by Dana Moss
She held it up. “Are we having wine?”
“Finn’s driving tonight, so I’m game,” Maria said.
“I was hoping to get a lift with you, if that’s okay,” Ethan said to Taffy.
“Maybe you can drive home so I can have a glass or two. I think I need it.”
“You’re going to let me drive the Bentley?”
“What? You think I don’t trust you?”
He shook his head. “You’ve never let me drive it before.”
Taffy laughed. “Really? I hadn’t realized.” She dug around in her purse. “I bestow upon you the keys to the Belair Bentley-mobile.” She slid a gold-plated B key ring over to him.
“I feel be-knighted or something.” He slipped the key into his pocket. “You know, if I’m going to cross the line and drive a luxury convertible, it might be time for you to cross a line too.”
Maria looked up from a cedar plank-framed sheet of specials. “Isn’t Taffy always crossing the line?”
Ethan laughed. “You’re right, but there’s one I keep trying to nudge her over, only she won’t budge.”
“What’s that?” Finn said, pointing to something on his menu and angling it so Maria could see.
Taffy was pretty sure she knew what he was going to say, and she willed him not to.
He turned to her with a charming grin. “Camping.”
He’d said it. Taffy’s eyes narrowed. Then Ethan’s phone buzzed with two text messages back to back. He looked at them both and laughed. He held up his phone. “Mel just sent this picture of the goslings. Aren’t they cute?”
Finn and Maria leaned forward and smiled. “If only they didn’t grow up to be geese,” Maria said. “They poop everywhere.”
“She’s sending you text messages?”
“She’s on her own until the gates close, so I said she could call if she has any questions.”
“Was that a question? ‘Aren’t these goslings so cute?’ That’s not very professional.”
Maria gave her a look. Taffy said, “What? How does that relate to state park maintenance?”
Ethan’s phone buzzed again.
Taffy said, “What is it this time? A slug crossing the road? Let’s post a bulletin.”
Ethan cleared his throat and set his phone down. “So, anyone want to share appetizers?”
The waiter came by to take their order and Taffy thought she’d narrowly escaped the dreaded camping conversation, but once the wine was served and a bread basket placed in the middle of the table, Ethan said, “So what were we talking about? Oh, right, camping.”
“No we weren’t.”
He reached for Taffy’s hand just as she was about to reach for a breadstick.
“This city girl needs a real country experience.”
“I don’t see how encasing yourself like a sausage dumpling and waking up in a pinned-down nylon balloon—after sleeping on rocks and twigs—constitutes real experience. Sleeping on less-than-600-thread-count Egyptian sheets is roughing it enough for me.”
Ethan smirked and gave Maria a glance, “Personally, I think we should forgo the tent and just sleep under the stars.”
Normally, stargazing had romantic appeal, but not this time.
“Are you setting me up to be a mosquito cocktail or a bear popsicle?”
“Nature doesn’t have to be dangerous. It can also be idyllic.”
“Yes, but from a distance. You saw how I turned into a mosquito muffin when we were bird watching.”
Ethan’s eyebrow quirked upward. “That was one bite.”
Technically it had been two. Taffy hadn’t mentioned the one that managed to poke right through her pants and into the fleshiest part of her derrière.
“Besides,” Ethan said. “There’s mosquito repellent for that.”
“Until Chanel starts making it, I’m not wearing it.”
Maria reached for the bread basket, which was full of peppery, cheesy breadsticks rather than rolls. “What if you love it, Taff? You should try it at least once.”
“Our ancestors didn’t invent mattresses so we could go back to sleeping on rocks and dirt.”
“But change is good for us,” Maria said, poking at the idea like it was a cute little hornet’s nest. “The fresh air, the quiet, the coziness of cuddling up in sleeping bags. Joined sleeping bags.”
“My point exactly,” Ethan said, as he flourished a breadstick and scattered pepper flakes across the table.
Finn leaned back. “Hey, maybe we should all go. Double-date camping?”
