Weather the storm, p.1
Weather the Storm, page 1
WEATHER THE STORM
A CRUISING FOR CLUES COZY MYSTERY, BOOK 4
EMMA AINSLEY
SUMMER PRESCOTT BOOKS PUBLISHING
Copyright 2024 Summer Prescott Books
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication nor any of the information herein may be quoted from, nor reproduced, in any form, including but not limited to: printing, scanning, photocopying, or any other printed, digital, or audio formats, without prior express written consent of the copyright holder.
**This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons, living or dead, places of business, or situations past or present, is completely unintentional.
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CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Also by Emma Ainsley
Author’s Note
Contact Summer Prescott Books Publishing
CHAPTER ONE
Lorelei Baker’s first spring in the Pacific Northwest had proven to be magical. After a two-week break, she was excited to return to work and see her friends. This was her life now, and in the balmy morning breeze, she felt herself forgetting to miss her home back in Boston. For Lorelei, forgetting home had become more of a habit lately, one that she was completely okay with.
Water sloshed against the side of the ship as she made her way down the walkway toward the gangplank. She heard the low base of a foghorn in the distance, and hoped as she stepped aboard The Aurora, that the skies would clear after sunrise.
“My, aren’t we happy this morning?” Hamilton Goddard’s booming baritone called from the other side of the deck. The director of activities made his way toward Lorelei and captured her in a bear hug.
She dropped the handle of her luggage and gave him a tight squeeze. “It’s good to see you, Ham.”
“How was your time off?”
“Productive.” She grinned. “I did some experimenting in the kitchen of my apartment.”
“Hmm, experimenting,” Ham said, raising his eyebrows. “Dare I ask what you experimented on?”
“You’ll find out at brunch.”
Ham held his hand to his chest. “Now you’ve captured my attention and my heart.”
“You’re such a goofball.” Lorelei shook her head at his theatrics and began to walk away.
“Hang on a minute,” Ham said, catching up with her as she headed toward the kitchen. “Did Captain Stemple make the staff brunches official?”
“She did.” Lorelei nodded. “I know it was your idea, but I told her I agreed and thought it was wise for us to continue.”
“How lovely of you.” Ham beamed. “I know when you first come aboard there’s a lot to be done, especially before the passengers arrive, but I can’t tell you how much the crew appreciates all your hard work. Thank you for making the time.”
“I hope you’ll still be thanking me after brunch.” Lorelei chuckled.
Hamilton had become one of her biggest supporters, and occasional critic, when it came to her menu changes. This time around, she had planned a full-on southern-inspired spread from biscuits and gravy to fried potatoes and cheese grits.
After a quick visit to the kitchen, Lorelei headed directly to her cabin. She was pleased to learn that her cabin assignment had been changed to the third level. There was nothing wrong with being on the lower level of the large river cruiser, but she was looking forward to having a tiny balcony that would allow her to spend part of her off hours seated outside reading a book. She reveled in the idea of privacy.
Lorelei found the right cabin number and swiped her new key card. As soon as the door opened, she was immediately aware of the difference. It wasn’t just the size of the room, there was also so much more natural light. She sat her luggage down and fell backward onto the bed, a move very unbecoming a woman of her age.
She sat up again and wondered for a moment what her ex-husband, Boyd Baker, might think of her now. Lorelei shook the thought away, knowing things weren’t going all that well for him. Through the grapevine, she had heard that Boyd’s new wife, Nikki, his former assistant and mistress, didn’t seem to have the same business knack as Lorelei did running a chain of nail salons.
As she started to unpack, she realized just how grateful she was for her new quarters. The larger closet and dresser space made such a difference, and the fact that there was enough room for a recliner next to the small desk took things above and beyond. She took a quick break and stepped out onto the narrow balcony that was just large enough for a chair in the corner and a yoga mat in front of the sliding door. She spun in a circle and grinned. It was most definitely an upgrade.
Just after seven, she headed out of her cabin to prepare for a food delivery. She would still need to receive a small shipment of fresh fruits and vegetables around the halfway mark of the cruise, but the current delivery was essential to feed the passengers and crew for eleven days.
Eloise arrived as the second large container of frozen foods was brought in. Theo, the head chef, and Sheree, his sous chef, arrived just before eight o’clock. Together, the four of them checked off every item on the order sheet. Lorelei signed the invoice for the delivery driver, and preparations for brunch began seamlessly as soon as the last bit of food was put away.
She dashed into the walk-in cooler where she removed a large bucket of fresh raspberries. Theo smiled knowingly at her before he turned one of the ovens on and set about his own chore of whipping up peppered sausage gravy while Sheree began to mix the ingredients for homemade biscuits.
“This is a tall order for a Jamaican chef,” Theo said as he stirred the sausage around in the large skillet.
“But you’re so good at it.” Lorelei laughed as she began to ladle raspberries into a dish.
