by Kathi Daley
Willow smiled. “Alex has been great. I think he’s more excited for the baby to get here than even I am. I just hope it’s not all too much for him. Having a baby in the house will be challenging. The two of us are getting along so well, but we’ve only known each other for a few months. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m worried about how a baby will change the dynamic we’re still getting used to.”
After everything that had gone on in December, I was fairly certain Alex was destined to help raise the exceptional child Willow carried. Of course, I couldn’t simply tell her that one of my witchy friends had had a vision of a future in which her child would do great things, so I just told her to trust the relationship she was building with Alex would stand the test of time. Tara and I had discussed giving Willow a baby shower. If the baby was going to come early, it seemed prudent that we start planning the event soon.
“I’m surprised Alex isn’t with you today,” Tara said. “Hasn’t he been going to all your doctor appointments with you?”
“He’s visiting his father. I’m not sure if I mentioned it the last time I was here, but Balthazar has approached Alex about staying on Madrona Island permanently and running his business.”
Balthazar Pottage was a very rich man who owned a variety of different enterprises that he managed from his own island.
“That’s a wonderful idea,” I said. “Alex hasn’t really settled into anything since graduating from college. I realize with the money Balthazar has given him, he doesn’t need to work, but everyone needs a purpose. Alex is a smart and very personable guy. I think with a little instruction from his father he’ll do a wonderful job.”
“I think so too. At first I think Alex was uncertain about it, but after he gave it some thought he realized it was the perfect solution for him and his father. He wants me and my baby to stay on the island with him, but I’m not sure about it.”
“Alex is a good guy and he really seems to care about you,” Tara said.
“He is a good guy. And I care about him too. But I don’t know if I can ask him to help me raise another man’s child.”
“A lot of stepparents happily raise the child of their new spouse,” I said gently.
“That’s true, I guess. But right now, Alex and I are just friends. When he asked me to move in with him we agreed to keep it casual until after the baby was born. We have a lot of fun together, and I guess I can see myself eventually wanting to take the next step with him, but I don’t want to do that for the wrong reason.”
“Wrong reason?” Tara asked.
“Alex is a millionaire and I’m a homeless pregnant woman with no ties to anyone or anything. I would never want to get serious with Alex if there was any question in either of our minds that I was doing it to provide a secure future for my baby.”
I put my hand on Willow’s shoulder. “So don’t rush it. Have the baby, but keep things the way they are for now. I suspect time will provide the answers you need.”
Willow smiled. “Thanks. I appreciate that. And you’re right. I have time to decide. Alex hasn’t put any pressure on me to move things along at a pace I’m not comfortable with.” A softness came over Willow’s face. “And he really is the best guy. Not only is he selflessly taking care of me during this tough time, but he’s been thinking about his father as well. He even asked me how I felt about eventually moving Balthazar in with us. In his own wing, of course.”
“Balthazar is an old man and I do worry about him living all alone on an isolated island, but I have a feeling convincing him to move won’t be easy. Still, I agree with Alex; it does make sense. And if he doesn’t feel comfortable being in the house where he lived with his wife, you can always build him a cottage nearby.”
“That’s something to consider.” Willow grimaced as she shifted in her seat. “I should get going. Alex will be home soon. He’ll worry if I’m not there.”
“Did he take the ferry?” Tara asked.
“No, he took the boat. He said it was faster, and I guess it is. It was nice talking to you both. Maybe we can have lunch the next time I’m in town.”
We both said we’d welcome the opportunity to catch up.
After Willow left Tara went over the cat adoption applications she’d taken that day with me. Both were from locals I knew well enough that an extensive background check wouldn’t be necessary; I called the two women and asked them if they’d be willing to meet me at the cat sanctuary at five. They were, so I began loading the cats into the carriers.
“Are you planning to come by this evening?” I asked Tara as she helped me load the car.
“I am. I don’t have anything else on my calendar this week.”
“How are things with Parker? I’d hoped things were better when you said you had a date last night.”
Tara had been dating Parker for over a year. Initially, they’d been serious about each other, but lately their relationship had stalled.
“Nothing’s really wrong and we still enjoy each other’s company, but it seems like our relationship has hit a wall. We went out to dinner last night, but it felt forced. There’s nothing I can really put my finger on; nothing’s really wrong, but nothing’s right either. It might be that Parker’s hesitant to move forward in our relationship because he’s uncertain how it would affect Amy. To be honest, I’ve had the same concern myself.”
“Amy seems to really like you.”
“She does. And I like her, I don’t think that’s the problem. I think the problem is that Parker doesn’t want to do anything that will rock the very fragile equilibrium he’s been living with since Amy’s mother went to prison. While Amy and I get along great, she’s very dependent on Parker. The next logical step for us would be to move in together, but I don’t think Parker’s willing to risk it as long as Amy is so needy.”
“Are you going to break up?” I asked as I carried another cat carrier out to the car.
