“Good for him,” Bessie said.
“The food should be out in just a few minutes,” the girl told them.
Bessie and Mary talked about the plans for Grace’s shower while they ate the incredibly delicious food that came out of the kitchen a few minutes later. Mary had extravagant ideas and she was more than willing to fund them, but Bessie managed to persuade her to temper them slightly.
“We don’t want to overwhelm Grace and Hugh,” Bessie reminded her. “Grace still feels as if we did too much for their honeymoon.”
“I wanted to do a great deal more,” Mary said. “In this case, though, they’ll won’t feel as guilty because it isn’t for them, it’s for the baby.”
“I’m so happy for them,” Bessie said. “That baby may not have everything money can buy, but it is going to be incredibly loved.”
“That’s very true, and I do believe that’s a good deal more important than money,” Mary replied.
“Elizabeth seems to be doing well with her business.”
“Yes, it’s lovely to see her doing something she enjoys. I don’t know that she’s actually making any money at it, but I suppose that doesn’t really matter.”
Bessie hid a smile. She didn’t have many friends who wouldn’t care if their adult children were making money or not.
“Ready for pudding?” the waitress asked as she cleared their plates away.
“As long as we can take our time eating it,” Mary said. “I’m awfully full, really.”
“You know you’re welcome to stay all day,” the girl replied. “Dan would never ask a customer to leave, and especially not you.”
The puddings were everything that Bessie had hoped they’d be and then some.
“I’ve eaten thousands of chocolate chip cookies in my life, and I’ve baked at least that many myself,” Bessie said after her first bite. “But this is the best chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever tasted.”
They were lingering over their sweets and coffee when the café door swung open and Dawn Gray walked in. Bessie gasped as the woman looked around the room.
“Can I help you?” one of the waitresses asked.
“I was supposed to meet some people here for lunch,” Dawn replied, “but they aren’t here yet.”
“We can find you a table while you wait, if you’d like,” the girl suggested.
“Yes, I suppose so. I’ll need a table for six,” Dawn told her.
Bessie was relieved when the girl led Dawn to the opposite side of the room. The café was tiny, but Dawn sat facing the door. She didn’t appear to have noticed Bessie, and now she’d have to turn around to see her.
A moment later the door opened again and Constance Hamilton strolled in. Bessie held her breath, waiting for Dawn to notice the new arrival and start shouting. Instead, Dawn waved. Constance crossed the room and sat down opposite her. A few minutes later Brandon and his two friends came in. They quickly joined the women at the table.
Bessie was surprised to see Brandon sit down next to Constance. He slid his arm around her as soon as he was seated.
“Is everything okay?” Mary asked in a low voice.
“Everything is fine,” Bessie replied. “That’s the widow of the man who was murdered in the churchyard.” Bessie nodded towards the table in question.
“Which one?”
“The brunette,” Bessie told her. “The blonde was his live-in housekeeper.”
Mary raised an eyebrow. “I’m surprised they’re having lunch together.”
“Yes, me, too,” Bessie told her.
“Who’s the man wrapped around the housekeeper?” Mary asked.
“The widow’s brother,” Bessie whispered.
“My goodness,” Mary exclaimed.
The café door swung open again and Lucas joined the party. As he approached the table, Brandon removed his arm and sat up straight in his chair.
“You want to be careful you don’t get people talking,” Lucas told his son. “We have enough to worry about already.”
Brandon said something back, but Bessie was too far away to hear it. Lucas’s voice had carried well across the café in the silence that had followed his entrance, but now, as the general noise level increased, Bessie could no longer hear anything that was being said on the opposite side of the room.
“And the man who just joined them?” Mary asked.
“The widow’s father,” Bessie explained. “Also the father of her brother.”
Mary nodded. “Do you think one of them killed the pretend vicar?”
Bessie hesitated and then nodded slowly. “I think it was the brother, but I haven’t any real reason for feeling that way except that I don’t like him.”
