Chapter 9

It was early afternoon and I sat next to the coffee shop window and watched the cars go by. I noticed a powder blue BMW Mini roar into the parking lot. Samantha Lyn parked badly, and without a second look, hit the lock as she stepped toward the coffee shop.

Today she looked all of nineteen years old in her skinny jeans, pink polo, and blue peacoat. Her pretty blond hair was pulled back into a messy bun. Her black thigh-high boots rang out on the walk as she hurried to the shop. I waved when she stopped just inside the door looking for me.

“Hi, Pepper,” Samantha said, and leaned over to give me a quick peck on the cheek. “Thanks for meeting me. I didn’t know who I could talk to about this.”

“Any time,” I said, and handed her a triple raspberry mocha I had ordered for her. “I thought you might enjoy this flavor combination. It’s my favorite!”

“It smells wonderful,” she said, breathing in the steam rising from her cup, then sat down across from me. “Thank you. And thanks for, like, you know, meeting me here.”

“No problem,” I said. She took off her coat and draped it on the chair back behind her and then wrapped her fingers around the cup I gave her. I noted that her manicure was a soft pink ombre that moved from light to darker tips.

“I’m so upset,” she admitted. Her blue gaze held a watery look as if she fought back tears. “Ashley was so kind to me. I never knew anyone like her and now she’s gone. Just like that.” Samantha snapped her fingers. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to handle myself. My mom won’t listen. All she can talk about is the upcoming proposal with Clark.”

“Wait, you know about the proposal? I thought it was a surprise.”

Samantha Lyn sighed and shook her head. “Our moms have been talking about it for months. Mom tells anyone who is willing to listen. She told me they hired you. So, I know it’s coming, but just not when.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“I haven’t had a chance to think too much about it. I’m too upset over Ashley’s death. Like I said, it’s awful and heartbreaking and I’m having trouble dealing.”

“I know,” I said and patted her hand.

“You liked Ashley, too, didn’t you? I saw you two talking off and on that night.”

“Yes, we sort of had a connection,” I agreed, and tilted my head. “I felt out of place and so did she. She was helping me come up with cocktail ideas because I plan events and thought it would be nice to know. Then she told me a bit about her history and how she knew you.” Samantha Lyn seemed really upset and it didn’t make any sense. From what I understood, the teen had hardly known Ashley. Why was she having such a hard time dealing with this? “You mentioned on the phone that you knew Ashley from another wedding. I remember talking to Ashley about this the night she died.”

“Yeah,” Samantha said, and clung to her coffee cup. “She probably didn’t tell you the whole story, though. She wouldn’t because she was so nice.”

“What happened?” I asked. Tears welled up in Samantha’s eyes and she dashed them away. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” I said, and patted her hand.

“Stupid mascara.” Samantha Lyn got a tissue out of her Michael Kors bag and dabbed at her eyes. “No, no, I don’t mind telling. I’m sure you’ll understand. You see, when I first met Ashley it was at the wedding you’re referring to. Clark was being a complete jerk.”

“Oh,” I said encouragingly. I wasn’t surprised. From what I saw the other night, Clark was not a naturally nice person.

“He said something really mean to me. Usually I can blow it off, but not that time. I’d had enough and ran out of the reception.” Tears filled her eyes and she used the tissue to dab them away. I reached into my bag and pulled out a new tissue and handed it to her.

Samantha Lyn took the second tissue and dabbed at her eyes then twisted the two tissues in her hands. “He said I was a fat cow.”

“No!”

“I know, right?” Samantha said. “He said it because I caught him flirting with this other girl there, at the wedding. Hanna Anderson. We go to school with her. When I called him on it, he got mean.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said, and patted her hand. “Is that when you met Ashley?”

“Yes,” she said. “I ran out of the building and Ashley was taking a cigarette break. When she saw me crying, she came over and said, ‘Whoever he is, he isn’t worth it.’”

“She was right,” I said.

“I know.” Samantha Lyn shrugged her shoulders. “It’s complicated. But Ashley just sat down with me and listened as I went on and on. I know she was supposed to be working. I even asked her to go since I knew she was missing out on tips and such. She said no. She said I needed to talk and she was not going until I was okay.”

“That sounds like the girl I met,” I said, my mind going back to my conversation with Ashley the night of my sister’s wedding.

“Anyway, she listened for a long time and then told me that I should break up with Clark.” Samantha’s big blue gaze looked up at me. “She said I should trust my gut because guts don’t lie.”

I nodded. “She was a very smart woman.”

“Yes, she was,” Ashley agreed, and tears welled up in her eyes again. “I told her something I hadn’t told anyone else.”

I waited but Samantha simply dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “I’m sure whatever you told her was kept in the highest of confidence.”

“I think so, too,” Samantha Lyn said. She paused and looked at me, then leaned in. “I told her that I wanted to break up with Clark, but with my parents involved it was tough.”

I waited a heartbeat. “What did she tell you?”

“She did the most amazing thing,” Samantha said, and leaned away from me. “She said for me to wait right there. Then she went inside and when she came out a few minutes later she had her purse and car keys. She put her arm through mine and told me that she apologized to the other bartenders and explained to them that an emergency had come up and she needed to leave. Just like that, she left her job and all those tips for me. Then she drove me home so I wouldn’t have to go back in and face Clark.”

“That was a really nice thing to do.”

“I agree,” Samantha Lyn said with a nod. “In the car, Ashley encouraged me to go out and see the world. She said I should learn more about who I was and give myself a chance to grow before tying myself down forever.”

“That sounds like very good advice.”

