Aunt Bessie Joins (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 10) (4 page)

An hour later, the man had managed to insult
and upset every single person in the castle.
 
Bessie comforted Liz and Margaret after
he’d shouted at them each in turn.
 
She also talked a furious Harriet out of leaving the castle and never
coming back.
 
When he finally
decided that he’d had enough and headed back to Douglas to do some shopping for
the room he’d be decorating, Bessie felt as if the castle itself let out a sigh
of relief.
 
Certainly all of its
occupants did.

“I don’t understand why everyone isn’t
embracing Christopher’s wonderful ideas,” Carolyn hissed to Bessie before she
followed the man out of the building.
 
“I do hope you can do something to persuade the rest of the committee to
get behind him.
 
You haven’t been
very supportive of him thus far.”

Bessie didn’t reply.
 
She didn’t want to start an argument,
not when the woman was actually leaving.

“I’m going to take Christo home and then
I’ll be back,” she told Bessie.
 
“Mark wants the whole committee to meet just before five.”

For the next hour, Bessie found herself
going from room to room, working to undo the damage that Christopher had
done.
 
It was far too late to start
looking for other groups to decorate rooms if anyone decided that they weren’t
going to take part.
 
By the time she
and the other committee members met in the banquet room, it was nearly five
o’clock and time to close the castle for the night.

“People are being incredibly unreasonable,”
Carolyn said as she slid into a seat.

“People want to keep their rooms the way
they decorated them,” Bessie replied.
 
“That seems fair enough to me.
 
I’m sure Mr. Hart’s ideas are very clever, but I’m not convinced that
they’re right for our event.”

“You’re as bad as the rest of them,” Carolyn
dismissed her with a wave her hand.
 
“Mary, you have exquisite taste.
 
Surely you agree with me.”

Mary smiled tentatively.
 
“I think Mr. Hart had some very, um,
inventive thoughts, but I quite like the rooms as they are, as well.”

“What about you?” Carolyn turned to
Natasha.
 
“You’re a designer.
 
You can see how amateurish the rooms
look, can’t you?”

“I think that’s what makes them so
charming,” Natasha replied.
 
“If I
were in Christopher’s place, I’d make a few small changes here and there, just
to try to unify the themes a bit more, but I certainly wouldn’t make the
sweeping changes he’s suggested.”

“Perhaps it’s time for me to resign from
this committee,” Carolyn said angrily.
 
“As my contribution to it doesn’t seem to be appreciated.”

“We all appreciate everything you’ve done
very much,” Mark told her.
 
“Even if
we don’t all agree with Mr. Hart’s ideas for the rooms, that doesn’t mean that
we aren’t enormously grateful to you for paying for his assistance.
 
We all need to find a way to work
together to make this event worthwhile.
 
Our committee wouldn’t be the same without you.”

“Yes, well, I’ve no more time to debate
things tonight.
 
I’d better get back
into Douglas and help Christo with his shopping.
 
We’ll be here bright and early tomorrow
morning to start working on his room.”
 

Carolyn sailed out of the room, her head
held high.
 
When the sound of her
heels on the stone floors finally faded, Bessie sighed with relief.

“We aren’t going to let him turn his room
into a gallery of murderers, are we?” Bessie asked the others.

“No,” Marjorie said firmly.
 
“And I made that very clear to Carolyn
earlier.
 
She wasn’t happy, but she
did promise to work with Mr. Hart to find a workable theme.”

“I thought the theme we had was wonderful,”
Mark said, glancing at Bessie.
 
“And
we’ve all the decorations in place as well.
 
I’m sure he could do something quite
wonderful with what we have.”

“But he won’t,” Natasha said.
 
“He’s all about drama and conflict.
 
I wish you all good luck.
 
I’m ever so grateful I just have
Thie
yn
Traie
to worry about.”

“At least he’s leaving on Wednesday,” Bessie
said.
 
“We’ll have a few days to
change things around once he’s gone.”

“I wonder why he’s rushing back so quickly,”
Natasha said.

“Apparently he’s going to be starting
filming for a new television show,” Bessie told her.

“Really?
 
I’d heard
rumours
,
but I didn’t
realise
it was actually happening,” the
girl replied thoughtfully.

“Design shows are quite popular at the
moment,” Mary remarked.
 
“Unfortunately, they give George somewhat unusual ideas.”

“I hate to interrupt, but we’re getting
ready to lock up.
 
Will you be much longer?”
Henry asked from the doorway.

“No, I think we’ve done all we can for
tonight,” Mark said in a tired voice.
 
“I’d be grateful if you could all be here tomorrow at nine.
 
Mr. Hart and Carolyn aren’t due until
ten, so that gives us some time to plan a strategy to deal with the man.”

Everyone made their way towards the nearest
exit, with Henry following and locking doors behind them.

“Oh, Bessie, can you meet me in the car
park?” Mark asked as they reached the street.
 
“I just have to check on the catering
for Friday.”

Mark lived in Ramsey, so he’d kindly offered
to drive Bessie back and forth to the castle when she needed to be there.
 
As Bessie had never learned to drive,
she was grateful.
 
She’d always been
very careful with her money and that meant she could indulge herself a bit now
that she was older, but she’d have felt extravagant if she’d taken taxis every
day that she’d needed to be in
Castletown
.
 
When she’d agreed to join the committee,
she hadn’t given that aspect of things any thought at all.
 

Now she made her way across the road and
into the small car park.
 
A lone
figure was sitting on the bench that overlooked the sea.
 
As Bessie drew closer, she
recognised
Laura Meyers.
 
