"Right, that's it. You're disturbing my customers and my staff." Bob marched round the side of the bar, slid his arms underneath the guy's armpits, and hauled him to his feet before dragging him to the front door.
"U an't dooooo is to meeeeeeee."
"You can't do this to me," Vernon translated again.
"Come on. Out." Bob opened the door and pushed the guy out. "And don't come back unless you're sober!"
"I'll g…et you back for is!" were the guy's last words before Bob shut the door.
Vernon raised his eyebrows at me. "Nice guy."
"Where's Carter?" Bob asked as he walked behind the bar again. "He should be front of house dealing with any problems like that. I'm up to my eyeballs in paperwork that I've got to take to the accountant tomorrow. I don't have time for this."
I didn't point out that I was perfectly capable of dealing with it myself. Bob was kind of over-protective in that way.
"Er…Carter hasn't been in all night," I said.
"Probably drinking and gambling again." Bob tutted and swore under his breath. "He and Elise will be the death of me! Honestly, you give them both jobs and places to live to try to keep them on the straight and narrow, and neither of them appreciates it." He shook his head, looking defeated, tired, and sad.
Poor Bob. Carter was his nephew, who he'd been looking after since Bob's brother and sister-in-law died in a boating accident when Cater was sixteen. Carter had gone off the rails for a few years, and he was now more interested in smoking, gambling, and drinking away the tavern's profits. Bob's daughter, Elise, wasn't much better. She thought the world owed her a living, and she was only working in the bar until she could, "Snag a rich guy to marry." I say "working" in the loosest possible terms, as mostly she just sat behind the bar, staring into space, flirting with the single men, and trying to avoid doing anything remotely work-like.
Bob ran a hand through his graying hair. "Where's Elise gone? Don't tell me she's left you in the lurch, too."
I nodded towards the ladies' room. "She's doing her hair, or plucking her eyebrows, or…something."
"Give me strength." Bob sighed, looking around. It was nearly closing time, and there were only a couple of people left. "Can you handle things out here until we shut?"
I shrugged. "Sure. No problem." I was used to that anyway, and I actually preferred practically running the place on my own. Handling Carter and Elise only made things more complicated. I picked up the mai tai I'd been making and handed it to Bob. "The people who ordered this made a sharp exit after you threw that guy out, and it looks like you could do with a stiff drink."
He took the cocktail and swallowed a long gulp before his eyes watered. He coughed. "Strong."
I grinned. "Yeah."
"You're not kidding." Vernon swirled the last of his mai tai around his glass. "I think she's trying to get me drunk."
I rolled my eyes at him good-naturedly. "You don't need anybody's help in that department."
"Thanks, Hope. What would I do without you?" Bob patted my shoulder in a fatherly gesture. "Now I'd better get back to it. Something just doesn't add up." He took his drink and disappeared through the back of the bar and down the corridor into his office with a worried frown.
I wiped the surface of the bar as a young couple seated in the corner of the room got up and left.
"I think it would be my duty to walk you home, young lady, just in case that man is still hanging around." Vernon slid off his stool and wobbled slightly before giving me a bow. "Vernon Kaye, at your service."
"Stumble me home, you mean?" I grinned. Vernon was a sweetie, even if he did like a drink, but he was always a funny, happy drunk. Nothing like Mr. Angry from earlier.
"Thanks for the offer, but I've got my bike with me," I said.
"Well, I'll wait until you close up, then. Just in case."
"OK, thanks." I collected the glasses dotted around the tables and was loading them into the dishwasher when Elise finally reappeared. Perfect timing for her as we were just about to close. She swaggered out of the ladies' room, looking like she'd piled on enough makeup to star in her own drag show.
As she walked behind the bar to collect her bag, my nose tingled. She smelled like she'd been caught in the middle of an explosion in a perfume factory.
I sneezed.
"Ew! Did you just snot blast on my bag?" Elise scowled at me and wiped her salmon pink Prada tote bag with her hand.
"Nope." I shut the dishwasher with my hip and put the sliced fruit for the cocktails back in the fridge.
