by Mary Maxwell
“Or now and always,” I said. “But I am glad Dixie’s taking care of her ankle. There’s nothing worse than aggravating an injury like that.”
“Remember the time your sister sprained hers?” asked Dina. “The school dance was the next night, and Liv went anyway.”
I groaned. “Oh, don’t remind me! I thought my mother would never stop talking about that one!”
Dina’s laugh was loud and lengthy. “She probably still tells that story, Katie. That’s one of the maternal rules of engagement.”
“I don’t think that I’ve heard about those rules,” I said.
She grinned. “You will,” she said. “I bet that the minute you and Zack tie the knot there will be a baby carriage parked in the kitchen at Sky High.”
I reached over and gave her hand a playful swat. “Don’t say that! I’m drowning in plans for the rehearsal dinner and travel plans and gifts for the wedding party and a million other things.”
“It’s going to be amazing when you walk down the aisle,” she said. “I bet you’re going to be one of the most beautiful brides anyone’s ever seen.”
I dismissed the comment with a smirk and a flick of my wrist. “Nonsense,” I said. “I don’t even have a dress picked out yet. How can you say it’ll be beautiful?”
She arched one eyebrow. “Because you’ll be in it,” she said. “It could be a flour sack, but you’ll make it shine!”
A young girl approached the table. She looked around sixteen, with gorgeous cocoa skin and vibrant brown eyes.
“Are you ready to order?” she asked.
I stole a quick glance at her name tag: Jasmine. I guessed that she was the new staff member that Dixie had raved about the last time she was in Sky High for breakfast.
“That would be wonderful,” Dina said. “How about a pot of strawberry sassafras tea and the small dessert sampler, Katie? Does that sound okay?”
“It sounds perfect,” I said. “If we need more bits to nibble later we can add a scone or two.”
Jasmine smiled. “I can add a couple of our new blueberry lemon scones,” she said. “I’m sure that Dixie would want you to have a taste of the new recipe.”
“That would be fantastic,” I said. “Thanks very much.”
“You’re welcome,” Jasmine replied. “I’ll be back soon with your tea.”
After she’d slipped into the back, Dina commented on Jasmine’s gentle demeanor.
“It’s a nice change of pace,” I said. “You’re usually surrounded by those hardnosed cops and hardened criminals.”
“Or whiny punks,” she said. “I am so sick of listening to Wynona Bergen and her whiny brother complains that they’re the real victims in the Walker Oldham case.”
“What about the other four?”
“Those too,” Dina said. “But we’ve been primarily focused on Oldham since it’s the only one of the five that happened in our jurisdiction.”
“But this is the FBI’s case, isn’t it?”
“In terms of the investigation, they definitely helped because of the multiple locations,” Dina said. “But they don’t prosecute cases. That’s all handled at the local or state level.”
“Are you working with the other cities?” I asked.
“We’ll coordinate as much as we can and with whatever is helpful to the individual cases,” she said. “The fact that Walker Oldham was the most recent victim and the suspects live here will probably mean our case will go to trial first. Then they’ll probably face charges in Atlanta, Houston and Sacramento.”
“That sounds like a nightmare to manage,” I said.
She shrugged. “I’m not looking forward to it, but what’re we going to do? It’s reality. We just need to hope that everyone plays well with others as much as possible.”
“Too bad Wynona and Todd never learned that lesson,” I said.
“Agreed,” Dina replied. “Nothing justifies what they did, but I do realize their younger years were grim and painful.”
“What’s the latest on evidence?” I asked.
“Between you and me,” she said, “things are coming together nicely. The FBI found Wynona and Todd on surveillance video from the Atlanta, Houston and Sacramento airports before and after the Packwood, Gleave and Corcoran murders. As you can probably imagine, the tech and lab teams in those cities are beyond stellar.”
“I remember working with them on cases when I was in Chicago,” I said. “Pretty much blew my mind with their digital and processing capabilities.”
She smiled. “I’ve seen it in action,” she agreed. “Trent, Tyler and I keep daydreaming about how amazing it would be if we had one-tenth of what they’ve got.”
“Well, the good news is they helped out this time,” I said.
“True,” Dina said. “But our team is pretty stellar on its own. Tyler found a new eyewitness yesterday that placed Todd Sutton, wearing his Crescent Creek Laundry uniform, in the vicinity of Oldham’s office about ten minutes before Walker and Pam Newill were shot.”
“That’s great news! One more brick in the wall, right?”
“Absolutely,” Dina said. “Someone else who stepped up was Danny Cargill. He confirmed that he saw Todd going into the conference room around the time the threatening calls were made to Natalie Packwood.”
“What do you mean that Danny stepped up?” I asked.
She smiled. “He told me that he went to McDonald’s that day,” she explained. “But when Tyler brought him in for a second time, Danny confessed to running into Todd as he and his dining companion were on their way out of the conference room.”
“His dining companion?”
“Danny’s words, not mine,” she said. “Apparently, he’s been having an affair with a married coworker. They meet once a week in the conference room for lunch and some fooling around.”
“Naughty Danny,” I said. “He seemed so innocent and helpful when he and Krista came to see me at Sky High.”
