by Vella, Wendy
“Who?”
“My sperm donor.”
“God, that’s horrible. He’s your father, and ok so I don’t know him, or what this is about between you, but he seems nice.”
“He’s a good actor, and this doesn’t concern you.”
“And yet you seem to think my business concerns you.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“Shut up, the judging is starting.” He took her arm and towed her forward until they stood with Mallory.
“Don’t tell me to shut up!” she hissed so only he could hear.
“Then stay out of it and I won’t have to.”
Maggs didn’t speak again.
“Welcome to the Great Ryker Falls Bake-Off.”
“Original,” Luke muttered.
“Mrs. Howard thought it had a better ring to it,” Maggs added.
Major Gripper wore caramel-and-black-striped trousers and a Christmas sweater that had a reindeer on the front with a flashing red nose and antlers. On his head was a Santa hat.
“He pulls it off though,” Fin said. “The guy has style.”
“Wait for it,” Jack arrived.
Major Gripper tapped the mic, and it squealed.
“Never gets old,” Jack said, pulling Rory in front of him so he could lean on her.
“Today we have ten entries.”
“I told Joe he’s getting fat so I should do the judging,” Jack added.
“Bet he loved that,” Fin said.
“Did you bake anything for the competition?” Mallory looked to each of them.
“I’m a park ranger.” Fin slapped his chest. “We have far more important things to do than baking.”
His words made his sister giggle.
“You baked a Halloween cake and put red jelly in the middle for the school bake sale,” Dylan reminded him.
“I think you’re confusing me with someone else.”
“The judges will eat a sample of the ten finalists, then they will write a number from 1-10 on the card and stick it under the plate. Votes will be counted after the judging,” Mayor Gripper said.
“Mrs. L is blinking rapidly. One day those heavy lashes of hers will cause a natural disaster,” Pip said.
Maggs laughed as the woman concerned slapped Joe’s hand as he tried to take a second piece of muffin from the same plate. All the judges wore Christmas sweaters in varying designs.
“That’s the tastiest one; I can see that even from here!” someone called out.
“I’m sure that’s Bob, the guy the knitting club talks about,” Rory whispered.
“Is the cake in the shape of a phallic symbol?” Jake asked. “I’m amazed they’re outside in daylight hours, considering the time they put into their night activities,” he added.
“What?” Fin frowned, but Dylan waved the words away.
“One day, son, you’ll have the benefit of attending a knitting club meeting, but until then you have to just carry on living an unfulfilled life.”
“How are your blanket squares coming along, sweetie?” Fin blew Jack a kiss. “You crocheted them together yet?”
Maggs giggled as the snide comments flew around her. Mallory seemed happy too, here with her brother.
She watched Joe continue to eat as the other judges sat back, stuffed full.
“Hollow legs,” Luke said. “We all have them.”
The votes were tallied, then Mayor Gripper picked up the mic again. “The winner is this muffin here.” He pointed to a muffin that had a Christmas tree iced on top of it. “Chocolate with cherries. It was the first choice by all judges. Can the winner please step forward.”
Luke picked up Gracie and made for the stage.
“Well, hell,” Jack said.
“He and Gracie baked them yesterday,” Pip said, clapping wildly as her daughter accepted her green sash and certificate.
“Rigged!” someone yelled.
“Who said that?” Dylan rose to his toes.
“Settle, Daddy, they’re just fooling around,” Fin said. “Want to taste the winning entry, Mallory?”
She nodded.
“Okay, let’s go.” Maggs saw the excitement in the girl’s eyes. “I’ll be back. Don’t run away.”
“I have things to do, Fin. I’ll see you around.”
“Maggie—”
She kept walking and knew he was scowling at her back. She was only a few feet from her car, and congratulating herself on her escape, no matter how brief her time alone would be, when she heard the sound of someone crying.
