The Inn at Holiday Bay: Trouble in the Theater

Book 29: The Inn at Holiday Bay

by Kathi Daley

Genres: Animal Cozy Mysteries; Culinary Cozy Mysteries

Synopsis

A heartwarming cozy mystery series about losing everything, taking a chance, and starting again.

After suffering a personal tragedy Abby Sullivan buys a huge old seaside mansion she has never even seen, packs up her life in San Francisco, and moves to Holiday Bay Maine, where she is adopted, quite against her will, by a huge Maine Coon Cat named Rufus, a drifter with her own tragic past named Georgia, and a giant dog with an inferiority complex named Ramos. What Abby thought she needed was alone time to heal. What she ended up with was, an inn she never knew she wanted, a cat she couldn't seem to convince to leave, and a new family she'd never be able to live without.

In book 29 in the series, Abby is starting to feel the weight of having too many irons in the fire after Lacy is asked to produce the annual Halloween pageant at the last minute and Abby finds herself offering to help. While Lacy really could use the help, Abby realizes that between helping Georgia settle on wedding plans, ensuring that Bailey has everything she needs to deliver a healthy baby which is due any day now, an inn full of leaf seekers, each with their own personal drama, and an untimely death in the community, she really is going to need every ounce of energy she can muster to keep her promise to Lacy as well as everyone else.

 

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Release date: September 17, 2024

Publisher: Kathi Daley Books

Print pages: 159

Sample

Chapter 1

“I need everyone to quiet down and pay attention to what I’m about to say,” my good friend,
Lacy Parker, yelled at the top of her lungs in an attempt to corral the sugared-up eight through
fourteen-year-olds who’d been selected for roles in this year’s Halloween play, Party at
Dracula’s Castle. When I’d decided to bring cupcakes to celebrate our first day of rehearsal with
the entire cast, Lacy insisted that cupcakes had no place in a setting such as this. She was right.
“We’re getting a late start today since the electrician was here when we arrived, and we had
to wait for her to finish up, but we have a lot to go over today, so I need to be sure everyone is
here.” She looked around. “What happened to Joey and Billy?”
“They were messing around in the back looking for secret treasure,” a girl with short blond
hair and expressive green eyes responded.
“I’ll get them,” I offered as Lacy gave me a nod and continued. Joey and Billy had been a
handful since I’d started working with them. They seemed more interested in pretending to find
secret treasure than in the rehearsal. But when they finally settled down and did what was
expected, I had to admit that they had that certain spark and natural energy that I was sure would
really draw in an audience.
I looked in the first room that opened into the hallway to find it empty. It looked as if the
electrician who had been here when Lacy and I had arrived had left some of her tools behind.
She had said that she’d be back after rehearsal wrapped up, so I just pulled the door closed
behind me and continued down the hallway. I took each room, one by one, until I made it to the
end of the dark passage.
“I need you guys to head back to the stage,” I said to Billy. I wasn’t surprised to find Billy in
this particular room. The space, which had a large roll-up garage-style door off the alley, was
used for loading and offloading props and other large objects. It currently contained a lot of
fascinating junk that provided good places to hide. “Where’s Joey?”

