Chapter Twenty-Nine

Zack arrived a few minutes early that evening, a small catnip plant in one hand and a bottle of wine tucked under his arm.

“I hope you don’t mind my being early?”

Shelby pretended to glance at the clock behind her. “You mean five minutes? No, that should be okay.” She smiled as she relieved him of his offerings. “Thanks so much. This looks interesting.” She held up the plant. “I gather it’s not for me.”

“Only if you’re into cat edibles. I thought J.T. should have some recognition, too.”

“You obviously know the way to his heart.”

“His heart isn’t the one I’m aiming for.”

His look was suddenly serious and intense. Shelby felt her heart flutter and wondered if she was about to have a heart attack or something. The next instant, he smiled and she relaxed. She still felt a bit shaken but resolved to put it out of her mind until later. Just as she’d forced herself not to think about what Rachel had said about the two of them dating. She was not about to become that jealous woman.

“I’ve made a Caesar salad, thinking it would be a light start to the evening. Would you like a glass of wine first? Or we could eat right away. I just have to add the dressing and croutons.”

Zack looked at his watch. “Why don’t I pour and we can start sipping while you dish it up?”

Shelby found a corkscrew and handed it to Zack. “Sounds like a plan.”

They decided to take their plates up to the roof, since the sun was still shining. Shelby was glad she’d grabbed her jacket, though. She loved this time of day and this location for enjoying the slowly setting sun. She glanced at Zack and found he seemed as entranced by the view as she was.

“I’m assuming you’ve been to this Wine Festival before,” she finally asked, taking a sip of her wine. She looked at the glass, held it out to him, and laughed. “Maybe we should have had water with our meal. I hadn’t thought about that.”

He chuckled. “It’s all good. And yes, I’ve been to this almost every year since I moved here. There’s quite an impressive array of wineries who come to this. And, of course, the selection of cheese and other accompaniments is impressive.”

“Hmm. I’ve never gone to one. There weren’t any that I was aware of, in Lenox, anyway.”

“Really? Well, we’ll have to make this special, then. You do like to dance, I hope?”

She nodded. “Love it. It sounds like you might, too.” She was hopeful. In her short dating experience, the one thing she had found out was that few men liked to dance.

“I do.”

“That’s rare.”

“I know, men have gotten a bad rap for that, but I’ve always enjoyed dancing. And it will be even more special tonight.”

Shelby was still smiling after they’d done the dishes together, despite her protests about doing them later on her own. They walked hand in hand toward the Scenic View Park at the end of Fuller, right across the street from where Zack lived. She glanced at this place, her eyes drawn to the distinctive red door and trim. It really made the white of the clapboard house pop.

The covered pavilion was open on all sides and sat at the crest of a small hill leading down to the river and Casino Island. Tiny white lights had been strung around the edge of the roof, and a small band was tucked into the far corner where there was enough free space for couples to dance. The tables all had white cloths on them and large signs hovering behind them with the names of the different wineries.

It looked to be a big success, if the size of the crowd meant anything. Shelby felt the enchantment of the event as they wandered along the aisles, and she recognized many of the faces around her. Zack seemed to know most of them, and he’d stop frequently to chat or just share a small wave. Shelby felt proud to be introduced by him and noticed the speculative glances from several women around her age.

She was glad they’d had a light meal, as she attempted to try a taste of most food items. She went easier on the wine, though.

As they slow-danced to several romantic songs in a row, she knew this was the highlight of the evening. She felt an emotional closeness to Zack, one that she realized had snuck up on her. It was something she’d been avoiding for years. It made her feel jubilant, but it also scared her.

Zack had his arm resting across her shoulders as they walked back to her place, and she started wondering about what to expect when they got there.

“Did you enjoy it?” he asked.

“I loved it. All of it. I had such a good time.”

“Good. So did I.” He gave her left shoulder a squeeze.

Shelby chuckled to herself.

“What?” Zack had felt it.

“I was just thinking about what Taylor said. She warned me not to talk about murder tonight. As if.”

“Definitely not a topic for tonight.” He stopped under a streetlight and turned to face her. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

“Of course,” she answered, a little too quickly.

“Why do I get the feeling, then, that I’m not right?”

“Uh, I shouldn’t have brought it up. I don’t know why I did. It just floated into my mind. Next time I’ll think before I speak.”

He sighed. “Okay, better tell me what’s on your mind.” He started walking again, this time holding her hand.

“Are you sure?”

He nodded.

“Okay, well Matthew was certain someone had broken into his place, and I started wondering if it was an author who had asked me to set up a meeting with him. She wanted to ask him some questions about writing, but he said no. Then she told me she wanted to write a book about the murder of his wife. And I told her he wouldn’t go for that either. The timing of the break-in seemed like quite the coincidence. So anyway, I spotted this author in the castle earlier today, and I followed her upstairs to where she snuck into Joe Cabana’s bedroom, which is off-limits, by the way. When I confronted her about it, she said she had shifted the focus of her book to Cabana’s death and was looking for information.” She glanced at him before going on.

