Purrder She Wrote

by Cate Conte

  “Please. Take it away,” I said, handing her the binder.

  She looked at me suspiciously. “What’s this?”

  “The binder for the gala. I need help. I have no idea why Dad asked me, and I don’t want the job. Please, Val. Help.”

  “What’s the catch?”

  “Catch? There’s no catch. I was only doing this to stay in the will,” I said, only half kidding.

  “I thought you wanted to do this so Dad thought you were the shining star again!”

  “Oh, Val.” I shook my head. “I don’t want to be a star. Please. Help?”

  She smiled. “Yes. Absolutely.”

  “Okay. Let’s go downstairs and have coffee and I’ll tell you where I’m at.”

  She followed me down, JJ leading the way, flipping the binder as she walked. “Wow. This is a lot of stuff. I would so love to put this party together from scratch,” she said.

  I paused on the stairs and looked at her, almost causing her to run into me. “You would?” I asked.

  “Totally. I’ve wanted to do stuff like this forever.”

  Another thing I didn’t know about my sister. “Well, you’re in luck,” I said as we hit the first floor. Ethan wasn’t in the kitchen but his spirit was there, along with a lovely fresh pot of coffee. I glanced at Val, curious. “How is everything with Ethan?”

  “Fine,” she said, trying to sound casual, but I saw red creeping up her neck. “So what’s got to get done?”

  I poured two mugs of coffee and perched on a chair, one leg under me, to walk her through what I’d managed to cobble together as a to-do list. But I’d barely gotten to the second task when the doorbell rang. She stood. “I’ll get it.”

  I took the opportunity to refill the coffee mugs, feeling a sense of relief I hadn’t had in more than a week. Val would save the day. She seemed to like this stuff. And maybe it would give us a chance to work together on something.

  My happy-family thoughts were chased away when the kitchen door opened and Val came in, Craig right behind her. Val looked disturbed.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked Craig. I hadn’t expected to see him again, at least not here, after the way our conversation played out yesterday. Unless something bad had happened. “What’s wrong?”

  He looked at me with an almost pitying look on his face. “It’s Gigi.”

  “Gigi? What about her? Oh God. Did you find … was I right?”

  He shook his head. “No. You weren’t right. We found her on the beach. She tried to commit suicide, Maddie.”

  I felt my knees go weak and grabbed onto my chair. Val came over and squeezed my hand. “What do you mean? Is she okay? What happened?”

  “We’re not exactly sure. Someone found her facedown on the beach, barely breathing. They rushed her in to the hospital. She’s stable now. I didn’t get the details on what she took or her prognosis, but I wanted to tell you.” He paused. “I’m sorry, Maddie.”

  “This is my fault,” I said, sitting down hard and looking him in the eye. “Isn’t it?”

  “God, no. That’s nuts,” Val said, looking to Craig for confirmation. “Isn’t that nuts?”

  “Of course,” he said, but he didn’t sound convinced. “You shouldn’t blame yourself.”

  “But I basically accused her of killing Holly.”

  Now Val turned to gape at me. “You did what?”

  I nodded miserably. “It makes sense if you know the whole story. But we never got to finish talking and she took off. She must’ve been … really messed up about it.”

  “But that other lady confessed.” Val looked from me to Craig. “Clearly I’m missing something.”

  “It doesn’t matter.” I turned to Craig. “So now what? Will she be okay?”

  “All I know is what I told you,” he said.

  “Should I go see her?”

  “Um. Probably not the best idea,” Val said, looking to Craig for confirmation.

  To his credit, Craig didn’t respond. He just kept looking at me with those sympathetic eyes.

  “Stop looking at me like that,” I said. “I feel bad enough as it is. What should I do?”

  He shook his head. “There’s nothing you can do. Listen, I’ll check back in on how she’s doing and let you know. Will that help?”

  I nodded. “Yes. Please. That would be great.”

  “Okay, then.” He hesitated, and for a minute I thought he was going to hug me. But he didn’t. He turned and left.

