by Curry, Edna
“Really? Here in Canton? People really need a PI out in our little burg?”
Matt grinned. “You’d be surprised. Though mostly, I do dull stuff like find out who’s cheating with whom, so the person being cheated on can decide whether he or she wants a divorce.”
Loni pulled a face. “Ugh.”
“Exactly. Not always fun. And sometimes the one doing the cheating isn’t happy about being found out.”
“So it can get dangerous?” Loni’s voice squeaked on the last word. She swallowed and sipped her water.
“Usually not,” Matt assured her. “And I can take care of myself.”
“That’s good.” She’d hate to think others went through scary things like she had. His admission helped her relax and she was silent for a bit. Then she couldn’t help asking, “Could the guy who nearly ran us off the road tonight have been one of your unhappy clients?”
“Who knows?” Matt looked thoughtful, then shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”
Easy for him to say. Not so easy for her to do. She forced a smile and pretended to listen to Matt and Dee banter with each other. Obviously, they knew each other well and shared a genuine friendship in spite of their age difference. Gradually, Loni relaxed and enjoyed the evening.
The ride home was uneventful. But she didn’t really relax until they were safely home in Dee’s house with the doors locked.
Her gut told her not to let her guard down yet.
* * * *
The next morning, Loni said goodbye to her aunt and watched her cab disappear down the evergreen and maple tree-lined road. She was on her own, to make or break her future. Her aunt’s pride and joy was hers. Canton Gifts’ future lay in her hands. A knot of worry settled in her stomach. Could she do this? She must, she couldn’t let her aunt down.
Drawing a deep breath, she turned back to get her purse and laptop computer, then drove downtown to open her gift shop.
The little mall was quiet as she walked in, with only the clerks and shopkeepers here this early. Someone had freshly mopped the central hallway. The floor was still damp and the scent of pine cleaner lingered.
Maria Calloway, the owner of the dress shop across the hall from her store, waved to Loni from behind the manikin she was dressing. Loni smiled and waved back, then unlocked her shop and turned on the overhead lights.
Stepping inside, she looked around the shop, enjoying a surge of pride and pleasure. China cups and saucers of every pattern and description filled several long shelves. Crystal figurines in a glass case sparkled under the fluorescent lights. Another case protected delicate blown glass figures from curious fingers. Furry stuffed animals filled another shelf. A long rack of greeting cards took up one side of another aisle.
Mine! All mine! I’m really the owner of my own business! Well, I will be when I pay off the bank. My dream come true.
But would it last this time? Had she escaped? Or was this only the next leg of her flight to safety? Tension clenched a cold knot in her stomach. How she hated that feeling.
She closed her eyes and willed the fear away. No, I won’t run again. I’m tired of running. This is the last stop. I’m back home where I belong. I’m staying.
“Meditating this early in the morning?” Matt asked behind her.
She jumped at the sound of his voice. “Matt!” She whirled around to face him and barely avoided bumping into him.
He stepped back, almost upsetting the coffee tray he carried. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said. “Dee and I often started the day with coffee and glazed doughnuts.”
He put the tray down on the counter and picked up one of the cups.
“Thanks,” she said, regaining her breath. “I…I’d love some coffee.”
She stepped behind the counter to put some space between them and helped herself to the other cup of coffee. For some reason, Matt caused her pulse to race. She was far too aware of him as a man.
“Are you always this jumpy?” He sipped the coffee, eyeing her over the rim of the cup. “Or are you still upset about that drunk last night?”
“No, I’m fine, Matt.” She didn’t want to tell him she wondered if the guy really had been a drunk. Or had he been one of the robbers, following her? He’d think she was nuts if she told him that. Best keep it to herself until she had more than a suspicion, anyway.
She shrugged and tried to smile as she met his gaze. “Everything’s a bit new to me here, I guess.”
“Too bad Dee couldn’t have stayed on a few more days until you were more comfortable.”