She rolled her eyes. “Isn’t it always the innocent and helpful ones that go rogue?”
“I don’t know about always,” I said, “but they definitely seem to cross those proverbial lines way more often than other folks.”
“What about the anonymous notes?” I asked.
“Wynona’s idea,” Dina said. “She used Danny Cargill’s old Briarfield address as a red herring, just like inserting Ed Lambert’s name in the cryptic notes. After Wynona found Zoey’s old diary, she took out the pages, wrote the notes and prepared the envelopes. Todd was responsible for mailing the first two and delivering the third one to your apartment door.”
I nodded. “That explains the cigarette stench and Doritos dust.”
“I don’t think that I’ll ever be able to eat another one of those chips again,” Dina said. “This case ruined them for me.”
“Luckily,” I said, “there are plenty of other options for you.”
CHAPTER 39
My mother called early the next morning. After describing all of the purchases she made the night before on QVC, she asked if I was finished with the Walker Oldham case.
“For the most part,” I said. “There will probably be more debrief sessions with the CCPD.”
“Well, I heard from Blanche Speltzer last night,” she said. “We’re both still numb thinking about Todd and Wynona Sutton killing all those people.”
“It’s probably the most shocking crime in Crescent Creek since the town was founded,” I said.
She sighed. “No doubt about it, dear. I still haven’t heard a peep about where those two children were before they were adopted, but it seems like they must’ve come straight from Hades.”
“Like a pair of bad seeds in one pod,” I said.
“Well, I don’t know about you,” my mother replied, “but I’d like to talk about something a little less gloomy. That’s actually why I called, sweetheart.”
“What’s on your mind?”
“Something borrowed,” she said. “And something blue.”
&
nbsp; I cringed. “Have you been thinking about the wedding again?”
“What do you mean? It’s on my mind constantly, Katie. Our youngest daughter is getting married! That’s only going to happen once…I mean, for the first time, that is.”
“Mother! Talk about gloomy!”
She yelped. “No, it’s not! I’m a practical woman. The divorce rate in this country is—”
“That’s enough!” I said firmly. “We’ve been down this road before, Mom. I don’t want to have this conversation ever again, okay?”
She didn’t say anything, but I heard her sulking loudly on the other end. In between each heavy breath, she murmured a few words to herself. I imagined it was probably something plucked from her greatest hits: Do I deserve to be treated so poorly? What child says such hateful things to their mother? After all that we’ve done for you, this is how you treat us?
“Are you still there?” I asked eventually.
She sniffled softly. “Does it matter?”
“Oh, let’s not be too melodramatic,” I said.
“I’m not.” She cleared her throat. “I’m doing the best I can, dear. After all we’ve done for you, this is—”
My father said something in the background.
“What did he say?” I asked.
“He wanted to know if I’m ready to leave for Olive Garden.”
“Oh, you guys are going out to eat?” I asked.
“I don’t have the strength to cook,” she replied. “Plus, I’m a little woozy from all of the sleepless nights.”
“Why haven’t you been sleeping?”
“Because I was worried about you,” my mother answered. “When I heard about Walker Oldham and those other poor people, I started to worry that maybe more victims would turn up in Crescent Creek. And I didn’t want your name on that list, dear.”
“You didn’t need to worry about me,” I said.
She heaved another sigh. “Well, yes I did. That’s my role in life, dear. I’m your mother. And even though you’re an adult who will be getting married soon, I’ll never stop worrying about you.”
CHAPTER 40
Julia and I were standing at the pass window the next afternoon watching Harper refill coffee cups. It was nearly three o’clock. We’d been counting down the minutes until closing time for the past forty-five minutes.
“I’ve never wished for more prep work or special orders,” Julia said, “but this standing around is making me nuts.”
“Why don’t you go ahead and leave?” I said. “I can clean the kitchen and put everything way.”
She shook her head. “I appreciate that, Katie. It’s only a few more minutes.”
We both heard the bell on the front door chime.
“Or another hour,” I said. “Sounds like we might have one more table coming in the door.”
But it wasn’t last-minute lunch customers. It was Mitzi Longview, looking more delighted than I’d ever seen before.
“Katie!” she called when she was midway across the dining room. “You three did the most amazing job with our anniversary party!”
Harper gave her a wave as she returned the coffee pot to the warmer behind the counter.
“I mean, the food was fabulous!” Mitzi continued. “I know that I asked for a million and one changes, but I think the combination of appetizers and desserts was one-hundred percent flawless!”
When she reached the counter, she walked right around and gave Harper a hug.
“Well, thank you, Mrs. Longview,” Harper said. “We always aim to exceed expectations, so it’s nice to know that we achieved our goal.”
Mitzi reached out and tweaked Harper’s cheek. “Isn’t that cute? Exceed expectations?”
Harper was left speechless, so she simply nodded and motioned through the pass window at Julia and me.
“Every single one of our guests raved about the food,” Mitzi continued. “Even Tammy and Derrick told me that they were impressed, and you know those two snobs never pay a compliment to anyone!”
I’d never met the couple, so I simply nodded and smiled.