"Good! Well, I'm off then. I've got a hot date with a sexy guy!" She smirked at me. "You should try it some time. Maybe it would make you less frumpy."
Yeah, see that's another thing I swore I'd never do, either. Date again. Not after my fiancé Nick Horner cheated on me. I'd met him in Thailand, after the catastrophic tsunami in 2004. It was a long story. One I didn't like to repeat very often. The short version was that I'd gone to Thailand as a volunteer to help with the re-build process, and Nick was a volunteer doctor working out there. It was an intense time. Heart-breaking, challenging, horrific, but also rewarding. In the midst of all that chaos, I'd fallen for Nick really hard, really quickly. He'd said he felt the same way, and things had gone wonderfully for a year. Until I'd found him going at it with one of the nurses in the operating room, two weeks after he'd just proposed. And by "at it," I don't mean performing a perfectly legitimate medical procedure. Apart from the fact that he'd betrayed me and broken my heart, it was pretty unhygienic. No wonder superbugs were rife in hospitals if the staff were bonking each other all over the place. He should have been called Nick Horny instead of Horner. So, anyway, the upshot was that I was still working at breaking my "never say never" rule where the opposite sex was concerned.
Vernon snorted, taking in my long, wavy hair with a few braids weaved in, my tight jeans, flowing turquoise scoop-necked blouse I'd bought in India cinched in at the waist, and the wedged sandals. "Frumpy? I don't think you could accuse Hope of being unattractive or old-fashioned."
"She's a hippie, new-agey freak!" Elise screeched.
I just smiled, repeating a "keep calm" mantra in my head. Even though Elise was a lazy, rude, spiteful person, I wasn't going to let her affect me. I sent her some silent peace and love vibes for good measure, since I firmly believe whatever you put out there you got back. I wasn't going to let her negativity affect me. No way.
"Can you turn the dishwasher on, please," I said to Elise as I grabbed my bag, since she was nearest to it.
She frowned at the dishwasher like she'd never seen it before. "How do you do it?"
I rolled my eyes at Vernon. OK, so sometimes the peace and love thing didn't work. Sometimes I really wanted to smack her, but, hey, at least I was trying.
"Never mind. I'll do it." I reached past her, turned it on, and headed around the bar, flipping off the lights as I went.
Elise's stilettos clacked on the wooden floorboards behind me, and we piled outside into the dark night.
I sniffed the salty sea air, never tiring of the smell. The Smugglers' Tavern was positioned at the top of Craggy Hill, above cliffs that the sea had worn deep grooves into over the years. The outside patio garden and seating area surrounded by a white picket fence boasted amazing views overlooking Danger Cove's harbor area and lighthouse to the right. Past that in the distance was the long, sandy Two Mile Beach.
"I might be late in tomorrow." Elise strutted off to her car.
"What, again?" I muttered to Vernon.
He chuckled and looked past the patio garden into the darkness, squinting. "What's going on over there? Has someone pitched a tent on Bob's land?" He looked over at an enclosed structure which did look a bit like a tent, covered in some kind of tarpaulin.
"No, it's an awning he's rigged up. The tavern's had some problems with the sewage system lately, and Bob asked Jake to look into the problem. I think Jake was digging down into the soil to find out where the blockage is, and he discove
red the roots from that big-leaf maple tree have compromised the pipes. Luckily, it's just the pipe coming from Bob's apartment upstairs, not from the tavern, so we're able to keep the place open. Jake was in the middle of repairing it tonight, but it got too dark so he's enclosed it to stop anyone falling down the hole and stop the stink from escaping." I waved a hand under my nose. "Might be a bit smelly otherwise. Plus, we can't be too careful with the health and safety angle, and we don't really want the customers looking at it. It might put them off their dinner!"
"Well, as long as Jake doesn't use what's in the pipes on his fruit and vegetables." Vernon pulled a face.
"Urgh! What a horrible thought." I grimaced.
Jake Rafferty was the local handyman who also had a small organic fruit and vegetable garden on a large patch of land next to the tavern. Jake's dad used to own the tavern and surrounding land, but he was forced to sell it about ten years ago to avoid bankruptcy. When Bob bought it, he hadn't thought it would be right to just throw Jake off his land and stop him earning a living, so he let Jake stay. Jake supplied the tavern with pretty much all of his produce now. That was Bob all over. He had a heart of gold.
