Spirited Away

by Lena Gregory

  Tears spilled down her cheeks as she gathered what she needed to clean up, not because of the broken case, but because she couldn’t help but feel like the man had been right. What was she doing? Obviously, not helping people, which had been her intention all along.

  Careful to avoid the shards of glass still clinging to the case, Cass righted the wooden base. She shook the garbage bag open, set a big basket just out of the mess, and started picking up the larger chunks of glass from the floor, careful to separate the crystals, wipe them off, and put them into the basket.

  When she’d first decided to remain on Bay Island, after her parents’ funeral, she’d dreamed of opening the small shop on the boardwalk, a comfortable walk down the beach from her childhood home. She’d dreamed of using her skills to help people, of connecting with them on a more personal level than a doctor-patient relationship would allow for.

  The wind chimes tinkled, and Cass’s gaze shot to the door. “Hold on.”

  “Oh, my.” Grace Collins stopped short and stared at the mess. “What happened, dear?”

  Cass stood and brushed off her hands. “Good morning, Grace, it’s so good to see you.”

  That statement couldn’t have been truer. The elderly woman had come to Cass not long after she’d first opened seeking, of all things, a love potion. “Where’s Rudy today?”

  “He’s visiting a friend on the mainland, but . . .” She hesitated.

  “Is everything all right?” Cass didn’t think she could bear to hear something had gone wrong. Not this morning, not after everything else that had happened, not when that feeling of impending doom sat in her gut like it had over the past few days. “Is Rudy okay? Sadie? The baby?”

  Cass had “helped” Grace’s granddaughter when she’d been depressed over not being able to conceive, and Grace had come into the shop seeking something to make her feel better. Grace and Sadie both credited Cass’s mix of crystals and essential oils for her luck in getting pregnant soon after. And it could be true, if the assistance Cass had offered had helped Sadie relax enough to let nature take its course.

  “Sadie and the baby are both fine.” Grace took one of Cass’s hands in both of hers and laughed. “I took Sadie shopping for maternity clothes last weekend, if you can imagine. Just between us, she barely has more than a bump.”

  Cass laughed with her, relieved everything was going well. “Can I get you something? Tea? A cold water?”

  “No, no, dear, thank you, though. What happened here?” She gestured to the mess as Cass led her to a small seating section.

  “Oh, it’s fine.” She left Grace sitting on the couch for a moment, turned both signs to Closed, and locked the doors. She rarely locked up in the middle of the day, but she couldn’t have people traipsing through broken glass, and she was going to take a few moments to sit with Grace, who’d become a good friend since she’d first come in. Cass settled in an armchair across from Grace. “So, tell me, what brings you in this morning?”

  “Well, dear, I, uh . . .” She smoothed a hand over her tight blue-gray curls. “I heard about what happened last night, and I just wanted to come in and see how you were doing.”

  Tears pooled in Cass’s eyes, and she tried to blink them away before Grace could notice.

  Although Grace was too sharp to miss them, she simply waited while Cass got a grip on herself.

  “Thank you, Grace, I’m doing okay.”

  Turbulence danced in Grace’s gray eyes. “Are you sure?”

  Cass shrugged. What could she say? That she was second-guessing her entire life, wondering if she’d made the right choice staying on Bay Island?

  “I met with the ladies from the senior club this morning, and they were discussing the fight and, of course, the murder, and I just wanted to make sure you weren’t feeling responsible.” Just like Grace to cut to the chase.

  Though Cass was sort of relieved the gossip had been about the murder and not her screwup with Aiden, Nanette, and the other couple she’d inadvertently embarrassed, her heart ached for Emmett. And even worse, for Joey, whose father had become the newest gossip fodder. “Emmett is a good man. There’s no way he could have had anything to do with what happened to Dirk.”

  “Actually, that does seem to be the general consensus.”

  “Really?” Why did that surprise her? Emmett was a local and well-liked. But even she had to admit, the evidence she’d heard about so far didn’t bode well.

