by Tonya Kappes
“Steve.” He nodded. “I’m just Steve.”
“Nice to meet. . .” I hesitated. “See you again after all of these years.”
The big burly man that I’d seen at the council meeting came out of the door wearing a pair of green waders. He had a pair of red suspenders clipped to them. His gut stuck out from between them above the waist of the waders.
“Damn propellers,” disgust laced the words from his mouth. “Steve, can you go see if you can get it out of the mud before people get on the first ride at nine?”
Steve walked back in.
“You must be Roxanne.” He took out a roll of tickets and handed them to me. “Each ticket is three dollars. It gets you on the boat across the lake and back. Any other expense will be through the farm people. I’m only here to shuttle back and forth.”
I took the tickets. It seemed simple enough.
“Say.” His eyes narrowed as he took a long look at me. “Aren’t you the gal from the meeting?”
“Yes.” A sigh escaped me. He wasn’t too bright. “Remember I said I’d help you sell the tickets.”
“Yeah. That’s right.” He shoved his hands in his pockets.
“What about a liability form?” I asked.
“Liawho?” Confusion swept across his face.
“Liability in case you wreck or sink.” It was the lawyer in me that would’ve told him he needed to do if he were a client of mine.
“You giving me bad ju-ju or somethin’?” he asked, though I could tell he didn’t want an answer.
“Nope. No bad ju-ju here. Just the fancy coffee girl.” I held the tickets in the air and waved them.
“What was your name again?” he asked.
“Roxanne Bloom.” There was no way I was going to let him call me Roxy. Nor did it seem that I was going to get any information out of him about Leslie.
“You found Leslie’s mom.” He started it and I went with it.
Steve had already told me about Leslie and her mom, which was all sorts of interesting. I only could hope Bib might tell me the secret.
“I did. Do you know her?” I asked.
“Everyone knows everyone around here.” He looked down the lake at a boat starting to gear down to almost idling as they entered the no wake zone.
“It’s awful. I feel bad for Leslie.” I let out a sad sigh.
I’m not sure if it was the sigh or the name that got his attention, but his posture changed. His shoulders curled back, he puffed up his chest, and his gut jiggled out between the suspenders again.
“You know Leslie?” He eyed me.
“Yeah. Doesn’t everyone?” I was as vague as I could be. “It was her mom.”
“Used loosely. And any friend of Leslie knows that her mom never put her first, even since Leslie moved here. They had one of them volatile mother-daughter relationships.” He rocked back and forth on his muddy boots.
“When I saw them together, they seemed to get along.” I acted as though we were just having a casual conversation and watched Steve sloop around in the shallow water, fussing and cursing under his breath. “It’s unfortunate that your marina was left out of the budget.”
That seemed to get his attention.
“I guess Alexis was in charge of that.” I shrugged.
“I’m doing fine down here. I don’t need all the frills. It would’ve been nice to maybe get some parts for the boat since I need it and they wanted me to have these rides.” He pointed to the tickets. “The money from the tickets won’t even cover the cost of getting the boat in the best shape for the rides over. It only covers gas.”
“I guess that made you real mad.” I hinted around for a motive.
“Are you trying to accuse me of something, Ms. Bloom?” He took his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms over his massive chest. “Because I don’t like your tone.”
“I’m just saying there seemed to be a lot of people not very fond of Alexis. That’s all.” I gulped wondering if the killer was in front of me.
“I wouldn’t waste my time or energy on her. Besides,” his eyes drew down on me, “I was with Leslie at the Moose that night.”
“All night?” I asked. Had he just given himself and her an alibi?
His mouth opened. His eyes became slits. Then his mouth slammed shut.
Splash!
Just as I was sure Bib was going to tell me something Steve fell in the lake, his arms and legs flailing about. Bib rushed over and jerked Steve up by the back of his shirt. Steve spit water out of his mouth and bent over with his hands firmly planted on his thighs gasping for air.
“Are you okay?” I hollered out to them.
