Aunt Beth picked up an appliqué flower block from the table beside her chair and began stitching the edge of a leaf with neat invisible stitches.
“So, tell me, what did you all figure out at the meeting this morning?”
Harriet recited the high points of the discussion.
“I’ve already done my first task, which was checking in with Detective Morse about Juana. I have to see if Josh Phillips was still in town. Carla is checking on the psychic Molly went to, Lauren is going to research Molly’s work background to see if there’s anyone else who had a grudge against her. Robin is checking court records to see what Gary Alexander is up to.” She explained about James’s mother and her neighbor. “On a happier note, Jenny came to coffee, and she looked really good.”
“That’s good,” Aunt Beth interrupted.
“Yes, it is. Anyway, she’s going to the bookstore and that convenience store out by the highway to see if we can figure out where Molly’s new boyfriend was during the critical time. And I don’t know if you’ve talked to Connie or Mavis yet, but they’re going out to the homeless camp to see what Joyce and her crew know.”
“Is anyone going to go talk to Sandra Price? She must have a theory about what happened to her daughter.”
“Hmmm, we didn’t talk about that. We were more focused on Molly and who would have wanted her dead.”
“If it was related to what happened before, she might have some ideas.” Aunt Beth squirmed in her chair and repositioned her foot.
“Is your foot hurting? Is it time for a pain pill?”
Aunt Beth gave her a weak smile.
“I haven’t been taking them. I hate how that stuff makes me feel.”
“You mean free of pain?”
“You stop your sassing and get me a glass of water to take it with.”
Harriet laughed as she went into the kitchen to do as she was told.
“Do any of the Threads have a relationship with Sandra Price?” she asked when she’d returned and handed her aunt the water.
Aunt Beth took her pill then rubbed her chin with her hand.
“I think Connie had her son in school. She’s probably your best bet. Of course, DeAnn’s family knows her—they had a lot of contact when the little girl disappeared. But they’ve got enough on their plate right now. I’m going to snooze a while, and then I’ll call Connie and see if she can talk to Sandra. You need to go get stitching on those quilts.”
“Let me know what she says, and you call me if you need anything.”
Beth closed her eyes.
“A little peace and quiet might be nice,” Harriet heard her murmur as she made her way out.
Harriet was doing the yoga stretches Robin had taught her when Carla knocked on her studio door several hours later.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said and hesitated on the porch when Harriet opened the door wide.
“Come on in. I’ve been working on this quilt for hours. I was just stretching before I take Scooter out and fix something to drink. Can you stay and have a snack?”
Carla looked at her shoes.
“I don’t have to pick Wendy up from playgroup for…” She looked at her phone. “…forty-five minutes.
“Can you go in and pour us some lemonade while I take the little prince out?” Harriet’s dog was lying in his bed, his snout over the edge, looking from Harriet to Carla and back to see if anyone was really going to make him get up.
“So, did you find the psychic?” Harriet asked a few minutes later when the two were seated at the kitchen table, lemonade and chocolate chip cookies in front of them.
Carla shredded the edge of her napkin.
“I met her at her…I don’t know what you call her place. It was all draped with silk scarves, and there were real crystal balls on metal stands and other kinds of crystals. And there was a lot of incense burning. There weren’t any real chairs, just big pillows all over the place.”
“You’re sure this is the one Molly met with?”
Carla didn’t answer the question. “She said she’d asked Molly for an object of hers to hold on to, and Molly gave her a keychain. She showed it to me—it was from her missing-person place.”
“Did she offer to read your palm?”
Carla blushed.
“She did. And I couldn’t stop her. She grabbed my hand and started apologizing for what a bad upbringing I’d had. She was just like a carnival palm reader. I don’t think she was a real psychic. Anyone could look at me and guess I’d not had a normal childhood.”
“I don’t think that’s true, but I think you’re right—she sounds like a fake. Are you sure this is the person Molly visited? I know she had the keychain, but half of Foggy Point has those.”
“I called Molly’s office and asked the secretary to look at her calendar. There was an appointment with Madame Lenormand last Friday, so that’s who I went to see.”
“Wait, did you say Lenormand? That’s the name of a famous Parisian fortune teller in the late eighteenth, early nineteenth century. She supposedly was a confidant of the Empress Josephine as well as others.” Harriet stopped talking for a moment. “Sorry. I did a boarding school stint in a French convent, and she had lived there. I don’t know much about psychics, but when you combine the theatrical setting with the name, I’m even more sure Madame isn’t genuine.” She looked at Carla. “Whatever that is. Besides, I think Molly would have called me sooner if she’d gotten anything on Friday.
