As planned, I opened up Cast Iron Creations, although I don’t remember any of it. I don’t even remember driving there, which is a scary thought. I was so tired from the events of that last class, then being called down to the station by Teddy, then sneaking out to the commune, then staying up into the wee hours of the morning starting I Spy Slides with Ava.
Luckily, I’ve done this all so much, I went into a robotic routine: unlock door, turn off alarm, eyeball the front to be sure everything was clean and ready to go, check behind the counter that coffee cups were stocked, coffee makers ready to start, to-go boxes and cups were filled up, then back to the office for any notes from closing, grab the deposit bag and double-check closing figures and totals (normally Ava’s job but I can handle it every so often—she would normally run the deposit to the Community Service Credit Union, but I would do that when she got here before going home to crash), lastly—my favorite part—to the kitchen to make sure everything was clean and in place and prepped for breakfast, and that all the items were available that would be needed for lunch and dinner. Since we lived in a small village, there weren’t a ton of places to choose from for eating out. Even so, we closed between seven p.m. and eight p.m. every night, after the dinner rush left.
I went through the motions of making beans, sausages, bacon, eggs, pancakes, and the fried donuts while Mirabelle and Spy greeted the guests, and our part-time help, Magda, took care of the front. I was happy we put together an email to the class, but I wasn’t looking forward to having an online meeting with the students tonight to discuss the events that had unfolded—especially knowing that they had lied to us from the get-go. One thing that was for sure, I planned to blatantly ask them why they lied.
Ava came in a bit later looking refreshed from getting sleep. I was extremely jealous. I passed on all the information about the morning to help her prepare for the lunch rush. I had worked extra fast to prep everything for lunch and put several cast iron Mexican chicken casseroles in the oven, made sides of rice and beans, and then finished up by mixing up some fresh salsa and guacamole dip, squeezing some lime and lemon on the top to keep it from browning. That way Ava would not have much to do when it came to cooking.
“Wow, thanks, this all looks delicious!”
“I’ll take the deposit to the credit union, then I’m headed home to sleep,” I said, running back to the office to grab the deposit and shoving it in my large brown leather tote.
“We’re still meeting after and doing the discussion with the kids tonight, right?” Ava asked.
I grinned to myself, they weren’t that much younger than us, yet here we are calling them ‘kids.’
“That’s the plan.” I grabbed my keys. I didn’t want to stick around here. I needed sleep.
Bea Seevers came trotting in, moving straight towards us as I prepared to leave.
“Good Lord, girls, I just heard the news! I can’t believe this happened. How are you two always involved in these things?” Mrs. Seevers’ pale blue eyes glinted with anticipation of getting the full scoop.
“Well, I am a licensed PI now,” Ava said.
“I’m not sure how that relates to our being ‘involved in murders’?” I quirked an eyebrow.
“Someone needs to get some sleep so she isn’t so cranky!” Ava hissed.
“Of course, you must be tired,” Mrs. Seevers cooed. “Let me just tell you one thing you may not be aware of before you head out.”
Bea Seevers was chomping at the bit to tell us some juicy gossip. Ava leaned in with anticipation—my eyes were barely open because my brain and body had little energy left.
“What did you hear?” Ava asked looking at me.
“There’s going to be a town meeting soon. No one’s set a date yet, but obviously, you girls will know when the date is. We really haven’t had one in a while, have we? Long overdue.”
My head was starting to hurt, and my shoulders slumped. “Is that it? There’s going to be a meeting?”
Ava shook her head in frustration at my mood. I glared back.
“Right, yes, I mean, no dear—that’s only part of it. The meeting is going to be about the holes being dug in the fields that are for sale. People are saying that Nestle has something to do with it. He’s looking for something. What do you think it could be?”
Nestle? I wonder if that was connected to him wanting a stake in the gallery with Delilah? With everything else that had gone on, I had totally forgotten that I was supposed to be looking into that too.
“I don’t know, but we should look into that,” Ava said, elbowing me.
Great, this would make things more difficult for me to keep this from her now.
“I’m sorry, I need to run this to the credit union and then get some sleep. Ava, you’ll come to my house after Carlos gets here later, right?”
“I can take that for you,” Mrs. Seevers said. She had done some volunteer work for us while Ava and I were in Santo Domingo, and we had always trusted her.
