I poured us each a cup of coffee then brought her one. “Are you all right?” I asked.
We sat down at the kitchen table, Lauren placing her hallowed recipe book on it. She took a sip of her decaf. “I’m fine,” she said. “Just a bit tired.”
“Oh, all right.” I enjoyed my fully-caffeinated drink. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, of course. I’m just wondering what to make for breakfast. Georgie’s asked me to rustle up something interesting for the next two weeks. Valentine’s.”
I groaned, hanging my head. “Now, it’s a two-weeklong thing? I thought it was just a day.”
“We like to do things properly here,” Lauren said, offering a small laugh, once again, not as happy as it usually was. “That’s what Georgie says. So, I’ll do something with… hmm, oh, strawberry! Sinfully strawberry cupcakes. I’ll match them with poached eggs and asparagus with a French dressing. And what about some…”
Lauren kept on listing all the dishes we’d be making this morning, and I nodded along. She’d tell me exactly where to go and what to do when the time was right. For now, I let my thoughts drift to Smulder’s sudden appearance.
What had I expected?
He’d told me months ago that he’d be informing Special Agent in Charge Grant of the slip-up—online pictures of me surfacing because I’d been a suspect in a murder case. Smulder had had to take those websites down until it had blown over, and had had someone remove the offending posts and pictures. I didn’t even want to think about the resources that had taken.
The radio silence from my boss should’ve been telling.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. I’d been working on something special lately too—I’d been trying to track down Kyle myself. Naturally, I’d gotten nowhere fast without the resources the NSIB could provide, but it was a goal, at least.
Smulder wouldn’t let me get away with anything while he was here.
“All right,” Lauren said, “let’s get to work. Here, Charlie, use this recipe for the frosting.” She slipped a page out of the plastic sheath in her recipe book and gave it to me. “Do not get anything on it. Especially not butter.”
“On the frosting?” I asked.
“No, on the page.”
Of course, Lauren was ‘sensitive’ about her recipes. “OK,” I said, but hesitated. “Are you sure you want me to handle this? I mean, you remember what happened the last time I made the frosting all by myself.” Someone had taken a bite and dropped dead.
“Yes, but that wasn’t your fault. I’m sure you won’t poison anyone.” She offered me a wan smile then got up and hurried off to the walk-in freezer to bring out ingredients.
I carried my recipe task to one of the glistening silver counters in the kitchen and set about preparing my station.
Once in a while, it would strike me as strange that I was here. I’d softened and gotten used to the inn, but I was a spy at heart. And the tension and mistrust I carried with me every day hadn’t disappeared.
Would I ever relax? Did I even want to?
Two hours passed, and the delicious smells of cooking and baking, sweets and savories, drifted from the kitchen out of the side door and into the hallway. Guests began gathering downstairs. Breakfast was served at 9 am sharp.
“Is everyone ready?” Lauren asked.
She insisted on having everyone seated at their tables for breakfast. I headed to the swinging kitchen doors and peeked out through the porthole windows. I counted the heads and grimaced at the sight of Smulder waiting at a corner table, wearing a pair of jeans and a plaid shirt. At least, he’d changed out of the suit, but that stiff agent air hadn’t dissipated yet.
“Yes, everyone’s here. Including Bob.” An elderly man with a bushy Santa Claus beard sat at one of the glossy tables, scowling at the fake daffodil centerpieces that Gamma had chosen to match the wallpaper. “Heavens help us.”
“Bob’s all right,” Lauren said.
“Yeah, he’s nice to you because you make the amazing food. He despises me.”
“That can’t be true.”
I helped Lauren place the food on platters then took them through and started delivering plates to people. Bob Bolton, the crotchety old man didn’t scowl at me as I put down his food, for once. In fact he didn’t even thank me. He sat muttering and turning the pages of the newspaper.
“Morning, Bob,” I said, putting up a smile. “Having a good day?” It had gotten easier to act nice lately. Most of the guests at the inn were nice. Not Bob.
