“I’m not saying she killed her husband. It just seems odd that the psychic had a vision of a man being murdered, and Irene’s husband died unexpectedly and she got an insurance payout. Odd, right?”
“Definitely. But I still can’t reveal anything about the policy…except…” Mandy seemed to be battling an internal conflict of what to say and what not to say.
“Except what?” Kelly had no internal conflict about snooping, because she believed Bernadette was innocent of the murders. There wasn’t any proof of her belief, and she probably wouldn’t find any, but she was still curious what Mandy had to say.
Mandy shrugged. “It’s probably nothing. Irene just changed her address to a PO box. She mentioned something about selling her house. It’s not unusual to downsize after the loss of a spouse.” The office telephone rang, and Mandy gestured she needed to answer the call.
Kelly took her cue and excused herself from the office. Outside, she shivered. A swirl of leaves swept by her feet, prompting her to look up. The trees were almost completely bare. One more good wind storm and the last holdouts of fall foliage would be gone. Kelly tightened the cashmere scarf around her neck and buttoned her barn jacket, which wasn’t warm enough now. Luckily, she had a short walk back to the boutique. She slung her tote bag over her shoulder as she walked away from the insurance agency. She wasn’t in any particular hurry to get back to her apartment. Or the new tasks that now waited for her.
Rather than finish unpacking and settling in, she’d be boxing up her belongings for a move back to the city. She’d also be making decisions about all of Granny’s possessions. Most of them couldn’t be moved along with her stuff. She’d have to figure out a way to get her stuff and Howard back to the city. She doubted Pepper would be offering her SUV for the return trip.
“Kelly! Wait up!”
Kelly stopped and looked over her shoulder. Gabe jogged down the sidewalk, carefully passing other pedestrians. Dressed in a pair of baggy jeans and an unzipped jacket over his college sweatshirt, he looked grim.
“Glad I saw you. What the hell happened between you and my mom?” Gabe shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket.
“I wish I knew. She came into the boutique this morning all worked up, telling me how irresponsible I am and that I’m ungrateful.” Saying the words had Kelly tearing up. She quickly wiped away the tears before they fell and composed herself because she didn’t want another weepy episode. She’d already had to redo her eye makeup once. “She’s right. Everything is a mess.”
“She’s worried about you. She loves you like a daughter. And she treated you like one.” A crooked smile touched Gabe’s lips. “You’ve heard her go off on me.”
“I know. I know. It’s what she didn’t say that has me feeling really bad.” She saw the confusion on his face. “I’ve disappointed her.” The emotion was too overwhelming for her. The tears burst like a dam, and she fell forward into Gabe’s solid chest and cried. She never wanted to disappoint Pepper, because it would be like letting her granny down. “I’m sorry. Really, I am.”
Gabe wrapped his arms around her and gently rubbed her back. His comfort was welcome and exactly what she needed. “You were trying to help Bernadette, and you got in over your head.”
Kelly nodded. “I’m in way over my head with more than just Bernadette.”
“What are you talking about?”
Kelly pulled away from Gabe’s broad chest. A gust of wind hit, sweeping her hair up, and she pushed back locks of hair from her face. “The boutique. I’m not ready for the responsibility. I’m not even sure I want to own a used clothing store. It’s just not my thing.”
He pushed back a wayward lock of hair off her face. “Not your thing? Kell, you may not have noticed. But I’ve seen how much you light up when you’re in your boutique or when you talk about the changes you see happening in there.”
Kelly wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. She was going to have to redo her makeup again. She must look like a raccoon. “I was just dreaming. I can’t build a life on a dream.”
“Why not? Your grandmother did. What are you going to do?” His voice was deep with concern.
Her guess was he knew what she planned on doing.
“Sell to Ralph.” Her uncle was her best option for a quick sale.
“You can’t sell to him. He’ll bulldoze the building and everything your granny worked for will be gone.”
“Gabe, I can’t live my life in the shadow of my granny.”
“You’re right. From where I sit, I think she gave you a perfect way to shine in your own life…that is, if you’re willing to take the risk and go for it.”
