“Um…I know you’re dealing with a tragedy today, and I’m truly sorry to disturb you, but is there any way you could come back to Artisans Alley?”
She frowned. “What’s going on?”
“The vendors are in an uproar. The downstairs vendors don’t want to share their space until Ray and I can get the floor fixed, and the upstairs vendors don’t want to move—period.” Vance sighed, sounding frustrated. “I’m trying to do what you asked, but they’re not listening to me.”
“All right,” she said, irritated. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Ending the call, she returned the phone to her purse.
Brad arched a brow. “Trouble in paradise?”
Katie merely rolled her eyes. “Is there ever anything but?”
Chapter 6
Katie dropped Brad off at Tealicious where he’d left his car. She parked in back and as she walked toward Artisans Alley, her cell phone rang. She didn’t recognize the caller’s number but took the call.
“Hi, is this Katie?” a warm male voice asked.
“It is,” Katie replied hesitantly.
“This is J.P. Trammel. You consulted me on that criminal matter a few weeks back.” He laughed. “Thank heavens a consultation was all you required.”
“Yes, of course. How are you, Mr. Trammel?”
“I’m well. I’m calling because I heard about Jamie Seifert,” he said.
Katie entered the building through the back entrance, eased into her office, and closed the door, preferring to take the call in private before Vance or one of the vendors spotted her and began railing about the floor situation.
“It was certainly tragic,” she said, as she slid into the chair behind her desk.
“How’s Seth?”
Knowing Seth and Trammel were friends, she decided to be forthcoming. “The poor man is devastated.”
“I knew he would be. My wife and I had Seth and Jamie over for dinner the week before last. They were so happy together,” he said. “I thought my wife was boring Jamie with photos from our trip to Spain, but she said Jamie had a million questions for her.”
“Yeah…he recently mentioned the idea of them taking a vacation to me, too. I think he was hoping he and Seth could get away pretty soon.”
“I tried calling Seth, but he isn’t answering his phone,” Trammel said. “Have Jamie’s arrangements been made yet?”
“Given that Jamie’s death was unexpected, the medical examiner is doing an autopsy before ruling on the cause and releasing his body to the family. In the meantime, Jamie’s mother is staying with Seth. I imagine they’ll make the arrangements together as soon as Jamie’s body is released.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
Katie had an inspiration. “Actually, there is something. Just before Jamie’s collapse, he was having lunch at my tea shop with a woman. She left before anyone could speak with her, and no one appears to know who she is. Thinking she could shed some light on what might have happened to Jamie, the chef and I went through the credit card receipts. The lunch was paid for using a credit card issued to Calexia Industries.”
“Calexia Industries. Hmm…I’ve never heard of it.”
“I have the address,” she said. “And, in fact, I went there today, but the location is a residential apartment building. If we could find out the name of the president or any of the directors of Calexia Industries….”
“Then you could possibly find this woman. Give me the address, and I’ll look into it right away.”
Katie rattled off the address. “Thank you, Mr. Trammel. I believe Seth’s mind can be put at ease—at least, to some extent—once he knows what happened to Jamie in the minutes prior to his death.”
“Of course,” he said. “I’ll be in touch.”
Satisfied that one obstacle might be overcome, Katie took a deep breath, popped a peppermint into her mouth, and tried to mentally prepare herself for the commotion she expected to find in Artisans Alley’s lobby.
The scene was as chaotic as Katie expected. Vance stood among a group of vendors who looked as though all they needed were pitchforks and torches to drive him out of the village. Unnoticed by most of the assembly, Katie climbed the first three stairs to the upper level to give herself a platform from which to speak.
“Good afternoon!” she called. The crowd gradually quieted and turned to listen to her. “I apologize for the inconvenience this building’s creaky old floor is causing, but it’s imperative we get it fixed ASAP.”
At her words, everyone started talking at once. She could hear Liz Meyer’s voice over the din.
