by Leena Clover
Adam didn’t like anyone meddling into police business. He and Jenny were often at odds with each other because of it.
“It’s a cold case,” Adam shrugged. “There’s not much anyone can do.”
“But Lily deserves justice!” Jenny argued.
Lily’s son had died the previous year. Her husband was in a senior home in Texas. No one was going to come and ask the police to find Lily’s murderer.
“Maybe you can do something about it,” Adam said mildly.
“Are you actually giving me your blessing?” Jenny asked incredulously.
“Just be careful,” Adam warned, “and keep me updated.”
Jenny walked to the seafood market to shop for dinner. Chris Williams filled her order. They chatted for some time and Jenny walked home. Dinner was a lively affair with her aunt’s special friend Jimmy Parsons joining them. Jimmy had been better known as the town drunk for several years. He had recently turned his life around and was dating her aunt. He spent a lot of his time at Seaview.
Jenny and Adam went for their usual walk on the beach after dinner. Jenny threw a ball for Tank, Adam’s yellow Labrador. Tank had moved into Seaview with Adam. He adored Jenny and could be seen following her through the house, his tail wagging.
The next morning, Jenny couldn’t wait to meet the Magnolias. She baked a fresh tray of banana nut muffins and had the coffee ready. Betty Sue arrived, her needles clacking with force as she took in the guests at the café. Heather followed behind, looking morose.
“How are you holding up, Heather?” Jenny asked.
Heather’s eyes filled up.
“How would you be doing in my place?”
“I didn’t know you were that close,” Jenny sympathized. “I mean, sure, we know you had some fun with him. But did you actually care about him?”
“Of course I did,” Heather cried. “Gianni made me happy.”
Betty Sue refused to acknowledge Heather’s connection to the dead doctor.
“Stop mooning around, girl,” she ordered. “Pour me a cup of coffee.”
Molly stumbled into the café, holding on to her Coke-bottle glasses. Star wasn’t far behind.
“I can smell spring in the air,” Star said as she doodled a drawing on a paper napkin.
Star was an artist who painted landscapes and seascapes. The tourists loved her work. She had a gallery in town and Jenny had helped her set up a website. Star worked hard in winter and spring to replenish her catalog. The tourist season would ramp up soon.
“Spring Fest is around the corner,” Betty Sue reminded them. “We need to work on it.”
“Barb’s back early this year,” Star observed.
Barb Norton was a local woman who took an active part in all the town events. She spent winter in Florida with her daughter but got back in time to organize the spring festival. The Magnolias liked to give her the cold shoulder but they had to admit she was resourceful.
“She’ll be around soon enough,” Petunia said softly.
“Can we talk about Mrs. Bones?” Jenny butted in. She had been trying to find the right moment to talk about Lily. “Did Lily ever have any accidents as a child, Betty Sue?”
Betty Sue paused from her knitting and narrowed her eyes.
“Lily was a hellion. My Daddy was quite strict with me but old man Davis let Lily roam around the island. She swam with the watermen’s kids and could outrow them any day.”
“So you two didn’t play together?”
“I’m coming to it,” Betty Sue said irritably. “Lily came to visit a lot. We could play in our yard but I wasn’t allowed to go out with her.”
Jenny wished Betty Sue would get on with her reminisces. She tried to curb her impatience.
“One afternoon, we snuck out and walked to one of the bluffs. Someone had tied a rope swing on an oak. I got sick just looking at it. Lily scrambled up and made me push the swing.”
“Is this going anywhere?” Heather asked with a yawn.
Betty Sue barely heard her. She was lost in the memories of her childhood.
“Lily begged me to push harder every time. We were both yelling, Lily with abandon, me with fright. Suddenly, she flew in the air and crashed to the ground.”
“She broke her collar bone, didn’t she?” Jenny asked urgently.
Betty Sue’s mouth dropped open.
“Don’t interrupt, Jenny,” Star quipped. “Let her finish.”
