by R A Wallace
Caitlyn walked into the Station Pub & Grill and marveled at what a difference a day makes. Last night, she and Jax had come to the restaurant hoping to convince both their mother and Ross to forgive them. Tonight, they were gathering to celebrate that Ross was the winning bidder of the building that housed the florist shop.
That made Ross her new landlord. Caitlyn sincerely hoped that her professional relationship with Ross would be a good one. The previous owner had threatened to increase the rent so much, Caitlyn wouldn’t have been able to keep the location that her mother had first rented over three decades ago. She spotted Doug in the bar area and went over to speak with him.
“Hey, you’re early,” Doug said before bending down for a kiss. He was ten inches taller than Caitlyn’s five one.
“I was hoping to spend some time with you first,” Caitlyn said as she perched on a bar stool. “What do you have planned for next weekend?”
“Just the usual. What’s up?” Doug asked as he wiped down the bar.
“Dan and Megan want us to come over.” Caitlyn watched Doug work.
Doug looked up from his task and smiled. “That sounds nice. We always have a good time there.”
“Okay, I’ll let them know.” Caitlyn said as she watched Jennifer Parker walk to the other side of the bar where Doug was working. “Hey, are you on duty tonight?”
Jennifer returned Caitlyn’s greeting. “I am. Doug said he wanted to make time for you.”
Caitlyn looked at Doug in surprise. “You’re going to have dinner with us?”
“I was hoping to,” Doug said as he laid down his bar towel. “If you don’t mind.” He flashed Caitlyn a grin.
She grinned back and slid from the bar stool. “You’re a goof. Thanks, Jennifer. This is awesome.”
“You two have a good time celebrating. Ross needs happy people around him,” Jennifer said.
Caitlyn frowned. “There aren’t any problems with the police, are there?” Caitlyn knew that Jennifer had agreed to represent Ross, if needed.
“We haven’t heard back yet, but I’m expecting to soon. It’s perfectly normal for the police to continue digging as they try to solve a murder.” Jennifer looked down at the end of the bar. Someone was trying to get her attention. “Gotta go. Enjoy your dinner.”
Caitlyn followed Doug over to the restaurant side and saw that Ross and Susan had just arrived. They were barely seated when Jax joined them. Doug had already arranged for a bottle of champagne.
“Oh, my. This is nice,” Susan said as her glass was set in front of her.
Caitlyn watched her mother smile warmly at Doug. Susan had been very supportive of the relationship Caitlyn had been building with Doug. It was time Caitlyn took a lesson from her mother. Caitlyn raised her glass.
“Ross, this is a toast to your new venture and your new life in Teaberry.” Caitlyn held her glass as everyone joined her.
Ross understood that Caitlyn was offering more than her congratulations and appreciated the effort. He glanced over at Jax and found Jax with his glass raised. Jax’s smile looked genuine. Ross thanked them all and took a sip from his champagne.
After everyone had placed their order, Jax asked about the new house. “Are you all settled?”
Ross laughed. “There’s still a lot of work but, thanks to your mom, I have a place to sleep tonight. She told me the most important thing to do when moving is to make sure the bed is done. Everything else can come after.”
“Can I ask what your plans are with the building?” Doug asked.
“Actually, I’m pretty excited about it. I’ve had a chance to talk to the mayor briefly and she was very supportive.” Ross looked around the table at the faces of the people gathered there. He knew that his answer held more importance for some of them. No doubt, Caitlyn and Susan were concerned about their florist business although neither one had asked him.
He wanted to put their minds at ease quickly. “Of course, all but one of the spaces are already rented. Most of those shops, like Anderson Florist, have been in business for many years and are a great benefit to the town. I’m looking forward to having them as tenants for many years to come.”
Susan felt herself let go of a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. She hadn’t expected any less of Ross. But it was still a relief to hear it said out loud.
Ross reached over and placed his hand gently on Susan’s. “But I do have plans for the empty space.”
Jax leaned forward in his chair and rested his elbows on the table. He hadn’t seen Ross this excited in a long time. In fact, maybe never. Whatever Ross had up his sleeve, it was something he considered important.
“I’d like to open an incubator,” Ross said.
Susan turned her hand around and clasped Ross’s. She hadn’t expected him to say what he had. But she was beginning to understand why her son had admired Ross so much.
“A business incubator?” Doug said. “In Teaberry? That’s awesome.”
Ross nodded and smiled at Doug, then turned to Jax. Of everyone here, he wanted to know what Jax thought of his idea.
Jax grinned at Ross. “That is awesome. What made you think of that? I mean, you’re the best person ever to oversee something like that. But I can’t believe how lucky this town is to have you suggest this.”
“Well, it was actually one business that made me come up with the idea,” Ross said. He watched the confusion pass over Jax’s face. “Yours. I figured that you were uniquely situated to develop a business plan and implement it successfully. But what about others who have great ideas for a new business but need help getting it started?”
“That is awesome,” Caitlyn said. “I can see why you had the mayor’s support for your idea.”
Ross nodded. “She was very supportive. I also plan to speak with Megan about designing the web site for it.”
