by Leena Clover
“She was dressed in a wedding gown, wasn’t she?” Betty Sue Morse said, pausing her knitting for a moment. “I say she wanted to ruin the wedding.”
“Oh yes,” Star said, sipping her coffee. “What about the wedding? I suppose those two didn’t get married after all.”
“Crystal was too worked up,” Heather pronounced. “They could have been married inside privately, but she said she wanted to hold off on the wedding.”
“What a colossal waste,” Petunia declared. “I can’t imagine spending an arm and a leg on something and not going ahead with it. Why! I would have fainted from the shock.”
“This is just chump change for those people,” Heather said. “Crystal makes a lot of money. A lot…”
Adam Hopkins walked up to the café, looking formidable in his uniform.
“Ladies!” he greeted them.
Jenny got up to see what he wanted.
“I have to go the mainland,” he told her. “I thought I might get some lunch to go. I will stop at some rest area on the way and eat in my car.”
“How about some grilled chicken salad? It’s a new recipe I am trying out for the summer. I would like to get your opinion on it.”
“Why not?” Adam shrugged. “Anything you make is delicious, Jenny.”
“It’s on the house,” Jenny smiled up at him. “But you will have to give me your honest feedback.”
“When do I not do that?” Adam laughed.
“So you’ll tell me tonight?”
“I might not be able to make it to the beach.”
Jenny lived with Star in a beach facing house. It was one of the few beaches in Pelican Cove offering a flat stretch of land without any rocks or dunes. Adam Hopkins had a habit of going there for a walk. He had run into Jenny there a few times. She had been out to stretch her legs after dinner. It had become a habit and now they met on the beach by an unspoken arrangement.
“You have a doctor’s appointment in the city?” Jenny asked with concern.
“Not this time. I’m going there on official business.”
Jenny nodded in understanding.
“This is about that poor girl, isn’t it? Has anyone come asking for her? Does she have any family?”
“I can’t tell you that, Jenny. Wait till the grapevine catches up though. You’ll know soon enough.”
“We were talking about her just now. Do you think it was suicide? Or an accident?”
Adam gave her a withering look.
“You’re not going to be mixed up in any funny business again, are you?”
Jenny shook her head.
“I’ve learned my lesson, Adam.”
She had narrowly escaped an attempt on her life earlier that year when a killer tried to get rid of her.
“I want to believe you,” Adam said, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief. “But something tells me you’ll find a way to butt in.”
“Are you saying I butt in on purpose?” Jenny asked, her hands on her hips. “I don’t even know these people. And we are getting too busy here at the café. I think I will have to give up my mid-morning break soon.”
“What about the extra help Petunia was going to hire?”
“We signed a couple of kids on. They start after Memorial Day.”
“Is Nick going to be here for the summer?” Adam asked after Jenny’s son.
“I haven’t talked to him all week,” Jenny wailed. “The twins might know more than me.”
Adam’s twin girls had met Jenny’s son and they had hit it off.
“You think the twins call me every day?” Adam sighed. “Sometimes I feel like they barely tolerate me.”
“You are pretty cool as a Dad,” Jenny consoled him. “They are just busy, I guess.”
“I hope at least some of that time is devoted to studying,” Adam snorted. “They might look all cherubic but they are a handful.”
“You don’t suspect foul play, do you?” Jenny burst out.
“There you go again,” Adam sighed. “Stay out of this one, Jenny. Please.”
His voice softened as he leaned toward her.
“I don’t want to be mad at you.”
“Then don’t be,” Jenny said, suddenly feeling out of breath.
“I have a job to do. Calling out people who interfere is part of it.”
“Alright, alright. Message received. Drive safely, okay?”
Adam Hopkins took the bag Jenny handed him. It felt suitably heavy and Adam felt his mouth water as he thought about any extra treats Jenny may have packed for him.
Jenny went out to the deck after Adam left, unaware of the smile that lit up her face.
“When are you going out with him?” Molly asked.
“Come on, Molly,” Jenny sighed. “Not that again.”
“Adam Hopkins needs a kick in his pants,” Molly Sue declared.
Star and Petunia agreed with her.
“I don’t see what he’s waiting for,” Star said. “Jason’s going to whisk you away one of these days.”
“Speaking of…” Petunia said, tipping her head toward the boardwalk.
An attractive black haired man dressed in a suit walked up the steps of the café.
“Hey Jenny!” he called out. “Good Morning, ladies! What’s the latest in Pelican Cove today?”
“What do you think this is, boy?” Betty Sue scowled. “Gossip Central?”
Jason gave her a cheeky smile indicating what he thought. Jason Stone was a lawyer, the only lawyer in Pelican Cove. He was one of the Pioneers, the oldest families on the island. He had moved back to the small town after getting tired of the rat race in the city. He had known Jenny years ago when she spent summers on the island as a teenager. He was as impressed with her now as he had been then. Unlike Adam, he made it very clear how much he liked Jenny.
“Aren’t you in court today?” Jenny asked with surprise.
“Just getting back from the mainland,” Jason told them. “One of my cases got pushed. I thought I might have an early lunch before I go back to the office. I’ve got plenty of work piled up on my desk.”