“This is beyond inconvenient, Katie. I’m paying rent on a full space, and now you and Vance are saying I have to share with someone else?”
Some people in the crowd grumbled in agreement.
Ever the peacemaker, Maddie Lyndel said, “I understand how dangerous a weak floor can be, and I don’t mind sharing my booth.” She smiled sweetly.
Liz scowled. “I have too much merchandise to crowd it into a smaller space.”
As the vendors argued among themselves, Katie saw she needed to regain control of the situation.
“Your attention please!” She waited until the vendors quieted and gave her their begrudging consideration. “I’ll waive this month’s rent for all the impacted vendors while we repair the floor. And for the vendor who gives up his or her first-floor space to our new metal sculptor, you may enjoy a second month free.”
Her words caused the first-floor vendors to again begin arguing. Deciding Vance had created this mess and needed to take an active role in cleaning it up, she walked down the steps, sidestepped the crowd, and left him to it.
“Katie, wait!” he shouted.
“You’ve got this!” she called over her shoulder. “I believe in you!”
She stopped in her office just long enough to grab her purse, then she headed for home.
After feeding Mason and Della and making a grilled cheese and onion sandwich for herself, Katie sank onto the love seat and set the sandwich and a cup of blackberry tea onto the coffee table next to her laptop. She opened it and fired it up. While she waited for operating system to load, she bit into the sandwich. Mason hopped onto the cushion beside her and looked at the food.
“You’ve already had yours,” she reminded him.
He didn’t care. He still wanted whatever it was she had. She refused to give in.
“Onions are toxic to cats,” she told him.
Placing his paws on her thigh and leaning closer to her mouth, Mason indicated just how much her words fazed him.
Katie quickly ate the sandwich and took the plate back to the kitchen before checking her email. All the Victoria Square merchants who made up the property-development partnership had responded to the message she’d sent on Friday night about scheduling a meeting. Each one had confirmed his or her availability to meet on Monday evening.
Andy’s email had said simply, I’ll be there. No greeting, no niceties, no signature line. Just an acceptance of the invitation.
But, then, what had she expected? They were broken up. Had she thought—wanted?—him to ask how she was doing? Tell her he missed her? Say he was looking forward to seeing her?
And how did she feel? She certainly wasn’t thrilled at the thought of seeing Andy again, that was for sure. Oh, she’d seen him in passing—and from a distance—a few times as she was entering or leaving Artisans Alley. Every time she had, her heart had taken a nosedive and she’d looked away, wanting to avoid any awkward encounters.
Taking a deep breath, she acknowledged that the next evening she’d be face to face with Andy Rust for the first time in weeks. The fact that other people would be there soothed her frayed nerves a little, but it would still be a trying experience. She played various scenarios in her mind where he came in and saw her standing across the Tealicious dining room from him. She looked gorgeous in a diaphanous silver gown—the wind (maybe someone had opened a window or something) blowing
through her hair, and an ethereal mist rising from the floor. Okay, so there would have to be some crazy weather going on. Either that, or she was starring in a music video. No matter…when Andy saw her, his heart would shatter. He’d hold his arms out to her, pleading for her to take him back, and she’d shrug and simply turn away. Or else he saw her and immediately hugged her and begged her forgiveness for cheating on her with Erikka Wiley. She would let him down gently and back away from him, leaving him standing alone in middle of the partnership crowd.
She forced thoughts of Andy out of her head. Satisfied that the partners could meet quickly without losing out on a bid for the abandoned warehouse, Katie fired off a response to the group.
I look forward to meeting with you at Tealicious tomorrow evening at six pm. In light of yesterday’s tragedy, Seth Landers will not be in attendance. We can put buying the warehouse to a vote; and if the majority is in favor, can prepare a proposal to have Seth present to the property owner when he returns to work.”
Katie wondered how long that would take. Based on how he looked earlier that day, it could be weeks before he was able to return to his duties at the law office.
