by Judi Lynn
“I’m meeting Olivia, Didi, and Elspeth at the Gas House,” Jazzi said.
“Nice.” Jerod turned to Ansel.
“Walker, Thane, and Radley are coming to our place to help me work on the basement. We’re not going out, so Walker’s bringing River with him.”
Jerod rubbed a hand across his forehead. “I feel bad. You guys helped me build my kids’ playroom, and I haven’t come through for you.”
Jazzi stared at him. “You have a baby! You don’t have time.”
Ansel grinned. “Another reason I wanted to build ours now, before Walker and Didi are losing sleep over their future baby girl.”
“That’s fair,” Jerod told him. “You guys helped all of us with our projects.”
Jazzi reached across the table to slap his shoulder. “We’re family. That’s what we do. We’re there for one another.”
“Well, once Pete’s a little older, if you guys need anything…”
Jazzi cut him off. “We know. Now quit fussing. Let’s finish up here so we can go home.”
By the time they left at four thirty, the kitchen was gutted and painted.
Once home, Jazzi hurried to shower and do her hair and makeup. Her sister, Olivia, came straight from the salon on Thursdays, and she always looked glamorous. Elspeth came from her job, too, and looked professional. So Jazzi and Didi tried harder than usual to be presentable.
As Jazzi pulled into the Gas House’s parking lot, she thought about Reuben and Isabelle. She and Ansel often met her former upstairs neighbor and his wife here for supper, but it had been a while. She’d have to call Reuben to set something up. When she’d moved out of the bottom floor of the old Victorian in West Central, they’d sworn they wouldn’t lose track of each other, but life got busy.
Didi was already in the restaurant when Jazzi got there. And Olivia and Elspeth walked in a minute after Jazzi got seated. The waitress came to get their drink order, and then they settled in to talk.
Didi reached for her water glass and winced. Putting a hand to her stomach, she said, “This baby loves to kick. My insides must be bruised by now.”
Jazzi, Olivia, and Elspeth looked at one another. None of them had experienced the joys of pregnancy and childbirth yet, and at the moment, watching Didi, they all looked glad of that.
Then Didi beamed. “Walker and I have started decorating the nursery. He’d have pink everything if I let him. He’s so excited about having a girl.”
Olivia snorted. “That kid is going to have him wrapped around her little finger. Our dad was a sucker for girls, too,” she said, glancing at Jazzi.
A lot of dads and daughters had special relationships. Not poor Jessica, though. Her father was her biggest detractor.
Olivia watched her and shook her head. “You’re thinking of Jessica. Stop that. Not tonight. Tonight is about girl power and gossip, having fun.”
Jazzi forced a smile. Her sister was right. She pushed Jessica out of her mind. Their wine came, and Jazzi took a sip of hers. “Mom balanced Dad out. She was the disciplinarian.”
“So was my mom,” Elspeth said. “But if she told Dad that we’d driven her nuts that day, he always took Mom’s side. Whatever she said, went.”
“You’ve waited a while to do the nursery, haven’t you?” Olivia asked Didi.
With a sigh, Didi nodded. “I’m a little superstitious. I didn’t want to jinx anything, so we waited until the doctor told us the baby would be fine, even if she came early.”
“Have you picked out a name?” Elspeth asked.
“Not yet. Same reason. I didn’t want to rush things.”
The waitress came to take their orders. Once she left, Elspeth turned to Olivia. “Radley and Thane are installing a heating/cooling system together at some factory. Thane told him that you guys are doing another house project.”
Olivia’s brown eyes lit up. “We’re having a gazebo built in our backyard. Thane likes to grill, so we’re making an entertaining area outside. Thane’s wanted one ever since he saw Jazzi and Ansel’s by their pond.”
“You’re going to love it,” Jazzi said. “We use ours a lot.” Ansel had a charcoal grill by theirs, along with a picnic table.
Didi rested her hands on her stomach. She did that a lot these days. “Talking about entertaining, River was excited about going with Walker tonight to work on your basement. He can hardly wait until your Halloween party.”
