by Eryn Scott
“You know, in Seattle, you’d be a prime target walking like that, Babe.”
Hadley jumped at the voice, looking to her right and left even though she knew who it belonged to all too well. Her gaze settled on Luke Fenton, standing in the middle of the sidewalk, arms crossed over his chest. Glancing back in front of her, Hadley realized she was just three or four steps away from running straight into a lamppost.
Unhappy that she had reason to thank him, Hadley said, “But we’re not in Seattle.” Cocking an eyebrow, she slipped her phone back into her purse.
“No, no we’re not.” Luke sighed.
Hadley scoffed. “If you miss it so much, why don’t you go back?”
His head jutted back slightly. “Ouch.” He blinked. “And I don’t miss it so much. I mean, it’s a great city and there are things that I miss, but I moved back for a reason.”
“To annoy me?”
He laughed. “That, and I missed home.” He watched her for a long moment. Just when she was beginning to get uncomfortable, he said, “I missed all of you naïve, small-towners who can walk down the street without looking, money literally about to fall out of your pocket, and your biggest fear is running into a lamppost.”
“Wha—I don’t have …” Hadley patted her pockets. Her cheeks heated up as she felt a wad of a few twenties hanging about halfway out of her back pocket. She’d put them there so she would remember to pay Hal since the man only took cash, and she’d been out last time she’d gone into Food N Stuff. Obviously, the reminder hadn’t worked.
“Touché, sir.” She tucked the money back into her pocket.
Then it was her turn to appraise him. His jeans were worn, yet they appeared clean. He wore a white-and-blue gingham button up, the sleeves rolled up to show his tanned forearms. His dirty-blond hair was swept to the side. Definitely not in a way that was practiced or gelled, but in that working in a sunny field all day way. Seattle hadn’t changed him. Not one bit, it seemed. A smile fought with her lips, tried to tug up on the corner of her mouth, but she pressed her lips together to hide it.
Luke chuckled. “See? Even that.” He pointed at her lips. “City girls are flashy and made up, and you never know what they’re thinking. But you, Had, I can always tell what you’re thinking.”
Hadley felt a happy flush at the fact that Luke called her Had instead of Babe. He hadn’t called her Had since high school, at least not that she could remember.
“I’ve been gone for a decade, and I can still read you like a book, just like when we were kids.” He shook his head.
At this, Hadley’s heart clenched tight, grew suddenly defensive. “Not just like when we were kids, Luke.”
He dipped his chin. “And … now I’m remembering the hard part about knowing what you’re thinking.”
Hadley suppressed a sigh. How did Luke get off playing the victim here? She couldn’t deal with this right now. She had enough on her plate.
“Well, I’d better …” She pointed down the street, but instead of an exit, Hadley spotted an opening.
Robert Smith was walking out of the bakery, a muffin clutched in his hand. This was her chance to ask him some more questions, maybe make him slip up about his alibi.
Hadley started walking forward, following Robert as he jogged across the street toward Fenton Park, named after Luke’s family. “See you around.”
A hand wrapped around her arm, gentle but insistent, causing her to stop short. She looked back at Luke. His normally relaxed—if you asked Hadley, too relaxed—expression was tight and his blue eyes suddenly dark as if they’d been clouded over.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked, leaning to the side, so he could keep an eye on Robert.
“Uh …” Hadley tried to think of an excuse. “I was just going to …” Not congratulate him for getting out of prison, that’s weird, Hadley mused. And I have no reason to talk with the guy other than to interrogate him … “I need some financial help.” She shrugged, because that was easier than rolling her eyes at herself. Really, Hadley? Financial advice from a guy who just got out of prison for fraud?
Luke’s dark expression broke and lit up as if his stormy emotions had created a crack of lighting. He boomed out a loud laugh.
“I forgot how bad of a liar you are, Hads.” He shook his head, wiping fake tears from his eyes. Each time she thought he was getting himself under control, he would look past her at Robert and then start laughing all over again.
