Ask Anyone

by Sherryl Woods

  “I don’t have time to wait for that,” Jenna said. “I have to get home. I have a daughter who wants to dye her hair purple.”

  Bobby held up his hands. “I don’t even want to know about that one. You go on home. Keep the dye away from your daughter. Tucker will be in touch.”

  She shook her head. “This is my mess.”

  “Ms. Kennedy, I appreciate your willingness to take responsibility for your actions, but this is not your mess,” Tucker assured her. “That horse was stolen here in Trinity Harbor. Now it’s my mess.”

  For the first time all day, Bobby managed a grin. “It is, isn’t it? Daddy’s going to love hearing about a major theft taking place in broad daylight on the supposedly safe streets of Trinity Harbor.” He held out his hand to Jenna. “Come on. Let’s go to lunch. Maybe by the time we’ve had dessert, Tucker here will have figured out who the bad guy is.”

  Tucker frowned at him. “You’re giving me an hour to solve this?”

  Bobby nodded. “And then I’m going to King and put him in charge. You know how Daddy likes to show you up. I’m pretty sure there was a time in his life when he wanted to be Wyatt Earp.”

  Jenna laughed, exactly as Bobby had intended. He gave her hand a squeeze. “We don’t have a lot of crime here. A big-time thief won’t get far without some nosy person asking a lot of questions. Everything will be all right.”

  It had to be, because with her hand tucked into his, he was just starting to realize that he was in very deep water.

  4

  Harvey Needham was a bona fide, first-class idiot. He’d been the mayor of Trinity Harbor for two terms now, and he still knew next to nothing about managing a town. Oh, he kept the garbage pickups running on schedule and managed to keep the budget in the black, but he was not exactly a visionary, which made him a major thorn in Bobby’s side.

  If it had been up to Harvey, there would have been condominiums slapped up on every square inch of waterfront property and the public wouldn’t set foot in the Potomac River ever again.

  His arrival in Bobby’s office just as the chaos over the stolen carousel horse was settling down couldn’t have been worse timing. He took in Tucker’s presence, and a gleam of satisfaction lit his beady little eyes.

  “Trouble?” he inquired in a deceptively pleasant tone.

  “Already handled,” Tucker assured him.

  “Good to know the sheriff’s office has things under control,” Harvey said. “Mind telling me what it’s all about?”

  “Yes,” Bobby said curtly, dragging Jenna toward the door in the faint hope of making an escape before the mayor went off on some tirade.

  Harvey blocked his path. “I am the mayor of this town,” he said with a huff.

  “Something all of us are trying valiantly to deal with,” Bobby retorted. Tucker shot him a warning look.

  “Now, listen here, young man. If there is crime running rampant in Trinity Harbor—” Harvey blustered. He was about to continue, when Jenna turned on one of her megawatt smiles and stepped in front of him.

  “Mayor Needham, I am so delighted to meet you,” she said, holding out her hand. “I’m Jenna Kennedy.”

  Harvey might be an idiot, but he thought of himself as a ladies’ man and a Southern gentleman, despite the fact that he’d been born in upstate New York. While Bobby gritted his teeth, the mayor clasped Jenna’s hand in his and beamed his best politician’s smile.

  “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure,” he said. “Harvey Needham, Ms. Kennedy. Welcome to the town of Trinity Harbor. What brings you here?” It appeared all thoughts of crime had been temporarily forgotten.

  “Just getting acquainted with the area,” she said with a quick, reassuring glance at Bobby.

  Relief flooded through him at her immediate grasp of the situation.

  “Perhaps you’d like to have a cup of coffee and tell me all about Trinity Harbor,” she suggested, linking her arm through the mayor’s. Her Southern drawl, not the least bit pronounced up until now, was suddenly thicker than honey.

  Turning her back on the mayor, she winked at Bobby. “I know you’re closed today but can we make that happen?”

