Holiday Hangover Read online

  Holiday Hangover

  by

  Kathi Daley

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 by Katherine Daley

  Version 1.0

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  Books by Kathi Daley

  Family Tree

  Xavier Carrington

  Robert Carrington Joseph Carrington

  Characters:

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Recipes

  Orange Muffins

  Beefiladas

  Irish Stew

  Brandied Cherry Cheesecake

  Breakfast Casserole

  French Toast

  Copper Pennies

  Orange Balls

  Books by Kathi Daley

  Giveaway:

  This book is dedicated to Paige Rice, the owner of Tahoe Best Friends, the real doggy daycare center where my furry best friends Mel and Echo like to hang out when I am out of town. Like the daycare center in the book, Tahoe Best Friends is cage free and staffed by wonderful people who my fur babies adore.

  I want to thank the very talented Jessica Fischer for the cover art.

  I so appreciate Bruce Curran, who is always ready and willing to answer my cyber questions, and Peggy Hyndman for helping sleuth out those pesky typos.

  And, of course, thanks to the readers and bloggers in my life, who make doing what I do possible.

  Thank you to Randy Ladenheim-Gil for the editing.

  Special thanks to Joyce Aiken, Janel Flynn, Vivian Shane, and Pam Curran for submitting recipes.

  And finally I want to thank my sister Christy for always lending an ear and my husband Ken for allowing me time to write by taking care of everything else.

  Books by Kathi Daley

  Come for the murder, stay for the romance.

  Zoe Donovan Cozy Mystery:

  Halloween Hijinks

  The Trouble With Turkeys

  Christmas Crazy

  Cupid’s Curse

  Big Bunny Bump-off

  Beach Blanket Barbie

  Maui Madness

  Derby Divas

  Haunted Hamlet

  Turkeys, Tuxes, and Tabbies

  Christmas Cozy

  Alaskan Alliance

  Matrimony Meltdown

  Soul Surrender

  Heavenly Honeymoon

  Hopscotch Homicide

  Ghostly Graveyard

  Santa Sleuth

  Shamrock Shenanigans

  Kitten Kaboodle

  Costume Catastrophe

  Candy Cane Caper

  Holiday Hangover

  Zimmerman Academy The New Normal

  Ashton Falls Cozy Cookbook

  Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mysteries by Henery Press

  Pumpkins in Paradise

  Snowmen in Paradise

  Bikinis in Paradise

  Christmas in Paradise

  Puppies in Paradise

  Halloween in Paradise

  Treasure in Paradise – April 2017

  Whales and Tails Cozy Mystery:

  Romeow and Juliet

  The Mad Catter

  Grimm’s Furry Tail

  Much Ado About Felines

  Legend of Tabby Hollow

  Cat of Christmas Past

  A Tale of Two Tabbies

  The Great Catsby

  Count Catula

  The Cat of Christmas Present

  A Winter’s Tail – February 2017

  Seacliff High Mystery:

  The Secret

  The Curse

  The Relic

  The Conspiracy

  The Grudge

  Sand and Sea Hawaiian Mystery:

  Murder at Dolphin Bay

  Murder at Sunrise Beach

  Murder at the Witching Hour

  Murder at Christmas

  Road to Christmas Romance:

  Road to Christmas Past

  Family Tree

  Xavier Carrington

  Robert CarringtonJoseph Carrington

  Virginia StonewellMarleen Kennedy

  Daniel CarringtonMichael Carrington

  Kitty Cromwell

  Chance Carrington

  Nikki Carrington

  Veronica Carrington

  Kyle Carrington

  Theodore Carrington (single)Frances Carrington (deceased

  Walter Young (deceased)

  Mercedes Young (stepchild)

  Stephanie Carrington Bradford

  Brian Bradford

  Jordan Bradford (Brian’s son from his first marriage)

  Marcus Bradford (Stephanie and Brian’s biological son)

  Characters:

  Bear Mountain Resort

  Chance Carrington – Chief Executive Officer

  Bruce Bolton – General Manager

  Kyle Carrington – Operations Manager – dates Mercedes

  Veronica Carrington – Chief Financial Officer

  Marcus Carrington – Sales Manager

  Parker Townsend – resort doctor, dates Veronica

  Nikki Carrington – Chance’s daughter

  Echo Ridge Resort

  Michael Carrington – Chief Executive Officer

  Mercedes Young – General Manager, dates Kyle

  Jordan Bradford – Operations Manager, Stephanie’s stepson

  Others

  Uncle Theo – lives on resort; does not work

  Aunt Stephanie – lives in New York with husband Brian Bradford

  Chapter 1

  Tuesday, December 27

  Life is really nothing more than a series of moments blended one into the other, creating a timeline of who we have been, who we are, and who we will become. At times those moments flow smoothly one to the next, creating an existence of peace and harmony, while at others our moments resemble a roller coaster of highs and lows that, in the end, leaves us feeling depleted and disoriented.

