by Tonya Kappes
“Another date?” I questioned her.
She had to be talking about Henry Frisk. He was the only new dentist in town. Did Bernadine know that Henry was on the prowl for a new woman?
“He was older. Cute. Successful.” Disappointment settled on her face. “We had a date scheduled and I went to The Livin’ End with some of the girls here and Bradford.” She stopped. If she blinked, I swear a tear would have fallen down her cheek. “And the guy was there in the dark corner smooching all over someone else. Younger. Prettier. All the parts in the right places if you know what I mean.” Bobbi tapped the sides of her thighs.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Oh, I got him back.” Her eyes rose up to meet mine. They narrowed, her grin got bigger. “I walked right up to him and planted a big kiss on his lips, telling him I was looking forward to our next date.”
“Oh my God!” I started laughing.
“That pretty young blonde jumped up and smacked him right across the face.” She wagged her finger at me. “You know that sonofabitch must’ve pissed off the wrong person because someone found him dead.” She ran her finger along her neck like it was a knife. “Is it true he was Bernadine Frisk’s ex?”
“So it was Henry that you had dated?”
“Yep.” She rubbed her hands along the bracelet. “He sure was a good talker. I heard Bernadine is the prime suspect.”
“Who said that?” My head popped back. A “V” formed between my brows as if I had no idea what she was talking about.
“Noah Druck came in here asking all sorts of questions about my date. He said he got my name from a piece of paper off Henry’s desk. And he wanted to know about the girl Henry was with.” The phone rang. Bobbi talked faster. “Evidently, he’s looking for her since she was the last person he was seen with.” Bobbi held her finger in the air for me to wait. “Barn Dance Committee can you hold?” She asked the person on the other end. She covered the receiver with the palm of her hand. “Come to the gazebo in the park for the committee meeting tomorrow night at six. The Mayor is having the courthouse made over so we are meeting on the lawn before the decorating committee puts the final touches at the barn.”
“I’ll be there.” I clapped my hands and tucked the little bit of information she gave me in the back of my head.
I quickly called Marlene and asked her if she was okay and the shop hadn’t burned down. She said everything was good and there was a new bride consultation for the next morning. I told her I needed to go home and let Willow out. I didn’t tell her that I was going to pop in Bernadine’s first and give her all the information Bobbi Hart had given me. Especially the part about her and Henry going on dates.
I gripped the steering wheel while driving the curvy back roads to our neck of the woods. We lived in what Swanee residents would call the country part of town. The time passed quickly as I went over all the information I had collected today.
Not only was my appointment with Dr. Russell disturbing, but the fact that Henry was dating was also nagging at me. Who was this other girl? Plus I wanted to be sure that Agnes asked Bradford about it since he was with Bobbi that night at The Livin’ End.
“Hey,” I called Bernadine on my way over. “I have an hour or so to kill before I need to get back to the shop for a bridal appointment. I’m going to let Willow out. Do you want to take a quick walk?”
“That would be great,” Bernadine said. “I’ll row right over.”
Bernadine was notorious for using her little metal boat to row across the lake to come see me. She insisted that we always start our walks at my house so she could get more exercise rowing back and forth.
Within minutes, I pulled into my gravel drive and could see that her boat had already been dragged up on the lake beach right behind my house. I didn’t bother getting my key out because I knew Bernadine had already used my hidden spare key to let herself in. She and Willow were sitting on the couch eating carrots from her baggie.
“You aren’t going to believe what I found out.” I could hardly contain the news. I grabbed my tennis shoes and tied them up before I grabbed Willow’s diamond-studded pink leash off the hook by the door in the kitchen.
“I hope it’s something to help clear me of murder.” Bernadine crunched down on a carrot and tossed Willow the other end. “Noah Druck came to the house after we had gotten off the phone. He wanted to come in but I said he couldn’t without a warrant.” She tapped her temple. “I learned something on the CSI show.”
