by Jill Sanders
-Yes, going to see my daughter for lunch. I need some Aurora time
-Tell them hi
-Will do
-Tell Ben I’ll call him later tonight
-Ok
She had about five minutes before the ferry reached her. She had Jerry’s number programmed into her phone, but it was Todd who picked her up.
“Morning.” Todd jumped off the last stair and opened the gate to let her onto the deck of the ferry.
“Morning.” She stepped onto the ferry. “Jerry still has you working?” Everyone in town called him JT now, but since Crystal had known the boy since he was knee high, she still thought of him as Jerry and always would.
“Yeah, he’s in California again with Emma. They’re pitching a sequel to those Hollywood guys.”
“A sequel to Crescent Creek?” she asked as she followed him up the stairs to the bridge area. She leaned against the railing and enjoyed the cold wind hitting her face when the ferry started moving.
“Sounds like it. They want to start filming more of his books after the success of JT’s first movie.” Todd glanced over at her. “It sure is something, having a star for a boss. Of course, none of it goes to his head.”
“No, he’s not the type.” Crystal smiled. “I like Emma. I knew from the first moment I met her that she was the one for Jerry.”
“She’s a great actress. She was amazing in Crescent Creek.” Todd chuckled. “’Course, now she’s famous for playing Hannah.”
“She did a great job. It really was a great transition from book to movie.”
“Yeah, some of those don’t always make it, but this one…”—Todd whistled— “hit it out of the ball park.”
Crystal glanced over at Jerry’s private island in the distance. She’d visited him several times over the years, mainly with Serenity, since they were good friends. Turning to the right, she smiled when the resort came into view.
“Is it a busy week?” she asked, nodding to East Haven.
“Somewhat. There was a wedding and a big party last weekend, but so far, this week has been pretty slow. A lot of people are canceling for this next weekend. I think it’s the threat of severe weather.”
“I thought we were just supposed to get some snow?” She pulled out her phone.
“They changed it early this morning. Big storms supposed to come in late tomorrow. JT and Emma are coming back early in the morning to avoid it.”
She thought about Rory and wondered if he’d head out early as well. He was supposed to spend a week at East Haven starting Friday, but with bad weather coming in…
“That’s the first time I’ve seen that look on your face,” Todd said.
“Hmm?” She glanced over at the man. He was around Jerry’s age. She was pretty sure they’d been in the same class, but couldn’t remember. Todd had been the captain of the football team. He’d been all-star in everything he’d gone out for. But after a knee injury, his dreams of going to State had evaporated, and he’d settled down with his high school sweetheart, Robin, who had at one point worked for Crystal.
“That look of worry.” He nodded to her. “I’ve known you all my life. The one thing that’s been consistent with you is your smile and your easygoing attitude. I’ve never seen you worry about anything, until now.”
She started her breathing exercises and relaxed. “I’m just thinking of all the things I have to do before the storm hits.”
He nodded and seemed to accept her excuse, but the fact was, she didn’t want her time with Rory to come to an end just yet.
Chapter 12
The numbers in front of his eyes told Rory so many stories. Much like the cards told Crystal about him, he could clearly see several things about her.
She was definitely a competent businesswoman, but she was set in her ways. She didn’t look for cheaper or better distributors, which meant that she was loyal to a fault. He imagined she had her reasons, but the numbers spoke loudly.
She also knew how to cut corners when the going got tough and had worked herself out of several tight squeezes in the past. She treated her employees better than he imagined she treated herself.
In the past few years, she’d cut her own salary down while giving both Kayla and Olivia raises. Looking at the hours they clocked each month, it seemed both women deserved the extra money, since they pretty much ran the store.
He’d been so caught up in his work, he didn’t realize someone had come in until Kayla cleared her throat to get his attention.
“Sorry,” he mumbled as he blinked and removed his glasses. “I was caught up. Can I help you?”
“I’m here to help you.” She wiggled a brown paper bag. “Crystal thought you might forget to eat, so… I hope you like turkey and tomato soup.” She walked over and set the bag on the desk next to him.
“I love them.” He smiled, then glanced down at his watch. Three hours had gone by since Crystal had left to go on a walk.
“How’s she doing?” he asked before Kayla left.
“A lot better.” Kayla smiled. “She’s holding her grandbaby and having lunch on the deck with Sarah.”
“Good.” He smiled.
Kayla was about to leave, but stopped just inside the door. “Is it true? She finally fired Joe?”
“Yes, he has a week to clear out.”
“Good riddance.” Kayla relaxed slightly.
“Where they really an item for almost a year?” He opened the bag and the smell of the soup hit him, causing his stomach to growl.
“I suppose. They had just broken things off when I moved back here. The man gives me the creeps. I’ve caught him coming out of the back room several times with women.” She shivered.
“What did Crystal say to that?” he asked, then he took a bite of the sandwich and held in a moan of delight.
“She said she’d have a talk with him, but… he has a way of talking himself out of a situation. Especially with her.” She shook her head. “I’ll feel a lot better once he’s gone and out of Crystal’s life.”
“Was he bad to her?” The question caused his stomach to roll and he set down his half-eaten sandwich.
