“Whatever.”
They walked the next block in silence, lost in their own thoughts, before crossing the street. Harriet peered in the darkened front window while Lauren rattled the door handle.
“Nobody home,” Lauren announced.
“And her quilt is down.” Harriet shaded her brow with her hand to better see the dark interior. “Look,” she said, and pointed.
Lauren joined her and struggled to see inside.
“Is that a note on the quilt?”
The shop Christmas quilt was neatly folded on a stool near the window with a folded piece of paper on top, Harriet’s name written in large block letters on it.
Harriet sighed.
“It is, and that sure looks like my name on it.”
Lauren looked at her.
“So, now what?”
“I’d like to pick the lock and go in and read the note.”
“But?”
Harriet laughed.
“Morse would kill us, but the main problem is the fact that I don’t have a set of lockpicks.”
“Are you implying you could use them if you had them?”
“Maybe, maybe not.”
Lauren pulled out her phone.
“We call Morse, right?”
“Unless we walk away and pretend we didn’t see anything.”
Lauren tapped the number into her phone and quickly explained the situation to Detective Morse.
“She’ll be here in a few minutes. She wants us to remember not to touch anything.”
CHAPTER 17
Harriet’s feet were completely numb by the time Detective Morse opened the door to Blood Moon. Officer Nguyen had arrived along with a second detective Harriet had never seen before and whom Morse had introduced as her new partner, Jason Martinez. Multiple calls were placed to the assistant district attorney and Morse’s lieutenant. She couldn’t hear everything that was said, but the words exigent circumstances seemed to be central to the discussions. Eventually, it was decided that, given the situation, entering the store in the absence of the owner wasn’t violating anyone’s Fourth Amendment rights.
Once inside, she immediately reached for the note, but Morse grabbed her wrist.
“Since we don’t know what’s going on here, let’s put gloves on you before you touch that.” She pulled a pair of black latex gloves from her pocket and handed them to Harriet. “Hold the gloves by the wrist edge while you slip your hand in so you don’t contaminate the finger areas.”
Harriet donned the gloves and opened the note from Jade. She read it out loud.
I’m sorry to dump my mess in your lap, but I have to leave the area. I’m afraid what happened to Daniel will happen to me, so I’ve decided to join my parents in South America.
I explained the situation to them, and they sent me a ticket. They also agreed with me that giving Becky to you was the best solution for her. I can’t bear to sell her to a stranger, and they don’t want me to stay around Foggy Point to deal with her. Their lawyer will be sending you all the paperwork, transferring ownership to you along with her registration papers. I’m so sorry to surprise you with this, but I hope you will keep her and give her a good home.
My parent’s lawyer will pay the rent on my shop until we figure things out, but I don’t expect to be back in Foggy Point any time soon.
Thank you again,
Jade
PS—The soap and lotion I owe you and Lauren are in boxes on the back counter—Merry Christmas.
Officer Nguyen stood with his hands on his hips.
“Is Becky a dog or a cat?”
“Actually, she’s a horse,” Harriet told him.
“She gave you a horse?”
Morse glared at him.
“Why don’t you check around the back and see if anything’s disturbed.”
Morse watched until he’d crossed the room and disappeared into the back room. She turned to Harriet.
“She gave you a horse?” she echoed Nguyen’s question.
“It’s a little complicated. Lauren and I paid the horse’s board bill this month, and I paid for a few more services for it. Jade is having money trouble. She was hoping this Christmas season was going to put her back in the black, but apparently that wasn’t happening. As you heard, she was spooked by the merchant deaths.
“And before you ask, I don’t know why her parents will pay her shop rent but won’t pay her horse bill.”
“She told us just the opposite before,” Lauren said. “So, that’s weird. Makes you wonder what she’s really telling them.”
“I wish we knew what’s going on with our merchant community,” Morse said, more to herself than to them. “I suppose you’re going to want the quilt.”
Harriet rubbed her hand over the folded quilt.
“No, I would like to see it hung back up again, though.”
“I think we can do that. Let me see if the powers that be want us to do any processing, given that I can’t see that a crime has been committed here.”
Lauren shivered.
“Can we get going? Harriet needs to pick up Luke, and I need to get home.”
Morse looked around.
“I guess so. And thanks for calling instead of going inside yourselves.”
“We would never do that,” Harriet said.
“Yeah, right,” Morse said with a wry smile. “And I suppose there’s no harm in you taking the gift boxes she left you. I would like a peek inside before you do, however.”
“No problem,” Lauren said and headed for the back of the shop.
Luke was in the barn with Emily when Harriet arrived to pick him up. He was standing next to a large unkempt gray horse that was cross-tied in the aisle.
“I need to finish brushing Major before I leave,” he told her.
Harriet walked over and patted the large horse on the neck.
“No problem. I need to talk to Marcia. Is she around?”
Emily ducked under the horse’s neck and joined her.
“She’s in the feed room preparing the evening meal. It’s the last door on the left.”
“Thanks,” Harriet said and headed down the aisle.