“No. At least I don’t plan to. I’m not sure what Parker’s thinking. I’m all right continuing as we are, but I feel like Parker’s pulling away. Before last night, he canceled two dates in a row, and when he dropped me off last night we didn’t make any plans for the future. He says he’s really busy right now, and maybe he is, but I think there’s more going on than that. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how things work out. In the meantime, I have friends who mean the world to me to hang out with, and I’m grateful for that.”
“And we’re happy to have you. Danny said he’d bring a pizza tonight, so why don’t you plan to come by at around six?”
“I’ll be there. I’ll even bring dessert.”
******
When I arrived home, I found Melvina Lively, the first of the two women who’d filled out adoption paperwork, waiting for me. I asked her to give me a few minutes to settle the cats who weren’t being picked up that evening. It occurred to me as we were chatting that Melvina was a member of the adult choir at St. Patrick’s and would have known Thea. I offered her a seat in the office area of the sanctuary as soon as I was finished with the other cats.
“We know each other, so we can bypass many of the adoption formalities,” I began. “I do want to go over the cat’s health and shot records, as well as the guide we provide outlining the care of your new family member, beginning with acclimating him to his new home.”
My standard spiel took about fifteen minutes. When I was done I brought up the subject of Thea and her untimely death.
“I heard about Thea just this morning,” Melvina informed me. “I’m sorry about what happened, but I can’t say I’m surprised.”
“Why is that?”
Melvina moved in slightly and lowered her voice, even though we were the only two in the building. “It’s common knowledge Thea has struggled financially. The poor dear couldn’t seem to hang on to a job, so she had to take on all the temporary jobs she could get.”
“It did seem like she worked a lot,” I agreed. “At least lately.”
“When she was married her
husband brought in enough money to support them; she began struggling after the divorce. Anyway, Thea’s financial distress seemed to have intensified to the point where she felt she might lose her home. We discussed the matter on more than one occasion; then I ran into her at the market last week and she told me that her worries were a thing of the past. I asked her what had happened to turn things around and she told me she had a plan to boost her income. Something about the way she said it made me think she was in to something illegal.”
“Why did you think that?”
“For one thing, the secrecy. She refused to provide any details. The whole thing was just so hush-hush. I had no idea why she brought it up at all if she wasn’t going to tell me anything about it.”
By the time I finished talking with Melvina the other woman had arrived. I went through my orientation one more time before sending her off with her new baby.
I quickly fed everyone and cleaned all the cat boxes before heading back to my cabin to take a quick shower and change into my clothes before my guests arrived.
Chapter 10
Madrona Island in the spring can be an interesting place. We’d had days of rain and cool temperatures, but this evening the temperature was almost balmy. The wind was nonexistent and the sky was a deep, clear blue, so I’d decided to set the table outside on the deck overlooking the ocean. Sunset wasn’t until about seven-fifteen and we’d have thirty minutes of light after that, so my plan was to eat and relax for a bit before we went inside and launched into the latest information about the increasingly complicated investigation.
“I had an interesting call today,” Danny started in after we had all served ourselves and had settled around my pine picnic table.
“Interesting how?” I asked after taking a bite of the cheese slice I had selected.
“The man who leased my boat this winter wants to buy it.”
I raised a brow. “Buy it? Are you considering it?”
Danny took a sip of his beer before he answered. “He caught me off guard. Selling the boat had never entered my mind, but it’s true the ol’ girl needs a lot of repair and I’m getting tired of living on her. The idea of selling it and maybe getting a less seasonal job has a certain appeal, but I have no idea what I’d do to make a living. I’m not looking to leave the island, and there aren’t a lot of jobs for individuals with my skill set. And if I sold the boat I’d need to find a place to live. I can’t crash with Maggie full time.”
Danny had owned his whale watch boat since before I graduated high school. It would seem odd for him not to have it, but I could understand why he might want a steadier revenue source.
“Is it a good offer?” Siobhan asked.
Danny nodded. “It is, actually; a very good offer. In fact, he offered me more than I would have asked for it if I’d intended to sell. And I have some money put aside for this season’s startup and the repairs I planned to make once the boat came back to me. If I combined my savings with the money from the sale and found a superinexpensive place to live, I would have enough to maybe buy or even start a small business.”
“You can stay with me at Mr. Parsons if Maggie kicks you out,” Cody offered. “At least until you get settled.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate that.”
Cody shrugged. “That’s what brothers are for.”
A warmth filled my heart when I realized Finn, Danny, Aiden, and Cody would all be brothers of a sort once Cody and I married. Of course, Cody and Danny had been best friends since they were young boys, so they’d probably thought of each other as brothers long before Cody and I got together.
“Okay,” Siobhan said, setting down her slice on her plate and assuming the reasonable big sister role. “Say you can find a place to crash and you even manage to scrape together enough money to buy or start a business, other than whale watching or fishing, what are you qualified to do?”
“Not a lot,” Danny admitted. “I can outdrink most of the guys at the bar. Do you think there’s a need for something like that?” He chuckled.