Looking around her, she saw cars, buildings, and people. Heading left, she found the entrance to the rear of the shops, and there sat Mrs. Linbar on the steps up to Mandy’s old apartment.
“Mrs. Linbar?” Maggie approached slowly.
The woman raised her head, and Maggs saw that grief ravished her face. It was pale, eyes bloodshot. At least she wore a coat and boots today.
“Where is Noel?”
“Working. I-I thought coming into town would help. Seeing the baking and the p-people. The Christmas spirit is everywhere.”
“Yes, it’s a lovely time of year.” Maggs sat on the step below her.
“Have you lost anyone you love, Maggie?”
“No.”
“I had hope before. Even though in my heart he was gone, I could still allow myself to b-believe, but not now.” She had a tissue in her hand that was shredded. Digging into her pockets, Maggs found the clean ones she’d tucked in there earlier and handed them to the woman.
“Someone m-murdered my son, Maggie, and I want him found.”
“Chief Blake is good at what he does, Mrs. Linbar. He’ll find whoever did this.” She took one of the cold hands in hers.
“How? It’s been two years. How will he find who left my son up on that mountain, alone?”
“Will you come with me, Mrs. Linbar? Come inside and have a cup of tea? Please.” Maggie got to her feet, still holding her hand.
“My husband returns home tomorrow.”
“Well, that’s good then. You’ll have his support as well as Noel’s.”
Her smile was sad. “My son thinks I’m a nuisance because I held on to the belief that Simon was alive all this time. He kept telling me he was dead, that he had to be or he would have returned to us.”
Cold bastard, Maggie thought.
“But then he loved his brother too, so he dealt with grief his own way. They were close, my boys.”
“That’s nice. I’m close with my siblings too.” Maggie led her in through the back door of Tea Total.
“Noel misses Simon. We all d-do.”
Miss Sarah saw her coming and hurried to meet them.
“Mrs. Linbar needs a cup of tea, Miss Sarah.”
“Well now, how lucky is she that I have the perfect blend for her already brewing. You come on with me, Letitia.”
Maggie found Ted and Mandy behind the counter. As far as she could see, Mandy stood making coffee, and Ted was watching her. Sometimes loved-up people made her nauseous; today was one of those days, she thought unreasonably.
“We need to call Noel and get him here to pick her up, Ted. What’s he thinking letting her walk about in that state?” Maggie hissed.
“I have his number. I’ll call now.”
When she’d done all she could, and Miss Sarah and Mrs. Taft were seated with Mrs. Linbar, Maggs left. Feeling sad for the woman who would never again see her son, she drove slowly home.
She was tired. The day had been exhausting. She’d told Fin everything. He’d made love to her. Maggie had never experienced passion like that before. The fierce need he’d created in her that only he’d been able to extinguish had been both exhilarating and terrifying.
“What am I going to do with you, Findlay Hudson?” That she wanted to do anything was enough to scare her spitless. How did he feel about her?
She lay awake long into the night, thinking about her life, Fin, and what her next steps would be. She dr
ifted off to sleep before she could come up with any answers.
Chapter 25
“Hi, Fin.”
“Where did you come from?” Fin was walking up the main street to the police station when Mandy suddenly appeared at his side. He wanted to discuss the Linbar case again with Chief Blake.
“I was buying pens. We’re all out.”
“Check your man’s pockets; he’s probably stolen them.”
“Very likely. How are things with your family?”
“Frosty, except for Mallory. I like her.”
“I met them at the lodge a few times and then at the bake off. I might add that there have been several noisy complaints about Luke and Grace winning.”
“What? How can someone begrudge that sweet little girl the win?” Fin’s anger tweaked. Grace was important to him.
“Bob Hawkins said Nancy’s carrot and spinach muffins should have won due to her creativity in creating an edible vegetable on top of each.”
“Someone actually made muffins out of those two ingredients?” He felt nauseous at the thought.
“Yes, and Joe said he couldn’t swallow his mouthful.”
