by Tonya Kappes
Louise was better at spreading the word than any advertising I’d thought about doing.
“You don’t mind selling tickets to the marina’s boat rides over to the bee farm across the lake do you?” she asked.
“There are so many people who love to come that the marina can’t take all the orders.” The mayor pointed to a gruff-looking man with a pair of brown overalls on.
“Unfortunately, the marina was left out of the budget when the boardwalk was being reconfigured by Alexis and her committee.” The man’s face tensed. Even under his beard, I could see his jaw clench.
“It was a big deal when they decided to redo the boardwalk. The beautification committee was in charge of what shops were going to be on the boardwalk, as you know.” Crissy leaned over.
Aunt Maxi had called me and told me that she thought it would be a good idea to come back here and open a shop on the new boardwalk. She’d done all the paperwork and taken the necessary steps to get The Bean Hive approved. She even paid all the fees and for the inspections. She said it was her divorce gift to me since she hated Kirk anyways. There was no sense in arguing with her because no one argued with Maxine Bloom and won. My brows furrowed at my thought. Again, she’s not a murderer.
“It was a big fight between Bib and Alexis because she completely left out his marina in her design.” Crissy shrugged.
“So you mean to tell me that Bib would have reason to have killed Alexis?” I asked, realizing Bib must be the owner of the marina.
Shock coursed through Crissy as her body stiffened and her mouth dropped open. Her eyes darted back and forth.
“And the boat,” I gasped.
“What boat?” Crissy asked.
“Roxy?” Louise asked. “Well?”
“Sure.” I shook my head a little to refocus on the meeting. “Yea.” I waved my hand in the air. “I’ll sell tickets.”
Bib’s eyes met mine. His dark eyes sharpened.
The mayor and Louise made the final arrangements for the ticket sales at the coffeehouse.
“Do you really think big Bib killed her?” Crissy’s words were haunting.
My phone chirped, signaling a new text. I looked at it.
Roxanne I think I need a lawyer. The fuzz hauled me down to the station. M.
My mouth dried. My stomach knotted.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to look into it.” I showed Crissy the text and stood up to leave.
“Not alone you aren’t.” Crissy followed behind Pepper and me out of the meeting.
“Good. Because I need a ride.” I wasted no time. Aunt Maxi needed me. I was going to be there for her just like she’d always been there for me.
Eleven
“He’s slicker than owl shit, that one.” Aunt Maxi didn’t hold back when I walked into the police station and found her sitting in the chair next to a desk with a nameplate that read Spencer Shepard. Her hair had been patted down like a drowned rat and she had on no makeup.
“Shh.” My eyes grew wide. I looked around the busy station to make sure no one heard her. “He’s going to hear you.”
“I don’t care if he hears me. He accused me of killing Alexis Roarke.” She huffed, puffed and crossed her arms. “He dragged me down here during my mud-mask ritual and didn’t let me get fixed up. Accused me of killing someone, who ever heard of such?”
“Did you?” Crissy asked and juggled Pepper in her arms.
He twisted and turned until he finally wiggled out and jumped on the ground.
“Is that Pepper?” Aunt Maxi asked.
“Yes. He adopted me.” It was time I was just honest with myself. “But that isn’t what’s important right now.”
“But it is important.” Crissy clapped her hands. “Didn’t you and Alexis volunteer at the Pet Palace last night?”
“You are a smart girl!” Aunt Maxi jumped up, practically knocking me out of the way as she rushed over to the bathroom door that had a male sign on it. “Open up this door, Spencer!” She beat the palm of her hand on it.
“What?” Confused, I turned to Crissy.
“Every Sunday I volunteer in the Pet Palace office because I can’t,” her voice turned into baby talk and she bent down to Pepper, “stand those sad little bitty eyes looking at me when I tried to clean the kennels.”
“Go on.” I rolled my wrist, gesturing her to continue.
