Jake tilted his head a bit more and moved closer.
Apparently he didn’t mind kissing a woman who might be just a little bit crazy.
Chapter 13
I KISSED JAKE GOOD NIGHT WHEN I WALKED HIM downstairs, drawing a sleepy wolf whistle from Bluebeard, but no complaint that we were disturbing his night-time rest.
Jake just chuckled.
We had talked for a long time. Just talked. With my limited romantic history, I was wary, and Jake quickly recognized my reticence and respected it.
I locked the door behind Jake, trying not to think too hard about the change in our relationship. It was too soon to know where we were going.
Besides, I had another mystery to contemplate. Bluebeard had said people don’t come back for no reason, and I had no idea what Uncle Louis’s reason was. There must be something he wanted, or needed. I fell asleep wondering what that something was that brought him back to Southern Treasures.
By morning I still had no idea, and I once again pushed the question of Uncle Louis to the back of my mind. I had a business to run, and the problems of Bobby, Riley, and Karen were a more immediate concern.
Julie worked behind the counter, but she didn’t seem able to settle down for very long. Her restlessness proved contagious, and I found myself rummaging through the shelves. I didn’t know what I was looking for and wasn’t sure I would recognize it when I found it. But I couldn’t sit still, either.
WBBY played in the background all day. Late in the day, the backup announcer was still on the air, and Julie asked about Karen.
“She’s dealing with this family business,” I told her. “I doubt she’ll be back until it’s settled.”
“But can she do that without getting fired? Will her boss let her do that?”
I laughed at her question. “The station manager doesn’t really have a choice, not with Karen. Short of firing the best on-air talent in the Panhandle, he doesn’t have much way of making her do anything. They’ve had a couple run-ins before,” I explained. “And Karen comes out on top every time. She’s just stubborn enough to get away with it.”
Julie looked uneasy. It was clear she was relating Karen’s family situation to her own. Julie, after all, was facing several weeks away from her jobs. She had every reason to worry whether they would still be there for her when she returned.
“Don’t look so worried,” I said. “Your job will be here when you get back, whenever that is. You’re doing well here—I’ve seen you charming the customers—and I’ll be glad to have you back. And I know Frank feels the same way.”
Frank Beauford owned Frank’s Foods, where Julie had worked until she couldn’t stay on her feet any longer. He’d told me just a week ago that he was anxious to have her back.
“Thank you, Miss Glory,” Julie said.
It always made me feel ancient when she called me that, but it was the way polite southern youngsters were taught to address their elders. I didn’t feel that much older than Julie—except when she called me “Miss Glory.” Still, it could have been worse. At least she didn’t call me “ma’am.”
Julie rested her arm across her swollen belly. “But who’ll take care of her while I’m working?”
I laughed again. “I’ve seen your mama,” I told her. “She can’t hardly wait to get her hands on that grandbaby. She’s planning to spend a lot of time with her.”
I had an idea I’d been thinking about for several weeks. I’d talked it over with Julie’s mom, Anita, and we’d planned a surprise. “I’ve been thinking,” I said, “that there might be a way we could fix up a little nursery for her here at the shop. That way she could come to work with you, at least for a little while.”
I didn’t know much about babies, and I really wasn’t sure what all a nursery might involve, but I was willing to try if it would keep Julie working.
“At least through the summer,” I added. “That’s when I really need the help.”
“You’d do that for me?” Tears welled in her blue eyes. “Really?”
I shrugged. “Sure, if we can make it work. That way I keep a good employee, and you have a little more flexibility with your babysitting. I mean, your mama wants to have her grandbaby around, but she can’t have her all the time, no matter how much she wants to.”
Anita had promised to babysit, but she still had her own responsibilities. She and Stan, Julie’s dad, owned a small motel, and there would be times she wouldn’t be able to keep the baby.
Julie waddled out from behind the counter and hugged me. “That is so sweet.” She pulled back and swiped her fingers under her eyes, flicking away the tears. “Can we”—she hesitated—“can we look at how we can do this?”
