Abner took a bite of the lemon cupcake and an expression of bliss melted away his grim mask. “I won’t argue with that,” he said with his mouth full. A beeping noise went off in his jacket pocket and he took out his phone. “Ten forty,” he said. “Time for my pill.”
“Is that the one that makes you behave more like a human being?” Lottie said playfully.
“No, I threw those down the sink,” replied the old man in a deadpan voice.
“Having a good look, are you?” Tania’s voice suddenly thundered across the room, making Lottie jump.
Both she and Abner turned to see what the ruckus was. Tania had put down her phone and was glowering at Jay Metcalfe, the only other customer in the Sleepy Fox that morning, who was sitting a few tables away from her.
Jay was nineteen, a rangy, quiet kid heavily into death metal with a penchant for Goth clothing and sensibilities. He sat at his table in his long, black leather jacket and peeped fearfully out at the striking woman from under his long electric blue fringe.
“You like what you see?” Tania said sneeringly. “Didn’t anyone teach you it’s rude to stare?”
Jay shuffled nervously and looked down at the table, not saying a word. The tension clogged the air. “Hello! I’m talking to you!” Tania went on, “you dumb or something? Or can’t you talk to women? Is that why you just stare at me all the time?”
Jay winced at the taunt and Lottie grimaced in sympathy. “Okay, Tania, why don’t you lay off the kid,” she said diplomatically. “I’m sure he didn’t mean any harm. There’s no need for things to get unpleasant.”
Tania took off her sunglasses, revealing piercing eyes of glacial blue. She looked at Lottie and gave her a flash of her trademark Hollywood smile. “I’m sorry L,” she said, now all charm and contrition. “I didn’t mean to cause a big scene.”
“I’m sure you didn’t,” Abner muttered under his breath.
“It’s just that this guy follows me around town like a little puppy,” Tania went on, seemingly not to hear the snide comment. She gestured dismissively in Jay’s direction. “Everywhere I turn he’s there, lurking about. It’s like he’s obsessed or something. It freaks me out.”
Abruptly, Jay got to his feet, knocking back the table and spilling his coffee. He stormed out the door, his face now bright red and Lottie thought she saw tears in his eyes. Lottie felt bad at seeing him in such a state. Jay was very much an outsider in Lincolne Bay though he’d been born here, which Lottie could relate to.
Like him, she had never really fitted in and she didn’t like to see him in such a state. Unfortunately, Tania had a point. He did seem to have a crush on her and had been caught a few times following her around, although this morning, he had been at the shop before Tania came in.
He never spoke to her; he just seemed to want to be noticed by her. What was worse, this was not the first time he’d developed a crush on women in town. His attentions were universally unwanted in all these incidents and his mom had had to do a lot of apologising on his behalf to stop the police becoming involved. In fact, both she and Lottie also had to plead with Tania not to go to the cops herself.
Jay’s dramatic exit left Lottie and the others in stunned silence for several moments. Then Tania gave her friend an exasperated shrug and went back to her call.
Lottie sighed heavily and made a show of cleaning the counter so that she wouldn’t have to meet Abner’s disapproving gaze. All of a sudden, there came an almighty crash from out back.
“What now?” Lottie exclaimed, rushing into the kitchen. Pots and pans covered the floor, and Pacey was standing on the baking table covered from head to foot in flour.
Lottie rushed towards him with Abner following. “Pacey! What’s going on in here?” she demanded.
“I wanted to make some cupcakes,” Pacey said innocuously. This was another thing about Pacey, Lottie had learned. He got sudden impulses to do peculiar things without consulting anybody else or regardless of the consequences. In that respect, he was very much like his mother.
“Looks like you’ve got yourself an assistant,” Abner said wryly. “Just don’t let him loose on the cupcakes.”
“Come on Pacey, let’s get you down from there,” Lottie said heading over and picking him off the table, getting flour all over her apron in the process.
“You shouldn’t come in here on your own, you might get hurt. I’ll give you a baking lesson when I have more time, okay?”
“Okay,” Pacey replied. “Can I have another cupcake?”
