by Diana Orgain | Jul 16, 2021 | Gold Strike Mysteries, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
Did you miss Chapter One? From Dying for Gold Chapter Two At six p.m., we finally ushered everyone out of the store. Three cases of champagne later, we’d rung in one of our best nights for fine jewelry. Dad was grudgingly pleased, even if gold had taken a back seat to fine stones for one day. Ginger was beside herself, squealing every three minutes. “We need to go out and celebrate!” “I have a date with Jason,” I said, pressing my hand against my tummy to quell the butterflies. Tonight could be the big night! “Right, right,” Ginger said. She glanced over at Wendy. The two never went out without me, but it seemed that the day had been so successful that they might be gearing up for it. “Well, do you want to get a glass of Chardonnay with me over at the Wine Jug?” Wendy shrugged. “Sure, why not? I’ve tolerated you all day. I might as well tolerate you a little longer.” Ginger giggled as if Wendy had been joking. I pinched Wendy. “Be nice.” Wendy laughed. “Okay, I’m just kidding. Besides we need to be together so you can call us when you get your big news.” I slipped my cell phone into my pocket. “Don’t worry, I’ll call you guys. How late will you be at the Wine Jug?” “Late,” Ginger said. “We’re celebrating. We’re going to be late.” Wendy glanced at her watch. “Well, my darling husband will be home from the mine—” Ginger grabbed Wendy’s arm. “No you don’t. If we go to the Wine Jug together, you can’t ditch me.” “I’ll...
by Diana Orgain | Jul 16, 2021 | Gold Strike Mysteries, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
Did you miss part one of Chapter One? From Dying for Gold Chapter One Continued Oh, good. She could go bug Wendy about getting pregnant soon and that would get me off the hook for the moment. “Over there,” I said, pointing toward Wendy’s slender form. “No baby bump yet . . .” Wendy turned toward me as if she’d sensed we were talking about her. I winked and wiggled my eyebrows, indicating that Mrs. DeLeon was about to descend on her. She gave me her best “you’ll pay for this” look, then smiled as Mrs. DeLeon approached. I took the opportunity to slip to the back and dial my boyfriend, Jason. We’d been dating for almost a year, and he’d recently been hinting around the idea of marriage, asking my ring size and whether I preferred white gold or yellow. Which actually was a silly question for a gold heiress. While gold could be many colors, including black or purple, nothing compared to those flakes colored like the sun. But hey, if being agreeable to pink or red gold would get a ring on my finger, I was all for it. In fact, Jason had been mysterious about this evening. He’d mentioned a romantic dinner and a surprise. I dialed his number and waited for him to answer. It rang four times, and then his voicemail kicked on. Where was he? It wasn’t like him not to pick up. Maybe he’s shopping. I imagined him haggling with a jeweler across the glass counter. No, that wasn’t likely. Surely if Jason was getting ready to propose, he’d have asked...
by Diana Orgain | Jul 16, 2021 | Gold Strike Mysteries, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
From Dying for Gold Chapter One I think your store is haunted,” Mrs. Jeffries, one of our best customers, screeched. “It’s not haunted,” I said. “Well, the nugget I was just looking at disappeared out from under my nose! How do you explain that?” she demanded. “Wendy,” I offered as way of explanation, pulling the diamond-encrusted gold nugget out of my sister-in-law’s hands and passing it to Mrs. Jeffries. Wendy simply batted her false eyelashes and gave a wicked grin. “I couldn’t resist. Isn’t it the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen?” The store in question was The Nugget. Daddy’s family had been part of the original gold rush of 1849. Our family went way back, especially by California standards. I was the fifth generation of a mining family, and The Nugget had kept our family in gold even when our mine, The Bear Strike, had been forced to close in 1942 to support the war effort. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen Daddy happier than when the price of gold shot up a few years back and it would finally be prof‐ itable to reopen the mine. Ordinarily, The Nugget catered to tourists, but I’d convinced Daddy to use the shop as a backdrop to put my best friend, Ginger’s, exquisite jewelry designs on display, and all our best customers and neighbors had come out for the occasion. Dad came around from behind the counter. “Cut the champagne off,” he said under his breath. I laughed. “Daddy! This is a ladies’ gathering. One of the main draws beside Ginger’s designs is the champagne.” He leaned into me....
