Good Buy Girls 05 - All Sales Final

by Josie Belle

  “Darling, you went from a giddy grin to a thundercloud frown in the blink of an eye,” Sam said as he rose to his feet. “You all right?”

  “I’ve been better,” she said.

  “Is it wedding jitters or Captain Bones or both?”

  “Both,” she said. “How’d you know?”

  “I can read you like a book,” he said. “Besides I’ve been feeling the same way.”

  Maggie raised her eyebrows.

  “Well, not the wedding jitters part,” he said. “I feel like we have that nailed.”

  “Having the pastor on speed dial does not mean we have it nailed,” she said.

  Sam grinned at her. “You’re cute when you’re nervous.” When she didn’t smile back, he grew serious. “Coffee?”

  “That’d be great,” she said.

  “Sit tight,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”

  Maggie glanced at the clock on the wall. She had to get to her shop. The Good Buy Girls were coming around to discuss the wedding again. Suddenly, elopement didn’t seem like such a bad idea, except for the wee detail about her mother never forgiving her.

  “Here you go.” Sam reentered the office with a mug in hand. He put it on the desk beside Maggie and paused to kiss the top of her head.

  “So, talk to me,” he said. “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”

  Maggie fortified herself with a sip of coffee before she spoke.

  “I returned my books to the historical society today,” she said.

  Sam took his seat behind his desk. “You said you were going to do that. How’d it go? Was Ruth there?”

  He made a comically alarmed face and Maggie knew that he shared her impression of Ruth being wrapped a bit too tight.

  “Not at first,” she said. “Mary Lou was there and she gave me a list of all of the men from the St. Stanley area who served in World War Two. I wanted to see if Jasper Kasey was listed and if so, did they have any biographical information on him?”

  “Great idea,” he said.

  “I thought so,” she said. She handed him the manila folder. “The list is in there. Now tell me if you think there is something odd going on.”

  Sam opened the folder and scanned the list. “The place where his name would fall alphabetically is covered up.”

  Maggie nodded. “It’s too much of a coincidence, don’t you think?”

  Sam studied the list some more and then glanced up at her. When his blue eyes met hers, they were dark and determined.

  “Way too much of a coincidence,” he said.

  Chapter 22

  Maggie watched while Sam made a phone call. She could tell it was Andy he was talking to and not just because he greeted her by name but because there was a familiarity in his tone that he didn’t use with everyone.

  He explained about the paper and asked her to come and have a look at it. Then he got a perplexed look on his face and Maggie got the distinct impression he was uncomfortable. He hung up, looking distracted.

  “Well, I’d better go open up the shop,” Maggie said.

  Sam nodded and then looked thoughtful. “I wonder if Andy is missing Richmond. I had to pull some strings to get her on loan to us but she seems really fixated on the old days.”

  Maggie made a noncommittal humming noise. She knew this was the perfect opportunity to let Sam know what Andy had said to her about bringing him back to Richmond, but she held her tongue. She trusted Sam to make the right decision, really she did. More importantly, she wanted him to make the right decision for himself.

  She gave him a quick kiss and dashed out the door right as his phone began to ring.

  * * *

  “So, do you think he finally gets that she wants him to return to the force in Richmond?” Ginger asked.

  The Good Buy Girls met every week to swap coupons and share any online ads or circulars from the paper that they thought might help someone in the group. Usually, they met at Maggie’s house but since her mother and sister were staying there, they had decided to meet for lunch at the Daily Grind. Summer had joined them, which was still odd for Maggie, but she was trying to rally.

  “I don’t know if he sees it that clearly yet, but I have hope for him,” Maggie said.

  “You’re an id—” Summer began but then interrupted herself. “Sorry, old habits.”

  The rest of the Good Buy Girls looked at her and she shook her blond hair out as if shaking off her old miserable personality.