She sighed. She so wished she could help him in some way. It crossed her mind that they might need to consider asking another attorney to handle the property bid. Although she felt guilty for even entertaining the thought, one of the other partners was likely to suggest it at the meeting, and she needed to be prepared with a response. Seth would understand if the partnership voted to use another attorney on this matter…wouldn’t he?
Maybe it wouldn’t take as long for Seth to return to work as she anticipated. For her, diving into work kept her sane after Chad’s death. Of course, there hadn’t been any mysterious circumstances surrounding Chad’s death, at least that she knew of at the time. That, and her ex-boss, Josh Kimper, had only given her a week off—with half pay—to recover from the loss. If she could help answer some of Seth’s questions, maybe it would help him to move on.
Katie considered calling Nick to check on Seth and Suzanne, but she decided to wait until the next morning. As strange as it sounded—even unvoiced except in her own thoughts—she’d be glad when Margo arrived. That woman always had an answer for everything.
Katie’s cell phone rang and she looked at the screen, half-expecting it to be either Nick or Margo since she had them on her mind. It wasn’t. It was J.P. Trammel.
“Mr. Trammel, hi,” she answered.
“I’ve got a name for you, Katie. The person who owns Calexia Industries is listed as Gabrielle Pearson.”
“Fantastic! Would you happen to have a phone number?”
“I do,” he said. “Ready with a pen and paper?”
When she affirmed that she was, Trammel rattled off the number. She repeated it back to him after she’d written it on a notepad.
“That’s right. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help.”
“Thank you,” Katie said. “Thank you so much.”
After ending the call, she immediately called Gabrielle Pearson. A warm, well-modulated female voice said, “Hello, this is Gabrielle.”
“Hi, Gabrielle. My name is—”
“I’m unable to take your call at the moment. However, you are important to me. At the tone, please leave your name, number, and the nature of your call, and I’ll be in touch with you at my earliest convenience.” Beep!
“Hello, Gabrielle. I’m Katie Bonner and I own the tea shop Tealicious.” Katie left her name and number but didn’t indicate the “nature of her call.” What could she possibly say? That she was calling to ask Gabrielle Pearson if she killed Jamie Siefert?
Chapter 7
Although Katie still clung to the fact that she was a strong, independent woman who didn’t need a man in her life and required no help from anyone, she found her steps directing her to Wood U after she finished power walking around the Square Monday morning. It would be nice to see a friendly face, and Ray could tell her what he’d discovered the day before about the floor on the upper level of Artisans Alley—mainly, how much the repairs would set her back. She was already going in the hole by offering the vendors free rent for a month.
When she walked through the door she was greeted by the shiny bald top of Ray’s head as he bent over the delicate hummingbird he was carving.
“Good morning,” she said.
“Hey, there. Give me one second.” He finished whatever intricate detail he was cutting into the wood before laying aside his project and taking off his reading glasses. “What brings you by this morning?”
“You can’t guess?”
He grinned. “I’m thinking it might have something to do with that floor you have caving in.”
Eyes widening, Katie asked, “Is it that bad? Really?”
“No. Vance is getting the materials today, and he and I are going to work on it this afternoon. As a matter of fact, I’m even closing up Wood U for you.”
Katie arched a brow. “What’s that going to cost me?”
“Nothing,” he said.
She scoffed. “I’m not allowing you to work for nothing. I know that’s not going to be some simple task.”
“Nah! Sistering up a few boards…it’s a piece of cake. But, if you insist, you could make me a home-cooked meal.”
“Ray, I’m serious.”
Despite his grin and the streak of mischief in his eyes, he said, “I’m serious too. Since Sophie went back to school, the quality of the grub at home has definitely gone downhill.”
“You can’t do that much work and be satisfied with a meal.” Katie appreciated his kindness, but this was going too far. “I absolutely will not take advantage of your generosity.”
