Apples, Actors and Axes

by Paula Lester

  Lucy and Sarah nodded, their eyes a little wider than usual.

  Paige opened the book and darted backward, avoiding the cold blast of air that always accompanied the arrival of the ghost who lived inside it. As she stepped back next to Sarah, Paige felt her sister-in-law grab her arm and squeeze. Paige glanced over at her face, noticing it was a touch paler than usual. She patted Sarah’s hand in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. When she looked forward again, Captain McDougall floated above the logbook.

  Sarah took half a step away from the ghost and her complexion blanched even more. But Lucy stepped forward, excitement written all over her plump face. “Hello,” she exclaimed. “I’m Lucy, Paige’s friend.” She paused and spoke more softly. “I was Nora’s friend too.”

  The pirate nodded, the leather braids on his hat bouncing. “Pleasure to meet you.”

  Lucy’s cheeks colored. “Oh, thank you. It’s lovely to meet you too. I . . . I brought you a pie. Paige says you can’t eat it, but I wanted you to know I brought it for you anyway.”

  “Well, you’re a dear one, aren’t you? Our Paige is quite right. I can’t be eating regular food anymore, but I do appreciate the gesture.” The captain’s gaze shifted to Sarah, who had actually scooched a bit behind Paige, still clutching her arm, and was peeking out from around her shoulder. “And who is that one?”

  “This is my sister-in-law, Sarah.” Paige yanked her arm, pulling Sarah forward with it. She had to stifle a giggle when Sarah did a little curtsy for the captain.

  “Ah! What a sweet lass.” The pirate raised both arms. “I’m pleased to meet some new mates. Any friend of the Murphys is a friend of mine.” He erupted in a belly laugh that brought instant smiles to all three women in front of him.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Miss Murphy.”

  Paige spun around at the unexpected voice and was shocked to see Jordan standing there.

  “I forgot my phone here earlier, I think. I saw the light on in the back and let myself in. I didn’t mean to interrupt you and your friends.”

  Paige felt the women next to her squirming. They both moved closer to Paige in an obvious attempt to shield Jordan’s view of the pirate ghost behind them. But Paige was pretty sure Jordan couldn’t see the captain. He showed no sign that he could—his gaze had never left the three women. Paige knew that only certain people could see McDougall, but she hadn’t exactly figured out how to foretell who that would be. She kept her voice calm and avoided glancing back at the ghost as she answered Jordan. “No problem. I haven’t seen your phone, but you’re welcome to look around for it.”

  “Thank you. Oh, hello again. Susan, right?” He nodded and smiled toward Sarah.

  “Close enough,” she said, doe-eyed and smiling.

  Paige gave her a look. “It’s Sarah,” she corrected. “And this is my friend Lucy. She owns the bakery next door.”

  Lucy’s left hand went up to her hair, and she tried to fluff it off her forehead. When Jordan moved forward and held his hand out for Lucy to shake, she held up the apple pie. “Oh!” She laughed nervously. “Oh my. Well, would you like this pie, dear? I made it for these ladies, but they’re both too full to enjoy it. I’d love for someone hungry to have it.”

  Jordan held his hands up, palms out. “I couldn’t.” But his eyes lingered on the pie, and his nose twitched. “It smells good, though.”

  “It’s still warm. Really, you should take it.” Lucy pushed it forward until Jordan had almost no choice but to grab it.

  “I do love apple pie,” he said, an almost wistful tone in his voice. “My mom used to make them for me back home in Oklahoma. Then she started spending all her spare time in the casinos, and there wasn’t any more pie.” He accepted the pastry and held it to his nose, breathing deeply. Abruptly, he moved forward and kissed Lucy on the cheek. “Thank you, ma’am.”

  Paige glanced at her baker friend, who looked like she might faint. One hand fluttered in front of her chest and the other touched the spot Jordan had kissed. Then Paige noticed movement near her employee’s right ankle. There was that traitor, Casper, rubbing on Jordan again. Paige sighed.

  Out of the blue, there was a knock on the front door.

