by Amber Crewes
M eghan felt shaken as she watched Lee leave. This was the second time an interaction with him had left her feeling uncomfortable, and while at first, she had been drawn to his warm spirit and handsome face, now, she was determined to keep her distance.
She nearly jumped out of her skin as her phone began vibrating in her pocket. It was Jackie.
“It’s crashing and burning, Meghan. It’s a disaster, and we are in major trouble.”
Meghan frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“The barn. I’ve shown it to five potential clients today, and nobody's booking events. I even offered a massive discount to the last three visitors, and they still didn’t bite. I don’t know what to do.”
“What kind of discount? You didn’t mention that to me,” Meghan complained. “You need to check with me before making any decisions about the barn, Jackie. You can’t just slash the price at the drop of a hat.”
“We have to get bookings, Meghan,” she said dismissively. “That strange woman scared off another client; she showed up to the barn in a panic, and before I could call the police, she was gone.”
“She showed up again?”
“She keeps appearing at the worst times. She came inside of the barn and spooked the clients just as I was opening the computer to schedule their booking. We were so close to making it happen, and she appeared out of nowhere.”
“This is unacceptable.”
“I agree,” Jackie replied. “I don’t know what we can do about her. Is there any way Jack can stand guard at the barn while we give tours? Surely he will scare her away?”
“That’s a great idea,” Meghan cried. “Well, we can’t have Jack stand outside of the barn all day, but we can do something even better.”
“What is that?”
Meghan pressed her palm to her forehead, filled with exasperation. “We need to hire a security guard to watch the place while we give tours,” she told Jackie. “That’s going to be a non-negotiable from now on. A security guard will allow us to work with less pressure knowing that woman will be off of our property. We are also going to invest in security cameras to place around the property. We’ll have two outside of the main doors, two outside of the back doors, one for the loft, one for the main event space, and several for the outdoor patios. We can’t risk losing any more business, and this can help us if we need to get the police involved.”
“That will cost an arm and a leg!” Jackie exclaimed. “A security guard? Security cameras? Meghan, we don’t have this kind of money. I don’t know how you expect to finance these things.”
“Coming from the lady who offered a massive discount to a potential client? Jackie, if you are serious about this barn, we have to take every measure to make it work. And if investing in an hour of security coverage will help us secure fifteen hours of event time, so be it. It’s a smart business move, and I think you need to get on board.”
Jackie began to talk back, but Meghan paused, pulling the phone away from her ear. Outside of the bakery, she saw the strange woman from the barn. She was dressed in a long gray dress with a matching hat, and her long hair was woven into a single braid down her back.
“I have to call you back,” Meghan whispered into the phone as she dove onto the floor. “I hope she didn’t see me.”
Meghan army-crawled to the kitchen so the woman could not see her through the windows. Was she being watched? Meghan was determined to find out; she pulled a pair of oversized sunglasses out of her purse and wrapped a scarf around her neck, determined to conceal her identity. “She won’t recognize me now,” she thought as she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the oven window.
Meghan slipped out the back door and slowly made her way to the front of the bakery. The woman was still outside. She did not see Meghan. “I have to keep my distance,” she thought as she ducked behind a light pole. “She could be dangerous.”
Meghan crouched low to the ground, keeping her eyes on the woman. The woman started walking down the street, and she knew she had to follow her. Meghan staggered herself a few feet behind her, stopping every few moments to slip behind bushes or pretend to check her watch. She could not be found out if she wanted to get the answers she was looking for.
After ten minutes of walking, Meghan was surprised to see the woman walk into Kayley Kane’s real estate agency. Meghan smiled as she saw Kayley’s office window was open, and she knelt down behind a bush with her ear as close to the window as she could place it.
As she expected, she heard Kayley greet the woman. “How was your lunch break, Gloria?”
So the mystery woman had a name!
“It was fine, nothing special,” Gloria replied.
“Does she work with Kayley?” Meghan wondered as she eavesdropped outside of the window.
