by J A Whiting
The tiniest smile played over the attorney’s mouth and for a moment, Angie thought he was going to be straight with her, but then he batted the air with his hand. “Ms. Roseland, you can’t imagine that everything is about you and the Victorian. I have many clients. I’m not sure what you overheard, but there is nothing sinister at work. I assure you, I have only your best interests in mind.”
As annoyance and exhaustion flooded Angie’s body, she felt reprimanded by the attorney and for a second wondered if everything he was saying was true. Then, why do I always feel like he’s about to tell me something more and then changes his mind at the last second? Ford had an answer for everything. She felt like she would never get anything important out of him.
Just as she was about to get up to leave, Angie remembered something else. She knew Ford would dismiss what she was about to ask, but Angie wanted him to know that she was aware that the professor had met with him about this. “Shortly before Professor Linden’s passing, I understand that she came to see you. She wanted to know something about her father.”
Ford let out a long breath. “Client confidentiality prevents me from discussing client meetings or the content of such meetings.”
Angie had to use all of her will power not to fling herself over the desk and strangle Ford. She nodded and stood up. “Have a pleasant afternoon, Attorney Ford.”
“And you, Ms. Roseland. I’ll be in touch as probate proceeds on the estate.” He almost smiled.
Angie turned and left the office. When she reached the sidewalk, she swallowed her anger and frustration and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from bursting into tears.
***
Angie walked to her bake shop covering the distance in record time. She was full of negative energy and even though all of tomorrow’s bakery treats had been prepared and were ready to go, she needed to be moving around and working with her hands. She threw her jacket on the back of one of the café chairs and pulled a fresh apron over her head and tied it in back. She flicked the lights on in the back room and hurried about pulling out flour, sugar, butter, salt, and milk. Angie decided to make a few fruit pies. She’d bring one home for dessert tonight and put the other two out for the customers tomorrow.
Bustling around the room helped her pent up emotions start to wind down. Just as she was measuring out the flour, she heard a knock on the café door. Angie sighed. Someone must have seen the light and thought we were open. She wiped her hands on a cloth, and hurried to the front of the shop to inform the person that the shop was closed. Jenna’s face was peering through the glass window of the door.
Angie hurried to unlock it. Jenna swept inside. Tom stood in the doorway. “So how did it go? Did you whoop that lawyer into shape?”
Before she could say a word, Angie burst into tears. Tom’s eyes widened in surprise and he wrapped Angie in a bear hug. She buried her face into the front of Tom’s flannel work shirt. Still holding her, Tom moved Angie into the shop and Jenna shut the door. “What on earth happened?”
Embarrassed, Angie stepped away from Tom and pulled the hem of her apron up to wipe the tears from her face. She sat down at one of the café tables. Tom sat too and Jenna hurried to get a glass of water for her sister. Angie sipped the cool water and held the glass against her temple.
“I’m sorry. I’m an idiot.”
Jenna put her hand over Angie’s. “Tell us.”
Angie explained everything that had gone on at Attorney Ford’s office. “He probably didn’t do anything wrong at all. He was probably just doing what he says, looking for a copy of the professor’s will. He’s the administrator of the estate. He can go into the house. And of course he can’t divulge anything that he and the professor talked about in private. I don’t even know why I brought it up.” She stared at her glass and groaned. “I felt like a little kid being scolded by some old man.”
“Yes. Old. He’s probably Tom’s age,” Jenna said, with a sly smile.
Tom scowled. “I’m just a few years older than you.”
“Ancient,” Jenna teased.
Tom ignored the comment. “The way Ford dresses and his body language makes him seem like he’s an old man. Don’t pay any attention to him, Angie. I still think he was up to no good, skulking around in your house. Why didn’t he just say hello when he heard you in the house that night? Why were the lights off? Running away makes him look suspicious.”
“I agree.” Jenna nodded. “I think we still need to be careful of him.”
