“I’ll be better when I get my donut,” Nicole said.
Nicole’s reply did nothing to assuage Meg’s concerns.
“Want to talk about it?” Meg asked.
Nicole couldn’t help but point out the irony of the situation. “Usually, that’s my line.”
Meg kept trying to be of assistance. “Therapists need to talk through their problems sometimes, too.”
“You’ll get no argument from me.”
“In that case, I’m all ears. So what’s the trouble?”
Nicole let out a sigh. “What isn’t the trouble?”
Meg’s heart went out to her friend. “I’m so sorry.”
Nicole groaned. “Sometimes life just gets crazy on you. I just wish the universe didn’t throw so many problems at me all at once.”
“Are you talking work stuff or personal stuff here?” Meg asked.
“Unfortunately, it’s a little bit of both.”
Meg grimaced. “That’s not what you want to hear.”
“Why do you think I want the donut so much?”
Meg wasn’t about to let her friend wait for her snack any longer. She handed Nicole a jelly donut.
“Here you go,” Meg said.
Nicole put some cash down on the counter, grabbed the donut from Meg, and immediately took a bite.
Meg got a little liberal with her optimism. “Feel better?”
Nicole brought her friend’s expectations back down to earth. “It would take a few more donuts, not to mention some wine, to make me feel better.” She took another bite of the donut. “Although, this is a start.”
Meg kept trying to find a silver lining. “Anything is better than nothing.” She reached out to Nicole again. “If you decide that you want to talk things through, know that I’m all ears.”
Nicole gave Meg a smile but remained guarded about what was bothering her.
“You know I can’t talk about my patients,” Nicole replied.
“No, but you are free to talk about your love life,” Meg said.
Nicole scoffed. “I just came in for a donut. If I start talking about that, I could be here all day.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
Nicole remained coy. “Let’s just say it’s hard to have a healthy relationship when the man you love cares more about his next drink than you.”
Meg’s forehead wrinkled as a slew of questions rushed to the front of her mind. Unfortunately, vague answers were all too common with Nicole. As a therapist, she got paid to listen to other people talk about their problems, but when it came to discussing her own troubles, she had a tendency to be very withholding. It wasn’t surprising to Meg. After all, Nicole was a very prideful person.
Nicole’s private nature was entirely her prerogative, but sometimes, in a moment of weakness, she would let a nugget slip here and there. Being a naturally curious person, Meg always tried to get a little more information out of Nicole, without going so far as to pry.
When it came to Nicole’s romantic life, Meg had very scant details to work with. Case in point, Meg didn’t realize that Nicole was currently in love with anyone. The last man that she had mentioned to Meg was Steven Gilroy, who she had broken up with two months before.
Was Nicole still in love with Steven? Did he have a drinking problem? Meg wasn’t sure what the answer to those questions was. With Nicole seemingly in no hurry to elaborate, Meg treaded lightly.
“The man you love?” Meg asked. “Are you back with Steven? Because I thought you guys had broken up.”
With the focus on Nicole, she became too self-conscious for her liking. She tried to cast the spotlight elsewhere. “Don’t worry about it.”
As Meg looked into Nicole’s eyes, she saw a lot of pain. Nicole seemed to be doing her best to keep it from bubbling up, but she wasn’t terribly successful.
Not wanting to make Nicole uncomfortable, Meg didn’t belabor the point.
“Fair enough. I hope you’re able to work things out,” Meg said.
“I hope so, too.”
Meg gave Nicole a sympathetic look. “You hang in there, okay?”
“I’ll try,” Nicole replied.
“Hey. If all else fails, I’ll have another donut waiting here for you tomorrow.”
“Sounds like a plan. Anyway, I’m running late,” Nicole said.
“I won’t keep you, then.”
Before Nicole moved to the exit, she gave Meg a look of deep compassion. “Thanks for caring.”
Meg nodded. “That’s what friends are for.”
Nicole then checked the time on her phone, grimaced, and rushed towards the exit. “See you tomorrow.”
Chapter Four
Unfortunately, Nicole wasn’t the only one who had run into difficulty that Thursday. Apparently, there had been plenty of trouble to go around. Luckily, Meg had been able to stay out of the line of fire. The same could not be said for her boyfriend. When Connor picked Meg up for their date that night, his head was in the clouds. Meg tried to get him to vocalize his thoughts.
“What’s on your mind?” Meg asked.
Connor exhaled. “It’s a crazy world.”
“I’ve been hearing a lot about that lately. What happened? Did you run into a nutcase at work?”
Until recently, Enchanted Bay was a peaceful seaside town along the California coast. That was one of the reasons why Connor had returned to his hometown after working in San Francisco for over a decade. In a strange twist of timing, shortly after returning home, the crime rate began rising in Enchanted Bay. Connor’s caseload was still lighter here than it had been in San Francisco, mind you, but the uptick in criminal behavior in Enchanted Bay was still disturbing to see.
As a police detective, Connor saw some crazy things in the line of duty. Had he seen something shocking during his shift that afternoon?
Connor denied having seen any nutcases at work. “No.”
Meg remained confused. “Then what’s on your mind?”