They both lifted their hands in the air to let me know they were okay. Bib finished his off with a wave for me to go on.
“Dang,” I said with disappointment that I didn’t get the information about the secret. At least I had the tickets and I could come back to get more out of him. Regardless of the secret, I did find out some good information about the relationship between Leslie and Alexis. Not that it made Leslie a killer, but it was worth looking into.
Now I had two people on my list. Leslie and Drew.
Fourteen
Louise, Stewart and Patrick were standing in front of The Bean Hive. They had a kennel set up on each side of the door, under the windows. They’d pulled the café tables out a little more on the boardwalk.
Louise had set up a card table with a couple chairs situated behind it. There were some packets she’d made up about Pet Palace and even taken pictures of the animals that could be adopted.
Stewart and Patrick each had a The Bean Hive paper cup in their hands. I loved seeing the black cups with the cute yellow bean bee printed on them.
“Hello, Sassy.” I bent down and looked into the kennel. I ignored the staring eyes of Patrick.
Her little eyes broke my heart. Surely there was someone who’d take this sweet poodle even though her name fit her and her breed. I reached over to the table and pulled out one of the treat bags Bunny and I had made and gave Sassy the few homemade peanut butter treats. That seemed to perk her up.
“This is going to be a great day.” Louise clasped her hands and bounced on the balls of her feet. “This is much better than trying to get people to drive out to Pet Palace for an adoption campaign.”
“I have an idea.” I looked between the kennels. “Is that a cat?”
“Yes,” Louise smiled. “Chester. He’s so loving.”
“Does Chester get along with dogs?” I asked.
“Oh, yes. Dogs. Children. Old people like me. Young people like you.” Her brows lifted in curiosity.
I looked down the boardwalk and contemplated the idea in my head. There were people already starting to fill up the boardwalk and already walking from vendor to vendor.
“I’d like to take the opportunity to have each of the animals come into the coffeehouse. Walk around. Show their personality to the customers. I think if a potential owner sees the animals walking around and interacting, they are more inclined to adopt them then just sitting in a kennel,” I suggested.
Besides, seeing them in a kennel broke my heart.
“I can walk Sassy a couple times throughout the day and hand out the adoption packets you made up.” Patrick chimed in. He looked between me and Louise.
I couldn’t help but look at him. My heart did a flip flop when the sun hit his eyes making them sparkle. There was a vague sense of familiarity that passed between us causing me to grab the leash for Sassy and get her into the coffeehouse.
There was no time for a rekindling of a love interest. I’d already sworn off any sort of romance until my feet were firmly planted on the ground and figured out exactly what my life was about.
“Good morning!” Crissy’s black high-heeled sandals clicked when she walked up in a pair of tight snakeskin-printed jeans with a thin black cotton sweater. “Hi there, Sassy.”
Crissy dipped down and gave Sassy a good scratch on the head.
“H
ave you heard anything else?” she asked in a hushed whisper.
Patrick’s chin shifted to the side as though he was trying to eavesdrop.
“You want a coffee and doughnut?” I asked and tugged on Sassy’s leash so she’d follow me inside.
I left Stewart and Louise standing next to the table where they were handing out the adoption items to a few customers.
The customers inside the coffeehouse were buzzing around. A few had some mugs and were refilling them. A couple of people were perusing the bakery goods in the glass counter and a few of the tables were filled with customers laughing and enjoying their treats.
Bunny had the gift of gab and charm. She was making all the customers laugh and feel right at home.
I pulled out one of the bar stools at the bar that ran the length of the right window in the front of the coffeehouse. I unclipped the leash off Sassy’s glittered collar. Pepper found her right away and they did a nose-to-nose happy dance with each other. He darted off and she followed him. It was like he was showing her around. The customers didn’t seem to mind and I didn’t hear anyone yell that they were allergic to dogs, so my idea was a go for now.
“I’ll be right back with your treats. I have a lot to tell you,” I said and damped my hands toward the ground.