Birds chirped happily in the trees surrounding the town and lining the river. For the first time in a while, Hadley wanted them to shut up. Or maybe that was just Luke she wanted to quiet.
Yanking her arm from his grasp, she placed a hand on each hip and leveled a glare at him that Paul always said could melt the paint right off a building. Since you can read me so well, she thought. Read what I’m thinking now. Hadley tapped her foot while she waited for him to stop.
“Had,” he said finally, clearing his throat. “I’m not about to let you run after a man who just got out of prison so you can interrogate him about a murder you think he could’ve committed.”
Hadley sighed. She wanted to slump onto the nearest bench in defeat. Instead, she pushed back her shoulders, cocked an eyebrow, pivoted on her heel, and walked across the carless street.
“Leave me alone. I can handle myself.”
Luke was at her side within a few steps. “Seriously, this is a bad idea. Robert could be dangerous.”
She stopped on the other sidewalk, just before Fenton Park. “The man is carrying a muffin into the park to eat while he watches the sun set.” She pointed to where Robert had stopped down by the river, sitting on a bench as he peeled the wrapper off the outside of his muffin. “I think I can handle myself around a muffin-eating man. I’m not twelve anymore. I’m a grown woman.”
She began walking again.
“It’s not about the fact that you’re a woman. I would be a bad friend if I let Ty—” Luke cut his sentence short.
Tyler.
Hadley wished she could curl up into a ball and Luke would be gone, back in Seattle. They kept walking, shoes falling in a silent pathway over the cooling grass.
The rushing river came into view over the bank. They were about two hundred feet from Robert now. Sounds of water rushing over the smooth stones soothed Hadley out of the slight tizzy she’d gotten herself into between fighting with Luke and being reminded of her ex-husband and everything that had happened between the two of them.
After a few seconds, Luke cleared his throat. “Look, Had …”
She stopped, faced him, and turned her features cold, hoping to be like those unreadable city girls. “Fenton, I can’t stop you from living here. I can’t even blame you. But you seem to have forgotten what things are like between us.” She took a deep breath as he leveled those blue eyes at hers. “We are not friends anymore, you made that abundantly clear. Your loyalties are with Tyler; I get it. But you can’t have it both ways. You can’t pretend anything is like it used to be. You made your choice very clear.”
Luke’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, listening, taking in Hadley’s words. He ran his palm across his light brown stubble. His face registered the seriousness of her speech and, after a second, he nodded. “Right.” The word cracked as if he were a teenager all over again, his voice in the middle of changing three octaves lower. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He glanced up from the grass, then behind her. “I’ll—uh—I’ll see you around.”
At that, Luke turned and walked away.
Hadley sighed, closing her eyes and listening to the rushing consistency of the river as if it were the very breath in her lungs. When she opened her eyes a few quiet moments later, she felt ready to talk to Robert.
Turning toward the bench, Hadley’s body was simultaneously let down and spun up with anger. She shook her head. Robert was gone. She’d missed her chance.
“Darn you, Luke Fenton,” she said aloud and then walked back to the jam kitchen.
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15
Aside from a few cryptic texts here and there on Friday, Hadley didn’t hear from Paul until she spotted him walking up to her booth at the farmers market that Saturday. Suze was out shopping, so Hadley was watching over both tables. There was a considerable lull in the crowd, however, which Hadley appreciated because she had some things to say to her brother.
“You know,” she said, placing a hand on one hip. “I know I claim to do so a lot, but I can’t actually read your mind. You have to tell me things. I’ve been worried.”
Paul sighed. “Sorry, it was a delicate situation for a bit there.”
Hadley glanced around, making sure no one was within earshot. “What happened?”
“Yesterday, Kevin and I found out that someone had applied for eminent domain of Edith’s house and property a few weeks ago.”
Hadley blinked. “Uh … sure. Wow. Big news. And that means what, exactly?”