Angie let out a sigh. “You’re right. Why were the lights off?” Just sitting and talking with Tom and Jenna helped to dissipate her tension. They were right. They needed to be on guard around Ford.
She had to remember to ask Police Chief Martin if he had given a new key to Attorney Ford when he arranged to have the locks changed at the house. Angie didn’t want Ford being able to enter the Victorian whenever he pleased. She didn’t think it would be wrong to limit his access to the house to only pre-arranged times.
Angie looked at Tom and Jenna and narrowed her eyes. “Why are you two together anyway?” To Angie’s knowledge, the two of them had never spent any time alone with one another.
A blush tinged Jenna’s cheeks and she started stammering.
Tom said, “We just ran into each other here in town.”
“Oh?” The corners of Angie’s mouth turned up and she looked at them suspiciously. “You just ran into each other? Your meeting wasn’t planned?”
“What? No.” Jenna pushed a strand of her soft, brown hair away from her face. In order to avoid Angie’s scrutiny, she got up and went to the counter to make herself a latte.
“Hmm.” Angie turned to Tom without saying a word. She formed a heart with the fingers of her hands and held it in front of her chest. She had to suppress a chuckle when Tom rolled his eyes at her.
Chapter 18
Angie was refilling Tom’s coffee when Josh Williams entered the bake shop and when he saw Angie standing behind the counter, his face lit up. While smiling at Angie, he greeted Tom and sat down on the counter stool next to him. Josh’s smile sent tingles skittering over Angie’s skin and she was almost embarrassed at the effect Josh had on her.
“Coffee?” Angie’s eyes sparkled.
Tom caught the look on Angie’s face and his eyebrows went up.
“Yes, please. I’ll be right back.” Josh headed to the men’s room.
“What’s this?” Tom questioned.
Angie turned to reach for a clean mug. “What’s what?” When she faced the counter and put the mug down at Josh’s place, she saw a sly grin on Tom’s face.
“What’s going here?” Tom’s question was tinged with a teasing tone.
“Where?” Angie tried to avoid Tom’s interrogation. She filled Josh’s mug with coffee.
“Well, when Josh came in something like flirting seemed to fill the air between you.”
Angie scowled. “Hush, you. Here he comes.”
Josh sat down and sipped his coffee.
“So, Josh, anything new?” Tom looked like he was about to chuckle. Angie narrowed her eyes at him.
“The reception really went well the other night. Did you enjoy yourselves?” Josh directed the question more at Angie than Tom.
“It was great. We had a very nice time,” Angie told him. As she moved away to wait on other customers, she shot Tom a warning look. Tom smiled at her innocently.
Angie kept glancing over at Tom wondering what he was talking to Josh about and hoping he wasn’t going to embarrass her. Her heart pounded double time. When she was packaging some donuts into a box for a customer, Tom got up from his stool, and called, “See you tomorrow, Angie.” Angie looked over at him, standing slightly behind Josh. Tom formed the shape of a heart with his fingers and held them next to his chest.
The scowl she shot Tom quickly turned to a smile when she caught Josh looking at her.
“More coffee?” Angie asked sweetly.
“Please. Tom’s a nice guy. We were talk
ing about him doing some work for us on some projects we might have planned.”
Angie wanted to groan imagining Tom having plenty of opportunity to tease her and Josh if anything happened between them. “Tom’s a great guy. I’ve seen his work. It’s excellent. He’s a careful craftsman. Very knowledgeable.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t have much time to talk to you at the resort open house the other night.”
“That’s okay. We had a really nice time. My sisters and I haven’t been out together like that for such a long time. It was fun.”
“It was a huge turnout. We were pleased that so many people from town showed up.”
“I ran into my former employee, Lisa Barrows. She said the resort was keeping her busy.”
“Lisa gave her notice the other day,” Josh said. “Did she tell you?”
Angie’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “No, she didn’t tell me. She’s quitting? She’s only been there a week.”
“She’s moving back to central Massachusetts. She said it’s all been too much change for her too fast.” Josh lifted the mug and sipped his coffee.
