by Marta Perry
It was a matter of twenty feet or so to the cottage, but the small building was almost screened from view by an overgrown hedge of lilac bushes that surrounded it, to say nothing of the ivy that climbed up the walls and over the door.
Mrs. Anderson pushed back a lilac branch as she fumbled with a key.
“Sometimes I think I ought to have the dratted things cut to the ground, but they smell so lovely in the spring that I haven’t the heart.” She darted a look at Kate. “Your brother said it was like the hedge around Sleeping Beauty’s castle. He liked it.”
“I’m sure he did.” From childhood, Jason had escaped life through myth and fantasy, and she wasn’t surprised he’d thought of it in that way. “No thorns, thank goodness,” she added.
The door swung open, and Mrs. Anderson vanished inside. “Just let me get some lights on, so you can see the place properly, although there is light from the windows, of course.”
Kate hesitated on the doorstep, one hand on the frame. A tendril of ivy entangled her fingers as if to restrain her. This is it, a voice seemed to be saying in the back of her mind. Once you’re committed, there’s no going back.
I don’t want to go back, she insisted. I’m already in this to the end.
The only possible thing worse than knowing the truth of why Jason died would be never knowing at all.
* * *
MAC WAS STILL thinking about that odd encounter with Kate Beaumont when he headed into the café for coffee. He should be concentrating on the recent explosion of illegal prescription meds surfacing in town. Trouble was, he had a suspicion Kate Beaumont might be likely to set off a few explosions of her own.
“Uncle Mac!” The high, young voice of his nephew cut through the chatter of the lunchtime crowd. “Look what I have!”
Grinning, Mac wended his way through tables to where his mother sat with his brother’s boy, Jamie. Jamie was holding a sticky bun in an equally sticky hand.
“Do you want some, Uncle Mac? I’ll share.”
Mac stepped back out of range of Jamie’s waving hand. “No, thanks. If I eat that in my uniform, I’ll have the bees following me around town.”
Jamie, at eight easily impressed, found that hilarious. While he was doubled up with giggles, Mac raised an eyebrow at his mother. “No school today?”
Ellen Whiting, slim and attractive, shook her head. “Dentist appointment. I’ll drop him at school after lunch.”
“I didn’t have cavities,” Jamie announced proudly around a sticky mouthful.
“So you’re making up for that by eating lots of sugar, right, buddy?” Mac ruffled Jamie’s fair, silky hair.
“Ach, such a sweet boy can use some sugar.” Anna Schmidt, the Amish owner of the Buttercup Café, set a mug of coffee in front of Mac and gestured him into a chair. “I’ll put your coffee refill in a to-go cup, but for now sit down and visit like a normal person.”
“Denke, Anna.” He slid easily into the Pennsylvania Dutch expression he’d heard all his life. “You scold me as much as my mother does.”
“I don’t scold,” Mom said. “I just suggest.”
“Over and over,” he teased. He glanced toward the door at the sound of the bell and stiffened. Kate Beaumont had just come in.
She spotted him and stopped midstride, making him think that she was fighting the inclination to turn around and walk back out again.
His lips twitched. She probably didn’t know how obvious she was. Perversely, he rose, nodding to her and forcing her to recognize him. “Ms. Beaumont, it’s nice to see you again. Come and meet my mother.”
If anyone had a talent for making people thaw, it was Ellen Whiting. He’d be fascinated to see how long Kate held out against her.
Kate approached somewhat unwillingly, he thought.
“Kate Beaumont, Ellen Whiting.”
His mother held out her hand. “So nice to meet you, Kate. Won’t you join us?”
Before Kate had a chance to respond, Jamie burst into the conversation. “Hi, I’m Jamie Whiting. Not James, cause that’s my grandpa’s name. Sometimes Grammy calls him Jimmy to tease him, but she always calls me Jamie. Does anybody call you Katie?”
Kate looked a bit stunned at Jamie’s conversational style, but she managed to make a recovery. “Hi, Jamie. No, nobody calls me Katie. Just Kate, okay?”