It wasn’t until she was much nearer that
she
realised
the woman was crying.
 
While Bessie wondered whether she should
tiptoe quietly away, Laura looked up.

“Oh, Bessie, hello,” she said, blinking hard
and trying to smile.

“Are you okay, my dear?” Bessie asked.

“I’m fine.
 
I’m just a little upset, that’s all.”

Bessie sat down on the bench beside
her.
 
She found a pack of tissues in
her pocket and handed one to the other woman.
 
Laura wiped her eyes and then blew her
nose loudly.
 
They both chuckled at
the noise.

“There, all better,” Laura announced.
 
“I suppose I should find Henry.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Bessie asked.

“He’s just such an unpleasant man,” Laura
told her.
 

“Henry?”

“Oh, no, not Henry,” Laura exclaimed.
 
“Henry is a dear, sweet thing.
 
No, it’s that Mr. Hart who has upset me,
although it isn’t really his fault.”

“I’m happy to listen if you want to talk,”
Bessie said.

Laura shrugged.
 
“It’s nothing, really.
 
He just, well, he reminds me of someone,
that’s all.
 
His arrogance and his
attitude and the way he spoke to me, they just all remind me of someone else.
 
As I said, it isn’t really Mr. Hart’s
fault at all.”

“Can I do anything to help?” Bessie asked.

“No, it’s fine,”
Laura
insisted.
 
“I might ask Mark to let
me work somewhere else for a few days, until he’s gone.
 
I hope Mark won’t mind.”

“I’m sure Mark will understand.
 
I can’t imagine anyone is enjoying
working with the man.”

“Except for Carolyn
Teare
.
 
She seems quite taken with him.”

Bessie nodded.
 
“Yes, well, I can talk to Mark if you’d
like.
 
He’s driving me home.”

“Could you?
 
I’d rather Henry not know,” Laura said.

“Not know what?” a voice came from behind
them.

Bessie and Laura both turned around.
 
Bessie forced herself to smile at Henry
as Laura gasped.

“What’s going on?” Henry demanded.
 
“Why have you been crying?” he asked
Laura.

“I was just feeling a bit overwhelmed,”
Laura replied slowly.
 
“Mr. Hart
reminds me of someone from my past who, well, I’d rather not think about.
 
I was telling Bessie that I’d like to
ask Mark to reassign me elsewhere until after Mr. Hart leaves.”

“But I like working with you,” Henry said.

“I love working with you,” Laura
replied.
 
“But I’m not sure I can
work with Mr. Hart again.
 
It’s only
for a few days.”

Henry nodded, but he looked miserable.

“Here’s Mark now,” Bessie said, pointing.

“Are you all waiting for me?” Mark asked.

Laura looked down at the ground.
 
“I was just wondering if I might be
assigned somewhere else for a few days,” she said softly.

“Not you, too,” Mark groaned.
 
“No one wants to work with Christopher
Hart.
 
I’m awfully sorry, but I
simply don’t have anyone else to replace you with at this point.
 
We’re on winter staffing, which means we
only have a few people to cover the entire island as it is.
 
The sites are mostly shut and the people
who are still working are all trying to take days off to do their Christmas
shopping.”

Laura nodded.
 
“It will be fine,” she said in a barely
audible voice.

“It better be,” Henry said loudly.
 
“If that man upsets Laura again, he’ll
have to answer to me.”

Bessie had known Henry for many years and
she’d never seen him lose his temper.
 
If she didn’t know him so well, she might have been frightened by the
furious look on his face now.

“Let’s go,” Laura said, taking Henry’s
hand.
 
“We can’t let that man spoil
our plans for the evening.”

“I’m telling you, Mark, I won’t have Laura
upset,” Henry called over his shoulder as Laura led him away.
 
“If you can’t keep that man under
control, I will.”

Bessie shook her head.
 
“I’ve never seen Henry so upset,” she
said to Mark as they walked to his car.

“I don’t like it,” Mark told her.
 
“Henry is one of our best workers, and
Laura has been excellent since she’s been here.
 
We can’t have people like Christopher
Hart upsetting them like this.
 
I’m
going to have to talk to Carolyn.
 
Maybe we need to send him home a little early.”

Mark was silent on the drive from
Castletown
to
Laxey
.
 
Bessie let her mind wander to more
pleasant topics, like what she was going to get her friends for Christmas.
 
She was planning a shopping trip in
Douglas when they reached her small cottage by the sea.

“I’m sorry,” Mark said.
 
“I didn’t say one word the entire drive,
did I?
 
I’ll make it up to you in
the morning, I promise.”

“It’s fine,” Bessie assured him.
 
“I was busy making a mental shopping
list.
 
I haven’t done any Christmas
shopping yet, and I certainly won’t have time to do it this week.
 
Once ‘Christmas at the Castle’ is up and
running, I shall have to get busy.”

“Hmm, Christmas shopping, that’s a
thought.
 
I suppose I’ll get
everything I need at the museum gift shop again this year,” Mark said.
 

“You might find a few things at our
auction,” Bessie suggested.

After the busy opening weekend that was
rapidly approaching, the castle was going to be closed until Christmas
Eve.
 
Then, on that final night of
the event there was going to be an auction.
 
While the main event would be the
auctioning off the contents of each room, several local businesses had donated
items as well.
 
Bessie had her eye
on a large box of books that the bookstore in Douglas had given them.
 
It was sealed up tightly and labeled “25
Miscellaneous Fiction Books” and Bessie could barely resist the urge to open
the box and see what was inside.
 
The only way she could open it was if she bought the box, and she was
quite tempted by the idea.