The Purloined Letter Opener

by Leah R. Cutter

  “Sure,” Neil said. “I’ll stop by at seven.”

  Lydia blinked, surprised that Neil was being so accommodating. Was it because he had an audience? Or had he actually changed?

  “See you then,” she said, turning away from him and firmly toward the Hendricks.

  A look of anger crossed Neil’s face so quickly Lydia wasn’t sure if she imagined it or not. Was he angry at being dismissed? Had he expected a kiss goodbye? Or some kind parting words?

  Too bad. She wasn’t a teenager, and no longer his wife. She had guests to attend to.

  Neil let himself out of the B&B and Lydia easily fell into the role of gracious hostess.

  She would deal with Neil later, as well as process all the implications and nuances of their conversation, that night, alone in her rooms.

  Lydia checked, re-checked, then triple-checked the front door, the back door, and the windows. She’d special ordered new carbon monoxide alarms, having them shipped tomorrow, instead of contacting Danny and asking him for more. Not that she thought he was a suspect, but she didn’t want anyone to know what had happened.

  Nothing seemed amiss. Lydia wasn’t sure what she needed to do in order to help herself feel more safe. Give herself time, more than anything else, she suspected.

  Finally, she made her way back to her rooms. She poured herself the last glass of the really good chardonnay that Bill had left her, but then let it sit on her side table as she curled up in the wingback chair in her living room. She only had two rooms back here—the bedroom and the living room—as well as a small pantry where she kept some of her own supplies, a microwave and a small, apartment-sized refrigerator.

  As with her bedroom, Lydia had made every design decision based on whether the outcome would delight her. She had two comfy chairs that she loved curling up in, one a wingback done in a rich green, gold, and red fabric, the other broader and wider, done in a soft green fabric, with wooden arms and brass accents. She also had a loveseat that was a dark purple micro-suede that was the perfect size for when she wanted to curl up and nap, though most of the time she didn’t. The window over the loveseat didn’t have much of a view, so she had a beautiful white lace shade drawn over it instead.

  The ceiling in here was the same warm cedar wood as in the bedroom. She didn’t have an overhead light, but instead, several beautiful lamps that she could control from the light switch near the door. The rugs were thick and warm across the dark hardwood, so she could go barefoot when she wanted to. She had a TV hanging on one wall, where it was easy to watch from the loveseat, not that she turned it on that often. While she had a few books on the shelves in the corner, she preferred reading on her ebook reader. She was always in the middle of several books at the same time, and would read whichever one struck her fancy in the evening.

  The only sound was the quiet hum of the fridge from the pantry, along with the occasional car passing down the street. As her rooms were behind the building, she didn’t have anyone walking around above her. The air was cooler back here, deliberately so, but not so cold that she needed to put on a sweater that night.

  It was a self-contained existence. She knew that. While she did have enough space for a few friends to come over, for the most part, she spent her time here alone. It suited her, particularly after she’d had to spend a lot of time dealing with guests and other people.

  Tonight, her place felt more closed in than usual. Not that that was a bad thing. She wanted to draw her rooms in around her and over her head, like a blanket of protective armor.

  She was safe here. At least tonight. She took a sip of her wine and let the mellow chardonnay wash over her tongue, trying to find the hints of walnuts and butter that Bill claimed. After taking a deep breath, she settled back more firmly in her chair, trying to make herself relax, unclench that knot in the center of her chest.

  So Neil was back. And possibly wanted to make a play to get back into her life. She’d been talking with someone else when Detective Avery had gone through the restaurant. He’d nodded in her direction, but then gone upstairs to his room, so she hadn’t had a chance to talk with him, to let him know that she’d found the real Neil.

  Let the detective do his own damned investigating.

  What was she going to do? She didn’t know if Ellis was even interested, though she suspected he was. Like her, though, he probably didn’t want a long-distance relationship.

  And what about Neil? They’d had some good times, even with the fights and his lying. Did she want that back in her life?

