George discovered news of the ledger from me. When I informed Artie and Karen, the problematic office door hadn't closed properly and he overheard me talking about it. That’s when he came up with a plan to steal it. Attacking me was a case of me being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He insisted he didn't try to kill me but I wasn't sure I believed him, especially after his confession on the roof.
Unfortunately, all that remained of the ledger were the pages I photocopied. George burned the rest. He denied it, of course, but Detective Logan found embers in George's log fire in his den and I identified the cover from the scraps.
I wasn't exactly sure why he killed Lance but I figured since Lance wanted out, and George needed him around until he had his plan in place, they had some kind of argument and George panicked and killed him. He might have even thought Lance was about to turn on him. When it was clear to everyone Lance was behind the thefts, George knew he could pin the rest of the crimes on him too. I wasn't sure we'd ever know the full story.
"I'm so glad this all turned out okay," said Karen.
"Me too," I told her. All the charges against her were promptly dropped and the board started to make noises about promoting Karen too. Her ideas for fundraising were always excellent, and consistently better than Lance's ever were. I hoped she would be offered Lance's old job. She certainly deserved it. I had a feeling the board felt terribly guilty that George so deviously framed her with the missing dagger.
I looked around at the board members present. We were two short now that Lance's uncle resigned and George got fired. I wasn't entirely sure everyone else would stay on but I hoped Caroline would. She’d been a huge support over the past two weeks, ensuring the museum ran efficiently despite the substantially reduced staff.
"I'm going to miss you," I told Artie.
"Hmph. About that," he started. "I'm not so sure I'm ready to retire after all."
"Do you want your job back?" I asked, frowning. It took me a few days to accept the job offer and I still wasn't quite used to the idea but if I had to give it up, I would, but only to Artie.
"Oh no. Absolutely not!"
I frowned. "Then you're going to volunteer?"
He shook his head, grinning now. "Not that either. I've been invited to join the board. Turns out they need a president. I figure I can do a couple meetings a month. I'm sure things will be a lot quieter now the insurance claim is going through and our own people aren't robbing us."
"That's great news!"
"And," said Ethan, slipping his hand into mine, "I've submitted my application for the vacant board post. I'm well placed, given my work, and passionate about preserving the museum for future generations. I've been informally accepted and I hope to know the outcome soon. Naturally, if you don't want to work together..."
"Of course I do!" I squealed, hugging him, releasing him as my daughters joined us.
"You'll have to come over for lots of meetings at our house," said Leah.
Brooke nudged her. "Or you could go to a nice restaurant," she said.
"Yeah, or a bar," added Leah.
"I'd prefer to take your mom on a date rather than a work meeting," said Ethan.
"I suppose you could do that," said Leah as she and her sister giggled.
"And we could go out to dinner tomorrow night," suggested Ethan. "The four of us."
"We want to pick the place," said Brooke.
"Fine, but make sure it includes bowling in Hallowell too," said Ethan, grinning.
"You have no idea what you've let yourself into," I told him as he put his arm around my shoulders and kissed me on the lips, just long enough to make my girls giggle and for me to color. Ethan confessed he never dated a single mom before, and was surprised to learn I had children, but he was eager to continue dating as long as I was willing to. I definitely was.
"I think I do. I'm applying for the board here and a position with your family too. I'm not sure as what but I think it’ll be a combination of boyfriend, friend, chef, chauffeur..."
"Homework helper," said Leah.
"Mentor," suggested Brooke.
"All of the above," laughed Ethan.
"What do you say, Mom?" asked the girls together.
I smiled at them, my perfect little family. How lucky I was! I had everything I wanted. Two great daughters, a job I loved, people around me that I trusted and cared about. Now Ethan too. The future looked brilliantly bright. "Application received and granted," I said, with a decisive nod. I held my wine glass high. "Now let's party!"
Somewhere, a champagne cork popped.
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If you enjoyed your visit to Calendar, look out for the next book!
~
Love mysteries? Try Armed and Fabulous, book one in the bestselling Lexi Graves Mysteries, out in paperback and FREE ebook now!
All Lexi wants to do is get through the day at her boring temp job with Green Hand Insurance. That’s until she finds the CEO, Martin Dean, in a pool of blood and finds herself at the center of an investigation into insurance fraud.
Millions of dollars are missing, the chief suspect is dead and her mysterious, sexy, new boss is not what he seems.
Recruited by the joint task force working on the case, all Lexi has to do is work out who killed Martin and where the missing millions are. That’s easier said than done when her sister is demanding the baby shower to end all baby showers, her wise ass cop family just wants to keep her safe, someone is leaving her creepy gifts and all their clues are leading them to a seedy sex club on the wrong side of town.
As the bodies start to pile up, Lexi is on a race against time to find the killer and the money, before she’s next in the murderer’s sights.
Other books by Camilla Chafer:
Calendar Mysteries:
Jeopardy in January
Fear in February
Murder in March
Alibi in April
Mayhem in May
Deadlines Mysteries:
Deadlines
Dead to the World
Lexi Graves Mysteries:
Armed & Fabulous
Who Glares Wins
Command Indecision
Shock and Awesome
Weapons of Mass Distraction
Laugh or Death
Kissing in Action
Trigger Snappy
A Few Good Women
Ready, Aim, Under Fire
Rules of Engagement
Very Special Forces
In the Line of Ire
Stella Mayweather Series (Urban Fantasy):
Illicit Magic
Unruly Magic
Devious Magic
Magic Rising
Arcane Magic
Endless Magic
Mayhem in May Page 21