“No. Something tells me he wouldn’t have been around long if that was the case. Crystal isn’t the kind of woman to…” She shook her head. “No, he gets what he wants by his charm.”
“Right.” He spooned some more soup into his mouth. “This is really good. Did it come from the diner?”
“No, I made it.” Kayla smiled. “I’m learning to cook. I made the soup last night and put the sandwich together after Crystal called me and asked me to get you something for lunch.”
“Well, I’d say you’re very successful at it.” He waved his spoon at her. “I’ve paid twenty dollars for a bowl of soup that isn’t this good before.”
Kayla’s smile grew. “Really?”
He nodded. “The sandwich is great too.”
“We get all our meat and produce from here. There’s a turkey farmer outside of town. He raises all sorts of fowl. Treats them right. One thing Crystal has taught me since returning home is to be conscious of what I put into my family’s bellies.”
“Yes, she’s been lecturing me as well.” He smiled. “It does have its benefits.” He waved the sandwich and took another bite. It was the freshest tasting sandwich he’d had in years.
“Enjoy. I’ll let you get back to work.” She turned to go.
“Kayla?” She glanced back at him. “Did Joe have access to the computer in here?”
“Joe had access to every aspect of Crystal’s life.” She frowned. “We’ve tried to convince her to lock her doors and change the locks, but Rowan could only convince her to install the cameras instead.”
He nodded, then she turned to go. “See you tonight for dinner.”
“Right.” He nodded and went back to his food. He’d almost forgotten that Rowan, Kayla, and Connor were coming for dinner later that night.
Glancing down at his watch, he figured he could get in another four hours before he had to
head back to the house and help Crystal make dinner.
He’d finally gotten through everything on her old laptop, including transferring her photos to her new system. He backed everything up for her on her Google Drive.
Normally, he would have been able to see who had done what on the system by their log-in. But since Crystal had only used the one log-in for everyone, he had to change his tactics. He checked the browser history. and spent the next few hours going through every detail he could there.
He found the date and time stamp from the first transfer and took down what information he could about where the money had gone.
Her account had been set up to auto transfer four thousand dollars every forty days. With the amount of money sitting in her business accounts, she probably wouldn’t have noticed it. Especially with all the other auto payments coming out of the account.
He searched his database of offshore banks but so far, none of them matched the account information the money had been transferred to.
He went through the browser history for that first date and found a couple searches he wanted to ask Crystal about. He couldn’t imagine she’d be interested in a Calibre De Cartier Diver watch, but maybe she’d been looking for a gift or a friend.
There were a few other searches that seemed out of character for her, but since it appeared that all of the employees had access to the machine, he wagered it was one of them.
The door opened to the office, and he glanced up and smiled when Crystal walked in. Her hair was a little windblown, her cheeks pink, and the sparkle in her eyes had returned.
“How was your time with Aurora?” He leaned back and watched her walk over and sit across from him.
She took a deep breath before replying. “Glorious.” She smiled. “There’s nothing in the world a giggling baby can’t solve.”
He chuckled. “I’ll take your word for that.” His eyes returned to the screen.
“How was your day?” she asked. “Did you get some lunch?”
“Yes, Kayla dropped off the best sandwich and soup I’ve had in years.” He shut his computer down.
“Good.” She closed her eyes, then sat forward. “I’m sorry about losing it earlier.”
His eyebrows shot up. “That was losing it?” he joked.
“For me, yes. I don’t have a temper. Joe… set me off.”
“He set me off.” He stood and took her hands so she stood in front of him. “You have every right to be upset, and I think you handled it very well. I would have punched the guy.” When she frowned, he reached up and ran his thumb over the dip beside her lip. “Joking.”
“I wanted to punch him. He’s taken too many liberties. One evening, I was out painting and when I came back into the house, he was making dinner in my kitchen. His dinner. Like he lived there.”
“Remind me again, why don’t you lock your doors?” he asked. Her shoulders stiffened, and he decided to change the subject. “What are we making for dinner?” He walked over and put his laptop away.
“Caprese pasta salad along with vegetarian tortilla soup, some broccoli, cheddar quinoa gratin, and as the main dish, noodles covered with kale, hemp, flaxseed oil pesto.”
He blinked and looked over at her. “I hope you’ll walk me through all that. I can grill a mean steak and burgers, but when it comes to… kale and…”
“Hemp and flaxseed oil pesto,” she supplied.
“Right, I’ll need a lot of schooling.” She chuckled. “Hemp oil as in…”
“Yes,” she supplied. “It’s perfectly legal and it’s a great source of omega 6 and 3, along with fiber. Also, it has vitamin E, antioxidants.” She listed off more nutrients as they walked out of the office, and he could tell that she was back to her normal self. Joe had thrown her off earlier, which assured him that there had been plenty of other times the man had gotten under her skin in the past.
“Night,” she called to Olivia as they left.
“Night,” Olivia called back to them.
“Did you let everyone know that Joe will be leaving?” he asked once they were outside.