  “Yes. The feud between those two goes way back, and if he didn’t kill Dirk way back when, chances are, he wouldn’t bother now.” Grace dug through her bag, pulled out a handkerchief, and mopped the back of her neck.

  “Are you okay? I’m sorry it’s so hot in here. The air conditioner broke, and I haven’t had a chance to get it repaired.” Cass jumped up and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, then handed it to Grace.

  “Thank you.” She took a few sips, then put the cap back on and set it on the coffee table.

  “We could sit out on the back deck if you’d like.” Not that there was much of a breeze, but it might be better than the sweltering heat in the shop with the doors closed.

  “No, no, that’s fine.” Grace waved her off with a laugh. “I’m not that fragile.”

  Though delicate, Grace was far from fragile.

  “So, what were you saying about Emmett?”

  Grace crossed one slim ankle over the other, adjusting her long, flowing print skirt to hang neatly. “I hadn’t given those two any thought in years, but Eleanor Cunningham was going on this morning about the scenes they used to cause on a regular basis. That was back before Joey was born, you know, when Emmett and Tanya were still dating.”

  “Tanya? Is that Emmett’s wife?” Emmett had never mentioned her name, hadn’t spoken about her at all that Cass could remember.

  “Yes, bless her soul.” Grace made the sign of the cross before continuing. “Very sad she passed so young, and with a little one at home too.”

  “What happened?” Although Cass knew she’d passed away when Joey was little, she didn’t know many details.

  “Emmett was a rough boy, played all kinds of sports, but he was never very outgoing, kind of socially awkward, if you know what I mean.”

  There was no arguing that. Emmett usually stuck to one-word answers, was not much on small talk, though he’d gotten a bit better since Cass had gotten to know him.

  “Anyway,” Grace continued, “Tanya, she was more outgoing, a cheerleader, captain of the debate team, a real go-getter. Dirk had a thing for her, and Dirk was very used to getting what he wanted, but Tanya’s heart belonged to Emmett.”

  A pretty classic story from what Cass could see. “So, they fought? Emmett and Dirk?”

  Grace’s blue eyes sparkled. “Often.”

  That made sense. Emmett had never struck her as violent, but the way he took care of Joey, jumped wholeheartedly into the things Joey enjoyed—which did not include any kind of sports—Cass could see where he would have been protective. Funny, Cass didn’t remember any of that from before she’d left Bay Island. Then again, Emmett was older than her and would have been ahead of her in school.

  “It didn’t really get bad until they were older, a few years after they’d graduated and Dirk’s persistence didn’t wane. From what Eleanor, who was friends with Emmett’s mother’s sister, said, Emmett started to get concerned that Dirk was stalking her, even tried to talk her into reporting him to the police, but Tanya didn’t want to cause a fuss.”

  That timing made more sense. Cass had probably already been gone by the time their conflicts had escalated.

  Grace fanned herself with her hand. “By the time Joey was born, Tanya had become an obsession to Dirk.”

  She’d have to hurry if she was going to get any more information before she’d need to open the doors again. “Had they ever dated? Tanya and Dirk, I mean?”

  “Not from what I’ve heard. Dirk was a spoiled boy, and not a very nice one—not to speak ill of the dead, mind you.
General consensus at the senior club is Dirk didn’t love Tanya; he just obsessed over her because he couldn’t have her. Ironically, if she had dated him, he probably would have gotten bored and moved on. When Tanya got sick, Emmett had his hands full between caring for her and taking care of a young boy. He started ignoring Dirk’s taunts, which just irritated Dirk even more.”

  Cass wasn’t surprised. If Dirk was as spoiled as Grace said, he wouldn’t have taken well to being ignored.

  “Once Tanya was gone, Dirk seemed to let things go. He and Emmett settled into a sort of peaceful but strained co-existence because they lived in the same small town and couldn’t always avoid each other. But by then, after Emmett kept refusing to engage, they tended to just ignore each other.”

  “From what you’ve heard, people don’t think Emmett killed him, though?” No one knew gossip like the members of the senior center, especially gossip rooted in Bay Island history. Except, of course, Bee. And possibly Emma.