  Chapter 59

  The rest of the week passed surprisingly uneventfully, if not crazy busy. I was back to no volunteers. Ethan, Grandpa, and I made a schedule that worked for all of us for cleaning, and we got into a comfortable rhythm. Val made no move to go back to her house, and instead jumped full-on into helping get Dad’s gala up and running. She had totally come through and helped me with all the outstanding items, including decorations for the room and finding some fab last-minute auction items, letting my mother off the hook too.

  I didn’t ask about her and Ethan. It was their business, not mine, and I’d already mucked up enough things by sticking my nose in other people’s business. I still hadn’t heard from Lucas. My dad was still basically only speaking to me through a third party, and only to make sure I hadn’t screwed up anything else about the gala. A couple of other high rollers had canceled and he was majorly stressed.

  As for Gigi, she was recovering from her suicide attempt. She’d gone on a drinking-and-pill binge, and given her tiny size it hadn’t taken much to send her system into shock. I heard from Felicia—who didn’t know about my conversation with Gigi, at least that she’d let on—that Gigi had been released from the hospital on Thursday and was home with her mother. It sounded like they were bonding, or maybe that was just Felicia’s interpretation of it. In any event, Gigi wasn’t living in a tent at the beach anymore, which was positive.

  I was still conflicted about her presence at the Hawthornes’ house that night, but as far as everyone else was concerned, the case was closed and I felt guilty enough to let it go. Grandpa had tried to comfort me by praising my investigative and deduction skills, and saying he would’ve pursued the same avenue if he’d been on the force and had gotten the same intel. I appreciated his words, but I still felt like crap.

  The café had been steadily busy all week, with food sales skyrocketing with the combination of Felicia’s food and Ethan’s coffee. People had even taken to dropping by for a snack, even if there were no cuddling spots open, which made Ethan really happy. It reinforced Ethan’s desire to turn the garage into the café. Which I hoped was really going to happen once I got Gabe back here in a couple of weeks.

  If he really did come back, but I couldn’t worry about that now.

  In a nutshell, everything was going along swimmingly. Unless you counted the Lucas thing. Which I didn’t feel like I had a right to, given how I’d mucked it all up. I still hadn’t heard from him. I was debating calling him, but I didn’t want to come off as pathetic. Then again, it was my drama that had caused this, and it really was on me to make the first move. I was still figuring it out.

  So I moved through the week going through the motions, feeling numb and off center most of the time, despite my attempts to do Cass’s rituals.

  And soon enough it was Saturday night, the night of the gala. Showtime. It had been two weeks since Holly’s death. I felt like tomorrow was a day of reckoning, that I’d have to take stock of everything that had happened and everything I’d done—like nearly driving a young woman to kill herself—but for tonight, I had to put my brave face on and get through it.

  “Ready?” Val asked, squeezing my hand as we stood inside the decorated room. I had to admit it looked gorgeous. So did she, for that matter. Poised and confident, she was not the same girl I’d picked up at her big empty house nearly two weeks ago. Despite the toll this whole debacle had taken on her, tonight she looked … peaceful. And she’d outdone herself for the party. She really had a knack for this stuff. She’d d
ecorated everything with a Reach for the Stars theme, and had transformed the room so it felt like we were sitting under a gorgeous night sky. Black velvet curtains, dim lighting, and funky colors and stars projected onto the ceiling gave it a sense of an outdoor camping trip on a beautiful clear night, without the bugs. Everything glittered with confetti stars, including the table holding the plethora of auction items. I could see the guests fighting over the centerpieces, a mixture of stars and flowers. It was all elegant too. Nothing cheesy or cheap here.

  Dad would be pleased. And he would wonder why he hadn’t asked her in the first place.

  “As ready as I’m gonna get,” I said. “The food’s almost ready, and that’s more important.” Felicia and her team had been here since noon, prepping and chopping and all the other things chefs did to make a huge meal. She’d brought a team of five people, and the hotel had provided three of their own servers to assist. While I’d known her food would be a hit, I hadn’t known what to expect about her logistical operation and the people she’d bring with her. But everyone looked and sounded professional, and no one seemed overly klutzy. One of the servers, a young Hispanic man, seemed to notice how uptight I was and made it a point to try and put me at ease every time our paths crossed, which was sweet.