“It ain’t even past 9 am,” he said. “The word you’re looking for is ‘morning,’ young lady.”
“The word I’m looking for is ‘vacation’ actually. Enjoy your breakfast.” I swept off before he could say anything else.
I placed Smulder’s plate on his table in silence. I made to walk away, but he cleared his throat.
“Is everything all right, sir?” I asked.
Smulder sniffed. “Fine, yeah. But we should talk later.”
“I don’t think that would be a good idea, sir.” It was a small pleasure, watching the shock develop on his face. I walked off and finished my rounds then returned the platter to the kitchen, grinning.
“Your mood’s changed,” Lauren said. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with the handsome new guest, would it?”
I snorted a laugh. “No, Lauren. It’s got nothing to do with him.” A total lie, but what could I say? The fact was, Smulder could hang around the inn spying on me if he wanted. That didn’t mean I had to act like I knew him or was friends with him.
I could avoid him entirely. That was what our covers required, wasn’t it? And that made it easier for me.
“Here, take the cupcakes out.”
I brought out the strawberry cupcakes, feeling better than I had all morning. Now, if only I could get Gamma to move him to another room…
4
“You can’t avoid him forever, you know,” Gamma said. “You’ll have to talk to him at some point.”
I got into the passenger seat of Gamma’s sea-green Mini-Cooper, rubbing my hands together while the internal heating warmed up. It was 53 degrees. Winter sunlight didn’t help, either. “You’ve been begging me to go to the library with you for weeks. What’s Smulder got to do with it?”
“He’s not Smulder anymore, Charlotte,” she said. “His name is Brian Marble.”
“Marble. Really? That’s the name they chose for him?” I clipped on my seatbelt. “At least he doesn’t have to wear polka dot dresses.” I plucked at the fabric of today’s red spotted dress matched with thick woolen leggings and a jacket. “Or dye his hair.” I’d tied up my long brown extensions in a ponytail, but I despised the hairstyle. I missed my short manageable blonde hair. Gosh, I’d gotten too used to complaining lately.
“You haven’t wanted to get involved in the book club since I first brought it up,” Gamma said.
“But now I do.”
“Because you’re avoiding Brian.”
“What does that matter?” I asked.
“Oh, it doesn’t matter, Charlotte. Only in that you’re avoiding him for certain reasons you might not yet have realized yourself.”
“Don’t start with me, Georgina, please.” At times like these, it was much easier to use my grandmother’s full name. “This Valentine’s thing has driven everyone crazy. I am not, and never will be, romantically interested in Brian.” Given what had happened with my ex, how could I be ready for anything other than work, work and more work? And maybe some food.
Gamma started the engine of the car and allowed it to warm up. “People are starting to talk, you know.”
“The town’s name is Gossip. I’d say that’s a given.”
“You’re a beautiful young woman,” she said, “and single. Eligible. People around here are used to thirty-year-olds shacking up the minute they get the chance. There aren’t a shortage of handsome men, you know.”
“I have never wanted a car I’m sitting in to explode before.” I patted the
armrest. “I’m just going to take in this moment. It’s a new low.”
“Fine, fine, I’ll drop it, but really, Charlotte. You can’t be so squeamish about love.”
“It’s love that’s squeamish about me. Now, can we please go to the library?” I’d never thought I’d be begging Gamma to take me. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the library, I did, but the one in Gossip wasn’t normal. People thought it was OK to interrupt browsers or readers in the library because it was a small-town. And when they weren’t doing that, they were having full-blown conversations about the gossip of the week.
My library visits were short and usually early in the morning. Now, it was nearly noon, and I was done with my chores and tired of dodging Brian’s beckoning glances.
What on earth did he want to talk to me about? Kyle? No, then he wouldn’t have been here. Besides, he’d only updated me weekly prior to his ‘appearance.’ It wasn’t necessary for us to talk today, was it?
Don’t second-guess yourself.
