by Dana Moss
Mayor Gifford and his wife entered the café and were seated at the corner table. They waved just before sitting down.
Maria leaned over and said, “I meant to tell you, Taffy. After you left the station today, I found out that the canoe belongs to Mayor Gifford of all people. He owns one of the old summer cabins on the far side of the lake, across from the campground. Apparently it was just lying on the dock, so anyone could have taken it for a joyride at any time, even Tyler. But I’ve got Lucy prepping a warrant to search the cabin, just in case.”
“Why didn’t Rex mention that when we talked to him? It’s obvious he’s involved in this somehow, but he seems to have special status and protection in this town.”
Taffy told Maria about her conversations with Ainsley and Jenny’s mom.
Maria looked concerned. “We’ll definitely have to question him again.”
Finn had been listening, and he set down his napkin. “You should know that Rex’s father came to see me, and I had to recommend he get legal representation for his son.”
“Not you?” Maria said.
“I tried to beg off but he insisted.”
Taffy was appalled. “You’re going to defend the Gifford family?”
Finn held up his hands and laughed. “Hey, no one’s been charged for anything yet, remember that, but just be aware that Rex may not answer any more questions without a lawyer present.”
“But that’s a sure sign of guilt,” Taffy said, sucking the chocolate cream off her fork.
Maria shook her head. “They have a reputation to protect is all. It’s a preemptive move.” She looked at Finn. “But I was afraid something like this might happen. I don’t want us to be on opposite sides.”
He reached for Maria’s hand. “It’ll never be like that. We both serve law and justice. See it that way.”
She nodded. Taffy envied their shared passions and beliefs. She glanced at Ethan, at his slightly messy hair and rough hands. He was staring into his phone.
She leaned toward him. “What’s got you so rapt?”
He sighed. “Mel’s got us on all these social media sites now. She’s a whiz with all this technology, but I can barely wrap my head around it.”
Taffy plunged her fork into the pie crust. Was there nothing this Melanie couldn’t do? So far, spiders were her only weakness.
Ethan set his phone down. “But let’s all forget about work for a while, hey?”
They went back to discussing the different pros and cons of various superpowers. Finn and Ethan got into a heated debate about flying versus stunning a victim with a mere gaze.
Taffy wished she had some special power that could make Melanie disappear.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Taffy had no good reason to dislike Melanie. She was waiting for one to crop up, was practically willing it, and the spider move had been a preemptive strike for which she was awaiting just cause (she did feel bad about the car damage), but no matter how hard she tried to let go, to surrender her nonsensical prejudice, she simply couldn’t talk herself out of it. It was Saturday morning now, and she was hoping the om-energy of her yoga class would cure her.
She left Ethan to sleep in and went over to Cara’s to pick her up.
When Taffy knocked on the door, Noel answered. He smiled. “Hello, Taffy. Cara will be right down. She’s trying to find our old yoga mat. At the moment, she’s searching Tyler’s room. Personally, I can’t set foot in there.” His initially happy and open smile turned wan. He held open the door, and Taffy stepped into the foyer to wait.
“They have extra mats there.”
“Why not run up and tell her that.” Taffy started to slip out of her flats but Noel said, “You can leave your shoes on.”
Taffy called out “hello” on her way up the stairs.
Cara was digging around in Tyler’s bedroom closet. “I stashed it when it was still a spare room.”
“You can borrow one of Lula’s, you know.”
Cara glanced over her shoulder at Taffy. “Why do you still have your shoes on? Noel’s going to kill you.”
“He didn’t seem to—”
“Ah! There it is.”
She hauled out a lime-green coil of spongy rubber. “I’d rather use my own mat. Germs and all that.”
She closed the closet and looked around the room. Taffy did, too. Baseball pennants adorned the wall over the single bed. A few framed team photos perched on the dresser.
Cara sighed. “I miss him, you know? My mind keeps trying to trick me into thinking he’s back in Eugene with his mom.”
