Goddess, Guilted

by Jacqueline M Green

  I smiled patiently on the outside. “The average potato has about four grams of protein. The average serving of broccoli has, I think, about the same. About four grams. That’s already eight grams of protein right there.”

  Cindy smirked. “I can do the math, thank you. But the daily requirements, as I recall, are about fifty grams daily for an average woman.”

  I leaned back to look at her. “Ooh, look who’s been studying up on nutrition.” I took another sip of my tea. “Well, I also ate a container of yogurt today, which had about seventeen grams of protein.”

  “Yippee, now you’re up to twenty-five, still only halfway.” Cindy smiled triumphantly.

  I sat back and wracked my brain. I knew I had eaten enough protein, but I couldn’t remember exactly. Besides, I figured that high-protein days balanced out lower-protein days.

  “I had some soup,” I said slowly. “I know there was protein in there.” I shrugged my shoulders. “I can’t add it all up today, but I will review my diet and make sure I’m getting enough protein. Are you satisfied?”

  Cindy nodded, a superior smile on her face. Bev chose that time to set our plates down in front of us, so we picked up our forks and dove in.

  I reached for a buttered roll from the basket on the table and held one up like a prize. “Aha! Protein! There’s protein in bread, more than you might think, in fact. So there.”

  Cindy just laughed, bit off some chicken and made loud eating sounds. Once we had comfortably eaten for a while, she wiped her mouth with her napkin and placed it back on her lap.

  “Anyway, about Angelica?”

  “Cindy, I just want to help.”

  “Mariah, we are working this case. Right now, the evidence leads to Angelica. Please let us follow the evidence without getting in the way.”

  I really wanted to say something, but the look on Cindy’s face convinced me otherwise. I quickly stabbed another piece of broccoli and shoved it in my mouth before I was tempted.

  “Good choice,” Cindy murmured, turning her attention back to her plate.

  Sometimes I wish she didn’t know me so well.

  As we left the diner, Cindy walked me back to the studio. In the office, I rummaged through my desk for next month’s schedule. We were trading a couple of classes next month since she had some conflicts with her sheriff’s duties.

  Finally, I smacked my head with my hand. “Wait a sec. It’s in the car. I typed it up at home last night.”

  We stepped around the edges of the studio so we didn’t have to remove our shoes. I’m usually a stickler about that, but I was ready to get home, so I let it slide. Heading out the back door, I used the key fob to unlock the doors and started to open the passenger side, where I’d tossed the schedule on the seat.

  “Mariah, wait.”

  Something about Cindy’s voice made me stop and look back at her. She pointed to my car and we silently walked around it. All four tires were flat, with big gashes in the sides.

  Someone had slit my tires.

  Chapter 16

  “Any idea who is mad enough at you to cut up your tires, sis?”

  “Besides you and Neil?”

  She made a face. “Ha, ha. At least I have an alibi. I was with you.”

  A tow truck had quickly moved my car to the garage and he went right to work switching out the old tires.

  “A disgruntled student?”

  Cindy laughed and shook her head. “Even your suckiest classes don’t warrant four slashed tires.”

  “I have sucky classes?”

  She gently put an arm around me. “Of course not. If it’s not a student or an ex-lover,” she paused and looked at me expectantly. I shook my head. “Then I’m guessing someone has heard that you are poking around in Jerry’s murder, and they’re not happy about it.”

  “Then they would be happy to know that I don’t know anything.”

  “Know anything about what, Mariah?” A familiar voice checked in behind me.

  I turned around. “Nothing, Maya. I know nothing about anything, except maybe yoga.”

  The reporter smiled and pointed her camera toward my car up on the racks. “Want to tell me what happened?”

  “Nope.”

  Maya lowered her camera and turned toward me. “I’ll find out anyway.”

  I stepped toward her and got in her face. This woman was really starting to irritate me. “How is it that whenever anything bad happens, you’re right there, Maya? Hmm, why it that?”