  “Nah, trust me, Emmett wasn’t the only one with a grudge against Dirk.”

  “Did Dirk ever date other women or get married?”

  “He married once, but it didn’t last long. Dirk’s temper wasn’t conducive to marriage.” Grace took another drink of her water, then stood. “On that note, I’m going to go and let you get back to cleaning up so you can open the doors again.”

  “Thank you, Grace. For visiting and for making me feel better.”

  “Of course, dear.” Grace reached for Cass’s hand and clasped it in both of hers. “And don’t you let the rumors Aiden Hargrove is spreading get you down, either.”

  Cass resisted groaning out loud. If Aiden’s ire had already spread to the senior center, there was no stopping it. Spreading like wildfire, it would consume her.

  “I know how genuine you are, how much you care about people, and I’ll make sure everyone else knows too,” Grace promised.

  “Thank you, Grace.” Cass walked her to the door and watched her leave, then turned and surveyed the mess. It wasn’t going to clean itself up, and she couldn’t very well run the shop with glass all over. And she was going to keep it open, fight to restore her reputation, if need be. Customers like Grace, those who returned to her over and over again, happy that she’d helped them in some way, who believed in her, made it all worthwhile. Aiden Hargrove wasn’t going to take that from her.

  Chapter Eleven

  “I hope your wife enjoys her gift.” Cass pushed the register drawer shut, dropped a business card into the bag atop the customer’s purchases, and handed it to the gentleman. “Enjoy the rest of your day.”

  She checked the clock for the third time in the past five minutes. Still crawling toward three o’clock. Exhaustion burned her eyes, and she headed for the coffeepot, then paused. No way could she drink another cup of coffee in this stifling heat. What she needed was a diet soda, still loaded with caffeine but at least it would be cold.

  She grabbed her cell phone and dialed Bee’s number.

  It only rang once before he picked it up. “Hey, beautiful, what’s happening?”

  “I guess you weren’t still sleeping.” She’d have called anyway, but he was always more agreeable when she didn’t wake him.

  “No, but what if I was? Were you calling to wake me?”

  She paused, too exhausted to tell if his tone held humor or accusation.

  “Lighten up, Cass, I’m just kidding. You know I’m usually up earlier during the summer.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry, Bee, I’m just tired.” And the slow trickle of customers all day had left her bored, as well; it was a bad combination.

  “I imagine you must be, considering you didn’t get any sleep last night, you poor thing. Maybe it’s time for you to think about hiring some help.” Ever since Bee had hired an intern, he constantly harassed her about hiring help. Although she suspected it had something to do with him wanting her to hang out at the beach with him, she couldn’t say for certain. “At least then you could get a day off, maybe relax a little.”

  “We’ll see.” But they both knew she wouldn’t. Mystical Musings was her baby, and she preferred to run it alone. She’d set up seating arrangements throughout the shop and offered free refreshments if customers wanted to wait. Most did. At least, they had before she’d messed up. Now, who knew?

  It would probably depend on how far Aiden was willing to go to destroy her. Plus, the man who’d threatened her in the deli had his eye set toward revenge. Of the two, Aiden certainly had more influence on Bay Island, but the other man was an unknown, which made him scarier in a way.

  “If not for Tim doing an internship with me this summer, I’d have had to go into the shop already too.” Bee’s shop, Dreamweaver Designs, sat just down the boardwalk from Mystical Musings. During the winter months, he didn’t often open during the day unless a client scheduled an appointment. A good part of his inventory went to buyers, and a large portion of his business was done by appointment only. Bee was used to staying up all night, working in the back room of his shop until the wee hours of the morning, escaping to “the zone” so he didn’t have to deal with interruptions to his creativity, so he liked to sleep in.

  “I saw Tim the other day. He loves it. That was really nice of you to let him work with you.” Tim Daughtry had just finished his first year of school and was majoring in fashion design, a program Bee had helped him get into. “I’m glad he’s working out so well.”

  “He’s working out wonderfully. I’ve helped him with a few of his designs for his summer classes, and the boy is very talented. Anyway, I’m on my way into the shop. Would you like me to bring you coffee?”

