Framed by Friends: A Senoia Cozy Mystery Read online

  Framed by Friends

  A Senoia Cozy Mystery

  Susan Harper

  Fairfield Publishing

  Contents

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Thank You!

  Copyright © 2017 Fairfield Publishing

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Except for review quotes, this book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the author.

  This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is purely coincidental.

  Chapter 1

  Underground Senoia was a little-known treasure on Main Street. Felicity Overton felt like she was always telling tourists and even locals about the little door beside the corner gift shop that led down to a new array of shops, which included a tattoo parlor, hair salon, various other commodities, and of course, the wedding dress shop.

  Felicity sat with her friends Autumn and Veronica along with a new acquaintance, Whitney, waiting for Dawn to emerge from the changing room. “Oh, hurry up, you’re killing us!” Veronica said as she poured herself a glass of champagne. This was the first girl’s outing where all of Dawn’s bridesmaids were present. Felicity was close friends with Autumn and Veronica; Autumn she had known since high school, while Veronica and Dawn she had met through Autumn as they had taken some of the same medical classes several years back.

  “It’s not like trying on a pair of jeans, okay? Give me a minute!” Dawn exclaimed from the other side of the door.

  Felicity laughed and then turned to Whitney, the only woman of the group she didn’t know all that well. “So, Whitney, I don’t believe I know how it is you know Dawn,” she said.

  Whitney smiled, but she was not given a chance to answer before Veronica threw her arm over the woman’s shoulder, practically pulling her into her seat. “Oh, darling, the three of us go way back!” Veronica exclaimed. “We met in high school. Whitney was this adorable little underclassmen that we seniors took under our wing.”

  Felicity laughed. “Veronica, how many glasses of champagne have you had?”

  “Enough,” Whitney responded and took the bottle. She laughed at Veronica as well, rolling her eyes slightly. “Yeah, I suppose that’s true. I had just changed school districts going into my junior year of high school. I stayed in touch with my friends from my old school in the next county over, but it wasn’t the same as seeing your buddies every day. Veronica and Dawn noticed me sitting by myself at lunch all the time, and they just sort of adopted me into their group of friends.”

  “That’s so sweet. I thought you seemed familiar; I think you must have attended my high school before transferring,” Felicity said. “So what do you do, Whitney?”

  “Nothing interesting,” she moaned. “I’m a pharmaceutical sales rep. It’s really boring, but lucky for me, half of my friends went into the medical field, so I was able to use them to my advantage early on in my career.”

  “Okay, ladies!” Dawn exclaimed and stepped out of the dressing room.

  “Boo!” Veronica cried. “Oh, God, just take it off! You look like a marshmallow!”

  Felicity snickered. She really did look goofy in the dress she had chosen.

  “Is it that bad?” Dawn asked and looked at herself in the mirror. “Oh… Oh, no. That’s not going to work.”

  The saleswoman laughed. “Okay, so no to the Cinderella look, then?”

  “A definite no,” Dawn said, and the saleswoman stepped back into the dressing room to help Dawn out of the dress and into another.

  Felicity spotted a ring on Whitney’s finger. She smiled, trying her best to get to know the one bridesmaid she did not know. “Are you married, Whitney?”

  She smiled. “Yes. Married my high school sweetheart kind of thing.”

  “She was with Nick forever,” Veronica said. “Even before she changed school districts. They kept dating. Didn’t he ask you to marry him at your graduation?”

  “Yeah,” Whitney said. “We got married straight out of high school.”

  “That’s so adorable,” Felicity said, though truthfully, she could not imagine it. Probably because my high school sweetheart was Jack, she thought and shook her head. She and Jack were friends now, but their relationship had ended catastrophically.

  “I think so,” Whitney said.

  “What does he do?” Felicity asked.

  “He’s in the Navy. He’s actually deployed right now, but he’ll be home in about a week. I want to throw him a coming home party; I feel like I haven’t seen him in forever. I’m just really awful when it comes to hosting, to tell you the truth,” Whitney said.