Weaving my way through the customers, I asked a few if I could help and they said no. When I made it back to the counter, I pulled two ceramic mugs from underneath the counter so I wouldn’t take the supplies from the counter where the customers could help themselves.
“Business is good.” Bunny’s eyes popped open with delight.
“Great.” I took the boat tickets out of my pocket and handed them to her. “Here are the tickets for the boat ride.”
“Oh good.” She pulled out a lucite picture frame with the particulars about the boat ride and cost on it. “Mari dropped this off this morning before she went nuts on the balloons.”
Both of us looked over the crowd and out the front windows where it was a sea of balloons dotting the boardwalk and pier. We laughed.
“Do you need anything or any help?” I asked. She shook her head. My phone chirped from my back pocket. “It’s Aunt Maxi.” I disappeared into the kitchen.
While I was in there, I went ahead and pulled the soups out of the refrigerator so I could simmer them on low. That way they’d be ready for the lunch crowd.
“Aunt Maxi, where are you?” It was odd that she wasn’t here to check on her investment in The Bean Hive. Or just check on me.
“I’m at home. Do you know that everyone in town thinks that I killed Alexis?” She sounded pretty upset. “Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t, didn’t really like the woman, but I didn’t wish her no ill-will. Six feet under. Coins on the eyes ill-will.”
“Calm down. I’m working on getting down to the bottom of this. I’ve got some real leads.” I put a couple of the pots on the stove just to get things ready for the soups. “Did you know that Alexis and Leslie didn’t really get along?”
“I know that Alexis changed her lease a year ago and put Leslie on it.” Aunt Maxi’s words hit me.
“If she did that, then it means she’d put Leslie in her financial profile.” The lawyer in me was coming out. “Did Alexis have any money?”
Even though Bib said he was with her, it still didn’t give her the alibi to satisfy me. There was something off about her and that whole relationship.
“Honey, Alexis was tighter than a Baptist minister's wife's girdle at an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast.” She wasn’t one bit kidding. It was one thing I loved about Aunt Maxi and why I loved spending time with her as a teenager.
“I’m not kidding. If Alexis had money and she had a bad relationship with Leslie, she’d do anything to make up for the last years.” I was only throwing scenarios out there to help point the finger at someone other than Aunt Maxi. “Maybe being on the shop’s lease gave Leslie some sort of financial gain in the business.”
“I don’t know. It seems like you’re throwing crap at the wall and hoping it sticks. Shepard has people who heard me threatening her at the meeting. It makes me the number one suspect even though they can’t put me at the bookstore. In fact, he even accused me of hiring someone.” Her voice trailed off.
“Did you?” I asked.
“Roxanne Bloom!” She screamed through the phone. “Now I know this town has made you lose your mind. You better go get you a shot of that fancy coffee, that by the way kept me up all night.”
“I’m sorry. But don’t worry. I’m going to find out who killed her and get you out of this mess.” I let out a sigh. There was something missing but I wasn’t sure what it was. “I’ve got to go. Crissy is waiting for me.”
Sometimes Kirk and I would banter back and forth cases each of us had and we’d come up with the craziest ideas about our clients. Sometimes they’d pan out but most often not. Maybe Crissy could be the one I could talk to about this.
I headed back into the coffeehouse and grabbed a couple of the white lattice saucers I’d found at Wild and Whimsy along with the rest of the mismatched plates, cups, and utensils. The silver creamer cows that were sitting on the tables were a find.
“Very nice place,” a customer said to me after she’d asked Bunny if Bunny was the owner. “Nice and cozy.”
“Thank you.” I put my hand on my heart. “Exactly what I was going for. I hope you come back.”
“Oh I will.” She nodded and took her cup of tea.
I put a honey doughnut on each plate and filled the two mugs with coffee before putting them on a tray to take over to Crissy.
“Spill it.” Crissy eyed the doughnuts and took the plate she wanted. She also grabbed a coffee mug and reached for the creamer and sugar on the bar.