“It’s more that I managed to dodge a bullet.”
“A bullet? Did you get shot at?”
He calmed her down. “No.”
Meg put her hand over her heart. “Thank God. So what happened exactly?”
“Do you ever have one of those moments when you realize how lucky you are?”
Connor was usually a man who spoke in specifics. That night, only vagaries were coming out of his mouth. Meg was desperate for some details.
“Honey, will you please tell me what’s going on?” she asked.
Connor stared out into the distance. “It looks like I left San Francisco at just the right time.”
“What makes you say that?” Meg asked.
“I got a call from Eric Stockton today.”
“Your old partner?”
Connor nodded. “He was investigating a new case. He and his new partner had tracked a suspect down to this old warehouse down by the airport. Before they were able to ask the suspect any questions, the guy opened fire on them.”
Meg’s heart sank. “Oh, no. Is Eric okay?”
“He took a bullet in the shoulder.”
Connor had skimped on one key detail.
Meg was eager to hear the whole story. “But he’s going to be okay, right?”
Connor nodded. “Just barely. Luckily, the bullet didn’t hit any vital organs.”
“I’m so sorry. What a terrible thing to go through.”
Connor wasn’t finished. “Eric was the lucky one.”
That was a confusing statement if ever Meg had heard one. She looked for some clarification. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
Connor took a deep breath. “Eric’s partner, Walter Golson, wasn’t so lucky.”
Connor then took a moment to catch his breath.
“What happened?” Meg asked.
“Walter took a bullet to the chest.” Connor lowered his head. “He didn’t make it.”
Meg wrapped her arms around Connor and tried to comfort him. “That’s so awful.”
Connor looked down at the ground. “That could have been me.”
“Honey—”
Connor continued. “If I had stayed in San Francisco. If I had been investigating that case…like I said, it looks like I left San Fran at the right time.”
“Honey, if there’s anything I can do for you, just let me know.”
“I have been thinking about it all day. Something like that, it could happen to any detective at any time—anywhere. All it takes is one moment, just one second for luck to not be on your side, and it could be lights out for me.”
“That is why I pray every day that luck continues to smile on you.”
Connor hugged her tight. “I’m so lucky to have you.”
“Trust me. The feeling is mutual.”
“You know, moments like that put everything in perspective. They make you realize not just what’s important in life, but who is in important. Walter Golson didn’t have anyone in his life. He died alone.”
“That’s so sad.”
“It is. It truly is. He never got to experience the kind of love that we have. That’s such a shame.”
Meg stared deep into his eyes. That was when she saw that his mind was wrestling with more than he had let on.
“Connor, what else is on your mind?” she asked.
“We both know the saying about how tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone. About living in the moment. About living life to the fullest.”
He was still having trouble getting his complete thoughts out. She tried to encourage him.
“Yes,” she replied.
“There’s nothing like the thought of having your life taken from you to make you realize what you truly have.”
“Connor, what are you saying?”
“I just want you to know how much I really love you,” Connor said.
She gazed long and hard at him. “I do.”
“Given how much I love you, the last thing I would want for you is to get news that I had been shot in the line of duty.”
Concern came to Meg’s face. “Don’t talk like that.”
He continued with his thought. “There’s one definitive way to guarantee that something like that would never happen.”
“Connor—”
“Meg, I have been giving some serious thought to transferring to a desk job.”
Those were words that Meg never thought she would hear out of her boyfriend’s mouth. Now that they were out in the open, one question immediately came to her mind.
“Is that what you want?” she asked.
He was noncommittal. “I don’t know. I’m just so torn right now.”
“I support you. Whatever decision you decide to make.”
“Thank you. The problem is, I don’t know what decision that will be.”
“It sounds like you have some serious thinking to do,” Meg said.
Connor exhaled. “That’s what I have been doing all day. Unfortunately, I still don’t have an answer.”
Meg lent her support. “One will come. It always does. It might just take a little time.”
Connor looked out into the distance with his thoughts as unsettled as ever.
Chapter Five
The next day
“Mom, I don’t think I have ever seen you this happy at eight in the morning,” Meg said.
The last few days had been crazy for Meg. One moment she was filled with jubilation. The next, she was staring down some bad news. Then before she had the chance to get too down, life threw another surprise her way. It was an emotionally schizophrenic way to live.
Meg had prayed for her life to settle down, but the universe had its own plan for her. That morning, her slim, redheaded mother, Beth Walton, had been the one to rock Meg’s boat by paying her an unexpected visit at the family’s donut shop.
Meg had no clue why her mother was there. After all, not only was it eight o’clock in the morning, but it was also a travel day for Beth. Meg’s mother was about to take a week-long trip to San Diego.
Yet for some unknown reason, before Beth’s beach vacation began, her itinerary apparently featured a tangential stop at the family donut shop. In addition to wondering why Beth wasn’t on the road right then, Meg was also a bit taken aback by her mother’s mood.
To fully understand Meg’s confusion, it was important to point out that Beth was anything but a morning person. As a matter of fact, Beth hated dragging herself out of bed so much that she scheduled her daughter to work the opening shift at the donut shop five days a week specifically so that Beth could sleep in. Even when Beth did show up for her typical work shift at ten o’clock, more often than not she was on the groggy side.