  “Well, Whitney,” Veronica sang. “You know that Felicity is an event planner, right?”

  “Really?” Whitney perked up.

  “Yeah. Overton’s Events is my business,” Felicity said. “We do all sorts of parties.”

  “I’ve seen your shop! It’s so cute!” Whitney exclaimed. “You know what? I think I just might hire you. Would you be able to do something so last minute?”

  “Absolutely!” Felicity said, and soon the two of them were diving into a conversation about what all Whitney would like to do for her husband’s coming home party.

  Dawn stepped out of the dressing room, wearing the second dress in the lineup. “Oh, definitely not!” Dawn said as soon as she saw herself in the mirror, not even giving the rest of them a chance to give an opinion. They all laughed.

  “I’m just so excited for you and Monte!” Whitney called to Dawn. “He is such a good guy!”

  “Am I just crazy?” Dawn asked from the dressing room. “I mean, here we are diving into a marriage, planning a wedding, while I’m going to school at night to go into a career where I’ll be starting out at nearly half of what I make now, working the day shift at the hospital, all while Monte is slowly phasing out at the hospital too in order to become a DJ. I mean, we’re going to be so broke—and newly married!”

  “Broke and in love!” Veronica sang. “Better than where I’m at. I think I’m going to be forever single.”

  “I cannot physically imagine you in a relationship, Veronica,” Autumn said.

  “Ha ha, very funny,” Veronica huffed. “You’re single too!”

  “True,” Autumn moaned. “Looks like the next one to get married is going to be Felicity.”

  “Whoa, slow down there, Autumn,” Felicity said.

  “You’re the only girl in our group who’s in a stable relationship,” Autumn said.

  “And Brian is hot!” Veronica shrieked. “And totally loaded. I mean, he’s starting up his own law firm in Atlanta, right?”

  “That’s the plan,” Felicity said, and a part of her smiled to think of herself marrying Brian. “It’s just a little early to be thinking that way,” she insisted.

  Dawn exited the dressing room, and Felicity saw the woman’s eyes light up to see herself in the mirror this time. Veronica let loose a loud, girly squeal of excitement. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yea-us!” Veronica jumped up and gave Dawn a tight embrace. “You look gorgeous!”

  “Oh, this is definitely the dress!” Dawn said.

  “Are you sure?” the saleswoman questioned. “This is only the third dress you’ve tried on.”

  “I know what I like,” Dawn insisted and doubled-checked the price on
the dress. “Yes, that is something I can live with!”

  “Okay, great,” the saleswoman said. “Let’s get you scheduled for a fitting then.”

  The five women left the shop, heading out into the streets of Senoia. “Okay, I don’t know about you ladies, but I took the entire afternoon off for dress shopping. Who finds their dream dress that quickly?” Veronica moaned. “What am I supposed to do with the rest of my day? I was expecting us to go to ten different shops today!”

  “Well,” Dawn said with a grin. “We could go shopping for bridesmaid dresses?”

  “Yes!” Autumn exclaimed.

  The women headed out of town to a local shop in Fayetteville that was known to have a good selection. Each woman headed to a different area of the shop, snagging a bridesmaid dress to try on and model for Dawn. Dawn intended to have all her bridesmaids dress in identical or at least similar dresses, so it became a sort of game for the women to try to win Dawn over on their dress selections.

  Whitney and Felicity came out of the dressing rooms at the same time. Felicity had picked a fairly modest dress. It was cool and not too thick, seeing as how Dawn was planning an outdoor wedding in June. So while the dress was floor length, it was breathable. Whitney’s dress was a little less conservative, showing off some leg but not too much to where it looked like she was a high schooler in a homecoming dress. “Wow,” Dawn said. “Two very different styles, but I like them both!”

