Mystery At The Autumn House Inn Chapter2

Next morning, she arrived at the breakfast table finding Nicolette helping Jacob serve. She sat down while considering whether or, not to ask him about Martha or drop the subject. She was not sure if she wanted to know his answer. After taking a sip of juice, she managed to blurt out the question in an unexpected way with juice coming out her nose. “Where is Martha?”

Surprised by what she had done, grabbed her napkin and began cleaning up all the spilled juice that had come out of her. Jacob manages five-minutes later, to regain his composure. He said in-expressively. “I haven’t seen Martha since last night. She’s not even in her room, which is unusual, since she spends most of her time in there.”

Nothing more, said after that it remained quiet during the rest of the breakfast. Jacob cleared the tables after breakfast had finished; he then went back to his office to work. Rebecca went back to her room to think, leaving Nicolette alone to wonder out visiting the local Grove behind the Inn.

Lunchtime came Nicolette was back from the Grove as Jacob was making lunch. With Martha still nowhere. With no one wondering where she had gone off too.

Rebecca arrived in the living room; she found a man, sitting on the couch beside Nicolette chatting with her and Jacob. He was a quite tall, well-dressed man introduced himself as Jacob’s friend Vernon Welsh. From the look on Nicolette’s face, she seemed to take to him rather quickly, in other words she thought he was cute. Which Rebecca thought that would as always only lead her to trouble?

She walked over and sat down in the chair nearest to the couch as she introduced herself. As he was beginning to talk, they heard a ding” Pot roast, is finished! Excuse me while I finish making dinner.” Leaving them alone to talk among themselves, there was an uncomfortable silence once he did leave, until Nicolette asked what he did for a living. He did not answer to her disgust. Just sitting there blank in the face

As Nicolette attempted another question, Jacob came back into the room this time he had more company, two women who apparently came in through the back door. First woman, by the name of Veronica Shannon abruptly sat down in a chair nearer to Jacob’s office did not say a word or looked in anyone’s general direction.

Second woman a blond hair blue eyed, introduced herself as Dina Warwick, engaged conversation by asking who the women were.

Chatting, Jacob came into the room “Dinner time! Hope you are all hungry. Sit anywhere you like in the dining room.” He said gleefully. As they all sat down to dinner, Veronica protested virtually immediately to the sight of a particular dinner item, since she was an apparemt vegetarian. She detested the sight, even the smell of meat, which bordered on neurosis. Everyone started to giggle somewhat, at the faces Veronica made over the sight of meat. Jacob finally broke up the giggles he chuckled. “Don’t worry! I remembered you don’t like meat, so I made you something else.”

He handed her a bowl of salad along with sweet potato hash, an apparent favorite dish of hers. She blushed as she took both bowls from him; putting them in front of her plate and began eating in silence, until Jacob initiated conversation about how everyone met. At first, no one answered his request, until Dina spoke up. “I’m a full time lawyer, a divorced mother of three children. When we met each other, I was attending law school. He had gotten into a bit of a bind with a man who sits at the table tonight; Jacob was in need of legal advice over a possible lawsuit.”

Ryan bursts out in anger interrupting Dina. “JACOB DID NOT HAVE TO RESORT TO SUCH A LENGTH, IF HE’D COME TO TALK ABOUT IT, I WOULD HAVE HELPED HIM. OF COURSE, HE DECIDES TO THREATEN HIS OLD PAL, BLACKMAILED ME WITH A LAWSUIT.”

Dina interrupted Ryan’s rant to finish her thought. “Which never came to be? It settled out of court with my mediation help WITHOUT having to go to court at all!” Once again, Ryan exploded with anger said, “HE THINKS I HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT! SOME FRIEND YOU ARE! I’M OUTTA HERE!” Getting up as he shoved, his chair against the wall walking out of the room slamming hard out of the Inn.

