"I'm glad you're so pleased," I said, hugging her again.
"It is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me too," said Mallory. She and Jill had their small roller suitcases at their feet. They were officially the newest guests since I reopened The Blackberry Inn. Non-paying of course! The check Jill handed me could finance their visits for a lifetime, or several lifetimes. "The house looks amazing, by the way."
"My new manager will be happy to give you the grand tour," I told them, smiling at Tammy. My twin sister stood behind the antique desk that formerly occupied Aunt Edie's study. After Nate lightly restored it, it was moved into the entryway where it could be admired by every future guest. "And I promise you, no excitement on this trip. That is, apart from this check!"
"And the cocktail-mixing session I signed you up for. Leonard is, surprisingly, a very good instructor and he can't wait to teach everyone the house special," added Tammy.
"Margaritas?" Jill and Mallory chorused at the same time.
Tammy grinned. "What else?"
Since the moment I started thinking about turning the house into an inn again, the idea only blossomed and bore fruit. In the aftermath of Danielle's arrest for murder, Tammy and I talked about it often to distract ourselves. We both realized what a good opportunity it was and Tammy was eager to help, albeit cautiously at first. She fairly beamed once I asked her to take over as full-time manager. It seemed to be exactly what she needed. She could be her own boss, set her own hours according to the kids’ busy schedules, and gain some much needed independence as well as money for her efforts. As a terrific bonus, the Inn that formerly divided us ended up being the device that brought us back together.
Tammy was a godsend for me. I set up my freelance business, taking on local clients within a few weeks once they saw my designs for the Inn. I was also working with my previous contacts, and getting business from further afield too. The only thing I would have done differently was to start my freelance business sooner. This was the one challenge I'd been seeking all my life. It was so superior to working in a stifling office for someone else.
Even though the Inn was now a thriving business, I still lived in the house. Tammy helped me finish sorting through the many items we found in the attic, and we either loaned them to the Calendar Museum or used them to furnish other areas of the house. The attic provided a big, open space that now serves as my living quarters and studio, enabling me to live privately and far away from the paying guests while still enjoying a comfortable amount of space. Nate stripped and polished the floors to a high sheen, and he added a kitchenette and shower. He walled off the bedroom, but left the living room and working space all open. With the views from the small widow's walk over the newly replanted rear yard, I can retreat to a heavenly space.
"I'll take our guests upstairs," said Tammy as she stepped out from behind the desk. "I think someone wants you," she added, pointing outside.
I turned and smiled when I saw Nate walking towards the house. He passed the green lawn Frank Walters recently sodded and the potted bay trees that elegantly flanked the front door. I walked outside to meet him. A moment later, I realized he wasn't alone as I watched Detective Logan jogging to catch up.
"Glad I caught you," said Detective Logan. He took a long look at the house. "The Inn looks fantastic. Better than ever before. Good work."
"Thank you but all the credit goes to Nate and his crew," I said, happy to share the praise.
"I came to give you an update on Danielle," said Detective Logan. "Do you have a minute?"
I nodded and directed him to the porch swing. Nate recently repainted the whole veranda and I picked out some scrolled, wrought iron garden furniture, which was perfect for my guests to sit on outside. The look was repeated at the back of the house with several cozy seating areas so my guests could enjoy their privacy.
"You never did tell me why you came to the house when you did," I said as we sat. Nate and I took the swing, hand-in-hand now and officially a couple, while Detective Logan took one of the chairs. "You didn't seem surprised to see Danielle sprawled on the floor."
"Actually, that did surprise me," replied Detective Logan. "When Nate told me Danielle was going to take the artwork to the Calendar Museum, he mentioned her background in art galleries. That was when I guessed what the valuable items were. I almost put it all together but not as fast as I hoped."
"How did you know it was Danielle behind the break-ins and Terry's murder? I didn't until she turned up with a gun pointed at us. I never suspected her for one minute."
"Earlier that day, I learned Danielle was the one who made the offer on your house. I figured she might not want you to know she was the buyer for some reason, so I thought I'd take a look into her finances just to be sure. I was surprised to see she didn't have the kind of money it required to buy a house like this. Not even a down payment. I called the realtor again and she was as astonished as I was that Danielle couldn’t afford it. Apparently, the paperwork Danielle showed to her was forged, although it seemed to be in proper order. I started to wonder if she intended to purchase the property on behalf of someone else, but no one in her family had that kind of money either. Without any sign of a boyfriend or a friend that might have been interested in acting as her intermediary, we could only wonder about her financial plan. Then the coffee machine ran out of filters and I decided to take a walk to the Corner Coffee Café to get a cup of coffee while I cleared my head."