  “What I meant to say was you are too trusting,” Summer said. “There, that sounds better, doesn’t it? You’re about to marry this man. You do not need some old colleague from his past getting his head all spun around about where he wants to be. He belongs here with you and if you need to tattoo that onto the woman’s forehead with your boot heel, I say do it.”

  “She has a point,” Joanne said. Baby Patience was asleep in her stroller beside her and Joanne had taken the opportunity to eat a whole lunch: sandwich, iced tea and chips. Maggie had the feeling it wasn’t always the norm for the busy new mother. Through a mouthful, Joanne added, “Boundaries have to be maintained.”

  Claire nodded. “I know if she was trying to get Pete to leave town, I’d want to kick her caboose all the way back to Richmond.”

  Ginger hooted. “Listen to all of this tough girl talk.”

  “Oh, come on, you know you’d put a beat down on her if she tried to get Roger to ditch you for his career,” Summer said.

  “Roger comes with four teenage boys,” Ginger said. “No woman in her right mind would poach him for a career or a relationship because I would make sure the boys went with him.”

  “Clever,” Maggie said. “So, can I borrow the boys?”

  Ginger laughed. “I would not do that to you no matter how much they adore their Aunt Maggie.”

  “Like I said, I think Sam is figuring this out on his own. He just needs a little more time,” Maggie said.

  “If you say so,” Summer said. “Just remember you have a wedding coming up, and if there is anything that will make a man bail in a blind panic that is it.”

  “Is that what you call positive talk?” Ginger asked.

  “What?” Summer shrugged. She picked the tomatoes off of her sandwich before she took a bite. She swallowed and then said, “It is not helping that you don’t have any of your wedding stuff in order. I don’t think that sends a very good message to a groom.”

  To Maggie’s surprise, all of the Good Buy Girls looked at her and not in support but as if they agreed with Summer’s assessment of the situation.

  “I have made some decisions,” Maggie said.

  “Do tell,” Ginger said.

  “Well, after some research, I discovered that buying flowers from a local grower is a lot more cost effective than having a florist make a ton of arrangements.”

  “And you’ve talked to a flower farmer to see what he’s carrying?”

  “It’s on my to-do list,” Maggie said. “Jim Peters has a peony farm and I was hoping to get him to sell them to me wholesale.”

  “He happens to be a client of mine,” Ginger said. “I’ll ask him. Your timing is good because I know his flowers are just beginning to bloom.”

  “Have a dress yet?” Summer asked.

  “Working on it,” Maggie said.

  “How about a venue?” Claire asked.

  “Again, working on it,” Maggie said.

  “Oh my god, you didn’t book a venue yet. I’m going to start having a freak-out,” Joanne said.

  “No, no, it’s all fine,” Maggie lied. “Really, Sam said as long we have the pastor and the license he doesn’t care about anything else.”

  “Oh, that’s so romantic,” Claire said. She sighed and Maggie wondered if she’d been on a Jane Austen bender lately. It had been known to happen.

  The others nodded in agreement except for Summer, who rolled her eyes. Maggie had a feeling it was taking every bit of restraint Summer had not to give her a hard time.

  “
Well, there are some other ideas for affordable weddings,” Ginger said. “For example, you could always have the wedding reception at your new house.”

  “The haunted house?” Summer asked. “You want to have a party in a haunted house?”

  “Well, it’s not necessarily a bad idea,” Claire said. “According to my research, 81% of all wedding guests ranked the entertainment as the most memorable part of the wedding.”

  “Entertainment?” Maggie asked.

  “And you can’t get much more entertaining than ghosts,” Ginger said.

  Maggie lowered her head into her hands. Moving, skeletons, wedding, ghosts: She was going to have a nervous breakdown.

  “Hey, I know,” Claire said. “Pete knows a local cover band that plays in the coffee shop every now and then. They can play anything. I’ll ask him to see if they’re available. They all have jobs and mostly perform for fun. I heard one of them say they were just happy to play and even took payment in buffalo chicken wings once.”

  Maggie’s head popped up. “Book ’em.”

