by Laina Turner
Deanna ran her fingers through her hair and sighed.
“How are you holding up?” Trixie asked.
“Oh, Trixie, I don't know. One minute I feel okay and then it hits me he's gone and I'm a wreck. I can’t believe he’s gone. Who would have taken him from me?”
Chapter 8
“OK. That's understandable, but the hard truth is someone did do it.”
“I know, I know. I just can’t imagine who.”
“Clive is on top of things. He’ll get to the bottom of it,” She cringed as the words came out. They sounded so trite.
“I’m not suggesting he's not, but I feel helpless.”
Trixie started to speak but stopped when she realized Deanna wasn't even paying attention, instead she was looking over her shoulder with a frown.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Deanna uttered and Trixie turned to look over her shoulder to see who Deanna was talking about.
The focus of Deanna’s attention was a man getting out of a black Jeep Cherokee. He seemed to be fifty-ish and looked very businesslike even though he was in jeans and a T-shirt. It wasn't your normal casual jeans and T-shirt outfit. Even to Trixie's untrained eye in men's clothing she could tell both items were high-end.
“Who's that?” Trixie said.
Deanna stood up, her body language conveying she wasn’t happy that this guy was here. “That's Adam Taylor. He owns Big Oak Winery a couple towns over in Monroe.”
“I take it you don't like him.”
“I think I mentioned when this property was up for auction, we outbid him and ever since we got it operational, he's been hounding us to sell and not always using above-board means,” she said, with a hard edge to her voice.
Trixie didn't get a chance to ask Deanna what she meant because Adam had reached them by that point.
“Hi, Deanna, I'm so sorry for your loss,” he said, sounding like any normal friend who came to give condolences.
“I wish I could just say thank you without thinking you have an ulterior motive,” she snapped.
Adam sighed. “Deanna, just because I've tried to buy your property doesn't mean I'm not a compassionate human. David was a nice guy and I thought highly of him. No one deserves what happened and I truly am sorry.”
Deanna seemed to soften a little, but now Trixie felt he was laying it on a little thick and could maybe see why Deanna felt the way she did. “Thank you, Adam. I do appreciate you coming all the way out here,” Deanna said, a little nicer this time.
“I almost hate to ask this because I don't want you to think I have an ulterior motive, but is there anything I can do to help you? I'm sure the last thing you want to have to think about is the business.”
Deanna bristled a little, but Adam was right. Work was the last thing she needed to deal with. Trixie didn’t know anything about the wine business, but it sure seemed like more than Deanna could handle alone. Maybe he was just being friendly, not sneaky.
“Thank you for the offer, but Tracy has everything under control for me.”
“Okay then. I don't want to overstay my welcome, just please let me know if I can do anything,” he said and walked back to his car.
As they watched him drive away Deanna spoke up. “The nerve of him!”
“He seems sincere,” Trixie said but didn't finish because Deanna interrupted by snorting and rolling her eyes.
“Oh, he's a smooth one. There was a time I fell for that too.”
“What's the history there? I'm guessing it is something more than him wanting your business, because that kind of stuff happens all the time. It’s just part of being in business.”
“You're right and if it was just that it probably wouldn't be a big deal. But some odd things have happened around here and David and I both felt Adam was behind them, even though we couldn’t prove it. I think he’d do anything to get our business.”
“Like what?”
“We had an entire section of our vines die right before harvest last year. And there have been minor equipment breakdowns and such.”
“What makes you feel that he is behind those things?”
“Right after each occurrence he would show up a day or two later and say he heard we had some issues and make an offer to buy our winery again. It was too much of a coincidence.”
“Is that what David thought?”
“David was too nice. He always gave him the benefit of the doubt.”
“But you don't think so?”
Deanna shook her head. “No, I don't. There is something about Adam that's just off. I feel he has a hidden agenda every time we talk. Even today. Everything just seems to be calculated with him.”
Before Trixie had time to process what Deanna was saying, the door burst open and Dean stormed out. Deanna jumped to her feet. “Dean! What's wrong?”
“I always get blamed for everything. I would never hurt my father,” he said over his shoulder as he walked to his car in the parking lot.
“Dean, come back. Let's talk about this,” she yelled after him.
Trixie wasn't sure if he heard Deanna, but he didn't stop moving. He started his car and squealed out of the parking lot. Clive then came out to the porch.
“What happened, Clive?” she asked, looking troubled.
“Your stepson is a bit of a hothead.”
“I know, but he's a good kid. He's worked hard the last couple years to stay on the right path and he's done very well. He wouldn’t hurt David if that’s what you’re accusing him of.”
“I’m not accusing him of anything, and it has been a couple years since he's been in trouble. I hope you understand that due to his history, and especially the altercation he had with David a couple years ago, that I had to ask hard questions. Dean didn't like that.”
Trixie listened to the conversation. Dean and David had a fight that got physical? No wonder Dean was so upset. It made him look like a potential suspect.