“Yes, I messaged Kayla and Olivia. They’ll tell the others. I’ll leave it up to Joe to inform his class. I’m hoping Brittany can fill in until I can find another instructor. But enough about that. Did you find anything?”
Crystal listened to Rory talk about numbers, bank accounts, browser history, and log-ins. She didn’t understand a lot of it but tried to follow along as they walked back to the house.
The rain had stopped midmorning, so she’d enjoyed lunch out on the deck with Serenity and Aurora. Her grandbaby had done wonders to lift her spirits, as had her daughter.
She was planning further repairs on the resort and thinking of building an entire new site with guest cottages along the beach area. She was so proud of her daughter.
“So, tell me about Rory?” she’d asked over lunch. “You seem… different.” Her daughter’s eyes had narrowed, then gone wide. “You’re sleeping with him!” she’d exclaimed. Crystal had smiled in return. “You are!”
“We’re both adults,” she’d answered.
“Yes, but…” Serenity had shaken her head. “You just met him a few days ago.”
“People our age don’t have to beat around the bush like you and Ben did.”
Her daughter’s eyes narrowed. “We didn’t…”
“How long did it take for you two to admit you were in love?” she retorted.
“You’re in love with Rory?” Serenity smiled when Crystal sighed.
“No, I… don’t…” She was thankful that just then, Aurora had fussed and taken her attention.
“You’re quiet,” Rory said as they turned the corner.
She glanced up and then cried out, “No!” She rushed the last block to her home.
All of her carefully placed decorations were destroyed. Her grandfather’s homemade tree-shaped structures were completely destroyed, the multicolored lights that had decorated them smashed. The antique set of reindeer that had been in her family for generations was nothing more than a pile of rubble.
“What happened?” Rory said from behind her. “I’m calling the police.”
She sat down on the steps of her front patio and tried to hold in the tears for all the history that had been lost in one afternoon.
When Tom and Brock pulled up, she went into Tom’s arms and held on as he patted her hair.
“I’m so sorry, Crystal,” he said. The man had been one of her father’s best friends. He’d been Silver Cove’s Police Chief for as long as she could remember.
“It’s all gone,” she said, finally letting the tears come.
“Any idea who would do this?” Brock asked.
“I’ve got one,” Rory interjected.
She dried her eyes and looked over at him in question.
“Crystal let Joe go today,” Rory said, causing both Brock and Tom to turn towards her.
“You did?” they said at the same time.
“I don’t think he would have…” She dropped off. “Yes, he has a week left.”
Tom took a deep breath. “We’ll pay him a visit. For now, we’ll help you clean this up. You can send me a list of what was destroyed and the cost to replace the items.” He held up a hand, stopping her. “I know some items can’t be replaced, but put something down for the cost. You’ll need it for your insurance as well.”
She looked around again and her stomach sank. “Some of these were irreplaceable.”
Tom nodded. “I know, sweetie.” He hugged her again. “We’ll catch whoever did this.”
For the next hour, the four of them cleared her entire front yard. By the time they were done, only the lights that Rowan had hung with the tall ladder remained on the building.
“It looks so… bare,” she said when Tom and Brock had driven away.
Rory’s arms came around her, and he held her tight until Rowan’s truck stopped in front of his own house across the street.
“What happened?” Rowan
rushed to her side.
An hour later, her kitchen was filled with laughter and love. She bumped into Rory as she moved around him to put the homemade bread in the oven.
When his hands wrapped around her hips and pulled her close for a kiss, she went willingly.
“Wow, you two move fast,” Kayla joked. “It took Rowan and I several months to get there.”
Rowan chuckled from across the bar area where he was making the caprese salad. “It wasn’t because of me,” he joked back.
“Are you saying I was slow?” Kayla narrowed her eyes at him.
“Reserved,” he supplied. “I can bring over some other decorations. There are plenty more in the garage we didn’t put out.”
“I can help,” Rory added.
He was watching the large pan of soup on the stove, stirring it occasionally.
“Thank you.” She touched Rowan’s arm, then Rory’s. “Both of you. I still have some decorations at the store as well.”
None of them were as dear to her heart as the ones that had been destroyed, but their hearts were in the right place.
“Thanks everyone. We can spend tomorrow putting everything up. I can drive into town and get a few new items to fill in the gaps.” She smiled and then walked over to where Connor James was coloring at the table. She sat with him while everyone buzzed around the kitchen making dinner.
She was very thankful and lucky to have the family she did. She knew blessed was a word that was overused in today’s society, but she truly felt that way tonight.
Serenity called after Rowan, Kayla, and Connor left. She’d heard what had happened and wanted to come home that evening, but Crystal finally convinced her to stay until tomorrow morning, since Aurora was already fast asleep.
“We’ll be there to help tomorrow,” she said as she and Ben filled the screen.
“Stay safe and lock the doors.” Ben nodded, and Crystal turned around to see Rory standing behind her.
“I’ll call you in a while,” Rory added.
“Make it in the morning.” Ben smiled. “I’m going to have some time with my wife while the kid is sleeping.” Ben’s smile grew.
Rory chuckled. “Will do.” His hand rested on her shoulder when she hung up the phone.