Billy nodded toward a short hallway leading to another small room at the very back of the
theater. The room, which had no windows and only a single door, appeared to contain random
pieces of discarded furniture and outdated appliances. I’d asked Lacy about the mishmash of
items stored in the room when we’d first met for rehearsal. She’d told me that the town had used
the theater to store discarded items when they’d remodeled the community center this past
summer, and for reasons unbeknownst to her, once the remodel was complete, the unused items
had been moved to the windowless room rather than being discarded.
“Joey, are you in here?” I called as I entered the dark and stuffy room.
I heard giggling but received no response. I looked at Billy, who had followed me. “Where is
he?”
Billy shrugged all innocent-like.
I groaned. “I swear the two of you are going to be the end of me.”
More giggling from both boys this time.
The windowless room was packed tightly with discarded items. Tables and chairs,
bookshelves, wall cabinets, and appliances from the old kitchen at the community center before
the new kitchen went in. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” I called out.
More giggling. This time, I realized that the door to the old refrigerator was opened just a
crack. Suppressing a curse, I headed toward it and opened it the rest of the way. “Didn’t your
mother ever tell you that hiding in a refrigerator is dangerous?”
“I needed a place to hide, and this one doesn’t lock.”
I supposed he had a point. “Is anyone else back here?”
He glanced toward the old box-style freezer.
I made my way through discarded furniture toward the old freezer. It was the sort that had a
lid on the top that didn’t lock, but it was heavy, which caused the freezer to be airtight, so it
seemed like a bad idea to hide in there.
“Isabelle,” I said to the playful little girl after she popped up and smiled at me.
“Mrs. Sullivan,” the girl smiled back.
“Climb out. Mrs. Parker needs everyone front and center.”
The girl climbed out from her hiding place, and then all three children followed me back to
the stage, where Lacy had everyone seated in a circle.
Lacy gave me a look of gratitude when we arrived, and then she continued with her spiel.
“Now that everyone is here, Mrs. Sullivan will pass out the updated scripts. Due to our tight
timeline, a few minor modifications have been made. There’s a new script for each of you, and I
expect you will have read it from beginning to end at least once by our next rehearsal on
Thursday. Are there any questions?”
A twelve-year-old with long red ringlets raised her hand.
“Do you have a question, Miranda?” Lacy asked.

“How come we’re only rehearsing two days a week? Shouldn’t we be rehearsing a lot more
often than two days a week?”
“We should be,” Lacy admitted. “And I’d planned to rehearse at least four days per week, but
the town secretary was killed in an auto accident this past summer, and apparently, the town
secretary was in charge of maintaining the calendar for the theater. After she was killed, the
woman who was hired to fill in dropped the ball, which resulted in the facility being triple
booked for the past month. Things are back on track now, but at this point, two afternoons a
week was all we were offered.”
“Two days a week isn’t enough for me to really get into my role as the town witch,” the
redhead complained. “My mom is afraid that a lack of rehearsal will result in a sloppy
performance, which could hurt my career.”
I had to smile at that. The redhead was a hard worker, and she seemed more focused than
most her age, but at this point, I wasn’t too worried about her career on the stage.
“I understand your concern,” Lacy replied to the redheaded girl’s complaint. “But I’ve been
working on getting additional afternoons for rehearsal. One of the two groups who have been
using the space along with us will have their final show this week, which will free up Mondays
and Wednesdays in addition to the Tuesdays and Thursdays already allotted to us. The magicians
have been scheduled to use the space Friday through Sunday for the past month, but this Sunday
is their last performance. We don’t open until the twenty-third, so while it isn’t ideal, I think we
can make do with four days a week. Are there any other questions?”
A boy named Teddy, who I seemed to remember was one of Matthew Parker’s best friends,
raised his hand. “I have a question. What’s with all the paint on the floor backstage? I got
something green all over my new basketball shoes, and my mom wasn’t happy.”
Lacy frowned. “Yeah. I noticed the green paint on the floor and the walls. I’m not sure what
that’s all about. I’m sorry about your shoes, but the paint seems to wash right off with water. Tell
your mom that I plan to speak to the woman who took over the management of the building after
the man who had been doing it retired.”
Lacy looked at me and nodded. I knew this was my cue to begin handing out the scripts, so I
picked up the pile Lacy had printed and handed the first one to Annabelle Cole. Annabelle lived
in the carriage house at the inn I owned with her Uncle Jeremy, Aunt Mylie, and new baby
cousin, Danny.
“Thanks, Abby,” Annabelle said as I handed her the small booklet that was stapled together.
“I’ll read this through tonight.”
“Congratulations on getting the part as Dracula’s wife,” I said, smiling at the young girl I
simply adored.
She blushed as she glanced at Michael Parker, one of Lacy’s three sons. “I don’t have many
lines, but it’ll be fun to work with Michael, who, as you know, has a lot of lines.”
I’d noticed a few months back that Annabelle had developed a crush on Michael. Michael
was a good kid, but he was still a kid, and I wasn’t sure he was ready for a friendship of the
romantic sort. I just hoped that Annabelle, who, in my opinion, was much too young to be
mooning after some guy, didn’t end up getting hurt. Annabelle maintained friendships with all