Deanna frowned. “He's had a hard go of it. He and David didn't have much contact most of his life growing up. His mother moved away and did her best to sabotage their relationship, but things were getting much better between them.”
“I'm sorry if he's angry, but it's my job to ask the tough questions. For what it’s worth, I don’t think he did it. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to talk to the rest of the staff.”
Clive walked back in and Deanna sat back down, putting her head in her hands.
Trixie reached out and touched her arm. “I'm sorry.”
She looked back up. “As hard as this is for me, it's much harder for Dean and as his stepmother, I don't know what to do. We don't have a great relationship. I've tried, but he has a lot of resentment. He feels I took David away from him and that couldn't be farther from the truth.”
“I hate to even ask this, but you don't think…”
“Oh, my goodness no. No way. Dean loved David and David loved him. Even though they didn't always get along Dean would never hurt him.”
“I thought Clive said they've gotten physical before.”
“That was stupid. Dean was drunk. He used to have a problem, but he's been sober for almost a year. They got in an argument and Dean lost control. But that was only because of his drinking. Since he got help things have been great between them.”
“I’m glad Clive doesn’t think Dean did it. I couldn’t even imagine what that would do to what’s left of this family.”
Chapter 9
Trixie was at Read Wine and business slowed to the late-morning coffee before afternoon coffee lull they experienced on weekdays. She enjoyed this time as it was quiet, and she could get to the work that needed to be done behind the scenes.
She made herself a latte, promising herself she’d limit it to two today, and then went over to a box of books she'd bought online in a lot. She’d started doing this lately as it was a fantastic way to get a great bargain, but it was a total gamble. The books might end up being a treasure trove they could make a lot of money on or a complete bust and waste
of money. While not a gambler by nature, Trixie didn't mind taking that risk when there wasn't a lot of money involved and this box was twenty-five dollars, so even if only a few books were saleable it would be worth it. Then they donated the ones they couldn’t use, which was a tax write-off. Every time she bought a box, she felt it was a little like Christmas morning with the anticipation of opening the box to see what was inside.
Trixie grabbed the box cutter and cut through the packing tape then set it down to open the box and peer in.
“Anything good in there?” a voice sounded.
Trixie jumped, not having heard anyone come in. She looked up from the box and it was Helen Bleecker. Trixie refrained from groaning out loud. Helen was nice enough, but she was a huge gossip and Trixie would bet today’s sales she'd come over to see what Trixie knew about David’s murder. While Trixie realized she gossiped as well, she wasn’t judging her for that. Helen was shameless about it and sometimes mean. Not the kind of person Trixie liked to be around.
“Not sure yet. I just opened it. Can I get you a coffee or pastry?” Trixie said sweetly, effectively hiding how she really felt.
“Sure. I could use a mid-morning pick me up.”
Helen followed Trixie over to the counter where Trixie grabbed a cup and poured in the house blend before turning back around. She set the coffee on the counter and faced Helen. “What looks good?”
“I'll take a blueberry scone. Those are my favorite.”
“Good choice, they’re one of my favorites too.” Trixie grabbed the tongs sitting outside the display case and reached in to grab a blueberry scone and set it on a plate, which she then put next to the coffee.
Helen grabbed her treat and walked over to one of the empty tables. “Why don't you sit down with me and we can catch up. I feel I haven’t talked to you in forever. There's no one in here.”
Trixie wanted to make up an excuse, since she really didn’t want to talk to Helen, or rather be grilled by her, but Helen would be offended since they often sat and talked to customers. It was part of what they liked about Read Wine, the homey atmosphere. Considering there were no other customers in the store Trixie couldn't even pretend to have a good reason not to.
“Sure,” she forced out and went back to the box of books to get her latte and sat across from Helen, forcing a smile. “So how has business been?”
Helen owned a small craft store on the next block down from Read Wine. It had been there for years and was one of those stores where it might seem surprising it hadn't gone out of business years ago because it seemed like more of an old-fashioned store, but Helen was a very savvy businesswoman. While her store carried all the basics for sewing and knitting, she somehow always knew what the trends were for all ages and jumped on them. When Trixie was younger, and scrapbooking was the craze before smartphones and the ability to easily make picture collages digitally, she'd spent a lot of time at Helen's with her friends picking out just the right stickers, colored paper, and pens. Whatever was hot with the kids, Helen exploited.
“Business is great. Everyone is jumping on the Cricit bandwagon and I can't keep the machines in stock, much less the materials and all the things that you can Cricit on.”
Trixie vaguely knew what that was, but except for her brief foray into scrapbooking she didn't have a crafty bone in her body. Even then her scrapbooks were nothing to show off.
“What about you guys? I see you’re usually packed in the morning; is business good?”
“It is. We need to work more on building our afternoon and evening business, but mornings are consistent, which is a start. Everyone likes coffee and pastries.”
“Things should be even better in the evenings for all of us once the city finishes the renovations to the park.”
Trixie nodded. In the middle of the town square was a green space the city had finally decided to spruce up and were currently working on new landscaping, putting in new picnic tables, and shade structures to make it more of a family-friendly environment. Everything was torn up and under construction right now, but it would be nice when they were finished with construction. It would boost foot traffic during nice weather.