“She’s right,” Betty Sue said, pointing a finger at Jenny. “I’ll never forget that day. Lily had a nasty scrape on her chin and a broken bone. She was howling for hours. We were both grounded for weeks after that.”
“Mrs. Bones has a fractured collar bone,” Jenny said softly.
“So there’s no doubt it’s Lily?” Betty Sue asked sadly.
“It’s beginning to look like that,” Jenny said, placing her hand on Betty Sue’s. “The police might run some more tests. Then we’ll know for sure.”
Betty Sue’s face hardened as she looked at Jenny.
“I want you to clear Lily’s name. They didn’t just kill her. They destroyed her reputation.”
“I’m going to do my best,” Jenny promised her.
“What about Gianni?” Heather wailed. “Aren’t you going to find out what happened to him?”
“Gianni Costa died in his sleep,” Star snapped. “He had one drink too many.”
Petunia seconded Star.
“What kind of doctor was he, anyway? He should have known when to stop.”
“He didn’t drink that much,” Heather argued. “We all drank wine at the restaurant.”
“What about after he got home?” Molly asked. “He must have had a few more drinks then.”
Heather had no answer for that. She didn’t remember much of what had happened after they reached Gianni’s home. But she wasn’t ready to admit that.
“You’re all just bad-mouthing him,” Heather insisted. “Jenny needs to find out the truth.”
“Hold on, Heather,” Jenny protested. “That’s not my job. The police will look into it. What do you think I am? Some kind of detective?”
“It won’t be the first time you solved a murder,” Heather said sullenly.
“That was different,” Jenny said.
“She’s right,” Betty Sue spoke up. “That doctor was a menace. Good riddance, I say.”
“Grandma!” Heather cried. “You barely knew him.”
“Jenny has her hands full with Mrs. Bones,” Molly reiterated.
Heather opened her mouth to argue. A loud voice hailed them from the boardwalk.
“Yooohoooo …”
A short, plump woman scrambled up the café steps.
“Hello Barb,” Star drawled. “The Spring Fest committee doesn’t meet for three more days.”
Barb Norton sat down next to Molly and tried to catch her breath. Jenny offered her a cup of coffee. She took a sip gratefully and looked around at the assembled women.
“Forget the Spring Fest.”
“Are you stepping down as Chairperson?” Star asked eagerly. “It’s my turn now, anyway.”
Barb glared at Star.
“The Spring Fest will go ahead as planned. I am here on important business.”
“What’s got your panties in a wad?” Betty Sue thundered.
“Dire things are afoot, Betty Sue,” Barb Norton said urgently. “We need to gather everyone for an emergency town meeting.”
“What’s the matter now?” Jenny asked.
Jenny had lived in a city most of her life. Small town politics was new to her. She was still amazed by how the people came together to discuss and dissect every small issue. There was a committee for everything, Jenny had found.
“Our very way of life is being threatened,” Barb said dramatically.
She flung a finger at Betty Sue.
“Those Newburys are doing it again. And your husband is responsible.”
“What is John doing now?” Betty Sue asked mildly.
&
nbsp; “Drugs!” Barb declared, her bosom heaving. “The Newburys are getting into the drug business.”
“What nonsense!” Betty Sue dismissed.
Jenny, Heather and Molly shared a swift glance. They were trying hard not to laugh. Barb Norton pounced on them.
“You find this funny?”
“Stop being fanciful, Barb,” Star said curtly. “Get to the point.”
“The Newburys are planting cannabis in their fields,” Barb declared triumphantly. “They are going to sell it too, right here in town. John Newbury signed a lease on that empty store on the corner of Main. Eddie Cotton owns that store. He told me himself.”
“Are they opening a medical marijuana dispensary?” Jenny asked.
“I don’t care how they sugarcoat it,” Barb sniffed. “We cannot have drugs in Pelican Cove.”
Chapter 3
Jenny added a generous amount of ground cinnamon to her waffle batter. She added some orange zest to the berries bubbling away on the stove. She was fixing a special batch of her waffles based on Barb Norton’s request. The Spring Fest committee had met the previous night but hadn’t reached consensus on a single point. Jenny had suggested consulting Mandy. Everyone had agreed to that suggestion.
