by Nancy CoCo
We stepped into the cool night where a horse-drawn taxi was waiting for us.
I looked at Trent. “We don’t live that far from the yacht club.”
“I thought it would be a nice treat to ride.” He helped Jenn up into the buggy and then me.
It was magical to listen to the horse’s hooves on the road as we clipped along Main Street. The thick crowds were gone. A few people strolled hand in hand. Others rode bikes with lights on. Finally, a few horse-drawn taxies carried parties of people from hotels to parties and bars.
“How is Paige doing?” I asked Trent.
“Good,” he said and gave me a surprised look. “Why?”
“As Jenn said, Rex came by today with questions about Paige and Carin. I was worried that Paige might need comforting.”
Trent threw back his head and laughed. It was charming and unaffected. “Oh, good God, no.” He looked at me, his eyes sparkling. “Paige is fine. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure she isn’t too broken up about the death. She and Carin have been rivals since elementary school.”
“That’s a long time,” Jenn said.
“It was mostly Carin’s doing. That woman was always trying to best Paige. Paige shrugged it off for years. Trust me. My sister thinks enough of herself not to worry about who is intimidated by her. Besides, they had made up recently.”
“So that’s what was going on? Carin was intimidated by Paige?” I asked.
“If I were to say anything, I think Carin wanted to be Paige. You see, Carin wasn’t quite as pretty as my sister so she wasn’t as popular with the boys. There was also the healthy grade point competition. Paige hardly ever studied and always beat Carin out on grades. Carin used to crumple up her papers and throw them at Paige.”
“Oh, no. Poor Paige,” I said.
“Actually, Paige thought it was funny. It did get old though. When they hit high school both ran for homecoming queen. Typically, whoever makes homecoming queen makes the lilac queen the next spring. Carin campaigned hard. At one point, Paige went to her and told her she could have it. Paige pulled her name out of the running because she was worried it was too contentious.”
“So Carin won?”
“Yes, Carin won and then began a mean campaign toward my sister. She had two friends, Eleanor Wadsworth and Suzy Olden, who followed her around like she was their queen bee.”
“They were mean girls?” I asked. There had been a group of those in my high school, but they had pretty much left me alone. I was never on the radar of the popular girls. The sad part was I wasn’t ever invited to any parties, but on the good side, I wasn’t bullied.
“Yes,” Trent said, his jaw ticking at the memory. “I put Paige’s name in for lilac queen and made sure everyone knew that my sister had a better grade point average and service record than Carin. Paige won by a huge margin. Everyone made a big deal about it because no homecoming queen had ever been beaten out of lilac queen the next spring.”
“No one but Carin,” Jenn said as the carriage pulled up in front of the yacht club.
“Nobody but Carin,” Trent said with some satisfaction at the memory. He climbed out of the carriage and helped Jenn out first. “I must admit it was a satisfying success on my part.”
“You are a wonderful brother,” I said as I slipped my hand in his and he helped me down from the carriage. We headed toward the yacht club.
Jenn followed behind us. “I can see how that might have set up Carin to feel as if Paige were her enemy.”
Trent shrugged. “The girl got what she deserved.”
“Except in death,” I said. “No one deserves to die so young and at the hands of a murderer.”
Trent stopped in his tracks. “Wait. What? I thought she had gotten drunk and fallen from her parents’ yacht and drowned.”
“There is evidence that she was dead when she hit the water,” Jenn said. “It’s why Shane is working tonight. Carin’s body was taken to St. Ignace for an autopsy.”
Trent muttered something dark and dangerous under his breath.
“Rex was over this afternoon asking questions about Carin and Paige,” I said. “It sounded like he was looking into Paige as a possible suspect.”
“That’s ridiculous.” He stopped at the bottom of the steps to the yacht club.
“That’s what I said,” I agreed and took a deep breath of the cool night air.
“Do you have any idea if anyone else might have wanted Carin dead?” Jenn asked.