“Which tells you just how bad they are then, because that man can eat anything. Now tell me what is the big deal about Bob and Nancy? I’m always hearing their names in hushed tones.”
“That’s a knitting club thing.” Mandy’s cheeks were red. She wore a hat pulled low over her ears, and a thick, long wool coat and purple scarf.
“You’re blushing.”
“I always do that. Ted is constantly saying things deliberately to see me blush.”
“I bet.”
“I’ve lived my life with fear and worry gnawing at me, Fin. It’s not good for you.”
Fin sighed. “I’m not living in fear, Mandy, and until my family arrived in Ryker Falls, nothing was gnawing at me.”
“Unless they’re really nasty people, Fin, talk to them. Family is important.”
“It’s complicated, and I’m not sure why it’s up for public discussion. I don’t remember hassling you all the time about your life when you were still in your shell.” He regretted the words as they left his mouth. “Sorry, that was out of line.”
“It wasn’t, really, and you’re right. You guys were so kind to me all the time, but I didn’t have a family wanting to reconnect with me. You do.”
“Does it matter that I don’t want to, or what happened to make me disconnect with them?”
“Of course it does. If your father did something really bad then he gave up his rights to you, and I’ll hate him even in the afterlife. But he just doesn’t seem the type to me.” She patted his arm. “But that is your decision. We just want you happy because we love you.”
“And while that warms my cold heart, it’s not really anyone’s business but mine, Mandy.” He said the words gently.
“Like that’s ever bothered anyone in this town.”
“True that,” Fin sighed.
“I got this now, Mandy. You go on back to Tea Total.”
He hadn’t seen Joe arrive, but suddenly there he was, all ready to annoy him. He kissed Mandy’s cheek, then nudged her in the opposite direction.
“What’s this, a tag team?” Fin scowled at his best friend. He felt raw, off-balance. Like he’d woken the day after making love to Maggs and his skin wasn’t the right fit. He’d told her at the bake-off not to run away as he’d be back. What had she done? Run away.
He’d thought about knocking on her door, but because he was angry he’d gone home instead, to look at the bed he’d made love to her in.
He was in a seriously bad way and it was all her fault.
“Drop it, Joe. I’m not a public service. I can sort my own shit out.”
“You interfere constantly in my life, especially with Bailey.”
“Because you were making a hash of that. I merely pointed that out. See how well that worked for you.”
“Come on, bud, I’m not pushing you to reconcile with your family if you really don’t want too, just open up to me. I’m worried about you.”
“I’m talking to Mallory.”
“That’s good then. Did you know the Robbins sisters cornered him, your dad? They said if he hurt you again they’d personally run him out of town.”
“Get out.” Fin had to smile over that. Some of the people in this town loved him, and it was a good time to be reminded of that.
“Jack told him that you were his brother in every way that counts, and he protected what was his, so don’t hurt you or your father would answer to him.”
“And how did he respond to that?” Fin wanted to rub the warm spot in his chest.
“He said he’d he was happy and proud you were so well loved and respected.”
“I have your sweater, Fin!”
He turned to find Mrs. L waving at him from her shop door.
“I need you to try it on for me.” Mrs. L wore a Christmas dress today. Wool, it was black, with a young, almost naked Santa on the front.
“Nice dress.”
She smiled, then dragged Fin inside.
“Now take off your jacket, Fin,” Mrs. L said, holding a black sweater with a small cottage on the front. There was snow and a Christmas tree too, and Fin had to say, as far as her sweaters went, this was a good one.
“Nice,” Joe said when Fin had pulled it on. “Brings out the color of your eyes.”
“It’s black, and my eyes are blue, idiot.”
“Here’s yours, Joe.”
“I have one, Mrs. L.”
“You need another one. Strip.”
They left the shop wearing new Christmas sweaters and carrying a bag with their old ones in it.