Tara spoke up suddenly. “I think Danny has a lot of talents He’s bright and funny and he knows how to talk to and get along with all kinds of people. He’s easygoing and a hard worker who isn’t afraid of long hours. He’s strong and usually reliable. I think if he takes some time to look around he’ll find something perfect for him.”
Danny looked somewhat shocked by Tara’s statement. I guess in a way I was too. They’d had a rocky romantic relationship over the years, but the friendship between them had somehow survived the starts and stops.
“I know you were kidding about being able to drink most people under the table, but what about a bar?” Finn said.
“You think Danny should open a bar?” Siobhan asked.
“I was thinking more along the lines of buying a bar. I found out today that O’Malley’s is up for sale. Danny already knows all the regulars, and there’s a small apartment over the bar where he could live for the time being.”
A serious expression crossed Danny’s face. “O’Malley’s is for sale?”
“Seems to be. I went over today to talk to the bartender about a lead I was following up on and he said O’Malley had decided to sell the place and move to Boston, where his wife’s family lives. O’Malley offered him the option to buy the place, but he felt like it was time for him to move on as well. I don’t know how much O’Malley wants, but the bartender did say he wanted to sell to a local and was willing to make a very good deal to the right person.”
Danny stood up. “I’m sorry to bail, but I really want to check this out before someone else has a chance to work out a deal with O’Malley.”
“Go ahead,” I said. “You can stop back when you finish if you want and it isn’t too late.”
“Thanks, guys. I think this might be just what I’m looking for.”
With Danny gone, the conversation shifted to the weather and the spring events the island held each year. Siobhan had been working on having her job covered while she was on maternity leave and still wasn’t sure what she’d do about childcare once the baby was born. While she was superexcited to be a mother and wanted to spend time with her baby, she was mayor of Madrona Island. It wasn’t like she could be away from the office indefinitely. I guess I’d never stopped to consider what life would be like for Finn and Siobhan when they were parents.
It seemed the Hart family was going through a lot of transition. Cassie was graduating high school, Finn and Siobhan were having a baby, Cody and I were getting married, Danny could be changing careers, Maggie and Michael were on the way to getting married, and I had the feeling Mom and Gabe were as well. That left Aiden as the only Hart on the island not undergoing a huge change of some sort, although I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if that wasn’t in the future as well. Aiden was a fisherman by trade, but fishing in the area had become a lot more regulated in recent years, and he now spent most of his time in Alaska. He’d commented on more than one occasion that it might be time to rethink his life and maybe even settle down to raise a family.
After sunset we headed inside to discuss the case, or cases as they may be. We had Thea’s murder to try to figure out, the tainted water in the hollow that seemed to be driving the cats away and making Tansy sick, the missing grad student, and a possible plot to orchestrate favorable conditions for the logging company on the north shore.
I looked at the whiteboard, which had taken on the look of an octopus, with lines connecting one thing to another in every which way. I supposed everything could be related, but it was equally likely they weren’t.
“How did your interview with the logging operation go?” Finn asked Cody.
He twisted his lips with a look of indecision before he spoke. “I’m not sure what I took away from the meeting. Peter Billings and Sam Smart seem to be professionals. They’ve logged similar environments in other states and even other countries, and they seem to have a handle on what they’re doing. They provided me with some pretty convincing statisti
cs that seem to support the idea that the lack of logging on the island in recent decades has created a fire hazard. I understand the reason behind the ban on logging. The forest on the north shore was overlogged decades ago, which created a culture in which those in power were inclined to protect the trees. Additionally, the presence of the cats in the hollow was another factor to consider. I know logging in the hollow has come up in the past, and I support and understand the concept of protecting the wildlife living there.”
“I sense a but,” I said.
“But,” Cody cleared this throat, “I was under the impression after speaking to them, that while they had a good business plan and had run all the numbers, they didn’t have a firm grasp on what a hot-button issue logging in the hollow was bound to be. In their mind, they’re doing Madrona Island a favor. They have a plan to thin the forest, greatly reducing the probability of a devastating fire at absolutely no cost to the island or its citizens. In fact, the owners of the land that will be logged are being cut in for a percentage of the profit.”
“I get it,” I said. “We all know there’s more at stake than a fire hazard.”
“Yes,” Cody replied. “As I said, the data they’ve compiled is pretty impressive. I think once they have an opportunity to meet with the island council they’re going to gain support.”
“I agree,” Siobhan said. “In fact, the subject of thinning the forest never died after the last time it was brought up. If a fire in an isolated location like the hollow should occur, we wouldn’t have the resources to fight it. Any attempt would have to come from the air, and as you know, we don’t have the helicopters needed for such an effort. The reality is, if a fire were to start in the hollow, it would probably wipe out the entire thing before it burned itself out and there wouldn’t be anything anyone could do about it.”
I felt a wave of nausea. In the event of a fire, where would the cats go? They’d be trapped.
“Would the outcome be the same if logging was allowed?” I asked.