by Lyndsey Cole
“Oh dear, another person is coming? Who is Theodore?” Joanna wrung her hands, obviously in a dilemma with this growing crowd barging in and potentially ruining her family dinner plans.
Olivia held up her teddy bear. “Theodore isn’t a people, Grandma. He’s my teddy. He’s thirty and he lived with Cal but now he lives with me and I take him everywhere.”
“That’s nice, honey.” Joanna patted Olivia’s head. “What do you think, Luke?” Joanna pulled Luke into the negotiations and waited for him to weigh in on the situation that was not going as she had hoped.
Hannah felt her father’s eyes studying her face. She kept her expression neutral. He was the one who taught her how to hide her emotions, how to fool someone else during a game of cards, but he also had always been able to read her. She didn’t know if that was still true.
Without taking his eyes off Hannah’s face he answered, “Hannah and I haven’t played pool in far too long. The Pub and Pool Hall sounds perfect. We might even be able to throw a little wager on the game. You know, to keep it interesting.” A smile spread across his lips but his eyes remained cold and challenging. “What do you say, Hannah?”
She rubbed the gold band on her finger, channeling Great Aunt Caroline’s strength, and stared right back at her father. She didn’t know how, but it felt like strength seeped through the precious metal into her own body. Great Aunt Caroline’s strength would get her through the night. “I’m glad you like my idea,” she replied.
Luke blinked first.
Hannah smiled. She was strong and confident. “I’ll meet you there after I take a quick shower and walk Nellie. Forty-five minutes?”
“Six-thirty, sharp,” Luke answered. “I’ll have the game set up and ready to go.”
Hannah headed toward her cottage, followed by Ruby, Cal, and Olivia. Once they were all inside, with the door closed, Ruby finally said something. “What was that all about? Are you and Dad in some kind of power struggle?”
Hannah chuckled. “You could say that. I’m pretty sure he plans on trying to win this property from me in a game of pool.”
“You can’t risk that, Hannah,” Ruby shouted.
“I can and I will. I have to end this problem, once and for all, or we’ll always be looking over our shoulders. Dad always expected to inherit this property and he will undermine me in every way possible. Unless I beat him in this game. I plan to win.” She walked into her bathroom and shut the door.
She sat on the edge of the tub with her head in her hands, wondering what she had just done. Sure, she sounded confident even to her own ears, but it wasn’t how she felt inside. Was she about to make the biggest mistake of her life?
The hot water pounded on her head, shoulders, and back. She forced her mind to concentrate on the pulsing drops and nothing else. A calm wrapped around her like a warm embrace.
By the time she finished her shower, pulled on her favorite comfy jeans and t-shirt, Hannah was ready for her challenge.
Cal opened the cottage door and entered with Nellie when Hannah emerged from her shower. “I took her for a walk so you don’t have to do that. Ruby and Olivia went home. We’ll pick them up on our way by.” He put his hands on Hannah’s shoulders. “Are you okay? You’ve got an enormous challenge ahead if you’re right about your father.”
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. See what I’m wearing?”
Cal looked at Hannah’s shirt and chuckled. “I know I play like a girl, try to keep up,” Cal read. “I’m guessing you chose that t-shirt to get under your father’s thin skin. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Me too.” She smiled. “Let’s go.”
“Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Jack and Meg will be there, too. For moral support. And Jack said he might bring someone else along. A surprise guest.”
“The more the merrier,” Hannah said enthusiastically. She was so ready for this showdown with her father. She couldn’t help but wonder if Great Aunt Caroline was about to make some sort of appearance. But that would be much too risky.
Ruby and Olivia dashed outside as soon as Cal’s truck pulled up in front of their house. They squeezed into the back seat.
Olivia chattered nonstop to Theodore, explaining what she could see outside the truck window and reminding him that pizza was the treat for dinner.
“Mom brought up the subject of a trip again,” Ruby leaned over the front seat and whispered quietly into Hannah’s ear. “Should we invite them with us when we go?”
“Maybe. Let’s see how tonight goes.”
