“I know just who to ask,” Jane murmured sleepily. “Just meet me there at high noon, okay, cowboy?”
Sighing in utter happiness, James murmured, “I could get used to your calling me that.”
Stretching, James stood, hastily tied the blanket around his waist and helped Jane up from the sofa. Wrapping a blanket around her shoulders, he pulled her against him and the pair walked slowly down the hall, heads bent toward one another as they headed for bed and a night filled with blissful dreams.
_____
The supper club members had decided to meet at the library during their lunch breaks the next day in order to discuss the details of Gillian’s telephone call to Kenneth Cooper’s law firm. Even Lindy, who was usually forced to remain on school grounds until the bell clanged the official dismissal time, was able to be there. The student body had been given a half-day to prepare for their final exams and as soon as the hallways had emptied of teenagers, the teachers and staff had dashed out to their cars, as drunk on the taste of freedom and the invigorating spring air as their pupils.
“So what’s new in the hot love affair between your future mother-in-law and Luigi?” James teased Lindy when she breezed into his office.
Lindy tried to smooth her windblown hair with her fingers, but her dark, tangled locks refused to be tamed. Helping herself to a rubber band from his desk, she fastened the whole mess into a ponytail and smiled. “The good news is that he’s mighty fond of her. The bad news is that she seems to feel right at home behind the counter of his pizza parlor. She’s bossing around his kids as though she’s already their step-mama.”
“And why’s that the bad news?” Bennett asked as he walked into the room. He brushed a paper fragment from his postal uniform shirt and sat down in the chair closest to the window.
Lindy’s smile shrank. “Because she’s delayed her return ticket for another month. That woman is never going to go back to Mexico! And as long as she’s here, Luis can’t keep his mind on us!”
Lucy, who had been examining a bookmark listing the top one hundred bestselling crime novels, gave Lindy a sharp look. “Someone has got to say this to you, so it might as well be me. Luis needs to pick you first and his mama second. What if she moves here permanently? What’ll happen to your relationship?”
Lindy paled. “Lord have mercy, I can’t stomach that thought! Alma in Quincy’s Gap? Twenty-four, seven?” She nudged Bennett roughly in the shoulder. “Gimme that chair. I feel faint!”
Bennett obliged, his dark eyes sparkling with amusement. He turned his gaze toward the door as the clink of Gillian’s armloads of silver bangles preceded her into the room.
“Hello, friends!” she trilled merrily. “Oh, it’s so good for my restless and distracted spirit to be working on a case with you all, to be truly focused on truth, justice, and restored balance!”
James indicated she should sit at his desk. “Review the plan for us, Gillian.”
Settling back into the comfortable chair, Gillian folded her hands together and took a deep breath. “Bennett and I spent several hours reading up on Kenneth Cooper, Esquire. He’s represented quite a few drug companies and other giant corporations in lawsuits against individuals, but he’s argued copyright infringement cases as well.” Here, she smiled smugly. “As though the thought was sowed like a magical seed, the idea bloomed in the deepest crevices of my mind to ask for Mr. Cooper’s help in suing someone who’s stolen our Pet Palace plans. I will insist that I only want Mr. Cooper to represent me, seeing as he’s won every single copyright or patent infringement case he’s argued.”
Lucy gave Gillian an admiring nod. “That’s good! But who will you pretend to sue?”
“We called Beau Livingstone yesterday and told him about this crazy plan,” Bennett took up the thread. “He got right to work settin’ up a website chock full of the same Pet Palace designs shown on the real site.” He glanced at Gillian. “You struck it rich the day you decided to make that man your business partner. For a former roofer, that guy’s got almost as much computer savvy as those Fitzgerald brainiacs.”
James edged around his desk and pointed at his computer. “We’d better take a look at the fake site.”
“Surf away. You’d never know it wasn’t as real as the touch of my hand on your arm.” Gillian typed in the URL and then swiveled the screen so that everyone had a clear view.
“Very professional,” Lindy said as James clicked links and enlarged images of the Pet Palace designs.
