“Oh yes, the ring. Well, this morning, old Willy came into the shop, huffing and puffing as if he’d run all the way from the marina. He was seriously about to fall over from a stroke. He wanted to know if I’d sold the ring yet.” Lola laughed. “As if some century old class ring would be a hot item.”
“You do run an antique shop.”
“True enough. So I sold him back his own ring and gold chain for twenty bucks and off he went a happy little fisherman. Of course, he made me promise not to tell Theresa. I figure he’ll probably give it to Beverly because she was his high school sweetheart back in the day.”
Lola reached for the door of the diner.
“Beverly?” I asked.
Lola stopped in the open doorway and looked back at me with an annoyed brow. “The woman on Culpepper Road who grows big pumpkins. Keep up, Pink. That’s how this story started. Remember?”
“Actually, I don’t remember because it was so long ago.”
“Funny woman.”
I followed Lola to a table. “Seriously, I think I grew some gray hair in the meantime.”
Lola stopped at a table that was halfway down the line of windows. “Will this do, granny gray hair?”
“Yep.”
Chapter 4
Franki breezed by and dropped two menus on the table. Harried or not, her perfectly sculpted beehive, a hairdo she wore to give the place a fifties flair, had not lost one inch of symmetry. It sat in perfect midcentury glory right on top of her head. “I’ll be back in a minute. I’m swamped. Janie called in sick this morning, so I’m basically a one woman show out on the dining floor today.” With that rushed narrative, she hurried off to the pick-up window.
I’d only been inside the diner three times, and during those visits I’d learned that Franki Rumple, the proud owner of Franki’s Diner, was a single parent, raising four teenagers, two sets of twins. Taylor and Tyler were two lanky sixteen-year-old boys. They were impossible to tell apart, and their names were equally confusing. Franki liked to complain that the only thing they were good at was making trouble, but she always talked about them with a mom’s loving twinkle in her eyes. Kimi and Kylie had just turned fourteen, and they seemed to be a little less trouble than the boys. They were also easier to tell apart because Kimi liked to wear purple and Kylie preferred pink. Franki claims that once the second set of twins was born her husband took it as a sign the marriage was cursed and left. I would have taken it as a sign that the man was just a coward, but we all saw people through different lenses.
Lola pored over the slightly greasy menu as if she was making some grand life decision.
“I thought you were going to order the chili.” I leafed through the menu too.
“I am. Just thought I’d check in case something better popped out at me.” Lola slapped the menu shut, resulting in an air current that made the red curls around her face vibrate. Her nose crinkled as she lifted her hands to her face. “Ugh, I smell like goat. I’m going to just run in and wash up. Order the chili and corn bread for me. And an iced tea with lemon.”
“Right. Got it.” I decided to have the same.
I sat back and glanced around. The inside of Franki’s Diner was a predictable parade of shiny red vinyl, polished chrome and white laminate, but every time I walked in I felt this wonderful sense of nostalgia. At first, I couldn’t quite pinpoint the source of it. Then it occurred to me that the red diamond pattern tiles running along the white tile base of the counter were exactly like the pattern in the kitchen of my childhood home. The chain of red diamond tiles brought me back to chilly winter mornings when my mom would lace hot tea with gobs of honey and we would sit and gab and gossip about everything from friends to Aunt Ruth’s frightening new hair color. It was funny how small details could so easily take you back in time.
There were a few familiar faces sitting at the other tables. So far I’d only learned the names of the shop owners in close proximity. A woman I’d never seen before was sitting two tables over sawing angrily away at a steak as if the slab of meat had somehow wronged her. She was an elderly woman with chestnut hair and a long thick line of gray roots. Her fingers were red and raw as if she spent a lot of time washing dishes or gardening. The sunburn on her nose seemed to indicate the latter. Whoever she was, she was not having a good day, and neither was the steak on her plate.
Lola returned and slid into the seat just as Franki came over to take our order. She gave her beehive bun a push to center it on her head and looked down at her notepad.