  And not totally working.

  I rubbed my hands together nervously. “I just wish it was over.”

  “Don’t worry so much,” Val said. “It will be great. I can just feel it.” She winked. “Trust me.”

  Chapter 60

  By the time guests began arriving, I’d relaxed a bit. Or it could’ve been the one drink I had to calm my nerves. So I was able to appreciate how many people were streaming through the door. My parents were in the first wave, of course, and I could see my father looking around anxiously, taking it all in, hoping for a smooth, stress-free night. My mother saw me and Val and waved.

  Looks great, she mouthed, flashing us a thumbs-up.

  I waved back, wishing for another drink. Then I blinked. And poked Val. “Aren’t those the Berkinhowsers?” I couldn’t believe I actually recognized them. If it even was them. Because according to my dad, they’d canceled and it was my fault because I’d yelled at Cole.

  Val’s eyes followed my finger. “Why yes, it is them,” she said, smiling.

  “They canceled. Unless Dad was somehow mistaken.”

  “Or maybe they reconsidered,” she said, and I swore I saw a twinkle in her eye.

  “Val. How did you—”

  But she’d already sailed away to greet some people. I shook my head, watching her. She certainly looked in her element. Maybe she had a future in entrepreneurship herself.

  My happy thoughts were suddenly derailed when I saw Sergeant Ellory come in, a pretty brunette on his arm. He wasn’t wearing a uniform, but he never did anyway so I was immediately on guard. I made my way over to him just as one of our registration people finished handing him the program and a bid card for the evening.

  “Sergeant.”

  He smiled. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him smile before. He actually wasn’t bad-looking when he did. “Maddie. This is my wife, Caroline.”

  “Nice to meet you,” I said, then turned back to him. “Here to support the hospital?”

  He nodded. “Absolutely.” His calm, cop eyes stared right back into mine.

  “Well,” I said. “Enjoy. It should be a low-key night.”

  “I certainly hope so,” he said.

  I turned to go back to my post near the door, when out of the corner of my eye I saw Heather Hawthorne strutting into the room. I nearly cringed. I had to be sure to steer clear of her at all times, lest my father get the wrong idea.

  It was going to be a long night.

  I was hiding out by the bar, keeping an eye on the servers as they passed out main courses, when my mother joined me. She slipped her arm around my waist and kissed my hair.

  “It looks amazing in here. And everyone is having a wonderful time.”

  I squeezed her back. “Thanks, Mom. But Val ended up doing a lot of this.”

  “I know she helped out. But Maddie. Don’t downplay what you did. You really jumped in and took charge. Dad is very grateful.”

  “I don’t know about that. Dad thinks I messed everything up.”

  “Honey.” My mother took my face in her hands. “Dad is grateful. We are both so proud of you. I wish you’d give yourself more credit. Besides. Those silly people who canceled just needed to have some sense talked back into them. Nothing your sister and I couldn’t handle.” She winked at me.

  I stared at her. “You got those people back on board?”

  My mom nodded. “I wasn’t about to let them ruin this for Dad or you.” She hugged me. “You know I’d do anything for you, Maddie.”

  I watched her slip back to her seat, my heart swelling with gratitude. My mother was amazing. I was one of the lucky ones, for sure. And I had no doubt that she would do anything at all for me.

  Most mothers would, I reckoned. Even if their kid screwed up. It was part of the job.

  And maybe some mothers took that job way more seriously.

  I’d been looking at this all wrong after all.

  Chapter 61

  Val grabbed me as I was heading for the kitchen. “Bathroom break?”

  I glanced at the door and decided five minutes wouldn’t hurt. We detoured out into the hall together and headed to the ladies’ room.

  “Okay, spill it,” I said to Val after I’d checked under the seats to verify we were alone.

  “Spill what?”

  “The canceled people. How’d you and Mom do it?”