“Come on, girl.” I coaxed my lazy little piggy up to her hooves. I tugged on the leash to get her away from Bernadine’s snack pack.
Bernadine got up and followed my lead. We headed out the door and down toward the beach area.
“Did you know that Henry was dating?” I asked Bernadine.
“Dating?” Bernadine laughed. She huffed as her arms pumped back and forth. “Pump and squeeze, Holly.”
Bernadine had all sort of little tricks she blurted out when we walked. She said pumping our arms back and forth helped with blood flow to the heart and squeezing our butt-cheeks helped get rid of cellulite. I wasn’t sure if any of it worked, but doing something was better than nothing.
“Yes. He had been on a few dates with Bobbi Hart.” I pumped hard and furious. I thought I left Bernadine in the dust, but I turned around and she had stopped.
“Bobbi Hart?” Bernadine’s eyes were nearly popped out of her head. Her mouth was gaped open.
I walked back to where she had stopped. “I guess you didn’t.”
“Is that what she told you?” Her eyes squinted, her lips pinched. “Bobbi Hart is not Henry’s type.”
“What is his type?” I asked.
“Fuller figure.” She ran her hands down her thick waist. “Red hair.” She tossed her long curls behind her shoulders and started to walk again. “Squeeze, pump, squeeze, pump,” she repeated.
“I know this might be a hard pill to swallow, but he and Bobbi went on a few dates. As a matter of fact,” I huffed and puffed. Bernadine must’ve gotten a sudden spurt of energy because I was having a hard time keeping up. “She saw Henry at The Livin’ End with some blonde bombshell the night he was killed.”
“That is not possible.” Bernadine refused to believe me.
“People saw them. Including Bradford Pearl.” I knew if I threw out his name, she’d believe me. After all, he’d be the one to bring charges against the suspect.
“That nogoodsonofabitch.” Bernadine spit out the angry words into the air. “I knew he was up to something with all that sweet talk.”
“What sweet talk?” I put my hand on her arm to stop her and catch my breath. “Oh no.” My gut twisted and turned. “Please don’t tell me you did something really stupid like. . .”
“Sleep with him?” she asked. “Yes. I slept with Henry the night of his death.”
“Oh God, Bernadine! Why?” I begged and veered the way she was walking. I looked up and we were heading toward her house.
“I need a drink.” She motioned for me and Willow to follow her.
“I need a drink,” I repeated. “What about the Diva pact?”
“What was I supposed to do in the heat of the moment? Henry, can you stop telling me how much you messed up and you have come back because you missed me and life can’t go on without me, so I can call my divorced girlfriends so they can talk me out of getting my old life back?” She stopped midway up to her house and looked at me.
“Yes.” I nodded my head. “The pact was so we could put a little air between the conversations our exes put in our heads to second guess ourselves. We wouldn’t have talked you out of anything. It would have made you pause.”
“He has such amazing hands.” Bernadine’s face set with worry. “That’s what made him such a good dentist. And his eyes.” She put her hands on her heart and let out a big sigh. “One look into them and he knows he has me undressed.”
“Bernadine.” I gulped. I couldn’t believe that I was about to ask her this. “Did you
have anything to do with Henry’s death?” I put my hands out. “If you did, we can get through this.”
The evidence was against her. The knife was from her house. Was it a fit of passion? Did they fight after they had sex and she took the knife and stabbed him? Did she accidentally take the crimp tool from the Wine and Bead class?
“Hell no!” Bernadine balled up her fists and walked around her house. I trailed behind, tugging Willow up the hill.
Weak, weak, weak. Willow whined all the way up the hill. Bernadine was already in the front of the house.
“Come on, girl.” I encouraged her to keep going, but with every step her snout was seeking something in the grass.
I tugged harder bringing her a few more steps. I yanked more. She held her ground. Her snout was digging under a big rock.
“No. You aren’t eating bugs!” I yelled and pulled her more. She refused, jerking me forward.
Groink, groink, groink. Willow’s leash was pulled tight.