Gamma drove us past the wrought-iron gates at the front of the inn and onto the road that would take us into Gossip. The inn was set just outside of it, close enough to walk, and the drive was scenic. Trees flitted by and became glass windows with awnings and brick walls of stores. Everything was decorated in shades of pink and red—hearts and cupid’s arrows had been spray-painted in windows, glittering, flashing lights in the shape of kisses had been attached to the lampposts, and the florist’s had heart balloons tied to its door handle.
“Isn’t it lovely?” Gamma asked.
I didn’t reply. Gamma had found the man of her dreams, my grandfather. I didn’t want to ruin Valentine’s Day for her or dampen her joy. But I couldn’t force myself to be happy about it either.
Gamma took a few turns and we soon arrived at the Gossip Public Library—a stone building with two levels and thick wooden doors that stayed open all year round.
“So, what’s the book?” I asked, while Gamma collected her basket of overdue library books from the back seat. She had a terrible habit of never returning them on time. “And when’s the book club meeting?”
“The book club meeting,” Gamma replied, “will take place a week from now at the inn. And the book... I haven’t decided yet.”
“What do you mean?” I followed Gamma out into the chill air, tucking my hands into the pockets of my jacket. “I thought you had to read what everyone else is reading.”
“I’m the one starting the book club, dear. I’ll reach out to the others and let them know which book I’ve picked once I’ve decided on what’s appropriate.”
Knowing my Gamma it would be something pulse-pounding. An action-thriller. She lived vicariously.
“Now I don’t feel so bad. I thought you’d been missing book club meetings because I refused to come with you.”
“Oh no. I’m an independent woman, Charlotte. I don’t need a granddaughter with me to do what I want to do.”
“You go, girl.”
She shot me a look.
“I mean, grandma.”
“Georgina,” she corrected.
“Right.”
The inside of the Gossip Public Library was quiet for once. No crowds of people chattering idly among the bookshelves. Maybe they’d gone Valentine’s Day shopping? I preferred it this way. The floors were carpeted in olive green, the bookshelves were tall and slightly disorganized with seating areas hidden among them.
Our first stop was the front desk.
A young woman who wore glasses and her dark hair in a bun stood in front of a computer that might’ve been the first one every produced. She tapped on a keyboard that was so old it had turned yellowish.
“Good morning, Hannah,” Gamma said, placing her basket on the desk. “How are you?”
“Hmm.”
“Pardon?”
“Just a moment, please,” Hannah said, “I’m trying to get these cameras to work.”
“Cameras?” I asked.
“Yes,” the librarian replied. “We finally got the funding to have them installed. It will make policing the library a lot easier. Now, if only I could actually get the ones over the shelves to work.” She tapped on the keys a few more times then clicked her tongue. “Never mind. I’ll call the technician later.” Hannah focused on Gamma, shifting her glasses along her nose. “Mrs. Franklin.”
“Hello, Hannah,” Gamma said, for the second time. “How are you?”
“Fine. What have you got for me today?”
Was it just me or was it awkwardly tense between these two? Gamma had on her shimmering cold stare. Hannah’s matched it perfectly.
“They’re all in the basket.” Gamma gestured to her books. “As usual.”
“Are they?” Hannah took the wicker handle and tugged it closer. “Let’s see if that’s true.”
“I hope you’re not calling me a liar, Hannah, dear.”
The librarian brought the books out and stacked them carefully on the tabletop. “I wouldn’t dream of it,” she said, drily.
Gamma’s lips grew thin.
If Hannah had known who Gamma was, who she really was, I doubted she’d have taken that tone with her. Then again, my grandmother wanted to fit in. She probably wouldn’t rabbit punch the librarian on the nose, no matter how rude she got.
“That’s what I thought,” Hannah said, as she opened the first book. “This one’s overdue.” She opened another. “And this one. This one too. I don’t understand it, Mrs. Franklin. Why can’t you just stick to your due dates?” She flipped the cover of another book and gasped. “This one was due back two months ago!”
