by Leena Clover
“This part is important,” Anna insisted. “I could tell something was out of place. I took my key out of my bag and started putting it in the lock. That’s when I realized the door was open.”
Julie, Mary and Cassie all exclaimed together.
“What did you do?” Mary asked in a whisper.
“Tell me you called the police right away?” Julie roared.
Anna shook her head.
“I looked around. Everything appeared fine. So I went in.”
“That was a stupid move,” Julie told her. “What if an intruder had been lying in wait for you inside?”
“It was 9 AM in the morning on a bright summer day,” Anna said lightly. “I had nothing to be afraid of.”
“Tell us what happened next, Mom,” Cassie said impatiently. “Had the store been robbed?”
“Everything looked just fine,” Anna said. “I heaved a sigh of relief. Who’s going to steal a bunch of books? And most of our purchases are by card so there isn’t much cash lying around.”
“So you went in,” Julie prompted.
“I walked over to the new section,” Anna explained, referring to the extension where the café was going to be. “That’s when I found a foot sticking out. I called the police right away.”
“I would have screamed the place down,” Mary said.
“Did you take a look at the body?” Julie asked curiously. “Anyone we know?”
“He looked like a handyman John had hired once to fix the roof. But I can’t be sure.”
“What was he doing in the store?” Cassie asked.
She was beginning to wonder if she had forgotten to lock the door the previous night. She had been in a hurry to get to the concert. She remembered tidying up the store and she remembered walking out. But had she pulled the door shut behind her? Anna hadn’t said anything about it yet.
“Who knows?” Anna shrugged.
“This doesn’t look good for you, Anna,” Julie said. “You wanna bet Lara Crawford is going to raise a big stink about this?”
Cassie’s frown deepened as she connected the dots.
“Aunt Julie’s right, Mom. Now you are wanted for two murders.”
“Hush, Cassie,” Mary said. “Your mother is innocent.”
“I know that, Aunt Mary, and you know that,” Cassie muttered. “But that won’t stop the police from making her life hell.”
Anna’s face had turned green. Julie rubbed her back and shot a warning look at Cassie.
“This is not one of your thriller films, Cassie,” Julie warned. “Stop exaggerating.”
Mary wove her arm through Anna’s and Julie did the same.
“We are here for you, Anna,” Julie said. “You don’t need to worry about a thing.”
Cassie looked at the three friends and felt a warm glow inside. The Firecrackers as they called themselves had been through a lot together. She was sure they would stand by her mother through this latest storm in her life.
“What about the bookstore?” she asked her mother. “I guess we can’t go back there today?”
“The police have sealed the store,” Anna sighed. “We have to wait until they give us the all-clear.”
“What about the café, Anna?” Julie asked. “Our grand opening is two days away.”
Cassie saw Anna’s shoulders slump. They had all worked really hard to ensure the café opening was a success. Invitations had gone out and advertisements had been placed in the local papers of the neighboring towns. A large crowd had been expected.
“It’s a blessing in disguise, Mom,” she said, plastering a wide smile on her face. “Now you have more time to tweak your orange thyme cupcake recipe.”
Chapter 3
The bright summer sunshine wasn’t doing much for Cassie’s mood the next morning. She stifled a yawn and stirred her coffee moodily, letting it grow cold. Anna was making mushroom and cheddar omelets for breakfast. Cassie watched as her mother flipped the golden omelets and plated them. Anna placed a stack of toast on the table along with a crock of fresh churned butter from the local Daisy Hollow farm.
“Who’s the third plate for?” Cassie asked, not feeling up to entertaining a guest that early in the morning.
“It’s for Meg. I invited her for breakfast.”
Cassie let out a rude exclamation.
“What do you have against her?” Anna asked. “You should be thanking the lord she has found us.”
“Why are you so infatuated with her, Mom?”
“She is my granddaughter. I am not just infatuated with her. I love her.”
“You barely know her.”
