Free Creamed at the Coffee Cabana: A Cozy Mystery (Sweet Home Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) by Constance Barker Page A

already left Fannie weeks prior. Regardless of what the real story was, Joe and my aunt Essie were hitched and married for 30 years before he died of a massive heart attack.
     
    However, Fannie was never the same after Joe left her and blamed her miserable and lonely life on Essie. What she should have done was moved on. Joe made his choice and despite Fannie’s interference and downright nasty behavior towards my aunt and uncle, she only succeeded in making herself along with everyone around her miserable. Over the years, her hostility grew, not just toward my aunt, but to other townspeople as well. She decided it was her duty in life to uncover secrets within the small town of Sweet Home and expose people for their unsavory behavior.
     
    Twenty years ago, Francine started a tiny newspaper using an old printing press her grandfather owned. The paper seemed harmless enough at first with newsy items like births, deaths, and the local happenings like an ice cream social or what time the choir was to congregate for practice at the Baptist church. But then it changed. I believe she had this in her mind the entire time. Get people hooked to her nice little weekly paper and then start throwing jabs at the same brethren. No one was immune, not even the preacher at the Methodist church who Fannie claimed was stealing from the offering plate. The deed was never substantiated but the harm was done by planting the seed in the congregation’s mind. The poor preacher left after a few months with a cloud of doubt hanging over his head. However, he wasn’t the only one run out of town.
     
    If you dared to cross Fannie, she would set her mark on you and it didn’t matter if you had a squeaky-clean reputation; she would find a way to tarnish it. Like unsuspecting widow Gertie Price. She won the grand prize ribbon each year for her made from scratch apple pie at the county fair until one year Fannie hinted at seeing cans of apple pie mix in Gertie’s trash barrel. Now I’d hate to think of Francine rummaging around in Gertie’s trash, but I wouldn’t put it past the old girl. And that’s how Fannie operated. She didn’t outright say a neighbor was cheating on his wife, or a preacher was stealing from the offering plate, or a little widow lady was cheating on her prized apple pies. She’d simply hint at the discretion and let the town’s tongues do as they may with the information. She hurt numerous townspeople, but instead of not buying her little weekly paper, everyone would clamor for it on Monday morning, either wanting to see who the next victim was or making sure it wasn’t them. Since this was Monday morning and Fannie’s name had been taken in vain, I figured Essie was under attack again.
     
    Essie search in her large tote bag of a purse for the paper. When she brought it forth, it was crumpled every which way but Sunday. Guess I know what Auntie thought of today’s news.
     
    “That she-devil has put my name in print for the last time. I’m gonna lasso her hiney to the hitching post!”
     
    “Wow, she put the paper out early this morning.” I poured us all a cup of morning brew.
     
    Hildie added cream and a drip of honey to her coffee. “Now she didn’t put your exact name in there.”
     
    Essie squinted at Hildie. “Everyone knows it’s me!” She smoothed the crumpled paper on the counter and proceeded to read. “And what is going on with our most fashionable starlet in town?”
     
    “How the heck do you know she’s talking about you?” I asked taking a sip of the black gold and letting it awaken my senses.
     
    Essie wasn’t happy at being interrupted which is why I did it. I loved to rattle her cage as much as she enjoyed doing it to me. “Be quiet,” she said not looking up from the paper and continued with her reading.
     
    “It was told to me by a little bird that the lady with the best coif in town is getting it from a bottle. Now who pray tell uses bottled hair dye to turn her hair grey?