Mists of the Past (A Darcy Sweet Cozy Mystery #2)

by K. J. Emrick

  Darcy grabbed Jon by the arm and started to drag him outside again. She wanted to talk to him but without Sue around to overhear. “Do you have any leads?”

  He shook his head and said, “That isn’t why I came. Everything has been so crazy lately. I just want to spend some time with you.” He paused for a moment and looked at her intently. “I need your key.”

  Darcy looked at him dumbly. “My key?”

  He nodded. “I need to get into your house.” She opened her mouth to ask why and he put a hand up to stop her. “It’s a surprise.” He smiled.

  She shook her head. “I have a spare key in the potted plant on my front porch for emergencies. You can use that.”

  His eyebrows scrunched downwards. “That’s not a very safe practice Darcy, even here in Misty Hollow. You should probably reconsider doing that, okay?”

  Darcy pressed her lips together. She wasn’t used to someone caring about her like Jon seemed to. She nodded. “Okay.”

  Jon visibly relaxed and then smiled at her. “Meet me at your house in an hour, okay?”

  Darcy was surprised by the invitation. She wanted to keep working on this until it was solved, until they knew who was threatening Jon and who had attacked Grace. But, he looked so lost and needy that she couldn’t tell him no. “Sure thing,” she said with a smile.

  He hugged her quickly. “Great, I’ll see you then.” He hurried away, and Darcy went back into the bookstore feeling happier than she had in a while.

  “I see you and Jon are back on track,” Sue said to her with a mischievous grin.

  Darcy nodded her agreement. It felt good, even in the midst of everything else, to know this thing between her and Jon was so right.

  ***

  Darcy walked home with a spring in her step. She had left Sue in charge of the shop again, joking that she’d have to turn the whole place over to Sue if this kept up. Curiosity burned at her. Jon had sounded so… Well, she wasn’t sure exactly how to describe it. Mysterious, maybe? She was dying to find out.

  She noticed that the fog was beginning to rise again but she chose to ignore it. She didn’t want anything to spoil the lovely mood she was in right now.

  As she climbed the steps onto her front porch, she could see through the front windows that Jon was already inside. She pushed the door open slowly and found that there were dozens of flowers everywhere in the hall. Vases full of roses and violets and other flowers. She stopped, mouth open, marvelling at the sight of it.

  Jon came out of the living room with a huge grin plastered on his face. He handed her a glass of wine and leaned in to kiss her sweetly. “I love you Darcy.”

  “What is all of this for?” she asked him, laughing. Not that she was complaining. This was probably the most romantic thing any man had ever done for her. They moved into the living room and Darcy put her glass on the coffee table. She looked all around the room to find that Jon had dotted lit candles on tables and window ledges to give the room a warm glow.

  Jon put his glass down next to hers and drew her into his arms. “To answer your question, I just wanted you to know that amongst all of this drama I know that I can depend upon you.” Her breath caught in her throat and then his head was moving in closer to her again and he sealed his lips to hers. Tilting his head, he deepened the kiss. She was feeling dizzy when he leaned back a little and looked deeply into her eyes. “I am so glad to have you in my life, Darcy.”

  She smiled at him, her voice trembling. “I’m glad too.”

  He stepped away from her and moved over to the bookshelf and the stereo system there to put some music on. She sipped her wine and watched him through hooded eyes. He looked delicious. As he came back to her he held out a hand and she placed hers into it. He curled his fingers into her palm and his warmth seeped into her skin.

  “You once told me that you love to dance. Would you dance with me now?”

  Darcy had to catch her breath to answer. “Yes, I’d love to dance with you.” He pulled her into his arms once again and held her close as they slow danced together for what felt like eternity.

  Chapter Eleven

  The sun streamed through the sheer curtains and woke Darcy slowly the next morning. She stretched her legs and back languidly, her body liquid within the warm confines of her bed. Warmth radiated down one side of her where her naked body was sealed to Jon’s. She laid her head on the wide expanse of Jon’s chest and started idly drawing circles upon his warm skin with her fingers.

