Laina Turner - The Trixie Pristine Boxed Set

by Laina Turner

  “I’m Trixie. Though I guess you already know that,” I said.

  “Yeah. I’m sure you are wondering why I left that note on your car?”

  I nodded. That was the million-dollar question.

  “I used to be Stephen’s girlfriend.”

  My eyes widened in surprise, and her comment put me a little on edge wondering what her motives were with this meeting, and if Stephen was lurking about.

  “Don’t worry,” she said, sensing my discomfort. “This isn’t some sort of trick to get you here. He doesn’t even know I’m in town. I just know he has been harassing you for money because the guys he stole money from are after him. I can help you.”

  Harassing was a bit of an understatement, but I wasn’t going to argue. “Help us do what?”

  “Get Stephen off your back. Help the police catch him. Whatever needs to be done to stop him from making things even worse.”

  “I know you said you aren’t his girlfriend anymore, but why would you help us?”

  “Because, at one time I cared about him. I cared a lot, and if he doesn’t either get out of the country or go to jail where he can be reasonably safe, the guys he used to work for will kill him. I don’t want him to die.”

  “You know he’s done some pretty terrible things, don’t you? He blew up a car and killed someone.”

  She shook her head. “Look, I know you have absolutely no reason to listen to me or believe anything I say, but it’s the truth. I know he’s done some bad things and I’m not excusing that, but I don’t want him killed. I’d rather see him in jail. I’m not a fan of bringing innocent people into our crazy world. He should have never come back here. That’s the main reason we broke up.”

  “What do you mean innocent people into your world?”

  “My father is who he used to work for. I don’t agree with the way my father lives either. But you can’t help who you fall in love with, and Stephen promised me he wanted to change. As you can see, he hasn’t yet, and that’s why we are no longer together. However, I still care, and as crazy as it might be, still hope someday he will realize this isn’t a way to live.”

  “Everything okay, Trixie?” I heard Berklie holler out the window.

  “Everything’s fine. C’mon out here.” I figured, why should I have all the fun. Sophie and Berklie should be able to meet Rachel, too.

  I made the introductions and gave them the twenty-second version of what we had already discussed.

  “Your dad’s name doesn’t happen to be Lewis does it?” Berklie asked once we had caught her up to speed with the discussion.

  Rachel looked surprised. “Yes. How did you know?”

  “Did you know he was in town?” Berklie said.

  “He’s here? Wait a minute. You need to tell me why you think my dad is here.”

  “Because I saw him. He’s working some kind of land deal with our crooked mayor.”

  “That changes everything,” Rachel said biting her thumbnail nervously. “Listen, is there somewhere more private we can go and talk?”

  “Sure. Why don’t we head back to the shop, and we can make some coffee.”

  Since our place was just a couple of blocks away, it made sense to head there. “I’ll ride with Rachel to show her the way.”

  Five minutes later, we were at the shop with a pot of coffee going. I grabbed four mugs from the rack and poured.

  “Sugar, cream, or flavors are over there. Help yourself,” I said to Rachel, handing her one of the mugs. I took my own to get two pumps of sugar free vanilla, before walking over to one of the tables and taking a seat. The other three quickly followed suit.

  “I first want to say I appreciate you all giving me a chance and not just assuming, since Lewis is my father and Stephen an ex-boyfriend, that I’m a terrible person myself.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said. Berklie and Sophie nodded their agreement as well. We didn’t have a reason not to trust her, and she just didn’t seem like a bad person. She deserved the benefit of the doubt.

  “As I already mentioned, I don’t agree with the way they do business or their lifestyle. If my dad is here, then he must know Stephen is here, and whatever he was doing with your mayor has to do with finding Stephen.”

  “So your father wouldn’t be here to buy land as an investment?” Berklie asked.

  “It’s not likely. Land isn’t a normal investment for him, and even if it were, I couldn’t see him buying land in the Midwest. No offense.”