Taffy squeezed Cara’s shoulder. She smiled gratefully.
Taffy said, “Let’s go kick that Downward Dog.”
~
Lula’s garage was more crowded than usual. Taffy scoped out a couple of spots near the back as she scanned a handful of unfamiliar faces. She froze when she recognized one.
“Why does she have to be here?” Taffy said under her breath.
“Who?” Cara followed Taffy’s gaze. “That cute girl?”
Not even a week in Abandon and Melanie was everywhere, spreading like a virus.
Cara looked from Taffy to Melanie and back to Taffy.
Seeing the look on Taffy’s face, Cara whispered, “Why don’t you like her?”
“Ugh. Never mind.” Taffy’s irrational distaste for Melanie crept up her spine in hot waves, like Kundalini fire, only there was nothing spiritual or transcendent about it.
They spread out their mats and sat in the lotus position. Melanie was up front, close to Lula, the teacher. Taffy closed her eyes and did her best to follow her Ujjayi breath.
As Lula led the class through a series of postures, Taffy couldn’t help watching Melanie out of the corner of her eye. She wore flowy pants and a loose, thick-strapped top. Probably made of bamboo. Her lean, defined muscles curved elegantly under perfectly tanned skin. She looked small but strong. She had the figure for super-fitted leggings and tanks, but the looser outfit bespoke a longer practice, and as soon as she bent into her first Downward Dog and then an Exalted Warrior, her form proved it. She was from California after all.
Lula fussed over her and pointed to her as an example for the rest of the class to follow.
Taffy’s inner fire burned even hotter. Melanie was better at yoga, she was better at camping, and she’d already made a helpful impression on the locals as a volunteer at the garden sale and a postsurgery babysitter.
Near the end of the class, Lula gave them time to work on handstands, giving the normal warnings of not doing inversions if you were pregnant or menstruating.
Taffy usually pretended she had her period, but when she saw Melanie getting into the initial prep position for going up into a handstand, a surge of competition rushed through her.
She struggled to cartwheel her feet up to the wall and stay there for a count of three. It took her about five tries to get her feet up the wall, and by then, her arms were so tired she could only stay up for a second before clumsily careening down. She sat on her mat and caught her breath.
Lula said in her soft, singsong voice, “Now everyone look at Melanie for the correct form.”
On the other side of the room, Melanie was in a perfect headstand, her feet not even touching the wall, a serene smile on her face, and her eyes were closed. It looked like she could remain like that for an hour.
Taffy could barely contain her jealous disgust.
Cara hadn’t even tried the handstand and was resting in Child’s Pose.
By the time class was over, Taffy felt more stressed than when she’d arrived. Across the room, Melanie was introducing herself to the other class members, who were smiling and laughing at her jokes and welcoming her to Abandon. Taffy’s nausea returned. It doubled when she overheard her friend Janice offer to give Melanie a ride home after learning she’d jogged to Lula’s because her car was in the shop.
Taffy just wanted to get out of there, and she urged Cara, who seemed to be floating in a state of relaxed bl
iss, toward the back door.
Once they were back inside the Bentley, Taffy leaned on the steering wheel and muttered something about Lula not being able to keep the riffraff out.
Cara, all mellow and peaceful, tried to pass on her yogalicious mood, but Taffy would have none of it.
Cara sighed and said, “You know, if you really don’t like her, you could hire a private eye to dig up something from her past, something that might get her fired.”
“People do that?”
“All the time. When I was worried about an ex-fiancé leading a double life, I hired this PI to follow him to see if it was true. She came back with photos, phone records, you name it.”
“She?”
“Yeah, this seriously funny, crazy chick who lives around Santa Barbara. Her last name is Peach or Apple or something like that. I can give you her number if you want.”
“Seems kind of extreme, doesn’t it?”