  “Do a turn for her, Felicity,” Whitney teased, spinning around herself. Felicity smiled, admiring the dress Whitney had picked out. She noticed that while the woman was spinning around that there was a rather gruesome looking scar on her right leg just above her right ankle. It looked like a serious puncture wound, but it was certainly old. A part of her wanted to ask about the scar, because it was so unusual looking, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. For all she knew, it was something quite personal.

  Felicity did a turn for Dawn as well. “I think I’m leaning toward Felicity’s choice,” Dawn said, but then Autumn exited in something quite stunning. It was a soft pink dress that went down just past her knees, flowing beautifully. It fit snug up top, but flowed a bit more down below. “Oh, wow!” Dawn exclaimed. “I totally love this one!”

  “You haven’t seen mine yet!” Veronica called from the dressing room.

  “Well, hurry up!” Dawn called back. She pulled out her phone. “Oh, geez,” she said. “Looks like Monte is bringing the guys by.”

  “They all went to get their tuxes fit today with my tailor, right?” Felicity asked.

  Dawn nodded. “Yeah. I sure am glad we booked our wedding through Overton’s Events. You have saved us a ton of money with all of your connections.”

  “Happy to do it,” Felicity said. She then turned toward the dressing room. “Veronica, what’s taking you so long?”

  “There are a lot of straps!” she called back.

  Felicity chuckled, trying to imagine what dress Veronica had picked out. A few seconds later, Veronica emerged in something Felicity would never be caught dead wearing. The dress was completely backless apart from some thin straps making x’s across her back. It showed a frightening amount of cleavage, and was painfully short. “No!” Dawn, Felicity, Autumn, and Whitney all shouted in unison.

  “You guys are no fun,” Veronica moaned and checked herself out in the mirror. “I think I just might wear this to the New Year’s Eve party.”

  “New Year’s Eve party?” Whitney asked

  “Yeah,” Autumn said. “Our little group gets together at someone’s house every year—avoid the crowds. We do a cookout. It’s kind of become a tradition. And it’s more of a t-shirt and jeans kind of attire, Veronica. Since when are we ever that fancy?”

  “Who all goes?” Whitney asked.

  “Let’s see…me, Veronica, Felicity, Jefferson, Monte, and Dawn. And I’m sure Jack will be coming this year too,” Autumn said. “You’re welcome to tag along this year, Whitney.”

  “I’ll be bringing Brian this year,” Felicity said somewhat giddily.

  “Yay! Tell him to wear one of his sexy suits!” Veronica teased. She did a spin in front of the mirror, admiring the gaudy dress.

  “Dang, who invited the floozy?” Monte’s voice squeaked from behind the seating area where the women were all seated.

  Dawn jumped up excitedly and greeted her husband-to-be. With him were his collection of groomsmen: Felicity’s assistant Jefferson, her ex-boyfriend turned friend Jack Hudson, Monte’s brother Theodore—or rather Theo for short—and Monte’s closest cousin Nathaniel. “Ha, ha, very funny, Monte. It’s not my fault none of you have any taste,” Veronica snipped.

  “Ignore her,” Dawn said. “Well, this is fun! This is the first time we’ve had the entire bridal party in one room. We should all grab an early dinner or something after this.”

  Felicity smiled, but she noticed Jefferson had a peculiar look about him. He was gazing past her directly at Whitney. “Everything all right?” Felicity asked, taking a step toward Jefferson.

  “Whitney Lull?” Jefferson questioned, and Whitney looked up.

  Whitney seemed to study his face for a moment, but then her eyes shot open. “Lull was my maiden name…oh, wow, Jefferson!” she exclaimed.

  “You two know each other?” Dawn asked.

  Jefferson’s face flushed, as did Whitney’s. “We dated back in high school,” Whitney said. “Before I met Nick.”

  “Ha!” Monte said. “Small world.”

  “Well, this is uncomfortable,” Jack mumbled, and Felicity nudged him in the side.