by Diana Orgain | Jul 10, 2021 | Maternal Instincts Mysteries, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
From Prams and Poison Chapter One To Do: 1. Take Laurie to puppet time at the library. 2. Furnish twins’ new nursery! 3. Interview prospective nannies. 4. Dinner Saturday with Nick and his wife. 5. Buy larger maternity clothes! 6. Land new paying client. 7. Find out if Hank’s poker night is on the up and up. “Paula!” I held out my arms to welcome my best friend to my recently beautified backyard. My wonderful husband Jim had worked with Jojo—the contractor doing our garage-turned-nursery renova‐ tion—to turn the raggedy, neglected space into an oasis. Even in the middle of the day, when the string lights draped between the house and the pergola didn’t cast their fairy-tale glow on everything, I loved it. Paula’s jaw dropped as she pushed the pram through the gate and over the rippling grass. “You weren’t kidding! Jim did such a great job on this.” Baby Chloe’s tiny face peeked out of the pram from amid a sea of polka-dotted blankets, and Paula’s two-year-old Danny trailed behind them, zooming his toy through the air while making a high-pitched whirring noise. Laurie flailed in my arms at the sight of her little friends and managed to land a painful kick on my growing baby bump. “Hey!” I said, resting my free hand on my abdomen. “Be nice to your little siblings, peanut.” She just wiggled some more. Paula pulled the pram to a halt beneath the pergola, and Danny leaped from the stroller, holding his Spider-Man action figure high in the air. “I’m Pie-da-Man!” he yelled, throwing out his hand like he was shooting a...
by Diana Orgain | Jul 10, 2021 | Maternal Instincts Mysteries, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
From Prams and Poison Chapter Three Continued “And there’s quite a permitting process,” she said, “but we’ll want to work with an architect to make sure we’re preserving the structural integrity. I know just the woman for the job. She’s a whiz at getting permits. I think she must know someone at the city, or something.” I snorted and left them behind to peek into the dining room. There was a round oak table inside, covered with books. Must belong to the tenant. I skimmed over the books—a number of older novels: Jane Eyre, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Hound of the Baskervilles. And then there was nonfiction: a few productivity-type books, but also a lot of heavy philosophy. It was mostly from the nine‐ teenth century, but a few volumes were more recent—I groaned when I saw a thick volume of the work of Derrida and Saussure. I’d spent a solid week of freshman philosophy class in college muttering, “I cannot Derrida.” I peeked through the bay window blinds at the slivers of Alamo Square Park visible through the leafy greenery of the tree planted out front. Paula and Glenn came into the room, and Paula gestured to the bay window. “We’ll want to restore that for sure. Perhaps with some white trim and a beautiful white window seat beneath?” We walked together into the kitchen. Now this room was an unmitigated disaster. Paula whistled. “Who on earth had the audacity to cover up these beautiful wood floors with linoleum?” “People did crazy things in the 1960s,” I said, tracing a finger over the hideous plastic-looking countertop....
by Diana Orgain | Jul 10, 2021 | Maternal Instincts Mysteries, Sneak Peek, Uncategorized
Did you miss Chapter One? Did you miss part one of Chapter Two? From Prams and Poison Chapter Two Continued Paula pulled her phone out of her pocket and glanced at the screen. Her eyes widened, and her shoulders slumped. “No!” she cried. “What is it?” I asked, alarmed. “It’s from Carrie.” Disappointment laced her voice. “The client.” “Oh no. They’re not . . .” She looked up and nodded, tears brimming in her eyes. “They’re canceling.” “Canceling the meeting today, or the whole job?” I asked with a little gasp. “The whole job.” Her chin quivered, though I could tell she was trying to hold herself together. “I’m so sorry, hon,” I said, hurrying over to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She tilted her chin upward. “It’ll be fine. I’d just let myself get really excited about the job.” “Hey, look at me. You’re going to build the city’s premier interior design firm, with or without this job.” She bit hard on her lip and nodded. “Just a setback,” she croaked. “Well, what did the message say?” Mom asked, peering over Paula’s shoulder. Paula turned the screen back on and showed it to us. Tenant rejected offer. We won’t need your services. Sorry. “Ooooh,” I said through my teeth. “They’re buying out a tenant?” She nodded glumly. “They said that negotiations were pretty much done, though, and that it was a sure thing. But I guess these things are never sure until the ink has dried on the contract, huh?” “Really, not until the tenant has moved out and handed over the key,” said Mom....