Vernon linked my arm in his and weaved a path towards my bike at the rear of the tavern. When we reached it, he stopped, took another bow, and said, "Your chariot awaits." He swayed.
"Thanks for your help tonight." I swung a leg over the bike and got on.
He waved a hand nonchalantly. "I didn't do anything. Looked like you were handling things pretty well on your own."
"Will you be all right walking back? I don't want you falling over the cliffs on your way home."
He held a finger in the air. "I've been walking for all of my sixty-two years by myself. I think I can get home safely." He hiccupped.
"You're swaying," I pointed out.
"I'm not. It's just my knee playing up."
Vernon had never talked about the injury to his knee in detail, and I didn't like to ask, but he walked with a limp.
"Maybe I'll see if Ruby is up. She might offer me a nightcap!" He gave me a cheeky grin.
It was no secret Vernon adored Ruby Fournier. They were frequently at the bar together playing cards or bantering like an old married couple. Although Ruby had never told me much about her past relationships, I suspected she was also following the "never date men" rule.
"Ruby will probably already be in bed. She's got a car collecting her early in the morning from one of the TV studios in Seattle because she's filming her new yoga DVD."
"Shame." Vernon scrunched his face up. "Maybe one day she'll—"
The rest of his words were snatched into the night as he turned away and limped into the dark night.
It wasn't until I was cycling down Craggy Hill that I realized I hadn't said goodnight to Bob.
If I'd have known it was the last time I would ever see him again, I would've paid more attention.
CHAPTER TWO
I woke up with my head purring. Or, rather, the cat on my head was purring. I stretched, dislodging Zen, a black tomcat who'd turned up a day after I'd rented my tiny cottage. I'd just opened the door that morning and found him sitting there on the front step, looking up a me with a dignified you-look-interesting-will-you-be-my-new-owner? face. I gave him a stroke under the chin, which he seemed to love, and he responded by winding his way round my ankles a few times before calmly strutting through the doorway as if he owned the place and making himself at home on the sofa, where he'd proceeded to wash himself thoroughly. He'd stayed the night, and the next day, after I'd fed him some canned tuna, he'd decided he wasn't leaving. I figured it was definitely a sign of some kind that he'd padded into my life. Who needed men, anyway, when you could just be a crazy cat lady? I loved animals, and I'd been toying with the idea of getting more pets.
Zen nudged my ear with his wet nose.
"Stop it!" I shivered and picked him up, planting a kiss on his face. "I suppose you're hungry, aren't you? Why don't you catch your own food for a change?"
He gave me an indignant look, as if to say, That's your job, human. You are merely here for my pleasure.
I threw the covers back and sat up. Sunlight filtered through my thin voile curtains, so I already knew it was going to be a gorgeous day. The cottage had thankfully been a furnished rental, but I really needed to spend some money getting more things for it. It was an old fisherman's cottage, all whitewash walls and stone floors, and I'd tried to make it more cozy with second hand bright Turkish carpets, colorful candles in the old iron fireplace and dotted around the house, and vibrant photos of some of the places I'd visited on the walls. I guessed that was the trouble with having had no permanent address for years on end. I'd never accumulated anything personal that might be useful when I finally settled down. It wasn't as if I made a fortune at the tavern, either. Don't get me wrong, Bob paid more than a fair wage, but my finances were still a little tight. I'd been thinking of trying to find another job that paid more, but deep down I didn't want to leave Bob. He'd been like a father to me since I'd started working for him, and I had a huge loyalty towards him. Besides, with Elise and Carter sponging off him, he needed all the help he could get.
I was relying on the Universe to send me some signs about what her plan was for my future. Or maybe she'd already sent me some, and I'd missed them. And what if I didn't like what she had in store for me? Damn. Sometimes this whole trust the Universe thing that Ruby had been trying to teach me was challenging.