I smiled up at her. “Two orders of chili and corn bread, and two iced teas with lemon.”
“That’s easy enough.” Franki scribbled something on her pad. “And the corn bread is excellent today. I added in some green chili for a little pop of flavor.” Franki was one of those people who took pride in her work, and it showed in the quality of her food. I’d also discovered that if you were a new customer, which I was just several visits ago, she liked to hover over the table to see if you approved or not. The first time I came in, I’d ordered a cheese omelet. Franki stood over me, waiting for me to take my first bite. As I carried the eggs to my mouth, I worried that I wouldn’t like it and then I’d have to force a cheery smile, spout false accolades and continue eating it. Fortunately, it was delicious.
“I’ll be right back with your chili.” Franki scurried off on her sensible nurse style shoes.
The rather angry woman several tables over was still terrifying her food with a steak knife. I tapped Lola’s foot and glimpsed past her shoulder. “Don’t turn around but who is the growly, grumbly woman sitting two tables over? She looks upset.”
Naturally, as was always the case when someone was told not to turn around, Lola twisted back to look at the woman. She turned back around looking disappointed as if she’d expected something far more exciting than a woman sawing at her food. “Oh her.” Lola sat forward to speak softer. “That’s Virginia Hopkins.”
I waited for more, but Lola’s focus was drawn away to the sugar packets. “I think I’ll try this Steve stuff to see if it’s the same as sugar.”
“I think it’s called Stevia, and it’s not the same as sugar. Only sugar tastes like sugar. So why is Virginia Hopkins so angry?”
Lola shoved the pale green packet back into the tiny ceramic container and pulled out the white sugar packet. “No idea but I’ll bet it has something to do with the pumpkin contest.”
“Oh really?”
“I mentioned her to you this morning. She and Beverly are the two main pumpkin growers.” Lola’s head tilted to show she was slightly miffed at me. “You don’t absorb much do you?”
I shrugged. “Only when I find it fascinating.”
I was facing away from the door, but I heard it open and shut. The familiar scent of coastal air came with it.
My lunch mate sat up a little straighter. “Speaking of fascinating. Don’t turn around,” she said quietly. (I turned around … naturally.)
Franki’s latest customer was a tall, undeniably handsome man, thirty something and wearing a button down shirt, slacks and shiny black shoes. While his attire looked neat and proper there was just enough beard stubble to give him a slightly rakish look. His black hair was just long enough to curl up on the top of his no nonsense shirt collar. I hadn’t finished taking catalogue of his attributes before I got caught in an accidental moment of locked gazes with the man. His brown eyes highlighted his rakish quality a bit. His mouth turned up in the slightest hint of a smile, or maybe it was just the way the light was pouring in through the diner windows.
I pulled my eyes away and turned back around. I picked up a napkin to fan the embarrassed blush from my cheeks. “I feel like I just got caught gawking over the senior class president in chemistry class.” I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard the door to the diner open and shut.
Lola had a good laugh at my expense. “Don’t worry. That’s a normal reaction to Detective James Briggs. He just has that kind of confident, manliness about him that dr
aws female attention. But he’s a pretty plain-spoken, all business kind of man. I’ve heard rumor that his rather stiff personality is the result of a broken heart. He was married for a short time, but it didn’t work out. He lives over in the next town of Chesterton. He’s the lead detective for the entire stretch of coast that runs right through Port Danby.”
“Fascinating,” I said airily, even though I could still feel the warmth in my cheeks.
Chapter 5
There was just enough sunlight left for me to pedal my way home. With any luck and a good deal of energy, I’d be inside just as the early October sun disappeared behind the horizon. It had been a long week, and I was glad tomorrow was Sunday.
I hadn’t realized how tired I was from the day of setting up shop until my bicycle hit the slight incline on Myrtle Place. Working in a big city had gotten me used to living without a car. Lack of public parking and a plethora of public transportation in the city made owning a car just a couple of unnecessary monthly bills. I’d purchased a small blue compact when I moved from the city to Port Danby, but the town was small enough that riding a bicycle was a perfectly wonderful way to get around. I was sure that would change in the winter when brisk winds and glacial rainstorms dropped in on the town, but for now, I was going to take advantage of the glorious autumn weather. And it helped me burn off Elsie’s bakery samples.