After a moment of awkwardness, everyone resumed eating in silence for the next 10 minutes, until a noise made them all rise from their seats looking out toward the apple orchard. It turned out that Ryan was trying to tear up things out back still angry. Jacob asked most of everyone to stay inside and go back to their rooms as he asked Vernon to call the police.

He then went out the back door going toward Ryan’s location. He started to approach him slowly while keeping a bit of distance from his wiry angry fist. Ryan began to circle around him with a deep glaring stare. He lunged at him suddenly; Jacob managed to dodge quickly, landing on something hitting his left side. He rose up holding his side looked down wincing in pain seeing it was just a large rock but didn’t give up the fight that Ryan had started. Lunging forward he attempted to knock him to the ground long enough to be able try to reason with him. Vernon came running out toward them yelling. He had called the police. Ryan soon took off running toward the apple orchard disappearing into the night. Both Vernon and Jacob returned to the dining area where Jacob found everyone still huddled at the window watching the action unfold. He asked everyone to return to the table to eat.

Everyone went quiet for a few moments until Vernon broke the silence. Vernon coyly spoke as he winked. ” Now where were we, Ah yes, Jacob and I met while I was doing some work on a nearby, house about two-years ago; he asked me to do a few repairs-along with a few odds and ends work on his place. We hit it off right away, finding out. We liked the same baseball teams. Ever since then we have become the best of friends. Coming over on Sundays to watch the game, he does after all have better reception here.”

After Vernon finished Victoria wanted a glass of brandy, asked if it was still in the old liquor cabinet in his office. He nodded and off she went quickly, what no one knew it was actually just a ruse to get into his file cabinet, so she could look for something. She rifled through it for several minutes as she kept watching the door as well she did not want to run into Jacob or anyone else. As soon as she found what she was looking for she shoved into the inside of her shirt grabbed a brandy glass pouring her some then shot out the door grabbing a key while yelling “I’ve got first dibs!” Moreover, spent the rest of the evening in her room.

Everyone else took the conversation and a hot pot of fresh coffee in the living room chatting all evening until Rebecca excused herself to go up to her room to rest. Just as she approached her room, she could hear yelling coming from Victoria’s room, she began to move closer to her door the yelling ceased. Shaking her head, she turned back toward her room and went to bed.

Next morning Rebecca was the last to arrive at the breakfast table, sitting down. She thought a moment and decided to ask Victoria a question. “Who exactly were you yelling at last night?” she inquired. Victoria’s glare filled the stillroom with a full sense of disgust as she even glared at Nicolette. Vernon broke the ice just as Victoria was beginning to yell. “You know you haven’t joined in on last night’s chatter, about how we all met Jacob. What’s your story sweaty pie?”

Looking at Vernon with a groan of displeasure “First off, off, I AM NOT YOUR SWEETIE PIE, secondly, Jacob and I met by chance when I was traveling for my cosmetics company, I had stopped at this inn—– his inn due to a bad snow storm, Jacob graciously offered me free of charge a room to stay in. Here until the storm was over, the roads cleared. ———-Third, You HAD NO RIGHT TO EAVESDROP AT THE DOOR! IT IS CERTAINLY NONE OF YOUR BEES WAX, MS. COLLEEN!” Veronica snorted with rage, as she glared rather spitefully at them. Then slammed her napkin onto the table storming out of the room, going upstairs to her room where she remained.

(Veronica was not the type that showed much emotion toward anyone, nor was the kind of person to stay in one place for very long, when she did it not at all a pleasant experience! To her traveling from one place to another felt more like home, rather than being tied down to one spot permanently. Jacob attempted to ask her out, when she stayed at his inn.

Though it seemed to go unnoticed, she would become annoyed at this undesirable idea of being a wife of an Innkeeper. Even though she made it very clear to Jacob, it never really seemed to deter him from trying. )

Jacob to everyone’s relief broke up the tension with a slight joke of sorts. He spoke with a chuckle “Geez, two storm outs, and fights in two days. Is it, a birthday, or something? Sending; everyone at the table into laughter for the next few minutes and eating in a much calmer atmosphere.