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Since Nancy was spending more and more time with Gus, it meant that Emblyn was alone in the shop. She was doing quite well for a recent part-time employee and loved working in my aunt’s occult shop, but I still checked up on her regularly. It was good to know that Nancy finally trusted her enough to run her shop without her there, especially since they met because Emblyn had stolen candles from her.
First I hit the bakery to get some muffins for Emblyn—I would eat only one—and was looking forward to seeing all the delicious baked goods. I would enjoy looking at them just as much as eating them. Oh, who was I kidding?
It was quiet in the bakery and Stanley was in the back while Olivia was selling some cheesecake slices to—I moved to the side to get a better look of the woman’s face—ah, Carry. She owned the local jewellery shop called Put a Ring on It. We both shared a love for cheesecake and we had almost gotten into a fight over the last slice of Stanley’s strawberry cheesecake a few months ago. It hadn’t been very dignified.
At least we had made up since then.
“Oh, hi, Molly,” Carry said with a smile.
Okay, never mind.
“Hello, Carly.” Two could play that game.
Her smile vanished and she left with her nose in the air.
Olivia shook her head in dismay. “If I’d known cheesecake would cause such problems, I would have told Stanley not to make it.”
“Don’t you dare ever say such a horrible thing ever again,” I said in mock anger.
Olivia chuckled, but then her features turned serious and she glanced over her shoulder. She scuttled from behind the counter and clasped my hands in hers.
“I want to hire you,” she said.
I frowned. “To write?”
“No, of course not. To investigate.”
“Why would you—”
“I think Stanley is cheating on me,” she whispered.
“Oh, no. I’m sure that’s not true.” So what Eddie had told me really was true. Not that I had doubted him, but part of me had hoped. I liked things to be the way they were supposed to be. Olivia had been married before, to a man who liked to hit her. When she met Stanley it had transformed her from a timid, heartbroken woman to the cheerful and happy Olivia that had been buried inside.
“Yes, yes, so everyone keeps saying. But every Tuesday and Thursday evening he disappears for two hours. He says he’s going for a walk, but I’m not stupid. I tried following him once myself, but one of my neighbours saw me and started talking and I couldn’t break away. It’s probably a good thing. I don’t know how I would have reacted if I’d seen him with another woman.” Her eyes filled with tears.
“Okay, calm down. Don’t worry. I’ll help you. But are you sure you don’t just want to ask him? I mean, this is Stanley we are talking about.”
She shook her head. “No. I know that men can be good at lying. I don’t want to think of Stan as being one of those men, but I won’t rest until someone sees it with their own eyes.”
“It’s possible it’s something else entirely.”
“I know, bu—”
There were shuffling sounds as Stanley emerged from the back. “Oh, hey Mags, hadn’t seen you.”
“Hi, Stanley. I was just showing Olivia my new lipstick.”
“You’re not wearing any,” Olivia whispered with a hint of panic.
Oh, right.
“It looks nice,” Stanley said as he put some doughnuts in the front window. He whistled a tune as he disappeared into the back again.
“Thank goodness he’s as observant as a sleeping goldfish.”
I laughed.
“Now, what can I get you?”
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I CARRIED THE BOX OF muffins to The Wicked Bookworm so I could give one to Eddie and Brian before sharing them with Emblyn. I was looking forward to seeing her. I had checked up on her, but Nancy’s shop was always busy this month, so I hadn’t talked to her as much as I wanted in the past two weeks. Now was the perfect time. I could edit later, and tonight I’d be able to sleuth. And that was assuming the visit to The Dramateers would lead to anything.
Eddie was ringing up a customer and gave me a cheery greeting, which I returned. He looked particularly grateful when I placed the muffin near him. I went through the curtain behind the counter. The small space between our shops was filled with a kitchenette and a table with two chairs. Just as I was about to push the curtain open on the other side, I heard a young man’s voice.
“Come on. It will be fun, I promise,” the guy said.
“I don’t know. It sounds like trouble.” Emblyn’s voice was soft and the words hesitant. She clearly didn’t want to disappoint him.
Was she seeing anyone? She hadn’t mentioned it. Then again, when we spoke, she usually wanted to know what was happening with me and Alistair. Not that I’d ever had any juicy details for her. All the excitement happened in my books.
I opened the curtain and visibly startled the guy who was probably one or two years older than Emblyn. I guessed he was eighteen or something. He had shoulder length brown hair and a lip piercing.
“Hello,” I said as I bent down to pet Bailey, Nancy’s Border terrier, who let out an excited bark.
“Oh, Maggie. Hi. I didn’t see you,” Emblyn said. She had changed the pink and purple streaks in her dark curls for orange and red. Her makeup was heavier than usual. Was it because of him?
“I don’t think we’ve met,” I said with a bit more steel than I had intended.
Emblyn shifted her weight and smiled, but it was a nervous smile. “This is Elijah. Elijah, this is Maggie. She owns the bookshop next door and she’s a writer.”
I took a step closer to the counter and held out my hand. When he took it, I squeezed firmly. “Nice to meet you.”
“And you,” he said, then turned to Emblyn. “I gotta go. See you later.”
“Yeah. See you.”
We both watched him go.
“The boy needs to wear a belt,” I said. “I don’t get the fashion sense of teens these days.”
I figured that would earn me a smile from Emblyn, but she just blinked at me.
“Okay. Who is he and what was he talking about?” I figured I’d get straight to the point.
“He’s sort of my almost-boyfriend.”
Whatever that meant.
“Is that like my almost-exercising? When I just look up yoga studios, basically.”
She shrugged.
“And the answer to the second question?”
“He was just talking about a party. That’s all.”
I leaned against the counter and crossed my arms. “And you don’t want to go? You don’t have to if you don’t want to. Especially if it’s going to be trouble.”
She flinched at that last word. “It’s not. It’s not. I just said the wrong word.”
“Like when I say cheesecake instead of salad?”
Still no smile. Tough crowd.
“It’s fine, Maggie. You’re not my mother.” She glanced up at me as if to see if that had wounded me.
It hadn’t. I just knew that her dad was a busy corporate lawyer and her mother—well, she talked about her as much as I talked about mine. Whatever was going on there, it wasn’t anything good. Via the grapevine, I had heard that her parents were officially still together but her mother worked so much that she was barely home. Either way, with Nancy distracted by Gus, I felt even more inclined to look out for Emblyn. I didn’t want her to be lonely, and I certainly didn’t want her to get into trouble.
Perhaps it was time for a little bonding.
“You know. I have a case I’m working on.”
Her eyes lit up at that. “The murder?”
I couldn’t stop a shiver going through my body. “No.”
“Oh.” Her shoulders sagged.
Man, she loved mysteries almost as much as I did.
“Can you keep a secret?”
“Of course.” She nodded eagerly.
“Olivia thinks Stanley might be having an affair. And I could use an assistant on this delicate matter. We’re going to have to talk to Olivia and then shadow Stanley.”
“Like follow him? With binoculars?”
I imagined what that would look like and the many strange looks we’d get. “Maybe not binoculars, but yeah, we’ll definitely need to follow him. Maybe take some pictures. Have snacks in-between.”
“Okay. I’m in. When do we start?”
“Tomorrow night.”
“Okay. This is so exciting.” A wide grin slid across her face.
A potential cheating spouse made her smile.
Teens, I will never understand them.
“Should I bring anything?” Then she snapped her fingers as she realised what my answer would be.
“Snacks,” we said simultaneously.