This seemed to defeat the very slim element of romance they were trying to sell Taffy on. And she was sure Maria was just egging her on because she thought it would be funny if Ethan took Taffy camping, that it would make for some good laughs, but Taffy knew Maria wasn’t a fan of camping either, so she picked up her glass for a toast and said, “If Maria goes, I’ll go—probably kicking and screaming, but I’ll go.”
Maria stopped chewing her breadstick and frowned.
“Then it’s settled,” Finn said. “Honestly, I’ve never been camping, so I’m game to try it.” He smiled good-naturedly, and Maria softened. It was obvious she loved his easy curiosity, his willingness to try new things, but Taffy watched and waited for the “but…”
“Nothing’s really settled,” Maria said. “There’s work. And this case might take a while to sort out, so…”
Ethan said, “If Taffy’s only willing to go camping if you go, Maria, then we’ll work it around your schedule.”
“I can take time off whenever,” Finn said, completely unaware of how he’d snookered his girlfriend.
Ethan smiled at Maria, who’d poured herself more wine.
He said, “It’s been a while since you’ve been out in the backwoods, hey?”
“Does it have to be the backwoods?” Maria smiled wanly.
“I can see if any spots have opened up at the campground, if that’s most convenient.”
Maria sighed. She raised her glass to Taffy, privately conceding defeat. Taffy was ninety-nine percent sure that Maria would figure out a way to avoid going camping and thus save Taffy from that noxious fate.
Two waiters arrived with their entrées. They served the ladies first and then the gentlemen.
While the six-foot Styrofoam lobster looked on from one end and a giant clam with googly eyes looked on from the other, the four friends looked down at plates fit to be served in a five-star hotel. Taffy smiled with delighted satisfaction. Ted just might be on the cusp of a new trend—kooky-luxe chic.
Several bites into their delicious meals, Ted approached their table.
“How are you liking everything so far?”
Why did restaurant staff always come over and ask that when she was in the middle of chewing and all she could do was nod and smile and hope bits didn’t drop from her lips?
They all nodded, grunted, and smiled their approval.
Ted beamed. Then he turned to Ethan. “Can you send over a couple more cases of your brew to the bar?” Ethan was part owner in a microbrewery that produced an up-and-coming ale called Abandon Sip. “We might start carrying it here, too. Goes with the theme, don’t you think?”
“Should be bottled in a day or two. I’ll drop it off myself. I’ve just been so busy lately.”
Ted gave Ethan a soft punch in the shoulder. “I hear you have a very cute new park assistant.”
Ethan put his napkin down. “I have a very qualified new park assistant. Word sure travels fast in this town.”
Taffy saw Ethan give Ted a warning look, and he seemed to catch on. “You can blame the village grapevine for sending out relevant news to qualified singles, like me. Especially since you two fine fellows have snapped up the prettiest girls in town.” He gave Taffy and Maria charming, gentlemanly nods.
After smiling and nodding back, Taffy gave Maria a meaningful look, which Maria shrugged off, as if none of it mattered, and Taffy knew it shouldn’t, but she helped herself to more wine anyway.
Te
d took the empty bottle from her and said, “Let me get you a fresh one. On the house.”
After refilling the glasses—well, mainly Taffy’s, since everyone else’s needed just a little top-up—Ethan’s phone buzzed again. Taffy was feeling a buzz herself as Ethan opened up yet another text message from the prolific park assistant.
“Uh oh. The raccoons got into the dumpsters and dragged trash through the campsite.”
“What will it be next?” Taffy said. “Squirrels clogging up the outhouses?”
Ethan sighed and shoved his phone in his pocket.
For dessert, he and Taffy decided to share molten chocolate lava cake, and Finn and Maria ordered one raspberry cheesecake. Taffy kept drinking the wine.
Ethan’s phone rang with a call rather than buzzed with a text as Taffy was finger-wiping the last of the chocolate sauce off the plate. He reached into his pocket, looked at the caller ID, briefly glanced at Taffy and said, “Sorry, I have to take this.”
He stood up and went to the restaurant foyer.