“Who’s this listed under the ‘Contact Us’ link?” James pointed at the monitor.
Gillian followed his finger with the cursor. “To order a Pet Castle, an interested customer needs to email a Mr. Jerry Brickman. Of course, ole Jerry doesn’t exist. Beau set up a Gmail account using Jerry Brickman’s name, so he looks legit, but he’s just a figment of my colorful imagination. We used Williamsburg as the company address because that’s the location of Kenneth’s law firm. It’s also why we didn’t provide a street address.”
“That’s right,” Bennett stated seriously. “We didn’t want those pesky lawyers to call up a fake phone number or drive by some empty warehouse and call our bluff.”
“You two were very thorough.” James looked first at Bennett and then, Gillian. “Are all your designs actually copyright protected?”
Fluffing her hair, Gillian nodded. “Of course. Beau and I have put in hours upon hours dreaming up the Cockatiel Condo, the Pekinese Penthouse, the Siamese Suite, the—”
Lucy forced her friend to break off the list by thrusting the phone into her hand. “I recommend you speak to Kenneth’s secretary first. His partners will know how to keep information to themselves. We need someone who will feel sorry for you, so get a woman on the line and then lay it on thick.”
Inhaling deeply, Gillian closed her eyes and began chanting under her breath. James raised his brows and grinned at Bennett and though his friend shrugged his shoulders in befuddlement, there was a glimmer of pride in his eyes.
The supper club members perched on the edge of their chairs and listened as Gillian successfully navigated through an assortment of gatekeepers until she finally reached Kenneth Cooper’s personal assistant. Her friends knew she was speaking to the right person because she gave them a quick thumbs-up before spinning her chair around in order to face the room’s only window.
“Mr. Cooper’s not there? Are you expecting him back soon?” Gillian already sounded as if she were on the verge of tears. “A leave of absence! Oh, what am I going to do?” She hesitated. “Miss?” Another pause. “It’s Katherine? Thank you, it’s so much easier to speak informally. Would you be willing to give some advice to a lady drowning in a pot of boiling water?”
This question was followed by a long and pregnant pause, but the answer must have been positive for Gillian’s fingers, which had been curled around the telephone cord, suddenly relaxed and she began her tale. The fabrication began with Gillian running away from an abusive boyfriend and finding a safe haven in Quincy’s Gap and ended with her feelings of peace and fulfillment working with animals.
“Do you have a pet, Katherine?”
The response led to a lengthy sidebar about the merits of the Boston Terrier. Eventually, Gillian was able to share her good fortune in being able to open her own pet grooming shop and after many years of loving toil, launching her second business, Pet Palaces.
“Can you imagine what it’s like to have this man stealing my ideas? He’s making money from my designs and I hate how powerless it makes me feel.” Here, Gillian’s voice trembled. “I searched for lawyers in the Williamsburg area because that’s where this thief is living—probably high on the hog off my hard work too!” She paused and made a great show of trying to rein herself in. “Mr. Cooper’s name stood out from all the other attorneys because he has never lost a copyright infringement case. Without his help, what can I do?”
James winked at Gillian. It was a smart move to end with a question, leaving the decision with the other woman, whom they a
ll hoped sympathized enough with Gillian’s plight to supply her with information.
They held their collective breath as Gillian waited for an answer, exhaling in relieved unison as she scribbled something on James’ desk calendar.
“Oh, I see,” Gillian spoke soberly. “That is quite a burden for you to shoulder, but Mr. Cooper is being very brave to confront his demons. You’d like to introduce me to one of his partners?” She glanced up at her friends in a panic. “Um, I’ll call back! One of the dogs has hopped off the groomer’s table and is shaking soap all over the mayor’s wife. Thank you!” She slammed the phone down.
Leaning back in his chair, Bennett put his hands together and began to clap. Soon, all the supper club members were laughing and applauding, but their raucousness died away when Gillian pointed at the note she’d written on the calendar.