“The campaign to sabotage the barn is working,” Gloria gleefully informed Kayley as Meghan stifled a gasp. “There are no paid bookings for the entire next month. Word on the street is that tacky Jackie is slashing the prices out of desperation. It’s been quite the job for me to ruin this barn. They threatened to call the police the last time I was there. I’ve been wearing disguises, but Kayley, I can’t risk getting caught.”
Meghan heard Kayley chuckle. “You won’t get caught,” she haughtily declared. “The Sandy Bay police are incompetent. Anyway, there are only a few days left of our plan. Be patient, and be careful. If this all works out, I will be making a low ball offer to Jackie before the week is over. I’ll own that barn, and I will turn it into the nicest event venue this town has seen in ages.”
Meghan’s stomach churned. How could Kayley be so manipulative and cruel? She wanted to throw up; the reality of the situation was sobering, and as she crouched beneath the window, she knew she needed some fresh air. She maneuvered past the bushes and into the daylight.
“Hey there!”
Meghan saw Noah Morrison round the corner. She waved, smiling weakly, as he passed on by. Suddenly, she felt her nose itch; the strong smell of Noah’s cologne had tickled her nostrils, and she couldn't contain herself. Meghan sneezed loudly, and she heard Kayley and the mysterious woman stop talking.
“Has my cover been blown?” she worried as she wiped her nose on her sleeve. She heard Kayley and the woman resume their conversation, and she sighed in relief. “Maybe Jack is right,” she thought as she navigated away from the window and began to run down the street. “Maybe I do need to leave the detective work to him.”
15
T he next morning, Meghan slept late. It was a chilly Sunday morning, and the bakery was closed for the day; Meghan had a pipe burst a few months back, and while it had been patched, it was time to get it fixed for good. Sundays were slow anyway, and it was the perfect time to hire a repairman.
As the sunlight streamed in through the windows, Meghan felt her stomach curl. She had not eaten dinner the night before, and as she lay in bed, hunger pangs made her groan. “Puppies? Are you hungry?” she asked Fiesta and Siesta. “Let’s make a big breakfast this morning. The repairman is downstairs fixing the pipe, but I’ll cook up here in the apartment.”
Meghan sprang out of bed, thankful she had no plans for the day. It had been a wild, chaotic week, and she needed some rest. She threw on a pair of maroon sweatpants and a matching tee shirt, and she walked into her small kitchen.
Her heart sank as she looked at the dozens of photos taped to her refrigerator door. There were photos of Meghan and her dogs, Meghan and Jackie, Meghan and Karen, and Meghan and Jack. Jack. Her face darkened as she remembered their argument. Was it time to make things right?
Meghan decided she needed to reach out to him. They hadn’t spoken since their disagreement, and as she retrieved her cell phone and dialed his number, she hoped their conversation would not be awkward.
“Jack?”
“Hey,” he answered coolly.
“Hey,” she replied. “I have the day off today, and I am going to make a huge breakfast and enjoy a long, lazy morning. Do you want to come over? Can I cook for y
ou?”
There was a short pause, but Meghan’s heart fluttered when Jack agreed to come over. “I’ll have it ready in about an hour,” she told him. “I have to run to the grocery, but I’ll be quick. Give me an hour, and then come on over.”
They hung up the phone, and Meghan ran to her bedroom and grabbed her yellow jacket out of the closet. She ran downstairs and out the back door, eager to make her grocery trip a fast one. As she walked, she thought about the conversation she had overheard between Kayley and Gloria. She couldn’t believe that Kayley could really be the mastermind behind the lack of bookings at the barn. “After all we’ve been through,” she muttered as she turned the corner and entered the grocery store.
Meghan peered down at her list. She needed butter, eggs, toast, jam, grapefruit, cinnamon, and whipped cream to make the enormous breakfast she had envisioned, and she hurried off to the produce section to pick through the fruit.
“Meghan?”
Meghan gasped as she walked right into Frank Abbott. “Frank,” she murmured as her dark eyes widened. “What are you doing here?”