  What if he was the killer? What would that say about her, not suspecting him before?

  No. He couldn’t have done it. That said too much about her, not him.

  In the quiet of the night, all alone in her room, Lydia could admit to being a smidge lonely. For the most part she was fine, satisfied with her situation and being on her own. If her parents had been here, she might have gone to see them. But she had good friends, a good job, a good life.

  A partner would have made everything richer. She could admit that.

  Maybe some year someone would move to town and she’d be able to have a relationship. A normal, adult relationship. Not someone she’d have to fight to “keep in line.” Really, Neil just needed to grow up and handle himself. And not with someone who would freeze her out like Ellis probably would do on a regular basis, when he switched from being a man to being a detective.

  Nope. Lydia needed—deserved—someone better.

  She just had to be patient until they came along.

  23

  Theo was on time, and as dorky looking as always, with black sandals, skinny gray pants, and a faded red T-shirt that didn’t do him any favors—looking like a hand-me-down from a much larger brother.

  “Hi,” Lydia said, greeting him as he came in. She’d already taken off her apron and had been wiping down the counter at the back of the restaurant. They had closed early that day. Not that many customers had shown up for lunch. She walked around the counter and came to stand beside him.

  “What, you’re ready?” Theo asked, obviously surprised.

  “I even remembered you were coming and everything,” Lydia snarked.

  Theo just snorted at her and led her back out the door, into the street. The day had dawned warm and stayed hot. Even the lake breeze wouldn’t be able to keep the town cool. It was the true start of summer. Lydia found herself sweating far too quickly. She was glad she was in her navy blue shorts and off-white T-shirt. Not that she would have dressed any differently, no matter who might be looking at her, like Neil or Ellis.

  “Do you like tacos?” Lydia asked as she walked beside her brother. She thought he did, but she didn’t want to presume.

  “Yeah,” Theo said. “Where we going?”

  “Max’s,” Lydia explained. “The menu isn’t extensive—he only serves tacos, burritos, and enchiladas. He used to run a food truck before he found the space to rent. But all of it is really tasty.”

  “Good,” Theo said. “Sounds great. I heard from the ’rents this morning.”

  “Where are they?” She hadn’t heard from them since they’d left. Honestly, she wasn’t expecting much more than a couple of post cards, though they’d promised to call. If they remembered even that.

  “North Dakota,” Theo said. “Black Hills. They’re having a blast.”

  “Huh,” Lydia said. “Was that it? All they wanted?”

  Theo gave her a wry grin. “Seemed they were checking up on me. Making sure that I hadn’t turned into a hermit and that you were actually talking with me.”

  “Did you tell them about the wine tasting?” Lydia asked. She wanted to look good to her parents, as always.

  “Nope. Told them I hadn’t left the property since I’d arrived. I had all the shades drawn, the lights turned off, and had turned the house into a cave,” Theo said.

  “What?” Lydia said. “Why would you say that?” Her parents would kill her for not looking after her little brother. Damn it. She wasn’t
thirteen anymore. But this entire situation made her feel that way.

  “I’m joking, I’m joking,” Theo assured her. “You’re too serious, like you’ve always been. You need to lighten up some.”

  Lydia sighed and shrugged. She couldn’t yell at Theo as much as she might want to. He was just being a bratty little brother, who didn’t understand that she had far too much on her mind to “chill.”

  “I’m glad they’re having a good time,” Lydia said eventually, as they passed a couple of tourists on the sidewalk.

  “Yeah, they really like the RV they’ve rented. May actually get one for themselves,” Theo said. “Mom needed something to do. Hopefully sightseeing will fill the ticket for a while. She’s spending so much time researching every place they’re going.”

  “Of course she is,” Lydia said with a grin. Then she sighed. She worried about her mom.

  “I’ve wondered if there was some sort of volunteer organization that she could be part of now that she’s no longer working,” Lydia said. “The researching will only carry her for so long.”

