Murder on Aisle Three Read online

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  MURDER ON AISLE THREE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  EPILOGUE

  Murder

  on

  Aisle Three

  Asheville Cozy Mysteries

  Book Two

  By

  Patti Benning

  Copyright 2018 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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  MURDER ON

  AISLE THREE

  Asheville Cozy Mysteries

  Book Two

  CHAPTER ONE

  * * *

  Autumn Roth dusted off the top row of cans, carefully straightening them before getting down off the stepladder. She brushed a few wisps of her red hair out of from eyes before moving the stepladder over a couple of feet. Everything was dusty, it seemed. A month ago, it had been hard to believe that the little family owned grocery store that she worked at was going out of business, but now that the holidays were over, and January had begun, the store was dead.

  She had finally accepted that after the end of the month, the Green River Grocery would shut its doors for good. If she hadn’t already had a new job that she loved, she might have been more frightened at the prospect. Instead, she was just sad. She loved the grocery store; she had managed it for years, and didn’t want to see it fail.

  “I can handle the rest, if you want to clock out early.”

  Autumn tucked the ancient feather duster under her arm and turned to see her boss, Jed, standing behind her. He was a kind looking man in his fifties, with over-sized glasses, and a shyness about him that had taken her some time to get used to. He owned the store, and was the one who had made the difficult decision to close it permanently. He had recently found a potential buyer for the building, and the two of them had spent all morning trying to make the store look its best.

  “I don’t have to be at the nursing home until later,” she said. “I’m happy to stay for my full shift. I know you’re supposed to give someone who’s interested in buying the store a tour this afternoon, and if it gets busy, I should be here to help.”

  “Busy.” He gave a dry laugh, looking around the store as if checking for ghosts. “If you want to stay you can, it’s just that we only really need one person here right now, and with finances so tight…” He trailed off, his cheeks turning pink as he looked away.

  “Oh.” She wished she had been quicker on the uptake. She knew that the store was hardly making any money anymore, but she hadn’t realized just how bad it was. “You know what, clocking out early actually does sound pretty good. It will give me time to take Frankie on a walk before heading over to Asheville Meadows.” She smiled at him and handed over the feather duster. “Let me know if you need me to come in tomorrow, okay?”

  He still looked embarrassed, but she knew from years of experience that her saying anything else would only make it worse. She smiled even more widely as she passed him, then made a beeline for the back of the store where she kept her coat and purse. Would it be better if I just quit, she wondered? She didn’t want Jed to keep paying her if he couldn’t afford it, especially not when she was getting her first paycheck from Asheville Meadows in just a couple of days.

  She had originally started working at the nursing home on a volunteer basis, but not long after Christmas, she had been hired on permanently as their new chef. It wouldn’t be until February, after Green River Grocery was closed, that she would begin working there full-time, but even the part-time salary helped a lot. If it would help Jed, she would happily cut the rest of her hours for the month. One of us always has to be at the store, she reminded herself. She and Jed were the only ones who had the codes for things like returns, and the only ones who had keys, which meant that if she quit, Jed would have to be there all day, every day. That was probably why he was keeping her on, even though her wages were costing him.

  I’ll just let him know I’m fine with working fewer hours, she decided as she slipped her coat on. She hoped things worked out well for Jed, but the truth was she was more excited about her new job at the nursing home than she had been about the grocery store for a long time. She had always dreamed of being a chef, and while working in the nursing home might not be quite the same as working at a five-star restaurant, she was finally able to do something that she was passionate about for a living. It was a whole new world for her, and one that she could hardly wait to completely commit herself to.

  On her way out of the store, she ran into another of the employees, a young woman named Grace, who was on her way in from outside. “Hey, Ms. Roth. Are you leaving?”

  “I’m just going home a few hours early,” Autumn said. “What are you stopping in for? I haven’t clocked out yet, so I can ring you up really quick if you’d like.”

  “I’m just here to see if I can pick up my paycheck,” the young woman said. “Jed didn’t have them on Friday, and I’ve got to pay rent.”

  “He was in the canned goods aisle a few minutes ago,” she said. “You should check there first.”

