He came in, and I got a bottle of wine from the pantry. I figured it would help calm my nerves for whatever he was about to tell me.
“I want to clear the air with you,” he said as he sat down on my sofa. “I don’t know why, but I feel like I’ve been stringing you along.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t blame you for that. I know you’ve had a lot on your plate. I feel bad even making you deal with me right now. You should be worrying about your impending fatherhood and grieving your sister.”
“I know,” he said with a heavy sigh. “The drama with Ashlyn has kept me from thinking too much about Becky, but it hit me hard the other night. I hadn’t really thought about it much, but suddenly I realized that I was never going to see her again. It was a punch in the gut.”
“You’ll see her again, but probably not in this life,” I said without thinking.
“You seem very confident about that,” Holden said with a hint of astonishment.
“Sorry about that. I have very strong beliefs about what happens on the other side of the veil.” I couldn’t tell him that I knew for a fact that there was life after death. Maybe someday I could share that with him, but that wasn’t the case.
“I can appreciate that, and someday, I’d like to have a long talk with you about those beliefs.”
“You would?” I asked.
“That’s kind of why I came here, Starla. I’m worried that I’ll lose you while I work these things out, but I don’t want to, Starla. I’m here because I believe there is something between us that both of us feel, and I want to ask you to wait for me.”
“You couldn’t lose me, Holden. The island isn’t that big, and you know where I live,” I teased.
Holden relaxed and smiled. “You know what I mean.”
“Yes, I do, and yes I will wait for you. I feel the spark, too, and I want to know where it could lead us.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Holden said and stood up.
Without even knowing how it happened, I found myself standing in front of him. We stood that way, inches apart, for a few long moments before he pulled me into his arms.
His lips were almost on mine. It was as if we weren’t more than an atom’s width apart. I could swear that I could feel the slightest hint of his kiss before he pulled back from me suddenly.
“I can’t yet. Not like this. I want to do this the right way.”
There wasn’t much left to say at that point. Sitting around making small talk after an almost kiss would have been tragically painful, so Holden gave me a peck on the cheek and left. He promised to return when his life was straightened out.
I wasn’t sure how to feel. I’d wanted him to kiss me, but I’d felt relieved when he hadn’t. “I’m going to the beach. I need to listen to the waves and think,” I said to Presto.
“If you find a magic nautilus that will turn me back into my former self, make sure you pick it up.”
“Will do,” I said and scratched him behind the ears.
The sand was pleasantly warm when I plopped down into it. The rhythmic sound of the waves calmed me instantly. I was sitting close enough to the water that I could lean over and touch it if I wanted to, but the lapping waves couldn’t quite reach my bare toes. With the moonlight reflecting off the water, it occurred to me that my new home was heaven.
Back in Stone Church, I’d thought I had it all figured out, but here in Clownfish Cay, the world was a mystery again. Somehow that made me happier than thinking I knew it all. I wasn’t a dark and brooding mistress of the night; I’d been bored and grumpy because my life lacked intrigue. Well, I’d found plenty of it on the island.
As I sat on the beach, watching the waves drift lazily in and out, I went into the zone. I didn’t hear someone walking up the beach toward me until I felt the thump of someone sitting down next to me. It startled me a bit, but I was relieved to see it was Kane.
“You look lost.”
“That’s weird because I was just thinking of how I was finding myself here,” I said.
“Maybe it’s the company you’re keeping, then.”
“That’s not a nice thing to say about your sister,” I said.
“I’m not talking about Blossom,” Kane said gravely.
“Oh, you mean Holden. Why would you care if I spend time with Holden?”
“You mean aside from the fact that he’s got a pregnant girlfriend, his sister just died, and he’s still more interested in pursuing you? What kind of man behaves that way? I say a man that I don’t want sniffing around you.”
“I don’t get why you care,” I said and turned to face him.
Something about the way the moonlight reflected in his eyes made my breath catch in my throat. I was suddenly very aware of myself and of how close Kane was sitting next to me.
“You honestly don’t know?” he asked, and suddenly I did.
“But, I’m trouble,” I said to remind him of how many times he’d told me that.
“That’s what I tell myself because it’s hard to feel this way about someone you’ve just met. It’s difficult for me to care about someone so much when there is no way you can expect them to feel the same way back.”
And there it was again. My heart was doing its best to thunder out of my chest. The combination of that with the butterflies dancing in my stomach was enough to make me feel more than a little light headed. The world tilted a little as I felt his hand brush against mine.
More was about to happen, but my phone chirped loudly. I’d been sitting on it, and when I leaned over closer to Kane, the signal strengthened, and a voicemail came through.
I looked at the phone and saw that Blossom had tried to call me several times. “It was Blossom. She’s been trying to reach me. She called seven times.”
“Do you have a voicemail?”
I put the phone on speaker and played the voicemail so Kane could hear it, too.
Chapter Fifteen
“Hold on,” Kane said as the car raced to our intended destination.
The voicemail had been Blossom letting me know that she’d overheard a conversation between Ashlyn and her mother. Ashlyn was faking the pregnancy to get Holden back and hoping that he’d actually knock her up before anyone started asking too many questions. Blossom heard her say something about taking care of the Becky problem, but the worst part was that she blamed me for Holden being distant with her since their reconciliation.