I fed Zen and fixed some oatmeal with honey and nuts for myself, eating at the small pine table in what could pass for a kitchen. Or a broom closet. The place was tiny, but it had an amazing view over the harbor, and it was private. After years of house-shares, dormitories, retreats, and group accommodation, it was so nice to finally have a place all to myself. I had complete peace and quiet. I had the freedom to do exactly what I wanted. If I tidied up and went out, when I came back no one had messed it up. I could walk around naked if I felt like it. And it was cheap. Bob owned it, too, as he did a lot of properties in Danger Cove, and he rented it to me for half what he could have got.
I drank a green tea, did a yoga flow for an hour, finishing off with ten minutes meditating, then got on my bike and cycled to the tavern. I was on the midday to eight shift, but since Bob had a meeting with his accountant in town first thing this morning, and Elise or Carter would probably be late or a no-show, I would need to open up early.
When I arrived, I propped my bike up around the back of the building where the garbage bins were stored and hidden by latticed wooden trellis, and I spied a lone figure precariously close to the edge of the cliff in front of the patio garden. He was looking down towards the sea.
"Hey!" I shouted. "Don't get so close to the edge!"
Unfortunately, he didn't hear me. Since the spot was so exposed, the wind whipped up sometimes, and it was now muffling my voice. It was dangerous, though, being that close to the edge. One hard gust of wind could send him hurtling to his death on the rocks below. What was he doing? Was he thinking of jumping? Was he trying to commit suicide? He must be. No one in their right mind would get that close to the edge.
"Hey!" I called again, hurrying through the garden gate towards the man at the cliffs. I spotted Jake in the distance, picking veggies for our daily menu, and pointed towards the man. Jake stood up and squinted into the sunlight, then nodded at me and headed in the same direction.
"Get back!" Jake yelled out as we both got closer, which seemed to finally get the man's attention.
He turned, eyebrows raised in a question, looking surprised at our sudden approach.
"You shouldn't be so close to the edge," Jake said. "It's dangerous. One strong gust of wind could have you over the edge. Didn't you see the sign?" Jake pointed to a sign at the edge of the cliffs that read Danger: Cliff Edge.
I held out a hand, palm facing towards him in a calming gesture. If he was thinking of jumping, maybe we'd have to coax him back gently. "It's OK, though. Whatever problem
s you're having, I'm sure there's another way to deal with them. You don't have to do this." I nodded gently, my heart banging hard in my chest.
His big blue eyes that almost matched the color of the sea widened slightly, and his mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
Picking up my cue, Jake said, "Come on now, sonny. Let's step away from the edge. Nothing can be as bad as all that."
"Yes," I agreed. "You could talk to…someone. There are plenty of counselors in town. I know you can sort everything out if you just take one more chance on life."
Slowly the man's lips quirked up at the edges, revealing a dimple in his right cheek. He threw his head back and roared with laughter.
I looked at Jake, giving him an oh-no-he's-a-total-whack-job look. I shrugged, a silent What shall we do?
Jake shook his head as if he didn't have a clue.
"Oh, no…you think…you didn't think I was…about…to," the guy said in a very British accent (think Hugh Grant) in between guffaws of laughter. Finally, he wiped the corners of his eyes, which were twinkling with tears, then pointed between us. "Ha ha. Good one! Seriously, you both thought I was going to top myself? It's OK, I'm not a nutter. Is this place like Beachy Head, or something?"
"Er…" I bit my lip. "Beachy Head? What's that?"
"It's a cliff on the English coast where people go to jump off," Dimple Guy said.
"You mean you…um…weren't going to jump then?" I ask. Obviously I needed to clarify that point. There was no room for error here.
"No, of course not." He grinned, showing me that dimple again.
He could have just been trying to lull us into a false security then take a running jump, of course. It was our duty to try to save him, surely? I couldn't live with a jumper on my conscience.
"Why don't you come into the tavern? I can fix you a drink, and we can talk about things," I said, then worried that maybe I shouldn't have offered him a drink. He could have been on medication for all I knew. But at least if I got him inside the safety of the bar I could call the doctor's office, and they could send someone out to check up on him. I didn't think he should be left alone.
Secret of the Painted Lady Page 23