Cara shrugged. “It’s not like you have to do anything with the information you get. Sometimes just taking any kind of action can relieve the anxiety you’re carrying around in your mind.”
“Melanie’s originally from California. Guess this Peach person might be able to help. Just to relieve my anxiety.”
Taffy really had no idea what she’d do with any information she found, but if there was something questionable that might affect her job performance, Ethan really did have a right to know, didn’t he? Taffy was trying to find ways to justify it. No doubt Ethan was required to run criminal background checks on all potential employees. Even Taffy had to do that at the factory. But it didn’t have to be something criminal that could affect her ability to do her work.
Taffy thought of what Maria might say if she found out. Nothing good, Taffy was certain of that.
“Did you ever hire her to look into Noel?”
“No.” Cara blinked. “Should I?”
“I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just curious about the last time you used the PI.”
“Back when I was burning up the links, I had a lot of suitors looking for a sugar mama and some social status. I’d check them out before going on a date. But I’m mostly out of that world now. Noel’s the real thing. The last one for me. We’ll get through this tragedy and be stronger for it. I have faith in us.”
She really did seem full of faith. She was practically glowing. She said, “Do you have time to stop for tea at the Magpie before dropping me off?”
Taffy checked the time. She had to pick Nana up from the airport in a couple of hours. “Sure, let’s go hydrate.”
~
Ensconced in a booth at the Magpie, Cara sipped her apricot rooibos tea and said, “That was such a good class.”
Apart from Melanie’s presence, Taffy agreed. “You do get more out of it when the general’s not visiting.”
Cara gave her an odd look and then she flushed. “Oh, that’s not why I didn’t do the headstand.”
“It is friggin’ hard. I usually pretend it’s my time of the month too.”
Cara put her tea down. “No, it’s…” She glanced side to side as if to make sure no one was listening. “I wasn’t going to say anything but… It’s actually the other reason.”
Taffy stopped stirring her tea.
“I’ve been wanting to tell you,” Cara continued, “I feel like there’s no one I can tell. Certainly not Noel right now. I need to wait a little longer. After the memorial. After Shannon goes back to Eugene. When Todd leaves… When it’s just the two of us again.”
“What exactly are you saying, Cara?”
She whispered, “I’m pregnant.”
Taffy nearly dropped her cup.
“But I thought you and Noel said—”
“No kids, I know. I know we said that.” Cara frowned. And then she smiled. “But what if…?”
She drifted into some far-removed world for a few seconds, and when she came back, she clamped her hand on top of Taffy’s. “You have to promise you won’t tell a soul!”
“Okaaaay…”
“Like pinky swear it!”
“Uh, I will, but it’s not a secret you can keep for long. Noel should know, shouldn’t he?”
Cara nodded. “It’s bad timing, I know.” Then her expression changed. “Or maybe it’s perfect timing. It finally happened. And it happened now. After months of trying. So clearly it was meant to happen.”
There seemed to be something both divine and twisted in her logic. Take one child away but deliver another. But still, it was awfully odd timing.
“What do you mean ‘months of trying’? You just said—”
Cara looked down at her hands. When she looked up, her expression was awash with guilt, but in her eyes was a tinge of mischief.
“When Tyler moved in with us, and his bond with Noel seemed to overpower our marriage, I just had this idea…”
Taffy waited for her to continue.
“So I stopped taking my birth control, just to see what would happen. For ages nothing did, but then…” She twisted the wedding band on her ring finger. “I know we agreed not to have children, but I thought if we had our own baby, it would balance things out. Noel would feel equally if not more loyal to me.”
“It was a strategy?”
“I wouldn’t say that exactly. You make it sound so cold and calculated.” Cara pouted.
“I didn’t mean that. It’s just not what you and Noel agreed to.”
Cara sighed. “I know. And when I was away at the Halcyon Health Spa, I did inquire about getting an abortion. But then I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I mean, it’s possible Noel will love the idea. It’s kind of romantic, isn’t it? You can’t tell me it’s not a little bit romantic, and possibly a happy ending after this horrible tragedy?”
