by the admission, but Lillian
just nodded and said, “We’re both here for you. You know that,
don’t you?”

I finally managed to find my voice. “Are you
positive you want to go to the banquet tonight? Eliza’s to going to
be making the presentation.” I couldn’t imagine my sister onstage
with her worst enemy in the world. I turned to our aunt and asked,
“Lillian, does your offer of a shopping trip to Richmond still
stand? Let’s go right now. What do you say, Sara Lynn? We’ll have a
blast.”

“
That’s an excellent idea,”
Lillian said. “The three Shane women loose in the capital city.
Let’s do it.” Sara Lynn stood her ground, though. “I won’t let that
woman deprive me of this evening. I did nothing wrong, and I won’t
scuttle away to a corner and hide. Now, are you two coming or not?
There’s a banquet I’m determined to attend.”

Behind her back, Lillian looked
questioningly at me, and I nodded to signal my acceptance. If Sara
Lynn still wanted to go, then I would be right there beside
her.

“
Let’s go,” I said with as
much enthusiasm as I could muster.

As we walked to Hurley’s Pub, the three of
us chatted about the weather, the mutual states of our businesses,
and just about everything but Sara Lynn’s husband and his new
paramour. I thought of myself as a strong woman, but I couldn’t
touch my sister’s grit and determination. She was right, of course.
The best way to handle the gossip and the scandal in our small town
was to face it head-on. That had always been her approach to life,
and I’d constantly done my best to emulate her behavior, with
varying degrees of success over the years.

Hurley’s was closed to the public for the
night, and the second we walked in, I could see why. Jack Hurley
had opened up the dividers between the dining areas, making his
restaurant one big open space. There was a temporary stage set up
in front, with a pair of tables split by a podium. Several people
were mingling around the room, sharing drinks and quips. Was it my
imagination, or was there a momentary hush when everyone realized
that Sara Lynn was there? I looked over at my sister, her head held
proud and her gaze unflinching, and I couldn’t remember ever being
prouder of her than I was at that moment. In less than a second,
the crowd went back to their drinks and previous conversations, and
I squeezed Sara Lynn’s hand. “You are probably the bravest woman I
know.”