by Misty Simon
“Interesting. Then he really wasn’t gay. It could have made sense that he saw all these women to keep up a masculine front.”
“No, he wasn’t gay, Tallie, and there are plenty of men who aren’t gay who go in and get their eyebrows waxed, too. It’s called grooming, and believe me there are just as many gay people out there who dress like slobs.”
My time was up. I had gained some information, but not nearly as much as I had hoped for. No list from Monty meant no ideas of other women who might have poisoned Craig. But with the sexual orientation thing off the table, at least I didn’t have to try to find any men he’d led around by their noses, which could have doubled my possible list of people he’d romantically misled.
“All right then. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” I asked.
“No, not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.” He peered at me over his flower. “I guess you’re looking into Craig’s murder to get Gina off the hook?” he went on again as I opened my mouth. The man had a habit of cutting me off before I could even get a word out. “Let me rephrase that. You had better be looking into this, because Gina will not go to jail on my watch.”
“On my watch, either.” I bit my lip. “I know you can’t tell me too much, but if you see anyone suspicious or have seen anyone suspicious on your CCTV, will you let me know? Especially the night Craig died? It could be important.”
“I’ll look over the footage. You’re lucky because I was about to use that tape today. I recycle them.”
Thank God, I’d caught him in time. At least one thing had gone right today, even if I still had no clue who might have killed Craig, and I was no closer to naming that someone to keep Gina out of the clutches of the law.
Chapter Twelve
Next stop: Taylor Fromm’s house. Taylor was a yoga teacher and kept her home pretty clean, but she also had a very particular way of doing things, along with her own cleaning products that she made herself. I had tried a few at my own home, but the overwhelming smell of vinegar and lye were a little too much for me in the small area I had. She also liked to burn incense. For about the thousandth time since I’d started my cleaning business I was so thankful not to be allergic to anything.
I waved good-bye to Taylor and headed back to the Bean. Gina was standing behind the counter surveying the nearly full shop. Saturdays Gina closed earlier than any other day. Everyone had a cup in front of them and seemed engrossed in what they were doing. I hoped she hadn’t been using the time to mope about her situation. At least I could tell her some good news.
Sidling up to the counter, I accepted the cup of hot chocolate she’d poured for me when she saw me come through the door.
“Iced coffee might be good to put on the menu. It’s sweltering out there.” I took a sip of the hot chocolate and, no matter how hot it was outside, this remained awesome on my taste buds.
“I’ve thought about it,” she said. “But I don’t want to be the same as any old chain coffeehouse. I want different.”
“You could make coffee slushes.”
“Now, that I might be able to get on board with.” She made a note with the pencil behind her ear and then pressed her hands to the counter in front of her. “I don’t want to push, and God knows I’m so happy you’re helping me at all, but any news by any chance?”
I took another swallow of the hot chocolate and sucked a tiny marshmallow off my top lip. “You’ll be pleased to know that Smythe was just angry that Craig wouldn’t give her a second glance and that the information she tried to snow me with was completely incorrect.”
“That doesn’t exactly make me feel better. I think I almost wished she would have been right so I could just think he was using me. Instead it seems I was the one being snowed by a common womanizer.”
I reached out to touch her hand where it had clenched on the counter. “We’ll figure this out and make it all right, I promise. The other piece of news is that Monty has CCTV.” I whispered the last part because I didn’t know if anyone else knew. I didn’t want to blow it for him.
“He does?”
“Yes, and there’s a possibility that the lady whom your mom saw driving around the block three times could be on it, as well as anyone else if they tried to slip out of your street without being seen.” It was a long shot but it was possible. And the smile on Gina’s face was worth the tiny stretching of what may or may not be the truth. I didn’t go anywhere anymore without looking at tires and was surprised at how few cars around here had oversized wheels. We were a bunch of economy-car-driving folks, apparently. But I needed to find the car and maybe then I could find the culprit. I would keep looking.
And then her smile fell into a frown.
“What?”
“I’ve kissed people behind Monty’s store. Oh my God, I let Tommy Hellman feel me up back there when we were in high school.”
I laughed and laughed and laughed. Until I realized that I had done the same thing. “Wait, when were you with Tommy?”
“Eleventh grade.”
“Month?”
“I don’t remember, Tallie. That was years ago. Right before school let out, I think.” She shrugged. “Like I said, it was a long time ago.”
“Huh, well, he still might have something to answer for because that was about the time I was with him, too. Why didn’t you mention him?”
She laughed, a real one this time, and it was so good to hear. “Why didn’t you?”
“I was embarrassed.”
“Yeah, me too. He wasn’t exactly a prize, and I swear he had like seven hands.”
“No kidding.”
The bell above the door rang and we both looked to see who had entered. Tommy Hellman. Gina’s glare matched my own. Tommy had no idea what he’d just walked in to.
* * *
I hung out for a little while after we grilled Tommy. He’d stumbled over his words a bit, saying something about being young and dumb, but if Gina wanted to give him another chance he’d definitely take her up on it. She handed him his coffee in a Styrofoam cup even though he hadn’t asked for it to go. Without another word, he scooted out the door, obviously smarter now than when he walked in.