  “Thanks.” Grace gave her a bright smile and a quick wave. “I’ll see you later.”

  “See you,” Autumn said, watching as the young woman made a beeline for aisle seven. She hoped that Jed had the check ready. She hadn’t bothered him about hers, but she knew that some of the other employees lived paycheck to paycheck, and getting paid late was never fun.

  She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should join Grace while she talked to Jed. While she was okay with getting her own paycheck a few days late, that didn't mean that the others would be, and as manager, she should be the one standing up for them.

  At the same time, what would she do? Jed either had the money, or he didn't.
He had never paid them late in the past. Her putting pressure on him wouldn't help anyone. It would just make him more flustered, which in turn would make him feel worse about everything.

  No, she thought. This is between him and her. If it keeps being an issue, then I'll get involved. Right now, I've got a couple of unexpected hours off to enjoy.

  It felt good to push through the doors and step out into the sunshine, away from the deserted, depressing store. It was a beautiful but cold January day. It hadn’t snowed for nearly a week, so although the ground was still covered in white, the roads were clear and dry. The slow-moving river that the grocery store had been named after was frozen over, and the air smelled ever so slightly of smoke from nearby wood-burning fireplaces. Even with her worries about how Jed would afford keeping the store open for nearly another month, she was glad that she had gotten out early. It would be nice to have some daylight hours to enjoy before going to the nursing home to begin cooking dinner for the residents.

  Autumn had rented the same house for years. It was a small, two-story home on one of the quieter residential streets in town. When the weather was nice, she was close enough to the grocery store that she could walk to work if she wanted, though she rarely did.

  She still wasn't quite sure how she had ended up in Asheville. She had moved here for the job at the grocery store, and had somehow gotten stuck. When she was younger, there had been so many things that she wanted to achieve, but over the years, the little town had somehow strengthened its hold on her. Last month, when she had discovered that the store was going under, she had had the perfect opportunity to leave. What had kept her there? It definitely wasn't her then–boyfriend, Brandon. Maybe it was her aunt and uncle. While she certainly loved them, she could have easily moved to a town a couple of hours away, and still have seen them regularly.

  The truth was, she didn't have an answer. There was no one specific thing keeping her in town, but all the little things combined. For better or for worse, Asheville was her home.

  As she pulled into her driveway, she heard a flurry of high-pitched barking coming from inside. Frankie, her Cairn terrier, had heard her car pull up. She shut off the engine and unlocked the doors. She had a couple of hours to herself; the only question was, what should she do with them?

  CHAPTER TWO

  * * *

  “Hi, Frankie,” Autumn called out as she walked through her front door. The little dog came rushing into the kitchen, all twelve pounds of her sliding and skittering across the wood floor. Autumn managed to get the door shut before the dog bowled into her legs. She tossed her purse onto the counter and bent down, trying to pet the dog while at the same time keeping her licking tongue away from her face. “I know, I’m excited to see you too.”

  The Cairn terrier was her constant companion whenever she was home. Somehow, the reckless little ball of energy was the perfect match for her own personality. Not that they were exactly the same – no; rather, they complemented each other. On the days that she would rather lounge around inside and get nothing done, Frankie forced her to get up off the couch and go outdoors. Her endlessly positive outlook on life was contagious, and it was hard to feel cynical with such a hopeful and fearless dog around.

  Of course, without the structure and gentle guidance that Autumn offered, the little dog would have been a mess. While she knew that Frankie was smart, the dog had a bad tendency to act before she thought. As a terrier, she loved chasing things, and not just small things. Autumn had stopped her dog from chasing moving cars more than once. Frankie just didn't seem to understand that the difference in size made them not only unobtainable, but dangerous. Conversely, she supposed that she could learn from the dog that sometimes one just had to chase their dreams, even if they didn't have the hope of catching them.

  She stood up and made her way through the house with the dog at her heels. She opened the back door and let the terrier outside. While Frankie trotted back and forth along the trails that she had made through the snow over the past week, Autumn pulled her phone out of her pocket and texted her best friend. A moment later, her phone rang.

  “Hey, Alicia,” she said.