A party. That’s how Jessica…Jazzi pushed the thought away.
Olivia gave her a look, then said, “Neither can I. It’s going to be fun. I love parties.” Her eyes lit up. “I’ve got it! Why don’t we all dress up? Every single one of us should wear a costume.”
Jazzi groaned, but Elspeth leaned forward, grinning. “I can sew outfits for Radley and me.”
Sew? Jazzi could hardly thread a needle. “How complicated are you thinking about?”
“We can rent costumes from Stoner’s downtown,” Olivia said. “Maybe I could come as Cleopatra.”
Eww! Did that mean Thane would come as Julius Caesar? Jazzi couldn’t imagine him in a toga. “I don’t like dressing up.”
“You can make an exception for Halloween.” Her sister ignored her whining.
Didi looked down at her protruding belly. “Do they rent costumes for pregnant women?”
Olivia waved her off. “You’ll think of something. This will be fun!”
Their food came, and Jazzi stewed while she ate her crab cakes. It was one thing finishing the basement for the party, another to make food for it, but costumes? Ugh!
Olivia’s face crumpled, and she sighed. “I know that look. It’s your party. If you don’t want to bother with costumes, that’s fine.”
Elspeth looked disappointed, too. Jazzi rolled her eyes. Olivia was using one of her little sister ploys on her and she knew it, but Olivia looked so disappointed—another thing she’d perfected—that Jazzi sighed and gave in to the inevitable. “Just don’t expect ours to be anything wonderful.”
Olivia smiled, completely unrepentant and happy to have gotten her way. “Whatever you say.”
Yeah, right. Jazzi had been had by a pro. She and Ansel would have to think up some kind of costumes or they’d look like poor sports. Her sister had outmaneuvered her and she had to admit it.
When she got home that night, the cats ran to meet her. She stooped to pet them both, then went to find her husband. He was in the basement with George. The walls were taped and mudded, and he was holding up paint chips, putting most in a throwaway pile but keeping a few.
When he saw her, he smiled. “What do you think?”
“Olivia’s decided we all have to wear costumes to the Halloween party.”
“Great! That’ll be fun.”
Of course he’d think that. Jazzi glanced at the three paint chips he’d taped to the wall. “I like the soft, sandy color.”
He nodded. “I do, too.”
They made their way upstairs and sat at the kitchen island. Ansel drank one last beer and she had another glass of wine, and they shared any news they’d learned. Ansel was excited that Thane was building a gazebo, and he got sentimental about Walker wanting an all-pink room for his baby girl. Jazzi watched his expression and smiled. When they decided to have kids, he’d make a wonderful father.
Finally, they headed upstairs. The cats jumped on the bed and begged for attention while they changed into their pajamas, and even George wanted extra petting before he settled in his dog bed. Then Inky curled next to her, and Marmalade pressed herself against Ansel.
As she drifted to sleep, Jazzi thought about Jessica. She’d written about how happy she was the day of her graduation party, how proud her mother was of her. Her friends were all coming to celebrate with her. She must have been happy until the moment someone gave her a hard push and sent her over the balcony railing. Jazzi bit her bottom lip,
more determined than ever to find Jessica’s four best friends to talk to them. Friends were the ones she shared secrets with. And Jazzi wanted to know what some of those secrets might be. Over the weekend, she was going to scan through Jessica’s journals again and write down the girls’ names, then look them up.
Chapter 15
On Friday, Jazzi, Jerod, and Ansel spent the entire day on their hands and knees, installing the new kitchen floor. They’d picked a pattern that took more time than usual—a stone tile with the look of marble, a white lantern pattern with blue dots connecting the lantern shapes. By lunch, they’d only covered half the space needed, and Jazzi was beginning to hate everything about it. Once it was finished, she’d love it again, but at the moment, her eyes saw swirls everywhere she looked.
They were sitting in the living room at the card table, eating roast beef sandwiches, not talking much, when Leesa called. Jazzi was glad for the distraction, but she didn’t have much news for her friend.