“Okay. Grammy says you should always call people what they want to be called, because nicknames can hurt people’s feelings. Aren’t you going to sit down?”
Under the pressure of that wide, innocent blue gaze, Kate sat in a chair, but she perched on the edge of it, as if ready to make a quick retreat.
Mac reached across to hand Jamie another napkin. “Maybe if you’d slow down a bit, somebody else could talk.”
Jamie just grinned at him, but he subsided.
“Mom, Kate’s brother was Jason Reilley. You remember—the young man who passed away last year.” He glanced at Jamie, but his nephew was deeply engaged in eating the last crumb of his treat.
His mother’s eyes filled with quick sympathy. “Oh, my dear, I’m so sorry. That was just tragic. You must miss him terribly.”
As usual, his mother had moved straight to the heart, and he saw Kate’s lips tremble for an instant. “Yes,” she murmured. “I do miss him.”
“Losing someone is never easy, but I always think it’s especially hard when it’s a young person.” His mother clasped Kate’s hand. “Naturally you must have wanted to see where he lived.”
Funny. He’d assumed she’d wanted to see where her brother had died, but Mom jumped to the opposite conclusion. And she must be right, judging by the way Kate was looking at her—with a kind of startled surprise at meeting understanding from a stranger.
His mother never stayed a stranger with anyone for long. In a few minutes she’d elicited the fact that Kate had lost her job with a Baltimore newspaper in a series of cutbacks.
“I’m not the only one.” She shrugged off an expression of sympathy. “People seem to rely on the internet for their news these days, not the daily paper.”
“Laurel Ridge must be the exception, then.” He decided it was time he got back into the conversation. “We still have to have our daily dose of the Laurel Ridge Standard, don’t we?”
Mom chuckled. “How else would we know what was going on in town? The grapevine is good, but we have to see some things in print to believe them.”
“Myself, I’d say gossip is more interesting.” Anna appeared, setting a mug of coffee in front of Kate without being asked. “But there’s nothing like the newspaper for seeing who’s got what for sale. My boy Luke just got a perfectly good harrow from someone who was going to pay to have it hauled away as junk.”
Kate looked startled at the server’s entering the discussion, as well she might. He suspected Laurel Ridge had a few surprises in store for her.
“Anna, this is Kate Beaumont. She’s visiting Laurel Ridge for a bit.”
“Ach, gut.” Anna’s round face beamed. “Wilkom. I’ll be seeing you in the Buttercup, then, ain’t so?”
“I guess so. I’m staying right across the street.”
“Mrs. Anderson’s.” She nodded. “I guessed as much. Will you be having some lunch? The chicken pot pie, maybe?”
“Just a salad, please. To take out.”
“I’m sure you’re busy getting settled in,” Mom said, wiping Jamie’s hands and face despite his protests. “We’ve delayed you long enough, and I must get this boy back to school.”
“Do I have to...” Jamie began, but he subsided at a look from his grandmother. Sliding from his chair, he gave Mac a throttling hug and turned to Kate. “See you again soon, okay?”
Kate smiled, her expression softening. “It was nice to meet you, Jamie.”
“I hope we’ll have a chance t
o get better acquainted while you’re here,” Mom said, touching Kate’s shoulder lightly. “I know Grace Anderson will make you comfortable. Her rooms are lovely.”
“I’m sure they are. I’m actually renting the cottage, and it’s...charming.”
Did he really hear an infinitesimal pause before the final word? It seemed to him it was far from charming for her to be living in the very rooms where her brother had spent his last days.
He waved to Jamie, who’d paused at the door for a last look, and then turned back to Kate.
“Your little boy is a sweetheart,” she said quickly, maybe to forestall any criticism from him.
“My little nephew,” he corrected. “Jamie is my brother Nick’s boy. I’m not married.”
“I see.” She seemed to be readjusting her thoughts.