  “Absolutely,” Bobby said at once, leading the two of them to a table in the empty yacht center restaurant and getting them their coffee from the pot he’d brewed earlier. “Just don’t let Mr. Needham keep you too long, Jenna. You and I have lunch plans, remember?”

  “Of course. The mayor and I won’t be long, though I’m sure he has loads and loads of insights to share.”

  “I do, indeed, Ms. Kennedy,” Harvey said with a triumphant look at Bobby.

  Shaking his head at the incongruous pair, Bobby walked off and left them alone. He joined Tucker back in his office.

  “That was the most amazing display of phony charm I’ve ever seen,” he noted to his brother.

  “His or hers?” Tucker asked.

  “Both. That female is dangerous,” he said, just to remind himself of that fact. For a minute there he’d allowed himself to be impressed by her skillful maneuvering.

  Tucker grinned. “Spoken like a man whose hormones have just come out of retirement.”

  “Go to hell.”

  “Based on the events of the past two days, seems to me like I might be there already,” Tucker said. “What do you make of this stolen horse business?”

  “Me?” Bobby protested. “It’s your job to figure it out.”

  “That business with the guard taking his vacation reeks of a payoff,” Tucker said, his expression thoughtful. “Are you sure Jenna couldn’t have arranged the theft to garner a little extra publicity? Maybe turned on the waterworks to get your sympathy? Could be the whole thing is a clever business tactic.”

  “Not a chance,” Bobby said with conviction. “She was too upset about it. Besides that, I don’t think she has much of a track record at sneaky business tactics. Now if you were to suggest that Harvey had something to do with it, that I could believe. You talked to him yesterday. You know how badly he wanted that horse gone. You would have thought it had been sent by the Trojans to wreak havoc on the town.”

  Tucker bit back a grin. “Yeah, well, Harvey’s an idiot, which pretty much rules out his ability to mastermind a theft in plain sight.”

  “Check his garage, just the same,” Bobby suggested. “And, Tucker…”

  “What?”

  “Do it fast. I’m serious—I want that woman out of town.”

  A knowing expression spread across his brother’s face. “Oh, really? You mean before Daddy gets an eyeful and decides she’s a perfect candidate for his latest plot to marry you off?”

  Bobby winced at Tucker’s quick grasp of one aspect of the problem. “Yes, there is that.”

  In fact, in his gut he knew that the very last thing he wanted was for King and Jenna ever to cross paths. He could say goodbye to his placid existence if that should happen. Ever since Daisy and Walker’s wedding, King had been keeping a close eye on Bobby’s social life, asking too many questions, dropping too many less-than-subtle hints about every single female in a twenty-mile radius of Trinity Harbor. Bobby might as well have a target on his back that said, “To marry this man, call 555-6000.”

  Bobby whirled around and headed for the locked file cabinet in his outer office.

  “Where are you going?” Tucker called after him.

  “To write her a check. She can name the figure and pay me back whenever she gets the horse back, or collects from the security company. I want her gone now.”

  Tucker’s annoying hoot of laughter followed him. “Don’t laugh too hard,” he warned his brother. “I can always remind Daddy that you’re his oldest son. You’re the one whose social life he really ought to be worrying about.”

  Tucker headed straight for the door. “I’ll get right on this.”

  Bobby gave a little nod of satisfaction. “I thought that might motivate you.”

  Jenna’s meeting with Harvey Needham promised to be very enlightening. She
had long since picked up on the fact that he and Bobby were sworn enemies, at least when it came to developing the waterfront. That made the mayor her enemy, too, but he didn’t have to know that just yet. So far, he hadn’t tried to pin her down about her exact reason for being in Trinity Harbor, and the longer she could keep it that way, the better off she was. He clearly hadn’t connected her to the commotion on Bobby’s lawn the day before. As long as she kept the attention focused on him, she could keep her own identity and stake in the town’s future cloaked in mystery.