“Just grabbing some groceries,” he shrugged. “The police let me go. All of my food at home went bad after being at the station for the last few days, so I needed to grab a few things…”
“I see,” Meghan said, lowering her eyes and shifting awkwardly. “Well, I’ll see you later, then…”
Frank reached out and grabbed Meghan’s shoulder. She shuddered. “Meghan, please don’t treat me like the rest of the town,” he pleaded, his eyes filled with sadness. “This whole thing has been miserable, and I just don’t know what to do. I didn’t kill Jodie, Meghan. I swear. Someone has to believe me.”
Meghan bit her lip. She liked to think she was a good judge of character, and as she looked into Frank’s devastated face, she felt as though she knew the truth. She did not believe that Frank was the killer, and she wanted to comfort him. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Can we talk privately, Frank? Away from the grocery store?”
“I want to talk now,” he insisted.
“I want you to have a sense of privacy,” she told him. “We can’t talk freely at the grocery store.”
Frank nodded. “There’s that new coffee shop around the corner?”
“Surf Perk,” Meghan replied. “Let’s go.”
Meghan and Frank walked out of the grocery store and around the corner. Frank pulled his fedora hat over his eyes, but he was still receiving puzzled looks from those around him. They entered the coffee shop, and Meghan offered to order for him.
When she returned with the drinks, she found Frank slumped over in his chair. “I brought you a honey latte,” she told him as she handed him the steaming golden drink. “I thought something sweet would do you good.”
He smiled weakly. “Thank you for talking with me,” he told her. “I’ve needed someone to talk to, and well, everyone thinks I’m guilty. I need someone who is at least neutral.”
“Just call me Switzerland,” Meghan said kindly as she reached over to pat his hand. “I’ll be as neutral as possible, Frank.”
“Where to begin?” Frank wondered. “Well, first, I didn’t kill Jodie.”
“Were you married to her?”
“I suppose I was,” he admitted shamefully. “Meghan, I am going to be honest with you: my mind is slipping, and I honestly did not clearly recall the details of my marriage to Jodie when Sally and I first met. When I met Sally, I had been alone for years. I didn’t remember how things ended with Jodie; our relationship was messy, and I tried to block a lot of it out.”
“So why did you meet with Jodie recently?”
“She reached out to me,” he shrugged. “She sent me a letter to offer me a divorce at last. She said she had met someone special and wanted to marry him. I was horrified to discover I was still married, but together, Jodie and I started the paperwork to begin our divorce process. I believed the divorce would be finalized by my wedding day, but I was mistaken.”
Meghan raised an eyebrow. “Why was your marriage with Jodie so bad?”
He hung his head. “I was young and selfish when we met,” he explained solemnly. “And my selfishness cost me my marriage. I have so many regrets about my time with her, and my character during that time. I always wanted to make it right with her, and she gave me an opportunity to do so when she finally asked for the divorce. We secretly met in Portland a few weeks ago to discuss it, and after twenty-five years, she was willing to sign the paperwork and end it for good.”
“It sounds like that was the best decision for both of you.”
“I was so happy when I got to apologize to her in person,” he said, a smile creeping onto his face. “The day after the failed wedding, I booked a flight to Mexico to purchase a pearl necklace for my sweetheart, Sally. I felt so guilty that I had gone off to Portland to see Jodie, and that she had ruined our day, I wanted to get a special gift for my love to celebrate our relationship and to smooth things over.”
Meghan raised an eyebrow. “That timing of your flight seems a little strange,” she told him.
“That’s what the police said,” Frank sighed. “I wanted it to be a surprise for Sally to wear on the surprise cruise I had booked for our honeymoon.”
“So what happened after the wedding? Didn’t you meet with Jodie at the beach?” Meghan asked.
He nodded. “We had signed all of the paperwork, and for whatever reason, she showed up to my wedding. I found out the paperwork had not gone through. Jodie agreed to talk with me, and I proposed that we meet on the beach. When I showed up, she was nowhere to be found, so I just went home. The police later told me that her body was found in the same stretch of beach where we were planning to meet, and they found our texts and emails discussing our plans.”
