“I can handle the holiday baking,” Henna said, smacking at Gram, and then sipping her coffee. “I like keeping my hand in the baking.”
“I don’t prance,” Scarlett said, feeling a touch of outrage.
“Knew that would get you. Wake up. Drink up. They made yours extra big. I can’t drink good coffee anymore. Makes me pee like an elephant.”
“I didn’t need to know that.”
“Sweetie,” Henna said with the caring Grandma voice that had never come out of Gram’s mouth. “How are you feeling? I’ve been worried.”
“Because of Lex? Or my dad? Or maybe Gus? Or how my mom has been keeping secrets? Or how everyone I know is keeping secrets.”
“Oh honey,” Henna said, squeezing Scarlett’s ankle. “It’ll be ok.”
“Please,” Gram said, “Suck it up. You don’t have it half as bad, even now, as either Harper or Maeve. Both of them have been through far worse.”
“Yeah, I know,” Scarlett said.
“That doesn’t mean this isn’t hard. Trials aren’t a competition, and it’s ok to struggle with your trials even if others have harder ones,” Henna told Gram. “You let her be.”
“She shouldn’t be so ungrateful,” Gram said. “The only reason Lex didn’t tell you about that girl is because you snuck up into his heart, and he didn’t want you to hate him.”
“I might not have hated him.”
“You would have. You’re a grizzly bear when it comes to parenting. All claws and protectiveness. You’d never have been bamboozled like Lex was, so you don’t get it.”
Scarlett sniffed and finally took a long drink of her coffee, giving up on further sleep. “Lex doesn’t care about me like that. And you don’t know anything about Lex and his kid.”
“Lex, my idiot granddaughter, is head over heels for you. What other sheriff would put up with you sticking your nose into only the murder cases?”
“I…”
“He eats at your bakery every single day.”
“That’s…”
“He plays with your girls.”
“So…”
“No bachelor plays with a single mom’s kids if he isn’t wanting a chance at that single mom. Not ever.”
“Henna?” Scarlett looked an appeal to Henna, needing backup.
Henna patted Scarlett’s knee and said, “Lex has been half-way in love with you since you saw through his charm and stonewalled him. And he gave up fighting it when he moved here, darling. Otherwise…he’d have stayed in his old town and his old life.”
“He must have done this for Amelie. Mystic Cove is perfect for her. It wasn't for me. None of this was for me.”
“He saw what he should have been for Amelie because of you.” Her voice was so very gentle. It was the same tone Henna would use to deliver terrible news.
“Fool girl,” Gram muttered. “So self-absorbed she’s blind to the obvious.”
“You’re mean, Gram,” Scarlett told her, getting up to escape into a shower. She was going to linger, maybe even shave her legs. “I’m getting dressed.”
“We don’t have all day for you to primp,” Gram said sourly, practically reading Scarlett’s mind.
Scarlett didn’t answer, but she was going to take a long shower regardless. How often did she get a shower without Luna banging on the door and demanding to come into the bathroom?
“Get comfortable, Hen,” Gram said as Scarlett started to shut the door to her bedroom. “She’s going to linger to spite us.”
Scarlett slammed her bedroom door and made her way to the shower where she lingered because she deserved it. She did her makeup and french-braided her hair to spite them, though. She even wore clean jeans and a real shirt instead of another second-hand t-shirt from someone else’s soccer league or family reunion.
* * * * *
“Tell me about Leroy…and my dad,” Scarlett said as she followed Gram and Henna down the stairs and out of the building that Harper and Scarlett had bought from Henna after Scarlett had moved back to Mystic Cove. They both had apartments there as well as their businesses.
Scarlett refused to make her way to Mabel’s Diner before she checked on the bakery and ensured that Phil was working. His couriered parts had arrived and the ovens were opened up. It made Scarlett ache to see the heart of her bakery unassembled. She scowled at Phil’s back where he was bent over the oven and then left a sign on the door of Sweeter Things before going to the diner for gossip and food. If anyone knew more about Leroy than Henna and Gram, it would only be the queen of gossip, also known as Mabel of Mabel’s Diner.