“It’s her again, I’m sure of it.”
“Taffy, it’s no big deal. It’s work. Let it go.”
“Speaking of problems at work,” Finn said, spearing the last piece of cheesecake after Maria had set her fork down. “Mrs. Vaughn, my receptionist, had a fall, cracked her hip and now has to get it replaced. Which means”—he swallowed his bite of cheesecake—“I have to temporarily replace Mrs. Vaughn.”
“That shouldn’t be too hard.”
“I’ve been in touch with a temp agency, and they say they don’t have too many qualified paralegals, but they’re going to try to find one for me.”
Maria smiled and nodded. “As long as she—or he—can file alphabetically, you should be fine until Mrs. Vaughn recovers.”
“I suppose,” Finn said. “How’s your work, Taffy? How are Ellie’s new plans for the factory?”
Taffy was mildly distracted by Ethan’s pacing in the foyer. His face looked serious, but she couldn’t hear what he was saying.
“She’s got some ideas about pet marshmallows and edible bath products. I’d say she’s on a roll.”
Ethan returned to the table. “Melanie found something while she was cleaning up the raccoon mess.” He looked at Maria. “I think you’ll want to see this.”
While they paid the bill and snapped up their after-dinner mints, Taffy finished off the second bottle of wine. “Shouldn’t let it go to waste,” she murmured.
CHAPTER TWELVE
When they pulled into the campground, the beam of the Bentley headlights lit up Melanie, who seemed to be standing at attention by the metal trash bins. Finn and Maria had arrived a second before them and were just getting out of their car.
“Evening, boss.” Melanie saluted as soon as Ethan piled out of the driver’s side of the Bentley. Taffy nearly tripped when she got out.
Melanie pointed to a small, clear plastic bag resting atop one of the bins. “It’s drugs, right? I didn’t want to throw it away just in case.”
Maria pulled a pair of latex gloves out of her purse.
“Do you always carry those?” Taffy said. “Got any other latex products in there?” Maria rolled her eyes and ignored her. To Finn, she said, “Maybe you should take Taffy home now.”
“No, it’s fine,” Taffy said. “I don’t mind waiting for the professional detective to do her work.” She glanced at Ethan when she said that, but he was busy talking to Melanie.
“I’m really sorry you had to come across this. It’s just bad timing with you starting this job and this body turning up.” He laughed nervously. “No one expects to be in the first row during a murder investigation.”
Melanie said, “I’m just glad the raccoons didn’t ingest any of that stuff.”
“Ooh, saved the raccoons from the big bad drugs,” Taffy said. “That’s a good day’s work.”
Ethan gave her a critical look. Melanie shrank a little and stayed on the far side of Ethan. Taffy kicked a pine cone in the path and nearly lost her balance.
Maria had stuffed the baggie in an evidence bag and was labeling it with a black marker.
“I guess I should clean up the rest of the trash before I go home,” Melanie said.
“You should,” Taffy said. “Here’s a little extra for the pile.” She dropped her restaurant mint candy wrapper on the ground.
Ethan frowned. “Taffy, you can be one obnoxious drunk.”
“Oh, am I embarrassing the unembarrassable Mr. McCoy?” Taffy snort-laughed.
“No,” Ethan said, picking up the wrapper she had dropped on purpose. “You’re embarrassing yourself.”
Taffy huffed and walked off, but she overheard Ethan say to Melanie, “I’ll stay and help you with the cleanup so we can both go home.”
Taffy stomped through the scrub between two campsites, snapping branches as she went.
Maria caught up to her. “Are you okay?”
Taffy was caught between anger and tears. Her words came out like a whine. “He likes his new park protégé more than he likes me.”
Maria scoffed. “You’re being childish. She’s new to town, and he’s trying to make her feel at home.”
“I was new to town, too, and he tried to make me feel at home, and look what happened to us!”
“Sure, you fell in love.” Maria smiled. “You’re happy together.”
“Exactly! It doesn’t take a detective to predict the outcome of this scenario.”