It wouldn’t be any of his business where she stayed, if it weren’t for his instinct that she was hiding something. He couldn’t shake his conviction that a big-city reporter wouldn’t be spending time in Laurel Ridge without an agenda. Bluntness was probably the only way he’d get an answer.
“Why are you living in the cottage? What are you after in Laurel Ridge?”
Kate flared up at that, as he’d expected. “I’m not after anything. Besides, wouldn’t you do the same, if it was your brother?”
What exactly was the passion that flamed in her eyes and made her skin flush? Not grief, he thought. Or at least, not only grief. Something more.
He took a moment, and then tried to respond honestly. “If I lost Nick all of a sudden, I don’t know what I’d do. It would be like losing part of myself.”
Their eyes met. Held. She looked stunned, vulnerable, and that very vulnerability had the power to draw him in. To make him want to touch her, comfort her.
But he couldn’t. Not when he didn’t know what she was going to bring to his town.
Deliberately he went on. “But I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t try to retrace his final steps. Not unless I was looking for something. What are you looking for, Kate?”
Watching her face then was like watching ice form on the river. She stared at him as if he’d just crawled out from under a rock. Not bothering to deny it, she rose, slung her bag strap over her shoulder and headed for the counter, probably to wait for her order.
He gazed at her for a long moment. No good trying to get anything more from her now. The rigid line of her back told him that much.
Maybe it was just as well that he’d said something to infuriate her again, because when she’d looked at him with vulnerability in those golden-brown eyes, he’d have had a tough time holding on to his own good judgment.
* * *
BY THE TIME Kate entered Blackburn House that afternoon, she’d tried a dozen times to dismiss Mac Whiting from her thoughts. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t stay gone. She had no doubt he’d be an obstacle in her path if she let him.
She wouldn’t. She’d already dealt with one hardheaded cop in her life, and she could deal with Whiting. Anybody who’d been raised by a difficult man like Tom Reilley had developed a tough shell. Except Jason, of course. Maybe if he had, his life wouldn’t have ended the way it had.
The important thing was to get on with her plans, and that meant starting at the place where Jason had worked. He’d spent every day there, and judging by what she’d been able to decipher of his video diary, he’d had a lot of opinions about the place.
Preoccupied, she headed for the stairs, passing an Amish woman standing in the doorway of the quilt shop. The woman smiled and nodded as if Kate were known to her. The power of the grapevine in a small town? Maybe so. At least she seemed friendly.
Movement behind the glass door to Whiting and Whiting Cabinetry made her nerves jump irrationally, and she turned her face away as she hurried past, gaining the stairs without incident.
Whatever activity there was in Blackburn House seemed concentrated on the ground floor. Once again there was no one on the steps, and the upper hallway was deserted. A murmur of conversation came from the real estate office, but Laurel Ridge Financial Group was empty, save for the same young receptionist behind the front desk, her head bent over a printer that was spewing out papers.
She looked up at the sound of the door opening, seeming to brighten at the prospect of an interruption. “Welcome to Laurel Ridge Financial.” Abandoning the printer, she flipped open a pad on the desk. “Do you have an appointment?”
“No, I’m afraid not.” Kate glanced at the nameplate on the desk. “I just dropped in. I hope I’m not interrupting you. Are you Nikki?”
“That’s me.” Nikki jerked an impatient nod toward the printer. “Just boring routine, even if the office manager does think the printer will jam when somebody’s not watching it every minute. You’re new around here, right?”
Kate couldn’t help smiling. “How does everyone I meet know I’m a stranger?”
Nikki rolled her eyes. “Easy to see you don’t know what it’s like in a burg the size of Laurel Ridge. Everybody knows everybody. Boring.” She managed to insert a wealth of meaning into the word, which seemed to be one of her favorites.
This kid couldn’t be much more than seven or eight years younger than her, but Kate felt aeons older. With that improbably red hair and the matching scarlet nails, Nikki looked like a fifteen-year-old trying for a fake ID. She had a small, sharp-featured face and an obvious disdain for the job she held.