“Find my brother and make sure your safe,” was the end of Blossom’s message.
Well, it had almost been the end. There was a bloodcurdling scream followed by the line going dead. Kane’s face blanched white when he heard his sister’s distress.
“Let’s go,” he said and took off in the direction of my house.
“Where are we going?”
“We are going to get my sister, and you are coming with me. I don’t know if Ashlyn has anyone else working with her, and I’m not risking you getting hurt.”
I got in the car and we drove to a neighborhood between mine and the airport. I’d walked past it before, but I’d never gone in. “Why are we going here?”
“There’s a house in this neighborhood that Holden and Ashlyn were going to buy. It’s vacant.”
“You think that’s where Ashlyn took Blossom?”
“That’s her car parked out front. Ashlyn is unhinged, but she is obviously no criminal mastermind.”
“How did you know they were buying this house?”
“I’m the island’s sheriff, Starla. I hear everything. Let’s go through the back door. I’m sure Ashlyn is sitting in the front room, waiting for you to come through the front door.”
Sure enough, we went through the unlocked kitchen door, and Ashlyn was standing in the home’s living room watching the front door. She was so fixated on waiting for me to walk in that she didn’t hear us come through the back door.
Blossom was tied to a chair in the kitchen. She had a huge black eye but was otherwise unharmed. I worked
on untying the ropes binding her while Kane snuck into the living room.
“Put your hands up, Ashlyn. It’s over,” Kane barked.
Ashlyn was so startled that she dropped her gun. She lunged forward for the front door, but Kane grabbed her easily. Once the cuffs were on, Kane marched Ashlyn out and put her in his cruiser. He checked the house and found that Ashlyn was acting alone.
“Can you get my sister home?” Kane asked. “I don’t think anyone is helping her. You guys should be safe.”
“I’m going to take her home with me.”
“Can I have my gun back?” Blossom asked.
“Ashlyn kidnapped you with your own gun?” Kane asked in disbelief.
“She snuck up behind me and, when I turned, she hit me in the side of the face with a brick. I’m lucky she’s got terrible upper body strength or I’d be dead instead of bruised,” Blossom said.
“I take that back,” I said. “I’m taking her to the hospital.”
“I don’t need to go to the hospital,” Blossom protested.
“Yes, you do. I’ll call a cab to take us. She seems alright, but I want to be sure,” I said to Kane.
“I’m right here,” Blossom said.
I gave her a big hug. Relief washed over me as the adrenaline rush from hearing her message subsided. “I’m calling a cab and we’re going to get you checked out. Then, we can do whatever you want.”
“Pancakes?” Blossom asked.
“Yes, I’ll make you tons of pancakes and we’ll eat them on the beach.”
Epilogue
The next night, I was trying to read through a book that I’d found at the Clownfish Cay Public Library. I hadn’t even known that the island had a library until Presto told me he’d found it on the web. I still hadn’t figured out how the cat used the internet, but some things are probably better left a mystery. He’d insisted I go check out a few books that the library listed in their database.
I didn’t have work that day and Becky’s murder was solved, so I figured it was time to start helping Presto solve the island’s mysteries in earnest. There was still some question as to Dirk’s murder, but everything pointed toward him discovering what Becky had intended to tell Holden. It was most likely that Ashlyn had killed him too.
Plus, my job as a bartender was pretty much supposed to be a front. I had a real job to do for the Grand Coven, and it was time for me to focus more of my energy on that.
Anyway, the library had a huge local history section on the second floor. Clownfish Cay was once known as Siren Song Island before the cruise ship companies got the government to change it to something more family friendly.
I was reading through another written account of a sailor seeing a beautiful woman with a fish’s tail when my doorbell rang. I was fascinated. Clownfish Cay had a verified history of mermaid sightings going back centuries, and nobody talked about it.
The doorbell rang again.
“Ugh, who could it be?” I said and pushed myself off of my comfy position on the bed.
“Don’t answer it. I think we’re getting close to some more clues,” Presto said. “Please, Starla. I can feel it.”
The doorbell rang again, and this time it was several rings in quick succession.
“Let me just see who it is. Maybe it’s Blossom and she’ll help us comb through all of these records,” I said and waved my hand over the stack of old and even older books.
“Blossom would have just walked in. Besides, I thought you said she was going to take some aspirin and lie down.”
“Well then, it’s probably not her. Let me just get the door, Presto. I’ll make them go away.”
“Promise?”
“Yes, Presto. I promise.”
The doorbell rang several more times.
“I’m coming. I’m coming,” I called out.
When I opened the door, I dropped the book. I hadn’t realized I’d brought it with me until I heard it hit the floor. Before my eyes on my front porch was Holden and Kane. Both of them were dressed in perfectly tailored suits. Holden’s was black, and he had a bouquet of red and purple calla lilies in his hands. Kane wore a navy blue pin stripe suit, and he held a bouquet of fresh white hibiscus flowers.
“I thought I’d come by and surprise you,” Holden said and shot Kane a look.
“I had the same idea,” Kane said with an impish smile.
“You guys aren’t together?” I asked.
“No,” both of them said in unison.
***
To be continued...
Copyright© 2017 Sara Bourgeois
All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental.
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Mojitos & Murder Page 8
