Apple Pie & Arguments: Merryville Mystery, #0

By MJ Greenway

Middle-aged Meredith's husband is getting on her last nerve! Suddenly being an empty nester and getting a mysterious postcard has left her wondering what's next for her.

 

But, it's hard to focus on her own troubles when something weird is going on next door. 

 

Is her latest bad dream a clue to follow or just the result of too much Law & Order?

 

Note: This is a short story prequel to Brownies & Betrayal in the Merryville Mystery series. This story stands alone and can be read before or after other books in the series.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: MJ Greenway
• Release date: Mar 3, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224662562

Book preview

Author’s Note

This prequel takes place a few years before Brownies & Betrayal, which is the first book in the Merryville Mystery Series. That said, it can be read first or after you’ve read other books in the series. In other words, this story can be read as a stand-alone.

Chapter 1

The sound of squeaking brakes assaulted Meredith’s ears. As she gazed out of her kitchen window, she spotted a disheveled package delivery driver. He shuffled up the walkway to the neighbor’s house. Such a slow pace for a brown-shirted deliveryman was unusual.

While unloading the dishwasher, Meredith reviewed her life’s accomplishments. Over the years, she had mastered baking the perfect apple pie. She’d knitted cozy scarves and donated them to the less fortunate. She’d spent years volunteering to ride the big yellow school bus on countless field trips. Now her daughter was a working adult, no longer living at home.

Doing mundane weekend chores, she couldn’t help but wonder, was this all there was? Empty Nester Syndrome. That’s what this cloud of ennui must have been. That’s what the book on her nightstand called it, anyway.

The familiar sound of her husband’s footsteps trudging down the hallway in the same tempo she’d heard them for twenty years barely caught her attention.

Good morning, Gus said. He reached for a Fuji apple out of the fruit bowl on the counter. 

Morning. She put the last of the dinner plates in their white cupboard.

She’d dreamed of a white kitchen and now she had one. White cabinets covered with white marbled granite countertops. And even the walls were a color called eggshell. That’s what happened after she’d spent a year watching design shows on TV. Everything everywhere was white. At least she had brass hardware.

Don’t bother cooking me anything. I’m just having an apple this morning, gotta watch my calories, Gus said.

Meredith rolled her eyes behind his