“And whose fault is that?” Anna muttered under her breath.
She climbed up on a stool and looked at Cassie pleadingly.
“I don’t blame you for what happened twenty years ago, sweetie. You were in a bad place and you did what you thought was best for you.”
“You didn’t think so then!” Cassie said darkly.
“No, I didn’t,” Anna sighed. “Neither did your father. We wanted to raise that child as our own. She should have grown up right here in this house, where she belonged.”
“Do you know how small this town is?” Cassie asked. “I would have been a laughing stock.”
“We could have spun it any way,” Anna shrugged. “But there’s no use talking about all that now. What’s done is done.”
Cassie stared moodily in the distance. Glimpses of her past flashed before her eyes. She had thought her life was over when she got pregnant at sixteen. All her dreams of being a famous Hollywood star had shattered right then. There was no way she was going to get her big break as a teen mom. So she had chosen to give the child up for adoption. Her parents had been against the idea. They wanted to raise the baby as their own. They were young and healthy and had the means to give the child a good life. But Cassie had been adamant.
“You are so fortunate, Cassie,” Anna said softly. “Life is giving you another chance. Embrace it with an open heart.”
“What do we really know about her, huh?” Cassie argued. “How can you be sure she is telling the truth? She could be an impostor.”
“Really, Cassie?” Anna shook her head sadly. “You don’t believe that.”
“I’m serious, Mom. We need to confirm her identity. Get a DNA test or something.”
“You watch too many movies, girl,” Anna spat. “I don’t need any test to tell me who she is. I can feel it here, in my heart.”
“Whatever!” Cassie rolled her eyes and stabbed her omelet with a fork. She began eating mindlessly, shoveling anything she could lay her hands on into her mouth.
“Meg will be here any minute,” Anna said, placing a plate in the oven to keep it warm. “You be nice to her. Or make yourself scarce.”
Truth be told, Cassie was curious about Meg. She had been shocked to the core when Meg revealed who she was. How was she supposed to guess that the young girl she had met around town and casually offered a job was the child she had given up for adoption twenty years ago?
Where had she been all these years? What had her life been like? Cassie supposed she should feel some kind of warmth toward this person who was her own flesh and blood. Maybe she just wasn’t cut out to be a mother. Giving Meg up might have been the best thing she did for her.
“I’m going for a swim. You can have your precious Meg to yourself, Mom.”
“Stay here for a while and say hello. It costs nothing to be polite.”
Cassie topped up her coffee and stood up to get some cream from the refrigerator. She liked her coffee to be really milky and sweet.
“Why don’t you get the paper from the porch?” Anna asked. “I forgot to bring it in this morning.”
Cassie made a big show of going to the front door and picking up the paper. She handed it to Anna with a bow. Two minutes later, Anna let out a small cry as she stared at the front page.
“What is it, Mom?” Cassie asked, trying to read the newspaper over her mother’s shoulder.
<
br /> Anna’s face was splashed over the front page of the Dolphin Bay Chronicle.
“Husband Killer Strikes Again”, ran the bold print.
The story explained how Anna Butler, a local resident who was the top suspect in her husband’s suspicious death was now implicated in another murder.
Cassie took one look at Anna’s face and snatched the paper away from her.
“Don’t read that trash.”
“The Chronicle is not trash,” Anna protested. “We have relied on it to give us the local news all our lives.”
“They seem to have crossed over into tabloid territory now.”
“This is going to be bad for business,” Anna frowned. “People might boycott the café if they believe all this nonsense.”
“You want my advice?” Cassie asked. “Distance yourself from all this. In fact, why don’t we go somewhere for a couple of weeks? Bobby will gladly put us up.”
“I’m not running away,” Anna said firmly. “That will only make me look guilty.”
“Don’t tell me you want to go sleuthing again, Mom. I really think you should stay out of it this time and let the police do their job.”
“You want me to trust your pal Teddy?” Anna cried. “He thinks I am guilty.”