Myrtle Place was the main road that ran parallel to Harbor Lane, but instead of forking off right to the coast and marina like Harbor Lane, it curved left and turned into Maple Hill. Maple Hill eventually ended at a tall, looming mansion that looked as if it had seen its better days many decades ago.
Myrtle Place, aptly named since it was lined on both sides by plush Crape Myrtle trees, also branched off into smaller neighborhood streets where most of the citizens of Port Danby lived in a mish mash of every style of house. My house, which I had purchased after I’d leased the shop, was on Loveland Terrace, the last small road before the Maple Hill turnoff. My small backyard afforded the perfect, unobstructed view of the dilapidated mansion on Maple Hill.
I pedaled past Graystone Church, and its accompanying rustic, little graveyard. Kingston had finally found his bird energy, and he soared along above me, stopping occasionally in the top of a Crape Myrtle just to annoy the smaller birds who were finding their evening perches.
With the exception of a few barking dogs and one particularly industrious ground squirrel, the streets were relatively quiet. I closed my eyes for just a second, took in a deep breath and wiggled my nose to see what people were cooking for dinner. Fried chicken mingled with somebody’s curried lamb, making for an odd mix of odors. The unpalatable combination reminded me of my childhood, before I had the ability to regulate my hyperosmia.
Self-preservation had forced me to learn how to control my sense of smell. Growing up, I could hardly get through a meal, particularly if more than one aromatic food was on my plate. If I decided to peel a banana for a snack, and my mom was cooking an onion in the kitchen, then every bite of banana tasted like onion. In the third grade, I was so thin the other kids called me stick figure girl. My parents were worried sick. They eventually took me to a doctor who specialized in olfaction, the study of smell. Dr. Vickers showed me how to use my mind and other senses to control my sense of smell. She told me I was a superhero and that my super power was my sense of smell. That helped me regain some of the confidence I’d lost. My mom even sewed me a cape to play with at home that had the letters SN on it for Super Nose.
I passed Shire Lane, the last street before Loveland Terrace. My house was on the corner, so I could see it long before I reached my street. I could also hear my neighbor, who had this annoying habit of hammering and sawing things in the house from four o’clock until six. I had yet to see the mysteriously energetic and noisy neighbor. Whoever it was, they seemed to have a day job that left them only evenings for working on a house that sorely needed work.
Not that my small house was a shining star of the neighborhood. But it was cozy, and it looked lived in like a favorite pair of faded jeans. The pale yellow siding was sunny and welcoming, fringed as it was by a brown shake roof. My favorite exterior feature was a front porch that ran along the length of it. The white balustrades needed a good coat of paint, but I decided to go natural. I’d planted climbing pink roses around the base of the porch. With any luck and a not too brutal winter, the roses would be railing high by next spring’s bloom. I’d lined the small front lawn with bluish green juniper shrubs. I planted deep green and ivory white wintercreeper for ground cover on the stretch of space between my lawn and the road. I thought it had all come together nicely.
The wavering shadow of my pet crow rolled over me as I turned my bike around the corner.
“Don’t look now but I think you’re being stalked by a crow,” a deep, not altogether unpleasing voice called through the open window on the neighbor’s house.
I squinted to get a look at the figure standing there, but the light was all wrong. I could only see my own house reflected off the top pane. I reached my driveway and as my front tire hit the ridge of cement, my keychain, house key and all, popped out of my bicycle basket.
Kingston, who had an affinity for shiny objects (leading me to theorize that he was a pickpocket in a previous life) swooped down and plucked the keychain up in his beak. He landed on the front edge of the roof, triumphantly holding the silver key in his beak.
“They do say crows are the smartest birds. I think this one wants you to invite him in.”
