by Kate Bell
“And did Phil ever find Frito?” I asked.
“Not that I’ve heard. I suppose we ought to check with him, too.”
--21--
We heard someone on the stairs and I poked my head outside the bathroom door. We had left the office door open to air the room out. After a moment, Phil Jones came into view in the lobby. Speak of the devil. He made a beeline for us without stopping at the doorway.
“Mr. Blanchard, I want to hire you,” he said. His face was angry and he looked like he meant business.
“Certainly, Mr. Jones. What did you want to hire me for?” Alec asked, putting his paintbrush down.
I joined them so I wouldn’t miss a thing.
“To find my Frito. I’ve called the police and they said it was a matter for the animal shelter, but I know Frito didn’t run away. I already told you, it’s that woman next door to me. She stole him. If I can’t get the police to look for him, I’ll hire you.”
“Mr. Jones, I’m not sure there’s sufficient evidence to say that Jenna stole your dog,” Alec said.
“Nonsense! There’s plenty of evidence. She doesn’t like me and she’s trying to get at me. I shudder to think what Frito must be going through. I’m sure he misses his bed and his toys,” Phil said, tearing up.
I felt bad for the guy. But I was with Alec on this one. There didn’t appear to be any way Frito could have escaped his yard, but I doubted Jenna could have scaled a six-foot solid wood fence, either. I had a hunch he hadn’t been paying attention and the dog escaped through an open front door. Frito was a spaz, after all, and had probably taken the first opportunity to escape. And I still wondered where Phil had gotten off to the other night and whether he had known Lucy and I followed him.
“I understand,” Alec said. “But have you at least checked with the animal shelter?” Alec asked.
Phil sighed. “Yes, I did and as expected, they did not have him. Are you going to take my case?”
Alec looked undecided. “I tell you what. I’ll take the case on and look for him for a few days. But if I don’t find him by then, I won’t be able to help you. If I can’t find him, you don’t have to pay me.”
Phil brightened. “Okay, that’s a deal. But please, do all you can do to find my Frito.”
“I will certainly try,” Alec said.
With that, Phil turned and left.
“Do you think you can find him? It’s been a couple of days,” I said when I was sure Phil was out of earshot.
“No, I don’t. That’s why I don’t want to charge him. If the dog’s out wandering, chances are good he won’t have survived long in the snow. He’s used to a warm bed and food being provided. He already said the shelter doesn’t have him,” Alec said.
“Well, it’s sweet of you not to charge him if you don’t find him,” I said.
“And if I do find him, it’s a paying case,” he said.
“Did Meg Cranston pay you anything for spying on her husband?” I asked.
He chuckled. “I didn’t get to do much spying, but she did offer to pay me for the effort. I refused though. I couldn’t see taking money from a woman that just lost her husband.”
“I don’t blame you,” I said. “I still think it was weird the way Phil disappeared down that alley the other night, and the fact that he was in Mr. Winter’s alley the morning of the murder. What do you think he was doing?”
Alec shrugged. “Some people make trash digging a hobby.”
“Ew,” I said, wrinkling up my nose. “That’s gross. Think of all the germs.”
He chuckled. “Maybe he had legitimate business back there. You never know,” he teased.
“Well, I better get back to cleaning. Or we could go get something to eat,” I suggested. “That does sound like a better plan, now that I think of it.”
“We just started. I think we should get something done before taking a break.”
I sighed. “I hate cleaning bathrooms, especially bathrooms that are not my own. There’s no telling what all has gone on in there,” I complained. I shouldn’t have been whining. After all, Alec had helped me with my baking on more than one occasion, but I really didn’t want to do this.
“Just use the time spent scrubbing to meditate on ways you can improve your business. I know you can beat the competition if you put your mind to it,” he said.
“Speaking of the competition. I got kicked out of their restaurant,” I confessed, as we headed back to the bathroom. “Can you believe that? I have never been so mortified.”
“What? What do you mean kicked out? They forcibly made you leave?” he asked incredulously.
“Not forcibly, but this little French tart of a woman said she knew who I was and that I was there to spy on her and her desserts,” I said sadly.
“And were you doing that?” he asked with one eyebrow cocked in my direction.
“Sort of,” I said. “I really just wanted to taste some more of their desserts is all.”
Alec laughed. “Only you could get thrown out of a restaurant for wanting to order dessert.”
“I won in the end though. I had Jennifer buy me some of the desserts and bring them to me.
“You, my love, are just too much,” he said and gave me a kiss.
He was probably right.
***
The fact that Jenna had lied about knowing Spencer Cranston was bugging Alec, so we stopped by Jenna’s house on our way home. I hoped I didn’t smell too badly of bleach.
“Oh, hello. You two do get around, don’t you?” Jenna said with a laugh when she opened her front door.
Alec smiled at her. “We do. We had a couple of questions for you. May we come in?”
“Sure, come on in,” she said and led us to her living room. If it bothered her that we were asking her about a murder she had repeatedly sworn she knew nothing about, she didn’t let it show. There were several boxes sitting on the living room floor, half filled with various items.
“Please excuse the way we look,” I said. “Alec got a new office and we were down there painting and cleaning.”