“Thank you!” I said happy to hand it over. “The deposit slip is inside and it’s locked. They have the key to open the bag.”
“I have to run to the credit union for personal reasons,” Ava gave me a meaningful look. “I’ll take care of it.”
I had grabbed my access card to give to Mrs. Seevers. The credit union knew that we were a tight little community, and everyone helped each other out as needed. They devised keycards with fingerprint accesses. Like a smart phone. The business owners could decide which villagers could help out and add their fingerprints to the access cards. We had added my family, the Seevers, and Miriam and her mom, Mary, as well as Delilah and Betsy to our cards. This made it possible for them to help out with deposits or grab cash when we were running low.
“Oh, okay,” I said, realizing that Mrs. Seevers was now on our suspect list, and I was too tired to think straight.
Mrs. Seevers didn’t seem suspicious in the change of plans at all. I gave Bea a hug and whispered that I was sorry for being a grump before I headed home for heavenly sleep.
I was jolted awake by Ava shaking me. “Yo, it’s time to review everything and get ready to meet the group about the classes.”
“Mmmkay” I mumbled throwing off the covers, sliding into my slippers, and moving downstairs groggily toward the teapot. “Let me get some caffeine. You load the slides.”
Truth is, I felt a lot better, but I wasn’t used to not sleeping throughout the night and then snoozing in the middle of the day. I shook the cobwebs from my head after having prepared my caffeinated coconut chai tea adding a splash of milk with a little sweetener.
“Hit it,” I said taking a large gulp and feeling the burn going down my throat.
“You still look sleepy,” Ava noted.
“I am. I’ll be fine as soon as I drink this.”
“We still have time before we have to be back to meet with the group. Go put some real shoes on,” she looked down at my black cat slippers, grinning, “and let’s go to Chocolate Capers to do this. Put your tea in a to-go mug so you can wake up on the way there. It will do you good to get some fresh air after sleeping.”
“You don’t have to ask me twice. I’m always up for a brownie and more tea!” I went to the couch where I had kicked off my Birkenstocks and slipped them back on as we headed for a chocolate treat.
Parking on the street, I admired the red and white awning over Chocolate Capers and No Cones About It. The two shops shared a building but were separated by a wall. Betsy had done a lot of redecorating when her aunt died. She always had some extravagant chocolate item in the window’s showcase as customers walked inside. Today, it was a pair of decadent high heels with a yellow flower made with molded fondant. She was an artist with chocolate!
I wasn’t expecting to see what I saw when we walked into the shop. Teddy was sitting at a table in the corner with Tabitha and they were in close quarters, discussing something. He looked over at us and seemed embarrassed, then waved as his cheeks turned crimson.
Tabitha gave me a knowing wink. Did that mean they were on a date? She had asked me before if he was seeing anyone. I was weirded out that my therapist was giving me facial cues about her love life.
Heading to the counter, Ava whispered, “What is that about?”
Betsy must have heard because she seemed to be overcompensating with a gleeful tone, “Oh now, ladies, it looks like Teddy has finally found love. And I say, good for him!” She nearly squealed. My heart sank knowing she was in pain.
Ava side-eyed me.
“I doubt that, Betsy. I know she’s the town therapist, but you know as well as we do that she helps out on cases from time to time,” I said reminding her that Tabitha used to be in the FBI Since Teddy can’t afford to hire anyone else full-time after adding Meiser and Keith to the force, he brings Tabitha in on an as-needed basis.
“I agree. No way Teddy is going for that hoe bag!” Ava declared.
“Ava, she isn’t a horrible person!” What on earth?
“No need for names there, slugger,” Bradley said, walking up and smiling at Betsy with his boyish good looks. “Are you two ordering?”
“Oh yeah, two chocolate brownies and a cup of Perfect Pumpkin spiced tea,” I said grabbing my wallet from my tote.
“I’ll take a coffee,” Ava said.
“Aren’t you getting a brownie?” I asked.
Everyone laughed except me.
“You aren’t kidding?” Betsy asked.
I shook my head in all seriousness.
“I’ll have a brownie, too,” Ava rolled her eyes.
“You want the brownies with the chocolate icing, right?” Betsy asked, leaning into the baked goods counter for the ones with the icing.
We both nodded in enthusiasm.
Moving to a small table near the counter, we took our seats and got the computer fired up. I took a sip of my tea and ate my first brownie in two large bites, feeling much better.
