In her dream, Kelly had struggled to free herself from the garland, and a piece of fabric slipped from the top of her head. It wasn’t any piece of fabric. It was the scarf from Diana’s body. Kelly struggled harder and called out to Pepper to help her. Pepper was too busy hanging ornaments and humming Christmas carols to pay her any attention.
Her only hope was Frankie, but he was dashing around the room with a plate of sugar cookies, insisting everyone take one. And off in the distance, Janine stood draped over a man Kelly didn’t recognize but guessed was Aaron. Janine grinned like a woman who’d gotten away with murder.
Kelly shook her head. It wasn’t a dream; it was a nightmare.
A nightmare that could come true. She threw off the covers and righted herself. After slipping into her cozy slippers, she reached for her cardigan. In the winter months, she preferred a chunky cardigan to a robe. Snuggled in the cardigan, she padded over to the window and pushed back the drapes.
The early morning sun revealed several inches of fresh snow all across Lucky Cove and, no doubt, its neighboring towns. Mother Nature wasn’t playing around. She was making sure the East Coast had a white Christmas.
She let the drapes fall back and turned to walk into the bathroom. After a quick freshening up, she headed for the kitchen. The bright side of the snowfall was that she didn’t have to go for her morning run. She’d given herself permission to take snow days off from exercising. With the coffeepot prepared, she pressed the on button and then pulled out a box of cereal from the upper cabinet. She didn’t have to run, but she had to clear the paths to the boutique, both out front and in the back. It looked like she had to exercise after all.
Howard made his appearance, weaving his way through her legs and pressing his body against her. Apparently, all was forgiven on his end about his abrupt wake-up. The cat didn’t hold grudges.
“Hey, little dude. Sorry about earlier. It was a bad dream. Everyone was shouting at me or ignoring me, and someone wrapped me up in garland. It was awful.”
Howard responded with a comforting meow, and she scooped him up.
“Thanks for understanding. I’m guessing you’d like some breakfast.”
She set the cat down and filled his bowl with kibble. She then cleaned and refilled his water dish. While he ate and she drank her first cup of coffee—liquid gold, it was—the conversation she had with Gabe yesterday about Diana’s murder replayed in her mind.
While Howard finished his breakfast, she settled at the dining table with her mug and her laptop. She turned on the computer and checked her e-mails while Gabe’s words echoed in her head. Their conversation was hanging around.
Was she risking too much by asking questions about Diana’s murder and helping Wendy? The answer was probably yes, but she hated to admit it. Her curiosity was overwhelming. She’d already inserted herself into the investigation by going to Janine’s house and asking her questions. Looking back to the day before, she hadn’t been a hundred percent honest with Gabe. She had had an ulterior motive when she went to Janine’s house, but she was telling the whole truth about Janine bringing the topic up. Then the woman had the nerve to call Wolman. The reality star was a tattletale.
Whoa. Kelly was reverting back to a tween.
By the time she finished the last of her coffee, she’d decided to continue to help Wendy however she could. Her Christmas nightmare had included a gloating Janine with Aaron, and it reinforced her gut feeling Janine was guilty of more than stealing Diana’s husband. She had to be careful and stay under Wolman’s radar.
With her coffee finished, she padded into the bathroom and took a shower. She then dressed for work, keeping in mind that she had to do some shoveling. She chose a pair of skinny jeans and a three-quarter zip fleece top. She eased her feet into her snow boots, pulled on a hat, and grabbed her gloves, along with her parka. Coming off the last step of the staircase, she opened the door and entered the boutique. First thing, she turned on the lights. On her way to unlock the front door, she dropped her gloves and parka on the sales counter. Continuing to the door, she saw the outline of a person waiting on the other side.
Early bird shoppers on a snowy morning. That put a spring in her step. Her spirits were definitely lifted.
And all in one sweeping moment, her spring was gone and her spirits plummeted when she got a good look at the woman waiting outside.
Detective Wolman.