six of Lonnie and Lacy Parker’s children, and I’d hate to see anything jeopardize those
friendships.
I moved to the next cast member in line, handed her a script, and then kept moving. When I
got to my boyfriend, Colt Wilder’s niece, Mackenzie Hudson, I paused to ask her about her day
before handing her the script.
“It was fine. Zinnia was late again, and Mrs. Bengal was mad, so she made the whole class
miss first recess, but other than that, it was a good day.”
“She made the whole class miss recess because one student was late?” I asked. That didn’t
seem right to me.
Mackey nodded. “I talked to Grandma about it, and she told me that the teacher was probably
trying to use peer pressure to get Zinnia to arrive on time, but I doubt it will work. Zinnia is late
because her mom is unorganized. Uncle Colt said so.”
I wasn’t sure that Colt should be discussing the shortcomings of the parents of his niece’s
friends with his niece, but based on what I knew about Zinnia’s mother, he wasn’t wrong.
I handed Mackey the script. “I’m planning to attend Tyler’s football practice tomorrow
evening and then have dinner with the family if you want to look at this together.”
“My grandma and grandpa will be there, so I’ll work on this with them.”
“Okay,” I said, trying not to be hurt by the snub. I knew that Colt’s parents had been staying
with Colt after deciding to move to Holiday Bay once Colt decided to have the kids move in with
him full-time. While I understood the reasons behind his decision and fully supported his
determination to take over guardianship as his sister had wanted, I had to admit to feeling a bit
like a yellow jelly bean in a bag of green when the entire Wilder family got together.
Moving to the next girl in line, I paused to say a word or two to her and then a word or two to
each child as I continued on. The boys were much less interested in chatting, but at least they
were cordial. The last time I’d tried to speak to Colt’s nephew, Tyler, he wouldn’t even look me
in the eye. I’d tried not to let my feelings be hurt, but I’d honestly been stewing on it ever since. I
wasn’t really sure what had happened to cause Colt’s niece and nephew to begin to give me a
cold shoulder. Apparently, I must have said or done something that had caused a tear in the fabric
of the friendship I’d begun to develop with the children who would be playing an integral role in
Colt’s life.
Once Lacy had completed her spiel, she reminded everyone to read over the script and be
ready to start a full cast rehearsal on Thursday, and then she released them to leave. Colt’s
mother was picking Mackey up today, so I simply waved to the young girl when she left.
“Still getting the cold shoulder?” Lacy asked.
“I am, and I really have no idea why. Initially, I feel as if I was getting along with Mackey
and Tyler just fine, but now they’re polite but aloof when I try to talk to either of them.”
Lacy began returning the chairs she’d moved into a circle to their usual location. “When
would you say the cold shoulder treatment began?”

I set the extra scripts I still held down and began helping Lacy move the chairs. “Maybe a
month ago, I guess. Things were fine over the summer, and then school started, and hello, cold
shoulder.”
Lacy stopped what she was doing and looked directly at me. “Do you think it was starting
school that led to the change in your relationship or something else that just happened to have
occurred at the same time as the start of school?”
“Do you think the cold shoulder treatment has to do with Colt’s parents moving in with
Colt?”
“I think the cold shoulder treatment probably relates to Colt’s mother and her plan to
permanently move to Holiday Bay. I think his father is fine with you.”
I couldn’t suppress my frown. “You don’t think Colt’s mother is okay with me?”
Lacy turned to pick up another chair and then moved it across the room. “I think Colt’s
mother is adjusting to the idea that she’s the backup caregiver rather than the primary caregiver.
She has had physical custody of those kids since their parents died, and I suspect that she’s
having a hard time letting go even if Colt’s sister did leave guardianship of her children to her
brother.”
“I can understand that Colt’s mother is likely feeling out of sorts, but what does that have to
do with me?”
Lacy laughed. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but you, my friend, have become the other
woman in the eyes of Colt’s mother.”
Lacy was right. I was the other woman. Until I came along and upset the apple cart, Colt’s
mother was used to being the primary female in the lives of her son and grandchildren. It wasn’t
a problem when Colt and his parents lived in different towns. I never went with Colt when he
visited with his family, so it hadn’t been necessary for him to consider my needs when making
plans for dinner or evenings out. But now that Colt’s parents were living in our territory, I could
almost picture a situation where Colt’s response to an invitation from his mother to do something
specific might have resulted in a comment about needing to check with Abby. I guessed I could
see how that might not go over well.
“I guess I might need to talk to Colt about this. Or maybe I should go directly to his mother. I
understand the psychology that might motivate this woman to desire to drive a wedge between
her grandchildren and her son’s girlfriend, but I don’t want tension in our relationship. I already
feel that Colt and I can expect to experience an uphill battle maintaining what we have with all
the changes.”
“I agree with that, but I would advise you to carefully consider all your options before you
act. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that while doing nothing might not be the
most productive approach, a wrong move can create fractures in a relationship that aren’t easy to
mend.”
I knew Lacy was right. The situation I currently found myself in was particularly volatile,
and if I didn’t want to make things worse, I needed to be deliberate in my actions. After selling
their home, Colt’s parents temporarily moved in with Colt while they looked for their own place.
The changes to everyone’s routine had been extensive, and I had sensed tension between the
senior Wilders. Colt’s dad seemed ready and willing to turn over the role of custodial guardian to