“Kenneth Cooper is not in Williamsburg. His medical leave translates to him receiving ‘help’ for a ‘substance abuse problem’ in Culpepper.” She turned to the computer on the desktop and typed rapidly. “Yes indeed, there is a treatment center there. It would be easy for Kenneth to take a quick drive to Harrisonburg or Quincy’s Gap from Culpepper.”
Lindy looked confused. “Don’t you have to stay inside once you’re checked into one of those places? I mean, could he have just walked out whenever he wanted to write notes and kill a bird or two?”
“You’d think so,” Lucy answered and placed her hands on her gun belt. “Leave it to me. I will find out exactly why Kenneth needed treatment and whether he stepped foot off the property for more than a millisecond.” She moved toward the door.
Gillian also rose. “How are you going to do that, Lucy? Those places are meant to protect a person’s privacy! It wouldn’t be right for anyone at the facility to share confidential information with you!” she declared.
“If this guy were the Pope I’d still beat down the doors to discover what he’s been doing!” Lucy snapped. “By threatening my friend, Kenneth has lost his right to keep his secrets!” Passing a hand over her face as though to wipe away the anger and frustration, she hastily apologized. “I’m open to other ideas.”
Gillian waved her off. “You need to do this your way. I shouldn’t feel any sympathy for this man, but I can’t keep myself from thinking that perhaps the drugs have turned him into a monster and that underneath, he could be a good man.”
“Maybe,” Bennett said as he glanced at his watch. “But it’s still no excuse to set about ruinin’ James’ life or scarin’ his family right out of their skins.” He turned to Lucy. “How are you gonna get those folks to volunteer info on Kenneth? The man’s a lawyer, Ms. Deputy. He is not gonna stand around while you and his doctors have a nice chat about his medical file.”
“That’s true,” Lucy agreed. “And I could lose my badge, so I’m going to assign this job to someone else. Someone who’s dying to get back into our good graces.”
Having made her mysterious announcement, Lucy told her friends she’d be in touch and walked out of the office.
“Okay, that’s one item to check off the list. What about Tia’s case?” Lindy asked, directing her question at James.
He shared Jane’s idea about inviting Ned Woodman’s widow over for lunch.
“How clever!” Gillian exclaimed. “We may have to make her an honorary supper club member!”
Thinking of last night’s marriage proposal, James smiled. “Yes, we just might.”
_____
On Friday, James met Jane at the Town Hall in order to present their forms of identification to the Clerk of Courts.
As she signed one of the documents the clerk placed on the counter, Jane looked over at James and whispered, “I feel like I’m twenty years old again! I have butterflies in my stomach!”
“You are so much better at forty. Smarter, sexier—a woman of the world.” Ignoring the clerk’s impatient frown, James kissed Jane on the lips before she could finish writing her name.
Someone cleared his throat behind them and James looked over his shoulder to see Scott and Francis Fitzgerald gazing at the floor, their hands stuffed in their pockets.
“Our witnesses are here!” Jane hugged each brother while they blushed furiously.
“We are so totally honored to be signing these papers,” Francis stated sincerely. “This is a big secret, right? We’re the only ones who know you two are getting hitched again?”
“Yes. Until after we make it official with the Justice of the Peace, that is,” James answered. “We’ll tell our families and friends when it’s a done deal.” He smiled at the twins and then grabbed Scott by the arm, suddenly alarmed. “Wait a minute. If we’re all here, then who is running the library?”
Scott’s eyes darted to the wall clock. “Fern’s manning the helm. We figured we’d scratch out a John Hancock and then dash back. She should only be alone for fifteen minutes.”
On the other side of the counter, the clerk scowled. “I only need one witness.”
Francis and Scott exchanged looks of dismay. “Paper, rock, scissors!” they shouted and commenced with a series of frenzied hand motions.
“Two out of three,” Francis said as the clerk rolled her eyes.
In the end, the paperwork was completed, witnessed, and notarized.
“You should have your license in the next two weeks,” the clerk droned as James paid her the required fee.
The twins shook hands with their boss, hugged Jane once more, and rushed out of the building.
“Do you need to get back too or do we have time for lunch?” Jane asked, linking her arm in James’.