“Meatloaf omelet, side of bacon, extra avocado, loaded with veggies,” Scarlett told the cook, Abe, directly. “Hash browns, a short stack, and all the coffee you have.”
He glanced her over and then gave her a slow grin before he asked, “You hung over?”
“No,” Scarlett said. “But my Gram wants to spend the morning with me sleuthing murders, so I need to be fortified, otherwise I’ll murder her too.”
His deep laugh brightened Scarlett’s day, and she said to him, “You ever catch your druid girl again?”
“She’s too good for me,” he said, with a sideways grin and a waggle of his brows.
“Couldn’t be,” Scarlett said. She waved to him and found her way to the booth that Gram and Henna were sitting at with Mabel.
“Saw Gus this morning for meatloaf omelets with a new girl,” Abe said. He wasn’t prying, he was warning her.
She said, “Thanks.”
“Mabel’s been waiting for you to come in,” he said.
“Quadruple thanks and puffy cloud thoughts,” Scarlett told him, taking a deep breath.
“You ok?”
“I…I think so,” her voice sounded a little surprised, and she was surprised. Her one hope was that she liked Gus’s girlfriend. His friendship had been a rock to her since she’d been home. Plus, she truly wanted him to be happy. “Thanks for asking.”
Scarlett crossed to the booth and decided to take charge before Mabel did.
“Tell me about my dad, Mabel,” Scarlett said as she took the pot from Mabel’s hand and poured herself some coffee. “Don’t walk around the truth like these two.”
“Your dad was a low-down crook and your mom always could have done better,” Mabel said without hesitation, “Should have done better. Should have dumped him way earlier, but she got sucked in by his charm, and she probably loved him too, fool girl. The day she kicked him out was way too late.”
Scarlett didn’t look at Mabel but stared at Gram and Henna to see if they disagreed. They didn’t. Their gazes slid sideways and they didn’t say anything at all. Given that neither of them was particularly quiet or unopinionated Scarlett didn’t need to know anything else.
“And he was buddies with the dead guy?” Scarlett asked.
“There was a whole group of them getting into trouble together. Some of them carried it on—just like Greg who just got arrested yet again. And Jeb as far as I can tell. Never liked him, his daddy, or his boys. Some of your dad’s group straightened out a bit—if you can call Leroy’s life clean. He might have held a job, but he was a real jerk and spent a too much time drunk, if you ask me.”
Scarlett’s brows rose. Abe brought her food, and she ignored the others to dig into her pancakes.
“You’re supposed to be a druid, Scarlett Oaken,” Gram said, examining Scarlett’s non-vegetarian choices and then taking a piece of bacon.
“So are you,” Henna said to Gram. “Abe, would you mind bringing me a yogurt parfait?”
“I”ll have pancakes,” Gram told him around her bacon. “The wheat ones. With fruit. Like druids do.”
Scarlett ignored her Gram and took a bite of the omelet, saying, “This is too good, Mabel. Who do you think killed Leroy?”
“What happened sounds fishy to me,” Mabel said. “Like a hex. I mean…after all this time…I’d guess his ex-wife or one of his kids. Who else is gonna hold a grudge but those closest to us, but h
is wife took the kids and moved to Florida. She told me it was going to be sunshine and roses now that they’d shaken Leroy loose. I haven’t seen her since….well…even before your dad left.”
Gram took another piece of Scarlett’s bacon as Abe brought Henna her parfait and Gram her pancakes.
“So since the wife isn’t a choice, who do you think?”
“Well…that would depend on whether Leroy was up to his old business again,” Mabel said. “If he was…whoever he was scamming. If he wasn’t…I’d guess it would be one of those guys he ran around with.”
“You mean my dad?”
“And Jeb and Greg Potter and Peter Wilkins,” Mabel said. She wasn’t apologetic about throwing Scarlett’s dad out there. What surprised Scarlett was that it made her uncomfortable. Was she worried? Or did she just not want to be associated? “But of course, your dad. Those boys were in trouble all the time. There’s no way…there’s no way some random person killed Leroy Jenkins when those boys are around.”