“Just give me the fines, Hannah. We don’t need to argue about this.”
“I’m going to have to put you on a book ban if this continues.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Gamma said, placing her palms on the countertop.
“I would dare. I’ve warned you about this before. If you can’t return the books on time, get someone to bring them in for you.”
“I tried that!” Gamma nearly shouted it. “You sent Lauren back with my card and the basket.”
“Because she didn’t have the necessary credentials to return the book.”
“And what credentials are those?” Gamma asked. “I’m a busy woman. I try to return the books on time, but I lose track. I’ve explained this to you before.”
“And I’ve explained that it’s no excuse. There are other people who want to read these books too, you know.” She picked up one of Gamma’s action-thrillers.
“Then tell me what credentials are needed to have someone else return the books.”
“They have to be family,” Hannah said, with an air of having pulled that rule out of a hat. “And they must have a handwritten and dated letter from you stating that they’re allowed to return the books for you. And their social security number.”
“What? That’s ridiculous! I don’t have any family in town.” She couldn’t count me as I was posing as her assistant and maid. “You’re doing this on purpose.” Gamma jabbed a finger at Hannah.
Hannah gave a self-satisfied smirk. “Then I guess you’ll just have to return the books yourself.”
Gamma fumed. Hannah shrugged and set about returning the books and adding up the fine. She wrote the number down on a piece of paper and Gamma slapped some bills onto the desk.
“Thank you,” Hannah said, brandishing the money. “Now, this is your last chance, Mrs. Franklin. Return the books you take out today on time, or I’ll impose a lifelong library ban. I have the power to do that, you know.”
I snagged the basket, grabbed Gamma and dragged her away before the hair-pulling began.
5
“That woman,” Gamma said, “is a power hungry witch.” Coming from a woman who got on with just about everybody, that was a damning sentence indeed. Gamma fumed as we walked between the shelves and bookcases in the library, seeking out the fiction section.
“What’s her deal?” I asked. “The whole ‘family has to return a book
’ thing? I’ve never heard of that before.”
“That’s because it’s absolute twaddle,” Gamma said. “It’s something she made up on the spot to make my life difficult.”
“Why?”
Gamma shrugged, but the skin around her lips was white.
“Georgina. What aren’t you telling me?”
“I might have gotten into an altercation with her prior to this,” she said, primly, stopping in front of one of the shelves and removing a book. Gamma turned it over in her hands, smoothing her fingers over the cover.
“What type of altercation?”
“Only verbal,” Gamma said. “It wasn’t anything serious. Well, I didn’t think it was, but—there was this book, a one-of-a-kind signed edition by my favorite author, Mary Higgins Clark, at the bookstore. We had an auction for it and everything, and I may have outbid her at the last moment.”
“That’s how auctions work.”
“Yes, but then Hannah was upset about it. She claimed she was related to one of the author’s best friends, not that it has any bearing on the matter, and I told her she could go to, ahem, to hades in a handbasket. I wasn’t going to give up the book. Ever since then, she’s been giving me—”
“Hades?”
“Quite.” Gamma turned the book over, studying its back. “But from what I’ve heard, she hasn’t got that many friends. Apparently, she prefers dogs to people.”
“Don’t we all?”
Gamma put the book back. “Let’s go to the mystery section. That’s more my speed.”
I followed my grandmother between the stacks, shaking my head occasionally at a stray thought about Smulder or the ridiculous way the town was decorated for Valentine’s Day. Why couldn’t anyone see the truth? It was just another commercial holiday designed to suck the cash out of innocent fools.
Or maybe, you’re lonely and sad because your ex-husband—
I cut the thought off before it could go any further. Dwelling on that was the last thing I needed.
“Ah,” Gamma said, stopping in front of one of the bookcases in a narrow aisle. “Here we are.”
Mission Inn-possible 02 - Strawberry Sin Page 2