“We’ll ask your mom, but first we’ll have to get you cleaned up.”
The three of them re-emerged into the front of the shop, where Tania was still talking on the phone, oblivious to her son’s culinary mishap. She was hunched forward at the table, listening intently to whoever she was speaking to, and Lottie couldn’t get her attention.
Tania’s face was set into a grim expression and she was no longer yelling. Now when she responded to whoever was on the other end of the line, her voice was tense and subdued. “Okay, yes. I understand. No, I said I understand. There’s no need to do that.”
Lottie set Pacey down on a stool behind the counter and gave him back his phone. He contentedly began playing his chess app again while she damped a cloth and started cleaning off the flour. Abner observed the proceedings, helping himself to another lemon cupcake when he thought Lottie wasn’t watching.
“You’ll get fat,” Lottie warned him, “then your husband will be complaining to me that I’m giving you too many treats.”
“My husband’s always complaining about something or other,” Abner replied with a world-weary shrug. “Why do you think I spend so much time in here?”
“And here was me thinking you were drawn by the allure of my excellent baking products and dazzling personality,” Lottie drawled.
“That’s another plus,” Abner conceded. He glanced over to Tania again, making a poor job of hiding his disdain. “That, along with the local wildlife, of course,” he added slyly. “The kid could get flattened by a truck and she’d be too busy prattling on that dratted phone to notice.”
“Abner,” Lottie said in a warning tone. She looked at Pacey but he seemed too immersed in his game to be listening. Grudgingly, she had to admit that Tania was very preoccupied today. No doubt she was caught up in another drama with her latest boyfriend.
Though she’d only been in Lincolne Bay for a relatively short time, Tania had had so many relationships Lottie had quite lost track of who she was dating now.
“That’s the trouble with folks nowadays, they are obsessed with technology. At this rate, we’ll all get turned into zombies,” Abner lamented.
“I’ll turn you into a zombie in a minute if you don’t quit griping,” Lottie said impatiently.
“Okay, okay, keep your hair on,” the old man retorted. “I was just making a harmless observation.”
Lottie shook her head and focused on wiping clean Pacey’s face. A calming silence settled over the shop, punctuated by Tania’s hushed voice as she carried on talking on her phone.
Despite herself Lottie couldn’t help but listen though now Tania was speaking so low she could only grab snippets of the conversation; “Yes, I’ll do that . . . no-one knows. . .no! I’ll meet you . . . stay where you are . . . that’s too soon. . . Cooper’s Ridge . . . all right, that’s fine . . . I’m telling the truth!”
All of a sudden, Tania ended the call and got to her feet. Lottie waved her over. “Pacey’s had a little bit of an accident,” she said, gesturing to the flour stained child. “I think you’d better take him home.”
“Yeah,” Tania replied in a distracted voice. She looked at the door and hurried over to it. “Look, L, I have to be somewhere. Could you be an absolute darling and look after Pacey until I get back?”
Lottie stared at her in shock. “What? Now? But I have the shop to run and customers to deal with!”
“Customer,” Abner corrected her. “You’ve had more if you were a little
bit more particular on who you let in here.”
“Shush, Abner!” snapped Lottie. She rounded on Tania. “Well, how long will you be? Where are you going?”
“I won’t be long, darling,” Tania said airily, already half-way out the door. “You’re an absolute angel. Thanks again.”
Before Lottie could say any more, Tania was out of the shop and away. Lottie put her hands on her hips, utterly flummoxed. Abner took a large bite out of his third lemon cupcake of the morning.
“That woman is the absolute limit,” he observed as he ate his pilfered treat. “Sooner or later, she’s going to get her comeuppance, you mark my words.”
Chapter 2: The Night Caller
Still fuming at Tania for abandoning Pacey with her, Lottie struggled through the rest of her Saturday. Despite Abner’s assertion that customers were in short supply, she was soon rushed off her feet come early afternoon. The bakery was popular with residents and tourists alike, and Lottie did a decent trade.
The Sleepy Fox was a family business and the Foxgloves had been bakers in Lincolne Bay since the year dot. Lottie had learnt the art of baking from her dad and she had inherited the business after he had died two years ago. Her mother had died years before and she had no other siblings so she was in effect the last of her line.
