“Where do I go to get him?” Maybe she could pick Bailey up on the way home, because there was no doubt, Bailey was moving in with her. She’d always had a cat or two, but after her most recent one, Betty, died after nearly twenty-one years, she’d needed a longer grieving period.
Peter jotted a phone number on a business card and handed it to her.
“If you give her a call now, she might be there. She’s usually around most afternoons.”
Paige took the card and slipped it in her pocket. As soon as she was in her car, she pulled it out and called the number. An older woman answered and was thrilled when Paige asked about Bailey.
“He’s here waiting for you. Come by anytime. I’m not going anywhere today.”
Paige decided to go home first and brought all her groceries inside and put everything away before heading back out to Mrs. Crosby’s house. She had second thoughts for a slight moment as she walked toward the front door. Until she saw Bailey and picked him up and the little cat burrowed into her neck and purred so loudly that it made her laugh.
“He likes you! He’s not usually that friendly.”
“Can I take him now?” Paige didn’t want to go home without him.
“Of course you can. He hasn’t had his shots yet, but he’s just eight weeks old as of yesterday, so you can bring him into your vet and get it taken care of anytime.
“Great, I’ll do that.” Paige had brought Betty’s old carrier with her and lined it with clean towels right out of the dryer, so Bailey wouldn’t be confused by smelling another cat. He bounded into the carrier and immediately chased his tail while Paige fastened the doors. He meowed frantically all the way home, but it was a short drive and ten minutes later, they were inside and she opened the carrier doors to let him out. He spent the next hour exploring every nook and cranny of the house until he was so exhausted that he flopped down on the sofa and fell fast asleep. Paige ran out while he was sleeping and bought everything else she’d need, a litter box and litter, and plenty of cat food.
When she returned and was getting everything out of the car, her new neighbor Violet, was outside getting the mail. She waved when she saw her and then to Paige’s dismay, she walked over to talk to her.
“Paige, right? I know I’ve seen you around before.”
“I think I last saw you at the town meeting when you and a few others spoke up against my good friend Lisa’s new bed-and-breakfast.”
Violet hesitated for a moment, then smiled brightly and said, “Well, that turned out all right in the end, didn’t it? She has her license now.”
“She does, yes. Can I help you with something?” Paige was anxious to get inside and check on Bailey.
“Oh no. I just wanted to say hello, since we’re neighbors now. If you ever need anything, just holler.”
Paige couldn’t imagine what she’d ever need from Violet, but she nodded anyway.
“Sure. I’ll do that.” She took a step toward the house and Violet did too.
“Do you have a cat?”
“I do now, just got him today, so I need to get this stuff in before he does something he shouldn’t.”
“Oh! How exciting, well I won’t keep you then.”
“Goodbye, Violet.”
“I missed you.” Rhett took the last sip of his coffee and waited for Lisa’s reaction before getting up for a refill. They were sitting in the dining room at a little past eight in the morning and no one else was up yet. He’d arrived home late the night before, coming in on the last flight over and hadn’t wanted to wake her. They’d chatted about nothing in particular for the past twenty minutes as he sipped his first cup of coffee and Lisa ate a toasted bagel, and then out of nowhere, Rhett said that he missed her. Lisa’s heart swelled because she’d missed him too, more than she’d expected.
“I missed you too. It was quiet around here with you gone,” she admitted.
The lazy smile that she’d grown to love spread across his face as he reached out and took her hand.
“I’ve grown to really like it here. I don’t have any plans to leave again anytime soon.”
Lisa matched his smile with one of her own. Rhett was telling her in his own way, not to worry about him leaving. And it had been in the back of her mind and was keeping her from opening herself up fully to him. Just in case this was a temporary thing. She knew he had other business interests off-island and there were many business owners that closed up shop after Columbus Day weekend in October and went elsewhere for the winter. She didn’t want Rhett to go elsewhere.