  Maya laughed and made a face. “I have a police scanner, Mariah. I hear everything that goes on.”

  I stepped back. She had a point.

  She waved at my car. “So, nothing? You’re not going to give me anything?”

  “Time to move on, Anderson.” Cindy spoke up from the corner of the garage, where she was watching both the mechanic and Maya.

  “Thanks anyway, Sheriff.” Maya waved and scooted out of the garage.

  “Stupid reporter.” I was still muttering when Cindy came and stood by my side.

  “Interesting, though.” Cindy caught my eye. “I didn’t call in your tire incident. It wasn’t on the scanner.”

  We stared at each other and Cindy put up a hand as if telling me to “stop.”

  “I will follow up. You consider taking this as a sign that you should back off and focus on your budding yoga business. And just be grateful that Anderson was out of town last month when you were accused of murder.”

  I nodded reluctantly, but not because I agreed I should back off. She was right that I needed to focus on my business. I also needed to help Josie’s family.

  Throughout the rest of the evening and as I was crawling into bed, I mulled over our conversation and the sudden appearance of Maya Anderson. I couldn’t figure out what her motive might be. What was her connection to Jerry McIntyre?

  I tossed and turned under the covers as I thought about Tamara. Did I really believe that she had set up Angelica to take the fall for the murder she had committed? I hated the idea that someone so well known in the yoga community would do such a thing, but I had to face facts. Just because someone practiced the physical asanas of yoga did not mean they practiced the spiritual principles. I would have hoped, however, that someone who supposedly helped students become “goddess-like” would follow them.

  The next morning after the early vinyasa class, I decided to see what Tamara was up to. Deangelo was still working on projects at his mother’s house, leaving Tamara with nothing to do. Besides, I was pretty sure they were still on the outs.

  Locking the studio behind me, I wandered toward the hotel, not sure what I would say if I ran into her. “Hi, Goddess Tamara, did you kill Jerry?” did not seem like it would go over well.

  As I neared the hotel, Tamara stepped down the front steps and darted around the corner. I hurried to see what she was up to just in time to see her head toward her car.

  Dang it! I broke into a run in the opposite direction. My car was parked in front of The Yoga Mat today so I could keep an eye on it. Besides, I wanted whoever slashed my tires to know I had survived their little taunt. I hopped into the car and revved the motor, then made a quick U-turn and headed back toward the hotel. I wasn’t even sure if Tamara would still be in the vicinity, but I crossed my fingers and sent a silent prayer for satya.

  As I reached the intersection, I looked both ways and glimpsed Tamara’s little red convertible heading north of town. I bolted around the corner to follow her, slowing down as I got closer. I didn’t want her to see it was me behind her, but in a small town like Jasper, there just wasn’t a lot of traffic on the road. On the other hand, there weren’t that many places for her to go either.

  We followed the road northeast past the old high school. I still grimaced every time I passed the decrepit old building, ever since a killer had tried to take me down there last month. Falling through the wooden floors of the old place actually had saved my life and possibly Stormy’s, too, who had gone out to the school to meet me.


  I couldn’t figure out where Tamara was going until she slowed near the turnoff for the trailhead at Jasper River. The red convertible turned in, but I kept going, just in case she was wise to me trailing her. I made another U-turn, then pulled my car into the trailhead parking lot, hoping I would see the convertible before Tamara saw me. A flash of red in the dirt-packed parking lot alerted me that Tamara had pulled in and parked.

  I turned in the opposite direction, pulling my nondescript sedan into a spot behind some bushes. As Tamara walked toward the trailhead, I ducked down, my head practically on the passenger seat. When I lifted my head, Tamara was gone. I hopped out and walked toward the trailhead. Looked like we would be doing some hiking today.

  The path was well-worn by years of high schoolers trekking to the river to party or make out. I shuddered. I hoped I didn’t come across any half-dressed teen-agers. I might have to call their moms.