“There are a few people,” Trent said.
A party of well-dressed yacht club members pulled up at the gate of the picket fence that surrounded the yacht club.
“Come on, ladies. Let’s go in.” Once again, Trent held out both his elbows. “Don’t worry about Rex Manning’s ridiculous imaginings. Concentrate on having fun tonight and networking. There are some big movers and shakers here tonight. It won’t hurt for them to get to know you.”
I bit my bottom lip to still the worry that welled up in my heart.
The door was opened by a man in a butler’s suit. “Welcome, ladies and gentleman,” he said stiffly without looking at us. May I have your names and I will announce you.”
“Seriously?” I whispered to Trent.
“Trent Jessop, my date Allie McMurphy, and her friend Jenn Christensen,” he said smoothly.
“Thank you, sir.” The butler turned and called loudly, “Introducing Mr. Trent Jessop, his date Miss Allie McMurphy, and her friend Jenn Christensen,” as we stepped into the club foray.
“Trent, welcome.” At the front door, Mr. Richard Blake, yacht club president, stood in a reception line with his wife. He shook Trent’s hand. “Two lovely ladies on your arms. I always did think of you as a lucky man.”
“I am indeed,” Trent said smoothly and proceeded to introduce us to everyone in the reception line. The last were two women I knew from working with the committee and their husbands. They remembered Jenn before me, but that was okay. She was charming in the situation.
We made our way to the dining area and the seats with our names on them. Paige sat at our table and stood when she saw us. I gave her a quick hug and she kissed my cheek.
“Are you okay?” I asked and squeezed her hands.
“Yes, of course,” she said with a lightness to her voice. She was gorgeous . . . everything I thought of when I thought of high society. She was blond, thin boned with high cheekbones. Her complexion was porcelain. She had long lashes and cornflower blue eyes. Her high-end designer dress most likely cost more than the McMurphy’s monthly budget. Not a hair was out of place, her makeup perfect. Her nails were professionally done.
It made me want to hide my polish-free hands.
In addition, she was warm and welcoming. She didn’t even notice my hands and soon was hugging Jenn and getting us to sit down. Trent waved the server down and had champagne brought to all of us. Paige’s date’s chair was empty.
“Where’s your Reggie?” I asked carefully.
“He couldn’t be here tonight. His family is close to the Moores. His best friend is Carin’s brother,” Paige said and sipped her champagne. “I told him it was okay. I completely understand. It’s good he stayed with Ash Moore. It’s tough to lose your sibling.” She paused. “Allie, how are you holding up after finding Carin?”
“I’m okay,” I said and smiled at the waiter who poured me a white wine. “It feels strange to think it happened just this morning.”
“I know,” Paige said. “It seems odd to be at a party knowing she died last night.”
“Trent was telling us how Carin seemed to feel as if she was constantly in competition with you,” Jenn said. “How do you feel about that?”
“You know, I never really let it get to me. It was crazy. I’ve heard of brothers and sisters acting out in that way, but Carin and I were merely classmates.”
“She must have started out admiring you and that grew into something more,” I said. “It’s the only reason I can think of for her actions.”
> “That’s a reasonable idea,” Paige said. “But things got out of hand after high school. I got accepted into Loyola in Chicago and so Carin had to go to Loyola. It was rumored that she didn’t get in until her wealthy father pulled some strings. Loyola got a new tennis court and Carin got in.”
“Don’t tell me she studied the same thing you studied,” I said.
“Oh, no. She studied English lit while I majored in business administration,” Paige said.
“Well”—I sat back, relieved—“I guess the strange rivalry stopped then.”
“No, it didn’t,” Paige said. “Carin found out which sorority I pledged and pledged the same. What’s worse is her lackey . . . uh, best friend . . . Eleanor Wadsworth also pledged and those two had half the girls in the house against me. I would have dropped the next year but Trent told me to stick with it.”