The door was open, and Marcia was bent over a large bin of grain.
“Knock, knock,” Harriet said.
“Hang on a minute,” Marcia said, and poured two scoops of feed from the bin into a small bucket before straightening up and turning around. “How can I help you?”
“I just came from Jade’s shop. It seems she’s joined her parents in South America.”
“What about Becky?”
Harriet pressed her lips together, as if keeping the words in would mean her new horse ownership wasn’t real. She blew a breath out.
“She left a note giving Becky to me. She said in the note that her parents’ attorney would be sending legal documents and the horse’s papers in a few days.”
Marcia was quiet for a long minute.
“Is she doing drugs again?” she finally asked.
Harriet’s eyebrows raised.
“Again?”
“Yeah, she had a bit of a drug problem. Used a little, sold a little. That was a while ago, though. When we were just out of high school. I thought she’d been clean since then. And she was not a big player in the drug scene, anyway. It seemed like the typical teenage rebellion. Her parents overreacted and sent her to a fancy rehab in California, and she stayed gone for a few years.”
“I haven’t seen any evidence of her being on drugs when I’ve dealt with her, but you never know.”
“Like I said, she was never a heavy user. Her parents just went nuts. Sounds like maybe they are again.”
“I’ll know more about Becky’s situation when I receive the documents from the attorney, and if she really is giving me the horse, I’ll need to talk to my husband and Luke about whether they’re on board with us becoming horse owners.”
“As you’ve noticed, Luke and Emily are interested in each other, them both being red-blooded Americ
an teenagers and all.”
Harriet chuckled.
“Having said that,” Marcia went on, “he did well for his first time with a horse. He seemed to bond with Major.”
“Good. He seems so world-weary at times, and he hasn’t really been interested in any of the activities at school. I’m hoping the horse program will help him let his guard down and enjoy life a little.”
“Major is a bit of a special case himself. He came to us from the Seattle Mounted Patrol. He was injured in the line of duty and came here for a well-earned retirement and a little therapy of his own.”
“What happened to him?”
“He was stabbed in the shoulder. He stepped between a mentally ill person with a knife and a young woman. Had she taken the blow Major took, she probably wouldn’t have survived.”
“Wow.”
“He’s lucky nothing vital was hit. He’s been a little wary of strangers since he got here, which as you can imagine will limit his usefulness as a therapy horse if he can’t get over it.”
“He seems to be doing okay with Luke, from what I saw.”
“I watched them a while, and he’s doing better with Luke than he has with anyone here so far.”
“This could be good for both of them. Maybe they’re kindred spirits.”
“That’s what I’m hoping. I got to get back to feeding. Feel free to come watch Luke with Major anytime.”
“Thanks, and I’ll let you know about Becky when I know.”
“How did it go?” Harriet asked Luke when they were back in the car with the heater blasting on high.
Luke held his hands in front of the vent.
“Major is amazing. He used to be a police horse.”
“So I’ve heard. I guess this means you want to go back again.”
He smiled. “Can I?”
“Of course you can. As long as you keep your schoolwork up.”
“No problem. Could we go to the store and get some carrots for next time? Emily said he likes carrots.”
“I think that could be arranged. James usually has a few dozen carrots in his big refrigerator at the restaurant.”
“Oh, yeah. I always forget about that.”
“How would you feel if we had a horse of our own?”
“That would be cool.”
“I have to talk to James and see what he thinks, but Jade is apparently going to give me Becky.”
“Would you keep her at the stable?”
“We would have to, if we keep her.”
“I guess we’d have to go there a lot, then.”
Harriet fought to keep a smile off her face.
“Would you mind if we did?”
Luke rubbed his hands together.
“I think we’d have time. I mean, I’m going to be volunteering with the therapy horses anyway, so I could keep an eye on Becky.”
“That could work very well, then.”
Luke sat at the kitchen table, his face tense. He looked from James to Harriet and back again as she explained the horse situation. James in turn watched Luke’s face as he spoke to Harriet.
“If you want to keep the horse, go for it. You’ve been around horses, so I’m sure you know what you’re getting into.”
Luke grinned. “Can I tell Emily?”
“You can tell her we’re willing to take Becky, but it’s not a done deal yet. I think I’d like my lawyer to look over whatever Jade’s lawyer sends. I’d feel more comfortable if they’d let us buy the horse. It feels a little weird being given such a valuable gift from a virtual stranger.”
“May I be excused?” Luke asked and started to stand.
Harriet put her hand on his arm, stopping him.
“This will only take a minute.”
He sat back down.
“Lauren and I were talking about Christmas dinner, and it made me think about the possibilities.”
James shook his head.
“Wait, don’t dismiss my worries,” she continued. “You know with Aiden coming to dinner, there will very likely be some sort of drama.”
“Sweetie, it’s only one day and one dinner,” James said. “We can have our own holiday dinner another night if it’s really bad.”
Luke started laughing and then tried without success to be serious.