Scarlett thought about little Amelie and her terrible luck. It was weird that Leroy Jenkins died just as Scarlett’s dad came to town. It made Scarlett wonder just why he’d come back. After all this time and without an apology, she didn’t think it was her and her girls. Maybe that wasn’t fair to him, but she didn’t really see how it was her job to be fair to him. Really…after all this time…she wasn’t sure she owed him anything—Father or not.
While Scarlett was considering, Mabel attacked, “Saw Gus this morning with that pretty little girlfriend of his. Think you two will get along?”
“I haven’t met her yet,” Scarlett said calmly, taking a bite of the last piece of bacon before her Gram stole it, “But given that Gus has such excellent taste in friends, I imagine so.”
Scarlett took another bite and then said, “I figure we need to meet Leroy’s old gang, visit his workplace, and probably wherever he lived.”
Gram’s gaze was fixated on Scarlett who blinked blankly as if she didn’t have any idea why they were all staring at her. Each of those nosy old biddies wanted to know if Scarlett was heartbroken, and there was no way Scarlett was giving them a scrap of information.
“I figure we need to get moving, because once my ovens are up again, I’ll need to get baking, and of course—the girls get out of school this afternoon.”
“Harper will get them,” Gram said, but Scarlett shook her head.
“I’ll be getting them. They already spent the night with Harper. That’s more than enough chances to accidentally bring home another dog or cat or—knowing Luna—raccoon.”
Henna smiled and patted Scarlett’s hand and said, “It’s always nice to tuck in those close to us when we’re having a hard time.”
Scarlett’s brows rose in reply and Gram cackled and then said, “This is what happens when you run around oblivious to people being in love with you. They move on. Maybe don’t make the same mistake twice.”
“It isn’t just about them being in love with Scarlett,” Henna said, not seeing the daggers Scarlett was shooting at both of them.
They needed to shut up about her personal life in front of Mabel, Queen Gossip of Mystic Cove.
Henna continued, “It’s about Scarlett’s feelings too. Gus, of course, would have been a good match for Scarlett, but she needed time to get over her first marriage and to find her feet. Who can blame him for being tired of waiting for her? Or feeling threatened by Lex? Perfectly reasonable of the boy to find someone who wasn’t half-drawn to Lex. Gus is as boy-next-door as they come—for a vampire. And Lex is the interesting bad boy.”
“Please shut up,” Scarlett said mildly. “I’ll take Leroy’s house. You take his friends since you knew them.”
“And you can hit up your dad too.” Gram said with an evil grin. “Quit being a wuss about that.”
“Must you always have the last word?”
Gram’s snide smile was answer enough for anyone.
Chapter 6
Scarlett’s phone rang as she left the diner, it was Maeve, but Scarlett needed to talk to Phil before she called her sister back. Scarlett had shaken Henna and Gram loose but only because they wanted to get out on their own. She crossed to her bakery and found Phil inside working.
“How’s it going?”
“Not as bad as I feared,” he said. “But it’ll take a bit longer. I’m going to put a scrying ward on them and fire them up to make sure it’s all ok.”
Scarlett nodded and then said, “Thanks for dropping your other cases today.”
“How could I not? I owe Lex a big one. He helped my boy out of some hard times lately.”
Scarlett blinked. She hadn’t even realized that Lex had called Phil about the ovens. She wasn’t even sure what she felt about that. She was not a damsel and could take care of things herself, but she also wanted her bakery up and running. And, of course, this came back to Lex’s daughter. Scarlett decided to just let it go. She wouldn’t have minded a few days ago if Lex had helped her. She wasn't going to mind today because she was furious with the big liar. The big handsome liar who had insinuated himself into her life.
“I’ll be back later,” she told him. “Message me when things are up and running.”
“Will do. Lex asked me to check out the electrical throughout the building just in case something worse happened. I guess he’s had some experience with that before. Wanted to be sure.”
Ok, having Lex give Phil instructions irritated her. They should have, at the minimum, talked to Scarlett about it too. She walked out before she said something to keep Phil from working on her place for her. Regardless of her irritation, she needed her bakery to be putting out cookies and bread before too long. If not for Amelie, Scarlett wouldn’t have concerned herself with the investigation at all and none of this would be happening.