  Paige crossed to it, wondering why her store was grand central station after closing time. She opened the door, and a gorgeous, tall, thin woman stood there, wearing stilettos and a miniskirt. Her long, straight blond hair hung down to brush her tiny waist. With impeccable makeup and longer legs than seemed to be natural, the woman looked like she’d come straight from a Paris runway. She didn’t acknowledge Paige but looked past her. “Jordan? I thought that was you when I walked by!” She brushed past Paige and walked over to Jordan, kissing him on both cheeks. “Cash and I are in town for the treasure hunt. My agent thought it would be good publicity for us to show up for the craziness.” She glanced around the shop, her nose wrinkling. “What are you doing in here?” Then she waved her hand as though to push away his answer because she didn’t really care. “Come down to the beach bar with me. I’m meeting Cash there.”

  Jordan shifted his feet and his eyes darted from the gorgeous blond woman to Paige, Sarah, and then Lucy before landing back on the model-woman. “Maybe I’ll catch you down there later,” he mumbled. “I’ve got a date with this apple pie.”

  The girl, who probably never gave in to temptations like pie, rolled her eyes. “Okay. See you then.” She left, still not acknowledging the people other than Jordan in the room.

  “Oh, there’s my phone.” Jordan crossed to the checkout counter and grabbed it. “Um. I’m going to head out. Sorry again for interrupting you. And thanks for the pie.” He left, and Paige went and locked the front door behind him.

  “Blimey! That lad is a landlubbin’ picaroon if I ever saw one.” Paige had almost forgotten McDougall was out until he spoke, his tone a low growl. “Pickin’ a pie over the likes of that lovely lass. Must be something wrong with him.”

  “Oh, there’s nothing wrong with him, I can assure you of that,” Sarah said, emboldened.

  “They couldn’t see him,” Lucy said, wonder in her voice.

  “Not everyone can,” Paige agreed.

  “And he’s a swashbuckler,” the old ghost added. “I’d steer my boat clear of him, I would.”

  “But he’s the only reason this shop isn’t going belly up. Do you really think he’s trouble?”

  “Only missing a sword, he is.” The pirate crossed his arms and his chin jutted out stubbornly.

  “Okay. I believe you. Lucy, did you sniff any untruths in anything Jordan said?”

  The baker shook her head. “No, dear. Of course”—she dipped her head and looked at her hands—“I was a little distracted by all the stardust in the air. I didn’t really try to sniff out truth.”

  Captain McDougall still looked contemplative. “I think we should ask Casper to keep an eye on that Jordan fellow,” he suggested.

  Paige thought about the muddy aura she’d seen around Jordan intermittently and nodded. Then she looked around for Casper. He was lying on an armchair. “I know you think he’s awesome, but the captain’s worried about Jordan. Can you watch him for us and let me know if you see him do anything suspicious?”

  Casper blinked and then bent his head to lick his front paw.

  Paige sighed, knowing the response was probably as good as it got since her mystical helpmate was a mildly dim-witted shop cat. They all said their goodbyes to Captain McDougall and Paige put away the book.

  Paige locked the door behind her as they headed to the bakery to make Lucy’s gardening potion.

  As soon as they got into the kitchen, Lucy pulled some plant food marked Bickle’s Nursery off a shelf and dumped some into a thick-bottomed pan. She showed Sarah which other ingredients to add, and they poured in some water and heated the whole thing on the stove. Paige leaned her elbows on the counter and watched, still thinking about Jordan and the captain. Now it smelled like some weird mixture between spaghetti and fertilizer in the kitchen. Not nearl
y as yummy as the doughnut scent it usually had.

  Lucy used a candy thermometer to decide when the potion was done and pulled it off to cool. Then she rustled around in a drawer and brought out a recipe card that she handed to Sarah. “Say this incantation as you sprinkle the potion over your plants,” she instructed. “You’ll need to repeat it every three days.”

  Sarah read it aloud:

  “Potion with your special power,

  work your magic on this flower.

  Rain and sun and shining moon,

  let this plant grow mighty soon.”

  Paige frowned. “Does that last part mean mighty soon, like awfully quick? Or does it mean strong and mighty?”

  “I don’t know, dear. I didn’t write it,” Lucy said as she handed the jar of liquid to Sarah. “All I know is that it works. One time, I had the prize-winning zucchini at the county fair.”