  “None taken,” Berklie said and then turned to look at me and Sophie.

  “See, I told you that deal made no sense.”

  “If he was here because he knew Stephen was in the area, what would he be doing with George?” I said.

  “That’s the mayor,” I added for Rachel’s benefit.

  “He must think George can help him get to Stephen in some fashion,” Rachel replied.

  “How could George have any connection to Stephen?” I wondered out loud.

  “Do you think Lewis knows George is crooked and is hoping maybe he can help him get the money the cops took off Stephen, that Stephen originally stole from him?” Berklie asked.

  “Could be,” said Rachel.

  “Okay, Rachel, so what’s your plan? What do we need to do to get Stephen to leave us alone?”

  She leaned forward. “Here’s what I think we should do.”

  Chapter 14

  Who is that with Bill?” I asked Berklie as I could see Bill, from the bookshop window, walking across the street to his office with a cute, young blonde. She usually knew everything and everyone and all the hot gossip in town. Bill was Jack’s old partner in the law firm, though I think technically Jack was still a partner, just a silent one. I’m not sure exactly how all that worked out.

  “Macie Mitchell. She is Jack’s replacement in the law firm. She is distantly related to Bill, something like a third cousin removed. This is her first job out of law school, and I believe, if my intel is right, she moved here from Arizona.”

  “Berklie, you never fail to impress me with how much you know. Did you guys talk about me like this when I first moved here?” Sophie asked, joking.

  “Of course we did,” replied Berklie while I nodded my agreement.

  “She’s cute,” I said.

  “In a Legally Blonde lawyer kind of way,” Berklie added. “I did love Reese Witherspoon in that.”

  “We should invite her to join us for coffee or wine,” I said. “Adding a lawyer to our group might come in handy these days.”

  “I have to drop some papers off to Bill later today. I will extend an invitation, and we can see how well she fits with us,” said Berklie. “It would be nice for us to welcome the new girl in town.”

  “You and Tom still hashing out details?”

  “Unfortunately, we’ve amassed a large amount of stuff that seems to need a million different signatures to divvy it all up,” Berklie replied. “It’s mostly the legal formality at this point. The decisions on everything have been made. It’s just actually doing it to make things official.”

  “I know he treated you poorly, but in all consciousness, would you ever consider taking him back?” Sophie asked.

  “You know, Sophie, that’s such a hard question. A part of me will always love him. We were together for twenty years and have two amazing children together. However, I’m not sure I could ever trust him, nor am I sure I still could love him for more than our history and our kids.”

  “What about you, Trixie? Could you ever take your ex back?”

  “No. That ship has sailed. And while I’m incredibly grateful I have Cody and wouldn’t change having him for anything, my relationship with his dad was doomed from the beginning. Never think you can change someone. You aren’t going to accomplish it, and you will both be miserable. Why all the relationship questions? You having cold feet?”

  “Not cold feet exactly, just as this whole thing sinks in, I realize that eventually we’ll be faced with difficulty. I mean that’s g
oing to happen in any relationship. It just makes me wonder how I’m supposed to make this work when so many people can’t.”

  “You can’t see the future, and you never know what’s going to happen, but if you love each other and are both committed to working things out, you will,” Trixie said.

  Berklie nodded. “Exactly what she said. Every couple is different. I thought Tom and I would grow old together, and then there are some couples I would never have thought would make it. Only time will tell. What I can say is you love Jonathan and I know he loves you, and that’s the best start you can hope for.”

  “Thanks, guys.”

  *****

  “We’re so glad you made it out tonight. Berklie said you weren’t sure if you would have time,” I said, taking Macie’s coat and hanging it up for her.

  “Lucky for me I had a late appointment that canceled. I’ve been booked solid doing meet-and-greets with all the clients I’ll be working with. It’s been a whirlwind of a week,” Macie said, taking the coffee Berklie offered her and having a seat. “Bill told me you gals were a hoot.”

