William Jarvis - Sky Valley 02 - Beaches & Coffee by William Jarvis

CHAPTER 1
COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS
    "And look at that!" Emmy smiled as she finished putting the last bit of decor on the cupcakes. It was a miniature diamond placed on top of a red shoe. The cupcakes were her favorite lemon-flavored ones that apparently, the client liked.
    Emmy had been busy recently. One of her clients who went by the name Scarlet Levi wanted her to cater for her wedding at the Sky Valley Resort. Aside from that, she also asked Emmy to help coordinate the wedding because they had a branch of their coffee shop there, Beaches and Coffee, known for having an air of nostalgia, and for bringing comfort to customers.
    Emmy thought that this was good. After everything that happened at Time for Coffee, the neighborhood coffee shop they owned for a long time, she thought that it was finally time to move on. It has been six months, anyway.
    Those six months haven't exactly been easy. She just came back from Paris and was on the process of helping one of her old friends, Annabeth Mayer, with her wedding preparations. Then one day, while they were talking with her fiancé, Matthew, who happened to be Emmy’s ex-boyfriend, Annabeth suddenly fell dead on the floor.
    Apparently, she was poisoned with cyanide, but it took a while before the culprit was found. At first, they thought it was Audrina, her dad’s assistant at the coffee shop. Audrina never really liked Annabeth and was there when the crime happened. But just as the police were about to take Audrina with them, her one-time boyfriend, Jimmy came and said that it was him who was at fault. He poisoned Annabeth because she did not allow him to take responsibility for her pregnancy. He said that he hated the fact that Annabeth did not think much of him and set on to marry Matthew.
    For the most part, Emmy found this to be hard to believe. She wasn’t close to Jimmy, but she knew that even know he let them hear the recording he made at the scene of the crime, and he told them how he got hold of the cyanide, it was as if there were still some holes in his story. And, Emmy wanted to find out about those things, but at the same time, she knew that she could not devote all her life to that because what’s done is done—and no one can really go back in time.
    She also managed to be friends with Audrina, who also turned out to have had a relationship with Emmy’s dad. Both of them did not want to label it, but Emmy knew that it was more than whatever they thought it was. Audrina had to leave after Jimmy had been put to jail, though, because she said that she wanted to start fresh. She and Emmy still communicate every once in a while. Emmy heard that she is currently in Guatemala, but who knows where she’ll fly to next?
    Annabeth’s death had a huge effect on their business. For a while, no one wanted anything to do with Time for Coffee, and although they recently re-opened, Emmy knew that customers really did not want to risk their lives. Even though they tried to advertise and tell people that it’s safe, it’s not very easy for people to accept that things are okay for them and that they could forget about what happened because it’s not exactly easy.
    It also had some effect on Beaches and Coffee. Because some people knew it was one of the companies owned by Emily’s family, they were a bit hesitant to go there, too. Luckily, most tourists still think that the coffee shop is a breath of fresh air. Instead of the usual Kebab or snack shacks by the beach, it is good to know that there’s a coffee shop that has a really nice ambiance and that can make them feel at home while at the resort.
    Emmy tried to concentrate on the online cupcake business that she put up with Audrina, which she currently operates by herself, and is also busy with creating wedding gowns. These are the reasons why Scarlet Levi asked her to help coordinate her wedding for her. Emmy didn’t know if Scarlet was even Scarlet’s real name, and she hasn’t met her yet. They’ll see each other