Cassie hesitated.
“He didn’t exactly say that.”
“I’m not going to sit around and wait for him to slap the cuffs on my wrists.”
Cassie took one look at Anna’s mulish expression and knew she was fighting a losing battle.
“I can see that,” she sighed. “So what’s the plan?”
“I don’t know yet,” Anna said, “but I need to defend myself. Julie and Mary will agree with me.”
Cassie sat down and took Anna’s hand in hers.
“I’ll help too, Mom.”
Her lips stretched into a smile as her eyes twinkled with mischief.
“Don’t forget Gino. I’m sure he’ll do what he can to help you through this.”
Anna blushed.
“Now you’re being silly.”
The doorbell rang and Cassie went over to open the door. Meg stood outside, clutching a bunch of wildflowers in her hand. Cassie noticed the threadbare tee she was wearing and decided it came from a superstore rather than an upscale mall.
Meg gave her a wide grin and motioned toward the flowers.
“These are for Anna.”
“Come in and give them to her yourself,” Cassie said, opening the door wide.
She wondered if she should hug Meg. She got her answer when Meg breezed in and walked straight into the kitchen. Anna opened her arms wide and hugged the skinny girl.
“Your bones are sticking out,” Anna grumbled goodnaturedly. “We’ll have to do something about that.”
“I eat a lot,” Meg said with a shrug. “I’m just blessed with a fast metabolism.”
“Wait till you’re 30,” Cassie said. “The pounds will start piling up before you know it.”
Anna fussed over Meg while she tucked into her omelet.
“What do you like to eat?” Anna asked. “I generally make avocado toast for breakfast but I thought you might prefer eggs.”
“I love avocadoes!” Meg exclaimed brightly. “That’s one thing about California I really like. Plenty of avocadoes and oranges.”
“I almost forgot. I made orange juice!” Anna exclaimed, rushing toward the refrigerator.
She pulled out a carafe of freshly squeezed juice and poured some in a glass.
“I have an orange tree in my backyard,” Cassie said. “Doesn’t get fresher than that.”
“Is that in Los Angeles?” Meg asked eagerly. “Can we go there sometime?”
Cassie’s face fell.
“I guess so. The house is listed on the market. It will be sold soon.”
“We can still go and stay in a hotel,” Anna stepped in. “Cassie can show us the sights.”
The back door flung open and Julie rushed in, followed by Mary.
“Don’t read the Chronicle,” she began and stopped mid-sentence when she spotted the newspaper on the table.
“I’ve already seen it,” Anna said grimly. “And I’m not giving up without a fight.”
“That’s my girl!” Julie said, thumping Anna on the back.
“Have you heard?” Mary asked. “The Annual Rose Show is going ahead as planned.”
“But I thought they canceled due to lack of funds?” Anna asked.
“A big donation came in at the last minute,” Mary said. “The Garden Club met this morning and finalized the date. The Annual Rose Show will be held in the second week of August like every year.”
“What about the venue?” Julie asked. “Are they still fighting over it?”
“We took a vote on that,” Mary told them.
She had been a member of the local Garden Club since she got married. She was the secretary for the current year.
“Where is this show?” Cassie asked, feigning interest.
“It’s at the Botanical Gardens,” Mary explained. “It will be a two day event. We believe it will be a big draw for tourists.”
“Who’s heading the Rose Show committee?” Julie asked. “Not that sour puss Agnes?”
Mary grimaced.
“Nothing I could do about it. She’s the finest rose grower in Dolphin Bay.”
“You know what that means?” Julie asked, her hands on her hips. “She’ll never let Anna in.”
Chapter 4
Anna brewed her first cup of coffee the next morning and decided to bake some cupcakes. She didn’t like to sit still. Now that the bookstore was out of limits for her, she found she had a lot of time on her hands.
Cassie came out of her room, dressed in fancy exercise clothes. They came from a website with a funny name. Was it orange or lime, Anna tried to remember. It was definitely some kind of citrus fruit.
