Up In Smoke: Spirit of the Soul Wine Shop Mystery (A Rysen Morris Mystery Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

helping.  That’s all there is to it.  Besides, might get me a cracker of an apprentice here.  I mean it, Rysen.  I know you can do this.”
    So did Rysen.  She almost told him she was in anyway, almost let her feelings get the better of her before she’d had the chance to have a rational conversation about it with Josh.
    Which was when Beatrice Leary joined them, and Rysen let whatever she had been about to say evaporate away.  Beatrice used to date Josh.  In fact, Bea had flat out accused Rysen of stealing Josh away from her.  Nothing could be further from the truth, but it was pretty obvious that her friend still held a lot of resentment toward Rysen over the whole thing.
    This probably wasn’t a good time to mention Josh at all, or their relationship, or how she wanted him to have a say in her life.
    Yeah.
    Beatrice had been a good friend to Rysen most of her life, especially back when they were all girls together and Bea’s mom would babysit Rysen and Christina.  She had the classic girl-next-door looks, long body, angular face, deep blue eyes.  Her blonde hair had been long and wavy until just recently, when she’d had it cut.  Severely cut.  Hacked, might be the way to describe it.  Now it was all uneven and choppy.  Not a style that Rysen would have chosen for her friend.  It was almost like she’d gone after it herself in a fit of anger.
    Which brought up the whole issue with the storm of emotions over who Josh was dating.
    “Hi you guys,” Beatrice greeted them with a smile.  “Brandon!  Hi.  I didn’t know you were back in town.”
    He nodded.  “I heard about the fire.  Decided to come and offer my help.”
    Bea’s smile fell away.  “Oh, Christina, I’m so sorry about your shop.  I can’t believe something like that could happen!  This town used to be such a nice place to live, you know?”
    Rysen knew exactly what she meant.  She just didn’t understand why Bea looked directly at her when she said it.
    “We were just talking about what we were going to do,” Christina said with a heavy sigh.  “I don’t know.  I’m still stunned I guess.  I can’t stop thinking that if I had just been there, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”
    “Nothing you could have done,” Brandon assured her.  “Like I said, the fire was set on purpose.  If they were scared to do it with both you and Rysen there, they would have just waited until the dark of night and set it then.”
    “Unless they had a reason to set it during the day,” Rysen pointed out.  She still remembered the fear that had gripped her standing in that burning shop, the sound of the bottles exploding, the smell of the smoke.
    Maybe whoever set the fire had wanted her to be there…
    Brandon winked at her, approval in his eyes.  “That’s the Rysen I remember.  Always asking the right questions.”
    “Wait a minute now,” Bea said, looking around the table at each of them.  “What do you mean, the fire was set on purpose?  I thought this was just an accident.”
    “No.  It wasn’t.”  Christina shifted in her seat.  She picked up her cup of coffee finally but then just stared at it and set it back down.  “Someone did this to me, Bea.  Someone really wants me to fail.  They want my shop gone.  Maybe they want me gone, too.  I don’t know.”
    “So,” Bea said slowly, “that means the insurance company won’t pay you for the damages.”
    “Yup.  That’s what it means.  Isn’t that just fantastic?”
    Rysen heard the desperation under her sister’s cutting sarcasm.  She put her hand over her sister’s wrist, trying to be comforting.  “Chris, we’ll figure something out.”
    “Um, well.  Maybe I can help.”
    All of them turned to Bea, who started fidgeting with a cloth napkin on the table.  She brushed her fingers back through her short hair with a shrug.  “I mean it, Christina.  I could help.  I want to expand my flower shop business anyway.  I was looking for