Chuckling, Paul said, “It means that someone petitioned the town to take control of Edith’s land, stating that it would be in the best interest of Stoneybrook if they could develop it in another way.”
Understanding dawned over Hadley. “Oh, like in a manicured lawn with holes and flags kinda way?”
Paul touched the tip of his nose.
Hadley frowned. “But if Dirk was already on the path to getting her house sold off, why would he kill her? That wouldn’t be in his best interest.”
“Except that the application was denied.”
“Ah … Which would leave someone feeling discouraged and might lead them to take matters into their own hands.”
“That’s what we thought, but it wasn’t Dirk who applied.”
“Or his company?”
Paul shook his head. “It was some property developer up in Cascade Ridge.”
“Cascade Ridge? How’s that supposed to help our town? Most of Cascade Ridge wishes we didn’t exist, let alone wanting to help us grow. No wonder it was denied.” Hadley exhaled. “Was that why you had to go there yesterday?” She looked up at him. “So … you find anything out?”
Paul’s face darkened. “Unfortunately, the guy who runs the company is a good friend of Sheriff McKay’s and seemed to know his rights a little too well. He told us that he wouldn’t answer any questions without his lawyer, and we couldn’t have access to any of his business contacts without a warrant.”
“So your horse hit a dead end,” Hadley said just as Suze came back, standing next to the twins.
She groaned. “I’m never using metaphors around you two again! You’re driving me insane.”
“You haven’t always been insane, then?” Paul asked, winking at her.
“Just for that, I don’t want to hear your news.” She turned back toward her table.
“Wow.” Paul lifted his eyebrows. “That’s too bad. It’s pretty juicy stuff.”
Suze glanced over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes at Paul. “How juicy?”
Paul walked over to tell Suzanne his news, but Hadley stayed put in her booth as a customer approached. After helping the woman—and selling her three jars of jam—Hadley scanned the market. Just like last week, Luke stood behind the table at the Fenton Farms booth.
He smiled at her, tipping his chin up in a silent hello.
Her lips instinctively began to curl into a smile in return, but she pressed them into a tight line when she caught herself. There was too much broken between Luke and her … too much that he’d broken and never repaired. Not to mention how seeing him still reminded her of Tyler every time. She just couldn’t handle that right now.
Hadley turned away, watching Paul and Suzanne as he finished telling her about the newest clue in Edith’s case. That was when she remembered that she had news for them too.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you what I learned on Thursday night.” Hadley stepped over to where they were chatting between the two booths.
Wide-eyed, Suze and Paul listened to Hadley explain about how Louise had lied about her alibi and who knows what else. Hadley left out the part of the night where Luke had saved her from running into that lamppost or how she’d missed out on her chance to talk with Robert. They didn’t need to know all of that.
“So here we are … all of our horses neck and neck.” Suze narrowed her eyes at them as if it were a real competition. “What are we going to do about that?”
Hadley glanced at the people milling around the market. In front of her, about ten feet away, two locals named Judy and Mindy had just stopped to chat.
“Judy, I heard about John’s truck getting stuck in that ditch yesterday. Were you able to get it out?”
“Yes, Steve came with his winch and towed us out.” Judy rolled her eyes. “That should teach John to try driving like he’s sixteen. Though, at least he isn’t blowing all of our money on poker like Casey Graham. I don’t know how Sarah puts up with him.”
“From what I hear, she doesn’t anymore. They’re separating.”
“Oh good. I knew that, but I didn’t want to spread gossip if you didn’t.”
Hadley suppressed a laugh. Then she got an idea. Turning to Paul and Suzanne, she said, “We’re going to use our greatest resource.”
“Which is?” Suze asked.
“This nosy little town. Everyone knows everyone else’s business.” A fact that had been the bane of Hadley’s existence lately, but one she was willing to exploit if it helped them catch Edith’s killer.
Paul furrowed his eyebrows. He didn’t like the idea.
“Paul, think about it. Who did you tell about Edith’s death being a murder?”