“She offered to, but it would have meant changing her plane tickets and paying extra and Mindy was being released from the hospital and needed someone. I won’t be doing everything exactly as Aunt Dee did, anyway.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What will you do differently?”
He bit into the glazed doughnut and she couldn’t help watching his even white teeth sink into the sweet confection. She swallowed more coffee and picked up the other doughnut, suddenly wanting to share the sugary taste of it with him. She quickly looked away.
What had he asked? Oh, yes, what she’d do differently. “I…I’m putting the inventory on computer for one thing,” she stammered, trying to keep her mind on their conversation. “I brought my laptop with me.”
He nodded approval. “Good idea. I do that, too. It helps keep tabs on things.”
“Aunt Dee never learned to use a computer. I’ve tried to teach her to do email, at least, but she’s not interested. She prefers the phone. Says she likes to hear my voice.”
“Nothing wrong with that. Lots of people don’t want to change their ways as they get older. Well, I’d better go open up my store. Have a good day, Loni.”
“Thanks for the coffee, Matt.”
“You’re welcome.” He picked up the tray and sent her a smile. “I’ll drop this off at the café on my way upstairs.”
Loni watched him go with a sigh of relief. The man made her nervous, for some reason. Which was silly of her.
Aunt Dee trusted him, and besides, the man had been living here for years. She should have nothing to fear from him. But he was too darned attractive. And she certainly didn’t need any more complications in her life right now. She’d wanted a quiet life and contentment and would do her best to find it.
She found her bag of change and arranged the money in the till, ready to begin her day. Then she grabbed a duster and began dusting and straightening things on the shelves, a never-ending task in a retail store. It was the same in every town. It was amazing how many people picked things up to look at them, despite the discreet little signs saying, “If you break it, you’ve bought it.”
She wouldn’t mind if they were all very careful, but a lot of people weren’t. They would let their children touch and play with everything, no matter how expensive an item, and then put it down anywhere, regardless of her warning signs.
Soon three gray-haired ladies walked in to browse. One eyed her curiously and smiled. “Hi, Loni, do you remember me? Janet Bowers? I live next door to Dee. I hear we’re neighbors now.”
“Oh, yes, Mrs. Bowers. I love all those pretty red and yellow tulips around your house. Aunt Dee pointed them out to me on the way home last night.”
Mrs. Bowers beamed. “Yes. They are lovely this year, aren’t they? I brought my sisters-in-law, who are visiting this week, to see Dee’s nice shop and get some souvenirs to take home for their grandchildren. This is Leta and this is Karen. Loni, I hear you’ve bought the shop from Dee?”
Loni nodded, and greeted the ladies, then chatted a moment more before turning to wait on several more ladies who had stopped by to talk.
By afternoon, she’d repeated her answers to the same questions about Aunt Dee leaving and the change of ownership over and over until she thought she’d have to glue her smile in place. Her cheek muscles ached from smiling.
News of the sale of the business seemed to be the talk of Canton today. She hoped the novelty of
it all would wear off soon, so that those who stopped in would be more interested in buying something rather than gossiping.
Later, she was alone when the loud roar of motorcycles vibrated her front window. She watched a group of grungy looking motorcyclists park their bikes against the curb. She hoped they were headed elsewhere, but in a minute they all walked into her shop. Their strong body odor and black leather jackets made her nervous. She greeted them politely, but stayed behind her counter.
Should she call for help? And report what? Some customers who hadn’t taken a shower lately? Sheriff Ben would laugh at her and tell her the town was full of campers from the nearby parks who didn’t shower for days on end. Still, she wished she had a silent alarm like the jewelry store in Chicago had and wondered how soon she’d be able to afford to install one.
The bikers wandered around the store a while, joking about the fragile glass blown figurines and china cups. Finally, one bought a small Teddy bear and a get-well card. A second asked for batteries for his CD player.
Loni was relieved when they paid in cash and walked out, still joking with each other and paying little attention to her.