Scarlett called Maeve back while she headed towards her car.
“I need a ride,” Maeve said. Scarlett’s sister was supposed to be in school, and her tone of voice sounded like she knew it.
“Oh yeah?”
“Me and Phoebe.”
“Does Phoebe’s mom know you two are going to skip?”
“No,” Maeve muttered. The clattering sound of school in the background with the dull roar of other kids and the slamming of lockers brought back anxiety of school days. Scarlett tried to shake it off, but she’d hated high school. If not for Gus, she’d have gone stark raving mad.
“Is Phoebe going to tell her?” Scarlett asked as she dug through her bag for her keys.
“Um…”
“I can’t get Phoebe if she doesn’t tell her mom. I have to be semi-adult.”
“Harper would,” Maeve said.
Scarlett started her new car—it was a Suburban. She’d gotten the SUV to deal with the east coast winters, potential soccer games, and sleepovers. Lex had found it for her, and it had been a smoking deal. She tried not to let that affect her love for the car now.
“No one expects Harper to be responsible. I don’t have the same luxury.”
Maeve grumbled to someone off the call, and Scarlett guessed it was Phoebe. There was a murmur of conversation between the two of them and then Maeve cursed. Scarlett drove down Arbor Avenue heading towards the countryside where Leroy lived. The middle school was on the way, so she could grab Maeve if Maeve was willing to leave without Phoebe.
“Look,” Maeve said, “Phoebe will tell her mom later.”
Scarlett considered that from a sister perceptive and didn’t care. From the mom perspective though… she couldn’t do it.
“Nope,” Scarlett said. She turned on her blinker and pulled into the coffee stand, ordering the largest, sugared up quad shot they had. Adding an espresso machine to the bakery had not helped Scarlett’s caffeine addiction.
“Come on! Harper won’t answer.”
“Maeve, my love,” Scarlett said, “If Phoebe’s mom hates our family, your friendship is screwed.”
Maeve sniffed at that and then said, “Mr. Lighton is mean.”
“You’re in middle school. You’re essentially in Hades just after Persephone left. There is no hope. Suck it up and go to Algebra.”
Maeve gasped and then said, “Agh.”
“Yeah. It gets worse before it gets better. Sophomore year should be way better.”
“I’m in 6th grade,” Maeve said with a shriek.
“Yeah. It really does suck. Want me to drive back through the coffee place and get you guys a treat?”
“We’re skipping anyway,” Maeve said. “We’ll just walk.”
“See but then I’m not involved and Phoebe’s mom doesn’t have to hate all the Oaken’s.”
Scarlett pulled a u-turn and back into the coffee stand. Cop lights turned on behind her, and she saw Lex behind the wheel of his SUV. Her eyes narrowed and she had to bite back a foul curse.
“Looks like no drinks for you two. I’m getting pulled over.”
Lex stepped out of his SUV with his mirrored cop sunglasses on his face. She rolled down the window of the massive white Suburban and looked down at him, taking a sip of her coffee and raising her brow.
“You all dressed up for Gus?” It was clear that Lex didn’t like that idea at all.
“No, I’m dressed up because my Gram taunted me and making her wait was punishment. Gus has a girlfriend now.”
“License and registration please,” he said, flipping his ticket book open.
“No,” she said, taking another sip of her quad shot.
“You pulled a u-turn while talking on the phone. And you were speeding.”
“You lied to me for months,” she said. “What’s the fine for that?”
“You don’t get to break laws because we’re friends.”
“Is that what we are?”
He opened the door of her car, reached across her to unbuckle her belt, and pulled her out of the car. If his hands weren’t infinitely careful, she’d have elbowed him in his manhandling throat, but there was something about the way his fingers touched her that stopped her from lashing out.
“We are more than that,” he said, tipping her chin up to him, and settings his lips on hers.
She pulled back and said, “You don’t just get to kiss your way out of this, Lex Warder. I am not ok with the fact that you never told me about Amelie.”
Hobgoblins and Homework Page 4