Kelly unlocked the door and then opened it after flipping over the open sign.
“Good morning, Detective. What brings you here this morning?” She knew the reason for the visit. But she didn’t want to let on that Gabe had forewarned her. Kelly stepped aside to allow the detective to enter the boutique and then walked toward a round rack to straighten up. Browsing through clothing could leave a rack messy. Shoveling snow would have to wait until the impromptu visit from Wolman ended. Meanwhile, she’d tidy up.
“I’ve had a complaint lodged against you, Miss Quinn. It seems you were harassing Janine Cutter.” Wolman unzipped her wool coat, revealing a stark white shirt tucked into a pair of boring plain black pants. The detective lacked any fashion flair. But then again, before being promoted to a detective, she was a patrol officer who wore a uniform every day, so she probably didn’t know how to express her own fashion sense and found comfort in a new uniform of boring basic pieces.
Kelly rested her hand on the rack. “I did no such thing. She called and invited me to her house to do an estimate for consignment.”
“Why were you asking questions about Diana Delacorte’s death?” Wolman rested a hand on her hip, sweeping back the side of her coat. While her clothes were basic and uninspired, her makeup was spot-on. Her subtle smoky eyes were daytime appropriate, and a shimmer of blue on her lashes caught Kelly’s attention. Wolman used a colored mascara. Good for her!
“She brought up Aaron while I was doing an estimate on her clothes. Diana’s death came up in conversation. I can’t believe she’s making it sound like I grilled her. I didn’t.” Not completely a lie. She didn’t have time to probe for more answers.
Wolman dropped her hand and closed the space between her and Kelly. “I doubt you were just making conversation, given your history with murder investigations. I will give you one more warning to stay out of this matter. Stay out of my way. Have I made myself clear this time?”
Kelly didn’t appreciate Wolman’s advance into her personal space but made the smart decision—it happened every now and again—not share her irritation with the detective.
“Crystal.”
“Good. I expect this will be the last time we’ll have this conversation.” Wolman backed up and headed to the exit, but stopped on her way and turned back to Kelly. “Are you going to do any holiday decorating? Make the place a little more festive?”
Festive. Kelly was starting to hate that word.
“It’s on my to-do list.”
Wolman gave a sharp nod and left the boutique.
“On my to-do list. Geez, like everything else,” Kelly muttered on her return to the back of the boutique after she relocked the door. She stepped out into the small drafty mudroom off the staff room and grabbed the shovel as she huffed. She’d been prepared as a shop owner to stock inventory, clean the boutique, and spend hours on bookkeeping—but shoveling? Nope. But there she was, plodding through at least four inches of new snow.
The strenuous work of clearing paths helped work out her frustration with Detective Wolman. The various scenarios fluttering around in her head fueled her swift movements with the shovel. Scenarios of a family dinner with her, Mark, and his sister.
The image of being seated across from Marcy Wolman and asking her to pass the peas, only to receive a glare, had Kelly tossing a shovelful of snow to the side a little more aggressively than she intended, resulting in a sharp pain along her side.
She needed to reign in her doom-and-gloom scenari
os. Even if she and Mark met for coffee or lunch or dinner or whatever, there was no guarantee they’d make it to the stage in the relationship where he’d take her home to meet his family.
Ignoring the pain in her side, she stabbed the next patch of snow with the shovel. The truth was, she wanted to be in that stage of a relationship with him. He was the first guy she’d met in a long time that she wanted to be with all the time.
Of all the guys on Long Island, why did she have to fall for Wolman’s brother?
By the time Breena showed up for work, Kelly had cleared the paths in both the front and the back of the boutique. She expected the plow service to show up within the hour to clear the parking lot.
Breena shook off the cold as she unwrapped herself from her coat and chunky scarf. “Can you believe all the snow? And it’s not even the first day of winter yet. I’m afraid to think of what will happen then.”