his son. He’d been bearing the weight of raising his daughter’s children for many years, and it
seemed apparent that he was ready to retire and add some fun to his life. Colt’s mother, however,
approached things from a different angle. She’d been a mother to these children since her
daughter was killed in an auto accident when they were very young. Until now, she’d raised them
as she’d seen fit without input or interference from anyone, and it seemed clear to me that
replacing the mom role with that of a full-time grandmother wasn’t a move she was ready to
make. Since I was actively filling the role as Colt’s partner, I supposed it made sense that she
might see me as a threat to her role as mother to Mackey and Tyler.
“This whole thing is giving me a headache,” I said as Lacy and I finished moving the chairs.
“When I get home, I might need to take a long walk followed by a tall glass of wine.”
“If you need to vent, you can call me. I’d volunteer to take you out for a drink, but I’m on
dinner duty since Lonnie’s working late this evening.”
I looked around. “If Lonnie didn’t pick the kids up, where did they go?”
“Timmy Goldberg’s mother volunteered to take all the kids out for ice cream and then drop
them off at the house. While I wasn’t initially thrilled about her plan to spring for an ice cream
treat so close to dinner, since the boys helped rake up the leaves in her yard, and she put the girls
to work dusting the furniture, she wanted to buy them ice cream as a payment of sorts. She said
all the kids did an exceptional job, and I decided to encourage that and let her sugar them up
even more than they already are.”
“And Maddie?” I asked about her youngest daughter, who wasn’t a cast member in the play.
“She’s at a friend’s house. I need to pick her up on my way home, so I guess I should get
going. But as I said, call me if you need to.”
“I will, and thanks. I guess I’ll see you on Thursday.” I turned to leave and then turned back.
“I meant to remind you that I’ll need to leave rehearsal early since Bailey and I have our birthing
class on Thursday.”
“I remembered. You must be about done with the classes.”
“We are. In fact, this Thursday is the last official class, but Brynn wants to continue to meet
with Bailey and me until the baby is born.”
Bailey was the pregnant teenager living with me who planned to have a home birth using the
second bedroom in my cottage as her birthing space. Brynn Paloma was a midwife who planned
to assist with the delivery.
“The baby is due in two to three weeks,” I continued, “although I’m not sure an exact date
was ever settled on. The last time I spoke to Doctor Chan, she felt it would be sooner rather than
later, but she also said that since babies tended to come on their own timeline, trying to figure it
out is futile.”
“Is Bailey getting nervous?” Lacy asked as we gathered our belongings to walk out to our
vehicles.
“She says she isn’t, but I suspect she is. I still don’t know what she plans to do after the baby
is born, which makes me nervous.”
“She still hasn’t shared the rest of her story with you?”