“I know this is short notice,” Leesa began, “but Damian and Kelsey are coming in this weekend, and we wondered if we could meet you guys for supper at Dicky’s Wild Hare tonight.”
Jazzi glanced at Ansel. “Supper with Leesa and Brett?” she asked. When he gave a quick nod, she said, “We’re on.” They both liked the restaurant, and it was on the north side of River Bluffs, so it wouldn’t take long to reach it. Traffic on Friday nights was always busier than usual, but not impossible.
“Good, see you at six. And thanks.” Leesa clicked off.
“This is a good night to eat out,” Jerod said, wadding up his paper plate and napkin to pitch in the trash bin. “I’m not going to have much energy after fussing with this floor all day. I’m grabbing takeout on the way home.”
“I’m glad we don’t lay this pattern very often,” Ansel agreed. “It’s fine for a small space, like a bathroom, but this kitchen’s huge. Let’s get back at it. I don’t want to face it again on Monday.”
They pushed harder than before, and they were all relieved when they laid the last tile. The cabinets and appliances were being delivered on Monday. The floor would have the entire weekend to set.
Ansel carried George to their work van, and Jerod waved as he walked to his truck. “See you on Sunday. I might have energy by then.”
Jazzi wasn’t worried. Her cousin always had enough energy for the family meal. On the drive home, Ansel let out a long breath. “Maybe we’ll skip working on the basement tomorrow.”
Jazzi stifled a cheer. Her Norseman was losing steam, too. She wasn’t the only one. It was never fun to sand drywall, but it needed doing. She sighed. “It won’t take us long to sand the walls and clean the dust. Then we can relax the rest of the day.”
“No, we can’t. We’ll have to go to the store and fix something for the family meal on Sunday.” Ansel rarely grumbled. He was raised on a dairy farm and was used to getting up to work every day.
She shrugged. “We like cooking together. We’ll turn on music and make something easy.”
“That’s what you always say.”
She turned to look at him. “Do you want to cancel everything and have a quiet weekend?”
“No. Sorry.” He ran a hand through his blond hair. “I like having your family over. It’s my fault we’ve tried to do too much in too little time. I should have held off on the Halloween party.”
“Everyone’s excited,” she said. “It’s like the kitchen floor. It took more time than we expected, but we’ll love it once it’s done.”
He gave her a grateful smile. “Thanks, Jaz. River’s sure excited about it.”
“So is everyone else. We’ll just have to get up to speed.”
He laughed. “You’re right. The big stuff’s almost done. Then we can do the fun stuff, like decorate and install the pool table and arcade.”
“Don’t forget your big-screen TV.”
He grinned. “Yeah, I have to keep the end goal in mind.”
Once they’d sanded and painted, he’d be excited again. They were close. When they reached the pumpkin patch on the highway, she motioned for him to pull in. “Let’s buy enough for the kids to decorate our back patio when they come on Sunday.”
He liked the idea and loaded a bunch of them in the back of the van.
When they reached the house, they hurried through their normal routine. Inky and Marmalade were used to them going out on Friday nights, but George, as usual, pouted. Ansel snuck all of them a few extra treats. Then they got ready and drove to the restaurant.
They got lucky and found the last parking space in the main lot. Dicky’s did a mean barbecue and had a brewery, too. It was a popular spot. When they walked into the lobby, Leesa was waiting for them.
“The guys and Kelsey are saving a table for us. Come on.”
While they ordered drinks and food, they made small talk, catching up with one another. But once the niceties were out of the way, Brett said, “Have you learned anything? What’s going on?”
Jazzi told them what she knew. “It isn’t much, but the case is old. It’s been slow going.”
Damian rubbed his chin, thinking. “You know, RJ was right when he told you he could remember exactly where he was and who he was with when Jessica fell. We all heard her scream. I’ll never forget it. I was with Jillian. When the detective asked about it, he wouldn’t use her as an alibi.”
“They wanted you to be guilty that much?”
“Lila did. She swore she saw me going upstairs right before Jessica fell. But the detective didn’t believe much of what she said either. She was too determined to throw me under the bus.”
