Excerpt from ROCKY ROAD TO MURDER by Lena Gregory:
We arrived at Mom’s without further incident, finally, but when I went to grab a tray from the back, Eli held out an arm to block me. “Why don’t you let me get the desserts.”
“Hey, buddy, you’re luck’s no better than mine today.” Of course, he hadn’t gotten hit in the head with the mallet, so there was that. I pressed a hand to the two butterfly bandages. Even though Gwen had styled my hair to cover them, I couldn’t help feeling self-conscious.
Eli’s good humor faltered. “Are you in a lot of pain?”
Though a constant, dull ache still throbbed, I smiled. “I’m fine. Just checking to make sure the bandages are in place and my hair is covering them. I don’t feel like wasting precious minutes explaining what happened.”
“I should have backed into the driveway.” Gwen contemplated my mom’s empty driveway and the spot where she’d parked against the curb four houses down.
After the last break-in at the café and my subsequent trip to the ER, Mom had instituted a rule that no one park in or block the driveway. That way, if they had to get the car out of the garage in a hurry to get to me, they wouldn’t have to wait for anyone to move their cars. Accident prone, she’d called me. But everyone knew she meant magnet for trouble.
“I’ll tell you what, you and Eli go on up to the house and get the door open, I’ll back into the driveway so we can unload. It’s not like you’re going to get into any trouble that your mom would have to rush out for when you’re already here.” Seeming to realize what she’d said, she offered a sheepish grin. “Sorry, you know what I mean.”
“Yeah. Don’t worry about it. Go ahead, and we’ll meet you by the house.”
Gwen hopped back into the driver’s seat then gingerly shifted into gear.
I barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes. At the rate she was going, it would take her the next hour to pull up in front of the house and back in.
In the meantime, Eli and I approached the front door then paused to watch Gwen inch gingerly over the bump at the edge of the driveway. If I’d been looking at the door, I’d have noticed it easing open. As it was, giggles were the first thing to alert me.
I whirled just in time to catch my cousin’s eight-year-old twin boys aim water pistols at both me and Eli then fire away amid fits of laughter. I tried to duck away from the streams, but I was too late.
Some kind of sugary-smelling, red liquid splattered my new dress then dripped in rivulets down the cream-colored lace until the fabric soaked it all up.
Eli gasped and stretched his arms wide as the same liquid covered the front of a white button-up shirt he’d paired with khaki Chinos and a stylishly loosened burgundy tie. Leaning forward, he managed to keep most of the mess from dripping onto his pants, but the shirt was a total loss.
“Oh, Dani. I am so sorry.” My cousin Amelia stood frozen in the doorway behind her boys, mouth agape, as she eyeballed my new dress. She ushered the boys toward the backyard with a stern reprimand, probably to keep me from retaliating.
But really, it was nobody’s fault but my own. Even if I didn’t know better than to wear my new dress to Mom’s, which I most certainly did, both Eli and Gwen had warned me. I should have thought to bring the dress and change here on my way out the door. I’d just blame it on the bump to the head. Maybe I had a mild concussion. That would certainly explain my poor choices—today’s, anyway. Then again, if I’d been holding the dress, it would still be ruined.
“Come on.” Amelia grabbed my arm and tugged me into the house. “If we get this in cold water right away, we might be able to salvage the dress.”
But surely not in time to wear tonight. “Yeah. Thanks.”
When Amelia paused and glanced back over her shoulder, I turned and noticed Eli walking away. I hurried after him. “Hey, Eli. Wait up.”
He stopped and turned to me then frowned. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.” All things considered. “But I’m so sorry the boys ruined your shirt. I’ll get you a new one as soon as I can. Do you have something else you can wear tonight?”
“Don’t worry about a new shirt. We’ll just call it even for the…” He pointed toward the sweep of hair (hopefully) covering my bandage, then tapped his own forehead, and shot me a million-watt smile. “Besides. Unlike some people, I learn my lessons, so I have a clean shirt in the back of Gwen’s Jeep. Covered in plastic. I’ll just grab it and change. After dinner.”
Apparently, Eli had thought ahead.
He winked, turned, and jogged toward the Jeep.