“If anyone can develop something to attract investors, she’s the one,” Susan said.
Ross gave her an appreciative look. “My thoughts exactly.”
Chapter Twenty
Caitlyn arrived at the florist shop earlier than usual on Tuesday morning. In addition to some paperwork and deliveries that she needed to deal with, she also had a large order to prepare for. Because she knew she would be loading her van up to handle the deliveries, she decided to park behind the building and use the rear door. It gave access to the alley behind the building from the workroom in the rear of the florist shop.
She unlocked the door in the rear and quickly entered the code for the alarm. She needed to use the cart from her van to transport the arrangements to the van, so she left the rear door propped open to make it easier to run in and out. She was stowing her purse in a drawer in the workroom when she heard a noise in the alley.
Surprised to hear anything at this early hour, Caitlyn stuck her head out of her back door. There wasn’t anyone around. She shrugged, thinking perhaps it had been a stray animal or something. Maybe they’d knocked over a can. Turning to go back into her shop, she noticed that the rear door next to her was slightly ajar. It was the rear access door to the photographer’s studio.
Caitlyn wondered what it might mean. Ross technically owned the building. He could be over there checking things out, though Caitlyn doubted he would show up this early in the morning and there weren’t any other cars in the back alley. Why would he have the back door open if he’d entered in the front of the building?
The police were still investigating a murder. Maybe they had returned to the scene of the crime for some reason. Caitlyn contemplated her options. She could ignore the open door. She could text Ross and hope he responded quickly to let her know if he was somewhere in the building. Or she could text Erica and let the police decide what to do.
Thinking the third option sounded the best, she closed and locked her own rear access door then quickly texted Erica. It didn’t take long before she got a response.
Don’t do anything stupid. Police will be there shortly.
Caitlyn kept herself b
usy with paperwork until they arrived. She smiled in relief when she received a text from Erica to answer the front door and saw a uniformed police officer standing on the other side. Caitlyn saw the name on his badge was Cunningham. Caitlyn didn’t recognize him.
He introduced himself as Officer Rhys Cunningham. “I checked everything out over there. No one is there now but there is evidence that the rear access door was breached.”
“Was there any damage inside?” Caitlyn asked.
“Not to my knowledge. The owner will have to check it out,” Rhys said.
“Do you need me to contact him?” Caitlyn asked.
“The department has already done that. You should be safe in the meantime. For now, remember to keep your rear access door locked at all times and be aware of your surroundings. You might want to use the door in the front of the store. There’s a better chance of having more people around.” Officer Cunningham took a statement from Caitlyn and then accompanied her to the rear of the building, waiting while she moved her van around the front before leaving.
Caitlyn wasn’t surprised when her mother appeared shortly after. She’d been expecting Susan to come anyway to cover for her while she made her deliveries. She assumed that Susan had been contacted by Ross since she already knew there’d been trouble when she arrived.
“Are you alright?” Susan asked as soon as she entered the shop.
“Yes, but can you hang out here and handle the door while I load the van up for my deliveries? I’m going to be running late if I don’t hurry,” Caitlyn said as she pushed her cart through the door.
It was a couple of hours before she returned to the shop. Susan was on the phone taking an order when Caitlyn entered but ended the call quickly.
“Tell me what happened,” Susan demanded as Ross entered the store. He’d been speaking with the other tenants in the building.
Caitlyn explained everything to both of them.
“Well, you did the right thing,” Ross said. “The police are trained to handle it.”
“But you didn’t see anything disturbed in the shop next door?” Caitlyn asked.
“No. As far as I can tell, everything is fine,” Ross said with a shrug. “But it looks like I need to get a security system functioning over there today.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Erica caught Rhys Cunningham just before he left the precinct on his way to pick something up for lunch. Rhys gave Erica the details about the incident Caitlyn had called about. They’d secured the building but could find no indication of what anyone was up to in the first place. The conclusion was that Caitlyn had interrupted them before they’d had a chance to do anything.
Erica and Jerry were still focusing on the murder of Phil Porter and his life before. So far, they’d interviewed everyone involved but had discovered no solid leads. Everything they’d learned so far about the life of Phil Porter indicated that no one had any reason to murder him. To quote his ex-wife, she couldn’t believe Phil had ever gotten around to annoying anyone enough.
After breaking up to conduct the interviews, they were staring up at the murder board reviewing all of the notes they had added. Sometimes Jerry would ask for a clarification on what Erica had written and vice versa.
It was nearing one o’clock when Jerry pushed away from his desk. “So, we’ve interviewed all of the tenants of the building, the group of people who wanted stipulations placed on the sale of the building, the bidders, the ex-wife, the manager at the car lot, and anyone else that Phil had contact with in the last several weeks.”
Erica nodded in agreement then rubbed her eyes. She was going cross-eyed staring at the murder board. Her stomach had been on a slow roll all morning. She knew that she needed to eat something, or she was going to get light headed. Again. But she’d barely tolerated the tea and crackers this morning. Taking a deep breath, she tried to refocus.
“We’ve followed the financials, checked out anyone he had contact with at the golf club where he spent much of his time, and went through his house with a fine-toothed comb,” Erica added. So what were they missing?
