HELL'S HALF ACRE a gripping murder mystery full of twists (Coffin Cove Mysteries Book 2) by JACKIE ELLIOTT (classic literature books .txt) 📗

sleep she did have was not beset with nightmares. Over the last weeks, Summer had woken up most mornings with her sheets twisted and damp with sweat.

Jade had risen early, as usual. Summer waited in her bed until Jade had left for work. She worried about her daughter on a normal day. Many of the Coffin Cove residents had been excited when Jade was elected. They were weary of the potholed roads, boarded-up businesses and crumbling facilities. They wanted Coffin Cove to be revitalized, like other small coastal towns on Vancouver Island. And they had put their faith and their vote behind Jade Thompson to create a future for the community. Summer had never doubted Jade would win. The campaign wasn’t the hard part, it was just the beginning.

There were supporters of the previous mayor who were furious their self-serving cartel of private favours and lucrative contracts would cease. Summer knew that these people would not just accept the new normal. They would attempt to undermine Jade at every opportunity and do their best to make sure her tenure as mayor would be short.

And now that Ricky Havers had been found, Summer worried even more.

Jade disliked Summer fussing over her and preferred to have a quick coffee and leave in the morning. So Summer kept out of her way and only slid out of bed after she heard the front door click shut and the engine of Jade’s car fade down the hill.

As Summer showered, the dark cloud of worry wouldn’t leave her. She’d always been able to shake off bad dreams, but these days the past festered in her mind. She wished she could just wash it away, flush the stains and dirt of old secrets down the drain. Should she have just left Coffin Cove? Followed Jade to the mainland when she had the chance?

The answer always came back the same. She’d stayed because she had no choice. She’d made a promise to herself and the memory of all she had lost. She wanted justice. And Jade wanted that too — not for the same reasons as Summer, but with the same fierce intensity. It was one of the few characteristics they shared.

Despite her eccentric appearance, her tiny cottage jumbled with art supplies and half-finished paintings, Summer had a purpose. It burned deep down within her.

She was restless and didn’t feel like making coffee this morning. So she gathered up the rest of the dreamcatchers she’d been making and decided to go to Hephzibah’s for coffee. Hephzibah always let Summer display her arts and crafts in the café. Summer made a small amount of cash that way. Not only that, it would be a good way to gauge the mood and the gossip in the town.

Summer was a shrewd observer of people. People in Coffin Cove wondered if Summer had psychic abilities, and she allowed them to think that. In reality, Summer had no use for superstitious nonsense. She often told Jade, “If you listen hard enough, and watch closely, people will always tell you what they are thinking and doing.”

Summer opened her front door and let the fresh ocean air waft in. She loved this cottage. When her daughter made Coffin Cove her permanent home again, Jade had purchased this tiny miner’s house, perched on the hillside overlooking the ocean. It had needed extensive repairs, but Jade paid for everything, and soon the original hardwood floors shone, the wiring was safe and the old galvanized plumbing was replaced. Best of all, it came with a large lot. Summer and Jade had built a small art studio and there was still ample room for a garden. Summer was already growing seedlings in the glass-covered back porch.

Summer walked to the front gate. In her mind’s eye she envisaged garden beds full of lilies, hostas and irises. Despite her worried mind, she smiled to herself. They’d have to build higher fences or the deer would soon be munching on their plants, and if the apple tree produced as much fruit as the blossoms promised, it wouldn’t be a surprise to get a visit from a black bear. The wildlife was an upside of living in Coffin Cove.

The tiny house was idyllic, Summer thought, as she walked down the hill. But as much as she loved her new home, and living with her daughter, she wished Jade would find a partner, a soulmate to share her life.

Summer had had a soulmate once. She saw him every time she looked into Jade’s eyes and was grateful. For a long time, she’d been consumed with her pain and anger. She knew she hadn’t been the best mother. Sometimes, just the tilt of Jade’s head or an insignificant gesture would bring all those memories flooding back, and she would be back in that dark place. All alone. Those emotions hadn’t been productive, and she tried to keep focused on her purpose.

Things were different now between her and Jade. Still, it was no future for a young woman to be living with her mother, Summer thought, and she’d told Jade the same, when Jade first proposed moving Summer out of the run-down trailer park which used to be her home.

“I’ve missed living with you,” Jade had said simply, and there was no changing her mind. So Summer had accepted the offer. At least she could keep an eye on her daughter and support Jade through her early weeks and months as mayor.

When Summer arrived at Hephzibah’s, the café was quiet. The early wave of customers heading to the mill or the dock had already had their flasks filled and cleared out Hephzibah’s first batch of Morning Glory muffins.

As Summer walked in, she could smell fresh baking, and Hephzibah was pulling out her second batch of muffins.

“Grab a seat, Summer, I’ll be with you in a sec,” Hephzibah called out.

Summer took one of the easy chairs at