  I sat up in bed and looked out the window at the falling snow. It was dark and dreary, which mirrored my mood exactly. I looked around the room to see that both my husband, Zak Zimmerman, and the five dogs currently residing in the house all had deserted me. Not that I blamed them. The clock on the bedside table did say it was twenty minutes past noon. I glanced at the pregnancy test I’d discarded in the trash before I slide back down into the softness of the mattress and pulled the covers up over my head.

  I like to pride myself on being a mature adult, able to handle whatever life throws at me, but after the events of the past couple of weeks I’d decided to take an adulting holiday and hide in bed like the shattered little girl who had emerged from the rubble of my life.

  “Zoe. Are you awake?” I heard Zak enter the room, but I didn’t respond. “I have coffee.”

  I peeked out through a tiny opening in the covers but then lay perfectly still, hoping the cheery man dressed in faded blue jeans and a red thermal shirt would go away and let me mope in solitude. I love Zak more than anything, but after a week of ups and downs I felt depressed, defunct, and deflated.

  “I made cinnamon rolls,” he added as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

  “Go away,” I mumbled without emerging from my cocoon.

  “You have to eat.”

  “Not hungry.”
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  I felt a moment of loss when Zak stood up and walked across the room. I waited for him to leave me alone to wallow in self-pity, but instead he set the tray he’d brought into the room on the dresser, took off his shoes, crawled into the bed, and pulled the covers over both our heads.

  “Maybe we should talk about this,” he suggested as we lay staring at each other within our fortress of solitude.

  I felt a tear gather at the corner of my eye before trailing down my cheek. “I don’t want to talk. It won’t change anything.”

  Zak pulled me into his arms. He mumbled something about everything being okay as I buried my face against his chest and wept. The doctor had said these things happened. That at times pregnancies didn’t take. He assured me that it would happen and I just needed to be patient, but at that moment all I could do was grieve for what might have been.

  After several minutes my sobbing eased into a mournful silence and a reluctant acceptance of what was.

  “How can I help?” Zak asked.

  “I don’t know.” To be honest I wasn’t even sure whether I was grief-stricken over the loss of the boy who felt like a son but now might be taken from our lives or for the baby I had hoped I was carrying but wasn’t.

  “We’ve had a rough couple of weeks.” Zak tightened his arms around me. “After everything that’s happened I think it might be good for us to get away.”

  I turned my head slightly and rested it on Zak’s chest. “Get away where?”

  “Remember my friend Chance Carrington?”

  “The guy who owns the ski resort in the Canadian Rockies?”

  “One and the same. Anyway, he called this morning and offered us the use of his guest house for the week. A ski vacation somewhere far away from the stress of our everyday lives sounded pretty good, so I called Coop. He said he isn’t busy today and would be available to fly us up if we decided to go.”

  “You want to go today? Just like that?”

  “Just like that. I’m worried about you. Alex is worried about you. I think a change of scenery will be good for all of us.”

  “Alex doesn’t know?”

  “About the positive pregnancy test? No. She just assumes you’re upset about Scooter.”

  “I am upset about Scooter.” Fresh tears began to flow down my cheeks. In the past several hours I’d played over and over in my mind the sequence of events that had thrown my world into a tailspin. First there’d been the arrival of Scooter Sherwood’s father, and his announcement that he’d gotten his life together, and while he appreciated the fact that Zak and I had made a home for Scooter for the past two years, he was ready to take his son home with him to Los Angeles. Which was followed by a positive pregnancy test I took only hours before the arrival of my monthly cycle, announcing that Zoe Donovan Zimmerman wasn’t pregnant after all. “I’m also so very sorry I got your hopes up when there was nothing to be hopeful about,” I added as a fresh flood of tears streamed down my face.

  Zak pulled back slightly. He turned so we were both lying on our sides, facing each other, covers still over our heads. “You don’t have to apologize. You don’t have anything to be sorry for. I love you. Having a baby is something we’re doing together. I want to be right there with you every step. The highs, the lows, and everything in between.”

  “But what if it never happens?”

  “Then it won’t. If it’s in the cards for us to have children I’ll be the happiest man on earth, but even if it isn’t, I’ll still be the happiest man on earth because I’m lucky enough to be loved by you. So how about it?” Zak asked as he wiped a tear from my cheek with his finger. “Zimmerman Academy is closed for the next two weeks, Scooter is with his dad, Levi and Ellie are away on their honeymoon, and Jeremy is here to oversee things at the Zoo. It really is the perfect time to get away.”

  I had to admit the thought of getting away from everything for a few days did sound pretty darn inviting. “What about the animals?”

  “I already called Tiffany, who’s happy to stay at the house.”

  “And Charlie?”

  “Chance said it’s fine to bring him.”

  Zak tucked a stray strand of my hair behind my ear before trailing his finger down the side of my neck. “So what do you think, Mrs. Zimmerman? Do you want to come out from under the covers and give living in the real world a try?”

