***
Annie passed Molly a cup of coffee. “How many stationery stores do we have in town?”
Sally ran her finger down the listings in the phone directory. “Six. That doesn’t include places like Walmart.”
Molly reached for a cookie. “How many are open today?”
“Only three listed their store hours and two are open today. So I guess that’s as good a place as any to start.”
Tess opened her notebook and read from the notes she’d made. “All we need to do is look for someone called Connie Thompson who’s engaged to a mechanic called Dave Brown. It can’t be that hard to find her.”
“If she doesn’t work at either of the two stores that are open, we’ll need to work out when we’re going to visit the others.” Sally looked down at her heels. “Can I use a couple of your Band-Aids, Annie?”
“Sure.” Annie walked across to her bag and rummaged around inside. “What do you think their neighbor meant by ‘gone home’?” She passed Sally a couple of Band-Aids and looked at her feet. “Ouch. You did that this morning?”
“Mostly last night.” Sally winced as she covered her blisters. “Gone home could mean they’re living with their parents. They could have moved out of the area.”
Tess shook her head. “I don’t think they would have moved to another town. They’ve both got jobs in Bozeman. It wouldn’t make sense to leave, especially two weeks before their wedding.”
Sally sat back in her chair. “So we’ve looked in the phone directory and there’s no listing for either the bride or groom-to-be. What about their parents or other family? I could stay here with someone and call all of the Thompsons and Browns in the phone book. Whoever doesn’t want to help me could visit the stationery stores.”
“Sounds good to me,” Annie said. “I’ll stay with Sally. My head’s still a bit fuzzy from last night.”
“Moonshine will do that to a girl,” Molly said with a smile. “So that leaves Tess and me at the stationery stores. Do you want anything while we’re out?”
“A new head,” Sally said half-jokingly.
Tess opened a cupboard in the kitchen and left a small container beside Sally. “It’s not a new head, but Tylenol might do the trick. We’ll be back soon.”
“Good luck.” Sally pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. “I’ve got a feeling you’ll be back before we’ve finished.”
Tess picked up her car keys. “You could be right. Are you ready to go, Molly?”
“Ready and waiting. I’ve never been so excited about visiting a stationery store before.”
Tess smiled. Neither had she.
All of Me Page 10