“Forget about lunch. Let’s go shopping!” James led her to the passenger side of the Bronco and gallantly opened the door.
Jane laughed. “Stranger words have never come from your lips. You hate shopping!”
“Not in this case,” he assured her. “It’s not every day that I get to buy a pair of wedding bands.”
James knew that he should be focusing more of his energies on unraveling the mysteries of Tia Royale’s death and Kenneth Cooper’s whereabouts, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Jane. He walked around the library with a light step, his mouth turned upward in a goofy smile. He greeted each patron as though he or she were his favorite person on the earth, and several older women felt inclined to pinch his cheek and tease him for being hit by an entire quiver of Cupid’s arrows.
When Willie Lamont came in to pick up a fresh stack of presidential biographies, he shook his head and made a clicking noise with his tongue. “You got it bad, my man. You’re gonna break out in zip-a-dee-doo-dahs any minute.”
“Stranger things have happened,” James cautioned as he checked out the frozen custard shop owner’s books with a flourish. “Hey! Summer’s right around the corner. The song might make a good name for your next flavor.”
Willie raised his brows. “Little wordy, don’t ya think?”
“How about ‘Second Time’s A Charm’?” James slid the books and the checkout receipt across the counter.
Laughing, Willie gathered up the thick tomes. “I might just have to do some experimentin’ this afternoon. Maybe I’ll create somethin’ like ‘Wedding Bell Buttercream.’”
“Sounds perfect. Especially if you make it as guilt-free as that Grasshopper Parfait flavor.”
Willie shook his head. “No way, man. We’re talkin’ about eternal love here. You gotta have sugar and cream and plenty of pure vanilla! I can practically hear the church bells a-ringin’!”
James found it hard to bite back his secret at the mention of wedding bells, but he wished Willie a good day and said nothing more. The twins knew all about James and Jane’s upcoming nuptials of course, and having them in on it helped James keep quiet. The toughest part of remaining mum until their vows were exchanged would be keeping the engagement from Jackson and Milla.
Though part of James wanted the ceremony to be private, another part desperately wanted to share the good news with his parents. Milla would be deli
ghted and even though it would take Jackson time to come around, James knew that his father would approve of the family becoming a bona fide unit. What James really wanted to do was to rush to his father’s side and shout that Eliot would not be going back to Harrisonburg in the fall. Or ever, for that matter. James would love to see how such an announcement would bring joy to Jackson.
James and Jane had arrived at several decisions about the future the day after their engagement. Jane had immediately called the head of her department and asked to continue teaching courses online. Because these high-tech courses were growing in popularity, she would be able to retain her position by teaching three of these. She’d have to appear on campus to attend faculty meetings and other business, but there was no longer any reason for her to reside near the university.
“As soon as we’re married, I’ll put my house on the market,” she assured James. “Thanks to my parents, there’s no mortgage. We’ll put every cent of that money in savings and live happily ever after at 27 Hickory Hill Lane.”
The arrangement suited James perfectly. He didn’t want to give up the library or his little yellow house for Jane, but he would have in a New York minute. Instead, he and everything he loved would remain in Quincy’s Gap. It was no wonder he believed he was the luckiest man in the world.
In fact, James felt so blessed that he did his best to tone down the jubilation radiating from his face when he took Eliot to visit his grandparents on Saturday morning. Jane wanted father and son out of the house so she could clean before Donna Woodman’s visit, so the Henry boys ate a hasty breakfast and knocked on the back door of James’ childhood home at a quarter past nine.
Naturally, Milla was cooking up a storm in the kitchen. She’d made breakfast for Jackson and was now baking a chicken casserole and a peach pie for a woman from church who’d fallen and bruised her hip. She also had a mixing bowl filled with cookie dough on the cluttered counter.
“I smell peanut butter,” Eliot said after returning Milla’s warm hug.
She wrinkled her nose. “That’s because I’m making you a special batch of chocolate chunk peanut butter cookies.” Lowering her voice to a whisper, she led her grandson to the mixing bowl. “Do you think it’s too early in the morning to lick a beater?”
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