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That afternoon, Janice entered the café.
“Hi.” Lauren smiled at her from behind the counter.
“Where’s your cat?” Janice looked disappointed when she couldn’t spot Annie. She stood at the Please Wait to be Seated sign.
“She’s gone home to keep Mrs. Snuggle company,” Zoe told her.
“Oh. My grandmother and Aunt Virginia aren’t here, are they?” She scanned the room.
“They were in here this morning,” Lauren told her.
“Just before lunch.”
Janice nodded. “They said they were going to come in today – Grandma can’t stop talking about your cupcakes – but they didn’t say exactly when they’d be here.”
“Can we get you anything?” Zoe waved her hand over the glass case containing the last of the cupcakes and pastries.
“I’ll have a lemon meringue, please. And a latte.”
“Coming right up,” Zoe promised.
Janice came over to the counter. Lauren began steaming the milk.
“Sit anywhere you like,” Lauren said encouragingly. It wasn’t very busy at the moment.
“So you live with your grandmother and great-aunt?” Zoe probed, using tongs to plate the cupcake.
“That’s right. My parents died in a car crash when I was young. Grandma brought me up.”
“Not your Aunt Virginia as well?” Lauren couldn’t help being curious.
“No.” She laughed. “Grandma and I lived together in Oregon.
“So why are you living with your Aunt Virginia now?” Zoe pressed.
“Zoe!” Lauren whispered.
“A run of bad luck.” Janice shrugged. “Great-Aunt Virginia was good enough to take us in. I help out as much as I can with the cooking and housework.”
“It must help to get off work early,” Zoe observed.
“Yeah.” Janice sighed. “But there is a lot of paperwork to complete at times.”
“I hear you.” Lauren thought of the bookkeeping she disliked doing.
“Choose a table and we’ll bring this over to you,” Zoe suggested, although it sounded more like an order to Lauren.
Janice picked a two-seater in the middle of the room. None of the tables near it were occupied.
Lauren carried the latte over and set it down, while Zoe placed the gooey treat on the table.
“Thanks.” Janice dug her fork into the swirly meringue topping.
“Come on.” Lauren nudged Zoe. She didn’t want Janice to think they were hovering over her.
“Let us know if you need anything else,” Zoe called out.
Janice smiled and nodded.
“I wanted to grill her.” Zoe pouted a little when they returned to the counter. “But suddenly I couldn’t think of anything.”
“I’m sure you will.”
“Yeah.” Zoe brightened. “I’ll ask her something when she pays.”
“Okay.”
When Janice approached the cash register, Zoe zoomed to assist.
“Wasn’t that terrible about Gavin yesterday?” she began, taking Janice’s money.
Lauren peered over her shoulder. Not a twenty, thank goodness. She’d been on the lookout for that denomination since her own experience with the phony money, and she’d carefully checked each one she’d been given by customers.
“Yes.” Janice shuddered. “I can’t believe it happened right outside the hall – when we were inside!”
“You didn’t hear anything?” Zoe probed.
“No.” Janice shook her head. “But it might have happened when Grandma and Aunt Virginia were arguing about the right color of cardstock to use.”
“You can argue about that?” Zoe raised her eyebrows.
“You can in my house.” Janice rolled her eyes. “Or Aunt Virginia’s house, I should say.”
“It’s a shame there aren’t more members in the group,” Lauren commented.
“I know. But ...” Janice hesitated, “...not many people are willing to put up with Aunt Virginia bossing them around. There was one lady who smoked and was constantly going outside for a cigarette. Aunt Virginia didn’t like that, and told her so. She never came again.”
Zoe tsked. “Just as well you don’t smoke – you don’t, do you? I tried it once and it gave me a sore throat.”
“Yeah, the same thing happened to me,” Janice agreed. “No, I don’t. Aunt Virginia wouldn’t allow it, anyway.” She stuffed two dollars into the tip jar.
“I’ll definitely come again – it was nice sitting on my own and having some time to myself.”
Lauren understood perfectly. She enjoyed quiet time during her quick lunch breaks when it was just her and Annie in the cottage kitchen.
They waved goodbye to her.
“Craft club tonight,” Zoe announced. “I can’t wait to ask Mrs. Finch about Doris and Virginia.”
“I wonder if she knows them?” Their friend had lived in Gold Leaf Valley for many years and was familiar with a surprising number of people.
“If she doesn’t, she probably knows someone who does!”