“Sure.” Now that I’d told her about it, I should show her what I’d done. “I thought we might take the office space out back”—I nodded toward the storage area—“since it’s already kind of a separate space.”
We walked through the door to the back. There wasn’t a lot of room, but I had cleared out the corner where my desk and filing cabinet had been.
“I got some office dividers,” I told Julie, “to wall off this area a little more.”
The office space wasn’t much more than an alcove, but with the dividers in place it was big enough for a crib, changing table, and a chair for Julie. Her mom said she’d need someplace to sit with the baby.
The bell over the front door tinkled, and I went out front, leaving Julie staring at the empty space.
My timing had been excellent. Coming through the front door was Felipe, a giant grin on his face. “Ernie’s pulling the van around the back,” he said. “Are you ready?”
“I guess,” I said. I was as ready as I was going to get.
“I’ll go unlock the back door,” Felipe said as he walked past me. “Just wait here. I think there are a couple more people on the way.”
Sure enough, within a few minutes the rest of the renovation crew arrived. Jake closed his shop and crossed the street about the same time Linda walked over from next door. And right behind them came Anita Nelson.
Anita hurried through to go see her daughter as I greeted the new arrivals. Another car pulled to the curb. Shiloh, Fowler’s Auto Sales’ office manager, got out from behind the wheel, and my friend Sly got out on the passenger side.
Sly was a surprise, but a welcome one. I’d met him when I was investigating Kevin Stanley’s murder, and he was one of the few people I knew who remembered Uncle Louis. But it was the first time he’d been to the shop.
I’d only told a couple people what I was going to do for Julie, but it seemed like everyone I told invited someone else. It was a pleasant side effect of the gossip mill that ran Keyhole Bay.
Sly came through the front door, a wide smile creasing his dark face and exposing gaps where he was missing teeth. The crinkles around his eyes and the laugh lines that bracketed his mouth told of a long life spent outdoors.
Before Sly could speak, Bluebeard hopped across the shop—there wasn’t really room for him to fly—and looked quizzically at our visitor. He cocked his head one way, then another, then dipped it as though nodding.
“Sylvester.”
Sly’s eyes widened, and he looked at me. I shrugged. “He never forgets a face,” I said by way of explanation. I knew I would have to explain about Bluebeard and Uncle Louis—the circle of people who knew was growing quickly—but not in front of Shiloh. Not if I could avoid it.
Sly must have seen something in my expression, because he just nodded at me. “Quite a talent. I ain’t been in here in pro’ly thirty years.”
I smiled at him, sure he could see the relief on my face. As the group headed to find Julie, I held back a minute, and Sly waited with me.
“I can explain,” I said. “But I don’t want to tell everyone.”
“Thought so,” Sly answered. “How about you bring me some more doughnuts next week? ’Sides, Bobo’s been missing you.”
“Deal.”
“Thanks. We better be ge
tting back there, see how Julie’s doing.”
Predictably, Julie was in tears, leaning on her mother’s shoulder. Ernie and Felipe had already rolled out a pale pink area rug, and Jake was helping them lug in the crib parts from their van.
Linda and Shiloh disappeared out the back door and reappeared a minute later with packages that had been stashed in the warehouse area at The Grog Shop.
While Julie struggled to regain control, the crew set to work. Ernie and Felipe brought in so many pieces of furniture and so many decorations, I could hardly believe their van had held it all.
Jake and Sly set to work assembling the crib as soon as the pieces were inside. Next came a small dresser. Linda and Shiloh enlisted my help to unpack all the tiny clothes and blankets they’d brought over and stack them carefully in the drawers.
A changing table appeared, along with an enormous supply of diapers. “That should take care of the first week,” Anita said to the stunned Julie. I tried not to stare. How could one tiny infant need that many diapers in just a week? Obviously, I had a lot to learn.
We filled the drawers of the changing table with diapers and put sheets on the mattress of the now-assembled crib.