Clearly, Cara had talked herself into this being a good thing. She reached for Taffy’s hand and squeezed it. “I only told you because you’re becoming such a good friend. I thought you’d be happy for me. I trust you, Taffy.”
Taffy forced a smile. “If you’re happy, I’m happy. But you’ll tell Noel soon, won’t you?”
“Of course.” Her beatific glow had returned. Taffy now understood the source of it.
~
Taffy dropped Cara off and headed home to get changed before going to the airport to pick up Nana.
Taffy wasn’t sure what to make of Cara’s baby news. She supposed it was good. So why did something feel so wrong about it? Taffy wished she hadn’t promised to keep it a secret. She thought Maria should know. Then again, maybe no one should know before Cara’s husband.
As Taffy drove through town, she passed Hanes Street. On a whim, she decided to drive by the Bluebird Inn on the off chance Monica was working a shift. Hadn’t Mrs. Hawthorne said she worked weekends?
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Taffy parked outside the B and B. She waited about ten minutes and then was about to leave, since she had to get to the airport, when the beveled glass front door opened and Monica stepped out onto the stoop.
She was stuffing her work apron into her school satchel as she came down the stairs and didn’t notice Taffy getting out of her car.
Monica started walking down the sidewalk, checking her phone. Taffy caught up to her.
“Hey, I want to talk to you about Rex.”
Monica spun around. She looked past Taffy and then over her shoulder as if expecting there’d be other people around. When she saw it was just the two of them, she continued walking down the sidewalk and checking her phone.
Taffy followed. “I thought you wanted to protect him.”
Monica stopped. “What makes you say that?”
“I overheard you in the bathroom. You told all the other kids not to say anything about Tyler being at the campground because you didn’t want anything to happen to Rex.”
“You’re making some wild assumptions. I never said anything like that. And I didn’t tell anyone to lie to the police.” Monica gave her a cool smile, but her eyes looked nervous.
<
br /> “Then why did you lie?”
Monica’s jaw tightened. “You know, I could charge you with harassment.” She seemed to play by the rule that the best defense was offense. She took a step forward. “I could tell the police that right now, and the past few days, you’ve been hanging out here waiting for me. Stalking me.”
“You know that would never stick.” At least Taffy didn’t think so, but she also didn’t want Maria telling her to back off the case just when things were getting interesting, so she played her own form of offense.
“What are you hiding, Monica? What did you guys see that night that no one’s willing to talk about?”
“Mind your own business, Blondie.”
“We know Rex got into a fight with Tyler the night he died. And drugs found at the campground match some found in his locker.
“Those weren’t his! He didn’t do anything!” She caught herself. Calmed a bit. “Nothing to do with Tyler dying anyway. Yes, they got into a fistfight, but Tyler walked away with a cut lip, that was all. I don’t know anything about the drugs.”
“How did Tyler end up in the canoe?”
“How am I supposed to know that?”
“You knew the canoe belonged to Rex’s family.” It was a bluff, but she wanted to see how she’d react.
“I did not!” Vehement. But forced.
“I think you were in that canoe.”
“I was not!”
But the way she said it, Taffy thought she was lying. She’d seen a tiny crack in Monica’s shell. Her usual cool had gone tepid, her color was rising, and her normally hooded eyes were wider than usual. She turned and started walking away.
Taffy grabbed her backpack. Something inside rattled metallically.
“What’s in there?”
Monica pulled her pack tightly back to her shoulder. “None of your business.”
Taffy knew from her fiasco in the locker room that she couldn’t go snooping in Monica’s backpack without permission. Monica readjusted her pack and started walking away again.
“We’re not done with this conversation.” Taffy’s tone was shrill.
Monica glared over her shoulder. “Get over yourself, Blondie. You aren’t in high school anymore.”