“And I’ll tell you what!” Mitzi said. “Blanche Speltzer told me that it was the finest work anyone from Sky High has ever done, including your mother and grandmother!”
“Well, that’s really kind,” I said. “Although I hope my mother never hears that comment.”
Mitzi threw back her head and laughed. “Too late for that,” she said. “I was on the phone with your mother this morning to give her a full report. She emailed me earlier in the week to make sure everything was going according to plan. Your family has been doing the food for our anniversary party for decades, Katie. I couldn’t exactly ignore your mother, could I?”
I shook my head. “I’ve tried. It’s impossible.”
“Isn’t that precious?” she asked with a giggle. “Your mother told me that you’d say something like that.”
“She did?”
Mitzi nodded. “And it doesn’t surprise me. Your relationship is a lot like my daughter and I. Sort of a love-hate tango.”
“I don’t know about that,” I replied. “I don’t hate my mother.”
“Well, of course not,” Mitzi said. “But aren’t there times when you disagree with her?”
I smiled, but kept my mouth closed.
“And doesn’t she do a few things that drive you mad?”
“All the time,” Julia said, coming back to the front line from the walk-in. “Like, on a daily basis.”
I turned and glared at her.
“What?” she said. “You’re always telling us about the little spats that you have with your mother.”
“Well, yeah,” I said. “But we don’t need to tell the world!”
Mitzi laughed. “Oh, don’t worry, Katie. Maybe we should call it the love-dislike tango then. I know that my daughter feels exactly the same way. And I don’t blame her. I mean, my mother used to make me bonkers! It’s just the way of the world.”
I shrugged. “Maybe. But I’m thrilled to hear that you were happy with the party.”
She clapped her hands. “Over the moon!” she said. “Over! The! Moon!”
“That’s so awesome!” Harper cheered, sliding in beside Mitzi. “Isn’t it guys?”
“Completely!” Julia said.
“It really is rewarding to hear,” I added. “Thank you for coming by to let us know. That makes the day complete, Mitzi!”
“You’re very welcome,” she said. “And guess what?”
“What?” I said, feeling a curious squiggle in my stomach as she tugged a notebook from her purse.
“We get to do it again!” Mitzi said. “My husband’s birthday is right around the corner, so I thought maybe we could get started this week with menu planning. What do you think?”
I looked at Harper. Then I glanced at Julia. And then I turned back to Mitzi.
“I think that’s fantastic!” I said. “Can’t wait to hear what you have in mind!”
CHAPTER 41
Adam Caldwell was waiting at a table when I walked into Café Fleur the next night at seven. He was dressed in a blue blazer and khakis with a white shirt and striped tie. I’d never seen him looking so dapper, and he blushed when I mentioned it.
“I didn’t realize the dress code was formal,” I said as he stood to shake hands. “Otherwise, I would’ve done something about the way I look.”
He smiled. “You look fine. I’m wearing this because I met with a couple of banks this afternoon in Boulder. Figured it might be a good idea to look presentable.”
“In my book,” I said, “if you’re wearing shoes, you’re presentable.”
He held my chair as I sat down and then walked around the table.
“Do you have one of those signs at Sky High?” he asked. “No shirt, no shoes, no service?”
“We do,” I said, “but it’s very tiny and actually says, ‘No sense of humor, no service.’”
He smiled. “Just like the one on my desk at work.”
“Deputy Chief Walsh has something similar,” I said. “Except it says, ‘No sense of humor,’ to warn people that haven’t met him before.”
“How is Trent these days?” Adam asked. “I haven’t talked to him for weeks.”
“He’s just the same,” I answered. “Depending on the day, he’s like one of Snow White’s lesser-known dwarves: Ornery, Feisty, Cranky or Grouchy.”
Adam reached for the bottle of chardonnay sitting in an ice bucket in the middle of the table.
“Would you like some?” he asked. “I got here early and decided to relax a bit.”
“Yes, please,” I said. “I’ll take a splash.”
After he poured the wine, I asked about his meetings in Boulder.
“Time will tell,” he said. “I never realized that applying for a business loan could be so complicated.”
“It helps if you’ve done it before,” I said. “But it just takes organization and patience.”
“Those I have,” he said, raising his glass. “Anyway, here’s to you and Zack. I haven’t seen you in person since you two got engaged.”
“Thanks very much.” We touched glasses and I took a sip. “It’s incredible to find someone as wonderful.”
Adam nodded. “I feel the exact same way about Madelyn.”
“It makes life that much richer, doesn’t it?”
He smiled. “What a great way to put it, Katie. I’d have to agree with that. Being with the right person makes life richer and more fulfilling.”
“And now you guys are getting ready to set off on a new adventure,” I said. “New town, new business and—”
“And a new puppy!” He pulled out his phone and showed me a picture of Madelyn holding a tiny ball of brown fur. “This is Austin. He was three months in this shot, but he’s about doubled in size since then.”
“Super cute!” I said, admiring the photograph. “Was he a rescue?”
Adam grinned. “Yep! He rescued us from permanent couch potato status. Now we’re taking walks every night and I’ve dropped five pounds.”
“Congrats on that, too!” I said, holding up my glass again.