Kelly’s breath caught. Granny didn’t leave her the consignment shop to be run exactly how she managed it, because she knew Kelly would want to make it her own. She never expected her granddaughter to live her life, rather, she gave Kelly a foundation to build her own on. “When did you become so smart?”
Gabe tilted his head sideways. “I’ve always been smart. You’ve never appreciated my genius. Or my words of wisdom.” Gabe laughed and grasped both of Kelly’s shoulders and held his gaze on her. “Seriously. Running away again isn’t the answer. Stay. Fight. Then decide.” He glanced at his watch. “Gotta go. Don’t make any rash decisions today. Okay? Promise me.”
“I promise.” She said goodbye to Gabe and continued along Main Street at a fast pace, because she was freezing, to her building. But a window display in a neighboring shop caught her attention, and she dashed inside to buy the new little orange man in her life a gift.
Chapter 21
Kelly entered by the back door and walked through the staff room into the boutique. When the house was converted to retail space, there wasn’t enough in the budget to create a separate entrance to the second-floor apartment. Instead, the staircase was enclosed with a door for access upstairs. Kelly reached the locked interior door and went to pull out the key, but a loud knock at the boutique’s front door had her setting her tote bag down and walking to the front of the store. Delivering Howard’s gift would have to wait.
On the other side of the front door was Breena Collins. Her face was pressed against the glass, and her hands were cupped around her head as she peered inside the boutique.
Kelly unlocked and opened the door. “Breena, what are you doing here?”
“I’m here to see you. May I come in? Why is your shop closed?”
“Long story. Yes, please come in.” Kelly stepped aside to allow Breena to enter and then closed the door. “What can I do for you?”
“I have a confession to make.” Breena’s eyes cast downward for a nanosecond. When she looked back at Kelly, her amber eyes were remorseful. “I kinda didn’t tell you all of the truth the other day about Eddie Singer.”
From what Kelly remembered of the conversation, Breena hadn’t said much about him. Only that he was in debt to Leo Manning, was desperate, and eventually stopped coming around to the Thirsty Turtle. “You didn’t?”
Breena unzipped her olive-colored puffer jacket to reveal a berry sweater with a plunging V-neckline. Her bootleg bleached jeans were skintight, and her platform wedged boots were scuffed. Breena’s style hadn’t changed much since high school. In fact, Kelly was almost certain the outfit looked familiar.
“I don’t want any trouble. I’ve been working really hard on making something of my life.” Breena drifted toward a circular rack of blouses and mindlessly browsed through them. “You’re really lucky to have come back home with a future. I came back with a kid and a whole lot of regret.”
Kelly joined Breena at the clothing rack. “What’s going on?”
“Can you keep a secret?”
Kelly nodded. “I can.”
Breena shifted to be face-to-face with Kelly. “When I left home to move to the city to be an actress, I ended up waiting tables instead. I got plenty of auditions,
but I wasn’t prepared for all of the competition. Sure, I had lead roles in our school plays, but I quickly saw I didn’t have the talent that was needed to make it big.”
“I think we all had inflated egos back then. I was certain I’d be the toast of the fashion world if I could just get them to see my genius.” Kelly laughed at the memories of her eighteen-year-old self. Oh, the things she’d tell her younger self now if she could. “I quickly got knocked down a couple of pegs in fashion school.”
“At least you went to college. I waited tables, which didn’t pay much. Still doesn’t, but it’s a paycheck. I had to find other work while I waited for my big break.” Breena’s eyes lit up, and then the light faded. “Not really reputable work. But it paid good.”
“Oh.” Kelly understood having to pay dues. She’d worked the sales floor of Bishop’s while studying fashion merchandising. For a struggling actress like Breena, waiting tables was a normal stepping stone, and then sometimes actresses had to take other roles. “You mean you were a p…p…po…”
“No! No! Nothing like that. Oh my gosh. I wouldn’t ever be able to show my face back here in Lucky Cove if I did those types of movies.” Breena giggled.