Jerry turned to look at Erica. Behind her, Rhys Cunningham came back with a bag holding his lunch. Jerry’s stomach rumbled in response. He and Erica hadn’t made it to lunch yet. Maybe he could run out and get them something. Jerry looked back at Erica to ask and watched the color drain from her face.
Erica felt sweat break out on her upper lip and under her arms. She didn’t think she was going to make it to the restroom this time. She stood up quickly and felt light headed. Her vision began to get darker. Before she knew it, the floor was rising up to meet her.
Jerry sprinted across the room. He reached her just in time to stop her from hitting the floor.
Erica came to a moment later. She barely noticed Jerry lifting her into his arms. Vaguely, she found herself impressed that he could carry her so easily. He was only an inch taller than she was. Before she knew it, she was in his car. “Where are we going,” she mumbled.
“To the hospital. They need to check you out. None of my sisters were ever this bad when they were pregnant.”
***
After spending most of his day in Pittsburgh in meetings, Brad was happy to finally be home. He spread the instructions for the crib out on the floor and sat down next to them. He had all of the pieces laid out like the instructions showed. But he still wasn’t certain how part J was supposed to connect to part R. He rubbed his hand over his face. It really shouldn’t be this hard, he thought.
He turned the instruction sheet over and looked at the picture of the assembled crib again. He held up the two different pieces in front of him and compared them against the photo. Okay. So part R needs to be pointing in this direction. And part J is perpendicular to it. Why hadn’t they just said that?
He flipped the instruction sheet back over and found the step he was at in the directions. Fitting the pieces together the way the photo had shown, he got several more steps completed before getting confused again.
He heard some voices from the front of the house and got up quickly. It was time for Erica to be home, but that didn’t explain why he was hearing more than one voice. Who was she talking to?
“Jerry, I can make it down the hall by myself,” Erica said as she swatted his hand away.
Jerry reached out and took her arm again. “The doctor said you’re dehydrated and you could pass out. You aren’t doing that on my watch again.”
Brad walked out of the nursery and found the two of them arguing in the hallway. “Are you okay?” he asked with concern.
Erica said yes at the same time Jerry answered no.
Brad looked back and forth between them. “Which is it?”
“No,” Jerry said firmly.
Erica looked miserable. “I’m feeling a little better. The doctor gave me fluids.”
Brad reached out for Erica and led her into the nursery. It was the closest room to where they were standing. Based on a recommendation from Lauren it had a rocking chair. Brad gently helped Erica ease down into the chair.
He looked back up at Jerry. “What happened?”
“She wasn’t feeling well. I took her to the hospital,” Jerry said.
“Hospital?” Brad heard his voice rise with each syllable.
He looked back at Erica and made an effort to lower it. One part of him wanted to know why no one had contacted him. The other part pointed out that he was a couple of hours away in meetings and couldn’t have gotten there quickly anyway. He was lucky that Erica had Jerry for a partner.
“What did they say?” Brad knelt down so that he was eye level with his wife.
Jerry waited for Erica to say something. When she remained silent, he answered for her. “For one thing, they said she’s dehydrated because she hasn’t been keeping anything down.”
Brad swung his gaze between Erica and Jerry. “And?”
Jerry looked down at Erica and crossed his arms. “You need to tell him.”
Erica pressed her finger
s into her eyes and took a deep breath, then lowered her hands to her lap and looked steadily at her husband. She could see the concern in his handsome face. The brown eyes that held hers were filled with concern. She truly loved him more than anything. “We’re going to need another crib.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Megan carried her laptop out to the back porch and sat down on the cushioned rattan sofa. It was a beautiful late summer afternoon. Dan would be home soon, and she already had dinner prepped and the meat thawed for the grill. She looked out across the barnyard and watched Henry scratching around. Beyond him, she could see the donkeys and some of the sheep in the field.
A flash in her peripheral vision caught her attention. It was the hummingbirds. They were fighting over the food again. Megan laughed at their aerial antics as she turned her laptop on. She remembered Tom’s comment. She knew that their food source was the single most important thing to them but, considering that she always kept the feeder full, they really should be able to share.
She was excited about starting the new web site project for Ross’s business incubator. He’d emailed some ideas to her and she already knew she liked the direction he was going. But before she moved on to that project, she needed to finish up with the web pages for the town web site. She wanted to add the photos she took of Ross and the mayor when the announcement of the winning bid had been made.
She inserted the memory chip from her camera and copied the pictures over that she had taken. Then she began scrolling through them to figure out which ones she wanted to use. With all of the excitement lately, she’d forgotten that she’d taken pictures when the bids had been submitted to check out the lighting in the room. Since then, she’d been too busy trying to learn who may have killed Phil Porter. She needed to call Erica and tell her that she hadn’t had luck yet. So far, she hadn’t discovered any reason for anyone to kill Phil.
She backed up and started slowly looking at the photos from when the bids had been submitted. Something pulled at her brain as she did, but she couldn’t pin it down. She saw Phil Porter in some of the pictures. She hadn’t really noticed at the time that he’d been in any of the shots when she’d taken them. Ross was in several.