  “Bill said that, did he? I’m going to have to have a talk with him. Giving away our secrets like that,” Berklie said, teasing.

  “Not to put you on the spot or anything, Macie, but you need to give us your background, your life’s history, goals, and whatever else you feel we should know,” I said, trying to be funny.

  “Is this a job interview?” Macie said, and I think she was only half teasing. She was probably thinking we were crazy, which we were. A little.

  “Of sorts. Don’t worry. Trixie and Berklie put me through the same drill when I moved here. They are picky about who they befriend,” Sophie said, smiling to let Macie know we weren’t completely being serious.

  “We’re too old to spend months getting to know someone that we then find out we don’t like. So if we get all our cards out on the table now, we can cut to the chase,” Berklie said. “We like to be efficient.”

  Macie shook her head. “Okay. That makes sense. I’m all for efficient. Let me see. My name is Macie R. Mitchell, the R stands for Raven, as my mom is an Edgar Allen Poe fan. I’m just glad she didn’t give me Raven as a first name. I’m from Mesa, Arizona. Went to University of Michigan for my undergrad in creative writing and Cooley Law School in Lansing for my law degree. Bill is my mother’s husband’s cousin, so we are only related distantly by marriage. I didn’t want to go back to Mesa, and I didn’t want to stay in Michigan, so I ended up here. What else do you want to know?”

  “The most important thing of course! Do you have a boyfriend?” Sophie asked.

  “You have to forgive our friend. She’s recently engaged and is all about love these days. Us two, well, we are a bit more cynical,” Berklie said.

  “No boyfriend at the moment. Had one through law school, but in the end he went his way, I went mine. So if you know of any good prospects, send them my way.”

  “I don’t know about good prospects, but I have a list a mile long of all the ones to stay away from,” Sophie said.

  Macie laughed. “I have one of those lists, too.”

  “Where are you staying?” I asked.

  “I just rented an apartment right around the block from here above the diner. My apartment smells faintly of grease, but the price makes it worth it. Those law school loans will be kicking in soon.”

  “What made you want to be a lawyer?” I asked.

  “I always thought the law was interesting, and while I got my undergrad degree in Creative Writing, I knew I needed a career that would make me money. So I felt law would be fun.”

  “Creative writing? Does that mean you are a writer?” I asked.

  “Aspiring. Hence the need for a real job.”

  “What’s your specialty? In law, I mean? Do lawyers have a specialty even?” Berklie asked.

  “Not really a specialty per se, but I focused on environmental law because it interested me the most. However, those jobs are few and far between. So I decided experience was experience, and so here I am. Although, Bill’s firm handles a little bit of everything, so I’m actually going to get some great legal experience. Plus, it seems like a great little town. However, Bill did say you’ve been having your fair share of trouble lately.”

  “What did Bill tell you exactly?” I said.

  “That you had someone die from a cupcake the other day and someone else murdered a few months ago. He also said there were a few more mishaps he wasn’t really at liberty to mention.”

  “Good thing,” Berklie said. “He’s as gossipy as an old woman.”

  “We have had our share of bad luck lately,” I said.

  “Anything I can help with?” Macie asked.

  I liked Macie upon initial impression, and it wasn’t like anything happening lately was a big secret. It was fairly common knowledge. I looked over to Berklie and Sophie to get their agreement before filling Macie in on everything. They both nodded.

  “If you have time, we certainly can provide some entertaining information.”

  “Sure, Trixie. I would love to hear your story.”

  It took me about twenty minutes to just give Macie the brief rundown, to which she was silent, except for a few “ohs” and “reallys.” It did sound somewhat crazy explaining it. I finished, and we all just sat there a few minutes. Finally, Macie spoke.

  “If I didn’t know better, I would think this was a made up story. This town seems so, well, normal, for all of this to be happening,” she said, her arms getting animated on the word “this.”

  “I can agree with that sentiment. It does seem surreal, but it’s true,” I said.