Eloise stepped closer and rested her chin on Lorelei’s shoulder. “What do you have going on over here?” She became even more confused when Lorelei dumped sugar into two baking dishes and then set everything on the bottom rack of the oven.
“You’ll see.” She headed to the storage room to retrieve several glass jars and a soup crock and then placed them on the prep table in front of her.
“Theo, do you know what she’s up to?” Eloise complained.
“I do, but I’m not about to spill the beans. She appears to be having fun with this,” he said without looking up.
“Don’t ask me.” Sheree shrugged. “I’m just making biscuits.”
As soon as the timer went off, Lorelei removed the raspberries and the sugar from the oven. She worked quickly to combine the sugar and the fruit into a large metal bowl. As she stirred, she could see the hot fruit dissolving the sugar. She added lemon juice and began to ladle the mixture into the jars she had waiting on the table.
“Now I see that you’re making raspberry jam,” Eloise said as she planted her hands on her hips. “Just explain to me why you’re canning things aboard a river cruiser.”
“I’m not technically canning anything, but for the same reason anyone would, I suppose.” Lorelei spooned the rest of the mixture into the soup crock. “This is for brunch; the rest is for later.”
Sheree giggled from across the kitchen. She pulled a fresh batch of buttermilk biscuits from the oven closest to her, removing a large biscuit from the pan. She plopped it on a small saucer then split it in half and handed it off to Lorelei.
“Okay, no more questions,” Eloise said as she watched Lorelei spoon a bit of the warm jam onto the center of the biscuit. A moment later, around of mouthful of biscuit and fresh raspberry jam, she closed her eyes and made noises as she chewed. “This is so good. So, so good.”
“Thank you.” Lorelei beamed. “I hope everyone else agrees with you.”
The southern-themed brunch welcomed the rest of the staff less than an hour later. Hamilton filled two heaping plates full of food before he stopped to discuss matters pertaining to the passenger list.
“I have two announcements to make,” Ham said when Captain Stemple turned things over to him. “One, if there are any leftover biscuits, I claim them for myself. All of them. If you don’t like that, fight me.” His comments elicited an eruption of laughter from the entire staff. Lorelei turned her head in time to peek at Dom Garcia, the director of security. She was lost for a moment as the silver fox threw his head back and laughed.
As soon as the excitement died down, Ham continued with his announcement. “As some of you know, we are welcoming two large groups of people for this cruise. Together, these groups make up about two-thirds of our passengers. Each group has a couple events planned on various parts of the ship. Therefore, we will have to work together to make sure everyone’s needs are met.”
“What sort of groups are you talking about?” one of the security officers called out.
“I’m glad you asked.” Ham clasped his hands together. “We have with us the National Online Bingo Tournament members, a group of people who play the game together online as well as in person during their quarterly events all over the country. Like our other guests, the Master Gardeners, most members of the
“That seems like a lot,” Eloise said.
“Not really,” Ham said encouragingly. “If you look over our passenger manifest lists from the past six months, you will see that the average age is fifty-nine, so we’re not that far off.”
“I meant it seems like a lot to host two groups like that at once, but okay.” Eloise shook her head.
“All that means is that we need to get creative with the way we do things,” Alvin Lamb, the cruise director, called out.
Ham continued, completely undeterred, “Yes, we will need to work together to make sure the bingo players tournament isn’t interrupted when members of the garden club want to gather and discuss plants or whatever it is they discuss. The good news is that the gardeners plan on excursions to local botanical gardens in each port of call.”
“They both sound like fairly tame groups,” Dom said from the captain’s table. “How much trouble can a bunch of bingo players and a group of gardeners get into?”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid to find out,” Eloise leaned over and muttered in Lorelei’s ear.
CHAPTER TWO
Natalie Shien, one of the servers, arrived just in time to help clean up brunch. She threw her hands in the air the moment Eloise asked her why she had arrived so late, again.
“Look, I know we’re supposed to report early, but my driver didn’t show up, so I had to wait for the next available person to bring me here, okay?”
“Things happen,” Lorelei said, stepping in before Natalie’s bad mood rubbed off on everyone. “You missed a few things this morning.”
“Like what?” Natalie asked. Her face softened, but she crossed her arms over her chest and sighed.
“We have two large groups of people aboard this time, and both require space for their events. Ham asked us to work together to make sure everyone’s needs are met during the cruise.”
“What kind of groups?” Natalie asked. “We don’t usually have big events and definitely not more than one at a time.”
“One of the groups is some sort of gardening club,” Eloise explained. “The other is a group of bingo players that compete all across the country.”
“Traveling bingo? Now I’ve heard it all.” Natalie frowned. She disappeared into one of the storage rooms and emerged, tying a clean apron around her waist.
“It’s going to be interesting to find a way to give everyone the space they need, and it also means we’ll have to work a little harder, but I think it sounds kind of neat.” Lorelei shrugged.
