by Tonya Kappes
“Why did you take my coffee?” I asked, though I was rolling around what he’d said about the argument. The more I thought about Drew’s interaction with Leslie and his tiff with Alexis, knowing banned books were very important to both, the more I wanted to check him out.
“You need to get moving if we’re going to get the coffee brewed and doughnuts ready for the morning rush.” He never ceased to amaze me. “What?” He looked down at himself as if there was something wrong.
“I’m at a loss for words,” I whispered. “Your kindness is overwhelming after the unkindness I’ve shown you the past few days.”
He reached out and pushed a piece of my fuzzy hair out of my face. He grabbed the edges of the quilt and tugged it up over my shoulders, snugging it around my neck. He was so close, I could feel his breath on my cheek and for a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me before Sassy wedged herself between us.
“I better get a quick shower.” I turned to go down the hall. I put my finger on the band-aid on my forehead that’d been there since I’d been at the hospital. “There is some food in the pantry for the fur babies you can give them before we go.”
We? We. A sigh escaped me. No matter how awful my body hurt when I moved a certain way and the thought that someone was really trying to get me to keep my trap shut, I was feeling giddy inside.
Nineteen
Patrick drove all four of us to the boardwalk. He insisted on driving all of us, making it cozy in the pickup truck. The parking lot was empty and the sound of little dog nails tickled the wooden boardwalk.
The Bean Hive was nice and warm.
“Gosh.” I’d completely forgotten I’d turned on the heat before I left because I’d left Morgan and Crissy here. Fast asleep.
“Did you remember something?” Patrick asked.
“I did,” I called over my shoulder on my way to the back of the coffeehouse and through the kitchen door. Pepper scurried along next to me.
I stopped and smiled at my friends who were still nestled in the chairs with the quilts over them. Patrick walked in.
“What in the world is going on here?” he asked.
I put a finger up to my mouth and shooed him out of the kitchen while trying to corral Pepper before he jumped on them and gave them a big wet kiss.
“Last night they came by to see me after they’d been out to tie one on.” I grabbed the carafes for the coffee makers and began to fill them. “They’d passed out before I left so I put a blanket on them. When we walked in and I felt the heat, I remembered I’d left them here.”
I turned on a dime and ran smack dab into Patrick, a carafe in each hand. He placed a hand on each one of my shoulders. He leaned in and pressed his lips against my forehead. I closed my eyes and focused on the warmth of his lips and not on the band-aid covering a couple of scratches.
“I think you missed.” Crissy voice came from the kitchen door. The sound of dog toenails clicked as the dogs danced around her feet.
Patrick jerked away and I took a step back. I put the carafes on the counter.
“Did we wake you?” I asked.
“What on earth?” She rushed over and looked at the bandage on my forehead. “Did you have a run-in with a coffee mug? Spatula?”
“Funny.” I cocked a brow.
“She was practically killed from a hit and run after she left here.” Patrick didn’t bother with the joking around.
“Patrick, we are moving on,” I reminded him.
“I see you two are moving on.” Crissy dragged a finger back and forth between us before she put her hand on my arm. “What happened?”
I told Crissy everything I remembered while I got the coffee brewing, the table and display up for Pet Palace, and the doughnuts from the kitchen refrigerator. Morgan had woken up due to all of the bustle. I asked her to let me know when Drew and Leslie got in line for the boat ride and she took off so she could get ready before her day started at A Walk In The Bark.
“I can’t shake the feeling that they didn’t want to necessarily kill me, they just wanted to send me a message.” I pulled out some of the extra animal biscuits Crissy and I had made.
I’d stuck them under the counter so I’d just have to pull them out to get them ready for this morning.
“You don’t think it was because of Big Bib?” Crissy was quick to remind me of just how intimidating Big Bib was.
“I don’t know.” I tried really hard to remember the sounds of the footsteps, but the pain of landing on my side when I went into the fence was what I was nursing when I heard the gravel under their feet. “I’ve tried to remember how the person walked up to me and Pepper, but all I can remember is holding my side and asking for help before they took off.”