Silly of her to get upset. They couldn’t be connected to the jewelry heist men in Chicago, could they? Similar clothes meant nothing. Anyone could buy black leather.
* * * *
The next day, Loni left Hannah in charge of the store while she walked across the street to meet two of her former classmates for lunch at the Canton Restaurant.
Jolene Anderson and Maria Calloway were sitting on the smoker’s bench outside, waiting for her. Maria waved her over. She wore a pretty red dress, probably from her dress shop. Maria liked to be a walking advertisement for her own merchandise.
“Hi Maria, Jolene. Nice to see you again.” They rose to greet her. Loni gave them each a hug. “I see Maria at the mall, of course. Jolene, it’s been a few years since we’ve seen each other, hasn’t it?”
Jolene nodded. “Sure has. While you’ve been gadding around the USA, I’ve stayed here.”
“You’re late, Loni,” Maria teased her. “It’s ten minutes after twelve. Jolene even beat you here, today, and she’s always last to arrive anywhere.” Maria lifted a red-tipped finger and tapped the ashes from her cigarette, took a last puff and reluctantly crushed it out in the tall ashtray outside the entrance.
“So what else is new?” Jolene asked as they went inside and on into the dining room.
They chose a secluded table along the back wall. Loni shrugged out of her jacket, put it on the back of her chair, and picked up her menu.
Maria laughed, flipping back her long black hair with a slim hand. “You’re right. You are always late, aren’t you?”
“Being late is one of my bad habits, but chain smoking is a bad habit, too,” Jolene groused, wrinkling her nose at the lingering scent of smoke. “When are you going to give up that smelly habit?”
Maria sighed. “I wish I could. I’ve tried, over and over. But I’m careful not to smoke in my shop. Can’t have dresses smelling like smoke, you know.”
“True. At least the restaurant is smoke free now,” Jolene said.
Maria made a face at Jolene and picked up her menu, perused it a minute and laid it aside. “I don’t know why I look at this. I know the menu by heart. They haven’t changed anything on it in years.”
The waitress appeared beside them with icy glasses of water and a pot of coffee. She filled their cups, took their order for seafood salads, and hurried back to the kitchen.
“Are you getting settled in, Loni?”
“Not really.”
Maria nodded. “It’ll take a bit. But you worked at the shop with Dee all day the day before yesterday, didn’t you?”
Loni nodded. “Dee introduced me to her helper, Hannah, too. She’s going to stay on and fill in for me on my lunch hour and so I can have an occasional day off.”
Maria smiled. “She’s nice. She’s worked with Dee for quite a few years. Now she’s mostly retired but takes care of her grandchildren occasionally.”
The waitress returned, set their food in front of them and retreated.
As they dug into their salads, Jolene asked, “Have you met the other shopkeepers in the mall, Loni?”
“Yes, Dee took me around the mall to introduce me to them last night just before closing time.”
Jolene said snidely, “Which took all of, what, fifteen minutes?”
Maria took a bite of her salad. “Fifteen minutes?”
Jolene rolled her big blue eyes and sipped her hot coffee, eyeing her friends. “To walk around that huge mall. It has what? Eight tiny stores in it?”
“Funny. You’re lucky even eight stores survive in this little burg. Too many local people take their money to the Twin Cities malls these days. Matt Bennes’ office supply store is the only new business to open here in five years.” Maria stabbed at a fat shrimp and popped it into her mouth along with some lettuce.
“Sorry.” Jolene looked at the ceiling in a dramatic gesture of forbearance. “Spare me your usual lecture on how small town main streets are dying because people prefer to shop in the big city malls and the chain superstores. I don’t know of any way to change human nature. People do what they want to do.”
“Yeah, I know,” Maria said, “but I don’t have to like it.” She turned to Loni. “I hear you went out to dinner with Matt, huh, Loni? He’s a hunk, isn’t he? Did he ask you for another date?”
Surprised, Loni swallowed too much hot coffee and choked, then blurted, “I forgot how everyone keeps track of everyone else in small towns.”