  Claire grinned. “On it.”

  “See?” Ginger said. “It’s all coming together.”

  “Unless Andy has her way,” Summer said.

  “What do you mean?” Maggie asked.

  “Let me put it like this,” Summer said. “If I were a betting woman, I’d lay odds that she was the one who strung that fishing line across the top step.”

  “But why?” Maggie said. She had told the girls earlier about the fishing line incident, but she had tried to play it off like it was a prank by some neighborhood kids. She didn’t want anyone to worry unnecessarily. “Me being hurt doesn’t help her get Sam back to Richmond.”

  “Unless you broke your neck,” Summer said. “Then what reason would he have to stay?”

  Maggie didn’t like the way her heart clutched at that statement. She also wasn’t thrilled that Summer had had the same thought she’d had about Andy. She was willing to let Summer try to be one of the Good Buy Girls but she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the realization that she and Summer seemed to think alike. It was disturbing.

  “She’s right. You’re going to have to be careful until you know who might have done such a thing,” Joanne said. She leaned over the stroller to check on Patience, who was still fast asleep.

  “No going to the house by yourself,” Claire said. “I can always come with you when I’m out of work.”

  “Same here,” Ginger said. Maggie could tell by the pained expression on her face that of all the Good Buy Girls, she was the most afraid of the house. It was a testament to their friendship that she was willing to go in at all.

  “Thank you,” Maggie said. “I will be careful, but I still believe it was just a neighborhood kid playing a prank.”

  All four of them stared at her and she sighed.

  “Or not.”

  Chapter 23

  “So, I’ve been told that my lack of decisiveness about our wedding is a bad signal to you.”

  “In what way?” Sam asked.

  Maggie and Sam had escaped their families and were enjoying a romantic dinner for two—well, along with Marshall Dillon—in their new home. Sam had brought a card table and folding chairs and they ate their take-out dinner from House of Noodles right out of the boxes.

  “Well, it was theorized that you might think I don’t want to get married to you,” Maggie said. “But I just want you to know that I do and I’ve even made some decisions.”

  Sam grinned at her. “Okay, fire ’em at me.”

  “Peonies for flowers,” she said. “All different colors. I know we talked about calla lilies but I found a sweet deal on locally grown peonies.”

  “I’m okay with that. I think my grandmother grew those in her garden. Big round-headed things, aren’t they? I always liked those.”

  “Good,” she said.

  “And Claire has a cover band contact through Pete for a really talented group of musicians that I hear will work for chicken wings,” she said.

  Sam bit into his egg roll. “How about a roasted pig?”

  Maggie tipped her head to the side. “Huh?”

  “Michael and I were thinking a big old luau-style roast pig would be the ticket for food,” he said.

  “This means I don’t have to find a caterer?” Maggie asked.

  Sam nodded. “I’ll take care of the food.”

  “I love it,” Maggie said. “Now as to where we should have the reception—”

  “Here,” Sam interrupted her. “I think it should be here.”

  Maggie grinned. “I was thinking the same thing.”

  Sam’s phone buzzed. He glanced at it but didn’t answer it.

  “Let’s move in after the wedding, that way we don’t have to do anything but rent tables and chairs and put a roasting pit in the backyard,” Sam said.

  Maggie let out a very uncharacteristic squeal which made Sam laugh. She reached across the table and squeezed his hand.

  “I think we have a wedding,” she said.

  Sam’s phone buzzed again. He glanced at it and she could tell by the way his lips tightened he was unhappy at the interruption.

  “What about invitations?” he asked.

  “Meh, in a town this size, let’s just invite everyone,” Maggie said.

  “It’s not likely that they’ll misbehave at the sheriff’s house,” Sam said. “All right, everyone it is.”

  “I’m sure I can ask Bianca Madison to get the word out,” Maggie said. “She has that annual ball every year and she manages to invite everyone.”