“Pepper didn’t bark or jump or anything?” Crissy asked a really good question.
I gulped and tried to busy myself so Crissy didn’t notice how uneasy the fact that Pepper didn’t do anything made me. My eyes shifted to Pepper and Sassy. The both of them were on a piece of the dog bed Patrick had bought for Pepper.
“I’ve got to get going.” Crissy walked over and hugged me. “You need to take care of yourself. Let Spencer handle this and let Patrick care for you.” Her brows wiggled. “If you know what I mean.”
“Stop it,” I gasped.
“I haven’t seen him this goo-goo eyed since you left ten years ago. That’s a long time not to be goo-goo eyed over anyone. Trust me, he’s had plenty of opportunities come his way.” She gave me one last squeeze before she walked to the door. “I’ll be down between appointments to get a coffee.”
Patrick and I waved her off. He’d already straightened anything that wasn’t already fixed up last night.
“Crissy said something really smart.” There was a tug in my gut.
Patrick’s head tilted and he looked at me as if he’d had enough of me snooping. I quickly poured a couple cups of plain coffee.
“Just hear me out.” I walked around to the front of the counter and sat down at one of the café tables. I set the steaming mugs on the table and urged him to sit down.
“I think Crissy is right. Let Spencer take care of the investigating and let me take care of you.” The younger Patrick would’ve been protective yet hear what I had to say. The older Patrick was definitely more of a protector and think things through kind of guy.
There was a new relationship building between us. More adult-like which I wasn’t used to with Patrick. Silly since we’d grown up. What was I to expect? The young boy who picked me up and hung out on the pier, jumped into the lake, drank Ale 8 in the back of the pickup truck while we watched the blanket of stars pop out over Honey Springs? Long gone were those days. We had responsibilities. Keeping me alive was proving to be one task he was taking on.
“Pepper didn’t bark or growl,” I blurted it out.
The whites of his eyes flashed. It was as though I could see the thought roll around in his head.
“Are you saying that you think Pepper knew the person?” he asked.
“Yes.” I scooted up on the edge of the chair. “If Pepper didn’t know them, he’d have jumped up and acted crazy. He just sat next to me.”
A vivid memory came to me of Pepper sitting next to my head as I tried to roll over to see the person who’d walked over to see if I was either dead or alive.
“Here, Pepper.” I patted my leg and Pepper jumped off the dog bed. It didn’t bother Sassy any. She just adjusted herself to take up the entire bed.
Pepper did his normal thing. Bounced around me and the table on his back legs, excited to get attention.
“You had me there for a second.” There was a slight twitch in Patrick’s eye.
I put my hand out to Pepper. He immediately sat. No excitement. No jumping. No bouncing. No tail wagging.
“See.” My jaw dropped. I knew I was right. “Whoever wanted to run me down has to work at the Pet Palace. He knows that command and whoever ran me down, knew he knew the command and did it to him to make him stay so still.”
Patrick ran his hand through his hair and a worried sigh escaped him. The chair creaked as he leaned back. His eyes never left Pepper.
“Good boy.” I rubbed the top of Pepper’s head and got up.
The bags of homemade treats were still on the counter in the basket ready for me to put on the adoption table. I grabbed a bag and opened it. The crinkling of the bag got Sassy’s attention. She pranced over to get a treat too.
I let Patrick’s head niggle on the thought while I got Pepper and Sassy a couple of scoops of kibble for their bowls. My apron was hanging on the coat tree next to the counter and I grabbed it, tying it around me as I headed back into the kitchen to retrieve the doughnuts out of the oven I’d stuck them in to warm.
The icing I’d made with the special honey was ready to be piped on the doughnuts. I’d drizzle some on now while the doughnuts were hot and after they cooled I’d do a few twirling designs so the icing would harden into a pretty design.
I pulled out two pans of doughnuts and placed them on the cooling rack.
