The Sinister Seminar: Events To Die For Series, #1

By Sara Robbins

This new series, Events to Die For, continues where The Aspen Valley Inn Series ended. Each novella is a stand alone story but why not read all of them to really immerse yourself in all of the characters and adventures?

Book 1 , The Sinister Seminar, begins with Charlotte booking a simple writing seminar for her events center, Enchanted Events. But the attendees are not who they seem and before long one of them is almost killed. As Charlotte tries to investigate, she too is attacked. Amidst all of this, Charlotte also begins to seriously date the bison rancher who lives nearby. All of the characters from The Aspen Valley Inn are included in this latest adventure. Has Charlotte finally found someone to give her heart to? Will everyone at the seminar live to write another day?

This is a novella of approx 27,000 words

• Language: English
• Publisher: Plan C Publishing
• Release date: Sep 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9781497772328

Book preview

THE SINISTER SEMINAR

SARA ROBBINS

Chapter 1

Charlotte watched from the front window of Enchanted Events as her sister Lacey said a prolonged goodbye to her fiancé, Wyatt. She was so happy for Lacey; Wyatt was a great person and obviously loved her sister very much. They hadn’t set a date for their wedding yet but she knew they were talking about possibilities. She had no doubts that this marriage was going to be exactly what her sister needed and deserved. The only thing she wondered about was how Lacey’s marriage would change the business partnership they had built over the last couple of years.

Lacey had decided to open a small bed and breakfast when her other career choice had not panned out. Charlotte had helped her find this perfect location in the foothills of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.

The property consisted of twenty acres and several outbuildings, some of which could be renovated and create expansion opportunities.

The first of these renovations was the Aspen Valley Inn. Charlotte and Lacey had planned every detail together and it had done amazingly well in its first year.

Next, they had moved on to transform the one hundred year old barn into the historical yet modern event center, Enchanted Events.

Lacey had made Charlotte a full partner in both businesses just before their first event was completed.

It had now been six months and as the official event coordinator, she was proud to be able to say that she had kept the center booked with a variety of gatherings, social events and business meetings.

Lacey complimented Charlotte after every successful booking and she constantly told Charlotte that she couldn’t have done any of this without her.

Charlotte knew that they would stay close and continue to be devoted to making these businesses successful. Those two things would never change. However, Charlotte had worked in the corporate world long enough to know that when one partner became entwined in a serious relationship, the dynamics of the business relationship were bound to change.

She was worried about two things in particular. First, she was in the process of renovated one of the small farmhouses that had seemed to be a good candidate to create an on-site home. She currently rented a small house in the nearby town of Elkville. Living on the property twenty-four/ seven might infringe on the lovebirds privacy.

The second thing she was worried about being harder to define.

Wyatt Graves was the Elkville sheriff. In fact, he had come into their lives when a brutal murder had occurred during the grand opening of the Aspen Valley Inn.

Since then there had been a few other deaths that she and Lacey had gotten very involved in solving. They couldn’t seem to help it, maybe they should think about opening a detective agency. Charlotte and her sister loved a good mystery, which brought her back to her second concern.

Wyatt was not at all happy about their involvement in these crimes. Charlotte would like to be able to tell herself that it may never happen again but she would be kidding herself. For some reason, Charlotte and her sister, Lacey seemed to be magnets for suspicious deaths and blatant murder. They both loved a good mystery and if their path did not include a good whodunit then they would probably go find one themselves.

Charlotte understood that Wyatt wanted to ensure the safety of his beloved. She knew the pain of loss and horrible grief that never seems to end. She also understood that Lacey had a very narrow escape from a deranged killer. She and Wyatt had managed to save Lacey in time and no one wanted to repeat that scenario.

No, Charlotte did not want any of them to be involved in anything truly dangerous. However, if something suspicious occurred anywhere near them, they would want to investigate it. They would want to find answers. The two businesses they operated brought them in contact with an ever-changing group of people and sometimes those people came with more baggage than the suitcases they had checked in with.

Charlotte worried that not only would Wyatt forbid Lacey from any involvement in anything that might include a crime but also that he would blame Charlotte for her sisters' interest in such transgressions. Charlotte knew that nothing could stop Lacey’s passion for getting involved in these things. She also knew that Wyatt loved Charlotte and respected the sisters’ close relationship.

When she really thought about it and tried to explain why she felt uneasy about the changes that were coming, she realized something. It wasn’t anything specific, although the mystery solving was fun; it was the fact that for years the sisters had only had each other. They had an older sister who was a world famous romance novelist. Veronika traveled the world and could not visit very often.

They had made all of their own decisions and solved their own problems. They had depended and leaned on only each other. It would be different because Lacey had a man in her life now and he would need to be included when decisions were made. The biggest change though was that Lacey would lean and depend on Wyatt, and rightly so. Where would this leave Charlotte, would she play a smaller role in her sister's life? It was this shift that was the underlying cause of Charlotte’s concern. She would just have to adjust and be happy that Lacey had found a true soul mate. And she really was happy for her sister.

She just didn’t want to be the reason that Lacey had to choose between the man she deeply loved and the sister she dearly cared for. If Charlotte were to share this thought with either Lacey or Wyatt they would most certainly scoff at such nonsense.

It had taken many years for Lacey to find someone she could love as she did Wyatt. Those years both sisters had become so close. Since Charlotte had suffered her own losses, and was also alone they had bonded probably closer than a usual sibling relationship. She and Lacey had poured everything they had, money, energy and love into building these two businesses. In the beginning, they had not had anything else to feel passionate about in their lives. That was different now, Lacey was getting married and her priorities were bound to change.

Her musings were interrupted by Lacey’s cheerful voice asking her how the meeting with the potential client had gone this morning.

Chapter 2

Charlotte smiled and set aside her unfounded worries. She began telling Lacey about the latest booking she had landed for Enchanted Events.

Enchanted Events had suffered its first ever cancellation. A young uncertain couple had cancelled their wedding at the last minute. While Charlotte thought it was much better to figure these things out before you joined your lives together, she had a three-day opening in next weeks’ bookings.

She had sent out a few emails and made a few phone calls. While she had received a few promising requests she had chosen the one that needed the least amount of preparation. That happened to be a fellow by the name of Brad Franklin.

Brad conducted creative writing seminars. The venue he had booked for his next one had an unfortunate fire and the resulting damage could not be restored in time for his class. He already had ten attendees who were waiting for either a new location or a rescheduled session.

They could solve each other’s problem. She had an opening and he did not want to cancel his event.