As we worked, I stole occasional glances at Julie. She had stopped weeping, although she still looked like she was in shock. At one point she seemed a bit uneasy, but she leaned against her mother and seemed to relax again.
The room came together more quickly than I had imagined possible. In just a few minutes we had transformed the tiny alcove into a miniature nursery, ready for the arrival of its part-time resident.
We stepped back to admire our work, and Felipe furrowed his brow. “Of course,” he said, “there’s something missing.”
He ran out the back door as though he had just thought of what he needed, but I don’t think any of us believed that for a second.
Especially when he came back with Frank and Cheryl Beauford right behind him, carrying a rocking chair with a big pink bow. “I know your mama made sure you had a proper rocker at home,” Frank said, “but we all wanted to make sure you had one here, too. This is from me and Cheryl, and from all the crew at the store.”
He stopped for a minute as Julie burst into a new bout of tears. She quickly regained her composure, and he continued: “You just be sure you don’t get too comfy over here. We want you back at the store, just as soon as you’re ready.”
Chapter 14
ELEVEN PEOPLE MADE A HUGE CROWD FOR THE small nursery, but we were almost as big a crowd upstairs, as Julie’s party moved to my apartment. Frank and Cheryl begged off, saying they had plans, but the rest of us trooped up to my place.
We hadn’t planned it that way, but it just seemed natural to invite everyone to come up. Ernie immediately started rummaging through my cupboards. He stacked ingredients on the counter and dug into the refrigerator. Within minutes he had a package of ground beef browning in a soup kettle with garlic and onions.
Julie sat on the sofa with her mother next to her, smiling but still looking a little shell-shocked.
I was kind of stunned myself. I had to admit, I was amazed at how quickly the nursery had come together.
A happy buzz of conversation filled the living room as I joined Ernie in the kitchen. “What’re you up to?”
“Vegetable soup. Want to give me a hand with biscuits?”
“Sure.” I pushed up the long sleeves of my T-shirt and pulled my hair up into a knot. I washed my hands and started measuring dry ingredients.
Ernie poured a can of vegetable juice into the pot with the beef, then added water and seasonings from my spice rack.
The doorbell at the back door rang. Felipe glanced at Ernie and me, busy with the cooking. “I’ll go,” Felipe said, heading downstairs.
He returned a minute later with Karen. She caught my eye from across the room. It was clear she had more news, but she shook her head, an almost invisible gesture that told me whatever it was would have to wait.
I finished mixing the biscuits, then rolled and cut them.
Ernie turned to me. “I’ll put them in the oven when it’s time. Go play hostess.”
I nodded, leaving dinner to Ernie for the moment. Julie was still sitting on the couch with Anita, but she looked tired and uneasy.
“I think we’re going to go,” Anita said. “Julie needs to get home and get some rest.”
“Are you sure?” I said. “Ernie’s cooking.”
Julie nodded without speaking. Her mother stood and offered her a hand to help her up from the sofa. Julie wrapped her arms around me, her stomach pushed against mine, her head on my shoulder.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “For everything.”
“You’re welcome,” I answered. I walked her downstairs to let her and her mom out the front door. When we came in the shop, Bluebeard whistled softly. “Pretty girl,” he said.
Julie chuckled, but she cut the laughter short. Her face tightened, and both her mother and I reacted immediately.
“Are you okay?” we asked, nearly in unison.
“Yeah,” she answered, her voice shaky. “A cramp is all. I just need to get home and lie down.”
I shooed her out the door with her mom, who wrapped an arm around her daughter and led her to the car. Assured she was in good hands, I returned to my guests.
The impromptu party showed no signs of slowing down, even though the guest of honor had departed. Felipe was helping Ernie in the kitchen, adding frozen vegetables and potatoes to the boiling broth. The oven beeped when it reached the proper temperature, and Ernie slid the tray of biscuits in.
Within a couple minutes, the aromas of baking biscuits and simmering soup filled the small apartment. My stomach growled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten since midmorning.