“I’m going for a run, Mom.”
Cassie waved at her and stepped out. Anna settled down to enjoy some peace and quiet with her coffee. She must have dozed off a bit. The next thing she knew, Cassie was back in the kitchen, slamming the refrigerator door as she grabbed some cream for her coffee.
“Did you sleep well, Mom?” Cassie asked her.
“Very well, thank you.” Anna was defensive.
She knew what was coming next.
“You are taking your meds, right?” Cassie asked. “They are an important part of your recovery.”
“Of course I am taking them,” Anna said sharply.
“What about your vitamins?” Cassie said. “You should really add turmeric shots to your diet. Bobby says …”
“I don’t have to do everything Bobby says.”
“Bobby knows all the latest trends,” Cassie pressed. “He charges thousands of dollars for this kind of advice. And we are getting it for free.”
Anna thought Cassie was a bit too influenced by Bobby. She had never met this paragon of health who looked like a Greek God but she already hated him.
“What do you want for breakfast?”
“Seriously, Mom. You should add golden milk to the café menu.”
“Green smoothies, turmeric milk, chia pudding – I don’t think anyone has heard of these fads in Dolphin Bay, Cassie. I want to offer comfort food that people will come back for. Hearty sandwiches and soups, cupcakes, pies and really good coffee.”
Cassie looked disappointed. Anna relented.
“We need to finalize our menu anyway. Why don’t we add one of your items? But strictly on a trial basis and only on the chalkboard menu.”
“You won’t be sorry, Mom.”
Anna realized Cassie had been peeling bananas while she talked to her. She watched her add them to the blender along with some fresh berries and mangoes and a handful of baby spinach.
“I’m not having any of that, Cassie.”
Mother and daughter argued for a while. Anna finally agreed to drink a bit of the smoothie before eating her toast. The doorbell chimed before she coul
d admit the green stuff was actually quite tasty.
“Is Meg coming over again?” Cassie asked as she went out to open the door.
Anna was surprised to see Cassie come back with Gino Mancini trailing behind her. Frantically, she tried to remember if she was still in her pajamas.
“Good Morning, Anna,” Gino greeted her with a smile. “You look beautiful this morning.”
“Err…thanks,” Anna mumbled.
“Have you had breakfast?” Cassie asked him. “How about a tropical smoothie? I just made Mom try one.”
“I don’t mind,” Gino told her. “I’m a smoothie man myself. But it’s hard to get one in our little town.”
“See?” Cassie trained her eyes on Anna. “You need to sell these at the café.”
“Never mind all that, Cassie,” Anna said.
“You must be wondering what I am doing here so early in the morning,” Gino began, sensing that Anna was looking worried. “I am afraid the news is not good.”
“Don’t keep anything from me, Gino,” Anna said, squaring her shoulders. “I can handle it.”
Gino took a sip of the smoothie Cassie poured for him and gave her a thumbs up.
“I heard from my sources at the police station. They confirmed that you are now a suspect in this latest investigation. I am not sure why but I am trying to find out.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Cassie exclaimed. “What’s Mom got to do with some random guy who dropped dead in our bookstore?”
“He didn’t just die, Cassie,” Gino sighed. “We don’t have an autopsy report yet but it looks like he was attacked. Word on the street is Anna knew him well.”
Anna took a deep breath as she tried to process Gino’s news.
“Thanks for the heads up, Gino. I really appreciate it.”
“I have my ear to the ground, Anna. I’ll let you know as soon as I learn anything more.”
“Please don’t trouble yourself on my account.”
“You don’t have to be so formal, Anna. We are friends, aren’t we? Friends look out for each other.” Gino cleared his throat. “I know you will start snooping around. Just be careful, okay? And let me know if I can help in any way.”
“I know why the police are after Mom,” Cassie spoke up. “I met Teddy Fowler on the Coastal Walk when I went for my run. He says the mayor tipped them off.”