“Thank goodness. I mean, I wouldn’t judge you if you had.”
Breena smiled. “I know. I worked for one of those nine hundred numbers and talked to men. As I said, it paid well. But, after my shift, I always needed a hot shower. Those guys were pigs. Well, most of them. There were a few guys who called because they were lonely. Like Eddie Singer.”
“He was lonely?”
“Yeah. He owed a lot of money to Leo Manning, and he was having problems at home. He’d nurse a beer for hours just to avoid going home.” Breena moved over to a spiral display rack Kelly had merchandised with short cocktail dresses perfect for holiday parties.
“He sounds like he was a sad man. Why didn’t he get help with his gambling?”
Breena shrugged. “I don’t know. Guess he wasn’t ready.” She tapped one dress. An emerald-green short-sleeved faux-wrap dress with a surplice neckline and gathered at the waist with a jeweled ring. She checked out the price tag. “I love this!” She took the dress from the rack and, holding it in front of her, she raced to the full-length mirror to take a look. “What do you think?”
“I think it’ll look lovely on you. It flatters your figure.”
“And it’s the right price.”
“Is there any more about Eddie you want to tell me?”
Breena pulled her gaze from the mirror. “Sorry. He started to open up to me. People like to talk to me. Guess that’s why I did so good as a telephone operator. Anyway, on slow nights at the bar, I had more of a chance to talk to him. Remember I told you how he stopped coming around? Well, before he did, he told me he was really scared of Leo Manning. Deathly scared.”
“He owed that much money?”
“He never said how much he was in for, and I never asked. See, the one thing I learned a long time ago was not to ask too many questions about men like Leo Manning. Look, I like you. I think we have a lot in common, so I’m here to warn you.”
“Warn me?”
Breena’s head bobbed up and down. “You came to the bar the other day looking for him. What did you think would happen if Leo was there?”
“I just wanted to ask a few questions about Eddie.”
“Bad idea. Eddie is dead. Don’t come back to the bar, and don’t go nosing around Leo Manning’s business. Just leave it alone.”
“Breena, do you think Irene could have killed Eddie?”
“You think Irene killed him? Where are you coming up with this stuff?” Breena folded the dress over her arm.
“I have a theory. Do you think Irene could have killed Eddie?”
“From what he told me, she was really angry with him. Though, I don’t think I could blame her. If my husband owed money to a bookie, I’d be peeved. But Eddie died up in Maine and, at the time, Irene was here in Lucky Cove.”
“She could’ve had a partner. Did Eddie ever mention if he thought Irene was also having an affair?”
“No. You think she had a lover and he followed Eddie up to Maine?”
“It’s a possibility,” Kelly said.
The last vision Bernadette had was of Irene talking to someone when her husband was murdered, and then Kelly overheard Irene’s call at the storage facility. As crazy as it sounded, she was starting to believe in the psychic’s visions.
“Thank you for coming here and telling me this. Now you need to tell the police everything you told me.”
“The police? Why?”
“Eddie could have been murdered. And I think someone is trying to kill Bernadette because of the vision she had.”
“This is crazy. If the police suspected foul play in Eddie’s death, they would have investigated. Besides, I’m not going to risk my job at the bar. I have tuition to pay and a kid to take care of. If Cody finds out I’m talking out of school to you, or worse, to the police, I’ll be out of a job.”
“I understand your position, but there have been three murders I feel are connected. Eddie, Maxine, and DJ Brown.”
“Eddie wasn’t murdered! I can’t believe I came here.”
“Then why did you?”
“To tell you to mind your own business. Leo is bad news. Look, I don’t want to get on his bad side, so keep me out of whatever you’re doing.” Breena shoved the dress into Kelly’s hands and then spun around and stormed out of the boutique, slamming the door behind her.
Kelly went to follow Breena, but her former classmate was fast on her feet and already heading down the street. Kelly discarded the green dress and darted to the staff room, snatching up her tote bag on the way. In the staff room, she pulled open the file drawer. She retrieved the black lace dress and shoved it into her bag. Bernadette needed to see the dress again. Kelly had to figure out who Irene was talking to. She wasn’t going to let Irene get away with murder, if she indeed was the murderer.