“I’d like to stick around through the winter, if you’ll have me.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and met her eyes with his own, waiting.
She simply nodded and said, “Yes. Yes, of course I’ll have you. I’ve gotten kind of used to having you around.”
He chuckled and let go of her hand. “Good, because you’re stuck with me, now.” He got up and refilled his coffee and helped himself to a blueberry muffin.
As he sat back down, there was a knock at the front door, surprising them both.
“Were you expecting anyone?”
“No. Certainly not this early. I’ll go see who it is.” Lisa got up and made her way to the front door. She glanced out the small side windowpane and was surprised to see Brad Livingston there. He’d been on the football team with Chase and after graduating from college he’d joined the Nantucket police force. He smiled awkwardly when Lisa opened the door to let him in.
“Nice to see you, Mrs. Hodges. I’m sorry not to call first, but I was just down the street when I got word to talk to you, so I figured I’d stop by and see if you might be available.”
“Of course, come on in, Brad. How’s your mother and your dad? I hope they’re well?” Lisa hadn’t seen them in ages, now that the kids were grown.
He nodded. “They are, thanks.” He shifted back and forth and Lisa could tell he wasn’t entirely comfortable with whatever it was he needed to talk to her about.
“Have a seat, Brad. Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea?” He sat carefully on one end of her living room sofa. She chose a single chair facing him and waited to see what his visit was all about.
“No, thanks. I’m good. This shouldn’t take too long hopefully. I just have a few quick questions.”
“All right. How can I help?”
“Well, does the name Tom Smith ring a bell?”
Lisa nodded. “Yes, he was supposed to check in last Friday.”
“And you never saw him?”
“No. And the strangest thing was he prepaid for the weekend too.”
“He never showed up, but he paid in full? That is strange. Was it supposed to just be him or was there anyone else coming with him?”
“The reservation was just for one person. But I did get a call from his wife on Sunday. He was due home in the early afternoon and she never heard from him. I told her to call the local police and hospitals, both here and at home.”
“She did call us. We had to give her some bad news, unfortunately. Someone drove him to the ER and dropped him off. He was having chest pains. They ran some tests and were prepping to fly him to Boston, but he didn’t make it.”
“Oh, that’s awful. But why are you investigating? Was there something else going on?”
“We’re not sure. It’s certainly strange that he paid in full to stay here for the weekend and never showed up. He didn’t come into the hospital until Sunday and we don’t know how he got there or where he was all weekend. He wouldn’t say, which the nurses made a note of. They thought it seemed strange.”
“I wish I could help, but I’m afraid I never saw him at all.”
Brad nodded and stood up. “I figured as much, but we have to check everything. There’s not much to go on.”
“Do you think he was murdered? You said it was a heart attack?”
“It was probably natural causes, but given the situation, we owe it to his wife to see what we can find out. Heart attacks can be induced you know.”
“Oh. I never thought about that.” Lisa didn’t know such a thing was possible.
“It’s unlikely, as I said, but at least we can give his wife peace of mind by letting her know for sure and maybe getting some answers for her as to where he was. Though, maybe that’s information she won’t want to know. Hard to say.”
“Good luck, Brad. I hope you figure it out. I wish I could have been more helpful.”
“You have been. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
* * *
6
Kristen wiped a stray piece of hair off her forehead and tried to tuck it back into her ponytail. She’d been outside all afternoon, working on a landscape scene that focused on the gorgeous Virginia roses that lined her back yard. They were the prettiest deep shade of pink and she’d been meaning to paint them ever since she moved into her cottage a few years ago. Her place was small, but it was perfect for her. She used the dining room as her art studio and spent most of her time in the warmer months, on the enclosed porch.
She stood to stretch and loosen up muscles that were tight from sitting for too long. She needed to be better about taking breaks to walk around, but when she was in the zone, those good intentions flew out the window. She assessed her work for the day and was relatively pleased with what she saw. It wasn’t done yet, but it was coming along nicely and she might be able to finish up the next day, as long as the light was right.
