Town in a Pumpkin Bash Read Online Free

checked every room, plus that secret hidey space in the attic.”
    “Not the basement.”
    “No, not the basement. I’m sure there’s nothing down there.”
    Candy didn’t like basements much, since she’d found a body in one once.
    Maggie frowned up at the gusty sky, blowing in dark rain clouds. “I don’t like the
     looks of that,” she said. Her gazedropped to follow a scattering of brown leaves that blew across the parking lot. She
     let out a deep sigh. “I guess he’s not coming then.”
    Reluctantly, Candy had to agree.
    They were expecting a visitor, but he was fifteen minutes overdue, and they couldn’t
     wait for him any longer.
    The call from Sebastian J. Quinn had come out of the blue a couple of weeks earlier.
     The award-winning poet, who had been involved with the Sapphire Vine murder case,
     had contacted Candy at her office at the paper one afternoon, apologizing for calling
     her first, since he’d only just learned of the house’s availability and didn’t have
     Maggie’s number. “Can you put me in touch with her? Is the place still for rent?”
     he’d asked. “If so, I’ll take it for two weeks, and perhaps through the Thanksgiving
     holiday.”
    That had been good news all around. Sebastian needed a place to “get away from the
     rat race” for a while to work on a new book of poetry, and the “inspirational beauty”
     around Cape Willington in the fall and early winter was just the thing he needed,
     he’d told Maggie when they’d talked, and she had promptly passed on the details to
     Candy. Both of them questioned Sebastian’s explanation for renting the place—“It just
     sounds a little contrived to me,” Candy noted at the time. But neither of them could
     see a legitimate reason to turn down the offer, as generous as it was.
    A deal had been quickly finalized, with occupancy to take place the weekend before
     Halloween and continuing into early November, with a week-by-week option after that.
     Sebastian had agreed to pay three hundred per week for the place, a particularly good
     rate for the off-season, though it included all utilities and heating oil, which could
     become costly if the weather turned cold, so it seemed a fair-enough arrangement to
     Sebastian. To Maggie’s astonishment, he’d offered to pay in advance. A check for six
     hundred dollars, plus an additional one hundred fifty for a safety deposit, promptly
     arrived two days later by special delivery. A fewother papers were exchanged by two-day mail, and they were in business.
    Even though Maggie had offered to meet him at Sapphire’s place to hand over the keys
     and conduct a walk-through, Sebastian told her he’d prefer to stop by the pumpkin
     patch that morning to conduct their business. “I don’t want to put you out,” he’d
     said to her over the phone, and she’d relayed the message to Candy, “but I just want
     to get my hands on the keys and get settled in. That place has a lot of memories for
     me. I prefer to make the first visit alone, if you know what I mean. I’m just not
     quite sure what my reaction will be, after all that happened there. I’ll see you at
     ten on Saturday morning.”
    And here they were. Ten fifteen on the agreed-upon morning, and no Sebastian J. Quinn.
    “What do you think this means?” Maggie asked, trying not to sound despondent. “Do
     you think he got scared off by all the stories about the house and backed out of the
     deal? And what if he wants his money back? I’ve deposited the check, gave the kids
     most of the money, and already spent some of my share.”
    “Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Candy said calmly. “Maybe he’s just been delayed.”
    Maggie shook her head and pulled out her phone, one last time, to check for new messages.
     There were none. She sighed. “We can’t wait any longer,” she said, slipping the phone
     back into her pocket. “The natives are getting restless. We have to get this show
     on the road.”
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