“Jenny will take care of you, dear,” Petunia said meekly.
Jason pulled Jenny up to her feet and put an arm around her shoulders. He whispered something in her ear and almost dragged her back toward the kitchen.
“That’s a man who means business,” Molly said dreamily. “He just takes charge of the situation, doesn’t he?”
“Chris should take a page out of his book,” Heather said cattily.
Heather had been dating Chris Williams since a long time. Their families approved of the match and were waiting for Chris to pop the question.
“Summer is going to be interesting this year,” Betty Sue cackled, gathering her skeins of yarn. “Time to go, Heather.”
The little group broke up, everyone going back to their jobs. Petunia walked into the kitchen to find Jason curling a strand of Jenny’s hair in his fingers.
“But why not?” Jason was saying. “You gotta eat.”
“Only if you let me pay,” Jenny said.
“No way, Jenny. I asked you first. And why do you get so hung up on who’s paying?”
Jenny liked Jason Stone a lot. He was smart, good looking, gentle and considerate. He wasn’t given to sudden bursts of temper like Adam. But unlike Adam, he didn’t make her blood boil.
Chapter 3
Jenny hummed a tune to herself as she chopped celery for her crab salad. Chris Williams had come over with five pounds of jumbo lump crab meat from freshly caught Chesapeake crabs.
“People are loving the chocolate cupcakes,” Petunia chortled as she came in with an empty tray.
“Should we make a double batch?”
“Not yet,” Petunia said. “Let’s keep the supply shorter than the demand. That’s a great way to spread the word without spending anything extra.”
“That’s smart, Petunia,” Jenny said, her admiration clear in her voice.
“I’ve been running this café
for twenty five years, girl. I picked up a trick or two.”
Jenny added chopped celery and sweet peppers to the crab meat. A generous helping of Old Bay seasoning went in along with fresh lemon juice.
“What’s happening out there?” she asked curiously as she started mixing the salad gently.
A faint buzz was coming from the café. Heather came in, followed by another girl. Jenny and Petunia couldn’t hide their surprise.
“Hello Heather.”
“You remember Crystal?”
Jenny gazed a bit enviously at the tall, slim girl who had come in with Heather. Blonde and blue eyed, she was a real life Barbie doll. Almost six feet tall, her gentle curves were outlined in the perfectly cut summer dress she was wearing. Must be a pricey designer label, Jenny guessed correctly. Crystal Mars glowed like a bright star shining in a midnight blue sky.
“What brings you here?” Jenny asked.
She had never imagined a celebrity like Crystal would actually come to the Boardwalk Café.
“Can we talk?” Crystal asked, looking around her.
The expression in her eyes warred with the smile on her lips. Crystal Mars was clearly out of her element.
Jenny looked at Petunia, silently asking her permission. The lunch rush was about to begin.
“Can you fill orders while you talk?”
Jenny quirked her eyebrow at Crystal.
“Do you mind if I make sandwiches while you talk?”
Crystal shrugged.
“This is a busy time for us,” Jenny explained.
“That should be fine,” Heather said hurriedly.
She pulled out a couple of chairs and pushed Crystal down in one.
“So tell me,” Jenny said, scooping crab salad onto a slice of bread. “What brings you here?”
She added sliced tomato and lettuce and pressed it down with another slice. Placing a toothpick through the center, Jenny placed the sandwich on a tray. They would be flying off the shelves in the next half hour.
“You know what happened yesterday,” Crystal said, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
Jenny realized Crystal was barely holding it together. There was a hint of green below her eyes indicating she hadn’t slept well.
“You mean the girl?” Jenny asked, trying to be delicate.
“The dead girl,” Crystal nodded, not wasting any effort on being subtle. “Bella Darling. I want you to find out what happened to her.”
“We have a good police force here in Pelican Cove,” Jenny said. “They will get to the bottom of this soon.”
“The police don’t work for me,” Crystal dismissed. “I want my own man on the job.”
Jenny let the sexist remark slide.
“I’m not a qualified investigator or anything. You can hire a skilled person for this. You are not short on resources.”
“I can pay you double your usual fees.”
Jenny opened her mouth to protest.
“Triple. Okay, I will give you a ten thousand dollar bonus on top of your expenses.”
Jenny rubbed the charm hanging around her neck on a chain. Her son had given her a gold charm for her birthday every year since he turned eight. She had worn them on a bracelet for several years. She had lately strung them on a gold chain that hung around her neck. The charms lay close to her heart and made her feel closer to her son. She had fallen into the habit of rubbing the charms when she was nervous or disturbed.
“It’s not about money, Crystal. Tourist season is coming up. Petunia needs me here at the café.”
Jenny belatedly remembered her promise to Adam. He would not be happy to see her meddling in the investigation.
“Do it at your convenience,” Crystal pleaded. “I won’t be keeping tabs on you.”
“Why come to me at all?” Jenny argued.
“Heather told me about that killer you caught last month.”
“I was just trying to help my aunt out. She was the prime suspect.”
“So help me out this time. Please…”
“What exactly do you expect from me?” Jenny asked.