  “That’s enough proof for me,” Sarah said and stashed the card in her purse. “I can’t wait to try it on my vegetables.” Sarah glanced at Paige. “What about you? Do you need a secret love potion to use on Jordan Rake?”

  Paige snorted. “Heck no. I don’t want to trick someone into liking me. Especially if it won’t last. But I could use a favor.”

  “Anything, my witch-in-law.” Sarah bowed her head in deference.

  “Maybe you could dream about Jordan and what I should do with him.”

  Sarah’s eyes twinkled. “Oh, I could give you a few suggestions.”

  Paige made a sour face. “You know what I mean.”

  “I’m kidding,” Sarah said with a wink. “Don’t worry. I’ll sleep on it.”

  Chapter 4

  Figuring it might be a busy day with all the out-of-town treasure hunters descending on Comfort Cove, Paige made sure she got up early enough to go to Just Baked for coffee and muffins before it was time to open the bookstore. She wanted to beef herself up with caffeine and sugar.

  The bakery was already packed, and Paige only recognized a few people milling about, which was highly unusual since she’d grown up in the small town and knew almost everyone. Lucy looked harried and could only spare a second to wave off Paige’s money.

  When Paige got back to Beachside Books, she’d barely gotten the front door unlocked when her cell phone rang. It was Sarah. Her stomach did a little somersault. “Why are you calling me now? Is it Scott? Is something wrong?”

  “No, silly,” Sarah said. “It’s about Jordan Rake. I had a dream about him. Thanks for the suggestion.” She giggled.

  “Why? What did you dream?”

  “Actually, not much about Jordan. It was about me and Scott and a rendezvous on the beach.”

  Paige groaned. “You called to tell me that? Gross! He’s my brother.”

  “Oh stop. Anyway, there was one tiny part of the dream where Jordan appeared for a second. He was wearing handcuffs.”

  Paige didn’t know how to respond. She definitely didn’t want any more details about her sister-in-law’s sexy dream. She said goodbye and turned the sign on the door to Open.

  It wasn’t long until people began pouring in. Many of them looked like they might be celebrities—they had perfect hair, high-fashion clothes that hadn’t made their way to Comfort Cove’s shops yet, and nonsensible shoes. Some of them bought a newspaper or magazine. Many asked for Jordan Rake and left empty-handed when she told them it was his day off. Still others grilled her about any secret spots or good hiding places for treasure in town. Every time that happened, Paige fought the urge to roll her eyes. If she did have ideas about where the money and contract were hidden, why would she blab them willy-nilly to any stranger who asked rather than go check them out herself?

  A few times, she considered calling the number Jordan had left and asking him to come in to work. So many people visiting the shop were looking for him that it would help her keep up with things if he was there. But she decided against it because the bookshop’s finances were shaky enough that paying an extra day’s worth of wages didn’t make sense. That would be a little more money she could put toward the new plumbing.

  Casper was no help, either. He jumped up on the checkout counter, went to sleep, and didn’t move all morning.

  Just before Paige locked up for lunch, a young woman of about twenty came through the front door. She had a pleasant, round face, medium-brown hair in a bob with a fringe of bangs that weren’t cut quite straight, and thin-rimmed glasses balanced on a slightly upturned nose.

  Paige didn’t know the woman. She sure didn’t look like a celebrity or model. “Welcome to Beachside Books. Is there anything I can help you with?”

  “Hi, hello, how are you?” The young woman looked around the place, her eyes falling on Casper. She crossed to the checkout counter to stroke his head, a small smile on her lips. Paige noticed her fingernails were so short there was little chance the woman didn’t have a nail-biting habit. Glancing around the shop again, the visitor said, “I heard Jordan Rake took a job here.”

  Paige struggled to keep from sighing. The Jordan-mania was starting to get old. “It’s his day off.” She thought she managed a non-annoyed tone pretty well.

  “Yeah. I wanted to see where he’s working. This place is nice.”

  “Thank you.” Paige shifted around. She had to use the bathroom and wished the girl would leave so she could lock up.

  The visitor’s eyes fell on her. “Are you the owner?”

  “Yes. Paige Murphy.” Paige held a hand out, and the woman took it, giving her a short, weak handshake.

