Be My Valencrime

by Amy M. Reade

  “Is that why your car isn’t in the driveway?”

  She nodded again.

  “I can go pick up Harry and have him drive it here, then take him back to the shop,” Hassan offered.

  “Don’t bother,” Lilly said. “Noley is planning to do that.”

  “Any news about Alice?” Hassan asked.

  “Not much, except the police found one of her shoes in the bushes outside Guy’s Place.”

  “I wonder what that means,” he mused aloud.

  “Bill said it could mean any number of things.” Suddenly she couldn’t stand this stilted conversation any longer. “Hassan, is something wrong? You don’t seem like yourself today.”

  Hassan wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin. “Lilly, I ran into Bill at the bistro. He told me what happened. At the bar.” His face, normally soft and warm, looked hard and cold to Lilly.

  She looked down at her food. She knew she wouldn’t finish her sandwich. In fact, the few bites she had taken were turning to stone in her stomach, making her feel sick.

  “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I shouldn’t have lied.”

  “You didn’t just lie once, either. You concocted a whole elaborate story. Why didn’t you just tell me the truth?”

  “Because I didn’t want you to get mad at me for going back to Guy’s Place by myself.” Lilly looked up, but she still couldn’t meet his eyes.

  “I would have gone with you, you know.”

  “But it was terrible for you the last time,” Lilly said, finally looking him in the eyes.

  “You know what’s more terrible? That you’ve lied to me. I’m relieved that a concussion was the most serious injury you sustained, but what would have happened if Noley hadn’t been there? You could have been killed.” he said.

  Lilly couldn’t say anything.

  “If you and I are going to be together, I have to be able to trust you, Lilly.” He folded his napkin carefully and placed it on the table next to his plate. He pushed his chair back. “I need some time to think about everything. I don’t think we should see each other right now. I’m sorry.”

  He gathered his coat and gloves and left.

  Chapter 39

  Lilly had stopped crying by the time Laurel got home from school, and she pretended to be asleep on the sofa so Laurel wouldn’t see her bloodshot eyes and wonder what had happened.

  I am so stupid. I shouldn’t have lied. I shouldn’t have gone to Guy’s Place by myself. I shouldn’t have gotten so involved with Alice’s disappearance. I should have let the police take care of it instead of putting myself and other people at risk. The thoughts went around and around in her head until the pain was terrible behind her eyes and she felt like she was going to throw up.

  There was a knock on the back door and for one glorious moment Lilly thought that perhaps Hassan had come back, ready to forgive her.

  But it was Noley. She let herself in with the key Lilly had given her and walked straight to the living room.

  “Lilly?” she asked quietly. Lilly didn’t move. Maybe Noley would go away if she continued to pretend to be asleep.

  “Lilly, if you’re awake, listen to me. I spoke to Hassan.”

  Lilly swallowed and turned over so she was facing Noley. She couldn’t look at her friend, though. “He dumped me,” she said.

  “He didn’t dump you,” Noley said.

  “Humph.”

  “He’s upset that you lied to him. He’ll get over it, I’m sure. He just thinks you two should take a break. He called me so I would come over and check on you. That’s not the behavior of someone who doesn’t care about you,” Noley said. Her tone was soothing, but Lilly felt anything but soothed.

  “He may still care about me, but the trust is gone,” she said with a choked sob. “There’s nothing there to build our relationship up again.”

  Noley sat down next to Lilly and put her arms around Lilly’s shoulders. “Don’t cry, honey. I don’t think you made a fatal mistake. You’re just going to have to give him some time.”

  “Time,” Lilly scoffed. “Time can’t build trust again.”

  “By itself, time can’t build trust again. But once Hassan cools down he’ll understand that you lied to protect him. That’ll count for a lot,” Noley said. She gave Lilly’s shoulders a squeeze. “Want to go for a walk? It’s cold out, so it’ll be nice and brisk. Then I’m going to make a super-duper dinner for you and Laurel and me.”

  “I can’t eat,” Lilly said.

  “You don’t know how good it’s going to be,” Noley said with a smile. “You won’t be able to resist it. Come on, we’re going outside.”

