Aunt Bessie Joins (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 10) by Diana Xarissa Page B

everyone is free to leave their
rooms the way they are if they choose,” Mark articulated what Bessie was sure
the rest were thinking.
    “Of course they can,” Mary assured him.   “And I promise they’re only small
changes, as well.”
    “I think we ought to fix everything exactly
as dear Christo wanted it,” Carolyn said loudly.   “The whole event should be a tribute to
the dear man and all that he tried to do here.”
    “Perhaps we should donate some portion of
the proceeds to his favourite charity in his name,”
Bessie suggested.   “Surely that
would be a more fitting tribute than trying to rearrange things based on our
memories of what he said.”
    “I can remember exactly what he said about
every room,” Carolyn said.
    “I think Bessie’s idea is a good one,” Mark
interjected.   “And I think letting
Natasha have a turn at improving the rooms is also wise.   Mr. Hart’s ideas were, well, divisive
might be the best word.   I think
it’s important that we all work as a team to make this event the best it can
be.”
    “Perhaps it’s time for me to resign from the
committee,” Carolyn said crossly.
    “What did you and Mr. Hart fight about last
night?” Bessie blurted out.
    Carolyn flushed.   “That’s certainly not any of your
concern,” she snapped.   “And it
certainly has no bearing on my determination to honour the memory of my dear friend.”
    “Maybe you could decorate a room in his honour ,” Marjorie said.   “We haven’t used every room in the castle,
by any means.   Perhaps MNH could
find a small space that you could decorate in Mr. Hart’s style.”
    Carolyn looked as if she wanted to argue,
but after a moment she simply sighed dramatically.   “If that’s the best I can get, I suppose
that will have to do,” she said with an injured sniff.   “I have all of the decorations that
Christo purchased last evening.   I’ll have my staff get to work right away.”
    Mark and Marjorie had a quick conversation
before Mark led them all down one of the corridors.   “We didn’t want to try to do too much,
as this is our first year,” he explained.   “So we have an entire wing of rooms that we aren’t using.   This is the largest of the unused
spaces.   You’re welcome to decorate
it in honour of Mr. Hart.”
    Carolyn looked around the large and empty
room.   “It’s cold and dark,” she
said.   “But I suppose, if it’s all I
can have...” she trailed off and looked at Mark expectantly.
    “There are smaller rooms on either side if
you’d like one of those instead,” Mark told her.
    “This will do,” she said sourly.   She pulled out her mobile and within
minutes she was shouting orders into it.   Bessie felt sorry for the woman’s employees, now tasked with bringing
several boxes of decorations to the castle, where they would be expected to
decorate the large drafty space Carolyn had been given.  
    “What should we expect?” Mark asked when
Carolyn finally disconnected her call.   “What theme was he planning to use?”
    “I’m not sure exactly what he was planning,”
she replied.   “I suppose you could
call it ‘Deadly Christmas,’ but that seems, well, inappropriate, especially
under the circumstances.”
    Mark nodded.   “We’ll decide what to call it after
you’re done decorating,” he said.   “Now, the rest of the committee probably needs to get back to our room.   Mary, how about if you and Natasha start
working with the volunteers to see what you can do?”
    It was nearly five o’clock when Bessie stood
back from a tree and smiled.   “I
think we’re about done,” she said happily.   She looked around the room at all of the bright and cheery trees and
smiled more deeply.   The finished
room was every bit as beautiful as she’d hoped it would be.  
    “I’m so going home to soak in a bath,”
Marjorie said, climbing down from a ladder.   “I’ve been reaching over my head all
afternoon.   My arms and my