Angie said, “Her mom passed away a year ago. Professor Linden’s death hit her hard. She seems really stressed lately.” Angie felt badly for Lisa. Lisa wanted to make her retirement home in Sweet Cove and Angie was sorry that things didn’t work out the way Lisa had planned.
“Well, I hope things will be better for her when she makes the move,” Josh said. “She doesn’t seem happy at all.”
“Maybe I’ll invite her to dinner before she leaves.” Something about what she was hearing about Lisa made Angie uneasy. Something flickered in her mind, but then was gone.
Josh’s phone buzzed and he checked it. “Davis is after me.” He grinned and reached for his mug. “It’s all work with him, no down time.” Josh took the last swallow of his coffee. He seemed like he wanted to say something. He hesitated, but then blurted, “I was wondering if you’d like to go for a bike ride on the Sunday after you close up the shop. I thought you might be at a loss for what to do without having to be at the bake shop that day. It might be a nice distraction.”
Angie’s heart fluttered at Josh’s thoughtfulness. “I’d like that.”
Josh beamed at her. It seemed like his whole body flooded with energy at Angie’s positive answer. “I’ll come by the Victorian about 2pm?”
Little flashes of electricity bounced between them.
“I’ll be ready.”
***
The girls set up a long wooden table in the music room of the Victorian. It was covered with beading tools, silver findings, and containers of beads made of silver, gold, pearl, shell, and glass, in every color imaginable. The music room had large windows overlooking the back yard and a door led to the wraparound porch. The sisters thought the room turned out to be a perfect jewelry shop for Jenna’s business. One wall had built-in wood cabinets and shelves where Jenna could store her pieces. In a few days, they planned to bring in the two antique cases that would display the finished jewelry. Jenna could work at a table by the windows while customers browsed the cases.
Ellie had moved into the Victorian a few days ago after finishing her work at the Boston hotel. She was spending the days building a website for the new bed and breakfast, applying for permits, cleaning, organizing, and ordering some new linens for the bedrooms. Ellie was researching the most cost effective way to advertise the B and B since they had a very small budget.
Jenna, Angie, and Ellie perched at the work table putting the pieces together following Jenna’s designs. There were a lot of online orders to finish and send out. It was a cool early May evening, and the girls had made a fire in the room’s ornately carved fireplace. Euclid slept, curled up on the rug in front of the crackling fire.
“So Lisa quit and is moving away?” Jenna used a tool to crimp a small silver bead in place. “The professor’s death must have really taken a toll on her.”
Euclid lifted his head.
Ellie picked up a silver clasp to attach to the bracelet she had just strung together. “You said her mom passed away not long ago. Maybe it’s all just too upsetting for her. It was probably too soon to move to another place.”
A flare of anxiety pulsed through Angie’s veins. She put down the necklace she had been working on and watched the flames dancing in the fireplace. Euclid sat up and stared at her. When Angie shifted her gaze and met Euclid’s eyes, she opened her mouth in surprise at the thought that flashed in her mind. She dropped the tool she was holding and her sisters looked up.
“What’s wrong?” Jenna asked.
“I just had an idea.” Angie’s hands trembled. “What if Lisa saw something the day the professor died.”
Ellie and Jenna had puzzled looks on their faces.
“What if she saw someone put something in the professor’s drink? Maybe she’s afraid to come forward and tell. Maybe she’s afraid the killer will come after her.” Angie’s heart was racing.
“That’s why she’s been so upset.” Ellie’s eyes were wide.
“It makes sense.” Excitement flowed through Jenna’s voice. “That’s why she quit the bake shop. She must have seen the person there almost every day.”
“That poor woman, she must be afraid for her life.” Angie stood up and started to pace around the room.
Euclid let out a low hiss.
“She knows who did it,” Angie said. “But she’s afraid to tell. I bet she suspects someone but is afraid to speak up. Or…what if the killer threatened her?”
A low guttural growl vibrated in Euclid’s throat.