  She felt him stir next to her as he woke up. “Good morning,” she said in a husky voice.

  She felt him run his hand over her hair, fingers sifting through the fine dark strands, as he yawned. “Good morning to you, too,” he said. “Is it morning already?”

  “Mm-hmm.” She snuggled in closer. “I had no idea you were such a romantic. Thank you for last night.”

  Jon smiled and replaced his hand with his lips as he kissed her hair. “I’m surprised Smudge hasn’t come and tried to attack me yet.” Darcy giggled just as Jon’s phone vibrated wildly on the bedside table.

  “Nooo,” Darcy groaned as Jon sighed and grabbed for the annoying little device.

  Jon untangled himself from her and sat up, sounding surprised and excited as he spoke to whoever was on the other end of the phone. Darcy sat up with him, combing her hair back, eyes raking the line of his nude form. She had hoped that they could spend all day in bed together today, exploring each other…

  When he hung up he just stared at the phone in his hand for a moment and then he turned to look at her. “I don’t believe it. My old friends from college, Dale and Cindy, are in town. I haven’t seen them for ages. We all used to be such really good friends.”

  “Uh,” Darcy tried to be excited for him but she’d learned to hate coincidence. “Now? Are you sure this is a good time for a reunion?”

  “I can’t put my whole life on hold because of one psychopath. I won’t let him tell me how to live my life.”

  Jon started to get up from the bed and then turned back to her, his hand falling in a very private spot. “They’re going to meet me at my apartment. You want to come meet them with me?”

  Darcy decided that meeting some of his friends would let her know more about his life. And, it might be just what he needed right now.

  “I’d love to,” she said, and then admired the view of his backside as he got out of bed.

  ***

  Jon called in to take a few hours off work. He got a hard time for it, considering Grace was already off herself, but ultimately it was all set and they were driving over to Jon’s apartment. When they got there they found two people waiting outside who Darcy assumed would be Dale and Cindy.

  Jon jumped from his car and ran up to greet them. “Guys! I can’t believe you’re here.” Cindy, a short and athletic looking blonde hugged Jon first, in a way that seemed really familiar to Darcy. Then Dale shook Jon’s hand. He was taller than Jon, stocky, and had a dark complexion with eyes to match. They both were wearing jeans and t-shirts, Cindy’s just a size or two smaller than she needed, in Darcy’s opinion.

  “Guys I’d like you to meet Darcy,” Jon said to them. They both greeted her warmly. Jon turned to her and said, “This is Dale and Cindy. We’ve been friends forever but they just got married recently. It took Dale years to coax her into it.”

  The other two laughed and Dale slapped Jon on the back. “Yeah, and you were supposed to be my best man, if you remember. How the hell have you been Jonno?”

  They all headed inside Jon’s apartment. Darcy listened as they talked about how they had all gone to college in Jon’s home town of Pequot Lakes and how Dale had an aunt that lived in Misty Hollow. Darcy thought she knew everyone’s family here in Misty Hollow. She still thought it was a strange coincidence that Jon’s best friends from college not only had a connection to this place but were showing up now. But she reminded herself she wasn’t going to let it disturb Jon’s obvious happiness at seeing them. For the moment, she could set aside t
he buzzing in her sixth sense.

  That didn’t mean she wasn’t going to be extra careful around them.

  She pushed the thought out of her mind, reminding herself that not everything was murder cases and mysteries. She decided to let Jon and his friends catch up alone and told them she would see them later. She headed out the door and decided it was a good day to go to work after all.

  ***

  She checked in with Sue by pay phone, one of the few left in town that was located just outside of Jon’s apartment complex. Sue assured her that, once again, she had everything under control and the new display of horror novels was coming along nicely. So before she went to work, Darcy paid a visit to her sister. Grace hadn’t fully recovered from her hit on the head and was confined to bed rest. Darcy had rung her after the doctor had visited to find out how she was. It was a concussion, nothing worse, but Darcy still felt horrible that it had happened to her.