“Not yet. At least not all of it. I guess Bailey has been slowly filling in the blanks, but there’s
still so much I want and need to know.”
“Just be patient,” Lacy said. “Bailey wants to confide in you; she just needs some time to
work up to it.”
“I hope you’re right.”
I hugged Lacy goodbye and then climbed into my SUV. The subject of Bailey, her mysterious
past, and her uncertain future had been one that had occupied my mind for months now. When I
first met Bailey, she was looking for someone willing to commit to adopting her unborn child.
I’d been determined to convince Bailey that keeping her baby and raising her with my help and
the help of the other inn residents was a much better option. Sometimes, I was sure I’d convinced
her of this strategy, while other times, I was sure she was simply waiting for the baby to be born
so she could run again.
“You’re back,” my best friend and business partner, Georgia Carter, greeted me when I
walked into the cottage where I now lived with Bailey. “How was rehearsal?” she asked as I bent
down to pet my dog, Molly, who’d wandered over to say hi when I walked in the door.
“It was okay,” I said as Georgia’s dog, Ramos, rose to greet me. “I understand why Lacy
decided to simplify the script since it’s only a little over two weeks to opening day, and most of
the kids haven’t even had their first rehearsal yet, but it also seemed to confuse the kids with
major parts who have already been practicing. Where’s Rufus?” I asked about my big orange cat.
“Sleeping on your bed.”
“And Bailey?”
“She’s in the kitchen with Haven. They’re going to handle dinner, and then they plan to
watch a new TV series premiering tonight. Both girls are excited about the new series, so they
planned to pop some corn and watch it together.” Georgia had been sitting on the sofa looking
through a bridal magazine when I walked in. She set it aside and patted the sofa cushion next to
her. “Do you have a minute to chat?”
“For you, always. Just let me put my stuff away and grab a glass of wine. Would you like
one?”
“I would.”
I poured two glasses of wine, handed one to Georgia, and sat beside her on the sofa. “So
what’s up?” I wasn’t too worried when she initially asked to chat. Even though Georgia had
moved in with her fiancé, Tanner Peyton, she preferred to discuss general life situations with me
as we had for the past six years. But then I noticed the tension around her eyes, and my casual
interest turned to concern.
“You know how Tanner and I wanted to get married the second weekend in November, but
then Brad decided that he wanted me to host the cookoff that weekend, so Tanner and I decided
to wait and do something after the holidays?” She referred to Brad Kingman, her boss and the
owner of the television station that produced and aired Cooking with Georgia.
“Yeah. I remember.”

“Well, apparently, Tanner had a weird dream that sort of spun him out, and now he wants us
to get married right away even if we won’t have time to do things right.”
“Dream?” I asked. “What sort of dream?”
Georgia shrugged. “I don’t know. He won’t share the specifics, but he seems insistent on
getting married as soon as possible, so I suspect the dream was about me changing my mind
again or some such thing. Of course, I would never do that, but we both know I have changed my
mind a lot in the past, so I suppose if the thought of me changing my mind is lurking around in
the back of his mind, it wouldn’t be unreasonable.”
“It wouldn’t be,” I agreed. “But you don’t know for certain that is even what’s going on.”
“I don’t. But I do know that whatever the reason, Tanner seems insistent about the idea of
getting married sooner rather than later, so I decided to simply go with it.”
“Okay, so when will the big event be held?”
“With the birth of Bailey’s daughter just a few weeks away and all the holiday hoopla that
comes with Halloween, Tanner and I decided to do it the first Saturday in November.”
“November second?”
She nodded. “I know it’s close to Halloween, and we’re fully booked that weekend. I told
Tanner that I had specific cooking obligations that weekend and that my being away might not be
feasible. When I suggested we wait as we were originally going to, he had this look on his face
that had me reconsidering.”
“Of course, your wedding is more important than any event we might have scheduled here at
the inn, but are you sure you want to get married under this set of circumstances? To this point,
Tanner has been really relaxed about the wedding date and plans. For him to become almost
desperate due to a dream makes me wonder if he has some unresolved issues he needs to address.
If so, it would be best for them to be worked out before you walk down the aisle.”
“Yeah.” Georgia sighed. “I know you’re right. If Tanner has emotional scars that led to the
dream, I suppose I understand that. As I’ve previously mentioned, I have flip-flopped several
times regarding our relationship and my commitment to it over the past few years.”
“That’s true, but as your friend, I would encourage you to sit down and really talk to him
before the wedding.”
She nodded. “I will. But assuming that all of that works out, given the fact the group who
booked the entire inn is expecting a formally catered meal by none other than the chef from the
soon-to-be franchised show Cooking with Georgia, do you have any idea how to make
November second work?”
The group had been pretty specific about the meal on Saturday when they’d made the
reservation. I wasn’t sure it would work for them if I simply inserted a substitute chef. “Maybe a
morning wedding with a brunch reception and a delayed honeymoon.”
Georgia smiled. “Of course. Why didn’t I think of that? I’ll talk to Tanner about all this
tonight and let you know what we decide to do.” Georgia stood up. “Thanks, Abby. I knew that
you’d be the one to help me figure this out.” She hugged me. “And I knew you’d be the one to be
direct about your concern about Tanner, the dream, and the underlying situation. That’s why best