Helen took a bite of her scone, washing it down with coffee and to Trixie it looked like she had something on her mind. It was no big surprise when she finally asked the question Trixie had been waiting for and expected was the reason she’d come in, in the first place.
“So, I heard what happened to Deanna's husband.”
And there it was, Helen wasn’t shy. Trixie had to give her that. “Yeah, it's horrible.”
“I feel so bad for Deanna. I heard you found the body.”
Trixie nodded, not wanting to say much because she knew whatever she said to Helen would be repeated and she had promised Clive she wouldn’t gossip. Well, outside Sally and Cora.
“Do you think he could have killed himself?”
Trixie's head snapped back in shock. Why would Helen say that? Did she have reason to believe David would do that? Did she even know him? All kinds of questions were running through her mind, but before she could ask any of them, Helen started talking again.
“You know they were having financial issues?” Helen whispered, even though there still wasn't anyone in the store. “Financial issues are the biggest factor in middle-aged suicides”
Trixie didn't even know what to say. Where was Helen getting this information? It's not like she was a close, personal friend with Deanna and David. And why was she up on suicide statistics, if that was even true?
“You seem surprised. You hadn't heard?”
“Heard what?” Trixie finally got out though it almost seemed like she could sit there not saying a word and Helen would just keep talking.
“About their money troubles,” Helen said in an exasperated tone like she felt Trixie wasn't paying attention.
“What makes you think they were having money troubles?”
Helen rolled her eyes and took a sip of her coffee before answering. “Oh, honey everyone knows this. David spent so much money. Money they weren't making back. They were on the verge of bankruptcy. I even heard the property was about to be foreclosed on. They were close to losing everything.”
Trixie was confused. Not so much that she hadn't heard this news on the gossip chain, but Deanna made it sound like things were great. Better than expected. Why would she lie? Surely there wasn’t any truth to this. Though as much as she hated to admit it, Helen may be a bit of a mean gossip, but she was rarely wrong.
“Helen, you know how people talk and exaggerate. Plus, even if they were having money problems it doesn't mean he'd go to the extreme of killing himself.”
Helen shrugged. “Maybe not.” She looked at her watch. “I'd better get going. I told Patty I wouldn't be gone long.”
Trixie watched Helen walk out and wondered what her motivation was to come in, drop that bomb, and then up and leave. Then she wondered how much truth there was to it.
Chapter 10
“It's about time you got here. I've been texting you,” Trixie said to Sally as she walked in the front door of Read Wine. She was coming in to relieve Trixie and work the night shift. They took turns alternating days and nights. Though Trixie thoroughly enjoyed the evening shift, as it was slower, with her son Cody’s sport schedule, nights were often hard. Trixie had texted her several times since Helen left, dying to share what Helen told her. She was about to go crazy with no one to tell. It even briefly crossed her mind that she should tell Clive. She assumed he already knew though.
“I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's been one of those days. One of the kids is sick and Tom was in a meeting and couldn’t help. What's going on?”
“Go set your stuff down first. I need to make a couple lattes to take over to that table,” she jerked her head in the direction of a couple sitting in the corner. “Then I can fill you in.”
When Trixie got back from delivering the lattes Sally was behind the counter wrapping the apron strings around her waist and tying the
m.
“So, what's got you so wound up today?” Sally asked, leaning against the counter.
“Helen Bleecker was in here today.”
Sally’s eyebrows raised. “That gossip hound. What did she have to say?”
“That's what I've been dying to tell you. She said Deanna and David were having major financial issues and maybe David killed himself for the insurance money. I mean why else would he kill himself?”
Sally looked at her in shock. “No way! I haven’t heard anything like that.”
“That's what Helen said and while she is a gossip, she rarely spreads false gossip. She is often right about the rumors she spreads. That’s got me wondering if it could possibly be true. It’s not like her to completely make something up. Plus, what would be the point? What would she get out of it?”
“Have you talked to Deanna about it?”
“No. Not yet. I don't know if I will. I mean, how do I bring something like that up? She never once mentioned that was a possibility.”
“Maybe she’s in denial? If people are saying this about David, about them, you should look at it as doing her a favor and giving her a heads up, so she's not caught off guard when either Clive or someone else asks her about it.”
“I hate to upset her if it doesn’t matter.” Trixie said, thinking Sally wasn’t wrong but not wanting to have that conversation.
“Well, I guess it’s not a win-win, but wouldn't you want to know if you were her? And wouldn't you rather hear it from someone other than Clive?”
“Yeah. You've got a point.”
“I've got things handled here. Go see her now before you lose your nerve. You don’t want her hearing it from someone else.”
Trixie untied her apron and hung it up on the hook. “Let me send a quick text and make sure she's home and in the mood for company.”
A few seconds later Trixie’s phone buzzed, and she sighed. “She's home. Guess I'm not getting out of it. I just hate being the bearer of bad news.”