  “Oh, no, no worries,” Jefferson said and smiled at the future bride and groom. “Whitney and I are cool. No need to freak out.”

  “Half of our bridal party is each other’s exes,” Dawn mumbled. “We’re just asking for trouble on our wedding day, aren’t we?”

  Felicity frowned when Jack nudged her playfully.

  “So…you must have dated Jefferson before moving?” Veronica asked. “Too funny that Dawn and I wound up friends with your ex and we didn’t even know it!”

  “Yeah…hilarious…” Whitney said, eyeing Jefferson. Felicity felt as though she was silently warning Jefferson not to bring up anything embarrassing.

  “How long did you two date?” Jack asked, always ready to embarrass Jefferson, despite their newfound friendship.

  “Eighth and ninth grade,” Whitney said. “We were really just kids whose parents dropped them off at the movie theater on the weekend back in those days.”

  “Yeah,” Jefferson grumbled. He then put on a smile for Dawn and Monte. “But, hey, everything’s cool. We’re good, right, Whitney?”

  “Of course,” she said and then smiled. “It’s actually really nice to see you. How do you know Monte?”

  “Met him through Felicity,” Jefferson said. “I’m her assistant.”

  “Oh! Well that’s just…that’s just great,” Whitney said. “So I guess you’ll be helping with my husband’s coming home party…that’s great. Really great.”

  Her insistence on how wonderful it was that Jefferson would be helping led Felicity to suspect that it was not. As they continued trying on dresses—now with an audience apart from Dawn—Felicity managed to pull Whitney aside for a moment. “I’d understand if working with Jefferson and I would be uncomfortable now. You don’t need to feel obligated to hire us just because we talked about it earlier,” Felicity said.

  Whitney smiled while getting Felicity to zip up the back of her dress for her. “No, it’s all right. I think I just wasn’t expecting to see him. I haven’t seen him since we broke up when we were kids. I hardly recognized him! Jefferson and I are just fine. So long as he is comfortable with it, so am I.”

  “Okay, good,” Felicity said. “Because I was really looking forward to throwing your husband this party.”

  Whitney grinned. “Me too, Felicity. And thank you.”

  Chapter 2

  One Week Later…

  Felicity snuck out
of the bedroom, tiptoeing into the kitchen and closing the bedroom door behind her. There was a smile on her face to be waking up in Brian’s Senoia home. She took a moment to look around, admiring the fine wooden floors, the elegant crown molding, and of course his designer kitchen. She laughed quietly to herself, taking note that Brian only had the bare essentials. There were no pictures or décor whatsoever anywhere in the house.

  This place could use a woman’s touch, she thought. She headed for the kitchen and began snooping around the cabinets in search of a cooking utensil. She then spied around inside his fridge, locating some eggs. “Well,” she said under her breath. “I guess we’re just going to do scrambled eggs for breakfast. At least he has a stocked fridge.”

  Hmm…ham, cheese…oh, yeah, I’m totally doing omelets. As she started pulling out cooking utensils and ingredients, she took some time to make a few phone calls. Today was the day of Whitney’s husband’s coming home party. It was a very low-key party, but it was nice to get an extra booking right before the Christmas holiday. The weather was doing its typical Georgia thing, summer in the middle of winter, so they had decided to do the party outside. The random heat wave was suited to a cookout.

  She called her vendors to make sure everything had been delivered to the shop, double-checked on anything that was going to be dropped off on location, and finally called Jefferson to check that they were in fact meeting at Overton’s Events and that he had remembered to pick up the cake from the caterer. Once she was certain that everything was in order, she got to work on breakfast. She smiled, noticing a small radio sitting on his kitchen island.

  Felicity turned up the music and got to work on the omelets, and even decided to fry some bacon while she was at it. Soon the entire kitchen was entrapped in a fabulous scent, and Brian emerged from the bedroom. She blushed slightly to see him exiting in nothing but a pair of sweatpants. Brian was certainly a well-built specimen of the Lord Almighty.