On her way to the staircase, she heard footsteps in the front of the boutique. She peered out and found a redhead eyeing one of the tunics Regina Green consigned and Kelly had dressed the display torsos with. She’d forgotten to lock the door after Breena left, and the redhead must not have noticed the closed sign.
The woman seemed particularly interested in the eggplant-colored tunic draped with an infinity scarf. Kelly couldn’t very well leave the customer all alone. She dropped her tote bag and stepped out onto the sales floor.
“You have a good eye. That tunic would look lovely on you with your coloring.” Kelly had approached the display table with her best cheery voice and smile in place.
“Really? It seems like a risk. I usually go for greens or black, like every other woman.” The woman laughed. Yes, New York women loved their black fashions. “I’m Jo. You must be Kelly, Martha’s granddaughter.” Jo extended her hand to Kelly.
Kelly shook Jo’s hand. “Yes, I am. And, yes, I think this top would look fabulous on you. You should try it on. The changing room is that way.” Kelly pointed.
“I think I will.” Jo headed to the changing room while Kelly removed the tunic from the display torso. Twenty minutes later, and with a shopping bag full of clothing, Jo was pocketing her wallet. “Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but the few times I came in here, I never found anything I wanted to buy. Martha was a wonderful woman, so kind and welcoming, but the merchandise wasn’t my taste. And today, I thought I’d just browse to see what you’ve done to the shop.” She lifted the shopping bag. “I can’t believe I found all of this, and I love everything, especially the price.”
“You have no idea what it means to me to hear you say that.” Kelly was on the verge of tears again, but this time for a good reason.
“You have a gift for this.” Jo took in a sweeping glance of the boutique. “You’re going to do very well. I should get
going. Thank you for your help!” As she exited, Kelly couldn’t help but notice the spring in Jo’s step. It was amazing how something as simple as a new top or dress or even a pair of earrings could lift a gal’s spirit.
What just happened with Jo was what Kelly loved the most about being in the fashion industry—styling and helping a woman feel good about herself. If she returned to the city and managed somehow to get another job in a buying office, she wouldn’t be able to work one-on-one with customers. To do that, she’d have to get a job in sales at a boutique and work for someone else and earn barely enough to pay rent. She walked to the door and locked it. She needed some time to think about what to do next with her life. And she needed a glass, or two, of wine.
Chapter 22
Kelly filled her glass with a generous amount of wine and then topped it off with a little extra for good measure. She’d earned every ounce. She set the bottle down, which she considered drinking from rather than a glass for a nanosecond.
She inhaled the fragrance of the red wine from her glass after she swirled it. She wasn’t a connoisseur, but she felt less like a lush if she didn’t gulp the wine down right away.
She savored her first sip. She definitely needed the wine, between Pepper ripping her a new one and then quitting and Gabe’s unexpected but insightful pep talk.
Her plan to visit Bernadette didn’t happen because, when she called the police department, she was informed Bernadette had been transferred to the county jail and, since she was being held without bail, visitors weren’t permitted. Even if Kelly was allowed to visit, she doubted they’d allow Bernadette to handle the dress. So much for trying to get another vision out of the psychic.
Howard approached stealthily from the bedroom and wove his body between Kelly’s legs, rubbing against her. Startled at first, she relaxed as he pushed his long, lean body into her ankle.
She’d done a little research and found when Howard rubbed against her he was marking his territory. The article also said she should take it as a compliment but, deep down, she wondered if he was just another possessive male. She’d dated a couple of those over the years. The breakups weren’t pretty. Howard followed up with a tiny meow that she interpreted, thanks to the extensive article on cat behavior, as a “hello.” Though she’d been home at least twenty minutes, enough time to change into a pair of yoga pants with a T-shirt, slip her feet into her Ugg slippers, and pour a glass of wine, it appeared Howard was too busy sleeping to welcome her right away.
Murder Wears a Little Black Dress Page 21