Maria shook her head. “You’re doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Seeing problems that aren’t there, but this time it’s with Ethan rather than a murder case.”
“I seem to recall that the ‘problems’ I saw with the last case were there after all. What if that’s true with Ethan, too?”
“You’ve got to trust him.”
“He’s lied to me before.”
“About what?”
During the last investigation, Ethan had kept certain things from her, albeit for her own good, and he hadn’t told her about his past experience as an FBI agent until after her house had burned down. Even Maria didn’t know that part of his history. And Taffy had promised not to tell anyone.
“He knows how to keep secrets is all.”
“I’m sure he’s not interested in keeping secrets that would hurt you. She’s a harmless new employee. Relax.”
Taffy narrowed her eyes when Maria said “harmless,” but what was she really thinking? That Melanie could hurt her? Maybe not in a physical sense, but if she did get between Taffy and Ethan and that led to Ethan dumping Taffy, then that would be worse than any physical pain. The potential for a broken heart was potential for pain.
Taffy leaned in close to Maria and boozily whispered, “Could you maybe run a background check on her?”
“You’re kidding, right? The most I’d find is that in addition to saving raccoons, she’s probably rescued a groundhog or two.”
“Oh, fine. Thanks for nothin’.” Taffy could conduct her own surveillance if Maria wasn’t willing to help her.
Finn approached. “Ethan’s offered to drive you home and then come back to finish the cleanup with Melanie. Or else Maria and I can drop you off on our way home and Ethan can bring your car back later.”
Maria said, “I should drop this evidence by the station on the way.”
Taffy’s brain was beginning to fog up. She couldn’t keep track of who was going in which car or when or doing what on the way.
“Can someone just take me home?” She leaned woozily against Finn’s Toyota Camry.
Maria opened the door for her. Taffy thought she heard Finn say, “I’ll tell Ethan to drop her car off later.”
Taffy crawled into the backseat and tried not to pass out.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Taffy woke up with a horrible headache. She was at home. In her own bed. And alone. She had some vague notion that she should be apologizing to someone. Maybe several someones.
As she moaned
and rolled over, Midnight jumped on the bed and meowed cat breath all over her face. It was enough to make her jump out of bed and run to the bathroom.
She made strong coffee, took a shower, absently looked around for her phone to check messages, and remembered she still hadn’t replaced her defunct mobile. She couldn’t put that off much longer.
Her car was in her driveway, but she didn’t remember parking it there.
She drove to the phone store at the mall at the edge of town before going to work. The guy at the phone store told her that the model she wanted wasn’t in stock just then, but they were expecting a delivery later that afternoon, so she said she’d come back. She’d managed to survive three days without her mobile so far, something she’d never believed she was humanly capable of, so she figured she could wait one more afternoon.
She checked in with Ellie and Aubin by driving up to the factory first, where she stocked up on lemon cream saltwater taffies and two boxes of Wafer Wonders. Then she headed over to the Blue Bird Inn to meet Mrs. Hawthorne and Maria.
~
The Blue Bird Inn was a house not unlike Taffy’s refurbished Edwardian, except it was painted a deep blue with turquoise and cream trim. The house was set back from the road and bordered by a burgeoning English garden with spring flowers spilling from beds surrounding a lush green lawn. In one corner, a large arching oak tree cast gentle shadows. One of its thick branches supported a swing. The whole property was edged with white picket fencing.
When Taffy entered the beveled glass front door, she found Maria in the parlor sipping tea. With her brown pantsuit and clunky lace-up work shoes, she did not seem to fit in this gauzy-curtained, chintz-festooned, doily-decorated environment.
Mrs. Hawthorne bustled in with a fresh pitcher of milk. She smiled warmly when she saw Taffy.
“Taffy, welcome! I didn’t hear you come in.” Her finger went to her ear as she dialed up her one hearing aid.
Maria had turned, her pinky finger uplifted as she held her porcelain cup in one hand and a saucer in the other. Taffy giggled. Maria frowned and put everything down on the coffee table.
“How’s your head this morning?” Maria said pointedly.