  Her stomach rolled over. “If I drink another cup of coffee, I think I’ll be sick.”

  “Diet soda.” He knew her too well.

  “Perfect. Thanks, Bee.”

  “Did you eat lunch?” he asked.

  Her stomach growled. She hadn’t even thought of eating after most of her breakfast went in the garbage. “No, I didn’t have time.”

  “So, you’ve been busy then?”

  “Not exactly.” Unless you count cleaning up slivers of glass from pretty much everywhere. “At least not in the way you mean.”

  “Is something going on?”

  “I’ll explain when you get here.” No need to get into it all before she got her caffeine.

  “Fine. I’m on my way. Do you want me to bring something to eat, or do you want to see if Stephanie wants to meet up at Island Grill?”

  The barbeque place sat at the end of the boardwalk and only opened for the summers, despite repeated requests from the locals for it to stay open all year. The comfortable, homey atmosphere, dim lighting, soft music, and good food might be just the thing to help her relax, especially when shared with good friends. If she fed Beast at the shop, she could leave him there until they ate, then pick him up and go straight home and drop into bed. “Island Grill sounds great.”

  The wind chimes behind her signaled a customer coming in from the beach. “Gotta run, Bee. See ya in a few.”

  She turned to greet the older gentleman who’d walked in and held out her hand. “Good afternoon. I’m Cass.”

  “John Hicks.” The man smiled and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Can I help you with anything special today, or would you just like to browse?”

  “Well, I don’t know exactly.” His deeply tanned cheeks reddened, and the gold flecks in his brown eyes sparkled. He turned his wedding band around his finger, then pulled it up and down. “But I sure hope you can get me out of the mess I’ve gotten myself into.”

  Since he didn’t seem too distressed, she didn’t get the impression he was in any kind of real danger. She smiled. “In trouble with your wife?”

  “Ha!” He laughed. “You really are good. Cayden said you were a miracle worker. I just hope he’s right.”

  An ironworker in New York, Cayden suffered with rheumatoid arthritis. When he’d come to her out of desperation, she’d given h
im crystals to aid in healing, and he swore they worked. He and his wife, Sophie, had been loyal customers ever since. “How do you know Cayden?”

  “He’s a good friend. Actually, he’s the reason my wife and I are here on Bay Island. He and Sophie are always going on about it, so we figured we’d give it a try.”

  “I haven’t seen Cayden and Sophie in a while. How are they doing? How’s the baby?”

  “Oh, they’re great. And Cayden Junior is getting so big already, looks more and more like his mama every day.”

  “I’m so happy to hear that.” Though she wanted to ask about Estelle, Sophie’s mother, whom Cass had helped with some problems a few months earlier, Estelle’s problems were personal and had required more counseling than Cass could offer, so she let it drop. Maybe she’d give Sophie a call later and see how things were going. She should have remembered to do so sooner, but she’d been so swamped all summer, time had gotten away from her. Maybe Bee was right. Maybe she did need to hire someone. She shook off the thoughts and refocused on the man standing in front of her. Her mind tended to wander when she got overtired. “So, how do you like Bay Island so far? Is it living up to your expectations?”

  “We’ve only been here a few days, but so far we love it.” He lowered his gaze to his wedding ring. “Except, somehow, with the excitement of getting away for a couple of weeks, which we haven’t done in years, I forgot our anniversary.”

  She laughed. “That certainly explains the mess you’re in.”

  He looked at her eagerly. “Do you think you can help?”

  “I’m certainly going to try.” This was the kind of customer Cass loved. Someone she’d send home happy, someone she could help.

  “Oh, thank you.”

  “Does your wife believe in psychics?”

  “Yes, despite me trying to convince her that no one can actually speak to the dea . . . uh . . . I mean . . .” His eyes went wide, and his cheeks blazed a purplish shade of red. “Sorry. I didn’t mean—”

  She grinned. “Don’t worry about it. A lot of people don’t believe, and that’s okay. It’s your wife’s beliefs that matter.”