  With an effort, Lilly pushed herself up from the sofa and got her coat out of the front closet. She called upstairs to Laurel to let her know she would be back soon, then she and Noley stepped outside, where the snow was falling gently.

  Noley took a deep breath. “I know a lot of people get sick of the snow, but I love it. I think I could be happy living at the North Pole.”

  Lilly smiled for the first time in hours. “I love it, too, but I bet you’d get sick of it eventually.”

  “Would not.” Noley picked up a handful of snow and shaped it as they walked. She hung back a bit when they passed through the wrought iron gate leading to a small neighborhood park, then tossed her snowball at Lilly.

  Lilly whipped around, blinking. Noley lobbed another snowball at her shoulder. Lilly grinned in spite of herself and bent down to gather a handful of snow.

  Whack! Noley got her again. Lilly straightened up, drew her arm back, and let her snowball fly. It hit its mark, right in the middle of Noley’s chest. Noley let out a shriek and fired again. Lilly began shaping snowballs as fast as she could, stockpiling them for quick use, now and then pelting Noley with one. Noley was doing the same and after about twenty minutes the two friends were laughing so hard they couldn’t keep making ammunition. They both flopped down onto a snowy bench, exhausted.

  “That was fun,” Lilly panted.

  Noley laughed. “I got my exercise for the day.” Then she paused. “We probably shouldn’t have done that. How’s your head?”

  “It’s killing me, but I don’t care. I needed that.”

  “You hungry?” asked Noley.

  “I think so.”

  Noley grinned and they walked back to Lilly’s house.

  “What happened to you two?” Laurel asked when Lilly and Noley tromped into the kitchen. They were both still covered with snow.

  “We had a snowball fight,” Lilly said with a laugh.

  Laurel smiled. “What’s for dinner?” she asked Lilly.

  Noley answered. “It’s a surprise. Now go upstairs, finish your homework, and let me get cooking. Lilly, you go lie down on the sofa.”

  Laurel and Lilly did as they had been told and pretty soon the aromas wafting from the kitchen were making Lilly’s mouth water. She was trying to rest without thinking about Hassan, but it wasn’t easy. Tears sprang to her eyes more than once, but she was determined not to cry and not to let Laurel see that she was upset.

  “Dinner,” Noley said, peeking around the corner into the living room. “I’ll call Laurel down.” She called upstairs for Laurel while Lilly padded into the kitchen in her sock feet.

  Noley had outdone herself. In the middle of the table sat a plate with three pork chops. They had some kind of sauce on them. A bowl of mashed potatoes sat next to the chops, and there was a green salad that didn’t look like it was made of lettuce. A sweet scent permeated the air in the kitchen.

  “Wow!” Laurel exclaimed. “This looks good. What is it?”

  “Apple cider-glazed pork chops, garlic mashed potatoes, and shredded Brussels sprouts salad with pomegranate arils. It’s the ultimate comfort food dinner. There’s dessert, too, but you have to clean your plate.” She winked at Laurel.

  “Thanks, Nol,” Lilly said with a sad smile. She was thinking about Hassan again.

  “Sit down,” Noley told her briskly. “You
need to eat after playing in the snow.” She poured beverages for all three of them and then joined Lilly and Laurel at the table. Over dinner Noley kept the conversation going at a swift clip, not letting silence fill any of the time. She asked about Laurel’s homework, her teachers, the classes she was most looking forward to taking in college, and her wardrobe. They talked about Noley’s favorite classes in high school and college, the towns and cities where she worked before moving to Juniper Junction, and her favorite-ever meals.

  If Lilly wasn’t completely exhausted from the snowball fight, the conversation at dinner finished the job. It wasn’t boring—just fast-paced. By the time Noley brought homemade butterscotch pudding with whipped cream from the refrigerator, Lilly was having a hard time keeping her eyes open.

  “Laurel and I are going to do the dishes,” Noley announced after dinner. “Lilly, you’re going to bed. You’ve had an extremely long day.”

  “I want to go to the shop in the morning,” Lilly said. She was so tired her lips felt too thick to talk.

  “We’ll see. It depends on how you feel when you wake up,” Noley said. “Now, shoo. Off to bed.”

