Sweet Days by the Bay

by Kay Correll

  “No.” He paused. “Well, just Ashley.”

  “Ashley?” The man scribbled a note.

  “Ashley Harden.”

  “Was she alone in here?”

  “No.” Will paused. “Well, I was in the back and didn’t hear her come in, so I don’t know. But Ashley wouldn’t have taken Whit’s jewelry.” Will looked at the man. “And, for the record, neither did I.”

  “He’s right. Ashley’s a friend. She didn’t take these and of course Willie didn’t.” Whitney pointed to the displays.

  “Um, hm.” The man kept taking notes. “Well, there’s no sign of forced entry that I can see.”

  “Ashley had nothing to do with this. You can put that in your notes.” Will didn’t think the man was listening.

  “Have there been any other break-ins or thefts in town?” Whitney’s forehead creased.

  “None that have been reported.” The officer closed his notebook. “I’ll do some checking around. I’ll let you know if I come up with anything. And, ma’am? It’s probably best if someone is always in the front room if the door is unlocked, or install a chime to ring in the back office if the front door is opened.”

  Nice. Talk to Whit like she’s a child. He could see her bristle at the man’s remark.

  The officer left and Will turned to Whitney. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t hear anyone else come in, but I was engrossed in numbers.”

  “It’s not your fault. I should have just locked up when I left. I usually have a part-time worker here, but she called in sick. I also need to hire another one for the busy season this summer.”

  “Well, I know it wasn’t Ashley that took your jewelry.”

  “I know it wasn’t either.” Whitney nodded. “I hope Officer Doubtful can track the missing pieces down. I already had them listed on the website and I have… had… an order for one of them.”

  In a change of pace, Ashley got to the clinic right when it was scheduled to open instead of an hour or so early. It’s not like she had a lot of patients on the books. At last check she had one late-morning patient and a couple more in the afternoon. Anyway, she’d spent the morning in a hazy glow of dissecting every last minute she’d spent with Will last night. A smile spread across her face.

  Jerri Lynn looked up from the reception desk. “Good, you’re here.”

  “What…” Pull yourself together, woman. “Why, did we get an emergency?”

  “No… we have a problem.”

  “What’s that?” Ashley crossed to the reception desk pushing all thoughts of Will behind her. Well, most of them. She concentrated on what Jerri Lynn was saying to her.

  “I was doing some inventory this morning to see what drugs we might need to order. We have some missing…”

  “Was the cabinet locked?”

  “Yes, it was.”

  “That’s strange. Then how could some be missing?” Ashley frowned.

  “I was just getting ready to call the police, but thought I’d wait to make sure you hadn’t moved them.” Jerri Lynn reached for the phone.

  “No, I didn’t. I think it’s a good idea to call the police.”

  A police officer arrived within minutes of the call. “I was right down the street. I’m Officer Moore. Dispatch said you had a theft?”

  “We did.” Ashley stepped forward and held out her hand. “Dr. Harden.”

  “Ashley Harden?” The officer looked at her with a hint of a frown.

  “Yes.” Ashley ignored the officer’s strange look and pointed to the backroom. “There are some drugs missing from the locked cabinet. I don’t know how that could happen.”

  “Who has access to the cabinet?”

  “Just Jerri Lynn and me.”

  “Hm.” The man jotted a note on a pad he carried. “Let’s go see the backroom.”

  She led him to the room and gave him the list of missing drugs Jerri Lynn had carefully written down. He checked the back door. “This door kept locked?”

  “Always.”

  “No sign of it being tampered with.”

  “So how did someone get in?” A frown creased Ashley’s forehead.

  “I’m not sure.” The officer scribbled some more notes. “I’ll check into things and get back to you.” The man sent her another peculiar look.

  “Thank you, officer.”

  The man left and Ashley sank into a chair in the waiting room. What else could go wrong? She’d chased away most of Doc Browning’s patients and now there were missing drugs.