Once the kitchen was clean, she retired to her cabin for a while before meeting Eloise. Along with brunch, Captain Stemple had begun a new tradition of catering dinner for the entire staff the night before a cruise. Lorelei appreciated it, since that meant one less meal to prepare and more time with her friends before passengers arrived.
“Tell me something,” Eloise said as they strolled around gazing at the Columbia River. Most of the fog had burned off in the afternoon sun. “Which would you rather do, spend your days toiling in the garden or competing in an international bingo tournament?”
“That’s a heck of a question.” Lorelei leaned against the railing on the back deck and watched the water swirl below. “I’m not much of a gardener, and I really don’t like bingo. So, I don’t know how to answer that.”
“I’d rather be a gardener,” Eloise said, answering her own question. “I think when I’m ready to retire, I want to be in a tiny little cottage somewhere where I can get up in the morning and enjoy my coffee with the sunrise, then spend the rest of the day pruning rose bushes or harvesting vegetables.”
“What about your fiancé? What does he want to do?”
Eloise frowned. “He isn’t my fiancé anymore.”
“Oh, no,” Lorelei gasped. “What happened?”
“We just decided we don’t want to get married anymore. We’re still dating and spending time together, but he moved out of my place.” She shrugged. “I like having a relationship without all the other drama that goes along with living with someone.”
“That’s a very progressive point of view,” Lorelei said. They linked arms and began to walk toward the front deck. Eloise chattered on about her plans for her later years and Lorelei caught herself thinking about her own life and what she might be doing.
When she was still married to Boyd, it wasn’t difficult to imagine what the future would look like, but now, retirement seemed like something far off in the distance. Though it was something she actually looked forward to. Since taking the job aboard The Aurora, she knew travel would be a part of it. Before leaving Boston, the only real trips she had ever taken as an adult were to pick up supplies for their chain of nail salons.
After a couple hours of hanging out, and a wonderful dinner, Lorelei excused herself to go to bed. She planned to rise early and double-check the menus for any last-minute items they might need to take care of. The Aurora would set sail just before noon, once all passengers were aboard.
As usual, the number of people that arrived in the dining hall for breakfast early the following morning was minimal. Most people were still making their way to the ship, and those who were already there had eaten before they made their way aboard. Of course, lunch would be a different story and dinner would be busier still, because by then they’d be traveling toward their first port of call.
After breakfast, Lorelei headed back to her cabin. Even though she had gotten used to the movement of the ship, an occasional bout of motion sickness still took her off guard. She had learned that the best method to beat seasickness was to swallow two ginger capsules just before the captain ordered ‘anchors away.’
She sat outside in the fresh air until it was time to get back to work. She’d expected to walk through an empty dining hall but was surprised when two large groups of people had gathered on either end of the large space.
“Can I help you?” she asked when she stepped into the room. Immediately, a few people from each group rushed toward her.
“Are you a member of the staff?” a slender, gray-haired man asked.
“I’m the kitchen manager. How can I help you?”
“August Thrasher,” the gentleman said. He thrust his hand forward and gripped hers, pumping it up and down while he smiled. “President of Master Gardeners.”
“Bruce Abel,” another man stepped forward and announced. He was shorter than the first man and considerably rounder. “I’m the bingo caller, and head of this crazy group.” Members of his group snickered and shook their heads.
“Okay, August and Bruce, why are you in the dining hall? We’re about to prepare for lunch.”
“We’re here because we need to use the space,” August blurted out before Bruce could even get his mouth open.
“But we need the space,” Bruce huffed.
“I’m confused,” Lorelei said. “You both need this particular space right now?”
“Yes. We need to have a meeting,” a woman behind Bruce chimed in.
“What my wife is trying to say is that we were here first,” another man stepped forward from the bingo players and announced. He stood next to Bruce and folded his arms over his chest. “My name is Henry Pierce, and that’s my wife Kimmie.”
“Well, Mr. and Mrs. Pierce,” Lorelei began. Before she could finish her thoughts, two more members of the gardeners’ group stepped forward.
“Those bingo players can meet in the bathrooms for all I care,” a woman said. “We were here first.”
“Cissy, I’ve got this,” August said. “Now is not the time for you to start all your drama.” The woman named Cissy rolled her eyes and stepped back.
“I think we can find other accommodations,” a third member of the gardening group said.
“Be quiet, George,” Cissy said under her breath.
“You be quiet, Cissy,” two women said at the same time. They glanced at each other.
“You stay out of this, Pearl.”
“Why don’t you stay out of it, Joyce?” Pearl snapped.
Lorelei’s head began to throb. She could barely keep the two groups apart, let alone the members of each group. “Everyone, listen up,” she said, sounding more like a gym teacher than a kitchen manager. “The dining hall is closed, which means no groups will be meeting here before mealtime. My staff will be here in a matter of minutes, and we need this space to prepare for lunch.”
