Page 2 of Death By Llama (Friendship Harbor Mysteries #7)
Okay, something was definitely going on. My mother was never giddy. Happy, yes. Joyful, it had happened. But giddy? Never.
Behind her my dad smiled widely. His familiar grin offered me a small sense of relief. The only thing I could think of that would bring my parents to Maine unannounced was an emergency but it didn’t look like anyone had died.
That thought was shoved aside as I found myself pulled into my mother’s fierce embrace. While my mom was affectionate, she wasn’t usually quite this demonstrative. But now she hugged me tightly, gently rocking us back and forth.
“Oh, Sophie,” she murmured, hands resting on my shoulders. She stepped back to take a good look at me. “Don’t you look… so…” She frowned slightly. “Festive?”
“It’s for the Christmas in July event we are having today,” Cameron piped in from behind me.
My parents’ gazes shifted from me to him.
“You did mention that,” my mother said, moving around me to embrace Cameron.
I blinked, not understanding what was going on. When had Cameron mentioned that to my mother? I had been reluctant to even talk too much about my new relationship with her, much less have them chat directly to each other. And how did she even know that was Cameron given they’d never met in person?
I turned to Dad. “This is a surprise. What are you doing here?”
“I invited them as my special guests for the inn’s grand opening,” Cameron said, stepping forward to shake my father’s hand. “It felt like this should be a family affair.”
I found myself tensing at that wording. Cameron’s actions seemed presumptuous for a new relationship. My already ill-fitting elf costume seemed to grow tighter and more uncomfortable. And itchy. I scratched my shoulder.
Dad grinned at him as if they were old friends. They shook hands in the robust way men did when they hadn’t seen each other for a long time.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, young man,” Dad pumped Cameron’s hand one last time.
It was clear that just like with my mother, Cameron had talked to my father. How had I known nothing about this burgeoning friendship with my parents, who lived on the opposite coast?
“The inn looks absolutely stunning,” my mother said. Mom smiled admiringly at the newly renovated Victorian inn.
Abandoned for years, Cameron had bought the old beauty and restored it to its former glory, both as an investment and a passion project. His arrival in town had coincided with a bachelor and bachelorette auction last spring and he had bid on a date with me, which was how we met.
In the months since he’d been up here in Maine more than he was in Boston, overseeing the Inn’s transformation.
The large old building nearly gleamed in the warm, summer sunshine.
Cameron had opted to keep the exterior walls a pristine white with elegant black shutters framing each window.
Cornices and detailed woodworking now stood out once lost behind peeling paint and years of neglect.
As if the inn itself wasn’t stunning enough, then there was the view. It overlooked the choppy waves of the Atlantic Ocean. At the edge of the sprawling lawn jagged granite cliffs dropped down to the rocky shoreline.
Cameron had done the renovation far ahead of schedule, which was Cameron’s way. It seemed once he set his sights on something, he was determined to make it just the way he wanted.
Which apparently included surprising me with a visit from my parents.
My mother turned to Cameron and grinned. “If you ever want to put this up for sale, let me know. I’m sure I have some buyers in California who would love to own an inn in Maine.”
She laughed after she said it, but I knew she was only half-joking.
Cameron laughed in response. “You will definitely be the first person I think of, but I think I’ll hold on to this beauty for a little bit.”
Cameron shot me a charming smile. Instantly, an odd feeling came over me.
One I’d never experienced before. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly how I felt—annoyed maybe—although I couldn’t quite understand why that would be my reaction.
All I knew was I didn’t particularly care for the sudden sensation.
He turned back to my mother. “Let me give you the grand tour before all the festivities get into full swing.”
The three of them started across the paved walkway that led from the parking area and up a cobblestone path toward the front of the inn and its large front porch.
Cameron stopped when he realized I wasn’t following. “Aren’t you going to join us?”
“No,” I said with a force that I didn’t quite understand. Then I tempered my reply with a little smile. “Go ahead and start showing Mom and Dad around, and I will be right with you. I have to check on the booth for Steamy’s.”
My mother frowned, appearing somewhere between disappointed and annoyed. “Surely you want to show us around too. We just got here.”
Thankfully, my father stepped in.
“It’s okay, Soph. You join us after you’ve done what you need to do with your business.” He turned to look at my mother. “You have to remember, this was a surprise. And Sophie is here to do work as well as visit with us.”
My mother didn’t look greatly appeased, but she nodded. “Join us as soon as you check in with your staff.”
I caught her shooting a dubious glance at Brandy and Dave, who had been quietly watching my parents’ arrival in all their elfin magnificence.
“I’ll catch up with you in just a little bit,” I said as I waved for my fellow North Poleans to join me.
“Your mom is kind of intense,” Dave said.
“Tell me about it.”
“I think it’s romantic Cameron flew your parents out here,” Brandy commented.
Brandy thought everything was romantic so I didn’t exactly trust her opinion on the matter.
Brandy, Dave and I headed with Jack toward another section of the huge green lawn set up as a thoroughfare of vendors. Tents decorated with Christmas colored banners, evergreen boughs and glittering bows and ribbons, created any alley of people selling their wares.
“Where’s Aunt Elsie’s Wicked Good Jams?” Brandy asked. “I wanted to pick up a couple of jars of her blueberry and lemon jam.”
“Aunt Elsie’s jams are a banger,” Dave agreed.
I popped out of my reverie at their conversation and really glanced around me.
Vendors bustled around in tents and other sales booths, getting ready for the event to start.
I noticed many of them wore similar Victorian-era clothing as the roaming entertainers.
Or at least something that looked festive, but not over the top.
No one was wandering around in their finest party store regalia like we were.
Obviously, they’d had more detailed conversations with Cameron about this event than I had. Which made me wonder if sometimes I spaced out when Cameron was talking.
I also realized that most of the vendors were businesses I’d never heard of before. Sellers offering artisanal cheeses and fancy pastries, as well as high-end, custom-crafted jewelry. Wood and leather work. There was even a glassblower.
As far as I knew, Friendship Harbor didn’t have a resident glassblower.
This festival definitely didn’t look like the others I’d been to in Friendship Harbor.
Usually, there was pottery, and yes, there was jewelry, but it was made with beach glass or shells.
There were always lots of locals with their homemade crafts.
Christmas ornaments, wall hangings, quaint and quirky handmade kitsch.
“And where are the quilting ladies?” Brandy asked.
Now that she mentioned it, I didn’t even see a single quilt hanging as I walked down the alley made along the lawn. Didn’t Victorian people actually use quilts?
“The quilting ladies are always at these things,” Dave said, frowning.
That was true. And now that my best friend from California and former child star, Oliver, was one of the quilting bee regulars and the new innkeeper of The Captain’s Inn, it seemed as though he would insist on the quilting ladies being front and center at this event.
“Well, I know one Friendship Harbor tradition I’m happy to see isn’t here today,” Sheriff Justin Pelletier said, as he strode up beside us.
“What’s that, baby?” Brandy said, talking to him in a cutesy voice that made me uncomfortable.
Ever since Brandy and Justin had started dating, Brandy had been much less neurotic but much more gooey than usual. I wasn’t sure which version of her I preferred.
“No one is drunk and no one has been murdered,” Justin said. “So I’d say Cameron’s grand opening is already a smashing success.”