by Diana Orgain | May 17, 2021 | Roundup Crew, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
From Murder at Yappy Hour Chapter One “What do you mean, you fired her?” I said into my cell phone as I brushed sand from the beach towel. It was at least the fourth time I’d had the same conversation with my great-uncle Ernest. Grunkly-E we called him, which morphed into Grunkly, but on occasion turned into Grouchy or Grumpy. He was one of the reasons I’d recently relocated to Pacific Cove. He and my sister, Rachel, not to mention the fact that my stint as a financial advisor in New York had come to an abrupt end after the market had crashed. It was time to hit the reset button on my life. What I needed most was some fresh seaside air, and when I’d learned that the Soleado Mexican Riviera Cruise Line had opened a new port in town, the position of bookkeeper/purser practically shouted out my name. “Well, Maggie, she was real mean. She wanted me to walk around and stuff,” Grunkly said. A few months back, Grunkly suffered a mild heart attack. He’d been hospitalized and on the verge of “the great beyond” as he called it, but he’d battled back from the heart attack and the case of pneu‐ monia he’d contracted. Actually, at his age of eighty-four, the doctors all considered it a miraculous recovery. Now our biggest obstacle was finding him a day nurse that he liked, or rather, wouldn’t fire at the drop of a hat. “You’re supposed to walk around! Breathe some fresh air. That’s how you’re going to get better.” “I’m already better. Plus, she didn’t like Benny....