  Will smiled when he saw Ashley ahead of him on the sidewalk as he strolled back to the cottage that evening. He hurried to catch up with her. “Hey, Ash.”

  Her eyes were tired and she gave him a weak smile. “Hi.”

  “Long day?”

  “It was.”

  “So your patients started coming back?”

  “No, actually two of my afternoon appointments cancelled. It’s not that, though that does bother me. Jerri Lynn found some drugs missing from the locked cabinet.” Ashley’s eyes clouded.

  “Really?” Will frowned. Two thefts in one day?

  “Yes. I don’t know how it could have happened. There’s no sign of a break-in. I just don’t understand.”

  “Get this. Someone stole jewelry from Whit’s displays, too.”

  “Yesterday?”

  “Yep.”

  “Did you call the police?”

  “She did. An Officer Moore came out to check on things. He was kind of a jerk.”

  “He came to the clinic, too. He was giving me the strangest looks.”

  Will raked his hand through his hair. “Ah… well… he got it into his head that you were a suspect in Whit’s break-in.”

  “How in the world did he get that idea?”

  “He asked if anyone had been in the shop and I said you’d stopped by yesterday.”

  “Really? You think I took Whitney’s jewelry?” Her words crackled with disbelief.

  “No, of course not. That’s not what I told him. I don’t think you took anything and neither does Whit.”

  “Well, I bet Officer Moore does. He kept giving me a look…”

  “I don’t care what he thinks, we know you didn’t do it.”

  He and Ashley turned the corner and ran smack into Vicki Holloway. Was he ever going to think of her as Victoria Tanner?

  Nope.

  “Well, humph.” Vicki huffed the words and took a step back. “I’m surprised to see you, Ashley.”

  Ashley frowned. “Why is that?”

  “I thought by now you’d be down at the police station.”

  “What are you talking about Vicki?” Will moved closer to Ashley’s side.

  Vicki glared at him. “Well, Officer Moore was asking around town about Ashley today. Seeing if anything else had been stolen when Ashley was around. I heard there were drugs missing from the clinic and some of Whitney’s jewelry was taken, too.” Vicki’s face was covered in an accusing glower, followed quickly by a triumphant smile.

  “Knock it off, Vicki. Ashley didn’t take anything.” He glanced over to see a look of horror plastered on Ashley’s face.

  “Would you stop calling me Vicki? I go by Victoria now. Really, I don’t think that’s so much to ask.”

  “Okay, then, Victoria, Ashley didn’t take anything. And you should quit spreading rumors around town.”

  “Officer Moore said she was his only lead.”

  “Officer Moore is an idiot and should try harder to do his job.” Will’s pulse pounded in his ears. Vicki was never going to change. She was always spreading rumors and distorting the truth. She enjoyed causing trouble for others. “Ashley had nothing to do with either of the thefts. Nothing.”

  “If you say so.” Vicki shrugged, turned on her high heels, and stalked away from them.

  Ashley clenched her fists as she watched Vicki walk away, her red heels clicking on the sidewalk. So Officer Moore thinks she’s guilty of both of the robberies? No wonder more patients had cancelled this afternoon after
Vicki had worked her magic spreading more rumors. Her face flushed with anger and she whirled toward Will. “Why did you tell Officer Moore I was there at Whitney’s shop? Why didn’t you defend me when he thought I was a suspect?”

  “I did defend you.”

  “You didn’t do a very good job of it, did you?”

  “I didn’t cause this mess. Anyway, you didn’t do anything so it will all blow over soon.”

  “That’s easy for you to say.” She took another step away from him and held up her hand. “You’re leaving in a few days. You don’t have to stay here and face down the rumors Vicki’s spreading. You don’t have to tell Doc Browning that you’ve basically ruined his practice and there are missing drugs. You don’t have to stay here and see how all the people in this town look at you with suspicion.”

  Will paused and gave her a long, searching look. “You know, Ash, you don’t have to stay here and take that either.”