  Every once in a while, I caught sight of Tamara, still striding purposefully down the trail. She was not just out for a gentle stroll. She was up to something. When she stopped abruptly at a fork in the path, I almost walked right out into the open. Instead, I dove into the bushes, scratching my arms, as I tried to get out of sight. I held my breath waiting to find out if she had seen me, but all I heard were footsteps walking lightly away.

  I crept out from behind the tree, rubbing the blood spots away on my arm as I gingerly stepped back to the path. A flash of pink off to the left let me know she had gone that way, so I followed. We were getting close to the river, which meant we would run out of trail soon.

  Just before the last bend, I slipped off the path and behind some large boulders. The river was just on the other side. As I started to peer around the rock to see what Tamara was up to, a hand reached around my face, covering my mouth and pulling me backwards.

  The hand muffled my screams as I fought off my attacker.

  “Stop, Mariah, stop! It’s me!”

  I fell backwards hard onto my butt with an “oof.”

  “CeCe, what are you doing here?”

  She motioned for me to be quiet, then leaned in. “I followed Lou here. Apparently, there’s a hook-up.”

  She pointed to the other side of the rocks while offering me a hand. I accepted, then limped over to the edge of the rocks. My mouth fell open as I peered around the side. Lou Alveretti of Luigi’s Pizzeria approached from the right side. Tamara and Lou hugged, then sat down on a log by the river, their arms around each other and their heads leaned in close as they talked in low murmurs. Tamara gently touched his face and brushed his hair away. He smiled into her eyes.

  “I totally did not see that coming.” I turned to CeCe. “What does this mean?”

  She shrugged. “It’s not illegal to hook up with someone.”

  “Says the boss who hooked up with her barista.”

  She smiled and waved her hand to push aside my words, then took my hand to pull me away from the river and up the trail. We kept low to the path so they wouldn’t see us leave.

  When we had trekked partway back to the car, we stopped and sat on a stump to process what we had seen.

  “Do you think they did it together?”

  “Why would they do it?”

  I crossed my ankle over my knee and set my elbow on top. “Maybe she did want revenge, if the rumors are accurate.”

  “First, we thought he did it because he was hooking up with Sandy. Now you think he did it because he is hooking up with Tamara, who is way too young for him, by the way.”

  “Again, you’re dating your barista, who is twelve years younger than you.”

  CeCe made a face. “Yes, but Lou is like fifty and she’s, what, twenty-eight, twenty-nine? That’s nearly a generation. What can they possibly have in common?”

  I frowned and slumped onto the stump. “What I want to know is this: Why is everyone in this town hooking up except me?”

  She blew out her breath in disgust. “I wouldn’t say everyone. Josie’s not. She’s married to her job. Besides, that sheriff’s detective has tried to ask you out at least twice. You keep ditching him.”

  I tilted my head to look at her. “What are you talking about?”

  “When he suggested you go to the Movie Night? And you said, ‘sure, let’s bring Stormy?’”

  “What? No. No. Seriously, what?”

  CeCe looked at me, her eyes twinkling, and laughed. She nudged me with her elbow. “Yeah, seriously, he was trying to ask you out.”

  “Was he upset?”

  CeCe shrugged. “I didn’t exactly talk to him about it. I just saw the signs.”

  “Anything else I’ve missed?”

  “Just about every time he offers to walk you someplace.”

  I scoffed. “Don’t be silly. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself and getting myself to the studio and home and—” I put on my fake TV voice – “golly, Lassie, just about anywhere else I need to go.”

  CeCe dropped her head to her chest and stared at her feet as she kicked dirt clouds from her shoes, a completely useless activity since we still had more trail to hike.

  “That’s the problem, Mariah.” Her voice was soft. “You act like you don’t need anyone. So that makes it hard for a guy to ask you out.” She shifted on the stump to look me in the eyes. “It’s okay to let a man take care of you sometimes. It’s kind of nice to have someone open the door, walk me home, even cook my dinner.”