“That’s good enough for me,” Mary laughed.
“I think he’s the one who broke into my cottage, as well, but again, that’s based on my feelings rather than on any evidence.”
“The police have to worry about evidence, we don’t,” Mary said. “I’m quite prepared to believe the worst about the man on your word alone.”
Bessie grinned. “He may be a perfectly nice man,” she suggested.
“He doesn’t look perfectly nice,” Mary retorted. “He was hanging all over the blonde, who doesn’t look particularly nice either.”
“She and the widow used to be good friends, but they had a falling-out over the dead man,” Bessie explained. “I’m not sure what they’re doing having lunch together.”
“Maybe they thought they could meet here and no one would see them together,” Mary suggested.
“I hope they don’t spot me, then,” Bessie said.
“We can go out through the back,” Mary offered, “or I can have Dan create a distraction.”
Bessie smiled at her friend. It was difficult to imagine what sort of distraction anyone could make in such a small space, but Bessie didn’t want to cause any trouble. “If we could slip out the back, that might be best,” she said.
Mary nodded and then beckoned to their waitress. “We need to sneak out without being noticed by the people at table six,” she told the girl.
“I’ll go and take their order while you go,” the waitress suggested. “I’ll take my time describing everything.”
Mary got up and then stood deliberately between Dawn’s table and Bessie. Bessie watched as the waitress walked over and stood so that while they were looking at her, everyone had their backs to Bessie. After a moment, Bessie picked up her handbag and then walked quickly to the door marked “Kitchen – Staff Only.” She and Mary were through the door and out of the building in less than a minute.
“That was exciting,” Mary said as she and Bessie walked back to Mary’s car. “I felt as if I were in a James Bond film or something.”
“I was too busy worrying that I’d trip over something and ruin everything,” Bessie sighed, “but I think we got away without being seen.”
“It doesn’t much matter if they saw me,” Mary laughed. “They’ve no idea who I am.”
Mary had the driver take them along the coast road for some distance before having him turn back towards Laxey.
“He seems competent enough,” Mary said as she poured Bessie more water. “I rarely use a driver, anyway. He’ll mostly be working for George. George should be dealing with the trial sessions, not me.”
Treoghe Bwaane smelled like yeast as Bessie walked back inside. “My goodness, I ate far too much at lunch and that smell still makes me hungry,” she exclaimed.
“I love the smell of bread baking,” Andy told her. “Almost as much as I love the smell of warm chocolate. I hope you aren’t going to be too full to try a few different breads at dinner. I thought I’d make a chicken and leek pie, if that sounds good.”
“It will sound wonderful in a few hours,” Bessie told him. “Right now, though, I’m almost too full to think about food.”
“I’ll have four, no, five types of bread for you to try for me as well,” he said. “Garlic and parmesan bread rolls, a French baguette, an Ameri
can-style sourdough loaf, a whole wheat loaf that should be healthy and delicious, and a chocolate bread that’s almost a pudding rather than a bread.”
Bessie groaned. “You can stay here as long as you like,” she said. “Now I have to find a way to work up an appetite. I want to try all of those, and we went to the café in Lonan for lunch.”
Andy nodded. “Dan does great things over there. It’s an interesting concept, really, his sampler plates. I wasn’t sure when I first heard about it, but I understand it’s proving very popular.”
“The café was full when we were there,” Bessie confirmed.
“Of course, Dan’s incredibly talented, as well. A lesser chef would struggle to continue to create combinations that work well together day in and day out. It’s far more work than I’m prepared to undertake, I think.”
Bessie nodded. “He seems to love it, though.”
“I think his wife does a lot of the menu planning, too, which probably helps. I’m sure it’s easier when they can bounce ideas off one another.”
“No doubt. They seem to have a good partnership. She’s not actually at the café much these days, though, as they are hoping to start a family.”
“I hope I find someone I can work with like that one day,” Andy sighed.