She turned at the sound of a large truck coming down her quiet street. It looked like a moving truck and stopped at the cottage next door. She hadn’t seen any signs of her grumpy new neighbor yet, but guessed he’d be making an appearance soon.
Sure enough, a moment later, a black BMW sedan pulled up behind the moving truck and she watched as Tyler got out of the car and walked up to the truck. She couldn’t hear anything, but a moment later, the back door of the truck opened and three movers started moving furniture into the house. Tyler disappeared inside and Kristen watched the activity for a few minutes, as the movers carried in heavy-looking dark wood furniture, a desk, leather sofas, all very masculine looking, from what she could see. Much of it was wrapped in moving blankets, so she could only catch an occasional glimpse. She didn’t expect to see much more than that as Tyler didn’t strike her as interested in having her over for tea anytime soon.
She smiled at the thought and stood to put her supplies away for the day. Then went inside to take a hot shower. Once she was dried off and finished combing out her hair, she went to call Sean to confirm what time they were meeting for dinner. It was their three year anniversary and when he’d suggested dinner out, she’d assumed it was to celebrate the milestone. Though they went out to dinner regularly.
She had a missed call and a voicemail from Sean and clicked play to listen.
“Hey, Kristen, I need to reschedule. Something has come up at work, a new client is in town that I need to meet with. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
She sighed. There was no mention of their anniversary. She was pretty sure it was just going to be another dinner out in Sean’s eyes so not a big deal to him to cancel. They could do it another night. For Kristen though, it was the push she needed to do what she’d been putting off.
She had the whole night ahead of her and no plans and she was in the mindset to do something. She didn’t want to bother Kate as she knew she likely had plans with Jack now that they were living together. But maybe Abby might feel like doing something.
She dialed her sister and Abby picked up on the first ring. And as it turned out, she had no plans.
“I’d love the company. I’m not really up for going out, but maybe we can get some takeout and relax here. Jeff’s out for the evening.”
“Great, I’ll see you around six then. What can I bring?”
“Well, if it’s not too much trouble, I am running low on Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. That’s my favorite flavor this week.”
Kristen laughed. “I can do that. See you in a bit.”
She stopped at Stop and Shop for Abby’s ice cream and then at Bradford’s Liquors for a bottle of chardonnay. When she arrived at Abby’s, she handed her the brown bag.
“Here you go. Ice cream for you, and wine for me.” She took the wine into the kitchen to find an opener and her sister followed and got a wine glass out of a cupboard for her. Abby raised her eyebrows when she saw the label on the bottle.
“La Crema, nice. That used to be my special occasion wine. Jeff would get it for my birthday or our anniversary.” She stopped and looked at Kristen intently.
“Today’s not a special occasion, is it?”
Kristen filled her wine glass to the rim and put the bottle in the refrigerator to keep cool.
“It was. It’s our third year anniversary, and we had dinner plans.”
“Uh-oh. I think I know where this is going.”
Kristen nodded. “Same place it always goes. Sean totally forgot. I think our dinner plans were just another night out to him. That’s all we really do is go out to dinner, not that I usually mind, but still.”
“He canceled?”
“Yeah. He’s meeting with a new client. I wouldn’t mind so much if it wasn’t such a common thing, and I actually thought that maybe since he’d made dinner plans, that he had something special in mind for our anniversary. That was silly of me.”
“No, it’s not silly. Let’s go into the living room and get comfortable. Are you hungry?”
Kristen hadn’t thought about food all day and realized that she’d missed lunch again. Her stomach rumbled at the mention of food.
“I guess I am.”
“Let’s order Chinese. It will take a while, but they deliver.” Abby found the menu and called in an order for chicken fingers, lo mein, egg rolls and house fried rice. Kristen thought it was too much food, but Abby couldn’t decide so they just ordered everything she was craving.
