Aunt Beth asked Julie to join her in the kitchen, and Harriet took the opportunity to search out Julio. She found him standing on the back patio.
During the day, the patio offered a panoramic view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. At night, everything was dark. She stood beside him.
“Hey.”
“Is Julie okay?” he asked.
“Aunt Beth has her helping in the kitchen.”
“How could Aiden be such a total jerk?”
“I’ve asked myself that on more than one occasion lately.”
He turned to face her, the hurt plain on his face.
“He knew I was proposing to Julie while we were here. How could he not see that my dad was introducing my proposal?”
Harriet shrugged.
“Who is this Calithea person, anyway?” she asked.
“I’ve never met her until tonight.” Julio started pacing. “He’s so self-centered. He can’t accept the fact that you got tired of his antics and moved on with someone who treated you better. And now he does this. He’s my best friend…or was my best friend. Now I don’t know.”
“If I could figure out what to do or say to make him move on in a healthy way, I would,” Harriet said. “I won’t go back to him. I have a family now. And besides, it’s not clear to me his behavior would get better if I did go back to him.”
“I’m not blaming you. And don’t think I’m suggesting you should go back to him—I’m not.” He ran both hands through his hair. “I just can’t believe he ruined my proposal. He’s known for weeks I was going to do it.”
“Not to defend Aiden, but did he know you were going to do it tonight?”
“I didn’t tell him specifically the day and time, but come on! I said I was going to propose while we were here for Christmas.”
“Did Julie know tonight was going to be the night?”
“Not specifically. I mean, I’m pretty sure she suspected it was coming during the holiday, and she probably guessed it would be tonight, but she didn’t know for sure.”
“So, what’s your plan B?”
“Plan B?”
“Surely you had an alternative in case dinner went sideways.”
He chuckled grimly.
“Not really. I would have never guessed my best friend would torpedo my proposal. Now I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
They stood in silence for a few moments, staring at the black water.
“I think I may have an idea for you,” Harriet said. “I need to talk to James first. In the meantime, you may need to rescue Julie—my aunt’s idea of a distraction may feel more like kitchen servitude.”
James slid his arm around Harriet’s waist and pulled her to him when she came back inside.
“How’d it go out there?”
“He’s feeling betrayed, as you might imagine. Aiden knew Julio was planning on proposing to Julie over the holidays. He feels like Aiden stole his thunder, which, of course, he did. The sad thing is, Aiden probably wasn’t trying to do anything to Julio. He’s just being his usual self-centered self.”
“Don’t you think he was trying to do something to you, and Julio was just collateral damage?”
“He seems willing to go to any lengths to get my attention—”
“You mean to hurt you?” James interrupted.
“I just feel for Julio. Aiden is his best friend, and he betrayed him without even giving it a second thought.”
“I wish there was something we could do for him.”
“There might be. I have an idea.” She explained her plan to him.
He smiled. “I can make that happen.”
Julio had followed her inside and gone into the kitchen to find Julie. Aiden sat in the living room with Calithea glued to his side, admiring her new ring. Harriet glanced toward Aunt Beth’s guest bedroom. Luke had gone there to check on the dogs and was still with them.
“I’m going to check on things in the kitchen. If I can, I’ll tell Julio I need him to help me with something in the garage and explain the plan,” she said and stepped behind the sofa, avoiding Aiden and his fiancée. “How soon till dinner?” she asked her aunt.
Aunt Beth looked at her watch and then Jorge. They exchanged a look, and he gave a small nod.
“Thirty minutes,” Beth said.
Harriet gave her a long look, and Beth nodded, indicating she understood she needed to go with whatever was said next.
“Can we use that holiday platter I brought you from Sweden?” Harriet asked.
“Sure, it’s in the garage in that blue box. Maybe Julio can reach it for you.”
“Lead the way,” he said.
When they were in the garage and the door was shut, Harriet went to a shelving unit and collected the blue box.
“As you can see, I didn’t need help. I wanted to offer an alternative that might salvage your special proposal.”
“I’m listening.”
“James has given the staff at his restaurant the next two days off, so it will be closed. We would like to offer it to you. James will do up some finger foods for you, and have champagne. If you want to invite your dad, my aunt, or anyone else, it’s up to you. Just let us know so the set-up will be right.”
“That’s incredibly generous of you.”
“I can’t help but feel partly responsible for your ruined chance tonight. I know Aiden is responsible, but I also know I’m the trigger for his recent bad behavior.”
“You’re not responsible at all. He’s been messed up since his mom died. He needs to talk to someone. I suggested counseling, but he wasn’t ready to hear it.”
Harriet shifted the box in her hands.
“I better take this inside. If you can get James alone, you can refine the plan and agree on a time. Again, I’m really sorry your proposal was ruined.”
Beth and Jorge were alone in the kitchen when they came back in. Julio went on to the living room to find James.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into that boy,” Jorge was saying to Beth.
“I don’t know, either,” Harriet said, joining their whispered conversation. “James’s restaurant is closed tomorrow, so we’ve offered it to Julio as an alternative proposal location.”
Jorge smiled. “Tell James I can prepare food for them. He’s my son, after all.”
Beth put her hand on Harriet’s arm.
“If James wouldn’t mind, I could bring all these poinsettias I bought for today over there to decorate.”
“I think that would be lovely,” Harriet said. “I better go check on Luke. He’s been hiding in your spare room with the dogs.”
Jorge laughed. “I wish I could hide with the dogs.”
To say the dinner was painful would have been an understatement. Jorge tried to keep a conversation going, talking about Christmas traditions and then entertaining everyone with past holiday cooking disasters. Aunt Beth’s turkey was perfection, and Jorge’s Mexican hot chocolate and cookies were the perfect dessert, but Harriet could hardly taste them.