  A lump filled my throat that I didn’t expect. “I make it hard? I do that?” I looked away from her and leaned my shoulder into hers. “Wow, I do that, yes, I do that.”

  I clasped my hands over my arms. “I’m not sure how to change that. Since Lee and I split up and really even before we divorced, I got used to taking care of things on my own. I’m comfortable with myself, with not leaning on a man.”

  CeCe smiled and leaned back into me. “I know. It was hard for me, too. I’m proud to be a strong woman, but…” She sat up and stretched out her arms. “It’s nice to have a good foot rub from time to time.”

  “He rubs your feet? You are so lucky.”

  CeCe stood up and held out her hand to me. “You could have it, too, Mariah. Just pay as much attention to the men in your life as you do to students in your class. By the way, I cannot believe you called me out like that in class the other day.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  CeCe mimicked my voice. “Pause in Goddess. Open your mouth as wide as you can. And then exhale, closing your mouth. I knew you were talking about me. I could feel my face being all tense and grim.”

  “See.” I nudged her with my elbow. “You didn’t even need me to call you out. You’re really listening to your own body. And you weren’t the only one, by the way.”

  Just then we heard voices from the river and looked at each other. Oh, crumb. We’d talked too long and now we might get caught anyway. CeCe pushed me off the trail into some bushes, scratching up my other arm, as she dove the other way.

  We had just stopped moving around when the voices got louder, then steps passed our hiding places on the path. Tamara and Lou talked softly as they wound their way back up the trail. I only hoped they wouldn’t see my car sitting off the trailhead.

  Once they were safely past, CeCe and I pushed ourselves up and brushed off the dirt and leaves. I held out my arms.

  “At least I have a matching set.” I spied the scratches ruefully.

  “C’mon, let’s get some disinfectant on them.”

  “Disinfectant? I don’t think that’s what you use on scratches. That’s what you use on bathrooms.”

  CeCe just walked away, striding back up the path.

  Chapter 17

  CeCe and I met back at her coffee shop. A triple mocha with extra chocolate was in order. But I turned down the offer of a chocolate doughnut.

  “No, thanks, I’m trying to cut down.”

  CeCe stared pointedly at my mocha.

  “You’re right. I’ll take the doughnut, too.”

 
; We watched out her front picture window as Lou drove past in a pickup truck, turning at the end of the block, no doubt to park behind his store, just as I usually did at The Yoga Mat. That made me think. We parked in the same alleyway every day. It would have taken Lou no time at all to slash my tires last night and, of course, he had access to plenty of knives in his restaurant.

  “Mariah? Did you hear what I said?”

  I looked away from Luigi’s to find CeCe standing over my table, the chocolate doughnut on a plate in her hand. “Sorry. What?”

  “What are you thinking about?” She shoved the plate in front of me and sat down across from me, reaching over to cut off a piece of the doughnut.

  “Does Lou ever come in? I don’t remember ever seeing him in here.” I licked whipped cream from the top of my mug.

  CeCe shook her head. “He says he only drinks Italian coffee that he makes himself.”

  I looked at her in surprise. “Has he tried your cappuccinos? They are delish.”

  She bowed her head, placing one hand over her heart, in acknowledgement. “I learned from the pros. I’ve offered to make him one, but he says no. It’s okay. Not everyone has to come into my shop.”

  I frowned. “We go to his restaurant all the time. It’s only fair that he shops at our stores.”

  “Not everyone goes to your yoga studio.”

  “True. I don’t expect all the other store owners to buy a six-month pass. But he could stop in for a cup of coffee sometimes. Would it kill him to reciprocate?”

  “Probably not the best choice of words right now.”

  My eyes met CeCe’s and widened. “Probably not.”

  The front door of Luigi’s Pizzeria opened. Lou stepped out and propped open one side of the double doors. He looked up and down the street, waving to a few people he knew, motioning for them to come to the restaurant, a big smile across his face.

  Impulsively, I jumped up and raced out CeCe’s front door, hurrying across the street to Luigi’s.