“I need to talk to her.” Angie stopped pacing and stared at her sisters. “I’ll invite her to dinner. I’ll go to the resort and ask her in person. It will be harder to refuse me if I ask her in person.”
“How will you get Lisa to admit what she saw? Who, she saw?” Jenna twirled a bead between her fingers as she thought.
Ellie straightened. “Tell her you think you saw something. Tell her you think you saw someone put something in the professor’s drink, but you aren’t sure, and you don’t want to name the person unless somebody else has suspicion. Ask her if she saw anything that day. Maybe when you tell her you’re suspicious of someone, she’ll feel safe telling you what she saw.”
Angie’s face lit up. “You’re a genius.” She hugged Ellie. “Now I just have to get her to talk to me. I’ll go to the resort after work tomorrow and invite her to go to dinner.”
Chapter 19
For the second time in a few days, Angie parked her car in the lot of the resort. Her cell phone beeped with an incoming text just as she turned the car off. It was from Jenna telling her to call as soon as she was done talking to Lisa. Jenna and Ellie were driving up the coast to a nearby mall to search for some new window treatments for a few of the bedrooms they’d be using for the B and B.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, Angie reached for the door handle and the quick movement of her head caused a wave of dizziness to engulf her. She leaned her head against the headrest and took in some deep breaths. What was that about? She gingerly opened the car door and stepped out. Feeling steady, she headed for the entrance of the resort. The closer she got to the door, the more she felt the strange thrumming beating in her blood. Is there some weird magnetic field around here that makes me feel this every time I’m on the point? She tried to ignore the sensation by focusing her attention on how pretty the area looked in the glow of the setting sun.
Angie walked through the lobby and approached the registration area where she asked the desk clerk if he could call Lisa Barrows to the lobby for a moment. He agreed, and Angie moved to a group of sofas set up in the middle of the lobby.
A few minutes later, Lisa came around the corner and when she spotted Angie, she stopped short. Trying to recover from the surprise of seeing her former employer waiting for her, Lisa plastered a smile on her face. “Oh, Angie. Hello. This is a surprise.”
“Hi. How are you?” Angie moved closer to Lis
a. “I ran into Josh Williams and he said you were moving back to central Massachusetts.”
Lisa nodded. She looked down at the floor. Angie thought Lisa might elaborate on the reasons for her sudden decision to leave Sweet Cove or at least say something about how she thought it would be a good move for her, but she remained silent.
“I came to ask you to join me for dinner,” Angie said cheerfully. “I’d like to take you out for a nice meal to thank you for all the hours you put in at the bake shop.”
Lisa’s face flushed and she started to stammer, “I … I’m working….”
Josh came out of the restaurant just then and saw Angie and Lisa talking together. He smiled brightly at Angie as he walked over to the women. “Hey.”
Angie greeted Josh with a warm smile. He was such a welcome contrast to Lisa’s nervous and withdrawn manner. “I came to ask Lisa to dinner. Since she’s moving away, I’d like to take her to dinner as a thank you for working at my shop and to wish her well.”
“That’s great. What a terrific idea.”
“I don’t get off for two more hours though,” Lisa said.
Josh turned to Lisa. “Oh. Go ahead with Angie. It’s quiet here now. I’ll pay you for your full shift. No worries. Go ahead and have a nice meal together.”
Angie was impressed by Josh’s kindness. He made her feel warm and happy.
“I don’t think I should do that,” Lisa started to object, but Josh cut her off.
“I insist. You’ve been working hard. Take the time for a nice meal. In fact,” Josh looked towards the resort restaurant. “Please have dinner here. It’s my treat to both of you.”
“How generous,” Angie smiled. “Thank you.” She didn’t think she would have been able to convince Lisa to eat with her, but now that Josh made the offer to have dinner at the resort, it would be very awkward for Lisa to refuse. Angie wanted to kiss Josh, and not just because his suggestion made it easier for her to get Lisa to join her.