“Oh, how exciting! A new office,” Jenna said, offering us a seat. “Now, what can I do for you?”
“Jenna, we heard that you worked for Stanton Industries, but you’ve said you didn’t know Spencer Cranston nor his wife. Spenser was your co-worker, though,” Alec said.
“Oh, well, technically, yes. Stanton Industries brought us all in from different parts of the country. We worked in different offices and I had never met Spencer. I had a disagreement with my new manager, Bart Hicks. I knew when I met him that I couldn’t work for him, and I quit after being here two days. That probably wasn’t the smartest move of my career, but hey, it is what it is,” she said. “If you’ve ever met Bart Hicks, you probably know what I’m talking about. I can’t remember if Spencer Cranston was even there during those two days I worked there. Everyone hadn’t made it in yet.”
“Why did you stay in Sandy Harbor this long?” I asked. “Did you happen to have family here?” If I had just moved to a new city and then quit my job, I would have high tailed it home again if I didn’t know anyone in that new city.
She shook her head. “No, but Sandy Harbor is a charming little New England town, and I thought it would be fun to stay a while and experience a New England Fall. I did that and also got to experience a New England Christmas, and I think it’s time to head home now. I thought I might be able to find work here, but I just couldn’t find anything.”
Every time we talked to Jenna, she made me want to believe her. She was either very innocent, or a good actress and I couldn’t decide which it was.
We spent a few more minutes making small talk and then excused ourselves. I was tired and felt dirty from cleaning Alec’s office and I just wanted to go home and put my feet up.
“What do you think?” I asked Alec on the drive home.
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to work for Bart Hicks and I’d probably quit, too. But I’d have done it before making
a cross-country move, that’s for sure. And Meg Cranston doesn’t have any hard evidence that her husband was cheating on her with Jenna or anyone else.”
“So, back to the drawing board?”
He nodded. “Back to the drawing board.”
--22--
On Valentine’s Day, I wore a new red dress I had bought from a cute dress shop that just opened downtown. I figured that if Alec did ask me to marry him, I was going to be dressed for the occasion. I knew I shouldn’t even be thinking about Alec asking me to marry him since I wasn’t sure if he had the same thing in mind or not, but I couldn’t help it. I was crazy in love with him.
I had dropped off four chocolate raspberry cakes at Henry’s earlier in the day. There were three layers of rich chocolate cake, and filled with fresh raspberry filling. The cakes were frosted with chocolate ganache. I hoped Henry’s would be busy and that I wouldn’t have to bring any of the cakes home again. Every restaurant in town should be packed on Valentine’s Day, I thought.
I looked at my reflection in the mirror and smiled. I looked good in this dress. I had finally lost the extra five pounds I had gained from overindulging at Christmas time and the dress draped nicely on me. I topped off my look with a dark red lipstick and I was ready for my date.
Alec showed up right on time. He was dressed in a black suit and holding a bouquet of red roses and the biggest box of chocolates I had ever seen. “I hope you don’t mind me being traditional, but I got you the red roses and chocolate.”
“You know I love traditional,” I said, taking the roses and candy from him. They were in a pretty crystal vase and the chocolates were in a gigantic heart-shaped box.
I set the flowers and candy on the coffee table in the living room and that’s when I heard it. There was a shuffling and a snorting sound coming from outside.
“What was that?” I asked turning around.
He smiled and shrugged. “Your surprise.”
I hurried back to the front door and out front were two white horses pulling a white carriage. I gasped and looked at him.
“Really?”
He laughed. “Really.”
I giggled and he helped me into my coat and we headed to the carriage. I had seen this carriage in the annual Christmas parade on several occasions as well as decorated in red, white, and blue for 4th of July celebrations.
“How wonderful,” I said and Alec helped me into the carriage. There was a thick white faux fur throw to bundle up in and we pulled it up around ourselves. My stomach was doing flip-flops. Was he really going to propose to me?
The horses clip clopped down the street at a leisurely pace and I caught my neighbors peeking out their windows to see what was going on. I snuggled in closer to Alec. Let them look. I was the luckiest girl in the world.
“I think this might be one of the best days of my life,” I said.
He smiled. “Mine, too.”
It took over half an hour to get to Antonio’s Italian restaurant and I was starting to shiver a little by the time we got there, but I didn’t care. I was happy. I was with someone I loved.
Alec helped me out of the carriage and we headed inside. The warmth of the restaurant was welcoming. “Do we get to ride home in the carriage, too?” I asked.
“We had better or we’ll end up walking,” he said as the hostess showed us to our table. The restaurant had beautiful red and white roses on every table and nearly everyone was dressed for the occasion. The atmosphere in the restaurant was one of joy, or maybe it was just me.
After we had placed our order, we sat and looked into one another’s eyes for a few moments. Alec had ordered champagne and I thought that was good sign.
“So,” I finally said. “Any news on Frito?”
He laughed. “How romantic of you. No. No news of Frito.”
“You know me. I’m a sucker for romance,” I said. “Oh, I think I forgot to tell you. Thad called me and told me he’s proposing to Sarah tonight. I’m going to be a mother-in-law.”