“And I make the volunteer list on Sunday so it’s ready to go on Monday when Louise gets there so she can email it to the volunteers. The week runs Tuesday to Monday. Maxi and Alexis always work together. Last night was their night. I’d gotten a call from Louise late about the schedule because Alexis didn’t show up.”
“So you’re thinking she was already dead?” I asked.
“Yes or soon thereafter, which gives your aunt an alibi last night, because the night staff would’ve seen her.” Crissy was brilliant, even though she seemed to be a few fries short of a Happy Meal. “What kind of lawyer are you?” She rolled her eyes. “You need to ask for a refund.”
I laughed. Both of us sat back and watched as Aunt Maxi gave Spencer the business. He sent Aunt Maxi back to her chair and we sat there as he made a couple of phone calls.
“Ladies.” He looked at each of the three of us in turn. He spoke directly to Aunt Maxi, “You are free to go, but don’t leave town and call me back if I call you.”
“Come on.” She tugged on me as she got up and passed my chair.
“I’d like to talk to you a little more.” Spencer said to me after I looked back at him.
“Not now.” While I didn’t have a license to practice law in Kentucky, I did know my rights and I didn’t have to answer anything at this moment.
Though I did have the license to make a great cup of coffee.
“Do you mind taking us back to The Bean Hive?” I asked Crissy on our way out of the police station.
I was going to leave my questioning for Aunt Maxi when I was armed with an espresso.
All three of us piled into Crissy’s 1960’s VW Bug with Pepper on my lap. There was complete silence on the five-minute drive from downtown Honey Springs to the boardwalk. All three of us seemed to be still processing all the events of the day.
Downtown was pretty much the same as I remembered. Central Park was smack dab in the middle of town. There was a sidewalk around it and different sidewalks leading to the middle of the park where a big white gazebo stood. The Honey Festival had always been held in the park, but from what I gathered, Alexis had a lot to do with getting the festival moved to the boardwalk.
The same flags Mari had dangled down from the dimly lit carriage lights dotting all of the downtown sidewalks. The tippy tops of the daffodils popping out of the soil around the park were barely visible, showing the first signs of spring for the small town. I smiled with the vivid memory of the colorful flowers that made the downtown area come alive.
The courthouse was located in the middle of Main Street with a beautiful view of the park. It was where I had to go tomorrow to check out how to keep my law license current, especially now.
There was a medical building where the dentist, optometrist, podiatrist, and good old-fashioned medical doctors were located. Aunt Maxi used to have all her annual appointments during the summer and we’d spend a full day in that building. If I was lucky, she’d leave me at Crooked Cat where I’d spend my day surrounded by books and that bean bag chair.
“I can’t believe you’re going to sell the boat rides for the marina.” Crissy said as she pulled into the parking lot of the boardwalk. It was completely empty.
“I didn’t have a choice.” I got out and put Pepper on the ground.
All of us trotted up the steps of the boardwalk and briefly stopped at Crooked Cat where the crime scene tape had been taken down.
“Do you think they’ll open tomorrow?” I asked.
“Knowing Leslie,” Aunt Maxi’s forehead wrinkled as she raised her brows. “Yep.”
“This gives me the creeps. Let’s go.�
�� Crissy took off in the direction of the coffee shop.
Aunt Maxi took her time looking at all the vendors who’d already put up their tents. She couldn’t pass without saying something about each one. Some of the comments weren’t as flattering as they should be.
“I think the boat ride over to the bee farm will be a big hit.” Crissy stood by the door and waited for me to unlock it. “I heard they will give a tour as well as show them how they extract the honey from the combs.”
“I’m excited to get some fresh honey for my coffees, teas, and a few recipes.” I flipped the light on and illuminated the coffeehouse.
“Still takes my breath away in here.” Aunt Maxi let out a deep sigh, shutting the door behind her.
I let them get settled while I turned on the espresso machine. The only thing I really needed to get done before tomorrow was the homemade dog treats.