Meghan bit her lip. She was blown away by Frank’s sad story, but she wanted to know more. “That day on the beach...did you see anything out of the ordinary? Was anything amiss?”
Frank wrinkled his nose. “Not that I remember,” he said with embarrassment. “My mind really isn’t the best, dear. Sometimes, I don’t even know what day it is.”
Meghan’s phone vibrated, and she looked down to see Jack’s name on the screen. “Oh no,” she muttered. “He’s probably waiting for me at home.”
She rose from her seat. “I have to go, Frank, but if you think of anything from that day that seemed odd, please call me, okay?”
Frank nodded. “You believe me, don’t you, Meghan?”
She gritted her teeth. “Of course, Frank,” she lied. “Of course I believe you.”
16
M eghan was late to her own breakfast date, but as she scurried back to her apartment, she was not thinking about Jack. Her mind was racing as she reflected on her conversation with Frank. She wanted to believe him; Frank had always seemed so sweet, and Mrs. Sheridan adored him. Meghan just didn’t know how she could believe him; if he didn’t kill Jodie Abbott, who did? Frank’s story was filled with holes, and he even admitted that his mind was slipping. What if he killed Jodie and didn’t even remember doing it?
Meghan wanted to believe that Frank had changed his ways, that the selfish doctor he once was had been transformed by the powers of time and love. “People can change,” Meghan thought to herself as she walked quickly down the street toward her apartment. “People can change for the better.”
She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t see Mrs. Sheridan before she crashed into her.
“Meghan!” Mrs. Sheridan screeched as they collided. “What are you doing? What are you thinking? I was waving and saying hello to you, and you walked right into me. Are you doing that thing kids do? That texting? I bet you were texting and you didn’t even realize I was in front of you.”
Meghan gasped for breath. She had run into Mrs. Sheridan hard, and she placed her hands on her knees in hopes of catching her breath. “I wasn’t texting, Mrs. Sheridan,” she choppily insisted. “I was just thinking.”
Mrs. Sheridan shook her head
, her white bun shaking violently as she moved. “You need to be more careful,” she screeched. “You could have killed me.”
Meghan’s face paled at Mrs. Sheridan’s choice of words. “I apologize, Mrs. Sheridan,” she said softly. “I’ll be more careful next time.”
Mrs. Sheridan nodded. “Good. That’s what I wanted to hear.”
Meghan placed a hand on her shoulder. “How are you doing?”
“How do you think I am doing?” Mrs. Sheridan snapped. “Frank has been released from jail, and I am so angry with him. He’s been bombarding my house with flowers and love notes. I should recycle them and open a flower and card shop. I don’t know what to do. I think I can forgive him, but I don’t think I can be the wife of a jailbird. Do you think he did it, Meghan? Do you?”
Meghan bit her lip. “I don’t think I have enough information to make an informed guess,” she shrugged. “I’m sorry.”
Mrs. Sheridan’s face fell. “It all would have been fine if Jodie Abbott hadn’t ruined my big day. She should have just left Frank alone after all of those years they were apart.”
“Did you know Jodie?” Meghan asked gently. “Did you know about her?”
Mrs. Sheridan crossed her arms in front of her bosom. “I may have known Jodie Abbott,” she admitted. “She’s from here, you know. I knew she and Frank were married, but they left Sandy Bay decades ago. When she and I reconnected, I was under the impression they had divorced; Jodie did not speak highly of Frank, and she had a son with a different father.”
“Lee,” she thought.
“Jodie reached out to me years ago to help edit a book she was writing. She told me she was a single mother in need of help, and I agreed to look over the book. It was good, but I helped her turn it into a great story. I did it for free.”
“That was kind of you.”
“No good deed goes unpunished, “Mrs. Sheridan scoffed. “That little book became a huge hit in the 80s, and eventually, it was made into a film on the Hallmark Channel.”