Cal’s hand found Hannah’s and he squeezed her fingers. Butterflies fluttered in the pit of her stomach but she told herself nerves always made her play better. What the others didn’t know was that Hannah was in money trouble with her business. Her plan was to use this opportunity to get out of debt, get out from under her father’s agenda, and maybe even teach Olivia a bit about pool all at the same time.
Cal’s truck lurched across a giant pot hole throwing everyone off the seats.
“I don’t remember that one. Where do all these holes come from?” Cal asked without expecting an answer.
“Maybe it’s where the mermaids come from,” Olivia offered. “Did you see the mermaid on the beach?”
“That wasn’t real, honey,” Ruby said.
“Yes it was. Grandpa told me he saw her move.”
“It’ time for Grandpa to get glasses.”
“He talked to her, too. He told me all about her and how she was moving away and never talking to him again.”
Hannah turned her head and caught Ruby’s gaze. They both raised their eyebrows. “Is that why he wants to go to the aquarium? To find his mermaid friend?” Olivia continued.
“I don’t know but, remember? Aunt Hannah’s taking us to the aquarium instead of Grandpa.”
“Oh good. That will be more fun.”
Olivia relayed all that information to Theodore.
The truck stopped next to Luke’s rental car. Other than his car, the lot had a few other cars parked willy-nilly, avoiding the potholes.
“I doesn’t look too busy tonight.” Hannah slammed the truck door closed. “Let the fun begin.”
Cal, being the gentleman that he was, held the pool hall’s door open. Olivia shot through first and made a beeline to the bar. “Can I have a fizzy pink drink, Michael?”
“Sure thing. And how about your furry friend?” Michael placed a seltzer mixed with cranberry juice in front of Olivia.
“He can share mine if he gets thirsty.”
Ruby carried Olivia’s glass to a table away from the bar while Hannah talked to Michael.
He handed her an iced mug of Sam Adams beer. “On the house. I think you’ll be needing this.”
She took a long drink, leaving foam on her top lip. “And why is that?”
Michael leaned on the counter. “Meg called and told me you and your father are having some kind of showdown.” His eyes moved to where Luke stood near the pool table with Olivia. “He was here Friday night with the woman who was murdered. It wasn’t pretty.”
Hannah’s mouth scrunched to one side. “What do you mean? Did they argue?”
“It was more than an argument. She was wild—drunk, flirty, having a good time—and your dad stared at her like a shark on the prowl. Finally, she left with him. It was after midnight.”
“Did you notice anything about the surfer guy, Moe? He and Adele were in some type of relationship.”
Michael pulled his iPad from under the counter. “Look through the photos I took that night. See what you can find. I have to get the pizza going.” He rolled his eyes. “Your father wants it to be served at seven, sharp. Does he ever relax and have a good time?”
“Ha. On his terms, but there’s always an agenda.”
“Oh, by the way, Meg told me to tell you to hold off on your pool game until she gets here.”
“And?”
Michael held up his hands. “That’s all I know.”
Hannah
quickly scanned through Michael’s photos. She found plenty of Luke watching Adele and it gave her chills. He controlled his face well, but she knew there was fury behind his tense glare. She zoomed in on Adele and, sure enough, the mermaid necklace dangled around her neck. There were only a few photos with Moe, and he seemed to be watching both Adele and Karla.
“Hey, I could use some help.” Ruby helped herself to Hannah’s beer. “I’m out-numbered with you over here.” She pulled Hannah’s arm.
“Okay. I’m coming.” She held her empty mug up toward Michael with two fingers raised.
Joanna stood at one end of the pool table. Luke had Olivia on a step-stool and showed her how to hold the cue stick. Together they hit the white ball to break the rest of the balls.
Olivia squealed in delight. “This is fun, Grandpa. Let’s do it again.”
Luke glanced at Hannah and winked. “Sure thing, Olivia. Hannah, rack them up again for us.”
After several more breaks, Luke showed Olivia how to bank the ball and gave her a mini lesson in geometry which went right over her head.
“I’m hungry. Is the pizza ready?”