Leaving him and Gwen to deal with the trays, I followed Amelia into the dining room to see if Meghan had something I could wear while we soaked my dress. The down side of being late for dinner, all of the adults were seated together around the table while the children ran amuck.
As if my day hadn’t been bad enough already, Aunt Miriam was the first to spot me, and her eyes nearly popped out from beneath her false lashes.
Dyed jet-black hair spilled in straggly wisps over shoulders bared by a red, white, and blue sequined tube top as she lurched to her feet, clad in four-inch red heels. Thankfully, she yanked down her daisy dukes before everyone could catch a glimpse into the moldy bread basket. Though Aunt Miriam had seen eighty come and go, she still prided herself on her fashion sense. Of course, that fashion had disappeared decades ago, along with her girlish figure, but there wasn’t a Delaney alive who had the nerve to tell her so. “Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit, girl. What in tarnation happened to you?”
Amelia saved me from having to answer. “The boys filled their water pistols with fruit punch and squirted Dani when they opened the door.”
Hushed whispers and tsk, tsks rippled around the table, but at least I was spared having to offer an explanation.
Amelia shot me a look filled with apology. “Meghan, do you have something she can wear while we try to get the stain out of her dress?”
“Sure.” Meghan stood, perfectly put together as always, in a pale-yellow sundress that showed off her athletic build, dark hair, and killer tan. She offered a sympathetic smile and tossed her napkin onto her empty plate. Those boys wouldn’t dare unload their punch-filled weapons on Meghan.
While my attention was averted, Aunt Miriam had rounded the table and now stood face to chin with me, more or less. At a good two inches shorter than me, even in her arch killers, she tilted her head, peeked up, then shoved my hair aside before I could intercept. “And what happened to your head?”
Everyone in the room went completely still, staring at me, waiting for an explanation.
With a sigh, I gave up and flopped onto the nearest empty chair to relive my nightmare.
Uncle Jimmie offered a smile that sparkled in his green eyes—eyes that ran in the Delaney side of the family, along with the freckles, red hair (though, Uncle Jimmie’s and Dad’s were now liberally sprinkled with ginger) and sturdy (pudgy) build. The twinkle in his eyes, kind as a basset hound’s with jowls to match, told me he’d saved the seat beside him for me. He lifted one bushy white brow then patted my arm in solidarity, a reminder that he’d always have my back no matter what. Of course, he stopped short of telling them all it was none of their business and to leave me alone. But let’s face it, he was just as curious as the rest of them. He’d grown up in Watchogue, after all, so nosiness was inherent.
Resigned to the fact that I wasn’t going anywhere before I’d shared my story, I slumped in the chair and recapped my day. On the bright side, at least now I had an excuse to duck out early so I could stop home and change before heading to the Rutherford’s. Plus, with everything that had gone wrong so far, there was nowhere left to go but up. Right?
© Lena Gregory 2025. Shared with permission from Gemma Halliday Publishing
Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries #6
From author Lena Gregory comes a tasty summer murder mystery...
Danika Delaney is thrilled that her old fashioned malt shop, the Coffee & Cream Café, has gotten a catering contract for the biggest party of the season, the Rutherford Manor Fourth of July gala. She’ll be providing desserts for the party as well as attending the exclusive event on Eastern Long Island.
However her path to the gala quickly becomes a rocky road...
Dani arrives at the event, only to find the gala's hostess, Cressida Rutherford, dead! What's worse, one of Dani's signature parfaits sits next to the dead woman, with what looks like peanuts in it—a food Cressida is severely allergic to. Amid the melted ice cream mess, Dani initially blames herself, thinking she made a mistake while rushing with the desserts. However she quickly learns that what appeared to be an accident was actually foul play, and suddenly Dani has to spring into action proving that she isn't the perpetrator. Along with her friends, Dani uncovers a string of people in Cressida's life who might have wanted the socialite dead. Can she prove her innocence and make sure the killer gets their just desserts?
Mystery Culinary | Mystery Cozy [Gemma Halliday Publishing, On Sale: July 1, 2025, e-Book , / eISBN: 9798215979112]
Lena lives in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island with her husband and three children.
When she was growing up, she spent many lazy afternoons on the beach, in the yard, anywhere she could find to curl up with a good book. She loves reading as much now as she did then, but she now enjoys the added pleasure of creating her own stories.
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