  “I am not about to point her at a political campaign, though you and I both know that’s exactly the sort of thing she’d thrive at,” Theo said.

  “Naw, she knows where all the dead bodies are,” Lydia said. “None of the rich folk around here would support her.”

  “Not unless she stooped to blackmail,” Theo said, grinning.

  “True,” Lydia said.

  They walked for a little while. Though Lydia was glad for the chance to be outside, it was already getting too warm for her. They stuck to the shady side of the street as they walked, as did most of the tourists in the area. The blacktop of the street shimmered, and that thick smell of tar filled the air. Lydia noted that Bill’s Boutique was having a sale. She’d have to remember to stop by later and pick up fliers for the B&B if it was going to last more than a week.

  “Mom might actually decide to go into politics, though. If she set her mind to helping a candidate,” Lydia said after a few moments.

  Theo laughed at her. “Don’t you think that she’s had enough of being the power behind the throne? I bet she runs herself.”

  “That…that…” Lydia didn’t even know how to complete her sentence. It would be completely like her mother. And completely terrifying at the same time.

  “Yup, that about sums it up,” Theo agreed.

  Lydia held open the door to the café for him, then followed him into the brightly lit space. The air was blessedly cool. It smelled of heavily-spiced meat and caramelized onions. She found her mouth watering as she walked up to the counter, Max wasn’t there, but his brother was. They looked very similar: heavy-set Mexican men with round faces, reddened skin, and black hair that looked like it had been cut by someone putting a bowl on their heads then trimming all the hair that stuck out underneath.

  After Lydia and Theo had ordered—fish tacos for her, chorizo burrito for him—they took their drinks out to the patio on the side of the building. A fan blew misted water at them, making them both feel instantly cooler. The smell of lovely greasy fried food that wasn’t good for you carried through the air. They sat on hard metal chairs, as Lydia knew from past experience that the ones made from plastic would stick to her skin uncomfortably.

  After a few moments of quiet, Theo looked at Lydia and said, “I don’t remember you having this much patience, before.”

  Lydia shrugged, and said, “I probably didn’t.” She’d noticed it recently as well.

  “It’s nice,” Theo said. He breathed out a sigh. “I feel as though I could relax around you. Maybe.”

  “Hopefully that’s a good thing,” Lydia said. She wasn’t sure how she felt around Theo yet. He seemed less thin that day, a little less hollowed out. Maybe being here was good for him, filling him back up.

  “Maybe. Maybe not,” Theo said after a few moments. He took another deep breath.

  “Look, whatever dark secret you’re holding, you don’t actually have to tell me,” Lydia said after a few more moments. “You have your own life, now. We both had issues when we were teens. Drama. What have you.”

  Theo nodded. “I’ve had to explain this to the detective already,” he said after a few moments. “And Patrice knows. So I figured I could finally tell my sister.”

  “You look like you’re going to throw up,” Lydia volunteered after he didn’t say anything immediately. He’d grown pale sitting there.

  Theo grimaced at her. “Thanks,” he said. “Look. I don’t know how to say this. So I’m just going to say words and you’re going to have to listen and not interrupt. Okay?”

  Lydia nodded, intrigued but also worried.

  “I did some experimenting when I was in high school,” Theo said after a couple more deep breaths.

  “Drugs?” Lydia said, unable to contain herself.

  Theo glared at her.

  Lydia pressed her lips together, chagrined. She mimed locking her lips and throwing away the key. She wouldn’t speak again until he said that she could. She could contain herself. Really.

  “No. With boys. My age,” Theo finally admitted.

  Lydia furrowed her brow at him but remained silent, despite the numerous questions that flooded through her. Was her brother gay? Bi? Did it matter?

  “Principal Thomas caught Ernie Santos and me once, in the locker room,” Theo said.

  Theo turned even whiter. He looked as though he was having a hard time taking in air. Lydia reached across the table and squeezed his hand, giving him an encouraging smile. She still didn’t know what to think, but she understood how difficult this must be for him.