Trent leaned into the conversation. “A Jessop never runs away from a fight. I had some of my frat brothers go to the sorority house and offer to make some much needed improvements to the house. You see, Paige’s house was cash strapped due to poor management by the last house mother, so we got donations for paint and materials and then my frat brothers and I went over and spruced things up. Paige was a hero after that. Carin and Eleanor pouted, of course, but they couldn’t say anything bad about it.”
“The trick was not to have our parents contribute,” Paige said. “That way she couldn’t say I was flaunting our money.”
“That was brilliant,” Jenn said. “I bet you got a plaque for sister of the year.”
“I did,” Paige said with a smile. “It burned Carin every time she passed the honors wall.”
“What happened after college?” I asked. “Surely this didn’t go on.”
“Well, we both have strong ties to Mackinac. So Carin was constantly trying to outdo me on committees and things.”
“But Paige got the last laugh,” Trent said with a grin.
“What do you mean?” I asked and lifted my wineglass to take a sip.
“Carin brought her boyfriend by the club one night to flaunt him,” Paige said. “I had broken up with my college boyfriend a few months before that and hadn’t been dating.”
“She thought showing off her boyfriend would be a dig at you?” I asked. “That sounds very immature.”
“Trust me. It was,” Paige said. “Her boyfriend thought so, too. He came to see me the next day to express his disappointment in Carin’s behavior.”
“How sweet,” I said.
“I know. I thought so, too,” Paige replied. “We talked all through the night and into the next day. By the end of the visit, Reggie asked me out.”
“Oh boy,” Jenn said.
“I know,” Paige said and sipped her drink. “I told him he had to break up with Carin first. Then wait two weeks to make sure he really meant it before he called me again.”
“And did he do what you asked?” I asked.
“He did. He went straight to Carin’s house and broke up with her. Then he texted me to let me know that it was done and his two weeks were starting.”
“And?” Jenn asked.
“And two weeks later to the hour, he called me and asked me out. I said yes, and the rest is history.”
“Wait, you stole Reggie from Carin?”
“No,” Paige said with a shake of her head. “Reggie broke up with his girlfriend and two weeks later asked me out.” She smiled. “We’ve been together ever since.”
“I bet Carin was livid when she found out,” Jenn said as the servers placed the salad plates on the table.
“She was beside herself and tried to corner me about it, but Reggie wouldn’t let her. He went straight to her parents and talked to them about his feelings and intentions. He told her family that I had nothing to do with his decision. That it was Carin’s own actions that caused the breakup.”
“That took a lot of guts,” I said.
“Like I said, Reggie has known Carin and her family since he was seven. His best friend is Carin’s brother Ash. It’s why he dated Carin in the first place. He was always over at Ash’s house and she was there and she was pretty.”
“It has to be tough for him,” I said.
“Yes,” Paige said. “They are his family and he’s grieving for Carin as much as they are . . . even if she was mean.”
“Can I ask you a question?” I leaned toward Paige.
“Sure.”
“Did you and Carin have a run-in yesterday?”
“What do you mean?” Paige asked.
I noticed a nervous tremor in her fingers.
“Rex came to the club meeting and questioned us about yesterday,” I said. “Remember when we were talking about the feasibility of creating small party favor ships at the last minute?”
“Yes,” Paige said with a smile and held up her gold leafed replica of the ship at the centerpiece of our table. “They turned out amazing.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Sandy is a craftsman.”
“Don’t let her give away too much credit,” Jenn said. “Both Allie and I stayed up half the night pouring the chocolate into the molds and ensuring they didn’t have bubbles. Plus the gold and silver leafing was Allie’s idea.”
“I thought it would make them easier to handle and take home at the end of the night,” I said. “The last thing anyone wants is to stick uncovered chocolate into their bag.”
“So, wait. Rex was asking about Paige?” Trent asked.
I nodded. “Yes. Jenn told him she had noticed Carin come into the club and then Paige get tense.” I turned to Paige. “Then you walked out.”
