Volume 13
Guests at the KaliKo Inn this week include:
- Photographers updating the town’s marketing pieces. There will be beach bunnies, beefcake, cheesecake… or not.
- Accountants, in town to determine where the town’s tourism tax dollars are going. Because they aren’t going into the town’s bank account.
- Contestants in the Chelsea Stand-Up Challenge, a paddle board contest.
Others in town are men and women from pleasure craft out of Chicago and Sheboygan.
The town is in the middle of a summer thunderstorm, the kind that builds from the northwestern plains to hit the lake at high volume.
The mix of all of the above turns a hot, humid summer weekend into murder and more.
Purchase Options
You can order from Tiger Lily’s Store. This is the same paperback book you can get from Amazon. The difference is that it will come from the author and will be signed.
Author: Kathleen Thompson
Excerpt from Beach Bunnies
Chapter 1
“Henrie, did the town pay us yet?”
Annie had come into the kitchen, followed closely by seven cats of mixed origin and one giant schnauzer.
Henrie turned from the stovetop, momentarily looking away from blueberry pancakes. He counted noses, turned back to the pancakes, and gave one a practiced flip.
“No, they have not. I will go to the town office this morning with an invoice in hand.”
Henrie, always correct, always erect, always perfectly put together and always professional, was the best thing to happen to the KaliKo Inn. To the town, if truth be known.
Some time ago, Annie learned his slight French accent was a natural given his heritage. Cameroon had many languages, but French was an influence in the north, where he was born.
Annie was pure Midwest America. Average height, average weight, average straight hair that fell to her shoulders and average looks. Even her clothing choices were average, and her feet were never an inch or so away from the ground.
The day? Wednesday, and a hot, humid August morning on the sunset side of a Great Lake.
The place? The KaliKo Inn, the largest and most well-respected bed and breakfast in town. The turn-of-the-twentieth century home had been modernized years before Annie took over, and she maintained the fresh and open atmosphere. The house was filled with windows; the walls painted in light pastels. The guest rooms were spacious and well-appointed with modern bathrooms.
Henrie gave a low chuckle and turned back to the kitchen. “Will Chris join us for breakfast?”
Annie followed. “He will. He took Sis for a run early and just got into the shower. He’ll be training new seamen for a few days, so Sis will stay with us for a while.”
Chris was the Officer In Charge of the Coast Guard Station. He was everything Annie wanted in life. Except for the cats. She wanted them, too.
Chris was also an artist. He produced portraits of the companions around town and their humans. He also did landscapes.
Sis was the giant schnauzer.
“Very good. I shall alter my routine in order to accommodate a walk on the beach in the morning and afternoon.”
“Thanks, Henrie. I appreciate it. I’ll help. I should walk more.”
“Yes.”
“Okay. I will. I’ll take afternoons. Or mornings. I should take mornings. And afternoons.”
Henrie smiled to himself, knowing he would enjoy the summer air with Sis each time.
And so, another day had begun, Annie and Henrie in their easy camaraderie, the companions in the house accepting everything due them, and breakfast ready to be served to the guests of the Inn.