Right on time, Michael delivered two giant steamy pizzas. One with extra cheese and the other with pepperoni and onions. “Enjoy.” He lowered his voice when he passed Hannah. “If possible.”
Luke and Joanna sat on one side of the table; Hannah sat between Cal and Ruby on the other side. Olivia insisted on sitting at the end with Theodore in her lap.
“Are you feeling okay, Mom?” Hannah asked.
Joanna squeezed her forehead between her thumb and forefinger. “It feels like another migraine is coming on, but don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”
Luke stood. “Let’s get our game started before your mother needs to leave.” He left his pizza, with one bite gone, on the table. “Unless you’ve changed your mind, Hannah.” One thick white eyebrow raised in question and two steel gray eyes pierced into her unflinching stare.
“Of course not.” She rubbed Great Aunt Caroline’s ring for strength and again, like a lucky charm, the heat settled her jingling nerves.
“Good.” He held her arm and led her to the pool table. “A friendly wager?”
She nodded. Every cell in her body tingled on high alert. This was it. Her dream on the line.
Luke leaned close. “Your property if I win.”
“And you pay off my debt when I beat you.” Hannah held his gaze, pleased that her response gave him a momentary pause before he managed a devious smile.
“Fat chance of that happening. Rack them up, honey. Or should I say, my-soon-to-be-homeless daughter. I’ll even let you break.”
Anger brewed in Hannah’s gut. A fire that flamed into a determination she’d never known before. Some of the anger was at herself for being in this position. No one knew how big her debt had grown from upgrading the original cottages and snack bar to building her own new cottage. The bills had piled up faster than sand on a windy day. By winning this pool game, no one would have to know.
She smiled at her father, racked the balls, and took up her position for the break. She pointed her cue stick at the seven ball and the side pocket. “I’ll call my usual shot.” She chalked the cue and leaned over the table.
Before Hannah took her shot, the door of the Pub and Pool Hall opened.
Meg, Samantha, and Jack entered, followed by Pam in her police uniform.
Pam looked around the pool hall. “Don’t let me interfere with your fun. I have enough time to chat with everyone in due course.” She walked to the bar and in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, she said, “Michael, I’d like to have a look at your photos from Friday night. I’m hoping they might clear up a small discrepancy about Adele Bailey.”
Hannah watched her father.
Luke glanced at Joanna.
Joanna leaned on the table with her head in her hands and groaned. “Luke, I need to go back to the cottage to lie down. The pain is about to split my head open.”
“I demand a rain check with this game, Hannah. I can’t help when your mother gets a migraine.”
Hannah leaned close to her father. “And I suppose you couldn’t help your behavior Friday night and the displeasure with Adele’s actions that Deputy Pam Larson will see in Michael’s photos. Did you think Mom wouldn’t find out?”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Luke stormed from the pool hall with Joanna hanging on his arm.
18
“You dodged a bullet, Hannah,” Ruby said as Michael delivered another round of beers to their table. The tension in the pool hall followed Luke and Joanna out the door. The two sisters and Olivia were alone for the moment.
“Postponed, maybe, but this isn’t over between me and Dad. You know how he never backs down. He wants my property and he’s planning to get it one way or another.”
“What did you put on the table if you won?” Ruby gave Olivia another slice of pizza.
Hannah filled her mouth with her own pizza to avoid answering Ruby’s question. Did she want her sister to know the truth about her finances? But really, what difference did it make? She swallowed. “He has to pay off all my debt.”
Ruby froze. “How much?”
Hannah sighed. “It built up faster than I realized with all the work Cal did for me to get the cottages updated and The Fishy Dish up to code. Great Aunt Caroline left me a slice of paradise but she hadn’t maintained it well for many years.”
“You should have told me. I would have helped with the money from Olivia’s dad.” Ruby covered Hannah’s hand with her own.
“No, that money is for you and Olivia. I couldn’t let you spend your nest egg on my business, but thanks for the thought.” She choked up from Ruby’s offer.
Ruby jabbed her sister with her elbow. “What is Pam finding in Michael’s photos? You were looking at that iPad earlier, too.”
