Powdered Murder

The press was onto me.

I jogged to safety and felt a cool shiver run down my spine as I entered the staff lounge. Joy was in the middle of an impromptu meeting. She waved at me to join her when she saw me. I studied the employees in the room. Aggie was sitting at a table with a cup of coffee, and most of her kitchen staff was with her. A couple of waiters listened eagerly as Joy read a statement written by Mr. Kentworth about how to behave concerning the events of yesterday.

"There you are." Taryn walked up beside me. "Have you seen our appointment book?"

"Oh, no," I whispered. "Don't tell me our regulars cancelled."

"Actually we have the opposite problem," she answered quietly. "You might even have to hire a new trainer."

"What?" I exclaimed a little too loud.

Joy shushed me.

"Sorry," Taryn quickly apologized. She resumed our side conversation. "All our slots have been filled and then some. We have a waiting list, a cancelation list, and a backup waiting list."

"You're joking."

"Blabby Millbreck is no longer your most high-profile client," Taryn said proudly. She swiped her bangs to the side.

We listened to the rest of Joy's speech from the doorway. She made sure the staff knew some of our guests could be undercover reporters trying to dig for more information. The kitchen staff agreed not to discuss the matter with strangers. Aggie continued sipping her coffee as Joy collected her things and joined me.

"We need to talk," Joy said. "Lunch?"

"Okay," I agreed. She forced a half smile which meant if she was going to be fired, it hadn't happened yet. Joy isn't the type of person who would waste time working for an employer who was pla

I met Taryn upstairs in my tiny office and reviewed our jam packed training schedule. The morning went fast and consisted of new clients and a few regulars. I found myself going through the motions of initial fitness testing and proper weight-lifting form. My mind was far away, near an occupied hospital bed.

In between clients my cell phone rang off the hook. I didn't know how the media had gotten hold of my number, but I resorted to screening all my calls and texting family and friends to let them know the quickest way to contact me would be filtering through the hotel phone lines.

I'd barely blinked when Joy knocked on the studio door after my last training session. I fixed my ponytail and grabbed my jacket, following her back downstairs. As we passed windows overlooking the ski lift I avoided looking through them. Joy did too, and she walked just as fast in her heels as I did in my work-out shoes.

"Where to?" she asked. "I have about thirty minutes." We entered the employee break room and lounge where Eli and Misty were sharing a chicken pot pie from the kitchen.

"Oh, Joy," Eli shouted. "There you are."

"Not now," Joy responded.

"Someone was looking for you."

"Mr. Kentworth?" She raised her eyebrows and took a deep breath. "Because he is always looking for me."

"No." Eli's eyes darted to the hallway behind us. "Oh, there he is."

Wade came strolling towards us with a smirk on his face and one of Aggie's homemade di

"What are you doing here?" Joy said quietly. She took a step forward and snatched the roll. "You can't just go around taking things either. This isn't a garage sale."

"I didn't steal it," Wade replied. "Aggie gave it to me."

"Bull," Eli shouted from inside the break room. Misty giggled.

"My charm appears to be good for something." Wade spoke casually, looking away from Joy when he said it.

"Why are you here?" she asked, bypassing the opportunity Wade had given her to argue some more.

"I'll tell you in a minute." Wade looked at me. "The sheriff’s looking for you, Essie. He's upstairs in the Columbine Room."

"The sheriff?" Joy repeated. "What is it this time? I don't think I can handle another homicide, theft, burglary, or whatever. When does it stop?" She rolled her eyes.

"Calm down, honey. Go on upstairs and see what he wants. The both of you."

"Honey?" I whispered to Joy. The two of us followed Wade's instructions and made our way back up the stairs, knowing our little chat with the sheriff would take up our entire lunch break.

"He's weird like that," Joy responded.

"The two of you never skip a chance to argue," I pointed out. "You're seeing him again, aren't you?"

"Essie, that's absurd." But Joy wouldn't look me in the eyes. Instead she pretended to check her watch.

"I know what you're doing, and you can only check your watch so many times."

"Essie," she said through her teeth.

"Can you even tell me what time it is?" I teased her.

"Okay fine." She spat it out like a giant pill she couldn't swallow. "We are back together. I don't know what came over me but…"

"I do," I commented. "He came over you."

"I don't know what to do." She rubbed her eyes. "He's so … I can't resist him sometimes."

"You slept at his place last night," I guessed. It was probably true though.

"Darn it, Essie, I hate it when you do that," she barked. "You can read people like an open book."

"Not all people," I reminded her.

"Am I crazy?"

"Last week I would have said yes," I answered. "But last week I didn't know Lila. You're definitely not crazy."

We continued walking until we pushed open the doors leading into the Columbine Room, the resort's second largest event room. The loud sound of clapping hit me like a free weight. My torso froze and I covered my mouth after blurting out a loud laugh. A good portion of the resort's staff was standing and clapping. They were headed up by Mr. Kentworth who was standing next to a buffet table with a ba

"We are here today for two reasons," he a

The audience began clapping again. I faintly smiled and nodded. "Essie, you stepped in at a critical hour and cleared our workers of any criminal charges. And Joy, you worked day and night to make the Jaye wedding a magical one."

"What good that did," Joy murmured. The few people who heard her chuckled.

"Joy," Mr. Kentworth went on. "I think it's safe to say you deserve this after everything that has happened. You handled yourself with such grace and such poise." Mr. Kentworth paused and discreetly winked at me. "Everyone, say hello to the resort's new Head Event Coordinator."

Joy's eyes widened. She stared vacantly at the congratulations ba