“What do you have planned for the evening?”
“Nothing much.” Gina swiped at a spot in front of her. “Did you want to hang out? I want this figured out but I need a break from all of it.”
While I certainly didn’t want to turn her away, I also wanted some time with Max before he had to go back to DC. “Of course,” I said. Tallie Graver, best friend and least selfish person in the world. That was me.
Laura, the still relatively new girl, came bustling out from the back, tying her apron on as she walked quickly.
“Hi there,” Gina said, stopping her in her tracks. “I wasn’t sure you were coming in today. Do you feel better?”
Laura nodded. “Yeah, sorry about calling out like that yesterday, but I had a migraine. I couldn’t even stand to see light, much less deal with the noise and activity that happens here.”
“No worries. Take it easy if you have to today. We’re pretty slow at the minute.”
Laura nodded again and went to clean a table that looked like it might have a few specks of sugar on it.
“How’s she working out?” I asked. Gina and I had been so wrapped up in clearing her name that I hadn’t asked about the new girl.
“So far so good. I don’t like when people call off in the first week they’re working, but Laura sounded miserable yesterday. I’m not paying her much more than minimum wage because I can’t afford it yet, so I can’t complain. If it keeps happening we might have to talk about it, but at this point, I’m willing to let it slide.”
“She seems like a nice person.”
“She is. I’ve known her aunt for years, so she came highly recommended.”
“Good enough then.” I sipped the last of the cocoa, then put my glass back on the counter. “I should get going. Let me know if you hear anything that could help us.”
&
nbsp; I hugged Gina over the counter and turned to go when the bell rang over the door again. This time it was not someone we could razz about things from high school. It was Burton, and he looked entirely too serious for my liking.
I hadn’t yet moved my hand from the bar, intending to use it to push myself out and up to leave. Gina clamped her fingers tight over mine and whispered, “Please don’t leave yet.”
“Of course not.” I said it loud enough so that Burton could hear. Not that he’d know what we were talking about, but he might have gotten the hint when I sat back down and crossed my legs and arms. I was not going anywhere. He’d have to go through me to get to her.
“Tallie, you’re like a guard dog and a demon all wrapped into one.”
“Call me a hellhound and let’s get this over with.”
“Jesus, I’m not coming with bad news. Would you give me a break every once in a while?”
“Possibly, if you’d start making some headway and leave my best friend alone. Or are you going to have to buy more flowers when this is all said and done?”
He narrowed his eyes at me. I probably shouldn’t have blown Monty’s secret like that, but I was not the happiest of campers. I was willing to drag Burton down into the mud with me. Only too happy to do it.
“I’m here to let Gina know she can get back to her house tonight. She doesn’t have to stay with you again. We have some new information that makes me comfortable having her on her own. Now it’s just a matter of putting all the clues together to make a full picture.”
Whoops, I hadn’t realized that when Burton said I could take her with me that she should have actually stayed with me the whole time. I wasn’t going to be the one to tell him she had gone out to dinner with my brother and slept at her own house. That information was on a need to know basis, as he liked to say, and he didn’t need to know.
He turned to me as Gina smiled. “See, not bad news at all.”
“And how close are you to figuring things out?” Because I didn’t have a clue and wanted him to tell me that he knew all, saw all, and I was no longer needed to get my friend off the hook he’d so conveniently put her on.
Instead of reassuring me he had it all under control, he scratched his head and twisted his lips.
“I’m getting there. These things take time. I heard from the hospital today that Brenna is coming around. She’s next on my list to talk to, but I wanted to give Gina the good news first.”
A group of four walked into the Bean, laughing and joking with each other. Where the place had been almost too quiet before, now it was loud. Dishes clattered and conversations soared. Somehow those four made the whole place seem full. They jockeyed around the place and must have knocked into Laura, because there was the distinct sound of a dish hitting the floor and then her profuse apologizing as she ran for the broom.
“I should head over to the hospital to see if Brenna needs anything,” I said with all the nonchalance I could muster. “I feel like I owe it to her since I found her, and I was the last person to see her upright, other than the person who hurt her, that is.”
“No.” Burton’s tone was stern, but I’d heard worse from my father.
“Sure thing.” I could lie with the best of them, too.
“Why do I have a feeling that you’re not actually agreeing that you shouldn’t go to see her?”
“I have no idea. And now that you’ve delivered this fabulous news to Gina, you should get on your way.”
He shook his head at me but left nonetheless.
“That was good news! We’re almost there.” I patted Gina’s hand.
“Are we? I want whoever did this caught. Until they are, they might still try to do more things to point the finger at me.”
“It’s going to be okay.” Or at least I hoped it was. No need to burden her with my doubts.
“And I’m still having trouble with the stairwell. Last night I was too tired to care, but I hope I’ll be able to go up there without seeing him at the bottom over and over again. I had a hard time the first night before Burton threw me in jail and then released me to you.”
“I think you’ll be okay. It might take a while, but I also think that once we have resolution for this whole thing, the memory will fade faster. Could you go up the back stairs?”
“It’s blocked by boxes.”
