Holly Robinson has no idea when she purchases an abandoned waterfront resort in Florida that her life is going to change forever. She becomes the victim of bad juju when she finds a lifeless body lying on a kitchen floor and another victim left for dead in one of her cottages, and Holly begins to wonder what could possibly happen next. Now some of Holly's lingerie is missing, her beloved Aunt Tess and another guest have disappeared, and hurricane warnings have just been issued. Resolved to bring her aunt and guest home safely, Holly enlists the services of her ex-boyfriend, charter captain and official scum-of-the-earth, Quint Chambers. Along with the island cops, Holly and Quint stumble across the bloodied vehicle the women were last seen in, submerged in the murky mangroves of the intercoastal waterway. As the storm spirals out of control and takes aim for the resort, the number of missing people continues to mount and the list of suspects holds few names. But even though Quint is still carrying a torch for Holly, he fears his past has come back to haunt him, putting those he loves in grave danger. In this romantic tale of suspense, it is up to Holly and Quint to solve a complex mystery dangling over their little piece of paradise-before a killer strikes again.

Beach Cottage Chaos

By Laura Kehoe

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Laura Kehoe
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-0979-1

Chapter One

Holly

The bright morning sun blazed through my bedroom window and forced my eyes open. I looked at the alarm clock and realized I had overslept again. Immediately, my brain went into panic mode, so I pulled the covers over my face, closed my eyes, and had another little chat with God.

"Please God, I'm begging you ma'am, all I'm asking for are a couple of un-drama filled days around here. Normal is good! I'd kill for normal! And given the chance, I could probably make you proud with normal. And if by some slim chance you felt I deserved a little red sports car, I'm telling you right now I wouldn't refuse it! Just kidding, ma'am. However, last night when I asked you for an easy button, I really wasn't kidding!"

After saying "Amen," I pulled the covers off my face, and like a little kid hoping to find a dollar from the tooth fairy under her pillow, I looked underneath mine and nope, no easy button. To say the last few weeks of my life have been pure, utter chaos would be a gross understatement. I consider myself lucky; I still have some hair left on my head to pull out! Thinking back now, I believe my run of bad juju started when I found a very pale, lifeless body lying on a kitchen floor, and the string of events that followed weren't much better. A few days later, I stumbled across a beaten-up body in cottage number three who was left for dead but who miraculously returned to life later to save mine. Then the pièce de résistance was when my now ex-boyfriend, scum of the earth Quint Chambers, proposed. Before I could blurt out the words, "I will," the doorbell rang and interrupted our tender moment. My almost engagement was short lived. There in the doorway was a stranger, a perfect specimen of a woman. She said her name was Logan something or another. She looked Quint in the eyes and told him she never stopped loving him. And if he still wanted to marry her, she was all his. Geez! My jaw dropped, my eyes welled, and my heart broke into a million pieces. He took her by the elbow and escorted her outside. When he returned, he tried spoon-feeding me some long, drawn-out cockamamie story about an old girlfriend and his college days. Blah, blah, blah. I'm no farmer, but I can smell manure a mile away, and he was knee-deep in it.

After deciding the show must go on, I sat up in bed and stretched. I was in desperate need of coffee. In fact, I had a feeling it was going to be at least a good-to-the-last-drop-in-the-pot kind of morning. I'm good at a lot of things, but making coffee is definitely not one of them. What I brew sucks, and somehow or another in the short amount of time I've lived here, the whole island seems to know it. Since I didn't have a lot to look forward to, I lay back down and thought I'd stall the whole show-must-go-on thing and analyze how I got myself into this pickle in the first place.

My name is Holly Robinson. With a lot of prodding from my sister Tina, I made a less-than-sensible business decision and purchased an abandoned Mom and Pop resort on the West Coast of Florida. We gave it some well-needed TLC, renamed it Holly's Beach Cottage Resort and it's been up and running for a couple weeks now. I live in the main house, a sturdy two-story structure with my daughter, Kat; Chewy, the family dog; and Aunt Tess and her new husband, Sal. There are five small cottages on the property that I rent to vacationing guests. Tina, who owns her own travel company, always manages to fill them up, and all I have to do is run the place. However, it was proving easier said than done. She found the resort years ago. The large piece of property is at the south end of the island tucked among some older private homes. The land sits directly on the intercoastal waterway and has enough dock space for two good-size boats. Tall palms and sea grapes line the perimeters of my property zone, and they sway with the least little breeze. Birds of all kinds, pelicans, gulls, and even osprey, make themselves at home in them as well as on the dock. Chewy makes it her business and has great fun shooing the birds away from her territory.

I had decided I needed a new purpose in life; a few empty years flew by me after my husband, Dan, was killed in a car accident. My work at the law office just wasn't the same without him there. I wanted a new start and maybe even a good man to share it with. For a while there, I thought I found that man. I hired Quint Chambers, a local charter captain, to be exclusively available to my guests for fishing trips, sunset cruises, and dolphin watches.

I guess I have no one to blame but myself. Really, what did I know about the guy before I jumped in and got involved? I was physically attracted to his six-foot something, rock-solid body, all evenly tanned. Well, except for when he was naked, and oh my, his nakedness was totally yummy, lines and all. And for Pete's sake, running my fingers through his soft wavy hair was more satisfying than indulging in rocky road ice cream or pizza. And darn those eyes, those beautiful make-love-to-me eyes. Anyway, he wasn't too forthcoming about his past, and it took bribes of shedding articles of clothing for him to give up any details. The only thing I managed to pry out of the guy was he graduated from college with a business degree, but before he could get his career off the ground his father passed away, and that brought him home to take care of the funeral arrangements. After a small service, he took his father's ashes out to their final resting spot twenty miles offshore, and it was then he realized why his dad made the sea his life. He moved to the island's west coast to start his own charter business with little success until I came along. He's a great captain. He knows his stuff. His custom, forty-foot Sabala, the Miss Tilly, is well equipped with all the latest technology and equipment.

Our falling-out happened when Logan showed up. Now, I can forgive a guy for a lot of things, such as the occasional dirty socks left on the floor, or forgetting it was his turn for pooper-scooper duties, but I draw the line at being the second-string bride. Geez, I even let him live in cottage five, rent free on a trial basis. This new revelation changed everything. Out of dire necessity, and since I'd been given no divine intervention, I think I made a fairly educated decision about Quint. I was moving on to plan B, but that was only as soon as I could figure out what the hell plan B was going to be. In my haste, I did what any woman in my position would have done. I gave him his walking papers. Yep, I kicked him to the curb and threw him under a bus. I don't have the time to worry about Captain Yummy; it's going to be a busy week with new guests checking in. Thank God, Aunt Tess and Sal will be home from their honeymoon today. I'm going to need them.

Tess has turned out to be the mom I wish I always had, because I'm convinced my own mother is an alien reject from another planet. Tess knows me better than anyone else does. And she's a loving caretaker, all five feet of her. She has a full figure, never wears a lick of makeup, and sleeps in those spongy curlers every night. Kat loves Tess as well. They have a great relationship. Kat's even planned a welcome home party for her and Sal at the Clam Diggers tonight. What my daughter isn't aware of is it's going to be a surprise birthday party for her too. I've invited a few of her new friends from school for the occasion. Where has the time gone? In a blink of an eye, my tomboy has turned...