Free Kelly's Koffee Shop (A Cedar Bay Cozy Mystey Book 1) by Dianne Harman

feel you can’t go on, lean on our shoulders. Tell us what you
need and what we can do for you. You are loved by every person in this church.”
    He went on to talk about
his involvement with Amber from the time he had baptized her, given her First
Communion, her involvement with the church youth group, and her activities in
school and the community. Whenever Kelly attended a funeral service, she had
the thought that these words, these accolades, should be said before people
died, so they could hear the wonderful things people had to say about them.
Then again maybe they could hear them.
    Father Brown ended his
informal remarks by asking everyone to stand, take the hand of the person next
to them, and recite the Lord’s Prayer. “Our Father, who art in heaven…” The
words, spoken in unison, filled the church and could be heard as far out as the
parking lot.
    “Please be seated,” Father
Brown said, holding up his hands. “In accordance with the prescribed rites of
the Catholic Church’s funeral service, I will offer Mass this morning. When you
come forward, if you are not Catholic or choose not to celebrate Mass, please
cross your arms over your chest and I will give you a blessing. Following the completion
of Mass, several people have been asked to speak about Amber. To conclude the
service, we will sing Amazing Grace. You are all welcome to attend the
Celebration of Life for Amber which is being held at Kelly’s Koffee Shop
immediately after the service is completed. There are flyers with directions at
the rear of the church.” After the Mass was completed Father Brown announced
that the first speaker would be Brandon Black.
    Kelly would have liked to
hear what Brandon had to say, but knew she couldn’t stay any longer. She stood
up and walked out the door. In a moment she heard Madison’s voice beside her.
“Hi, Kelly. Wasn’t that beautiful? I don’t go to church, but after today, I
think I will.”
    As Kelly opened the door
of her minivan for Madison, she patted Rebel on the head. He always stood
looking out the car window in the direction he’d last seen her go until she
returned. “Father Brown is a wonderful man. I’ve been attending his services
for a long time and I always feel better afterwards. Are you ready for a busy
day?”
    “Yeah. People found out
that I’m workin’ at the coffee shop and it seems everywhere I went yesterday
afternoon, people asked if I was going to be workin’ for you today. I know you
can estimate how much food to prepare so you don’t waste any, but I just hope
there’s enough to go around.”
    “I’ll let you in on a
secret. I didn’t sleep much last night worrying about the same thing, but I’m
pretty sure we’ll be all right. I stayed at the coffee shop several hours after
you and Roxie left yesterday, making extra casseroles, just in case. If we
don’t use them today, we can always freeze them for next week. Believe me, with
everything that needed to be refrigerated, I’m really glad I invested in a
walk-in refrigerator. There’s no way all of that food could fit into a regular
one! Here we are and I see Roxie pulling in behind us. I’d like you to plug in
the big coffee pot and start the ovens at 350 degrees. Also turn on the warming
ovens. Oh, by the way, I cleaned out Amber’s locker for you so you can put your
purse in it. It’s the large drawer to the left as you walk into the storeroom.”
    I’ve got to remember to
tell Mike about the diary after the Celebration is over. I put it in my purse
when I left the house. When he hears what’s in it, it’s definitely going to be
part of his investigation.
    Kelly and Roxie arranged
the fruit platters and put them in the walk-in refrigerator. They took large
serving dishes out of the cabinets and arranged the casserole slices on them.
    “Roxie, do me a favor.
Would you take a couple of batches of the bacon chocolate chip cookies out of
the freezer and arrange them on platters? It won’t take long