Paige frowned. “I saw Carin come in and say something to Eleanor. I was afraid they were up to something. Those two can’t be trusted. They’ll do things just to mess with me. I went to see Amy to ensure that the chocolate party favors would remain on the list of things to have on the table.”
“Clearly, she agreed,” I said and sipped my wine.
“She did,” Paige said. “I went home and left Carin and Eleanor to their devices. After all, what could they do to upset things at that point?”
“I asked Rex if Paige was a suspect, but he wouldn’t answer.”
“What exactly did he say?” Trent asked.
“He said that he was asking what had happened, that he was putting together Carin’s last day.”
“I see,” Trent said with a frown.
“I wouldn’t worry about it.” I put my hand on his. “Rex is fair in his assessments. He understands that Carin and Paige were school rivals and nothing more.”
A three piece orchestra was playing softly in the background and the room was full of high-society guests. I’d been so busy thinking about Paige and Carin that I hadn’t really noticed how far along the event was. I glanced around to see if anyone was noting the centerpieces and it seemed as if a few were being admired.
“Except there is more.” Jenn paused while the servers took away our salad plates and put down our dinner plates.
“What?” I was drawn back to Jenn and Paige. “What do you mean there is more?”
“You don’t think Rex sees that as motive, do you?” I asked Jenn, then turned to Paige. “How long have you and Reggie been dating?”
“Almost two years. He has let me know every step of the way that I’m his one and only.”
“There’s no reason for Paige to hurt Carin,” Trent said. “It’s ridiculous to think there is.”
“You didn’t get into a fight with Carin the day she died?” Jenn asked.
I frowned. “Jenn—”
“What?” Jenn shrugged. “I’m asking because Rex made it sound like they did.”
“We might have exchanged words in the hall,” Paige said with a nonchalant shrug. “It was nothing.”
“What did you talk about?” Jenn asked.
“I think we’ve spent enough time on Carin,” Trent said briskly. “This is supposed to be an enjoyable evening. Let’s change subjects.”
I noted that
couples were swaying slowly on the dance floor as the band played a waltz. I held out my hand. “Come on, Trent. Let’s dance.”
“My pleasure.” He stood, tucked my hand in the crook of his arm, and led me to the parquet dance floor that had been laid down on the far end of the dining area. He took me into his arms and expertly twirled me around the floor.
The rest of the evening was filled with romance as the orchestra was replaced with a big band. The tables were pushed back and the French doors opened to let in the lake breezes.
It was magical, being in Trent’s arms. I let him sweep me away into a world of happiness.
Chapter 6
“Someone had a good night,” Jenn said as I came into my apartment through the fire escape door. It was one in the afternoon and I was wearing the dress I’d worn the night before.
I did a small twirl in the middle of the living area. “It was magical.”
“Sweet. I want details,” Jenn said from her perch on the couch, her laptop on the coffee table.
“Ladies don’t kiss and tell.” I headed to the bedroom to strip, shower, and get dressed for the day.
“Oh, you did more than kiss,” Jenn said.
“I’m not telling,” I called over my shoulder.
“When’s the wedding?” she called back at me.
I blew out a long breath, slipped on my bathrobe, and stuck my head out into the hallway. “I’m taking this one day at a time.”
“Fine. Promise me I’ll be the first to know when it happens.”
“I promise you’ll be the first to know”—I headed to the bathroom—“but don’t tell my mother you were first. She’ll have a fit.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
It was good to take a day off every now and then. My day was more of an evening and morning, but hey, time off was time off. Last night with Trent was magical and romantic and I would never forget it. The yacht club raised a record amount of money and Jenn and Sandy and I earned an extra two thousand dollars for our efforts. All in all it was not a bad day.
* * *
Luckily, I didn’t have any bets on the boats in the race. A squall had picked up and the high winds and waves cut the races short. People had pretty much stayed off the ferries, cutting their days of visiting the island short.