“And here I have a handyman who would be willing to move those for you. Or we could ask Jeremy. I bet he’d be happy to come over and help, especially if we promised him dinner. This is supposed to be his last night off and we should do something that will make him happy.”
“You are not trying to hook me up with your brother.”
“Hmm, no. I was wondering how dinner went the other night. You know, the one I wasn’t invited to?”
She blushed and turned away. Ah-ha!
“Anything you want to tell me?” I nudged her with my elbow.
“Nothing you want to hear.” The look on her face was a mix of chagrin and smugness.
Yeah, actually, I probably didn’t want to know where that came from or what it meant.
“At least tell me if it’s still going to be awkward to have my brother come to your house for dinner and a couple of board games. We have to do board games. They help me think.”
“It won’t be uncomfortable for me, but he might shy away. It’s what he’s good at.”
“Okay, maybe I do want to hear this,” I said. “The Mighty Jeremy doesn’t shy away from anything.”
“I don’t know what it is about me, but he runs hot, very hot, warm, and cold. We’ll see if he even decides to show up tonight. I think I might have him on the run.” Now the smug won out over the chagrin. Interesting.
“And do you want him on the run?”
“I’m not entirely sure yet, but in the meantime, it’s good to be with a man I can trust. Someone I’ve known for years, so there’s that. I didn’t think I’d ever be interested in anyone from our town. Not really, anyway, because there’s so much history. But history can be a good thing when you’re looking for someone who isn’t living a double life and who doesn’t have a wife at home waiting for him to walk in the door.”
“You’re not wrong. Just don’t break his heart. Please.” I didn’t want to push her here, but I did want her to take this at least a little bit seriously. I didn’t want my brother hurt by having him shoved into the role of rebound boy.
“I promise, Tallie, I won’t break his heart.”
“Well, maybe you could just a little—to bring him down a notch?”
“You are trouble.” She gave me a smile, the one I’d been missing lately with all this stuff going on. “Now what should we make for dinner? I’m thinking I want to actually cook, not order out again.”
My mouth watered just thinking about her cooking. Gina made a mean coffee and her crullers were to die for, but when you let her fly in the kitchen, she became absolutely divine.
A year ago, when she and I had first started reconnecting, I had desperately wanted to know why she hadn’t gone full bore on a restaurant with the food and the wine. She could still make the coffees, the pastries, the sugary goodness in a full restaurant. But she’d said it was too much pressure and the hours were too long. That I understood and was only too happy that she still made me food. Bring on the dinner and games!
* * *
After the boxes blocking the back entrance to Gina’s apartment were moved by Max and Jeremy while we ladies sat on the couch and sipped wine, we got down to the eating portion of the evening. Throughout our conversations, I kept catching Jeremy sneaking glances at Gina. She, on the other hand, openly admired him and even winked at him a few times. The boy was totally on the run, and I was going to have fun watching him be caught. If that was what Gina intended.
I did worry a little, because if they each hurt the other I wouldn’t know whom to console and whom to hit upside the head. I shrugged to myself—guess I’d just smack and hug them both.
Over chicken marsala and fl
uffy rice pilaf, Max groaned and looked at me from across the table.
“Can I compliment the chef without hurting your feelings?”
I laughed. “Absolutely.” Toasting him with my wineglass, I started. “Gina, that was magnificent. If I could cook like that I would not fit down your stairs and probably not through any regular-sized doors around here. You are a kitchen goddess.”
“Well, forget it now,” Max said with a smile. “I won’t be able to top that, but I will say that is the best meal I’ve ever had, and I’ve eaten at some five-star restaurants in Washington DC. It was wonderful.”
DC. Where he lived and I still hadn’t visited. I might need to seriously consider fixing that. At least make an effort to get to know some of his friends. I mean, it wasn’t as if I didn’t want to be in his life more than a weekend here or a week there. It’s just I was also very comfortable in my little town and I liked knowing everyone. At least for the most part.
But effort would be good, if I really wanted this thing to work.
Jeremy was curiously silent, but he had a look on his face that reminded me of the time he’d taken one of my dolls and cut her hair off, then burned it because he said he was a Viking making a sacrifice. Yes, we had been under ten, but I still remembered that doll and mourned her loss.
“Why the smirk?” I asked, not very politely. Little Cammy Cozy, with her long blond hair that I’d loved to comb while I sang to her, was fresh in my mind.
“I just enjoy a great meal, and Gina’s cooking is even better than our mom’s.”
Glee filled me. The unholy kind. “Oh, I am so telling her you said that.”
He sputtered and jerked in his chair. “Don’t you dare. I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“Precisely.” My wicked laugh rang through the house.
“Now, Tallie, don’t be mean to Jeremy. He can enjoy my food without getting in trouble because you told. Isn’t that right, Max?”
Oh, double whammy. Maybe I didn’t want her dating my brother if she was going to take his side and rope Max into agreeing with her. I grumbled to myself, but in truth, I liked the easy smile on Jeremy’s face and even more the one on Gina’s as she looked at my brother. It wasn’t the goo-goo eyed, smarmy, smitten one she’d had for Craig. This was more real and more appreciative. Equal footing.