Bessie wanted to ask him what he thought about Elizabeth, but she didn’t want to interfere, at least not yet. Maybe once Andy was finished with school and back on the island for good she might say something. She wasn’t convinced that Elizabeth was interested enough to wait for six months while Andy finished college, anyway.
A buzzer sounded and Andy pulled open the oven. A rich yeasty smell filled the air. “Which one is that?” Bessie asked.
“Sourdough. An American friend at college gave me the recipe. You have to make a starter and feed it regularly. You use the starter to make the bread rise. It’s very different from anything else I’ve done, but I really like it. The flavour gets increasingly sour as you keep using the starter.”
“It smells wonderful, anyway. I must work up a huge appetite, mustn’t I?”
Andy set the loaf of bread to one side to cool. “I’m going to start on the chicken and leek pie now. I’ll plan dinner for six, if you think that will give you enough time to get hungry.”
Bessie looked at the clock. Surely she’d be hungry again in three hours? “Six is fine. I may just have small portions of everything, but I’ll definitely be ready to eat by then.”
She headed up to her office and spent some time looking for a book, but nothing seemed to hold her interest. What she really needed was a long walk on the beach. That would fill some of the time and also help her work up an appetite for the wonderful meal that Andy was preparing. It wasn’t actually raining, although it was overcast. Bessie checked her appearance in her bedroom mirror and then shrugged. It was bound to be windy; there was no point in combing her hair, really.
“I’m going to take a long walk,” she told Andy, “unless I can help you in some way.”
“Oh, no. I have everything under control here,” Andy assured her. “You go and get some fresh air.”
“You haven’t been out of the house today, have you?” Bessie asked, suddenly concerned.
“No, but Mum is working at the shop at the moment. She’s going to come here when she’s done. I’ll run home and get some clean clothes and whatever else I need while she’s here.”
“I don’t need a minder every minute of the day,” Bessie complained. “You can go home and get what you need, or even simply go home and stay there, if you like. I’ll be just fine on my own.”
Andy nodded. “I know, but I feel better knowing that you’re safe and that the cottage isn’t empty. Once whoever broke in is safely behind bars, I’ll go home. Mum wants to talk to you about something, anyway. I hope you don’t mind that she’s visiting.”
“Is everything okay?”
“I think so,” Andy shrugged. “She doesn’t want to talk to me about whatever it is, but she didn’t seem upset, just, I don’t know, mildly disconcerted.”
Bessie chuckled. “May all of your troubles be only mildly disconcerting,” she replied.
Andy grinned. “Yeah, well, maybe that isn’t the best way to describe it, but anyway, she was hoping to have a chat with you about something.”
“I’ll look forward to it,” Bessie told him. “For now, I’ll get my walk in.”
She pulled on a pair of comfortable shoes and grabbed a light rain jacket, just in case. “I’ll be back before six,” she told Andy. “But maybe not much before, unless it rains. I feel as if I haven’t had a proper walk in a long time, so I’ll probably walk to the new houses and even beyond.”
“I hope the weather holds up for you,” Andy replied. “Enjoy your walk.”
Bessie nodded and then let herself out of Treoghe Bwaane. Even though the weather wasn’t all that nice, the beach behind he holiday cottages was busy. After a moment’s hesitation, Bessie turned and walked in the other direction, away from the holiday cottages.
She didn’t get very far, though, as the tide was coming in and there wasn’t much beach to walk along before the cliffs rose up over the sand. Not wanting to get stuck as the water came in, Bessie turned back around and sighed. She’d simply have to put up with the holidaymakers on the beach. Once she was past them, she should have the beach to herself, anyway.
Chapter 14
Bessie wasn’t sure if it was her mood or something in the air, but as she walked it seemed as if everyone was doing his or her best to get in her way. She didn’t mind so much when small children ran across her path, but when grown adults simply stopped right in front of her, their eyes seemingly on the sea, Bessie felt a bit put out. When a large man with a huge anchor tattooed on his arm suddenly stood up and nearly knocked Bessie over, she almost told him what she thought. His muttered “sorry” didn’t do much to improve Bessie’s opinion of him.