“Let’s check with the secretary and see who Molly met with in the last few days then look each of the names up and see if any are psychics.”
“I should have thought of that,” Carla said and sipped her lemonade. “Molly’s secretary is one of the moms from the single-parents group at church. They’re all upset about her being killed, so I’m pretty sure she’ll tell me.”
Harriet chewed a bite of cookie.
“I’d have gone to that lady first, too, if I didn’t recognize the name. How were you to know? In the meantime, when we’re finished, would you take a look at the first of our quilts and tell me if you think I’ve done enough quilting on it?”
Carla smiled and nodded.
Scooter ran into Harriet’s studio barking, followed closely by Fred. They jumped into the wing-back chair closest to the bay window and did their own special harmony that consisted of barking and yowling. She looked up to see James’s van parked in her driveway and the chef himself walking Cyrano on a leash in her yard.
“You two hush,” she scolded as she opened the door. The sun had gone down while she was stitching, and she hadn’t noticed she’d been so intent on watching the quilt under her needle. The ceiling lights in her studio were the natural-sunlight variety, and she kept them on all the time when she was working so the thread color would be true.
“Hey,” she called.
“Hi, I hope you don’t mind me stopping by. I’ll just put Cyrano back in the van and get the snack I made.”
“He can come in with you and your snack. These two are all bark and no bite, and they’re used to being around my aunt’s dog so I don’t think they’ll be a problem.”
James grinned, and Harriet smiled back, considering not for the first time that he really was a good-looking guy. She’d always chalked it up to the fact that he usually was handing her chocolate or some other amazing treat when he smiled at her, but tonight she realized it was more than that.
He reached into his van and pulled out an insulated carrier and a plastic container.
“I figured you would be working day and night on those quilts you have to make for that benefit, and I was hungry, so I decided to take a chance. I threw together a pizza. I hope you like artichokes.”
Harriet took the carrier from him.
“I could eat cardboard I’m so hungry.”
“You’re easy,” he said. His face turned red. “I didn’t mean…I’m glad you like…”
Harriet put her hand on his arm.
“James, stop. I know what you meant, and anyway, sometimes I am easy,” she said and, with a wicked grin, led the way back into the house.
He followed her into the kitchen and busied himself removing the pizza from its container. Harriet prepared bowls of food for Scooter and Fred on the other side of the kitchen bar.
“Can Cyrano have a little snack?”
“I’d like that…I mean, he’d like that…I mean, he hasn’t eaten yet, and now I won’t have to rush off to feed him. I’m not inviting myself to dinner, I really did bring this just for you.”
Harriet laughed.
“James. Stop. Of course you’re staying for dinner and after, too, if you want.”
“I’d like that. I mean, I’d like to stay if you’d like me to stay. I’m sorry, you must think I’m an idiot.”
Harriet walked around the bar, took the pizza from him, and set it on the counter. She pulled him into her arms and planted a kiss on him before he could react. He put his arms around her and leaned into the kiss, prolonging it, his hands sliding down her back and grasping her bottom.
She opened her eyes and gazed into his, which were dreamy and half-closed. The thought that she might be ruining a great friendship flashed through her mind as she parted her lips slightly, and he kissed her again. His teeth toyed with her lower lip, and he gave her a quick last kiss and stepped back.
Her face was warm as she smiled at him; he seemed to be shocked speechless. She set the animal food dishes on the floor and stood back up to face him.
“I thought we should get that out of the way so we could enjoy our pizza. I know you said you aren’t looking for a relationship because of the restaurant, and I’ve been in a very messy relationship. I’m not trying to compete with the restaurant, but…”
He put his finger on her lips.
“Stop. I’m committed to my restaurant, but I’m not dead. I know you’re in a bad situation, and I’ve been trying to respect that, but I think we can agree, I wouldn’t be coming around if I wasn’t interested in you. I’d like to think you keep letting me in for more than my food, fantastic though it is. What if we agree that for now we’ll be friends with just a few benefits and see what happens? I don’t know about you, but I get tired of spending my evenings talking to a dog.”
Harriet kissed his finger, and he pulled her into another brief kiss then leaned back to look at her.
“Do we have a deal?”
“I think an uncomplicated relationship sounds great. And you’re right—I’m getting tired of spending every night alone with these two.”
“Okay, then, let’s eat—I’m starving.”
Harriet felt warm all over as she reached into the cupboard and got two plates out. She wasn’t sure if she was doing the right thing, but for the first time in months, she felt good.