“I’m sorry. I know you’re worried, but in my world, there’s drama every time a group of people get together. And if it doesn’t end up with knives, guns or the police, it isn’t really drama. And you know Aunt Beth and Jorge are going to make amazing food. James is right, it’s one night, and we can do our own holiday celebration if we want.”
Harriet slumped in her chair.
“You guys are right. I just wanted everything to be perfect for your first Christmas.”
Luke now put his hand on Harriet’s arm.
“It already is perfect. I’m here with you and James.” He looked down at the begging dogs. “And the pets. I’ve never had a pet. Besides, as my social worker always said when she’d send me back to live with my dad, ‘Luke my boy, life is messy.’”
James chuckled.
“That’s awful.”
“Yeah, well, that’s the system for you.”
“I still wish your first holiday didn’t have to include my ex-boyfriend drama.”
Luke shook his head.
“Can I go call Emily, now?”
“Sure,” Harriet and James said at the same time.
CHAPTER 18
Old-fashioned foil stars with small white twinkle lights in their centers festooned the quilt store’s windows and doors as the Loose Threads arrived for their weekly meeting. Beth entered the classroom wrapped in wool from head to toe. Snowflakes dusted her knitted cap and the shoulders of her plaid wool jacket.
Harriet set a mug of steaming gingerbread tea in front of her.
“When did it start snowing?”
Beth unwrapped her scarf and stuffed it down the sleeve of her coat, which was now hanging on the back of her chair.
“While I was in the yarn shop.”
“How are things going over there?”
“No new inventory, and the tension between Millie and her employee was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. And Millie looks like she’s aged overnight. I wish she would tell us what’s going on. She’s going to have another heart attack if she’s not careful.”
Harriet made herself a cup of peppermint tea.
“I’ve got news, but let’s wait until everyone else gets here so I don’t have to say it twice.”
“What don’t you want to say twice?” Lauren asked as she came in and settled into her favorite spot next to Harriet. Harriet slid her an empty mug along with a basket of holiday teas she’d brought from home.
“You already know.”
Lauren filled her cup with hot water from the carafe on the table.
“Oh, the horse thing.”
“What horse thing?” Mavis asked as she and Connie came in shedding their outer garments.
Harriet laughed.
“I’m trying to wait for everyone to get here before I tell my story. It’s not that big a deal, so don’t get your expectations up.”
Connie unwrapped a plate of Christmas cookies and set it on the table.
“Carla is parking, and she has more cookies.” She smiled. “She’s becoming quite the baker. We made extra to take to the homeless camp.”
DeAnn came in, followed by Carla and two more plates of cookies. Harriet took a chocolate krinkle when Carla had removed the plastic wrap.
“I hope you two didn’t think we were going to eat three plates of cookies today.”
Lauren took a Russian teacake from Connie’s plate.
“I’ll do my share.”
Carla took a box of sandwich bags from her quilt tote.
“I was hoping you would all take some of mine home and critique them for me.” Then, her cheeks turned pink, and she looked away.
“Carla is being modest,” Connie said. “She made up several of
the recipes herself.”
“I’m impressed.” Harriet said. “And I’ll have James try them.”
“Do you think he’d be willing to answer some questions about them?” Carla asked. “The texture isn’t quite right on my gingersnaps, but I don’t know how to fix it.”
“There isn’t much James likes to talk about more than food, so I’m sure he’ll be happy to tell you whatever you need to know,” Harriet told her.
Aunt Beth bit into a gingersnap. “Now that everyone’s here, I’d like to hear Harriet’s news.”
Robin set her mug on the table.
“What news.”
Harriet held both hands up in front of her.
“As I said earlier, it’s not that big. It’s mostly curious.”
Lauren rolled her eyes. “Just spit it out already.”
“Lauren and I went to see Jade yesterday, and she wasn’t at the store. In fact, she’s not in Foggy Point or even the country. Her shop was locked up and her Christmas quilt was folded on a stool in the window with a note on top with my name on it.”
“And before you ask,” Lauren said, making eye contact with Robin, who had started to interrupt. “We didn’t break in, we called Morse, and she let us in. Something about exigent circumstances.”
“Anyway,” Harriet continued. “The note said Jade was joining her parents in South America, and she’s giving me her horse.”
DeAnn brushed cookie crumbs from her hands.
“Can she do that? I mean, without telling you first?”
“Sure,” Robin said. “And I’m guessing she had some reason to believe Harriet would be receptive to the idea.”
“She does,” Lauren answered for Harriet.
Harriet sipped her tea.
“When I picked Luke up at the stable the other day, I was talking to Marcia the assistant manager, and she said Jade has had drug problems in the past. Using and selling. Marcia says her parents overreacted and sent her to an out-of-state rehab, and she wasn’t seen in Foggy Point for several years.”
“Wow, she must have been in deep,” Carla said.
“According to Marcia, she wasn’t. She says it was typical teenage experimentation. She said the parents overreacted big time. And apparently, they’re doing so again.”
The 12 Quilts of Christmas Page 11