“There are plenty of pictures of Dad watching Adele while they were here Friday night. He was angry, to say the least. And it shows that Adele still had her mermaid necklace.”
“What does that all mean? Do you think Dad, you know…” Ruby glanced at Olivia who was busy trying to feed Theodore some pizza and didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the conversation around her.
Suddenly, Olivia’s head jerked up. “Can I go over with Cal?”
“Sure,” Ruby said.
Hannah pursed her lips and pulled on the end of her braid. “It doesn’t make sense. Adele was always his favorite of the three of us.”
“But she wasn’t his daughter. Maybe he held her to a different standard and when she didn’t follow his rules, he lost it.”
“That’s possible, but it doesn’t explain the necklace. How did Karla get it? Moe told me that he argued with Adele early Saturday morning and she threw it at him. He could be the murderer. He also told me that he saw someone, maybe Karla, walking toward where he had just left Adele. If she was alive at that point, did Karla kill her and take the necklace for herself?”
“How will this ever get sorted out? Is she,” Ruby tilted her head in Pam’s direction, “making any progress?”
“Not that she shares with me, but my guess is that she knows a lot more than we know.” Hannah pushed her plate away and groaned. “I shouldn’t have had that last piece but it’s so good. Maybe we should add pizza to The Fishy Dish menu.”
Meg plopped down in the chair next to Hannah. “Did I hear you say you want to add pizza to the menu?”
“Yeah. What do you think?”
Meg’s head bobbed one way, then the other, while she considered the question. “Actually, it’s a good idea. It’s a snack bar, after all, and everyone doesn’t like fish dishes all the time. I could add one or two varieties and see what the response is.”
Hannah smiled, glad that Meg gave a thumbs up to her idea. “Did you hear anything that Pam and Michael were talking about?”
Ruby said, “Hannah just filled me in on Moe and Karla’s early Saturday morning travels
and it sounds like they both had some interaction with Adele.”
“Pam has them on her radar, but after looking at Michael’s iPad I think she’s got some more questions for your father.” Meg’s eyes shifted between Hannah and Ruby, gauging their reactions.
“I suspected that, and I’m wondering if that’s why he made such a quick exit when Pam walked in. Karla told me he gave her a ride early Saturday morning which means they were both out and about.”
“Up to no good, I suspect,” Meg added. “Someone knows more than they are saying, or else there’s a big fat lie leading Pam in the wrong direction.”
“Aunt Hannah,” Olivia called. “Come play pool with us. Cal isn’t very good.”
Hannah grinned. “That’s good to know if I ever need to beat him at something,” she said to Ruby. “I’m coming.”
“Cal said you’d show me how to hit that one,” she pointed to the eight ball, “into that pocket.” Olivia pointed to the pocket at the opposite end of the table with a ball blocking the eight ball and another ball blocking the pocket.
Hannah’s eyebrows jumped up. “He did, did he? I think a little wager should be on this shot.”
“What’s a wager?” Olivia asked, her face crunched into a frown.
“If I get that ball into that pocket like you pointed out, Cal has to do something nice for me. What do you think he should do?” Hannah tilted her head and looked at Olivia.
Olivia considered Cal, her face as serious as a six-year-old’s could be. “He should take you out on his boat. Just the two of you. He told me he was going to surprise you with that sometime soon. It’s a secret.”
Hannah swallowed her laughter and didn’t dare let her eyes meet Cal’s, knowing full well they would both burst out laughing. “That’s the perfect wager, and don’t worry, I’ll keep the secret.”
“Wait a minute,” Cal took hold of the cue stick. “If you don’t get the ball in the pocket, I get a sleepover in your new cottage.” His grin spread from ear to ear.
“A deal.” Hannah stuck out her hand and they shook. She chalked her cue stick as she walked around the pool table. It certainly was a difficult shot but she had one path to the eight ball with the correct speed and two perfect banks. This was a test of her ability for when she had the rematch with her father. She told herself that if she made this shot, it meant she’d win the wager against him, too.