  Darcy had phoned ahead, after talking to Sue, and been told by Grace to just come in. She used her spare key, and found her way down to the bedroom to sit in the chair by the bed again. “You look like you got run over by a chicken truck.” Darcy joked with her sister.

  Grace laughed, appreciating the levity instead of the grave concern everyone else had shown her. “I feel like I got beat up in a prize fight, is what I feel like.”

  Darcy hesitated. “I don’t want to bother you with this if you’re not feeling up to it, Grace.”

  “Oh, please. I’m so bored! Aaron won’t let me do anything. He’s been smothering me.” She screwed up her face in disgust.

  “He’s just worried about you, sis. So am I.”

  “I’m fine. It’s a bump on my head. You and Jon act like I can’t take care of myself. Aaron, too. Just tell me what it was that you came here for.”

  “Okay,” Darcy said, giving in to her. “I don’t know where to go with any of this. Jon doesn’t seem like he’s interested in diving any deeper into it. I don’t know if he’s upset about getting you hurt or if he doesn’t want to bring up bad memories or what. But I need to find out what’s going on. Are you sure that you can’t remember anything at all from the attack?”

  Grace shook her head. “I’ve been trying to remember but I can’t think of anything. Whoever it was that hit me did it just as I came in the door. I didn’t have a chance to see or hear anything.” She gave Darcy an encouraging look. “You’ll think of something, you always do.”

  Darcy smiled back at her sister. “I hope you’re right.”

  ***

  Darcy stopped by the Bean There Bakery and Café on her way to work. She was glad to see Lily behind the counter serving a customer. Darcy just hoped she wouldn’t be too mad at her over Jon bringing her in to be questioned. She made her way slowly to the counter, not sure what sort of reception she was going to get. Lily finished serving the customer ahead of her and turned frosty eyes towards Darcy.

  “What can I get you?” Lily asked, managing to make it sound like an invitation to leave.

  Darcy chose her words carefully. “I just wanted to apologize to you for everything that happened. We were wrong. I was way out of line, and I’m sorry.”

  Lily’s eyes narrowed and turned even colder, if that was possible. “Well that’s just too little too late, isn’t it? I’m not going to accept your apology. What happened to me was unforgivable. Thanks to you I’ve become the hot topic of gossip around town. Everywhere I go I have people hassling me about what happened. It’s not pleasant. I’m a laughing stock.” Tears moistened her eyes and she tilted her head to the side. “So if you don’t need anything I am super busy and need to get on with my day. No? Good.”

  Lily walked away without giving Darcy time to say anything more. She sighed. Well, so much for that. Just as she turned to leave an angry Lily came rushing back and hissed, “I thought you were my friend Darcy. Robbie is furious with both you and Jon, too. I don’t know if I can ever forgive either or you for what you did to me.”

  “I’m so, so sorry Lily. I don’t know what else I can say or do.” Feeling awful Darcy turned and left the shop. She was mad at herself for doubting Lily and ruining a friendship. It was in the name of solving a mystery, of finding whoever was threatening Jon. Not to mention the person who had hurt her sister. That might make it right, but it didn’t make her feel any better.

  ***

  The rest of the day went by in a blur. Sue didn’t say much, picking up on her dark thoughts. A few customers came and went, and she barely noticed what books they bought. That night when Darcy hopped into bed she couldn’t help but think back to the night before with Jon. It had been a wonderfully romantic evening and she loved him more for the whole experience. Smudge jumped up onto the bed and curled up next to her. She wriggled around for a few moments, until she was comfortable.

  Darcy soon drifted off to sleep and quickly found herself inside a dream.

  She was sitting on the front porch with her great aunt Millie. Usually when Darcy saw Millie as a ghost her figure was vague and hardly defined. But in the dream Millie was just like Darcy remembered her when she had been alive. She was a young woman in the dream, the sun was shining brightly as she and Millie sat in rocking chairs drinking homemade lemonade.

  The rocking of the chair should have been soothing for her but it wasn’t. It was the rhythm of a beating heart, a tempo of something marching closer and closer. “I miss you so much Millie,” Darcy said.