friends are so important. They tell you what you need to hear even if what they share isn’t
something you’d choose to hear.”
After Georgia left, I picked up my cell phone and just stared at it. On the drive home from
rehearsal, I’d seriously considered calling Colt and talking to him about the situation with the
kids that seemed to have developed in the past few weeks, but then I remembered Lacy’s advice
to move with extreme caution. Setting my cell phone back down, I decided I’d enjoy checking in
with Haven and Bailey. No matter how many challenges life threw at me, spending time with the
two young women who had become daughters seemed to make everything right in my world
again.
“Oh good, you’re back,” Haven said after I walked into the inn through the back door that
opened to the back of the property. Haven’s dog, Baxter, wandered over to say hi while Haven
continued to stir something in a pot. “I got into the class!”
“The psychology class that was already full when you tried to sign up?” I confirmed.
She nodded, her long ponytail swaying behind her as she bobbed her head. “There was a
single withdrawal when a student had to move due to a family issue, and the teacher specifically
chose me from the waitlist. I’m not sure that was fair since the waitlist was long and I was
nowhere near the top, but he said that he was impressed by my passion and take-charge attitude.
He said that after just a few minutes of chatting with me, he knew I’d be perfect for the class, so
he bumped me to the top of the list.”
“I’m really proud of you,” I said. “You saw something you wanted and then went out and got
it.”
She grinned back at me. “I did do that, didn’t I?”
“You aren’t going to start psychoanalyzing everything everyone says, are you?” Bailey
teased.
Haven shrugged. “I might. I mean, trying to fix everyone around you is part of the process.”
Bailey just rolled her eyes.
Haven continued. “I know we didn’t include tuition for that class when I registered since it
was already full, but I need to pay it by tomorrow.”
“I’ll pay it online,” I promised.
Most of the time, Haven paid her own expenses with her wages. College and books, however,
were expensive. I didn’t want her to be hindered because of a lack of funds, so I offered her the
Abby Sullivan all-expenses-paid scholarship. I’d happily provide the same thing for Bailey if she
stayed around after the baby was born, as I hoped she would. I suspected, however, that her
education was advanced enough that the local community college wouldn’t have anything to
offer her. Maybe online classes from a major university would be a better fit.
“I’m going to help Haven with dinner and then watch a new TV series in her apartment,”
Bailey informed me, not realizing that Georgia had already told me as much. “I guess I’ll
probably come home after that. Are you going to Colt’s this evening or staying in?”
“Staying in. I have a few things to sort out, and I want to email my agent about the book I
haven’t even started but still plan to get to at some point. By the time I finally manage to write

the dang thing, I’m sure all my readers will have forgotten who I am, but I’d still like to put this
particular story out there.”
“Your writing is exceptional,” Bailey said. “I’m sure your readers will be thrilled to have a
new Abagail Sullivan to devour.”
“I hope so. I thought it would be a good project to work on during the writers’ retreat Lou
Prescott and I are hosting in January.”
“I think that would be the perfect time to get started,” Bailey agreed.
The subject changed yet again, and I listened to the conversation between Haven and Bailey
for a while, but just talking about the book I’d been slowly outlining had boosted my
determination to follow through with it. After a bit, I excused myself and headed back to the
cottage. There had been a lot of changes in my life as of late, and the last thing I needed was
another change to add to the ever-growing list, but I felt that a return to my writing wasn’t so
much a change as it was a homecoming. ...