Kristen sank into Abby’s plush living room sofa and felt like she was being wrapped in a big hug.
“Isn’t that sofa great? You can see why it’s hard to get out of it. I’ve been living on it lately.” Abby was sprawled across the matching love seat, sipping an iced tea.
“I don’t want to get up either. How’s Jeff? You mentioned that he’s out tonight?” Abby seemed content lately and Kristen was glad that they’d seemed to have ironed out their issues.
“He’s good. We’re good.” Abby patted her stomach and smiled. “I’ve been the one falling asleep early lately, so I’ve been encouraging him to go out more with his friends. I’m in nesting mode, content to just curl up on the sofa and click.”
“That sounds nice. Are you watching anything good? I need a new show to follow.”
“I have two new favorites. An older Lifetime show, Drop Dead Diva, it’s super cute and Killing Eve.” She laughed. “They’re like night and day, but both are good.”
“I’ll check them out.” Kristen noticed that her sister was still absentmindedly patting her belly.
“How’s everything going with the baby? How are you feeling?”
“Good! The morning sickness is pretty much gone and now I’m just hungry all the time. And it’s not like I needed any help there. I do have some news though….it’s a bit of an update about the baby.”
“You’re not having a boy?” Kristen guessed.
Abby laughed. “Yes. It’s a girl. They thought it was a boy on the first ultrasound but turned out to just be a shadow. I guess that happens a lot. They have a better picture now.”
“A girl. How awesome. Of course it would be just as exciting if it was a boy.”
“I was secretly hoping for a girl, though I’d love a boy too. I just think it’s going to be so much fun buying little girl outfits.”
Kristen smiled. “There’s no shortage of those on the island. Congratulations!”
“Thank you. I just found out today, so you’re the first to know.”
Kristen was glad to hear it. “Well that’s one bright light on an otherwise darkish day.”
They chatted for another half-hour until there was a knock on the door and their takeout arrived. Abby got paper plates, napkins and utensils while Kristen set the boxes on the coffee table and opened up the cartons. They were both too comfortable to leave the living room sofas.
Once they filled their plates, they ate their fill. After Abby had moved on to her ice cream, and Kristen added a splash more wine to her glass, Abby asked the question that Kristen had been thinking about ever since Sean’s call.
“So, what are you going to do about Sean?”
Kristen took a slow sip of wine and sighed. “I think it’s time. I gave him a second chance, against my better judgment. Nothing has really changed. And I’ve realized this isn’t the person I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
Abby nodded and Kristen knew she understood. “You need to be happy. So when will you let him know?”
“Soon. Very soon.”
Two days later, after ignoring several voice messages, Kristen called Sean. He was apologetic, especially in his third voice message when he apparently remembered that it had been their anniversary. She wasn’t moved by his messages though. She was over it and clear about what she needed to do. But she didn’t want to do it over the phone.
So, she texted him and said she needed to talk to him and asked if he was free for lunch. He didn’t reply right away, and when he did, his message didn’t surprise her. They never went to lunch, not during a work day. So, he likely suspected what was coming.
“I can’t do lunch. I’m booked solid all day. But I want to see you. Can we meet for dinner? How about Millie’s at six?”
Kristen really didn’t want to do a long, drawn out dinner. But Millie’s was her favorite restaurant, and the service was so fast, that it would be over and done with quickly.
“Fine, see you at six.”
When Kristen pulled into the parking lot at Millie’s, she saw Sean’s Mercedes parked out front. He was probably in the bar upstairs, that’s where he liked to sit whenever they came here. The ocean views from the second floor were spectacular. Kristen made her way upstairs, glad that he hadn’t suggested the Straight Wharf or one of the other fancier places downtown that would have been more his typical choice. She liked the food at Millie’s, but she also liked the beachy, casual feel of it, with the light wood, open space and lots of windows.
Nantucket Neighbors Page 5