That morning was completely different. Judging by the smile on Beth’s face, she had woken up on the good side of the bed for sure.
Beth made a cheery declaration. “If you can’t get excited about a vacation, you can’t get excited about anything.”
Meg couldn’t have agreed more with that statement. At the same time, it was the last thing she ever expected to hear out of her mother’s mouth.
Beth was not the carpe diem type. Anxiety always seemed to have a way of creeping into her thoughts. She was noticeably absent of consternation right then.
Meg felt like she was seeing a whole different side to her mother. One that was carefree and filled with excitement. Not only did Meg love her mom’s newfound cheery attitude, but she wondered where it had been all these years.
That being said, a whole different set of thoughts was swirling in Meg’s mind. Notably, how she couldn’t pretend that she wasn’t a little jealous right then. While Meg was wrestling with various conflicts at the moment, the itinerary for Beth’s vacation was simple—rest, relaxation, and not a whole lot else.
If that wasn’t enviable enough, just as the weather was getting chilly in Enchanted Bay, the temperature would be a blissful seventy-two degrees when Beth arrived in San Diego. If that wasn’t the recipe for a good time, Meg didn’t know what was.
Meg smiled. “I’m glad to hear that you are excited.”
“This should be an amazing week,” Beth replied.
Beth had definitely caught the vacation bug. Her excitement was palpable. That brought a smile to Meg’s face. After all, it had been a long time since Beth had taken a sizable amount of time off and had left town. Too long, as a matter of fact. Perhaps that was why Beth was acting differently—because this vacation was long overdue. If that was the case, though, it made Beth’s decision to stop in to the shop even more curious.
Meg felt the need to address that point. “I have a feeling it will be a week that you won’t ever forget. Which makes me wonder why you’re here instead of on the road.”
“I was just touching base.”
Meg didn’t buy her mom’s answer. “You could do that over the phone. Why are you checking up on me?”
“Because I’m your mother. It’s what I do.”
“Mom, I love you to death, but I know what I’m doing. The shop is in good hands,” Meg said.
“Honey—”
Meg had a feeling what road her mother was about to go down. She decided to cut her off and reassure her as best as she could. “Mom, enjoy your vacation. A trip like this doesn’t come around every day, or every year, for that matter.”
“You can’t stop a mother from worrying,” Beth replied.
Meg shook her head. “Isn’t that the truth?” She gazed deep into her mother’s eyes. “I know you worry, but I can take care of myself.”
Beth took a deep breath. “Try not to get into any trouble, all right?”
Meg gave her mother the best reassuring gaze that she could muster. “Everything is going to be fine. Now your vacation is waiting. Go have the time of your life.”
After a moment of reservation, Beth’s anxiety was replaced by excitement once again. She then left the donut shop and set out for San Diego.
***
While Beth’s itinerary for the rest of the week was nothing but rest a
nd relaxation, the same could not be said for Meg. As the nine o’clock hour approached with no sign of Nicole Conway, Meg got a bad feeling in her gut. It wasn’t like Nicole to skip her morning donut. Then again, Nicole hadn’t been much like herself when she had come in the day before. Had her troubles continued?
By nine fifteen, Meg was in complete disbelief. This didn’t make a lick of sense. At first, Meg had convinced herself that Nicole was just running late. Suddenly, she had a very bad feeling that something far more disturbing had occurred.
Before she got too worked up, Meg put a call in to Nicole’s psychology practice to see if perhaps her friend had just decided to skip her morning donut that day for whatever reason. When the phone rang four times then went to voicemail, however, Meg’s worries only escalated. The office had a receptionist on staff, so why hadn’t she picked up the phone?
Meg tried to stay calm, but her instincts were flaring up even more now. All signs pointed to there being trouble at play. There was one way to find out for sure where her friend was.
Meg told her curly-haired female coworker to take care of the front of the shop while she ducked into the back office to tend to some business. Once Meg had entered her office, she closed the door behind her and cast a locator spell.
When the spell pinpointed Nicole’s location, instead of clarifying things for Meg, it only managed to confuse her even more. According to Meg’s spell, Nicole was at her office. So why didn’t anyone pick up the phone there? Also, if Nicole was truly at work, why hadn’t she come to the donut shop first to get her customary breakfast snack? None of this added up.
While Meg’s worries amplified, her focus suddenly shifted to the sound of a siren that was blaring outside her building. Curious about the siren, Meg rushed to the front of the donut shop where she saw a police squad car flying by.
Meg rushed outside to see where the squad car was headed. Much to her chagrin, the car stopped two blocks away, in front of Nicole’s one-story office building. Even more, it wasn’t the only police car there. A second squad car was already parked out front.
There was no doubt that something bad was going on now, and Meg felt the unstoppable urge to get to the bottom of it. She poked her head back into the donut shop, told her curly-haired employee to hold down the fort, then darted over to Nicole’s office.
Halloween Witch Cozy Mystery Ten Book Set Page 48