  Lilly hugged Noley and gave Laurel a goodnight kiss. “Thanks, Noley. I needed that.”

  “Needed what?”

  “Everything.”

  Lilly was so tired she didn’t even have time to dwell on Hassan before falling into a deep sleep.

  But he was the first thing on her mind when she woke up the next morning. Noley had slept on the sofa again, so she was already making coffee when Lilly went downstairs.

  “How do you feel this morning?” Noley asked.

  Lilly swallowed. “Okay, I guess.” Her bottom lip started to quiver.

  “None of that this morning,” Noley scolded. “Do you think you feel well enough to go into the shop for a little while?”

  Lilly nodded, pouring herself a mug of coffee. She added creamer to it and stirred it thoughtfully. “Maybe I’ll stay all day.”

  “Why don’t you just go in and see how things go? Maybe you’ll want to come home and rest this afternoon. I’ll drop you off and then whenever you want to come home, just call my cell and I’ll come pick you up.”

  Lilly nodded.

  “Lil, Hassan will be back. That’s the way he is. You need to stop worrying.”

  “Did he tell you he’d be back?” Lilly asked, hope surging in her chest.

  “Well, no,” Noley admitted. “But I just know he will.”

  Lilly’s spirit sank again. “I doubt it. But I can’t sit around here all day or I’ll go nuts. I’ll be better off at work.”

  After Laurel had left for school, Noley drove Lilly to the jewelry shop. Harry wasn’t there yet, so Lilly unlocked the back door, opened the vault, and set about putting all the pieces of jewelry in their display cases in the front of the store. It would be another hour before the shop was open for the day. She had promised Noley she wouldn’t do any paperwork, so although the paperwork was practically screaming for attention, Lilly forced herself to ignore it.

  She was in the front of the store, arranging a necklace against its burgundy velvet background, when the office door opened.

  “Morning, Harry,” Lilly said, then looked up with a smile.

  But it wasn’t Harry standing there. It was Mary Louise.

  Chapter 40

  “What are you doing here?” Lilly asked. She eyed Mary Louise warily.

  “I just wanted to have a little talk before Harry gets to work.” Mary Louise kept her tone light, but her eyes glittered with malevolence.

  “A talk about what?”

  “Your new rule,” she said, putting air quotes around the word ‘rule.’

  Lilly moved slightly farther behind the display case. “It’s not a new rule, Mary Louise. It’s an old rule that I’ve begun enforcing.”

  Mary Louise took a step forward. “I don’t appreciate you interfering with my relationship with Harry.”

  “I’m not trying to interfere with anything, but I do think you’re trying to take advantage of Alice’s disappearance to finagle your way into a romance with Harry. As far as I’m concerned, that’s despicable. But it’s Harry’s business, not mine.”

  “So why enforce your stupid rule?” Mary Louise asked with a sneer.

  “Because visits from people were causing a lot of stress for Harry and I can’t have an employee who’s not focused on his work.” Lilly didn’t add that it was visits from a certain someone who were causing stress, and that the stress wasn’t just Harry’s—it was hers, too.

  “If you’re referring to me, I can assure you that my visits aren’t causing Harry any stress,” Mary Louise said quietly.

  It was the tone of her voice that set off alarm bells in Lilly’s head, which was starting to ache. Mary Louise took one step closer to Lilly. And when Lilly glanced toward the window facing Main Street, that’s when Mary Louise acted.

  With a sudden burst of movement, Mary Louise ran around the end of the display case where Lilly was standing. Lilly backed up to the wall behind her, but couldn’t go any further. Everything happened so quickly. She put her arms up over her face to protect herself as Mary Louise came at her with fists flying.

  “Mary Louise! Stop!” Lilly cried. “What’s the matter with you?” Since Mary Louise had her backed into a corner, there wasn’t much Lilly could do in the face of the onslaught, but she did manage to kick Mary Louise in the shin. Hard.

  “Ow!” Mary Louise howled. Lilly kept kicking, grateful to discover that, despite her concussion, she had the ability to fight back. Mary Louise was trying to reach for Lilly’s neck when Lilly landed a kick right in the center of her knee. Her leg buckled and she dropped to the floor, clutching her knee.