  “See, it’s all coming together,” Sam said. “I never had any doubt that you wanted this. Only that you were a bit overwhelmed with so much change so fast.”

  “I was, but I think I’m feeling better,” Maggie said. “And hey, we’ve been here for over an hour and there’s been no sign of any ghostly activity.”

  As soon as she said it they both glanced around the room, but there was nothing. Instead, Sam’s phone started buzzing again, making Maggie jump.

  “I think you need to answer it,” she said. “Whoever it is, they’re very persistent.”

  “It’s Andy,” he said. He frowned and then answered, “Collins.”

  “Uh-huh,” he said. “No, I can’t come over to the ME’s right now.”

  Maggie took an egg roll out of their shared carton and nibbled on it while she blatantly listened to the conversation.

  “I’m sure it is fascinating,” Sam said. “But unless there is a reason you can’t give me the information over the phone, I’d like you to just tell me now.”

  Maggie glanced away. She had only heard Sam’s voice get this short when he was very irritated.

  “Thank you for confirming the identity of the skeleton,” he said. “And how about the paper?”

  Sam tapped his chopsticks against the carton while he listened. Maggie wished she could hear what was being said, but she knew he’d tell her as soon as he hung up.

  “Thank you, Andy, you’ve done a great job here,” he said. He glanced at Maggie and then said, “I think you’re good to head back to Richmond now.”

  Maggie could hear very excited chatter on the other end of the phone, although she couldn’t make out the words.

  “No, I really think it’s for the best,” Sam said. “But again, thank you and nice work.”

  He ended the call while Andy was still talking.

  “Did you just hang up on her?” Maggie asked. Rudeness was not generally Sam’s way.

  “There’s something I need to tell you,” he said.

  Maggie put down her carton of food. Oh, boy, was this it? Had Sam finally figured out Andy’s game? And if he had, how did he feel about it? He sounded irritated with her but maybe it was because Andy had struck a nerve. Maybe he did want to go back to Richmond, or even worse, maybe he wanted to go back and he wanted Maggie to go with him, where she’d be forced to spend more time with Andy. Gah! It was completely unacceptable. She forced hers
elf to breathe. No sense in panicking until she heard what he had to say. Right? Right.

  “Last night while I was on duty, Andy showed up at the station,” he said. “She was drunk.”

  Maggie raised her eyebrows. She hadn’t pegged Andy as a drinker.

  “Andy is having a hard time back in Richmond,” he said. “A lot of the old guard, like me, has retired and she’s not working so well with the new powers that be.”

  “Is that why she wants you to come back?” Maggie asked.

  “You knew?” Sam looked surprised.

  “She told me when she first got here that her plan was to bring you back to Richmond and I could either pack a bag and come with or kiss you good-bye,” she said.

  “And you never said anything to me?” he asked.

  “I wanted you to make up your own mind,” she said.

  “Maggie O’Brien Gerber soon-to-be Collins, you never cease to amaze me,” he said. “You do know there was never any question of me going back?”

  “I do now,” she said.

  He kissed her on the mouth and Maggie forgot where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. Sam Collins had been turning her brain to mush since he’d first kissed her in a back alley over twenty years ago. She knew now that was never going to change, and she welcomed it.

  “There’s one more thing you should know about last night,” Sam said when he pulled away.

  Maggie shook her head in an effort to focus. “What’s that?”

  “As I was pouring coffee down Andy’s throat and listening to her tale of woe while insisting that there was no way I was going back to Richmond, I had two visitors.”

  “Who?” Maggie asked.

  “Summer and Tyler Fawkes,” he said.

  “Now I’m lost,” Maggie said. “Why would they have popped in on you?”

  “Because Summer was tailing Andy, thinking that she was up to no good, which she was,” he said.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Maggie cried as she hopped up from her seat. “Stop the crazy train. Are you telling me that Summer had my back?”

  “Yup,” Sam said.

  Maggie stared at him. “I can’t . . . that’s impossible . . . I’m not sure I can process this.”