  “I’m Audrey Lanton,” she said. “Jordan’s an old friend of mine. I heard he was in Comfort Cove, and my house is about an hour from here. I wanted to surprise him. Please don’t say anything about me being here when you see him.”

  Paige nodded and shifted her feet again.

  Audrey’s eyes traveled down to Paige’s shoes. “Are you working by yourself today, then? You could probably use a break! I’d be happy to keep an eye out for customers while you freshen up or something. I’ll just tell anyone who comes in that you’ll be right back out.”

  “Thanks, that’s really thoughtful of you. I’m actually going to lock up and have a quick lunch, though. Did you need a book or something?” Paige trailed off, hoping Audrey would take the hint and either buy something or leave.

  “Oh, no. I don’t need anything like that. But, do you know where Jordan’s staying?” Her right hand fluttered up to her mouth, and she chewed her fingers.

  Bingo. Nail-biter. Paige felt like a great detective for a second. She shook her head in response to Audrey’s question.

  “Well, maybe I’ll come back when he’s working. Tomorrow, right?”

  “Yes, he works on Fridays.” Paige felt a little uncomfortable immediately after she said it but shrugged the feeling off. It’s not like she was giving private information out about her employee. Since they were friends, Audrey would probably track down Jordan another way.

  Paige moved toward the door and was relieved when Audrey followed suit. She pushed it open and stepped onto the sidewalk. She stood holding the door open, enjoying the feeling of the sun on her face. Audrey walked through the door but stopped just outside and turned back toward Paige.

  “Is Jordan still driving that awful VW bug? Such a horrible car.” Audrey giggled and adjusted her glasses.

  “He drives a silver Jeep Cherokee,” Paige said. She usually didn’t notice cars overly much, but Jordan’s reminded her of the rental she’d used when she first got back to Comfort Cove, so it stuck in her mind.

  “Oh, that’s good,” Audrey said. “The Volkswagen was such a piece of rusty junk. He was so attached to it, though. I’m glad to hear he traded up. Thanks for the chat. Enjoy your lunch.”

  Paige had never been so thankful for a conversation to end, and she didn’t watch Audrey walk away. Instead, she bolted back into the bookstore, shut and locked the door, and raced to the small bathroom in the storeroom.

  She ate lunch with her feet up in the attic ap
artment, taking her time and savoring the break. Even though the shop had been much busier than usual, not a lot of money was coming in. For a second, she envied Lucy. At least if she was going to be run ragged at the bakery by the influx of visitors to Comfort Cove, her receipts at the end of the day would be worth it.

  A bit reluctantly, Paige descended the stairs after lunch to reopen. A man and woman stood waiting to come in. They looked like they’d just flown in from the Australian Outback. They wore matching green cargo shorts and shirts with tons of pockets and brown, full-brim hats. They each carried a huge framed backpack. The man had a metal detector and headphones in one hand.

  Paige unlocked the door and stood back to let the couple—who both looked like they were in their mid-twenties—enter.

  They stepped into the shop but didn’t go farther than the checkout counter. The woman immediately asked, “Can you please show us everything you have on Comfort Cove?”

  “I have a couple of history books written by locals,” Paige said, crossing to the shelf that held them and pulling both out.

  “What about maps?” The man took the books Paige held out to him. “If you have some of the area, we’ll take them too. Our GPS has main roads, but nothing secondary.” He handed the books to his companion, who flipped through them.

  “I have a plat map back here.” Paige went around the checkout counter and dug on the top shelf. “It’s not for sale, but you can snap pictures of anything you want to have.” She pulled the booklet out and set it on the counter. “Are you here looking for Oz Wilder’s treasure?” she asked.

  The man propped his metal detector against the counter and grabbed the plat map book, opening it to the first page.

  “Yeah, and we have a great chance at finding it too. We’re professional geocachers.” He stuck his hand out and Paige shook it. “I’m Pat Hawke,” he said. “And this is my wife.” He jerked a thumb toward the woman.

  She held her hand out too. “Hi, I’m Pat Hawke,” she said.

  Paige’s eyebrows shot up, and both Hawkes erupted with laughter.