“But I let her down.” She leaned back as tears welled in her eyes. “I didn’t break up with Clark. I tried, but my parents talked me into giving him another chance.”

“I still don’t understand the pressure to get married,” I said. “What about college?”

Samantha shrugged. “I wanted to study engineering, but my parents think that’s not an appropriate major for me. They think it’s silly to get an education when all I need to do is marry well and give them grandchildren. They sent me off to college to join a sorority and make good connections. They expect me to get my Mrs. degree and drop out. Not actually graduate with a college degree. You see, my parents have never let me have a job. They pay for everything and then they threaten to cut me off if I disobey their wishes.”

“They said that?” I frowned. “In this day and age, people actually still think that way?”

“No, no, you misunderstand,” Samantha Lyn said. “They mean well, they really do. They want what’s best for me. I’m the one who is wishy-washy.” She blinked. “It’s because I’m young.”

“You’re almost twenty years old,” I said. “You are an adult. You don’t have to listen to them.”

“It’s not that easy.” Samantha Lyn shook her head. “Until I can afford to live on my own, I do have to listen to them. But I can’t afford to live on my own because I can’t get a good job without an education, which I don’t have because they want me to spend my time at society events instead of in class. It’s all a vicious circle.”

I patted her hand again. “There are lots of things you can do to put yourself through college. Kids do it all the time. It takes longer than if your parents are supporting you financially, but it can be done. This is your life, Samantha. You have to stand up and fight for it.”

She frowned at me. “I tried. But my mom was so disappointed. I just.” She paused and her shoulders slumped. “I caved.”

I muttered something appropriately soothing like “I understand” even though I didn’t. I had learned there was a point where people refuse to listen to good advice and it sounded like I hit that point with Samantha. What I wanted was more information. Maybe she knew something about Ashley that would help me figure out what happened to her. “Can I ask you something? Do you know if Ashley was doing drugs? I mean, she didn’t seem to be the druggie type when I met her. But you met with her before and I thought maybe you might have a better feel for who she was.”

Samantha looked appalled. “Absolutely not. It’s weird how much she and I talked that one night. But I can tell you that she was completely against that sort of thing.”

“Seems like you knew her pretty well in that short time,” I said.

“You know how sometimes you get to know a person really fast and you want to stay friends forever?” Samantha shrugged. “I felt that way about Ashley.” Samantha paused and sighed. “The worst part is that she died so very young.”

“I agree, it’s a terrible loss.” I wrapped my hands around my coffee cup.

“I think she’d be disappointed if I married Clark,” Samantha said in a near whisper. Then she looked at me so sadly.

“If you don’t want to, then don’t,” I stressed.

“I wish it was that easy.”

I bit my tongue. We talked a bit more, but mostly about what happened when someone died. How to dress and act at a wake. What to do for a funeral. It was all things that I had learned through my parents and my big family. By the time Samantha and I left the coffee shop she had settled down. I felt confident that she could drive safely and I gave her a hug and waved as she drove off. Samantha Lyn was a lovely person. I really hated the fact that she felt pressured into being with Clark. I would do my best to discourage the proposal. I had to be careful, though. Clark’s mother was well connected in the community. If I went against her wishes, she was completely capable of seeing that I didn’t get any more work. Perfect Proposals was too new. I couldn’t afford to make enemies—especially influential enemies like Sugar Fulcrum. I would have to be very, very careful.

*   *   *

My cell phone rang as I got into my car. “Perfect Proposals, this is Pepper, how can I help you?”

“Pepper? It’s Murphy.”

“Hi, Detective Murphy. What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to let you know that the official autopsy report came through.”

“Oh, that was fast. Do they know what happened?”

“The report confirms that Ashley was killed by a deadly mixture of drugs and alcohol,” he said, his tone flat.

“I just don’t think she was on drugs,” I protested. “She didn’t seem high to me at all.”

“It was an overdose of Xanax combined with alcohol,” he said. “It’s a killer combination.”

I remembered Ashley finishing my martini and I felt pangs of guilt in the pit of my stomach. “Lots of people take Xanax,” I said. “I’m sure some people drink alcohol, too. How come we don’t hear about people dropping dead all over the place?”

“Mixing any drugs with alcohol is a bad idea,” Murphy said sternly.

“Yes, I know,” I said. “I would never do that, but people do and they don’t die.”

“Pepper, the amount in Ashley’s system was off the charts.”

“I don’t understand,” I said. “Did she have a prescription for Xanax? I mean, if she had a script then she should have known she shouldn’t mix it with alcohol.”

“She didn’t have a script, Pepper. We checked.”

I didn’t like his tone. “What are you implying?”

“If she didn’t have a script, then she could have bought the drug off the street,” he said. “She probably didn’t realize you can’t mix Xanax and alcohol.”

“I just don’t think she was a drug addict,” I said. “I was with her for a few hours. I could be wrong, but she didn’t seem strung out to me.”

“I’m sorry, Pepper, I know this is bad news. But someone with her track record probably knows how to get illegal drugs.”

“I don’t understand,” I said, and frowned. “Just yesterday you thought that something was wonky about this whole thing. Now you get the autopsy results and suddenly Ashley is a drug addict who overdosed?”

“Look, the chief says the results were definitive.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means the case is closed, Pepper,” he said. “It has been labeled an accidental overdose. There’s nothing more to do. Anyway, I thought you should know. I know you took a shine to this girl.”

“Thanks, I guess,” I said, and hung up. I stared out my windshield. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that Ashely would be the victim of an accidental overdose. She seemed too aware, too nice.

I decided then and there to dig a little into Ashley’s story, if for no other reason than to help Samantha Lyn understand the loss of a person she thought could be a real friend.