  “I miss you too sweetheart.” Millie smiled at her. Her cheeks were creased with laughlines. She looked happy. This was how Darcy remembered her from when she was just a young girl. It was how Darcy liked to remember her now.

  “Millie,” Darcy said to her, “can you help me with this mystery?”

  In her dream, her aunt smiled at her and pulled out more pea pods from a bowl that suddenly appeared in her lap. She started shelling them without looking. “No child, I can’t help you. I’m sorry. But you have more tricks up your sleeve than you think. You need to go back and to talk to Grace again. Grace is the key.”

  “What do you mean, Grace is the key? I don’t understand.” Darcy was confused. She saw herself take a pea pod that Millie handed to her. She ate it. It was sweet. She could feel the snap of it between her teeth.

  Darcy sat bolt upright in bed gasping for air. She was disorientated. It was the middle of the night and dark in the room, where just a moment before she had been sitting in the bright sunlight with her aunt. She could still taste the sweet crunch of the pea pod in her mouth. She fumbled for the light switch and turned the light on. She squinted against the sudden harsh light as it filled the room.

  Smudge meowed at her and she bent down to stroke her hand over his fur. “I’m fine, Smudge. I just had a strange dream. That’s all.”

  Of course, she knew that wasn’t true. She knew her special dreams from her normal ones. This had not been a normal dream.

  She decided to go and see Grace in the morning.

  Chapter Twelve

  “I knew it was you,” Aaron said with a broad smile on his face as he opened the door to Darcy the next morning. “You’re making a habit of banging on our door at an early hour.”

  “I’m sorry, Aaron. How is she?”

  He didn’t need to ask who she meant. “Grace just got up. You know the way down to the bedroom, right?”

  “I do. Thanks.” She gave him a quick hug. She had always liked Aaron, even when she’d accused him of having something to do with Anna’s murder last month. He stood back to let her in and she went straight into Grace’s room.

  Grace was just sitting up as Darcy entered the room. Rubbing at her eyes and yawning she said, “What’s wrong now, Darcy?”

  Darcy went right to the same chair she’d used to visit with Grace yesterday. Sitting down she said, “I had a dream.”

  Grace rolled her eyes. “So what does that mean for me?”

  “I, um, need to try something.”

  Grace was used to Darcy’s strange habits. She m
ight not understand them, or even want to, but she knew they always worked. “Sure, sis. I’ll help any way I can.”

  “That’s good, because I’m not really sure where to begin,” Darcy said as she took Grace’s hands between both of hers. “I’m going to try to figure out more about the night that you were attacked. Will you talk me through your night up to the last point you remember?”

  “Darcy, we’ve done this already.”

  “I know,” Darcy said with a patient smile. “Indulge me.”

  “Okay. Well. Let me see. I had gone grocery shopping and then I walked home.” Darcy tried to visualize that. The images came to her slowly, her hands warm where she held Grace’s. Grace continued, “I was reaching for my keys when I felt a sudden sharp pain and then the next thing I remember was waking up and Aaron was carrying me to the bedroom.”

  “Try to really picture those final moments,” Darcy said. She closed her eyes. As Grace did as she asked, a clear image came to Darcy’s mind. She no longer heard Grace’s voice. She saw everything as it transpired in her sister’s mind.

  Grace walked up to her apartment door. She balanced a bag of groceries in one hand, and dug into her pants pocket for her keys with the other. Something hit her on the head and everything went black. No. Play that back. She was reaching for her keys and a thick, round piece of wood, like a cane, hit her at the base of her skull. Grace fell to the ground. She looked up at the attacker but his face was covered in shadow. His body was a blurred smudge in the memory. Blurry and undefined.

  But there was something. A smell. A unique scent. It was almost like an herb. Rosemary, maybe?

  Darcy snapped awake from her trance with a fantastic feeling inside. “I think that I was able to see a few things about what happened to you that you didn’t remember,” Darcy said to Grace. She explained how the attacker was definitely a man, and about the herb like scent.