“There’s a fresh pot of coffee.” Kelly settled down at her desk and checked her cell phone. There was a text from Ariel. Before Kelly went out to shovel, she’d texted Ariel and asked her to dig up all the information she could on all the LIL cast members. Working part-time at the library and being a freelance writer, Ariel had information-gathering skills Kelly didn’t possess. According to the text, Ariel had gathered the information and suggested they meet for lunch later. Shoveling definitely worked up an appetite. She replied, and they set a time to meet.
Breena poured a cup of coffee and stirred a packet of sugar into it. “Is there anything special going on today?”
Kelly stood with her cell phone in hand, and before she could answer Breena, Ralph’s voice bellowed through the building. Dread settled on her like a cement block.
“Is that your uncle?”
“I’m afraid it is. What’s he doing here?” First, snow. Then, Wolman. And now, Ralph. Her day kept getting better and better.
He bellowed again, and Kelly was tempted to do rock-paper-scissors with Breena but resisted. Sending her part-time employee to deal with her uncle would be cowardly. She slipped her phone into her back pocket and pushed off to find out why her uncle was paying a visit.
“Well, it’s about time. I was wondering if anyone was here. Seriously, Kelly, do you think this is any way to run a business?” Ralph didn’t bother with pleasantries or salutations. No. Rather, he went to the place he always went—reminding Kelly that she was too inexperienced to run the business.
“I just came in from shoveling. What brings you by?” Kelly walked to the sales counter but kept a watchful eye on her uncle.
Ralph approached the sales counter, unbuttoning his full-length wool coat. The charcoal gray garment was expertly tailored and must have set him back a fair chunk of change. His chubby cheeks were red from the cold, and his bushy eyebrows needed a good waxing and combing. “I have good news.”
Kelly eyed her uncle warily. Ralph never came by with good news, at least not for her. “What are you talking about?”
“I got us an offer on this old house. Emilio wants to buy this place. And he’s offered a decent price.” Ralph beamed with satisfaction.
“Emilio who?”
“You met him at the party the other night. Remember?”
“No, I don’t.”
“I introduced you to him and his wife. Kelly, he’s a business contact and you need to pay attention and remember people like him. See. Another reason why you’re not cut out to be a business owner.”
Kelly took a deep breath and mentally counted to ten. “I met many people at your party. You know, it doesn’t matter, anyway. I’m not selling.” Kelly pulled out a disposable cleaning cloth and wiped down the counter.
“Use your head, Kelly. It’s a good offer. You’d have a lot of money to do what you want.” Frustration had slipped into Ralph’s voice. Since the day Martha’s will was read and Ralph learned his mother had left her biggest asset to someone else and saddled him with being the executor, he’d been trying to get Kelly to sell the house and business. He’d made it clear the responsibility was a nuisance, and she didn’t doubt for a minute he’d find a way to profit off the sale.
“I’m already doing what I want to do. Tell Emilio thanks but no thanks.” Kelly tossed the cleaning cloth into the trash bin and then powered on the cash register and tidied up the shopping bags.
“Why are you so stubborn?”
“Why are you so thick? I’ve told you how many times I don’t want to sell. Granny left me this business, and I intend to make it successful, despite your attempts to sabotage me.”
“Sabotage you? I don’t have to sabotage you because you’re doing a fine job of that on your own. Like getting yourself arrested last month. What about the roof? Has it been repaired yet? Owning a retail business is more than wasting time with fancy displays and frilly merchandise.”
Kelly opened her mouth to respond but closed it and mentally counted to ten, again. Her uncle left out the fact that she hadn’t been charged with a crime and was let go. Also, the roof was patched well enough to withstand another winter.
“I’m not selling, so stop trying to find a buyer.”
“When you finally come to your senses as this thrift store continues to spiral into the red, you’ll thank me because I have buyers.” He huffed, his cheeks puffing out and his beady eyes narrowing. “Can’t understand how you and your sister are so different.” Shaking his head, he turned and headed for the door.