“I’m still so shocked about how Alexis’s daughter reacted at the meeting,” I said as I put the stacked up cookie sheets and parchment paper out for Crissy to help me with the dog treats. If I remembered correctly, Crissy was a pretty good baker and cook. She had to be. Her parents were gone a lot and she took care of herself. But my recollection was only a couple months out of the year. Everyone always seemed so busy in the summer, especially in Honey Springs since it was a place where families used to come to vacation at the lake.
“Wait a daggone minute.” Aunt Maxi curled her hand around the mug and watched as I mixed the batter for the rest of the peanut butter dog treats. Crissy rolled it out, used the bone cookie cutter to cut out the shapes and put them out on the parchment paper. “Leslie was at the meeting?”
“She’s always at the meetings,” Crissy noted, putting the last dog bone on the cookie sheet before she grabbed another one. “How many of these do you have to make?”
“I’m having Louise bring the animals from the Pet Palace in an effort to get some of the animals adopted. I thought I’d send a little bag of treats home in their adoption bag.” I added more ingredients to the bowl. “Why did you say that about Leslie? I think she’s upset that the community Alexis embraced is moving on with life and not really recognizing what happened.”
“Leslie is the last person to ever take up for her mother.” Crissy looked up from the flat dough.
“She was against the boardwalk revitalization and wanted her mother to close the shop or move it to the downtown area.” Aunt Maxi took another drink and a tea cookie. She shoved it in her mouth. She mumbled around a mouthful, “They fought like cats and dogs. Almost to the point of shoving.”
“I remember that. At the craft meeting.” Crissy nodded and put the cutouts on the parchment paper to fill another cookie sheet.
“Enough to want to kill her mom?” I asked.
“Last week at craft night they’d gotten into a fight but I couldn’t hear what it was over.” Aunt Maxi stood up. “I tried to listen. I was going to ask Alexis about it at Pet Palace but that’s when she never showed up. Alexis did talk about how Leslie should’ve been the parent because she was always trying to give her advice on how to live.”
“What was your beef with Alexis?” I asked. Aunt Maxi was silent. “I need to know if I’m going to try to represent you or get you the right representation.”
Crissy’s ears were on alert and I knew it. There was going to be gossip but I’d rather it come from the horse’s mouth than as hearsay.
“It was nothing personal. I own the building down there and needed more money for the rent. Cane Properties isn’t cheap.” She fiddled with the paper napkin the cookie had been on. “I’ve raised her rent once in the past twenty-five years she’s been renting from me. And it wasn’t much.”
My rent for The Bean Hive was the highest on the boardwalk due to the location, but I was happy to have it and pay the price. I’d gone over the paperwork with Aunt Maxi before I’d signed on the dotted line. It was the lawyer in me that did it. The only paperwork I didn’t look at was the contract between Aunt Maxi and Cane Properties.
“The lease agreement from Cane, did you have to sign something?” I asked her.
“I signed on your behalf, but Alexis had to sign an agreement with them too about the upkeep of the shop and the rules of the boardwalk.” Aunt Maxi said.
“I’d like to get a copy of my agreement.” It was just good practice to keep all the paperwork together and have my own copies.
Aunt Maxi bent down and patted Pepper on the head. He snored away in his new bed that Patrick had given him. Images of him walking Leslie out forced a snarl on my face.
“What’s that look?” Crissy asked.
“Patrick and Leslie are an item?” I asked.
“She wanted to be an item. With both him and Spencer. The only problem,” she grabbed up the leftover dough from the cookie cutter and rolled it back up into a ball before she started to roll it back out with a rolling pin, “was neither of them really wanted her. It’s a competition thing with them. They are the only eligible bachelors in Honey Springs.”
“Patrick sure did rush to her defense tonight.” I couldn’t stop the words from coming out of my mouth.
“Why, Roxanne Bloom.” Aunt Maxi’s eyes drew up, her lashes cast a shadow. “You sound like that eighteen-year-old girl again.”
Her words caused me to suck in a quick breath. Without looking at Aunt Maxi, I looked down at my hands that were definitely not eighteen years old anymore, but inside I was feeling like that eighteen-year-old kid.