"That's when I bumped into him," said Nate, taking over his explanation. "I was on my way back to you when I got a call from my sister. She was looking through some old photos when she saw a picture of Terry and Danielle together. They were standing in the background of another photo and probably didn't even know it was taken. My sister recognized Terry from the newspaper article and she remembered Danielle from school. She said they looked really chummy and were holding hands. I was sure Danielle never said she knew Terry. I told Detective Logan."
Detective Logan nodded. "That's when all the pieces started to fall into place. As soon as Nate told me that Danielle wanted to take all the art from the house, and because she worked in a gallery, I figured she must have seen something valuable. And that had to be the reason why she wanted you out. Enough to make a false offer for it. It seemed reasonable that Terry was her accomplice all along although there was no way I could confirm anything until Nate told me about the photograph."
"Then you came to my house," I finished, understanding what happened now.
Detective Logan held his hands up. "All I wanted to do was question Danielle and ask what she knew about Terry. I had to know if she said something to him. It was still possible she was an innocent in all of this."
"I didn't think that," said Nate. "I never liked her and I knew she told you lies about me coming on to her. I had a really bad feeling so I followed Detective Logan."
"As it turned out, you already had everything under control," said Detective Logan.
I grinned. "You can thank Leonard for that."
"I think the article in the newspaper featuring a big photo of him holding that enormous glass pitcher was thanks enough."
"He is so proud of that," I agreed, recalling the article that proclaimed Leonard a local hero. "He'll be here soon if you want to thank him in person."
Detective Logan checked his watch. "I'll take a raincheck on that," he said, rising. "There's one more thing. Danielle's family refused to set bail so she'll be staying inside until the trial. It'll be a lot of work for us, piecing together the plan that she and Terry dreamed up and now she’s clamming up about it, but from the evidence we already have, I think she'll be doing many years behind bars. Yours, as well as your friends' testimony, will be crucial in getting her convicted."
"I know Terry was no good," I said, standing up to follow Detective Logan to the door, "but he didn't deserve to be killed like that. Just because Danielle was so greedy and wanted to keep all the money to herself."
"He could just as eas
ily have turned around and done the same thing to her, but from what I've learned, it seems like he genuinely thought they'd be staying together. Getting that money could have been his first opportunity to go straight, or so he hoped. You take care now."
I watched Detective Logan walk back to his car before I turned and went back to where Nate waited for me on the swing. He held out his arms and I snuggled into him, happily, curling my legs under me like a lamb. "And you thought you had to leave this town to find adventure," he said, kissing the top of my head.
"I did back then, but things always change and I'm very glad I'm home again."
"Home forever?"
I nodded, knowing it was true this time. I finally felt I found my special niche in the world. "Why don't you take that ring off your chain and put it on my finger? Then we can make it official," I said.
Nate reached into his shirt and pulled out the beautiful ring, which he slid onto my finger. "I hoped you might say that. Are you proposing to me, Vanessa?"
"No, I’m just giving you the answer you've been waiting a long time for."
Nate kissed me again, but long and slow as he whispered, "Well worth the wait."
Want to know when the next book is available? Sign up to the mailing list online at www.camillachafer.com.
If you enjoyed your visit to Calendar, look out for the next book, Mayhem in May, due May 2019.
Other books by Camilla Chafer:
Calendar Mysteries:
Jeopardy in January
Fear in February
Murder in March
Alibi in April
Deadlines Mysteries:
Deadlines
Dead to the World
Lexi Graves Mysteries:
Armed & Fabulous
Who Glares Wins
Command Indecision
Shock and Awesome
Weapons of Mass Distraction
Laugh or Death
Kissing in Action
Trigger Snappy
A Few Good Women
Ready, Aim, Under Fire
Rules of Engagement
Stella Mayweather Series (Urban Fantasy):
Illicit Magic
Unruly Magic
Devious Magic
Magic Rising
Arcane Magic
Endless Magic
Alibi in April (Calendar Mysteries Book 4) Page 21