“Fine. Throw in a movie—of my choosing.”
She laughed. “All right. But if fixing that floor turns out to be more of an ordeal than you anticipate, we’ll renegotiate.”
“Deal,” he said. “I might require two meals.” He sobered. “How’s Seth?”
Katie shrugged. “Nick says he’s slightly better this morning than he was yesterday. I’m going to drive out and check on him later. I believe he’d feel better if he had some answers.” She sighed. “I know I would.”
“I imagine so.” Ray ran a hand over the lower part of his clean-shaven face. “Even though Tealicious was closed yesterday, I didn’t notice too many people stopping to read the sign on the door.”
“Yeah. This is going to hurt our business, even though Tealicious was in no way responsible for Jamie’s death,” she said. “At least, I’m almost a hundred percent sure of that.”
“Wait—you don’t know?” he asked, sounding puzzled.
“I do.” She closed her eyes briefly. “I truly do.”
“But not a hundred percent.”
She didn’t like having her words tossed back at her. “There’s a woman who dined with Jamie that day. Brad, Mr. Trammel, and I have determined who she is—Gabrielle Pearson of Calexia Industries—but she hasn’t returned my call yet.”
“And you think this Pearson woman might have had something to do with Jamie’s death?”
“I don’t know—I doubt it. I’d simply like to ask her whether he ate something other than cuke sammies and a biscotti and if she noticed he was ill while they talked.” Katie pulled the elastic from her ponytail and shook out her hair. “This entire thing is driving me up the wall. If only I could speak to this woman and find out why she met with Jamie, if he said anything, if—”
Ray stepped closer and inspected her mane. “I like your hair loose like that. It’s beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She realized her response sounded breathy, so she took a shaky step back.
Taking the hint, Ray stepped back to the other side of the counter, and for some strange reason, Katie felt an odd pang of disappointment.
Sliding a pen and notepad toward her, he said, “If you’ll leave the woman’s information with me, I’ll see what I can learn about her.”
“I’d appr
eciate that.” Katie wrote down the woman’s information. “Oh, by the way, Margo is arriving today. She’ll be staying at Sassy Sally’s for a day or two.”
He let out an admiring hum. “Margo Bonner. Well, that’s a nice surprise. I’ll have to pick up some flowers and go say hello.”
Katie turned and headed for the door. “You do that.”
Ray’s mocking laughter followed her out onto the parking lot. She didn’t look back. Ray and her former mother-in-law had gotten awfully chummy the last time she was in McKinlay Mill. Katie supposed they could pick right up where they’d left off. Not that she’d care.
Of course, Margo had also told Katie that both Ray and Andy were in love with her. That showed what she knew.
After a hot, soothing shower, Katie dressed and checked her phone. She had a voice mail message. She’d hoped it was Gabrielle Pearson, but it was from Moonbeam.
“Hi, Katie. Could you please come by The Flower Child sometime this morning? It’s important. Well, I think it’s important. No, it is. It definitely is important. I’ll see you soon. Ta!”
Katie decided not to bother Brad on his day off and went downstairs to bake some goodies for the property partnership meeting, to take to Seth, and to give to Moonbeam. In fact, she thought she could make some shortbread cookies for Moonbeam that might be almost as good as those her great aunt used to make.
Deciding that whatever Moonbeam felt was important could probably wait another hour or so, she went ahead and made the cookies, some egg salad and crab salad for sandwiches, and some blueberry scones. Seth loved her scones.
She enjoyed fussing around the industrial kitchen by herself. It was nice having all that space—along with the peace and quiet—to work. Ray’s comment about not having many people come by Tealicious the day before bothered her more than she’d let on. But he was right. People were going to be wary of the tea shop now that someone had died immediately after eating there, even if the food had absolutely nothing to do with Jamie’s death. Remembering that Margo had once worked in public relations, she wondered how—or even if—the woman would be able to restore Tealicious’s image.
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