Petunia came in and Jenny passed the tray full of crab salad sandwiches over to her.
“Wayne is going to be in trouble. I want you to help him, just like you helped your aunt.”
Jenny tried to frame a diplomatic reply.
“My aunt was innocent. I knew that 100%. I can’t say the same about your husband. I barely know him.”
“He’s not my husband yet,” Crystal hastened to correct her. “We could have been married yesterday. The judge offered to do it after the police finished taking everyone’s statement. But I called it off.”
“You don’t trust him?”
Crystal gave her a pained look.
“I don’t know what came over me yesterday. I made a mistake. I should have gone ahead with the ceremony.”
“Can’t you do it now?”
Crystal massaged her forehead with her fingers. She looked at Heather and sighed dramatically.
“Wayne won’t do it now,” Heather explained.
“He’s sulking!” Crystal cried.
She probably thought she had dibs on being drama queen, Jenny thought to herself.
“He’s acting up!” Crystal wailed again. “He’s mad at me because I called off the wedding.”
“So you’re doing this to appease him?”
“I want to show him I care. Hiring you will help me prove that.”
“So you want me to fake this?” Jenny asked, outraged.
“I don’t care what you do,” Crystal dismissed. “Meet a few people, ask a few questions, do your thing.”
“What about the truth though?” Jenny asked.
“I don’t care. I just want Wayne to stop whining and say yes so we can tie the knot.”
“I don’t think I can help you,” Jenny said.
She was seething inside. She burst out again, unable to stay quiet.
“So you don’t care if your husband had a hand in killing that poor girl?”
“Don’t be silly,” Crystal said, standing up. “Bella Darling was a two bit actress trying to make it big. Wayne wouldn’t give her time of day. He hardly knew her.”
“But what if he is tied up in all this?” Jenny asked.
“Then he is. Just get him to sign on the dotted line.”
“That’s up to him. I can’t convince him to marry you.”
“You just play Nancy Drew. Leave the rest to me.”
“There won’t be any play acting, Crystal. If I do this, it’s going to be as real as it gets. I am going to ask tough questions. Any new information I learn will be shared with the police. I’m going to be looking for the truth. So if either you or Wayne or anyone close to you is involved, I won’t be able to help you.”
“I’m getting a migraine,” Crystal moaned. “Why are you making this so difficult?”
Jenny poured a fresh cup of coffee and handed it to Crystal.
“Can I have one of those cupcakes?” Crystal asked hopefully. “It’s not like I have to fit into a wedding dress now.”
“I think she just fell off the plane,” Heather said, taking pity on Crystal.
Crystal began to nod but Heather cut her off.
“But what was she doing there in the first place? You say Wayne doesn’t know her?”
“He knew her name,” Jenny said, remembering what the groom had said as he stared at the dead girl.
“That could be from a photo,” Crystal said lightly.
She stood up and stared into Jenny’s eyes.
“Will you do it?”
“As long as you’re ready for the truth, Crystal.”
“Whatever. It was probably just a publicity stunt gone wrong.”
Crystal snapped her fingers at Heather and walked out, tottering on her four inch heels.
“Of course she wears Louboutins,” Jenny muttered to herself.
She didn’t get a spare minute for the next couple of hours. Petunia waddled in after the l
ast customer had been served.
“We made record business today. We are going to need a lot more food during the season.”
“That’s great news for everyone, right?” Jenny asked.
More sandwiches meant more seafood and produce ordered from the local markets and more bread from the bakery. A rising tide lifted all boats, Jenny realized as she noticed the peeling paint in the kitchen. They all needed the boost the tourist season would bring them.
“What was Miss Hollywood doing here?” Petunia asked.
“She wants me to find out what happened to that girl,” Jenny explained. “Actually, she just wanted me to pretend to find out what happened. But I told her that’s not how I worked.”
“Good for you,” Petunia cheered. “So are you going to be working on a new mystery?”
“It may be nothing. We don’t know how the girl died.”
“You will have to talk to the police, huh?”
“I guess so.”
Jenny walked to the police station on her way back home. The woman at the desk perked up when she spotted the plate of cupcakes Jenny was carrying.
“You can go right in,” she waved, nodding toward a small office.
Adam Hopkins was fiddling with a pill bottle when Jenny went in. She took the bottle from his hand, unscrewed the cap and handed it over.
“Feeling poorly?”
Adam shrugged.
“Nothing new,” he said, popping a couple of pills in his mouth.
He took a long sip of water and gave Jenny a questioning glance.
“Dare I ask what brings you here?”
Jenny winced. She could guess what Adam’s reaction was going to be.
“Crystal Mars came over. She asked for my help.”
“What kind of help?” Adam snapped.
“She wants me to find out what happened to the girl.”
“You are doing it again, aren’t you?” Adam said, incensed. “I thought we talked about this. Stay out of police business, Jenny.”
“I am just going to talk to people, ask a few questions.”
“Your few questions almost got you killed. Do you remember that?”
“We don’t even know how that poor girl died. Maybe she committed suicide or fell off.”
“What interest does Crystal Mars have in all this?”
“Maybe she’s just being nice,” Jenny said evasively.