  “I’m not a quitter.” She shot the words back at him.

  “A quitter like me? That’s what you mean?” His eyes flashed in anger now, too.

  “No… I…”

  “Never said you were a quitter, Ash. I’m just saying… you don’t have to care what the town thinks of you. They aren’t the judge and jury of your worth.”

  She swallowed. “Maybe not, but I’ve tried my whole life to get this town to see me as something other than the janitor’s daughter. Now, it looks like I might end up in jail. It’s going to prove their low opinion of me is right.”

  “No, you won’t. They don’t have any proof.”

  “They could still arrest me.”

  “Doubt it, but it wouldn’t stick because I know you didn’t do either of these.”

  “Everything, all I’ve worked to accomplish for so long, it’s all ruined.” Ashley didn’t care if she sounded overly dramatic. She felt her life spinning out of her control and nothing she did seemed to stop the whirling.

  Will reached out his hand and touched her arm. She jerked away. “Don’t. You’ve done enough.” She turned and hurried off down the sidewalk, putting as much distance between them as possible so he wouldn’t have a chance to see the tears slipping down her face.

  Will watched Ashley stumble down the street. He’d seen the beginning of tears in her eyes and knew she was hiding them from him.

  But there it was, the beginning of her pulling away from him once again. And he couldn’t erase the look he’d seen in her eyes when she’d insisted she wasn’t a quitter. She still thought of him as one after all these years, because he’d dropped out of high school. That look would be ever etched in his mind.

  Last night had been a mistake, one he couldn’t afford to keep making. It didn’t matter how sweet her kisses were or how great it had been to just sit and talk with her, the best friend he’d missed so much over the years.

  None of that mattered now.

  He’d forgotten what Ashley did best.

  Leave him.

  Chapter 14

  Will let the screen door slam behind him as he entered Whitney’s house. One thing he’d decided though. He was going to talk to Warren and see if he could make peace with the man. For Whitney’s sake.

  “Warren? Where are you?”

  The sound of silence was deafening. Will looked around. There was no crossword puzzle spread out on the table. No walker in the corner. He wandered back to the room where Warren had been staying. The bed was neatly made and the closet door partly closed. He slid it the rest of the way open and saw none of Warren’s things hanging inside. He looked in the bathroom they all shared and Warren’s shaving kit was missing.

  The man was gone.

  Which didn’t surprise Will. Didn’t surprise him one bit.

  Everyone in his life was behaving true to form.

  They were leaving him behind.

  A beer and a bag of pretzels later he heard Whitney come home. Will sat on a chair on the deck, his back firmly in the direction of Ashley’s cottage, in case she was cruel enough to come out and sit on her deck. He’d gotten outside first, so she should just skulk around in her cottage for all he cared.

  Whit came walking out with a beer in her hand and dropped into a chair beside him. “Where’s Dad?”

  “Good question.”

  She stared at him. “What do you mean good question?”

  Will took another swig from his beer. “There’s no sign of him. He’s gone. All his things are gone. He left. Vanished. You know, the thing he does best.”

  “Did you chase him off?” Whitney shot him an accusing look.

  “He was gone when I got here.”

  His sister grabbed her cell phone from her pocket and tapped the screen, her forehead creased in worry. “He’s not picking up.”

  “Oh so surprising.”

  “Quit being a jerk.” She glared at him. “I’m going to leave a message for him to call.”

  “Do what you need to do. But he’s gone.”

  “He probably just went back to his apartment.”

  “And decided not to answer your call?”

  “Willie, you can be the most exasperating brother ever.”

  He probably could, but obviously he was a great judge of character, because the people around him were acting just like he knew they would.

  “I’ll call him back in a little bit.”

  “As you wish.”

  “No, I’m going to drive over there and make sure he’s okay.” Whitney stood.

  “Whatever.” Will took another sip of beer. “He’s gone, Whit.”