“Then, when I asked her to leave, she said you two used to date and she was seeing you tomorrow night.” She hurried on before he could think she was merely jealous. “So, I thought maybe you could try and find out, in some way, if she was the one who broke into Matthew’s.”

Zack stopped walking. “You what? No, don’t bother going through it all again. I gather you’re talking about Rachel Michaels. We did have a date or two back in my high school days, when we were here for the summer. And she did call and tell me she wants to meet me for a drink tomorrow, but I said I’d have to get back to her.”

“Oh. You hadn’t mentioned knowing her when I first brought up her name.”

“No, because it was so long ago and so insignificant, I’d actually forgotten. But I will tell you what I won’t do, and that’s interrogate her about a supposed break-in you think she might have committed. Do you have any idea how farfetched that all sounds?”

“Really? It adds up to me. But I can understand if you don’t want to ruin a romantic reunion with something like that.”

The minute it was out, she wished she could retract it. She started walking faster, wanting to leave the conversation behind.

Zack caught up to her, but they continued in silence until they reached the dock.

He paused and turned to face her, as if about to add something, but left instead.

Shelby tried not to cry as she climbed back aboard the houseboat.

*   *   *

The next morning, Shelby didn’t feel too much better. She’d had a restless sleep, and she knew that was because her mind had kept working over last night’s scenario, especially the ending. She really didn’t want to be jealous. She didn’t want to feel this way about Zack. But she had to admit to both emotions. She acknowledged that she’d grown very fond of him over a few short months, something she’d thought she’d never do. And now he was annoyed with her, but even worse, he was taking out someone else. How could such a wonderful evening have turned out so wrong? She could almost hear her dad’s voice saying, “I told you so.”

The worst part was that she’d shown him she was jealous. She shook her head all the way downstairs. Oh, Shelby, you idiot. Why couldn’t she have kept her mouth shut?

Maybe it wasn’t so bad, she thought while dishing out food for J.T. But she knew it was. She couldn’t see a way to fix things, aside from time-traveling back about twenty-four hours. Not going to happen. Why did life have to get so complicated? Wasn’t a murder enough?

She tried not to give it any more thought while she got ready for work. She so needed a truffle. That would help, but she wouldn’t breathe a word about what had happened to Erica.

Shelby checked her watch as she left home. She had twenty-five minutes until the shuttle. Plenty of time.

Chocomania seemed surprisingly quiet for a weekend, Shelby thought as she walked in. Only two tables were in use, and Erica looked calm. At least some things were status quo, even if Shelby’s life was on a tilt.

“Good morning. In need of a fix?” Erica asked as Shelby approached the counter.

“Two of your spiciest truffles and a latte, please, and thank you.” Two sounded about right. For starters. And the more heat the better.

“Uh-oh. Either you had a very, very late night and require energy, which is what I’m hoping. Or …”

“It’s the or, and that led to a restless sleep. So, both. A late night and an or,” Shelby admitted, then wished she could take these words back also. She didn’t want to get into it.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Do you want to talk?” Erica busied herself at the espresso maker as she spoke, giving Shelby some space, or so it seemed.

Shelby gave it some thought. She’d never really had a close girlfriend before, one to share all the really personal stuff with. Oh, sure, there had been friends, especially at work, but they never heard about her deepest feelings and fears. But this seemed right.

“Zack and I went to the Wine Festival last night, as you know, which was a lot of fun, but later … I think we had our first real argument.”

“You mean aside from all the times he’s told you to back off investigating, but you’ve continued, so he’s come down hard on you?”

Shelby nodded as she gratefully accepted the latte Erica passed over.

Erica’s eyebrows rose, inviting more information, but her smile was sympathetic.

“I’d had a bit of a run-in earlier in the day with Rachel Michaels, the out-of-town author who wanted me to introduce her to Matthew. That meeting didn’t happen, so I think she had it in for me. Anyway, when I saw her again, she told me that she used to spend a lot of summers here as a kid, and that she and Zack had dated at one point, and that she was going out with him on Sunday. I asked him to question her for me, which he refused to do, so I confronted him, sort of, although I hadn’t meant it to sound like that, and he said it was true.”

“Oh, wow. I can’t believe that of Zack. He was never one of those guys who played the field.”

“Well, maybe he didn’t say they were definitely going out. His version was that he’d told her he’d get back to her if he could get away for a drink.”

“Okay. That’s sort of different. It’s not what I’d call a real date. She was just trying to wind you up. So, when did they last date?” Erica waved at a couple as they were leaving.

“One summer when he was in high school and she was visiting here.”

“Really? I can’t remember her. Of course, I haven’t seen her yet. Maybe I should get a look and see if it jogs any memories or anything.”

Shelby shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know if I want to know anything else about her, especially her past, except if it’s tied into the murder.”

“Huh. I’ll bet he also put two and two together and told you not to do any more sleuthing.”

“He started with that.”

“Well, you two have been down that path before, although not with the added ingredient of a Rachel. And he could be right. Don’t do anything that puts you in danger again. Promise?”

Shelby stifled the unease she suddenly felt.

“Not intentionally, that’s for sure.”