  “You got out of work early and didn’t tell me right away? You should have said something before you went home. I just stopped to grab a salad for a late lunch, we could have eaten together.”

  “Do you want to do something after you eat? I was going to take Frankie for a walk; we could meet at the park.”

  “Sure. Just give me about twenty minutes, okay?”

  After they said their goodbyes, Autumn hung up. She opened the back door to let Frankie in, then hurried upstairs. She wanted to change her clothes before meeting Alicia, and to make sure she had everything ready for going to work at the nursing home later that evening. While the clothes she currently had on were perfectly fine, she wanted to wear something a bit nicer. Not only was it a new job, but she was also dating the boss.

  Frankie was quivering in excitement on the passenger seat as Autumn pulled into the park. It was across the river from the grocery store, and wasn’t much more than a couple of paved paths, a playground, and a small boardwalk that went down to the river, but it was the perfect place for a quick stroll with her dog and her friend.

  She clipped the leash to Frankie’s harness, then opened the driver’s side door, letting the little dog jump out over her lap before getting out herself. Alicia was already there, and waved to her from the bench where she was waiting.

  “It’s such a nice day,” her friend said, getting up to join her. They set off down the path together, with Frankie walking proudly out in front of them. “Without a breeze, the cold isn’t even too bad. We should do this more. How long has it been since I’ve seen you in the daylight?”

  “Well, with me working evenings at the nursing home and mornings at the grocery store, I hardly get any daylight hours at all,” Autumn said. “When it gets dark by five-thirty, and the sun doesn’t rise fully until eight, I’m lucky to even get a peek at the sunlight during the week.”

  “That will all be over soon enough, right? What hours will you be working at Asheville Meadows once you’re available full-time?”

  “It will vary depending on what the other chef can do. She’s still out on maternity leave, and I haven’t met her yet. I know I’ll be cooking there at least five nights a week, and will be doing some mornings and lunches too. I’ll have time to go home between meals, which will be nice for Frankie.”

  “I bet. It sounds like a great job for you, Autumn. I’m glad you found it. It’s just perfect, isn’t it? It’s like it was meant to be.”

  “I was lucky… well, no, I don’t want to say that. I only got this job because someone died. I’m trying not to be too excited about it, given the circumstances.”

  “Do you mean the murder, or Jed closing the store?”

  “Both,” Autumn said. “So many bad things have happened for me to get this job, and it doesn’t feel right to be too happy about it, you know? I would never want anyone to get hurt just so I could end up with a job that I wanted.”

  “I know,” her friend said. “Anyone who knows you would know that. None of the other stuff is your fault. You have every right to be happy about this. Besides, you said the store already has a buyer, right? I’m sure Jed’s happy about that, and he’s probably relieved that you found a new job so quickly. I’ve only met him a few times, but he seems like a nice guy who wouldn’t want his employees to be out of work.”

  “He is. I know he feels terrible about all of this. I don’t think he’s ever fired anyone in his life, and now he’s having to let all of his employees go at once… Even though I’m the one that told them, he still feels guilty about it.” She sighed. “And it’s only a potential buyer. He’s coming to look at the building today. I’m not sure what his plans are for it. I was hoping to find that out today, but then I ended up leaving early.”

  “Let me know when you find out. I’m not sure what sort of business this town could support.
I mean, we aren’t even going to have our own grocery store after this month.”

  Autumn tugged on Frankie’s leash to keep her from running up to someone who was walking the opposite way on the path. “I’ll have to start shopping at that new supermarket, even though I don’t want to. I’m going to feel like such a traitor. Back when it first opened up, Brandon tried to get me to go on a shopping trip there, and didn’t understand why I refused.”

  “Have you seen him much since the breakup?” Alicia asked.

  “A couple of times. He keeps trying to get me to go out to coffee with him, but I’ve been so busy lately that it’s been easy to refuse.”

  “Well, you’re dating Nick now, right? Can’t you just tell him it wouldn’t feel right to go out with him while you’re seeing someone else?”

  “We’ve only gone on a couple of dates. We aren’t exclusively seeing each other or anything. It’s weird, with him being my boss. As far as I know there’s no policy against it, but it still just doesn’t quite feel right, you know?”