  She stared across the table and studied him. He was wearing a bright green polo shirt that did little for his washed-out complexion. His hairline was slipping, but his round face was virtually unlined, making it difficult to guess his age. He seemed fit enough, though, suggesting he was the kind of man who maintained a rigid control over his diet. She recognized the type. She had one at home just like him. Her father drank to excess when it suited him, but not a single indulgence crossed his lips when it came to food.

  “What made you decide to run for mayor?” she asked Harvey.

  His chest puffed up as he replied, “Young lady, it is the civic duty of every citizen to give something back to the community in which they live.” It sounded like the start of a campaign speech. “When I retired, I finally had the time to serve this town and bring some of my business skills to the operation of the town’s services.”

  “That’s a very noble goal,” Jenna told him. “Where do you see Trinity Harbor ten years from now? What kind of a community will it be?”

  “Quiet,” he said at once. “With a sound economic base. The way you accomplish that is to bring in folks with money, good middle-class residents looking for a place to retire. Folks like that want their lives to run smoothly. They want clean shops, good services and low taxes.”

  “What about entertainment?”

  “They’ve got Fredericksburg and Richmond just up the road for that,” he said dismissively. “The town doesn’t need to provide it.”

  Jenna couldn’t believe such a shortsighted view, but she knew she was treading on thin ice. She had to be careful how far she pushed him, or he’d want to know why she cared.

  “Don’t you think that people with time on their hands want leisure activities nearby?” she inquired cautiously. “A golf course, maybe. Tennis courts. A community center. Things for their grandchildren to do when they visit.”

  Before he could reply, she added, “What do your grandchildren do when they come, Mr. Needham?”

  He blinked at that, looking vaguely disconcerted. “Actually, they haven’t come here in some time. Our children prefer that we visit them.”

  “Why is that?” Jenna asked innocently. She was pretty sure she knew. His children didn’t come because they didn’t want to listen to a nonstop refrain from his grandchildren about there being nothing to do here. It would be interesting to hear his take on it, though.

  “They have their lives. It’s less of a disruption if we go to them,” he said. “My wife grumbles a bit about how rarely we see them, but I can see the sense of doing it this way.”

  She decided to press the point. “But Trinity Harbor is such a lovely town. I would think they would absolutely jump at the chance to get away for a while. After all, that is what drew you here, isn’t it?”

  The mayor frowned. “What’s your point, Ms. Kennedy?”

  “It just occurs to me that if you want to attract the kind of residents you’re hoping to, just putting up places for them to live won’t entirely address the situation.”

  His gaze narrowed. “Spencer put you up to saying that, didn’t he?” he asked suspiciously. “Sounds just like that hogwash he’s always spouting around town.”

  “Bobby and I haven’t discussed that precise issue,” she said honestly. “Is that what he thinks?”

  “You’re trying to tell me the two of you aren’t in cahoots?” he demanded. “I saw you in his office just now. Why else would you be there?”

  “The same reason I’m with you right now,” Jenna insisted. “Just getting to know all I can about Trinity Harbor.”

  “And why would you want to be doing that?” he asked, studying her with a narrowed gaze. “You’re a little young to be thinking about moving to an out-of-the-way place like this. There’s no nightlife here, Ms. Kennedy.”

  “Nightlife’s not a big priority with me. And more and more people my age are making lifestyle choices, right along with career choices.”

  He still didn’t look as if he believed her. “Where are you from, Ms. Kennedy?”

  “Born and raised in Baltimore,” she said readily.

  “But you want to leave?”

  “I’m exploring my options,” she told him with complete sincerity. Though she hadn’t considered it before, she realized that a part of her had always wanted to live in a place just like Trinity Harbor. She’d always dismissed it as a romantic fantasy, but there was no real reason it had to be, especially if she could nab this job here.

  “Well, Trinity Harbor would be glad to have you, I’m sure,” Harvey said, though he looked a little doubtful.

  Jenna beamed at him. “You’ll be the first to know if things work out,” she told him. Whether she agreed with his vision for the town or not, she’d have to work with him if she got the contract for the boardwalk development. There was little point in alienating him at this stage.