Jazzi turned to Kelsey. “Were you with someone who gave you an alibi?”
She shook her head. “I was in the bathroom. I’d drunk too much punch, but I could still hear Jessica’s scream. It gave me goose bumps.”
“But no alibi?”
“Everyone else was standing in line for food or hanging out.”
“Do you know where Lila was when Jessica fell?” Jazzi asked.
Just then, the waitress returned with their drinks and the appetizers they’d ordered. Ansel had gone with Shaggy Snacks—fried potato wedges with a dipping sauce. He reached for one. The man loved anything potato.
Damian took a sip of his beer before answering. He shook his head. “Jillian and I were in the kitchen at the punch bowl. We wanted to get away from the noise for a minute. I didn’t keep track of Lila.”
“What about RJ’s aunt?”
“Can’t help you,” he said. “Whenever I saw her coming, I ran.”
Jazzi laughed. “So did RJ.” She bit into one of the potato wedges. “Wow, this is good. What were Jessica’s friends like?”
Damian’s face lit up, smiling. “The Fantastic Five? That’s what RJ dubbed them. Jessica and her four buddies made a neat group. All attractive. All supersmart. And all different from one another.”
That caught Ansel’s interest. “How different?”
“Darcie Winters was a nature girl, always preaching about the environment. Jillian Hendricks was the artist of the group. She made most of the drama settings and painted all the murals around the school. Felicity Kellman was in Future Teachers of America and went on and on about child development, and Molly Kroft loved antiques and was forever rearranging things. They were all in to biking and hiking. Not one of them was shy about expressing their views.”
Kelsey grinned. “They were a force to be reckoned with. Not a snob among them, and they all came from money. All down-to-earth and idealists.”
Damian looked at her, surprised. “I thought you hated Jessica.”
“I was jealous of her, but I admired her. She was light-years ahead of all of us. I wish we could have seen what she’d do with her life. She’s the type who’d have made a difference.”
He pressed his lips together in a tight line, suddenl
y serious. “Such a waste. For all of us.”
Their meals came, and they dug in. Ansel started with the ribs on his combination plate. Jazzi had ordered the fish tacos. The moans around the table attested to how good everything tasted.
Once they’d slowed a bit, Jazzi said, “I’ve been reading some of Jessica’s journals, but I can’t figure out how she and Alwin got along. Was her brother nicer to her than their dad was?”
Damian and Kelsey glanced at each, frowning. Finally, Damian said, “They had sort of an odd relationship. It’s hard to explain.”
Kelsey nodded. “Alwin was proud of her, you could tell, and was even a little protective of her, but never around their dad. They never did anything together. If they were at the same school dance, they never talked to each other or hung out. He didn’t even tease her, like most brothers do.”
Some shredded cabbage slipped out of Jazzi’s taco, and she leaned over her plate to avoid a mess. “Their dad must have made it hard for them to get along.”
Damian blotted barbecue sauce off his lips. His pulled pork sandwich looked delicious. “Jessica was always extra-kind to him. It was almost like she tried to bolster his confidence.”
Kelsey tilted her head, looking thoughtful. “It had to be hard on Alwin, having her for a sister. He couldn’t compete. And even when he did things well, it didn’t make him more popular. He was a good, solid player on the basketball team, but everyone knew Damian was the star, and RJ was a close second. Plus, there was just something about Alwin. He was sort of reserved, and you were never sure if he actually liked you. He’d bottle things up and then just explode. Jessica was beautiful, but he was sort of drab. He was easy to overlook.”
Jazzi almost felt sorry for him. She wondered if he’d blossomed once he was out of Jessica’s shadow. “Do most of Jessica’s friends still live in Merlot?”
Damian glanced at Brett for an answer.
“All four girls returned after college,” Brett said. “Darcie became a master gardener and owns a landscaping business. Jillian owns a craft shop in town. Felicity teaches grade school, and Molly’s an interior decorator who lives in Merlot but travels to take care of important clients.”