She and James started carrying empty dishes to the kitchen as soon as they reasonably could. Julio and Julie joined them.
“Could I ask you a favor?” James asked Julio.
Harriet and Julie paused, dishes in hand, curious as to what the favor might be.
“Sure, what’s up?” Julio asked.
James looked at Harriet as he spoke.
“Your dad may have told you what’s been going on in Foggy Point?”
Julio wiped his hands on a Santa-patterned dish towel and flipped it onto his shoulder.
“He said a couple or three business people had been killed recently.”
“Harriet and Luke stumbled into another killing in the basement of the yarn store the other day, so we—or at least I—have been a little paranoid about security. Anyway, there’s been a car parked a few houses from Harriet’s a few too many times lately. And tonight it followed us here.”
Julio drew his brows together.
“Have you told the police?”
Harriet froze and stared at James, wondering what this plan of his was.
“Yeah, Harriet mentioned it to a detective earlier today, but we don’t have a plate number,” James went on. “and besides, with the murders, we’re sort of low on the list, especially since whoever it is doesn’t seem to be doing anything but watching.”
“How can I help?”
“I was hoping you could follow us home, from a distance,” James explained. “If he’s still out there, he’ll pick us up within a block of here. If you leave a few minutes after us, you could follow him and see if you can get a license number for us.”
“Don’t do anything risky,” Harriet cautioned. “If he stops, drive right on by.”
“Definitely,” James agreed.
Julie looped her arm through Julio’s.
“We can say we’re going to look at the Christmas lights. Julio’s been promising to do that, in any case.”
Harriet liked the way this girl thought.
“Let me give you both my cell phone number. If we are being followed, text me. We’re going to drive into the garage, which is connected to the house, so we’ll be fine, but I’d like to know.”
Julio typed Harriet’s name and number into his phone, followed by James’s. James started rinsing dishes and putting them into the dishwasher.
“Hopefully, this will be much ado about nothing, but if someone is spying on us, I’d like to know.”
Harriet slipped her coat on and gathered her purse before hugging her aunt and Jorge and promising to call the following day. She ignored Aiden.
“Why would someone be following us?” Luke asked Harriet when she’d explained what was happening on their walk to the car. She told him Julio and Julie would hopefully be behind whoever was following them.
She looked up and down the road in front of her aunt’s cottage, but didn’t see any cars that didn’t belong. James clicked the button that locked all the doors while they waited for the car to warm up.
“Here we go,” he said and guided the car onto the road. “And there are lights coming up behind us already.”
Harriet pulled her phone from her pocket and tapped in a message.
“I let Julio know we have a potential escort.”
“Good. I’m going to take a circuitous route just to see if our follower sticks.”
“Should we call Detective Morse?” Luke asked from the back seat.
Harriet turned to him.
“I don’t think we need to bother her as long as the car is keeping its distance. I don’t like that someone seems to be watching us, but as long as that’s all they’re doing, we’ll let Morse enjoy her Christmas.”
When they got closer to town, James guided the car into a neighborhood of Victorian homes that had coordinated their Christmas lights in a spectacular display. It allowed them to legitimately slow their speed. The lights followed them. A distance behind the following sedan, Harriet could see Julio’s pickup’s lights.
James glanced into the mirror.
“Don’t be surprised, but I’m pulling over to the curb. Nothing’s wrong, and don’t worry, I’m not getting out, but our follower will probably drive past us. Maybe we can get a look at him or her.”
He drove another block, signaled, and pulled to the curb just beyond the driveway of the corner house, leaving no space for the following sedan to park within sight. It had no choice but to keep going. All three peered out as the vehicle drove past.
Luke leaned back in his seat.
“That was creepy. Who drives around wearing a black mask over their face.”
James put the car in gear.
“Let’s hope Julio got the plate number.”
The mysterious driver knew very well where Harriet and James lived, and as expected after their little maneuver, it didn’t follow them the rest of the way home. James drove directly into the garage and used the remote to shut the door before unlocking the car and letting them out.
Julio and Julie drove up a moment later. Harriet called to them from her studio door and ushered them to the kitchen.
“James is making hot chocolate. Would you two care for a cup?”
“That sounds great,” Julio replied as he helped Julie out of her jacket.
James took their coats while Harriet set a plate of cookies on the kitchen table.
“Were you able to get the plate number?” Harriet asked when they were finally seated with their drinks.
Julio leaned back in his chair.
“Yes, and no. We got the first three digits.”
“There was mud smeared on the license plate,” Julie added.
Harriet sipped her cocoa and set her cup down.
I can give what you have to Morse and see what she can do.”
Julio bit a leg off his gingerbread man.
“I can tell you the make and model, if that helps.”
“It should,” Harriet said. She got up, grabbed her shopping list tablet and a pen, and handed them to him. He scribbled notes about the car and handed it back. Harriet set them back on the counter and returned to the table. “I’ll drop it by the police station in the morning.”
They sipped their cocoa in silence for a few moments. Julie toyed with her cookie.
“Can I ask you guys something?”
Harriet smiled.
“Sure, anything.”
“Do any of you know that…woman…Aiden proposed to tonight? I mean, everyone seemed a little shocked.”
“I’ve never seen her before,” Harriet said and looked at James.
“Me, either,” he agreed.
Harriet twirled her spoon between her fingers.
“Aiden was gone to Uganda for months, so maybe she’s someone he met there.”
Julio barked a laugh.
“Somehow, I can’t see that person living rough in Uganda.”
James grinned.
“Well, Aiden’s not sharing any secrets with me.”
“Me, either,” Harriet laughed.