Innvitation To Murder: Aspen Valley Inn Series, #3

By Sara Robbins

The Aspen Valley Inn Series are light mysteries with a touch of romance set in a charming Colorado Bed & Breakfast.

Innvitation To Murder Book #3

Lacey and her sister Charlotte, are ready to open Enchanted Events. The new events center is the perfect addition to the Inn. Their first event, a small family wedding goes terribly wrong when they discover a murdered girl. They try to solve the crime and still take care of all of the wedding details. Lacey's boyfriend, Wyatt tries to keep them out of the investigation. Lacey loves Wyatt but she is not about to stay out of anything as interesting as a murder.

This  book is a novella of approximately 29,000 words.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Plan C Publishing
• Release date: Jul 31, 2013
• ISBN: 9781497773875

Book preview

INNVITATION

TO MURDER

SARA ROBBINS

Chapter 1

Lacey stood in the middle of the Columbine Salon. She was very pleased. The renovation of the century old barn on the property of the Aspen Valley Inn was almost complete and it was exactly as she had dreamed it would be. This marvelous building would be the headquarters for her newest business venture, Enchanted Events. The building housed multiple event spaces with various capacities and levels of style and charm.

Lacey and her younger sister, Charlotte had worked very closely with the architect, Tanner Reed and the construction crew to not only preserve the dignity of the old barn but to add modern and sophisticated elements that had transformed the structure into a venue that would satisfy every need that the market could expect.

The building was beautiful and everywhere her eyes wandered, she found small touches that made it so special. They had reused everything they could from the old structure. Weathered barn siding had been sanded and scraped to serve as a glossy dance floor here in the main salon. They had even repurposed old hardware as art displays in some of the more rustic spaces. The smaller Molly Kathleen Suite had a row of coat hooks that was comprised of all of the old refurbished door- knobs they had taken from the barn stalls and tack rooms.

There were only a few tasks left to complete and Enchanted Events would be open for business. They had barely made the deadline they had set last fall. It was a good thing because they had scheduled the first event, a wedding, in exactly ten days. Everything would be ready for this event and Lacey breathed a sigh of relief.

She had been worried that they may have over promised by booking the Greene wedding for May. She always had a plan B and usually a plan C but she would not need to move the Greene wedding over to the Inn. This meant that she could fill the Inn with reservations from the out of town guests for the wedding. Everything was falling into place seamlessly.

She stood at the far end of the large salon. Two -story floor to ceiling windows highlighted a breathtakingly beautiful view of Pike’s Peak and the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Just as they had envisioned it this vista would be a truly special backdrop for any photo opportunities event guests could dream up. Charlotte returned from inspecting the upstairs accommodations. She stood next to Lacey looking out over the massive multi level deck attached to the back of the building and led to the wildflower meadow they had planted to entice outdoor weddings.

Lacey dropped her arm casually around her sister’s shoulders and said, Can you believe it Tot? It is coming together and seems to be just what we wanted. Are you ready to begin your career as an event planner extraordinaire?

Charlotte smiled at the pet name from their childhood, You know I really do feel ready. After so many years working as the assistant to an event planner who was not very imaginative it will be good to be able to use my own ideas.

Tell me about the Greene wedding. I know the basics from our first meeting with them but I am curious about how you fleshed out the details, Lacey prompted.

Charlotte proceeded to tell her about the arrangements she had been working on for Mark Greene and his sweet bride to be Lila Savage.

It was not a large wedding but they had decided to use the grandest room to honor the occasion of their first event.  They expected fifty to sixty guests. The ceremony would be very traditional with the pastor of Lila’s childhood church officiating. Charlotte had kept the décor and flower arrangements simple according to the wishes of the engaged couple. The ceremony would take place at sunset under a white flower festooned archway placed directly in front of those massive windows. She thought this would ensure the video and photos would be magnificent.

Since they were using the Columbine Salon, the favor would be a packet of columbine seeds with the date and the couple's name embossed in beautiful old English script across the cheerful package.

The centerpieces would be deceptively simple, composed of white lilies and orchids with some sky blue columbines interspersed for color in each arrangement. The wedding colors were pale blue and white. Since it was a sunset ceremony, she had ordered  tiny blue floralytes that would be placed under the water in the flower arrangements, these would make each table glow with a subtle blue tint.

The bride and groom were both avid hikers so each table would have the name of a different Fourteener from the mountains they had climbed together. Charlotte had managed to get a picture of the couple on the summit of six of these fourteen thousand foot mountain peaks and she would add these to each table’s décor.

Whew, sounds like you put a lot of details into this simple first wedding. I thought the couple was on a strict budget, can they afford orchids? Lacey commented.

That’s the beauty of networking, Lacey, Charlotte enthused, You know that new florist from Denver that I told you about?

Mountain Blooms? Yes, I remember they came to tour the facility, Lacey answered.

Yes, that’s the one. Well, they are new and want to get their name out there so they are providing the orchids free of charge as long as we let them use the photographs in their portfolio after the wedding. The Greene’s were more than happy to agree to that arrangement. It’s a win –win solution, Charlotte explained.

Lacey smiled at the happy lilt she heard in Charlotte’s voice. Asking Charlotte to help her launch the Inn and Enchanted Events had been just the distraction to help her focus on something besides the death of her daughter and the subsequent breakup of her marriage. Lacey hated that her sister had suffered such a devastating loss. Charlotte had barely survived the tragedy with her sanity.

Working together on these business ventures had been the first positive direction for both of them in a long while.

Well, let the festivities begin! The Washburn sister’s are about to make the world take notice of  how fabulous they are, Lacey proclaimed.

Chapter 2

Time had certainly flown since the ribbon cutting of Enchanted Events. They only had three days until their first event, the Greene Wedding. The family members who had booked rooms at the Inn would begin arriving tomorrow. They wanted to be here in plenty of time for the rehearsal the afternoon before the wedding.

Lacey and Charlotte rushed around preparing for these guests and for the much-anticipated visit of their older sister Veronika, who had told them she was bringing a surprise guest. Ironically, there would be no room at the Inn and Veronica and her guest would be staying at Charlotte’s small rental house in the nearby town of Elkville.

Lacey and Charlotte never knew what to expect when Vernie came to visit except to expect the unexpected. Veronika Mays was a world-renowned romance author. She had been talented enough to have her very first novel picked up by a major publishing house and had quickly risen to the top of the bestseller list. Critics had lauded her as the next Danielle Steele. She had written novel after novel, each one more successful than the last. Vernie did not get to visit them very often, she seemed to be on an endless book tour or ensconced in her Italian estate writing the next best seller. Charlotte and Lacey loved their visits with her but it always seemed like a tornado had touched down because of the energy field that surrounded their super talented sister.

Lacey was working on getting all of the suites ready for the guests from the Greene wedding who had booked their stay here at the Inn. Only the groom and his  immediate family would be staying here  Most of the wedding guests were local or could easily drive in from Denver for the nuptials.

Charlotte was busy finalizing the last minute details of her first solo venture for Enchanted Events. Mark Greene and Lila Savage had allowed her plenty of latitude, which was great for any event planner. They had told her their color preferences and budget limit and let her fly. Of course, she had met with them several times to talk about her ideas, but they had been unusually flexible about the details. In particular, Charlotte had never met a bride who had no demands about her wedding day. Lila Savage had nodded at everything she suggested making her job supremely easy. She thought that they would be extremely happy with the personal touches she had incorporated into their big day.