I had no more time for my neighbor’s remarks. I climbed off the bike. “Kingston, you come down here right now or you can skip dinner.”
The crow came obediently down but without the keys. They clanked into the rain gutter.
I stared at the bird as he danced along the porch railing with his long talons.
“Well, you won’t get dinner now anyhow. Neither will I, it seems.” I walked up the porch steps, and out of silly desperation, I glanced through the transparent curtains on the front window to see if Nevermore was lounging nearby. Of course, even if he was, which he wasn’t, it wasn’t as if his cat paws could turn the lock.
I walked back to the front of the porch and held tightly to the front column that held up the left side of the portico. I climbed up on top of the railing with fingers crossed that it would hold my weight. I searched blindly in the rain gutter and crinkled my nose in distaste as my fingers grazed over wet mushy leaves and whatever else might have made its way into the gutter. Then luck. My fingertips grazed something metal. I plucked out the keychain. In my excitement, I’d forgotten that I was balancing on a four inch railing.
My arms spun through the air like worthless helicopter blades. I gasped in fear and shut my eyes to brace for the slamming pain that was sure to follow. There was some pain, but it was only slight, along with a short loss of wind. I opened my eyes slowly and found myself in a nice, big pair of arms.
The man took a deep breath of relief. “Didn’t think I’d make it in time.”
He stood there, his clumsy neighbor cradled in his arms, for a few seconds longer than necessary before lowering my feet to the ground. My eyes traveled up and stopped at his face. It was mid fall but his face and arms were tanned, which probably meant he worked at the marina. His thick blond hair went stunningly well with his green eyes.
“Are you all right?” he asked. “Aside from being stalked by a crow, that is.”
“Everything is still in one piece. And he’s not really a stalker. He’s a pet.” I smiled and nervously tucked my hair behind my ears until I silently reminded myself that I was twenty-eight and not twelve. And he was hardly the first handsome man I’d ever met. Although he was certainly the first to catch me as I fell off a porch railing. Unless, of course, I counted falling from an oak tree in fourth grade. But on that occasion, Stewart Germaine, my tall, skinny but semi-cute neighbor missed catching me, and I sprained my wrist.
The man stuck out a large and nicely callused hand. �
��I’m your neighbor, Dashwood Vanhouten, the third. But you can dispense with the long name and call me Dash.”
“Oh wow, yes, that is a long name.” He had a nice, strong grip. “I’m Lacey Pinkerton and you can call me Lacey or Pink. I answer to either.” The house next door certainly didn’t look as if it should belong to a man named Vanhouten or a man with the word ‘third’ following the distinguished surname. Maybe it was an investment. “If you don’t mind me askingâwhere was the family fortune made?”
His smile was sort of Hollywood, big screen caliber. “What family fortune?”
“Oâoh,” I stuttered to find an appropriate way out of my social misstep.
Dash laughed and darn if it didn’t just go nicely with the big screen smile. “That’s all right. Everyone just assumes that a fortune came with the name. Which is exactly why my dad invented it. He changed his own name legally to Dashwood Vanhouten, the second because he thought it looked more distinguished on his office door than Darren Vooten.”
I blinked up at him in confusion. “The second? I don’t understand. If he made the name up, who was the first Dashwood Vanhouten?”
He shook his head. “There wasn’t one. Dad just thought the second made him seem like part of an important family legacy.”
I absorbed the name story for a few seconds and then laughed. “I haven’t met the man, but I like him already.” My stomach dropped in horror. “Oh my gosh, is he still alive? I just assumed again, a habit I obviously need to drop.”
“No worries. Dashwood Vanhouten, the second is alive and well and living in Ohio.”
Kingston cawed from the porch railing in a loud reminder about dinner.
“I should let my bird inside before he starts scaring all the neighbors.”
“Right. And I think you have another pet waiting for you.”
I followed the direction of his sparkling green gaze to the front window. Nevermore had his thick front paws on the windowsill, and his big head was pushing away the curtains.
Death in the Park (Firefly Junction Cozy Mystery Book 1) Page 20