  “Thanks,” Theo said after a few moments, letting go of her hand. “The asshole told us we were going to hell. Told us that we were such a huge disappointment, not just to our parents but to society. Threatened to expose us to the entire school, as well as any potential employer.”

  Lydia nodded, taking a deep breath through her nose so she wouldn’t say anything. What an awful thing for anyone to say to a young boy still trying to figure out his life.

  “Ernie’s sister told Patrice, who came to talk to me the next day,” Theo said. He gave Lydia a weak smile. “Wanted me to know that she supported me, would stand by me, was still my friend, regardless of what that asshole Thomas might say.”

  “Can I say something?” Lydia said. She really, really wanted to tell Theo that she supported him as well.

  “Not yet,” Theo said. “See, her coming to me just confused me more. Because I still liked her. I mean, like liked her.”

  Lydia blinked. She was sure her confusion was obvious.

  “So I liked Patrice. And I liked Ernie. And there were others I was attracted to,” Theo said quietly. “I knew the term bisexual, but, I mean, I was straight, right? I still liked girls. I only played with boys. It wasn’t the same.”

  Lydia nodded, saddened. They’d grown up in a small town in Central Washington. Many, perhaps most, of the people who still lived there would consider Theo an abomination.

  “Anyway, after that, I stopped looking at boys. Was only going to be attracted to women. And I was mostly successful,” Theo said. “Then Steve came along.”

  Lydia kept her word and stayed silent, nodding again, encouraging Theo to keep talking. Who knew that he had such depths?

  It made sense to her now, though, why he had refused to go with her to visit Ed and Alan in New York, why he’d always seemed so resentful of them. They hadn’t necessarily been out—it had been the late ’90s, and it still wasn’t easy for anyone to live an alternative lifestyle. However, they did live together as “roommates,” an open secret of their real relationship as they had only the one bedroom.

  They would have been too much for a confused bisexual boy to handle, particularly one afraid of who he was and how he felt.

  “Steve didn’t come into the picture until after Jasmine and I were divorced,” Theo assured Lydia. “But he’s kind of here, part of my life, now.”

  “Can
I say anything yet?” Lydia asked again.

  Theo nodded.

  “Is Steve here? In Lake Hope?” she said.

  Theo shook his head. “No, he’s waiting for me back in Spokane. Waiting for me to make up my mind. Figure out what I really want.”

  “Sorting out some things, huh?” Lydia said, trying to gently tease.

  Theo nodded and shot her a smile.

  “Do you love him?” Lydia said after a moment.

  Theo sighed. “How do you really know when you’re in love with someone? I thought I was in love with Jasmine.”

  “And maybe you were, at one point,” Lydia said. “But people change. And sometimes they fall out of love.”

  “I don’t want that to happen with Steve,” Theo said softly.

  “Then don’t let it happen,” Lydia said. “Though I’m probably the last one you want advice from. Look at me.”

  “No one expected you to stay married to that asshole,” Theo assured her.

  “Thanks, I think,” Lydia said dryly.

  “Seriously. No one wanted you to stay with him,” Theo said.

  “You know he’s back in town,” Lydia said. “We’re going out to dinner later tonight.”

  “What?” Theo asked. “You know he hated Principal Thomas, too. Probably more than I did. I remember him ranting about it.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t think he killed the man,” Lydia said. “That would have called for actual follow-through on his part. And he always talked a much better game than he played.”

  “True,” Theo said. After a few moments, he cautiously asked, “So, what do you think?”

  “I don’t know,” Lydia said truthfully. “I want you to be happy.” It surprised her, but the words were accurate. She did wish her brother happiness.

  “Steve makes me happy,” Theo said after a few moments. He sighed. “Jasmine and her family will never understand, though.”

  Lydia snorted at him. “I call bull hockey. Don’t you remember Jasmine’s uncle Nik? He was at your wedding.”