I sat down on the stool next to her and cupped the mug with both hands as I rested my forearms on the edge of the bar. Patrick was still standing outside of the coffeehouse with Louise. He was passing out a few of the packets to passing visitors. He still had some characteristics that reminded me of us as teenagers, but he’d definitely grown into a man. A man that wouldn’t stay on the market too long if the right woman came along.
“You still have a thing for him.” Crissy’s jaw dropped. “Roxanne Bloom. Is the ink even dry on those divorce papers?”
“A year ago.” I brought the mug up to my lips and kept an eye on Patrick. “He is very handsome isn’t he?”
“I can’t believe it. You know he’d jump at another chance with you in a heartbeat.” She tapped her long spiky nail on the wood bar.
“I have a business to run and no time to chase a childhood sweetheart.” My shoulders lifted to my ears and I turned to face her.
“Who said anything about chasing, unless it’s in the bedroom.” She winked.
“Anyways, I guess you knew Leslie didn’t grow up here.” It was a bit of information she and Aunt Maxi could’ve told me about.
“We didn’t even know she was alive until a couple of years ago when she showed up and Alexis was forced to tell us who Leslie was during the Southern Women’s Club.” Crissy bit down into the doughnut and let a groan that came from the depth of her gut.
“Southern Women’s Club?” I choked back a laugh.
Who on earth created such a club?
“Yeah. Swanky they think.” She snarled.
“And you are in it?” I asked again figuring if Crissy was in it, it wouldn’t be hard for me to get in.
“What?” She drew back. “You don’t think I’m swanky?”
“Not at all,” I said. “So you know Big Bib?” She nodded and I continued, “He has a secret Leslie told him, according to Steve.”
Crissy tapped her heels on the floor and swiveled the bar stool. She pointed that long spiky nail.
“Do you see that woman right over there?” she asked. I followed her finger. “The one with the sunbed tan, brown hair, and expensive bag.”
“With the blue billowy top and black leggings?” I asked.
“Yep.
That’s the one.” Crissy crinkled her nose and did a finger wave when the woman saw us staring. “Shit. She’s coming over. She’s the president of SWC.”
“SWC?” I asked.
“Southern Women’s Club,” Crissy spoke out of the side of her mouth.
“Loretta,” Crissy’s voice dripped with charm when the very tanned woman moseyed up to us. “This is Roxanne Bloom, owner of The Bean Hive.”
“Roxy.” I smiled. I figured if I want to be in the SWC, I’d better give her friend status.
“Low-retta Bebe,” her southern accent caught me off guard, as did the tan. “Nice to meet your acquaintance. Have you joined the church yet? We have a wonderful Sunday school class.”
“You have a nice tan. Have you been to the beach?” I asked, ignoring the Sunday school class comment knowing Aunt Maxi would be trying to drag me to that soon enough.
“Oh no.” She shook her head. “I’m part Indian.”
“Native American.” Crissy looked around. “Loretta, you can’t say that stuff anymore. It has to be all politically correct.”
“What ev-her.” She flung her wrist toward the ground. “I like your little store.”
“Coffeehouse.” I’m sure Low-retta and I were going to be good friends. I did know that I needed in the SWC. “Or shop.” I planted a smile on my face. “Crissy, here, was telling me that it’s you I need to see about the SWC.”
Loretta’s eyes drew up and down my body as if she were assessing me as SWC material.
“I’m a lawyer too.” For some reason I felt like Loretta wanted more than a girl who grinds coffee beans and rolls ingredients together in hopes it all tastes good.
“We have a honey craft meeting tomorrow at my house if you’d like to come and we girls will vote on you.” She stuck her hand in her fancy purse and pulled out a calling card with her name, number and address on it. “Do you know where Magnolia Court is located?”
“I do,” I said and took the card.
“Six o’clock on the dot.” She tapped her maroon fingernail on her big faced watch. “On the dot.” She cocked her drawn-on brows.
“I’ll be there on the dot,” I confirmed, holding her calling card between my fingers.