  “I’d better run along,” she told him. “Bobby promised me lunch and a tour of the town before I head back home this afternoon.”

  “You watch yourself with him, young lady. The Spencers are held in high regard around here, but they’re a sneaky lot. Never know when one of ’em will stab you in the back.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Jenna assured him as she went off in search of Bobby.

  She found him in his office, his feet propped up on his desk and a smug expression on his face.

  “Enjoy your meeting with the mayor?” he inquired.

  “It was illuminating,” she told him. “He thinks you’re sneaky.”

  Bobby didn’t seem the slightest bit surprised or dismayed by that assessment. “That doesn’t hold a candle to what I think of him,” he said as he stood up. “You ready for lunch?”

  “Can’t wait,” she told him.

  He drove into town and parked down the block from a beachfront diner. “It’s not fancy, but Earlene’s is the heart and soul of Trinity Harbor. You want to know what’s going on around town, this is the place to come. I’d advise you to stay away from the coffee, though. The acid will burn a hole in your stomach.”

  Jenna grinned. “What would you recommend?”

  “The iced tea and a burger are pretty safe bets.”

  “I’m surprised you eat here at all. Don’t you like the food at the marina?”

  He chuckled at that. “I like it just fine. Matter of fact, I cook most of it, but as you noticed, we’re closed on Mondays.”

  “You’re a cook? I thought you owned it.”

  “I do, and I’m a chef,” he corrected testily. “But let’s not quibble.” He led the way to a booth by a window that looked out on the river, then regarded Jenna seriously. “Any plan for the waterfront has to include Earlene’s.”

  “Of course,” Jenna agreed at once. Though the interior was a little shabby, the place had an undeniable charm that could only be acquired over time. The wooden floors had been worn smooth by sandy feet. The tunes on the jukebox were oldies. The soda fountain looked as if it came straight out of the set for the old TV sitcom Happy Days.

  When her iced tea came in an old-fashioned, curving soda glass and her plain white pottery plate came loaded with crispy fries and a burger topped with a bright red tomato slice that looked as if it had just been picked in the garden, Jenna sighed with pure contentment.

  Around them there was the steady hum of lively conversation and the occasional burst of laughter. She hadn’t missed the speculative looks when she had arrived with Bobby, but the attention had quickl
y drifted away.

  This was the kind of place she looked for in Baltimore and never found. She was sure they existed, but probably in parts of town her father would be appalled if she visited. In her neighborhood there were chic cafés and trendy restaurants, where lingering wasn’t condoned, much less encouraged.

  “I could really start to like it here,” she said, around a juicy bite of hamburger.

  “Don’t,” Bobby said tersely. “There is nothing for you in Trinity Harbor.”

  She bristled defiantly at his tone and the warning. “Have you made up your mind, then? Are you turning down my proposal?”

  He hesitated.

  “Well?” she prodded. “Can you look me in the eye and tell me it’s not exactly what you would have described, if I’d asked you how you saw the waterfront developing?”

  “No,” he conceded with obvious reluctance. “But that doesn’t change anything. The two of us working together is a bad idea.”

  “Why?”

  “It just is.”

  “Just what I like,” she said scathingly. “A businessman who has solid, rational reasons for his decisions.”

  “It’s my decision to make,” he reminded her with exaggerated patience.

  “Then don’t let it be a bad one,” she pleaded. “It’s too important. At least say you’ll think it over.”

  “I don’t know,” he said, his expression troubled.

  “Come on. What do you have to lose?”

  “My sanity,” he muttered.

  She chuckled at the plaintive note in his voice. “I swear, I will do my very best not to drive you crazy.”

  “Too late.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a rectangle of paper and slid it across the table.

  Jenna looked at it but didn’t reach for it. “What’s that?”

  “A check.”

  Hope stirred inside her. Was this the down payment on the deal? They hadn’t talked money, but maybe he’d decided on a nominal retainer. She swallowed hard and met his gaze. “For?”

  “The horse,” he said quietly. “It’s the amount you mentioned. It should cover the loss.”