  “So you don’t have any idea who killed Harvey?” Macie asked.

  “Not yet,” I replied.

  “And you don’t think that murder is connected in any way to Stephen?” she asked.

  “It’s doubtful. I mean, what would be the point?” Harvey being dead would serve no purpose to Stephen. We can’t figure out what purpose it serves to anyone, which is the problem in finding who did this,” I replied.

  “And this Rachel person, you really think you can trust her?”

  “We think so, she seems genuine,” Berklie said.

  “Wow,” Macie said softly. “I’m going to have to process this.”

  Chapter 15

  The next night, we were meeting at my house to discuss Sophie’s upcoming wedding over some wine. We were all seated in my living room when Berklie spoke up.

  “I liked Macie. She’s young and seems smart, and I wouldn’t say that about the lawyers I know.”

  Sophie and I laughed, and I said, “I agree. I liked her. I think she would be a great addition to our group.”

  “Me, too,” said Sophie. “Now if only Rachel’s plan works.”

  “Tonight we aren’t talking or thinking about this crap going on with Stephen. It is all about Sophie and wedding planning. So let’s have a toast,” I said, holding up my wine glass. “To Sophie and love and all that is wedding-related!”

  “Here, here!” said Berklie, and the three of us clinked glasses.

  “Have you even started looking at dresses yet?” asked Berklie.

  “What I want to know is has she even set a date?” I asked. “Have you set a date?”

  “Yes and yes!” Sophie said.

  “You’ve set a date. Why haven’t we heard about it yet?” exclaimed Berklie.

  “Jonathan and I just decided this afternoon. We had differences of opinion on when it should be, and it took a while to hash those out.”

  “I wouldn’t have thought he would care,” said Berklie.

  “Well, stop keeping us in suspense. When’s the wedding?” I asked.

  “Three weeks from tomorrow,” Sophie said, and I could tell she was bracing herself for our reaction, and she was not disappointed. We were both surprised. Shocked, actually.

  “What?!” Berklie yelled. “I can’t lose twenty pounds in three weeks. Why the rush?”

  I looked at
Sophie, and she was beaming. Something was going on here.

  “Why are you sitting there so calmly? She just told us we have three weeks to plan a wedding, and you’re fine with that?” Berklie asked me.

  “Are you pregnant?” I asked Sophie, ignoring Berklie for the moment.

  Sophie nodded.

  “Oh my God! I am so happy for you,” I said jumping up to give her a big hug. Berklie followed.

  “Why are you just now telling us this news?” Berklie asked, pretending to be mad.

  “I wasn’t keeping anything from you. I only found out myself Wednesday, and I went to the doctor yesterday to confirm. I needed to let the news sink in. Neither Jonathan nor I had planned having kids, at least not this soon. It was a way in the future kind of thing when we’d talked about it.”

  “How does he feel now that he’s going to be a daddy in how long?” I asked.

  “About eight months. I’m four to six weeks along. Once he got over the initial shock, he was elated. He’s already making plans for things he can do with the baby, and of course he’s sure it will be a boy.”

  “Yep, most men are,” Berklie said. “They think they get boys from wishful thinking.”

  “Okay, then we’ve got a lot of work to get done in a very short time,” I said.

  “I think I found a dress online that I like. It would need to be shipped here and have alterations made. I also found bridesmaid dresses I think you two will love. Let me pull them up,” Sophie said, taking her iPad out of her purse and navigating to the page she had bookmarked with the dresses. “Here. What do you think?”

  I looked at the page and then at Berklie and back to the iPad. Ugly was the first thing to come to mind. A deep vibrant purple color, it was a fitted mermaid style with a big bustle on the butt, poufy sleeves, and a small train. Guaranteed to make even a size two look fat—and neither Berklie nor I were a size two.

  “Okay,” said Berklie. Neither of us wanted to share our true feelings about the dress and hurt Sophie’s feelings. We of course would wear whatever, but these were ugly.