Had she thought Jason boring, too? Or had he been interesting, an urban stranger, someone she hadn’t known all her life? Kate didn’t think Jason had mentioned Nikki, but he may have. He often didn’t bother with names when he talked about people.
Only one way to find out. “I wonder if you remember my brother. He worked here for the summer last year.”
“Jason?” Nikki’s pointed features seemed to tighten. “Jason was your brother?”
“That’s right. I’m Kate. Kate Beaumont. I suppose you got to know him, with you two being the only young people working here. Did he mention me?”
“He said he had a sister who was a reporter someplace.” Nikki pushed a curl out of her face with a scarlet fingertip. “That’s you, huh?”
Kate nodded, debating with herself about how much she wanted to say to the receptionist. Maybe it was better not to let Nikki think she wanted anything in particular, at least until Kate knew how close she’d been to Jason. “He seemed to enjoy his job.”
Nikki shrugged. “It’s an okay place to work, if you don’t mind routine. And I took him around a little bit. You know, showed him what passes for nightlife in a place like this.”
“He told me you’d been friendly.” He hadn’t, but let that pass in the interest of establishing a rapport with Nikki. “He appreciated it, especially since he didn’t know anyone here.”
“Maybe. But he sure didn’t like partying all that much.” Nikki didn’t seem to realize that a big sister might consider that a good thing. “That’s why it was so strange when he—well, you know.” She lowered her voice, as if speaking of death required softer tones.
“You didn’t have any idea he’d been into drugs?” In Kate’s experience, someone like Nikki was more likely to recognize the signs than one of the bosses would have been.
“I didn’t think—”
One of the doors behind Nikki opened, and her voice cut off immediately.
“Nikki, why didn’t you tell me there was a client waiting?” The man who surged forward, hand extended, had the kind of professional smile usually worn by anyone who had something to sell—his slightly puffy cheeks creasing, eyes crinkling in welcome as if she were a long-lost relative. “I’m Bart Gordon.” He clasped her hand warmly. “And you are?”
“Kate Beaumont.” How long would it take for the jovial welcome to wear off once he knew she wasn’t a client? Not long, she suspected, but maybe she was b
eing too cynical.
“She’s Jason Reilley’s sister,” Nikki said before Kate could.
Gordon stiffened, his hand releasing hers. “I see.” The smile became noticeably artificial. “What brings you to see us, Ms. Beaumont?”
“I happened to be in Laurel Ridge and thought I’d like to introduce myself to my brother’s friends and colleagues here. And to thank you for the beautiful flower arrangement you sent for the services.”
The man’s tension seemed to ease. “The least we could do. Such a sad loss,” he murmured.
“I see that Mr. Sheldon is no longer active in the firm. I did want to express my thanks to him, as well.” And ask him about my brother.
“Russell Sheldon retired last year. Poor fellow—the work was getting beyond him. I’ll be sure to give him your message when I see him. Thanks for stopping by.” Gordon’s fingers brushed her elbow, as if he’d usher her out.
Not yet. She ignored the hint. “Jason’s death was a terrible shock, of course. Especially since he’d been so enthusiastic about his internship. Was there some issue at work that might have disturbed or upset him?”
Gordon’s already flushed face reddened alarmingly. “Are you trying to blame us for what your brother did? If you think you can hold the firm responsible, you’ve got another—”
The door to the other office opened behind him, a woman emerging. Kate’s wayward imagination presented her with an image of a Bavarian clock, with figures appearing and disappearing through their little doors.
“Bart, I’m sure you’re misunderstanding the situation.” She smiled at Kate, extending her hand. “I’m Lina Oberlin, Mr. Gordon’s assistant. Did I hear him say that you’re poor Jason’s sister?”
In other words, she’d been listening behind the door. Maybe, as Nikki had said, things were so boring that any interruption was welcome.
The female assistant was fair, blonde and fortyish, with hair drawn back from a pale, nearly colorless face. Lina Oberlin had small, even features and a trim figure that could have been appealing in anything other than the plain gray pantsuit she wore. It was as if she’d deliberately set out to fade into the woodwork.