  Lilly acted quickly. She jumped over Mary Louise and ran for the office door. The front door was closer, but it was still locked and she was afraid Mary Louise would get up and grab her if she took the time to grapple with the key to unlock the door.

  She flung open the office door, slammed it behind her, and ran straight into Harry.

  “Harry!” She collapsed into him with a flood of relief.

  “Lilly! What happened?” he asked.

  “It’s Mary Louise,” Lilly said, taking a ragged breath. “She’s out there. She attacked me.” She waved a limp hand toward the front of the shop.

  “Are you all right? Can I leave you in here for a minute?” Harry asked quickly. Lilly nodded and waved toward the front of the store again.

  Harry wheeled around and was just reaching for the office door when they heard a terrific crash coming from the front.

  He turned back and looked at Lilly with wide eyes. “Don’t tell me….” He yanked the office door open. Lilly stood up on shaky legs and followed him.

  They both gasped in dismay at the millions of shards of glass on the floor of the shop and the gaping hole left in the front window. Mary Louise was gone. A metal stool lay on the sidewalk. Cold air had already permeated the store and Lilly shivered. She closed her eyes. “I don’t believe it.”

  “I’ll call the police.” Harry grabbed his cell phone from his back pocket and hit nine-one-one. He spoke into the phone briefly, then turned to Lilly. “They’ll be here in just a minute.”

  Head pounding and heart racing, Lilly could do nothing but stand there, frozen in shock.

  It was Bill who answered the call to Lilly’s shop. Lilly watched as he pulled his cruiser to an abrupt stop out front, then spoke into the walkie-talkie on his shoulder as he strode toward the store. Lilly picked her way carefully to the door, glass crunching beneath her feet. She unlocked the door and opened it to admit Bill. It seemed foolish to unlock the door in view of the huge hole in the window.

  “What happened?” he asked, looking around.

  “A woman came in and tried to attack me. I got away and ran into the office. She must have smashed the window with that stool and run off when she heard Harry’s voice,” Lilly explained. She had managed to calm down and think m
ore clearly while she waited for police to arrive, but her explanation was hurried and breathless.

  “Are you hurt?” Bill asked. Lilly shook her head. “Do you want me to call for an ambulance, just to be on the safe side?”

  “No. I’m fine. My head hurts, but that’s from the concussion.” Bill turned away and spoke into his walkie-talkie again.

  They only had to wait a few minutes for other officers to arrive on the scene. Like a well-oiled machine, they began processing the scene and asking questions of Lilly and Harry.

  Lilly told the officer who was questioning her that Mary Louise had been the culprit. The officer issued a bulletin for the rest of the department to be watching for her and asked that two officers be dispatched to her home and to the community college.

  Only a couple minutes later, an ambulance drew up in front of the police cars lining Main Street. Two paramedics came into the store. Lilly recognized the one who had treated her at Guy’s Place. He looked at her in surprise.

  “You again?” he asked.

  Bill walked over to the paramedic and explained briefly that he wanted Lilly checked out because of the concussion.

  “Bill, I told you not to call an ambulance,” Lilly said between clenched teeth.

  “You’re not the boss of me,” he said with a grin. Lilly had to smile. The paramedic gave Bill and Lilly a look of confusion.

  “She’s my sister,” Bill explained. The paramedic nodded.

  “My sister’s not the boss of me, either,” he said. “At least sometimes.”

  “Exactly,” Bill said.

  “Okay, everyone. Can we get this show on the road?” Lilly asked in exasperation. She looked at the paramedic. “I’m fine, really. I know you’re going to tell me I need to lie down or do something equally useless to treat the concussion, but I can’t leave here now. I have to contact the insurance company and call around to get the window replaced.”

  “Let me check you over. Then we’ll go from there, okay?” the paramedic suggested. Lilly submitted to his tests and ministrations while police buzzed around her. Proprietors from neighboring shops came over and stood on the sidewalk talking to Harry, calling out to Lilly with their good wishes. She could only nod as the paramedic worked. Finally he finished his examination.