Aunt Bessie Invites (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 9) Read Online Free PDF Page A

couldn’t wait to get away from it here.”
    “Do you see him often?”
    “Farmers are too busy to go visiting.   We send cards at Christmas and for
birthdays.   He’s been suggesting
that he and his wife might visit for years, but we haven’t seen them yet.”
    “What’s his wife like?” Bessie wondered.
    “I’ve never met her.   Eoin went across for the wedding.   That was, oh, thirty-odd years ago.   He said, at the time, that she was a
pretty little thing, but not very bright.   I gather she had a small inheritance and that was what they used to buy
their farm.”
    “Do they have children?” Doona asked.
    Bessie smiled to herself.   Doona was still strangely worried about
who might inherit the farm, it seemed.
    “Aye, they had five, but lost one
young.   The other four are all over
the world now.   Only the oldest boy,
Ned, he’s called, is at all interested in farming.   I hear he runs the place for Nicholas
now, at least that’s what Nick says in the letters.”
    “So he and his wife should be able to
visit,” Bessie said.
    “I suppose,” Fenella shrugged.   “That’s between Eoin and Nick, that is.”
    The conversation was interrupted by the
arrival of a police car.   Bessie
smiled as Hugh Watterson emerged from behind the wheel.
    “Good afternoon,” he greeted the trio of
women.
    Bessie got up and gave the man a hug.   He flushed but returned the affectionate
gesture.
    “I do believe you’re taller again,” she told
him as she sat back down.   He was
still blushing as she looked him up and down. Now in
his mid-twenties, Hugh should have stopped growing, and Bessie supposed it was
just because he was somewhere over six feet tall and towered over her that made
her think he hadn’t. The fact that he looked no more than fifteen, at least in
Bessie’s opinion, may have also been a factor.   His brown hair looked as if it had been
recently cut and Bessie noted that it was styled differently to Hugh’s normal,
slightly untidy look.   Sunglasses
hid his brown eyes, but now he slid them off and looked towards the barn.
    “John said you found a body,” he said.   “I gather it’s in there?”
    “Yes, in the very back corner.”
    Hugh nodded.   “I’ll just take a quick look while we
wait for the inspector,” he said.  
    Bessie and the others were silent while Hugh
was gone.   He returned in less than
a minute.
    “We’re going to have get a crime scene team
here,” he said.   “There’s an awful
lot of stuff to move out of there, as well.”
    “I can have an empty lorry brought down,”
Fenella offered.   “We can load
everything into it and move it to another barn.”
    “That sounds like a good idea,” Hugh
said.   “Not that we’ll move anything
before the inspector arrives, but at least we can be ready.”
    Fenella nodded and then rose to her
feet.   She pulled her mobile out of
her pocket and walked a few steps away from the others.
    “How’s Grace?” Bessie had to ask Hugh while
Fenella was occupied.   Hugh had been
going out with Grace Christian, a pretty blonde primary schoolteacher, for
several months now.
    Hugh blushed and looked at the ground.   “She’s good,” he said after a minute.
    “Still thinking about proposing at
Christmas?” Bessie asked.
    Hugh nodded.   “I’m saving up for a ring,” he told her.   “I want everything to be just
right.   I thought maybe I’d ask
after I go with her family to midnight mass.   Or I might wait until all the presents
are opened and then tell her that I have one more thing for her and give her
the ring.   Or maybe I’ll wait until
Christmas night, after dinner when everyone is just relaxing and enjoying
themselves.”
    Bessie shook her head.   “Just don’t wait for Boxing Day,” she
said, a little sharply.   “The
occasion doesn’t matter nearly as much as the question, anyway, remember.”
    “I know,” Hugh nodded.   “But I want it to be special for
her.   I’m hoping I’m