At one time, she had hoped to have kids to pass on the family trade but her tumultuous marriage to Nathan had been bereft of any patter of tiny feet. At the time, it had been a source of deep unhappiness for her, but after she discovered what Nathan was really like, it ended up as a blessing.
Still that was all in the past. She had divorced Nathan just before her dad passed away and had moved back to her hometown from New York to take over the business.
She had wanted a completely new beginning after splitting with Nathan. Marrying him had been the worst mistake of her life and she wanted to pretend that their time together had never happened. She had even abandoned her married name of Trenchant and gone back to calling herself Lottie Foxglove.
Coming back to Lincolne Bay had been the right thing to do, she felt it deep in her soul, and now she was running the Sleepy Fox she couldn’t be happier. She just wished Tania could find the same kind of contentment she was enjoying now.
Finally, five o’clock came round and Lottie closed up the shop. Since his attempt at baking, Pacey had been quiet as a mouse, contenting himself with his chess app and a couple more chocolate and vanilla cupcakes and soda drinks to keep his hunger at bay.
She had text and called Tania several times when she had a few minutes to herself throughout the day to find out where she was but had got no answer. The communication blackout did nothing to improve Lottie’s mood and she had a few choice words for her irresponsible friend when she saw her.
It was all very well being flighty and impulsive, but Tania had a son to look after and it wasn’t fair to just abandon him whenever it suited her. It couldn’t be good for the poor kid’s self esteem, but Lottie couldn’t worry about that right now. She had enough to do with running her business, and it wasn’t her place to tell Tania how to raise her child.
“Okay, kiddo let’s go home,” Lottie said, after she’d finished cleaning up and locked the front door. “Man, my feet are killing me.”
“Will mom be at home?” Pacey asked, not looking up from his phone.
Lottie doubted it. “I hope so,” she said brightly. “You’ve not got a text from her?”
Pacey shook his head. “Mom doesn’t text me. She only does that to her chumps.”
Lottie frowned. “Chumps?” she asked, chuckling. “What the heck are her chumps?”
“All the dumb guys who think they are her boyfriend,” Pacey replied.
Lottie was taken aback by this. “What dumb guys? Is that what she calls the guys she breaks up with?”
“She doesn’t break up with them,” Pacey said. “She just pretends that they are the only person she’s dating. She gets lots of nice stuff that way.”
Lottie stared at Pacey before remembering to close her mouth. She knew Tania was something of a man-eater, who didn’t stay in any one relationship for very long, but she had no idea that she dated more than one man at a time.
Lottie belatedly realised she shouldn’t be that surprised. Tania didn’t have much respect for the opposite sex and was blithely oblivious to their feelings, and after what Lottie had been through with Nathan, she wasn’t sure she blamed her. Still, Lottie didn’t like the idea of cheating full stop. It didn’t feel right that Tania was deceiving people who had feelings for her.
“You ever meet any of these chumps, Pacey?” Lottie asked, unable to contain her curiosity.
Pacey shook his head. “Mom makes sure I never get to meet them. She says they’re all worms and don’t deserve to be my friends. They’re only good for giving her nice things and doing what she wants. Mom says that’s all people are good for. She says most people are chumps. You can get them to do whatever you want, if you know how to play them. Can I have some ice-cream now?”
“Later,” Lottie said, a cold feeling gathering in her stomach. “Come on, let’s go.”
Early evening painted the sky in pastel colours of orange and pink as Lottie drove through Main Street back to the hotel where she, Tania and Pacey lived.
As she passed by the quaint little shop fronts and picturesque cafés, she started to feel better. She always liked this time of day, when the little town was unwinding and getting ready for the evening. Lincolne Bay began life as a huddle of fishing cottages overlooking the sea.
Founded in the late seventeenth century by roguish explorer, suspected smuggler and adventurer Captain Josiah Lincolne, the settlement had flourished into a bustling tourist town in the eighteen hundreds and still attracted its fair share of visitors, right up to the present day.