“I say no several times every day,” Joe said. “No thanks, I don’t want a coffee. No, you can’t have that, or no, that’s not where that goes. No, Benjamin, don’t put your finger in your sister’s ear. That kind of thing. It’s a simple word, just two letters.”
“And yet neither of us can say it to the elders in this town.”
“Hence we are wearing Christmas sweaters.”
“Hence?”
“It sounds posh.”
“Or you sound like an idiot,” Fin added. “Now go away. I need to speak with Chief Blake about some stuff.”
“Good, I’ll come with you.”
“Why? To the best of my knowledge, you have a wife and children. Go and annoy them.”
“But you were my first love.”
“If you go home to Bailey with a black eye, she’d be pissed right?”
“Right.”
They reached the police station just as the Ryker chief of police came out of the building.
“Chief Blake.”
“Maggs just called. Someone broke into Artsy Fartsy last night. Joan opened up this morning and found the mess. She called me after Maggs, so I’m heading there now.”
Fin turned and ran back down the road without a word to where he’d parked his cruiser outside Phil’s, with Joe on his heels. Jumping in the driver side, he fired up the engine, turned, and headed to the gallery.
“What the fuck is going on?” Joe snarled. “Murder, bank robbery, and now this?”
“I don’t know,” he managed to get out around the tightness in his chest.
“She’s okay, bud. Chief Blake said she wasn’t there.”
“Yeah, right, I know that.”
“Take a couple of breaths for me, Fin. Your knuckles are white on the wheel.”
He did as his friend told him and felt calmer as he pulled up at the gallery, but only marginally.
Parking, he leapt out and ran inside Artsy Fartsy. He saw her right off. She’d clearly showered recently, as her hair was a mass of wild wet curls, and her face was tight with worry. His heart literally sighed just looking at her, and right then he gave up the fight.
Her eyes found his, and he saw the anger and devastation.
“You okay?” He moved to her side, slipping an arm around her shoulders.
>
“Some bastard broke in here and ransacked my place. I’m definitely not okay!”
“Gotcha.”
She wasn’t crying, but Fin thought it was close. He ran a hand down her back; it was rigid.
“I don’t understand why.” The words were tight. “I sent Joan home, she was so upset. No point in her being here, as we won’t open today.”
“Did she touch anything, Maggs?” Chief Blake asked her.
“No, I told her to just stay outside.”
“Good. I need to speak with her. I’ll head there after.”
“The worst is in the store room.”
Fin heard Chief Blake and Joe discussing what had happened while he went into the back room to take a look. The gallery itself looked undamaged. Entering, he saw the carnage. The back door hung open. Things seem to have been thrown everywhere. Paper, packing stuff, all in a mess on the floor.
“Clearly they were looking for something.” Chief Blake joined him. “Joss Holden’s car was broken into not far from here and ransacked. I wonder if it’s the same people. My guess is they were after money.”
“What morons would break into an art gallery and think they’d find cash?” Fin said.
“Morons high on something,” Chief Blake said. “My hope is the fingerprints they left behind will help ID them. We’ve had a spate of thefts lately, and only money has been taken.”
“And you think it’s people looking for drug money?” Joe asked.
“It fits. We’ve already arrested Ned Sotheby’s boy. Found him high as a kite walking over the roofs of parked cars on the main street.”
“Okay, so they tried for money in my safe, then got angry and just went on a destructive rampage?”
“That’s my take, Maggie,” Chief Blake said. “Nothing here seems damaged, just thrown about the place, which adds weight to my theory that they were looking for money.”
“Great, that makes me feel better.”
“Just stating facts, Maggs.” Chief Blake rubbed her arm. “This type of thing is never easy on the recipient.”
“I feel violated.”
Fin pulled her to his side.
“This kind of shit just makes me really mad,” Joe said.
Amen, Fin thought. If he knew who’d done this, he’d go find them right now and beat the crap out of them. No one upset his girl like this and got away with it!