As she’d hoped, though, once she’d passed the last holiday cottage, which was empty, the crowds almost disappeared. A few families had ventured further down the beach, spreading themselves out across the large empty patch under Thie yn Traie, but they were easy enough to walk around. And beyond them, Bessie had a large stretch of sand all to herself.
It didn’t seem to take her more than a few minutes to walk from Thie yn Traie to the new houses that had been built on the beach. The stretch of sand behind the houses was surprisingly empty, but maybe the people who owned the homes didn’t feel as if they needed to be outside at every opportunity as much as those in the holiday cottages did. Bessie walked past the houses, glancing into the window of the home that Hugh and Grace were buying. It was empty, but Bessie was able to admire the new carpeting that they’d chosen for the large sitting room. If she’d not known about it, she never would have guessed that a man had been murdered in the lovely house.
A bit further down the beach, she was surprised to see a sign advertising another new row of houses. At the moment, there was nothing to see but empty beach, but the sign showed a row of terraced houses lit by brilliant sunlight. Bessie couldn’t help but grin at the artist’s depiction of the homes. She couldn’t imagine it would ever be as sunny on the island as it was in the picture.
Curiosity got the better of her and she walked up the beach to read the sign. The new houses were going to have two or three bedrooms each, she learned. If Hugh and Grace hadn’t already found a place to purchase, one of these properties might have been good for them. Bessie glanced at her watch. She probably should turn around and head for Treoghe Bwaane. She didn’t want to be late for dinner, and getting back through the crowd might take some time.
She walked back down to the water’s edge and wandered slowly back towards home. Jack, one of the new house owners, was outside the houses, exercising his dog, Spot.
“It looks as if it might rain,” he said to Bessie as she walked past.
“It does, doesn’t it? I’ve been lucky so far, though,” she replied.
“I
was worried about getting Spot out for his walk before it started, but we made it,” he laughed. “Spot loves the water, anyway. He wouldn’t have minded a walk in the rain, even if I would have.”
“How are you finding your new home?”
“We love it down here. It feels a million miles away from Douglas, even if I do have to drive in every day for work. It really rather feels as if we’re on holiday all the time, which is splendid.”
“A friend of mine has just purchased the empty home,” Bessie told him.
“The one where that man was killed? That’s very brave of your friend.”
“He’s a police constable, and it was a sensible choice for him and his wife. It’s a lovely house.”
“I understand it was sold for considerably less than the others,” Jack said. “That’s hardly surprising under the circumstances. I hope your friend and his wife will like living in Laxey.”
“They already live in Laxey. Hugh works for the local constabulary and Grace is a teacher. They have a baby on the way, as well.”
“How exciting for them. We’re hoping to start a family in the next year or so, once we’ve repaid my mother-in-law. She lent us the money for the deposit on the house, but we’ve paid most of it back.”
“It’s nice to think of these houses full of families with small children,” Bessie said.
“Yes, I think it will be great to have our own little neighbourhood down here.”
Bessie patted Spot on the head and then continued on her way. As she approached the beach behind Thie yn Traie, she felt a few drops of rain. Several families jumped up almost immediately and began to drag their things inside. As the rain stopped almost as soon as it had started, Bessie didn’t increase her pace. She was making her way between a red-faced woman who was shouting at three preteens to collect their things and get in out of the rain, and a man who appeared to be fast asleep on his blanket, when someone called her name.
“You’re nearly always on the beach, aren’t you?” Dawn asked as Bessie stopped and turned to look at her.
“I walk on the beach every day,” Bessie replied. “I always walk in the morning. When I have time, I like to walk more later in the day.”
Aunt Bessie Questions (An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Book 17) Page 21