“Well, that’s good news. Thad is a romantic devil, too, then?” he asked.
My stomach flip-flopped. He had said “too.” I tried to quiet my mind. He was really going to propose, wasn’t he? How would he ask me? The carriage ride was more than I had ever expected.
“How soon do you think they’ll get married?” he asked, taking a sip of his water.
“Oh, I didn’t think to ask. I hope they have a long engagement. They need to enjoy themselves before the everyday normalcy of marriage, you know? Just enjoy being young and in love.”
“I think marriage can be romantic,” he said. “It doesn’t end with the I do’s.”
“No, I didn’t mean that. It’s just that it’s their first real love and once they graduate college, the realities of a job and responsibilities will set in. I’m sure they will remain romantically in love for well, hopefully forever,” I said.
“Was your husband Thaddeus a romantic sort?” he asked.
“Kind of. Not horse and carriage on Valentine’s Day romantic, but more in the little things. He’d remember little things I liked and he’d buy them, or do chores around the house that were normally my responsibility. Thad is a little more traditional romantic. I can’t wait to hear what he did for her. But I bet he can’t top horse and carriage romantic.”
Alec chuckled. “Have I got the boy beat?”
“I think you might. When we tell them about it, we’ll have to play down the horse and carriage. I wouldn’t want Sarah to spend the rest of her life comparing her proposal to mine,” I said, taking a sip of my own water.
“Comparing your proposal?” Alec asked. “Did Thaddeus have a horse and carriage when he proposed to you?”
I stared at him wide-eyed for a moment.
My stomach dropped and I sucked in my breath, when I realized my mistake. My cheeks burned red as I continued to stare at him wide-eyed. What had I just done? At the exact moment I realized I had made a mistake, I could see in Alec’s eyes that he realized what I had thought.
“Oh. Oh, I’m sorry, I-I,” I stammered, but I didn’t know what to say. I had just made a fool of myself.
“No. No, no, it’s okay,” he said, staring back just as wide-eyed.
“Oh, Alec, I’m so sorry,” I said, looking away. I needed a great big hole to crawl into, but I didn’t see any nearby.
“No, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it,” he said, reaching across the table and putting his hand over mine.
I felt tears spring to my eyes. I lost my appetite and wanted to go home, but I was too embarrassed to tell him so.
“I guess I’m kind of your Valentine’s Day idiot,” I said, looking up at him. I cursed myself for the tears in my eyes. I really was an idiot. What had I been thinking? What had I just done?
“No, you are not an idiot. I guess I went over the top with the horses and carriage. I’m sorry,” he said.
“No, I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“You know what? I love you, Allie. I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone.” He got up and came over to my side of the table and I knew instantly what he was going to do. He was a gentleman and the fact that he wanted to make things right for me meant the world to me, but I didn’t want it like this. I wanted it when he was ready. He went down on one knee.
“Don’t you dare,” I said holding up one finger. “Don’t make this worse. I made a stupid mistake and you are not going to fix it by doing that. I know you love me. I love you. But I don’t want that until you’re ready to do it.”
“Allie,” he said, and stood up. He leaned down and kissed me. “I do love you.”
“I know,” I said, and cursed myself again for my tears. “Now you go and sit on your side of the table and we’re going to enjoy our Valentine’s dinner and then we’ll enjoy our carriage ride home and I’m going to brag to everyone I know that I have the most romantic boyfriend in the entire world.”
He smiled at me. “Okay. That sounds like a good idea.”
We did o
ur best to keep up the small talk, but my stupidity had put a damper on things. I snuggled up to him on the way home, but we didn’t have much to say. I had ruined one of the best dates I had ever been on.
--23--
Alec walked me to my door and I turned toward him, willing myself not to cry again. I at least wanted to enjoy my good night kiss. I already had plans to put that gigantic heart-shaped box full of chocolate to good use. The minute he left me, I would drown my sorrows in chocolate. If I gained back the five pounds I had lost, I didn’t care. I was going to eat my sorrows away.
“So,” I said, when he didn’t say anything.
“So,” he said.
“Is that your phone ringing?” I asked.
“It is. I’m trying to ignore it.”
We looked at each other and waited for the phone to stop ringing. When it did, he opened his mouth to say something and it began ringing again.
“You better take it,” I said. “It may be important.”
He pulled the phone out of his pocket and looked at it. He sighed. “Phil.”
I giggled. “Maybe he found Frito and wanted to tell you. That’s an important phone call, you better take it.”
“No. I am not going to take it,” he said, taking a step closer to me.
I stopped smiling. “Are we okay?”
“Of course we are,” he said. His phone stopped ringing and he smiled at me and put the phone back into his pocket.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“I’m sure,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Don’t say that again,” he said. “It never happened.”
His phone rang again. He rolled his eyes and pulled it out of his pocket again.
“Phil?” I asked.
“Yup.”
“You better answer it,” I said.
He sighed. “Alec Blanchard,” he said, answering it, and then he paused. “I’ll be right there.”
He hit end and stuck his phone in his pocket. “Phil says Jenna has broken into his house and is trying to kill him. Can I use your car? I think the horses will take too long to get there.”