  Did I? I wasn’t sure. I felt drained, and the thought of getting up was almost more than I could deal with, though spending the remainder of our vacation sulking over things I couldn’t change wasn’t going to make me feel better. “I did get that new snowboard for Christmas.”

  “And you still need to try out the ski outfit your mom bought you.”

  “And Alex wants to go?”

  “I haven’t asked her yet. I figured I should check with you first, but I think she’s taking this thing with Scooter pretty hard. A change of scenery will be good for her too.”

  “I guess being at a five-star resort wouldn’t be the worst way to spend a few days on our time off. Did you tell Tiffany Ellie and Levi’s dogs are here in addition to our own?”

  “I did and she’s fine with it. So how about it? Should I call Coop and have him warm up the jet?”

  I felt Zak’s arms tighten around me as I snuggled into his warmth. I knew my mood was affecting him and he was trying so hard to make things better. The least I could do was let him. “Yeah, call him. I think I’m ready to rejoin the living.”

  You know the saying that goes something like: and then there’s the rest of the story? Suffice it to say, there was more to Chance’s generous offer to let us stay in his guest house during the busiest week of the year at the resort than Zak had mentioned.

  “So Chance just called you out of the blue and invited you to visit?” I asked now that I had had a chance to think about things and realized the whole situation was a bit too convenient.

  “No, not exactly. Chance wants me to take a look at the resort’s security system, which seems to have been tampered with.”

  “So you’re really going to Bear Mountain to work?”

  “I want to help Chance out if I can, but the main reason I told him I’d come personally instead of sending someone else is because I thought it would do us good to get away.”

  I supposed that made sense. The more I thought about it, the more I realized Zak’s plan for a change of scenery was a good one. “What exactly is going on with the security system?”

  Zak opened the closet and began pulling out warm sweaters to wear over his flannel shirts. “It’s complicated.”

  Suddenly suspicious, I stopped what I was doing and stared at him. “Complicated how?”

  Zak paused and looked at me. “It’s a long story. Maybe we should talk about it later. After we pack. We need to meet Coop in a little over an hour.”

  “I can talk and pack at the same time.”

  Zak turned back around and continued to pull items out of his closet as he offered me a vague reply. “It seems there was an event a month ago, in a public place where surveillance cameras should have recorded everything that happened, but the video feed was interrupted. The cameras are controlled by a central server that only Chance, his family, and a few of his most trusted employees have access to, so he thinks the interruption must have been an inside job. He’s not sure who he can trust, including his own tech guy and security personnel, so he hoped I’d be available to take a look at things and offer an outside perspective.”

  “I notice you’re trying very hard to be vague. What event exactly are we talking about?”

  Zak stopped what he was doing and turned to me with a look of resignation on his face. It was obvious this wasn’t a conversation he’d wanted to have at this particular time. “Chance’s father, Daniel Carrington, was murdered.”

  “Murdered? Oh, Zak. I’m so sorry. I know you’re close to the family.”

  “I was. Before I returned to Ashton Falls and the two of us got together, I spent quite a few winters at the resort
. Chance is a good friend and I could tell by the tone in his voice that he’s really brokenhearted. He thought maybe I could recover the missing feed and he also mentioned that perhaps someone from the outside could help to shed some light on the situation.”

  “What does local law enforcement think?”

  “They haven’t been able to identify the killer as of yet, or offer an explanation as to how the video feed was interrupted. Chance feels that, given the isolation of the resort and the fact that the closest law enforcement office is more than an hour away, they haven’t put the time and effort into investigating his father’s death that they should have.”

  I sat down on the side of the bed. “Are you planning to help Chance find his father’s killer?”

  Zak paused. “I’d like to do what I can.”

  “Does Chance have any theories as to who might have wanted his father dead?”

  “Actually, he does, but it’s complicated.”

  Once again I looked at Zak and asked, “Complicated how?”

  Zak began packing his clothes into his suitcase. “I’m not sure I have all the details, but Chance indicated there’s an important vote scheduled to take place on January 3 regarding an offer to buy the resort and the property it sits on. Did you remember to pack your heavy socks?”

  “I did. I grabbed us both some extra hats and gloves as well. I should make sure Alex has thermal underwear. It’ll be a lot colder there than it is here.”

  “The resort has stores that sell that kind of thing if she needs anything,” Zak assured me.

  I folded a stack of heavy sweaters and put them into my suitcase before returning to topic. “Okay, so what do you know about this vote?”

  “The way I understand it, Chance’s great-grandfather owned the entire mountain during his lifetime. When he died, it was divided in half and left to his two sons, Robert and Joseph. Each inherited an equal share of the mountain and each chose to build a ski resort on their half. Robert, Chance’s grandfather, built Bear Mountain Resort on the west side of the mountain and Joseph, his great-uncle, built Echo Ridge Resort on the east. Competition for business drove a wedge between the two brothers and the two sides of the family have been feuding ever since.”