I would be quite happy when dinner was ready.
Karen and I stood to one side watching the activity in the single room that composed most of my apartment. Shiloh, Linda, Jake, and Sly sat around the low chest I used as a coffee table, deep in conversation. I wondered what they were talking about.
“Betting on when the baby’s coming,” Karen said in answer to the question I hadn’t asked. “Sly insists it’ll be Tuesday morning, but Linda says he’s wrong, that she won’t last that long. They’ve been arguing for ten minutes, with Jake just sitting back and watching.”
She turned to look at me. “Speaking of Jake,” she said, lowering her voice, “was that the most awkward double date in the history of the world, or what?”
“Since it wasn’t a date, I don’t think it can be a double date, can it?” I countered, dodging her question. On an awkward scale of one to ten, I’d call it about a twelve, but that wasn’t what she was really getting at. “Unless you were on a date?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think any interaction with an ex-spouse can be described as a date. Period. But we were talking about you, not me. And if that wasn’t a date, what was it?”
I felt my face turning red at the memory of the previous night. “I need to turn on the fan,” I said as I turned toward the kitchen. “This many people and all the cooking is making it way too warm.”
Karen followed me. “This conversation isn’t over,” she said. “We’ll talk after dinner.”
I switched on the exhaust fan, as though that had been my entire goal. “Whatever.” I hoped I sounded a lot calmer than I felt.
I took soup bowls out of the cupboard and handed them to Karen. Over the years, I had accumulated a collection of unmatched pottery that went with my mismatched kitchen chairs and farmhouse table. One of the perks of running Southern Treasures was choosing pieces from the store to use myself. I had to resist a lot of temptation, since I needed to sell the things I bought, and the limited cupboard space in my apartment helped. Every time I brought in something new, I had to take a piece downstairs and sell it. It made me very choosy.
When the biscuits came out of the oven, Felipe piled them on a platter and put them on the table with butter and honey.
“It’s soup,” he called over the hum of conversation.
Shiloh hesitated, and Sly nodded at her. “My mama told me to respect my elders,” she said with a shy smile. Sly was probably old enough to be her grandfather.
“And my mama always said ‘Ladies first.’ So you and Miz Miller go on ahead. Me and Jake will be along in a minute.”
Linda stood up and grinned at Sly. “If Ernie’s cooking,” she said, “you don’t have to ask me twice. Come on, Shiloh.”
They each grabbed a bowl. Ernie ladled the steaming soup directly from the pot on the stove, and the two women took seats at the table. Sly followed them with Jake right behind.
Ernie and I were the last two to get our food, and the table was already full. Jake jumped up, offering me his seat, but I gestured at him to sit back down.
“You’re a guest,” I said. “And no proper hostess would ever have a guest eat standing up while she sits. It’s just not done.”
“And letting a lady eat standing up is?” Sly said, sliding his chair away from the table.
“Sit!” I said, imitating the command Sly used with Bobo when the junkyard dog got too rambunctious.
Sly’s face split into a grin as he recognized the tone. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, planting himself back in the chair.
I pulled out the old wooden breadboard above the silverware drawer, creating a makeshift table. Ernie dragged a couple folding chairs in off the tiny deck, and we sat down. The surface was too tall, and the chairs too short, but it really didn’t matter. The joy was in the company and the food, not the furniture, and I was glad of the respite from the worry over Bobby. I let myself relax, savoring the warmth and friendship that filled my small home.
Linda finished eating and cleared her dishes, stacking them on the counter next to the sink. “I hate to eat and run, but I have to get back,” she said. “I left Guy alone in the shop on a Saturday night, and I’ve already been gone longer than I should.”
I insisted she take a bowl of soup and a couple biscuits for her husband. If Linda was like a sister, then Guy was an adored older brother. I tried not to imagine how my life might have turned out if it hadn’t been for them taking me in when my folks died. It was a frightening prospect, and I owed them more than I could ever hope to repay.
Murder Hooks a Mermaid Page 9