Mandy James was a consultant the town had hired before. She had helped them win the Prettiest Town in America tag. Jenny was sure she would have plenty of ideas about how to make Spring Fest bigger and better. A conference call had been set up and the ladies were going to gather in the café to talk to Mandy via video conference.
Jenny fussed over arranging the perfect plate of waffles and wished Heather would hurry. Barb wanted a picture of the waffles for the Spring Fest flyers. Jenny also wanted to post the picture on the town’s Instagram page.
“Merchandise!” Mandy James said resolutely. “Anything you can think of – t-shirts, tote bags, baseball caps – something for everyone. You make money this year and get free advertising for the next. And swag! You need to give away swag.”
Mandy was on a roll. The Magnolias groaned as Mandy rattled off one suggestion after another. They hadn’t missed this aspect of her personality.
“Hold on, Mandy,” Jenny said. “Heather’s taking notes.”
“Aren’t you recording this?” Mandy asked.
“We prefer to take notes the old fashioned way,” Barb Norton bristled. “Now tell us what this swag is.”
Mandy spent a few minutes explaining how they could give away small items like pens or key chains with the town’s logo on it.
“Get some big items for the raffle,” Mandy ordered. “Everything should have the town’s web address on it.”
Jenny’s mind was working furiously, thinking about ways to spread the word about the Boardwalk Café.
“Why don’t we get some special tees printed?” she asked Petunia. “We can put a pretty picture on them, like these waffles, along with our name and address.”
“Whatever you think is right, dear,” she said uncertainly.
Jenny turned toward the screen and spoke to Mandy.
“What about having a concert on the beach? I know you shot my suggestion down last time, but the Spring Fest seems like a good time for some music.”
“That’s an excellent idea, Jenny,” Mandy approved. “Why don’t you start contacting a few bands?”
Barb started working on the waffles while the women threw ideas around.
“You don’t know what you are missing,” she told Mandy. “When are you coming for a visit? Jenny’s come up with plenty of yummy recipes since you left.”
“Let me check my calendar,” Mandy said seriously. “I will try to make it there for the Spring Fest. No promises, though.”
Heather sat with a camera in her lap, staring into space. Molly nudged Jenny and tipped her head at Heather.
“We need to do something,” she hissed.
“Looks like she’s really grieving for Gianni,” Jenny shrugged. “We need to get her out of this funk.”
“How about a trip to the city?” Molly asked. “Let’s catch a movie and get her favorite dinner.”
The girls decided to talk to Heather after the conference call ended. Barb Norton made Jenny fix a fresh plate of waffles and ordered Heather to take a few dozen photos from all angles. She went off on another mission after that. The girls finally heaved a sigh of relief.
Heather didn’t want to go to the city.
“How can I enjoy a movie when my sweetie just died?” she wailed. “How heartless do you think I am?”
“How about a visit to the spa?” Jenny offered. “My treat.”
“Have you been biting these?” Molly asked, picking up Heather’s hand and peering at her nails.
Vanity won and Heather agreed to tag along to the spa. Molly chattered continuously as Jenny drove off the bridge that connected the island of Pelican Cove to the mainland. Heather stared out of the window, tears streaming down her cheeks. Jenny gave her a worried glance.
“You need to pull yourself together, Heather.”
Heather pulled out a few tissues from a box on the dashboard. She blew her nose and nodded wordlessly.
“I didn’t realize you were so attached to him,” Jenny continued.
“Gianni cared about me. I might have had a future with him.”
Jenny bit her lip and forced herself to stay quiet. Had Heather really been thinking about marrying a man fifteen years her senior? She thought of the flamboyant doctor with his flashy clothes and diamond earring. His shirt had been unbuttoned every time Jenny met him, exposing his hairy chest.
“You’ll find someone else,” Molly soothed.
Molly’s comment didn’t go down well. Jenny believed Heather hadn’t forgiven Molly for hooking up with Chris.