  “He is not. He wouldn’t leave again. He promised. I bet he just went back home. He’s doing better. Did he leave a note?”

  “Nope.”

  “Well, I’m going to go check on him.”

  Will sat and sipped his beer and finished off the pretzels. Not the most nutritious meal, but it suited him just fine. Luckily he hadn’t made a fool of himself and tried to work things out with Warren and forgive him. A couple more days here to finish up things for Whit and he’d be gone… and he didn’t plan on ever returning to Indigo Bay again.

  Whit returned to the cottage about thirty minutes later. He could tell she’d been crying, but he knew better than to mention it.

  “There’s no sign of him at his apartment building and he’s not answering the door. The blinds are closed so I couldn’t peek in. I should have gotten a key from him so I could check on him. What if he’s hurt?”

  “It’s more likely he disappeared into a bottle again.”

  Whit looked at him, her eyes clouded with doubt. “I… I just don’t think he’d do that again.”

  “He always does that, Whit. Just as soon as he seduces you into thinking he’s going to stay. Poof. He’s gone.”

  “Well, I don’t believe it.”

  “Believe what you want, sis.”

  He got up from his chair. “You want to join me? I’m going in for another beer.”

  Whit nodded and dropped to a chair on the deck. He came back with two long-necked beers and a bag of trail mix. “Sorry, I finished the pretzels. Try these. Munch away.”

  Whitney took a handful of the mix and picked her way through it, eating one type at a time. First the candy-coated chocolate, then the pretzel sticks, then the dried fruit, then the nuts. He hid a smile. She’d eaten trail mix in that obsessive way since she was a young girl.

  Will took a long sip of beer and settled back in his chair. “Been a heck of a day. You know, I’d just about decided to sit down with Warren and see if we could work things out. Try to find a way to at least… well, I don’t know what I hoped for, but it doesn’t really matter anymore.”

  “You were going to work things out with him?” Whitney looked like she didn’t believe him.

  “I was going to try. I know it’s been hard on you. But I don’t trust him… and it appears I have good reason not to.”

  “Maybe he just went back to the apartment…”

  “Without leaving you a note? I doubt that
.”

  Whit leaned back in her chair and slowly nursed her beer. A look of defeat settled over her. He was sorry she was hurt again, but maybe this would finally convince her Warren will never change and she could quit getting her hopes up. He’d spent his whole life watching her get crushed every time their father disappeared. People don’t change. It was silly to get your hopes up. It was crazy he’d gotten his hopes up about Ashley, too. He was no better off than his sister.

  It was time to wipe the Indigo Bay sand from his feet and go home. Whitney could come to Belle Island and visit him, or they could meet somewhere, but he was done with this town. Done. Finished. Over it.

  A couple more days and he’d be gone. He’d stay around just long enough to finish up Whitney’s books and make sure she was okay with this whole Warren thing. As if a person ever got over their parent continually deserting them.

  Chapter 15

  Ashley walked to the clinic the next morning, dreading hearing how many patients had cancelled today. She needed to call Doc Browning and tell him what was going on. She couldn’t bear to ruin his practice. Maybe he could come back early or find someone else to work here until he could return. It wasn’t fair to him for her to chase everyone away. Whether it was her fault or not, the town had decided she wasn’t the doctor for them.

  She opened the clinic door to find Lucille Sanderson and a young woman sitting in the waiting room.

  “There you are, Ashley. I hope you don’t mind. My niece, Maggie, isn’t feeling well. It’s probably that bug that’s going around, but I’d feel better if you’d check her out.”

  Ashley looked at the young woman. She didn’t look like she felt well at all. “No problem. I’ll see her first thing.”

  “I have exam room one set up for you.” Jerri Lynn motioned with a pen.

  “Maggie, would you like to come this way with me?”

  The young woman nodded and stood.

  Lucille sat primly in the waiting room chair. “I’ll be right here, Maggie.”

  “Thanks, Aunt Lucille.”