So not to bruise her neck, I went over and kicked the rock to get it out of her reach. The sunlight exposed all sorts of bugs that lived in the cold dark under. Something shiny caught my eye. I used the toe of my shoe to move some of the bugs that Willow hadn’t already scarfed up out of the way to see what the shiny thing was.
“Strange.” I bent down and picked up the small square metal piece with a metal tooth sticking up out of the middle. It didn’t seem like something I would want, but I have learned to never leave any stone unturned in a murder case. Literally.
I stuck it in my pocket and yanked on Willow. When we finally made it around to the front, I found Bernadine on the long covered porch that spanned the entire front of her house. She was slowly rocking in the rocking chair sipping on pink lemonade.
“I truly can’t believe you asked me if I killed Henry!” She looked past me and out over the road. “Of all the Divas, I thought you were the one who always believed in me. Were they lies? Do you really not think I can lose weight? What about Second Cup? You encouraged me to open it.”
I tied Willow’s leash to the post. She had found some more bugs to snack on in Bernadine’s landscape. I stomped up the steps.
“Of course I believe in you.” I sat in the chair next to hers. “But you broke the Diva code and now he’s dead. I’m not saying you did it, but now it’s going to be awfully suspicious.”
I fidgeted with my pants. Something was stabbing me in the thigh. I put my hand in the front pocket and pulled out the little metal piece I had found by the rock in her side yard.
“I was just saying that if you did harm him,” I was careful not to use the word murdered, “that we could get through this.”
“Well I didn’t.” There was anger in her eyes. “He told me there was no one else. And you are telling me that there are at least two.”
“Why did you sleep with him when he was suing you to stop alimony?” I asked.
It seemed like he was trying to butter her up.
“He said that if we got back together he would be paying for everything anyway.” A tear fell out of her eyes. “Deep down I knew he was trying to sweet talk me. But for one minute I wanted to believe that he still wanted me. Wanted all of me. Not just the money I was taking from him.”
Get back together? How could she fall for that line? Didn’t we all want to hear that from our exes at one time or another?
“Fine.” I could relate to what she was saying. Just a few short months ago before I had Donovan, I would have given anything to be back in Sean’s bed. “Let’s go over the time frame of that night. Maybe we can come up with something.”
Bernadine stood up and I followed her inside.
“Do you know what this is?” I held the metal piece in the palm of my hand.
Bernadine picked it up and without a beat knew exactly what it was.
“It’s the metal piece on the dental floss box that cuts the string.” She put it back in my hand. “They slip off and on so easy.”
“Do you have any of Henry’s from his new office?” I asked so I could compare.
“I have a ton.” She got up and walked back into the house to get it. “Henry is always carrying them.”
I shrugged and put it back in my pocket. The metal piece was definitely not a piece of evidence, especially if he was here the night he was murdered.
“See.” She held out the floss box that had Henry’s dental logo on it. “Only Henry’s is the single cut and the one you have has two.”
I looked at it, but nothing stood out.
“Let’s write down the timeline of events you had with Henry before he was killed so when we meet with the Divas tonight, we can collectively put our heads together.” There had to be something we were missing. “We need to give each Diva a job. Something to help.”
Chapter Twelve
After Bernadine and I wrote down the events the night of Henry’s death when she was with him, I walked Willow home and grabbed a few items. She and I had to get to the shop for the long night ahead of us.
I had a bridal consultation with a bride I had already put a few items together for before the impromptu Diva meeting. And I still hadn’t called Donovan to let him know I wouldn’t be at the self-defense class.
Before Marlene even opened her mouth, Willow scrambled through the storage room door. Marlene didn’t pay any attention to Willow. She hoisted the sleeves of her knit shirt up to her elbows and crossed her arms across her chest, making the scoop neckline expose more cleavage than she should.
“You’re late.” Marlene snarled and tapped her acrylic nail on her watch. “The bride is not happy.”