“You take as much time as you need, Heather,” Jenny said diplomatically. “We can put up your profile on that dating site again.”
“It’s a mobile app,” Heather corrected her. “No one uses websites anymore.”
“Why don’t we take a new photo after our spa visit, hmm?” Jenny soothed.
Heather seemed to rally around a bit after that. They chose a three hour package at the spa. Jenny found herself relaxing after a long time as she let herself be scrubbed and massaged. They went to Heather’s favorite restaurant overlooking the Chesapeake Bay for a late lunch.
“I’m starving,” Heather said. “I’m getting the blackened sea bass.”
The girls ordered different entrees and switched them around after a few bites. Jenny couldn’t resist ordering the bourbon pecan pie for dessert.
“Thanks for doing this, girls,” Heather said on the way back. “I almost feel human.”
Jenny squeezed Heather’s hand.
“We’re here for you, sweetie. Just let us know what you need.”
Jason was sitting out on the patio with Star when Jenny got home. She was happy to see him.
“Jason!” she exclaimed happily. “We hardly see you anymore.”
Jason sprang up and hugged Jenny. “You’re glowing, Jenny.”
“After what I spent at that spa, I better,” Jenny joked. “What brings you here?”
“Kandy’s busy with a case,” he told them. “And I’ve cleared my desk too for a change. So I thought I would enjoy an evening at Seaview.”
“You’re always welcome here,” Star said warmly.
She had a soft corner for Jason and preferred him over Adam. She made sure she told Jenny about it plenty of times.
“Is Adam home yet?” Jenny asked.
“He just left,” Star said gleefully. “He’s working till midnight.”
“How’s Nick?” Jason asked. “Haven’t seen him in a while.”
Jenny’s son Nick was a sophomore in college. Jenny rubbed a small gold charm that hung around her neck. Nick had gifted her a charm for Mother’s Day ever since he was a kid. They hung around Jenny’s neck on a chain. She had the habit of rubbing the charms whenever she missed her son.
“He should be here fo
r Spring Fest,” Jenny said. “Hopefully even before that.”
“Did you hear about John Newbury’s plans?” Star asked Jason. “What do you think?”
“I think he’s got guts,” Jason said. “But the Newburys never cared about the town folk.”
“Surely they won’t do anything illegal?” Jenny asked, wide eyed.
“Having the law on their side won’t be enough,” Jason explained. “Communities around the country have protested against these dispensaries.”
“Aren’t they supposed to help sick people?” Jenny asked.
Jason let out a sigh.
“The amount of people they can help is less than the ones they can harm, I guess. People are afraid of the ramifications, and rightly so.”
They argued over the pros and cons of growing medical cannabis in a small town like Pelican Cove.
“You can be sure of one thing,” Star said. “There will be a protest, and a big one. Those Newburys better be ready for it.”
Jenny insisted on cooking Jason’s favorite pan seared fish in a wine butter sauce. He had brought a bottle of local wine Jenny loved. They lingered over chocolate brownies and ice cream on the patio. Jason had built a fire in the pit. The scent of roses and gardenias perfumed the air. Water gurgled in the stone fountain.
Jenny sighed with pleasure as she looked around her. This was her home now.
The Magnolias were all fired up about the Spring Fest the next day. Star had produced some designs for the festival T-shirts. The ladies pored over them, arguing over which one best represented Pelican Cove.
“I like this one with just the crab,” Molly said. “It’s simple but elegant.”
“I prefer this one,” Heather opposed her. “Crab, oyster, sea bass in a basket and the light house and beach in the background. It’s all the best of Pelican Cove.”
“Did you post that photo of the waffles on Instagram?” Jenny asked, bringing out a plate of warm muffins.
“Already done, Jenny. It has some five thousand likes. Get ready to make plenty of waffles.”
Adam Hopkins came in sight, flanked by two men in uniform. He was leaning on his cane heavily, wincing with every step.
“Is your leg bothering you?” Jenny asked with concern. “Have you taken any pain pills this morning?”