Fortunately, as far as Lottie was concerned, it had not become too touristy or over-commercialised. After the boom of its Victorian heyday, it had fallen into relative obscurity, becoming something of a well-kempt secret, a perfect getaway for those seeking peace and quiet.
Even after two years, Lottie still appreciated the aura of calm serenity that exuded from the town. Her life was gentle and ordered, free of chaos and the unexpected, and Lottie wanted to keep it that way. She glanced up at the rear view mirror at Pacey still playing his chess app, and realised the quiet life had been in short supply today.
The clock on top of the turn-of-the-century town hall read five forty-five as Lottie’s SUV reached Green Square at the end of Main Street, and turned off toward the seafront. The sun was setting over the ocean painting the waves in a cosy glow, and seagulls wheeled through the air. Passing by elegant looking beachfront properties, she came at last to the rambling white clapboard mansion that served as the Joseph Bonaparte Hotel.
“Okay, kiddo,” Lottie said as she pulled into the parking lot. “Let’s see if your mom’s back yet.”
They got out and walked up to the porch, Lottie noting that Tania’s car wasn’t here yet. As they entered through the double doors into the faded elegance of the lobby, it felt like stepping back in time almost two hundred years, and the Bonaparte’s owner, Doris Lefebvre, looked like she’d been fast tracked from the eighteen hundreds herself as she sat perched behind the huge mahogany reception desk.
She was also looking more distraught than usual as well, and Lottie could clearly see the reason why. Rachel Garrik was on the other side of the desk raising hell.
“I said I’m not going anywhere until I’ve had it out with that no-good hussy!” Rachel bellowed in her foghorn voice, so loud Lottie was sure she was going to dislodge the ornamental plates hanging on the walls. “I don’t care if I have to wait until Doomsday, I’m staying put!”
“Oh dear, Mrs Garrik, that’s quite impossible,” Doris squeaked, nervously fiddling with the cameo brooch at her throat.
“Oh dear no, I can’t have the disturbance upsetting the guests, especially Ambassador Moreau. I will telephone you when Ms. Leigh g
ets back. You have my word on that.”
“I said I’m staying right here!” Rachel retorted pugnaciously. Despite being only a little over foot feet tall, she seemed to tower over the other woman. Her round flat face was as red as a beetroot, and her frizzy blonde hair was more chaotic than usual. She always put Lottie in mind of a bad-tempered hobgoblin.
“Pacey, honey, will you go and wait in the sitting room for a moment,” Lottie said to the little boy. “I just have to help Miss. Lefebvre out for a minute.”
Pacey nodded and pointed to Rachel. “Will you put the crazy lady in a sack and throw her out to sea?” he asked bluntly.
Lottie smirked. “Not quite, go wait in the sitting room. I won’t be long.”
“Okay. Remember to use lots of heavy rocks to make sure she sinks to the bottom,” Pacey replied, ambling away.
Lottie shook her head. She really had to have a talk with Tania about his morbid imagination, but first she had a bad-tempered hobgoblin to deal with. “Hi, is there a problem here?” she asked brightly, walking over to the desk.
“Oh thank goodness you’re here, Lottie,” Doris said with relief. “This frightful person is causing a fearful ruckus. I can’t let my poor guests be exposed to such unseemly behaviour, not in the Bonaparte. Especially the Ambassador, he has a very delicate constitution and I have a reputation to protect!”
Rachel snorted in derision. “The Ambassador’s been dead for over seventy years you crazy old bird, and this place has been a dive for just as long! You only have three guests when I last checked, so stow it!” Doris let out a horrified gasp and went paler than she normally looked. Rachel turned and shot Lottie an ugly look.
“So the partner in crime has finally turned up, has she?” she crowed. “Well, maybe now we can get somewhere! Where the hell is that good for nothing pal of yours?”
Lottie pushed down her anger and plastered on her best customer service smile. Rachel, along with her husband Trevor, ran the electrical store where Tania worked as a clerk and it was no secret that Rachel hated her with a passion.
Donuts And Dead (Sleepy Fox Cafe Cozy Mystery Book 2) Page 11