We both turned our heads in the direction of the bride’s table. The young woman was seated and the mother was standing next to her rubbing her neck.
When I got married to Sean, there wasn’t anyone standing next to the me and him but the judge. There was something wrong with all of these girls. Each one trying to outdo the other.
“This one is a Bridezilla.” Marlene chomped. Her gum popped with each word. “She’s all yours.”
All mine. I sighed.
“I’m sorry.” The five-foot-four-inch bride bolted over to me. “Did I have the time wrong? Or did you forget about me?”
“Sarah, I’m sorry. Another bride fitting took a little longer than I had planned. But I’m here now.” I clasped my hands together and planted a smile on my face.
“This is my wedding. I don’t care about any other brides.” Her green eyes glared at me. Her freckles across her nose reddened.
“Dear, Holly is here now.” Sarah’s mom put her hand on Sarah’s arm.
Sarah jerked away. Her eyes slid from me, to her mom and back to me.
“If it weren’t for Margaret McGee using you, I wouldn’t be here.” She ran her hands through her short brown hair in frustration. “I’d be at Diamond Lil picking out the real stuff, not these two cent fakes you have Dolly Parton over there showing me.”
“I beg. . .” Marlene stomped her way over when she heard Sarah putting her down.
“There is no need to yell at Marlene just because you are mad at me. I promise you will walk down the aisle wearing a beautiful design that you have created that no one else in the world will ever have.” I did a lot of sweet talking and backpedaling. Sarah was the biggest client I’d had since Margaret. “When you saw Margaret’s beautiful crystal set, did you fall in love with it? Did you want it? Did you want something better than it?”
“Yes,” Sarah gasped. A big grin crossed her perfectly stained white teeth. “Yes.”
“Here I am. Just like I was here for Margaret. Let’s get to work and create the designs everyone at your wedding will be talking about.” Gracefully, I took Sarah by the elbow and guided her toward the table.
As if Marlene knew what I was saying, she rushed to the back room and fetched a chilled bottle of champagne and a few cheese squares and Triscuits.
“Are these low-fat?” Sarah asked with her big green doe-eyes staring up at Marlene.<
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“Of course they are.” Marlene planted a shit-eating grin on her face.
We both knew they were not low fat, but we weren’t about to spoil Sarah’s dream.
“Here we have a beautiful fifteen by ten centimeter briolette in grey. These are exquisite, sought-after gems.” I held the grey stone in the air toward the sun to show Sarah and her mother the brilliance of the stone.
I brought the stone back down and placed it on the bead board. I had a plastic box, sort of like a small tackle box, with Sarah’s name on a tag and attached to the handle.
“Here is your bride box.” I opened it and a display of beautiful stones I had handpicked for her were in neat little compartments.
“Since you are having a mix of lovely yellow and grey bridesmaid dresses, these briolette teardrops will make a stunning wrap necklace with a dash of graduated rounds in a pale yellow to compliment the drops.” I took out the different beads I was talking about and placed them neatly on the bead board, carefully laying out the design as I talked.
Like a magnificent, one of a kind painting, the necklace came together, creating a masterpiece that lit Sarah up like she had just won the Miss Universe pageant.
“Oh, Momma!” She gasped.
Delicately, she reached out her perfectly manicured nude nails and quickly retracted them before she even touched the design as if she wasn’t good enough to touch it.
“It’s going to be amazing, Holly.” She put her hands to her mouth. A line of water sat at the edge of her lids. She took a deep breath and got herself together. “I’m going to need fifteen sets.”
“Sets?” My jaw dropped.
There was no way I was going to be able to afford the stones to make fifteen of these necklaces without using my credit card, much less fifteen sets which included earrings and a bracelet.
“Is there a problem?” Bridezilla was back. She’d quickly forgotten how happy I had just made her with my impromptu designs.
“There is not a problem one.” Marlene chimed from the counter where she was pulling pre-made jewelry out of the glass cabinet for a lingering customer.