“Geesh, why are you hoovering that brownie?” Ava asked, waiting for the computer to come to life.
“I haven’t eaten anything since before class yesterday.”
“Why don’t you eat while you cook? I do.”
My blue eyes bulged out. “Please tell me that is not true, Ava. That’s a health issue. You can’t do that!”
“I didn’t say I used my fingers and picked around in the food that I served. All you have to do is make a little more, or if there are some leftovers, we always eat some!”
“Oh, okay. I left right after my shift today so no leftovers. I was too tired to even think this—”
“SHHHHHHH!” Ava reached for my mouth with her hand.
“Rude!” I slapped her hand away as she pointed to Bradley and Betsy.
I looked over my shoulder, but Ava kicked me under the table. “OW! What is your problem?”
Teddy, Tabitha, Bradley, and Betsy all looked over at us as I rubbed my leg.
“Sorry, we are working out some kinks with our online class. Technology, such a pain,” Ava waved her hand. I grudgingly agreed while glaring at her.
“Just listen to Bradley,” Ava said through gritted teeth.
“Anyways, I know rumors have been circling around here lately about Lydia. And, yes, we used to be an item, but not anymore. I wanted to ask you out. Er-um, would you like to have dinner with me?”
I couldn’t see what Bradley was doing because Ava would kick me again, but I could see Ava’s face contort and it looked like she smelled something horrible. Bradley must really be nervous.
“Oh, wow. Yes, the rumors are rampant, aren’t they? Um, I’m tempted to say yes, but it feels wrong with Lydia pregnant and everything up in the air with who the father is,” Betsy stammered.
“Oh, it’s not mine. I know this for sure now. I demanded a test. She and I are over. Of course, I want her and the baby to be healthy. Regardless of what’s taken place between us, I’d never wish any harm on her or that baby.”
While I couldn’t see Betsy or Bradley, I could see Teddy ignoring Tabitha and homing in on what was happening at the counter.
“What’s going on?” I whispered to Ava when I couldn’t hear anything.
“She’s thinking,” Ava said.
“Um, okay, dinner couldn’t hurt,” Betsy said. “Thanks for asking.” She wrote down her number and handed it to him.
“Whoa, go Bradley!” I said as he walked out the door.
“That was hard to watch,” Ava said.
“Yeah, it seemed difficult for Teddy to watch it too,” I said, nodding at Teddy, who had a far-off look on his face.
Ava turned to look at him and I kicked her hard under the table. “WHAT THE?”
“Ladies, here’s a pot of tea on the house. And Ava, I brought you another brownie to make it even.” Betsy laid our goodies on the table.
“So, when’s the big date?” Ava asked, forgetting about my payback.
Betsy did her high-pitched giggle that sounded like a gleeful child’s laugh. She was adorable in every way. “I don’t know. I hope soon. I haven’t been on a date in so long.”
“Yeah, well, Teddy didn’t look too thrilled about what he saw,” I said, getting in on the gossip.
“Really?” Betsy asked half-turning to try and catch a glimpse of Teddy, who was looking at her.
“He looked devastated to me.”
“Whatever, his loss,” Ava said, taking a big bite of brownie.
Betsy moved back behind the counter to wait on a customer that had just walked in.
“Do you think we should start an I Spy Slides for the entire Nestle thing?” Ava asked.
Yes, yes, I did. “Mrs. Seevers was just telling us what she heard. I say we focus on Darla’s murder. We have enough on our plates right now. We may change our minds after the town meeting, though.”
“What the heck is going on out there?” I pointed across the street to Costello’s Grocery Store that was catty-corner to Chocolate Capers. Lydia held two bags of groceries in one arm while using the other to point angrily at Nestle. I noticed Teddy and Tabitha looking as well.
“What on earth could those two be arguing about?” Ava asked.
“No clue,” I said as Nestle grabbed Lydia’s free arm and began to pull her.
I saw Teddy and Tabitha jump up and move to the door.
Lydia broke free but a sack of groceries fell to the sidewalk. Teddy jogged across the street with Tabitha following as Nestle took off around the corner of the store.
“Whoa, Lydia looks ticked.” I said. “Maybe we should go help?”
“Nah, they’ve got it under control,” Ava said, pouring me another cup of tea.
Good point.