“Alright.” Patrick appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. “Will Louise tell you who works at the Pet Palace?”
“I’m sure she would, but she and Stewart are the only regular paid employees. There are a slew of volunteers.” I chewed on the edge of my cheek as I tried to concentrate on the icing bag and steadying my hand as I did swipes across the doughnuts.
“My number one goal today is to keep you safe.” There was no negotiating in his tone. “If you can get a list from her, I’ll check each one out and see where they were when you were run down.”
“I don’t think we need a list. I think Drew Kirkwood and Leslie Roarke are in cahoots. And when I met him and asked him about Crooked Cat and banned books, he got a little fidgety. Leslie’s been too busy playing the grieving daughter for me to really get to know her.”
I couldn’t stop thinking about the tickets Drew came in here and bought for the bee farm. It was a little feeling I kept to myself since Patrick was being all protective and stuff.
“But I don’t think it was Leslie who tried to run me off the road.” I knew Crissy was onto something with her theory.
“Why not?” Patrick asked.
“Because the first time Leslie came in here was a few hours after Alexis had died. Pepper went nuts. Barking and growling. So unlike him.” I was so happy I’d remembered that little bit of detail because Pepper did nothing when the person who ran me off the road walked over to me that night.
“Hi do!” Bunny called from the front door right after the bell dinged. “Yesterday was a success.”
I walked past Patrick into the coffeehouse. Bunny was hanging her pocketbook on the coat rack and grabbed her apron. She took something out of the hanging bag.
“It was?” I asked and wiped my hands down the front of my apron. Pepper trotted next to me.
“Yes. We’re even able to pay Cane Contractors what we owe them in full.” She snapped a check in front of Patrick.
“Thank you.” Patrick put his hand out and Pepper sat down.
“See.” I pointed to Pepper to reiterate my thoughts on Pepper knowing the person who deliberately ran me off the road.
“What?” Bunny looked between me and Patrick.
“Nothing.” I figured the less people knew I was still snooping, the odds of someone coming after me again were pretty slim.
“Okay.” She grinned as if Patrick and I had some sort of cute secret between us. “I’ll get the doughnuts ready.”
She skirted back to the kitchen.
“You can go now. My next babysitter is here.” I smiled and stuck my hands on my hips.
Patrick stared at me for a minute. He might have a few more lines around his eyes, but he’s still just as handsome as ever.
“I’m going to get this check back to the office and check in or we won’t be able to pay our workers,” he said. “We don’t want the boardwalk project to go under.”
He waved the check in the air and whistled for Sassy. When the bell dinged over the door, I gulped. I swallowed harder, trying to stop my mind from running wild.
Patrick Cane’s family owns the boardwalk. Aunt Maxi did say the rent had gotten so high for her and that’s why she’d raised the rent on Crooked Cat. Then she also said something about the leases which I didn’t see because she signed for me. Plus I was having a hard time shaking off the idea of Patrick jumping to Leslie’s rescue at the meeting after she’d had that break down. Patrick took that check and when he put his hand out, Pepper sat down.
Alexis. My head swirled with images of her coming in The Bean Hive a couple mornings ago and said she’d had something to say about the zoning of the boardwalk which had to do with Cane Contractors according to Aunt Maxi. But what about the zoning?
I reached down and grabbed a doughnut, putting it in my mouth and taking a bite. I chewed on it and the idea that Patrick Cane knew more than he was telling me. Interesting that he’d not tried to kiss me. I chewed a little more. He did know all of my sleuthing. He also knew I stayed at the coffeehouse late. Was Patrick Cane Leslie’s right hand man? Did they really have a relationship more than he let on? Not to mention the video cameras were conveniently not working the night of Alexis’s death? Suddenly, the clues were pointing to Patrick Cane.
I swallowed.
“Bleck.” I stuck my tongue out at the terrible taste and looked down. I’d eaten one of the dog treats. I grabbed a napkin and spit out the rest.