“The sheriff, you two, and Kevin. That’s it.”
“Yet everyone found out somehow. There’s a reason small towns are usually so low on crime, and it’s not because there are fewer people. You would have to be a fool to commit a crime when everyone knows everything about everybody else.”
Paul dipped his head to one side. “Everyone really knows Edith was murdered?
Suze scoffed. “Oh yeah. Adele Stevens came up to me yesterday morning to ask if I’d heard the news. That woman’s as deaf as a post, so if she knows …”
“So we ask the town about our suspects?” Paul ran the back of his hand along his beard-covered jawline.
Hadley glanced back at the knitting table where Louise and Gretta sat chatting and knitting away. “Just be extra careful if your suspect happens to be here.”
Suze nodded solemnly.
Paul pulled up a chair. “Well, the two of you are much more likely to elicit information than me—people are too wary of the law ’round these parts. I’ll sit here and watch over the booths.”
Hadley grinned as Suze linked an arm with her. “Wish us luck.”
Paul shook his head. “No can do. It’s bad luck to do that in horse racing.” He tried to keep a straight face, but a smirk took over all the same.
Suze let out defeated sigh. “I can’t bring you two anywhere fun, can I?”
“Probably best not to.” Hadley laughed as they walked into the market.
Having already completed any shopping she needed to do before the market opened for the day, Hadley was able to peruse the booths differently than when she was on a mission to gather the things on her list. Now she could saunter, observe, take her time. And most of all, listen.
At Leo’s fresh flowers booth, she and Suze overheard Trina and Laura discussing a delay in the construction on the new high school. Interesting, sure, but unhelpful in the case. While they browsed Mickie’s bakery booth, drooling over her scones, cinnamon rolls, and doughnuts, they learned that there’d been a big fight between the two Tippery sisters over their father’s old truck. But it was when they were sauntering past the espresso cart that they heard Lydia McMeans say Robert’s name while talking with James, the local butcher.
Hadley stopped, pulling Suze with her.
“Hey, Lydia. Hi, James.” She smiled a big, toothy smile at them. “Isn’t it crazy that it’s already been six months since Robert wa
s incarcerated?”
No attempt was made to cover up the fact that she’d been listening in to their conversation. People in Stoneybrook knew everyone listened to everything. It wasn’t a surprise.
Lydia and James nodded.
“It’s just flown by,” Lydia said.
James snorted. “I’m guessing Robert doesn’t feel the same way.”
The four of them turned solemn at the reminder that this was no laughing matter.
“Having both Robert and Luke in town again makes me feel like I’m back in high school,” Suze said.
“Well, get used to it, girl.” Lydia cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t know how long this idea Luke’s got about moving home will last, but I know for a fact Robert isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”
“I thought he was only staying with Hazel until his apartment was ready for him to move back into.” Hadley leaned in close.
Lydia shook her head. “From what I hear, he just said that to save face. He can’t afford that place anymore now that he’s out of a job. Nope, he’s in Stoneybrook for the foreseeable future. Saw him picking up applications around town yesterday, in fact.”
Hadley exhaled, surprised by the information. Not that it was too much of a revelation, but it certainly did add to the motive Robert would have for getting rid of Edith. If he blamed Edith Butler for his troubles like his mother did, the inability to move back to the city would be yet another line on the list of ways she’d ruined his life.
Reminding herself not to feel sorry for the guy—he was the one who’d broken the law and stolen from unsuspecting clients, after all—she waved bye to Lydia and James, pulling Suze along with her.
They needed to get moving if they wanted to learn as much as they could.
As they continued walking around, Suze and Hadley learned that Alfred was getting a new dog, Jenny’s dog had bitten Karl’s sheep on the leg, and Richard had won a thousand dollars yesterday on a scratch-off ticket.
Hadley avoided the quilting and knitting booths, knowing they wouldn’t be able to ask candid questions in those places. However, as she and Suze walked back toward Paul, she noticed Hazel was gone from the quilter’s booth.