  She shrugged modestly. “We just told Mira that you weren’t kidding about the newspaper story. And we name-dropped a fancy lawyer who I told her I was contemplating hiring to represent me in the divorce, and that I’d up the ante if she messed with Dad’s job.”

  I squealed and hugged her. “And she caved? Just like that?”

  “Of course. There’s nothing people like her hate more than their precious names being dragged through the mud. She got her people back on board.”

  “That’s amazing.” I hesitated. “So you’re…”

  She nodded. “I’m going to file for divorce. I should’ve done it a long time ago. Actually, I shouldn’t have gotten married in the first place, but what can you do?”

  I studied her. “You seem so calm about this.”

  “Yeah, well. Ethan’s been teaching me some coping strategies.”

  The door banged open and two tipsy women entered, laughing a little too loudly. Conversation over. For now. I gave her a hug.

  “Thank you,” she whispered in my ear. “For everything.”

  Once we were back in the room, I slipped out back to check on the desserts. Felicia had outdone herself with that too. She was serving minicakes, a choice of chocolate or vanilla, coated with blue frosting and silver stars traveling up the sides. A tiny silver planet floated from a gold toothpick over the creation.

  The servers were bringing the desserts any minute. The food part was basically over. I took a deep breath and pushed open the doors into the kitchen. While I was here, I figured I’d get a picture of the cakes as the servers arranged them on platters. I’d managed to remember to take plenty of pictures during the night for Dad.

  Felicia glanced up and smiled. “You like?”

  “They’re gorgeous. Everything’s been gorgeous. Thank you so much for jumping in and doing this.”

  “Thank you for the job,” she said. “I’m blessed for the opportunity.”

  “You deserved it. Your food is awesome.” I slipped my phone into the pocket of the little jacket I’d thrown on over my dress to combat the air-conditioning and moved closer to watch her put the finishing touches on the last few cakes. “How’s Gigi?” I asked finally. We’d barely spoken about her, and I wasn’t sure if Felicia wanted to or not. But I felt like I had to tell her about my conversation with her daughter. Get it off my chest. It was eating away
at me.

  “She’s doing much better,” Felicia said. “It will take a while. But she’s seeing a therapist now, and I’m hopeful it will help.”

  “That’s good.” I nervously linked and unlinked my fingers. “Felicia.” I lowered my voice so the staff still in the room couldn’t hear me. “I have a confession to make.”

  Her fingers stilled briefly over her work, then resumed. “Okay,” she said without looking up.

  “Gigi and I were having a conversation. Last week, before…” I cleared my throat. “Anyway, I said some things that may have put her in a bad place. I was struggling with Adele’s confession. I couldn’t accept that she’d actually done it, and I found out some things about Gigi that put her at the Hawthornes’ that night. I asked her about it, and about the things that happened in the past between her and the twins. I’m afraid I caused this.” I stopped talking, waited for a reaction.

  Felicia was silent for so long I wondered if she was maybe counting to one hundred, or one million, in order to not lose it and stab me with something during the event and risk not getting paid. When she finally spoke I realized I’d been holding my breath.

  “I know about your talk,” she said. “Gigi left a note. I don’t think she meant it for me, necessarily, but the police gave it to me.” She lifted her arm and swiped at her eye with her wrist. “She said she wanted everyone to know that she really didn’t do it. That she was sorry about the problems she thought she caused me, and was trying to find a way to right it.” Finally she looked up. I didn’t think I’d ever seen anyone look more sad. “She was going to try and sabotage the new caterers. That’s why she took the job. She was convinced she could put things right for me, convince the Hawthornes to stop badmouthing my company. Misguided, sure. Like most things Gigi did, it wasn’t well thought out. In the end she couldn’t do it. But she was terribly sad that anyone would think she would let her friend be blamed for something she did.”

  Hearing the confirmation and feeling the guilt fresh nearly brought me to my knees. “I’m so, so sorry,” I said. “And I know now that I was wrong. Gigi didn’t kill Holly.” I looked her square in the eyes. “You did.”