My finger ran over the bandage on my forehead. No way Patrick killed Alexis, I thought.
“My mind must still be a little jumbled from the fall.” I narrowed my eyes, looking out at the boardwalk.
Twenty
The rest of the morning I was in a fog. Thinking about the clues that pointed to Patrick as a possible suspect really made my stomach curl. Louise had brought a few more dogs and a cat from the Pet Palace. It warmed my heart to see her and Stewart talking to candidates for adoption.
“Well if this ain’t a sight for sore eyes.” Aunt Maxi stood at the counter. She had a big scarf over her head tied underneath her chin and a big pair of hot pink sunglasses covering half of her face.
“Aunt Maxi, I’m so glad to see you.” I walked around the counter. “Why are you dressed like that?”
Bunny changed places with me. She came to work the register so I could refill the tea and coffee bar while I chatted with my aunt.
“Incognito.” She pulled the glasses from her face and wiggled her brows.
“From who?” I asked.
I hated to break it to her, but her bright orange lipstick wasn’t the least bit incognito.
“People who think I killed you-know-who.” Her lip curled.
“Listen,” I glanced around the coffeehouse to make sure we were out of ear shot of anyone who’d be listening. “What was the deal with Cane Contractors and rezoning with the boardwalk?”
“Cane had bought up some of the shops that were willing to sell under Cane Properties. I didn’t sell so I came up with a lease agreement for here and the building where Crooked Cat is located.” She helped herself to a hot cup of tea. She slowly stirred some sugar into the hot liquid. “They put the store front up for sale with a blind bid. The agreement was the highest bid won, no matter what the amount was. But the catch is that if you won the storefront, you still had to pay a lease.”
“So Cane Properties owned the land and no matter if you owned the building, there is a lease agreement.” This didn’t seem so out of sorts. “Did Alexis Roarke have in a bid?”
“How do I know?” Her face contorted. “It was a blind bid.”
My phone chirped a text from Morgan. I was happy she remembered me asking her to text me when she saw Drew and Leslie heading down to the marina.
“But you said she was late on her rent. Do you think she held off on paying the rent because she was hoping to get one of those stores?” It might’ve been a long shot, but as a lawyer I’d seen many things that I’d never thou
ght were possible.
“Why are you asking these questions?” she asked.
“For you.” I noted and patted her back. “Now, you go make nice with Bunny and work the coffeehouse while I go run a few errands.”
Bunny and Aunt Maxi looked between each other. I didn’t have time to police them. I left the coffeehouse in good faith that they wouldn’t kill each other.
The boardwalk was filled with tourists and the vendors’ tents were packed. The Honey Festival looked as though it were a hit. I maneuvered through the crowd, glad I didn’t bring Pepper.
On the ramp down to the marina, my phone chirped a text. It was from Mari. She wanted to know if I could stop by and discuss the arrangements for the council luncheon on Monday. As I waited in line to get on the boat for the bee farm, I texted her back to let her know that I was going to the Southern Women’s Club for craft night, but could run by afterward.
She said that was fine and we made a final plan.
The boat was a ferry boat. Where the car would go, it looked like Bib had put in some folding chairs. I stood in the back and held onto the rail. There were so many people on here that it was a little bit like trying to play that game Where’s Waldo, only it was Where’s Drew and Leslie.
It wasn’t until the boat docked on the other side that I saw them slip off the boat. Separately. There were a couple of guides on the land who handed out brochures about the farm. There was a honey extraction display as well as the history of the farm along with a bearded bee man. That was one exhibit I wanted to see before I got back on the ferry over to the marina. But I had to get my eyes on Drew and Leslie.
There was a smooth jazz band playing near the honey tasting tent along with a fresh assortment of treats made from their honey. It was a shame that I was there to snoop and not buy. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Leslie’s frizzy hair bouncing down a trail that was clearly marked for employees only. A few seconds later, Drew Kirkwood followed.
The bearded bee man had captured all the attention, making it a good time for them, and me, to slip away unnoticed.