Twelve
Beep, beep, beep. Four a.m. sure did come early. Especially since Pepper and I didn’t get home until a little after midnight. Crissy had taken Aunt Maxi home for me since I had my bike. The dog biscuits were cut and I’d get them in the oven as soon as I got to the coffeehouse this morning.
Pepper looked up from the bottom of the bed with a look of not again.
“Welcome to your life.” I gave him a good rub on his head before I headed off to the shower.
The warm water was a welcome wake up to my slumber. I was going to actually put on makeup and do my hair since it was the first real day of opening.
“It’s Honey Festival time,” I sang in the shower to Pepper who had peeked his nose around the shower curtain. “So fun!”
It was mornings like these that I was glad I had decided on a coffeehouse uniform. It never turned out good when I tried to mix and match clothes at four a.m. With my shoulder-length brown hair blow dried, some mascara, a little blush and some red lipstick swiped across my lips, I grabbed another black tee shirt with The Bean Hive logo that I thought would fit Bunny.
With Pepper in the basket and my headlight on my bike turned on to light our way on the curvy road, we were on our three-to-four-minute ride to the boardwalk.
When the tires of the bike made the bumping and thumping sound over the wood planks, Pepper popped his head up like he already knew where we were.
“Oh no.” My heart dropped with a frightful thought when I saw the lights were on in the coffeehouse. I clearly remembered turning off the lights and locking up last night.
I got off the bike and held on to the handlebars as I walked it up to the front door and peeked in.
“What on earth?” A sigh of relief escaped deep from my gut when I saw Bunny at the counter. She’d already had on a The Bean Hive apron over her clothes and neatly tied around her plump waist. She had on a pair of black pants like me and some sensible shoes. Her hair was tucked up under a hairnet.
Pepper hopped out of the basket after I opened the door. He darted back to his bowl where Bunny had already filled it with kibble.
“Good morning!” Bunny was a little too happy for the time. Secretly I wished I’d had just a fourth of her energy. “I couldn’t sleep. I was so excited about my first day and the Honey Festival.”
“I’m glad you’re here.” I walked the bike back to the kitchen and took her shirt out of the basket. “Wow.” I looked at the stoves and ovens that Bunny had already started. I emerged from the kitc
hen and handed her the shirt. “You’ve already got everything going.”
“I don’t let grass grow under my feet.” She held the shirt up to her. “I’ll go put this on right away.”
She disappeared into the bathroom. She’d started on the coffees and teapots, so I went ahead and picked up where she left off. The apple timer on the stove dinged and I hurried back to check on the dog treats Bunny had put in the oven.
“Mmm. Those smell so good.” Bunny looked over my shoulder. Her nose sniffed the air. “Too bad they’re dog treats.”
“You can still eat them.” The brown, butter-colored bone-shaped peanut butter treats turned out to be the perfect size for little mouths and big mouths. “They are only made of real ingredients like wheat flour and peanut butter.”
“I just might have to try one.” She giggled and held her arms out. “How do I look?”
“You look great.” I put on two oven mitts and took out the two cookie sheets filled with the tasty dog treats, setting them on the counter and placing two more sheets in the oven. “How do you know how to run a kitchen?” I reset the apple timer for eighteen minutes.
“I worked in the diner that was here for a year.” She smiled. “In fact, don’t you remember coming in here when you were wee-little and having a fountain drink?”
“I do.” The memory had been stuck way back in my head. “It was one of the last memories I have of me and my dad.”
“Yes.” She nodded and gave me the sympathetic look I was used to when people brought up the early death of my father.
He’d died of cancer when I was about eight years old. Aunt Maxi was his favorite sister and he wanted to make sure that I’d fall in love with Honey Springs and Aunt Maxi just like him. They also came here for the summers when they were children.
“How is your mother?” she asked and filled the small plastic bags with four dog treats before handing them to me to tie with a string of twine.
Each finished bag I put in a basket so they could sit on the table for the adoptions.