“Wait.” Kelly came out from behind the counter, and her uncle turned around so quickly he lost his balance and teetered for a moment. She realized she must have gotten up his hopes that she’d changed her mind. Oops. “Do you know a Marvin Childers?”
“Why? Has he made an offer on this place?”
“No. Do you know him or not?”
“Never heard of him. Why?”
“Nothing, really. Be careful driving.” Kelly walked to a table where two torso mannequins were displayed, each wearing an ivory sweater. Each sweater had its own stitching; one was a classic fisherman’s pattern, and the other was mixed-stitched with a side slit. Displayed along with the mannequins were more sweaters, all folded. To make herself busy, she refolded the sweaters and waited, hoping she’d hear the jingle of the bell over the front door.
The lyrical sound of the bell finally sounded, indicating Ralph had left and she could stop with the busy work. She had real work to do. Merchandise she’d sold on the website needed to be packaged and mailed. She then would find out what Ariel had dug up on the LIL cast.
Breena poked her head out of the hallway. “Is he gone? What did he want?”
“He’s gone. It’s safe. He got an offer on the building.” Kelly gave a final touch to the sweaters before walking away and going back to the sales counter to check the cash register. All looked good. She began the process of preparing the cash drawer for the day.
“You’re not going to sell, are you?” Breena dashed to the counter. Her dangling snowflake earrings bounced with her quick steps, and her eyes were glossed over with worry.
“I’m not selling. He’s trying to wiggle out of his responsibilities of being executor. My guess is if I sold, he’d have a lot less work to do—maybe nothing at all, because then the biggest asset would be sold.” Kelly tucked the bank bag under the counter and closed the cash drawer.
“Phew. I really like working here. What’s the game plan for the day? Were there any online orders?”
“Nice earrings. They’re very seasonal.”
Breena gave her earring a little pat. “Couldn’t resist. I should get you a pair; then maybe you’ll finally get in the holiday spirit. Look at this place.” She swept her hand around. “Humbug.”
Humbug?
“Scroogista. You’ll be known throughout Lucky Cove as Scroogista. Do you want to be known as Scroogista?” Breena asked, waving a finger at Kelly, her eyes alight with merriment.
Kelly cocked her head sideways and tried to hold back her smile. “You like saying the word, don’t you?”
Breena’s head bobbed up and down. “Clever, huh?”
“Very. And yes, we have merchandise to package and ship today. I printed the orders. If you can take care of the packaging, I’ll run out to the post office around lunchtime.”
“Absolutely.” With a salute, Breena twirled and headed back to the staff room, leaving Kelly to greet the first customer of the day. The rest of the morning flew by, thanks to a steady stream of customers and three new consignors.
While assessing the clothing brought in for consignment, Kelly mentioned her idea for a Holiday Edit event, and each lady thought it was a fabulous idea.
Feeling surer with her idea, she sat down at the sales counter when the store was quiet and worked on the event.
She reached for the calendar and considered which date would be best for closing the shop early. She pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans and checked Lucky Cove’s town website for events over the next few weeks and took those dates out of the running.
Based on the jam-packed schedule, Lucky Cove was big on Christmas. She glanced around the boutique and frowned. Her granny would have had all the decorations out and holiday music playing in the background while the fragrance of freshly baked gingerbread cookies drifted from the staff room.
While decorating wasn’t on the schedule for today and baking would risk burning down the building, she definitely hadn’t inherited her granny’s baking gene, Kelly could play music. She hopped off the stool, got her phone out, tapped on her music app, and found her holly, jolly playlist. Yes, there was a time when she had enjoyed the season. She turned up the volume, set the phone down, and returned to planning the Holiday Edit event.
She was all smiles during the brainstorm session until she remembered she’d have to give away goody bags. What was the old saying? You had to spend money to make money. With no data to show whether an event like the one she was planning on doing would be successful, she hesitated to spend money. But she knew her guests would expect a little something.
Silenced in Sequins Page 11