Maria reached over and patted her back. “You okay?”
Loni coughed and caught her breath. “I’m fine. It wasn’t a date or anything. He just took us out for a farewell dinner for Dee. I gather they were friends.”
Maria frowned. “You’re acting a little jumpy today.”
Loni shrugged, feeling her face heat. “I’m just a little nervous, taking over Dee’s business so suddenly and all.”
“I know,” Maria said. “But you seem sort of, oh, I don’t know, wary, maybe. Is something going on we don’t know about?”
“No, of course not,” Loni lied. How could she tell these trusting, small town women about the problems she’d had in Chicago? They wouldn’t understand her fears. Besides, all that was behind her now, wasn’t it?
Maria frowned at her. “Are you still upset about that drunk?”
“What drunk?” Jolene asked, pausing with her fork halfway to her mouth. “I didn’t hear about this.”
Loni just shrugged.
Maria said, “Matt told me about the drunk who almost ran you all off the road on the way to the Lagoon the other night. He mentioned you were pretty upset about it.”
“I was keyed up about Aunt Dee leaving, anyway,” Loni said, then changed the subject. “So what’s new with the rest of our old high school crowd? I haven’t heard much lately.”
They spent a while catching up on news about mutual acquaintances.
When the same group of motorcyclists who’d been in her shop the day before walked in and took a table across the room, Loni felt herself pale.
“What’s wrong?” Jolene asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Those bikers. They were in my store yesterday, too.”
Maria shrugged. “We get lots of bikers through town, especially in the summer. So what?”
“Yeah, but…. Why didn’t they leave again yesterday? Are they following me? They seem to be watching us.”
Maria stared at her. “Why do you think that? You mean like a stalker?
Was he a stalker? Chills ran down Loni’s spine and she swallowed, then shook her head. “We don’t have stalkers in our little burg.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Jolene insisted. “We’re not so isolated here anymore. Remember that case last year in Minneapolis? But they caught him, didn’t they?”
Maria kicked Jolene’s shin.
“Ouch! What?” Jolene a
sked, glaring at Maria.
Maria glared back. “They didn’t catch him until after he’d killed the woman, remember?”
Loni gasped. “Killed her?”
Maria nodded. “You didn’t have to bring that up, Jolene.”
“Sorry, I forgot. Let’s talk about something pleasant.”
“Okay,” Maria said. “We should have a little get-together for old time’s sake. Maybe a potluck supper and swimming party around my pool? Don’t worry, it’s heated. How about Saturday night?”
Jolene grinned. “That sounds great.”
“Loni?”
Loni swallowed, hesitating. She hadn’t gone to many gatherings lately. Time to stop being such a nervous Nellie about things. Taking a deep breath, she nodded. “Sure, sounds like fun.”
“Great,” Maria said. “I’ll call the others.”
“All right,” Jolene said. “I’ll pick you up.”
“Thanks.” Loni picked up her check and left a tip. “I need to get back to work. See you Saturday night, then.”
She walked toward the front of the restaurant, glancing over her shoulder at the bikers’ table. One of them looked up and eyed her as she left.
Was she being paranoid? But you weren’t paranoid if you really were being watched, were you?
Was Jolene’s story of another stalker true? She needed to get her internet access set up so she could check that out.
Chapter 3
That evening Loni closed her shop and hurried down the street to the bank, keys grasped in her hand. She’d tucked the money bag out of sight under her sweater, but carrying it down a lonely street, even less than a block in her little home town, still made tension tighten her muscles. When would she lose the fear resulting from the jewelry store hold up? Her car was in the parking lot between the mall and the bank, so driving wasn’t practical.
A car drove past her slowly, making her shiver in spite of the warm evening. She drew a relieved breath when it moved on down the street and around the corner. Her heart pounded and she quickened her pace.
At last safely at the bank, she opened the night deposit box with her key. She dropped in her money bag and turned to go back to her car in the parking lot.
