Twenty-Two

“Is something wrong?” asked Marina.

“No.” I forced a smile. “I’ll just tuck this into the drawer by the bed so Inky won’t play ball with it again.” I plunked it into the drawer and shut it firmly. I couldn’t believe that Addi would have tried to murder Louisa with her pills. Why would she do that? It wasn’t like Addi at all. Surely she couldn’t have changed from the sweet, fun girl I knew into a killer?

Joanne and I left the room, taking care to be sure Inky remained inside.

My phone trilled at me. Texts about Hershey were coming in. “Great news, Joanne! Hershey has been seen by several people on the green. Looks like he’s heading northeast.” I showed her a photo someone had snapped of him.

“That’s definitely Hershey! Where is he, exactly?”

“Go out the front door and walk straight ahead. Keep going, but veer to your right.”

“Thank you, Holly. What a relief. At least he’s okay.” Joanne hustled down the hallway toward the main lobby.

I trailed behind her.

“There you are!” Holmes walked toward me.

Trixie beat me to him. Holmes picked her up and cuddled her. Her little tail wagged so hard it fanned me.

“Could I interest you ladies in dinner this evening?” he asked.

“Sounds lovely. I wanted to talk with you anyway.”

“I’ll pick you up around six?”

“Perfect.” When Holmes left, I made my way to the inn office, hoping Oma didn’t have any big plans and could babysit the inn. She was locking the office door when I arrived.

“Holmes was here looking for you,” she said.

“He invited me to dinner.”

She smiled at me like only a grandmother can. “Don’t mess things up with him!”

I laughed at her. “Do you mind staying in tonight?”

“Liebling, that was my plan anyway. Feet up with a good book.”

“Thanks, Oma.”

“Holly? Have you noticed anything different about Rose?”

Uh oh. “How do you mean?”

“She seems troubled.”

I fudged. “Probably about Seth. It must be awful for her to know that he died in her backyard. She probably looks out the kitchen window and imagines him there in her mind.”

“Yes, of course. I should have realized that. That would be very upsetting, indeed. We must consider how to change that.”

“Good idea.”

“Put on something pretty this evening. Yes?”

“Oh, Oma.”

She waggled her finger at me. “Don’t take him for granted. I’m not having you go back to the Ben.”

I giggled and walked away. Oma disliked my previous boyfriend, Ben, and insisted on calling him “the Ben” to make sure everyone knew just how she felt. Trixie and Twinkletoes hadn’t cared for him, either. And in the end, I knew he wasn’t right for me. Maybe I should gussy up a little bit for Holmes.

At a quarter until six, I had showered and changed into a dusty-pink-plaid linen dress. It was casual, but about right for most places in Wagtail. Trixie and Twinkletoes wore matching gingham bows. I stashed the sailboat from the auction in my pocket. Holmes arrived just as the daily pet parade was ending on the plaza.

I began to suspect something was up when we walked past shops and restaurants and turned left into the residential area. Two blocks down, Holmes said, “Ta-da!” in front of a Queen Anne Victorian in desperate need of repair.

“This is the house you’re going to renovate?” I asked.

“I wanted you to see it. I think it’ll make a terrific bed-and-breakfast.”

It had a huge porch around the front and sides, with beautiful rounded railings at the corners. I could imagine tables and chairs for dinner in those curved spots.

The door creaked horrifically when he opened it.

“Sounds like a haunted house. Is there any place in here where Trixie or Twinkletoes could get hurt?”

“Nope. It’s a mess, but it’s safe.”

He gave us a tour through the immense foyer, a front parlor, a huge dining room with a grimy yet impressive chandelier, a butler’s pantry, a charming old kitchen, and then up the stairs to six good-size bedrooms. We returned to the main floor down the back stairway, and he guided us outside.

The vast yard was hopelessly overgrown, except for a brick patio. Holmes lit tiny candles on the tables, and he had strung fairy lights from the branches of a large tree that extended overhead.

“There’s no electricity yet,” he apologized, gesturing to one of two chairs at a small table with a cluster of candles flickering in the middle.

“I think I prefer it like this. It’s so romantic.”

Holmes unpacked our dinner. “Salmon for Miss Twinkletoes because we all know that’s her favorite.” She purred and rubbed against his arm. He set her little bowl on the ground, and she immediately tucked into it.

Trixie looked on nervously, like she thought he’d forgotten her. She paced the brick floor, alternating between watching Holmes and sniffing the air near Twinkletoes’s dinner.

“We are having pineapple slaw,” said Holmes.

“Very interesting. I can’t say I’ve eaten that before.”

“Tomato, corn, zucchini, and quinoa salad. And steak with balsamic vinegar.”

Trixie was getting impatient and yelped at him.

“I could never forget you, Trixie.” He pulled out a bowl and set it in front of her. She began eating immediately, like she was starved. She didn’t wait to hear him say, “Steak feast for my favorite pup, with corn, zucchini, quinoa, and barley.”

Holmes handed me a plate. “Courtesy of our friends at the Blue Boar.”

“Thank you!” Someone had thoughtfully presliced the steaks and drizzled the sauce over them.

Holmes produced two old-fashioned glasses, plunked crushed ice and straws in them, and filled them from a large insulated bottle. “Firefly Sparklers.”

“They really sparkle!” I tasted sweet mango with a touch of orange.

Holmes sat down. “So, what do you think of the place?”

“It’s beautiful, but it’s going to be a lot of work.”

“I’ve already had two offers on it, as is. Both more than I paid for it. I think I can turn a tidy profit on her. It will do me a lot of good not to sit in an office anymore. And I can hire some of the local guys, throw some work their way.”

“That’s very considerate of you.”

Holmes shrugged. “I know their abilities, and most importantly, I know who I can trust.”

“Why do I think this is going to be fun for you?”

He grinned. “Because it will be. Brenda McDade has asked me to call her when it’s nearing completion. She’s been thinking about opening a bed-and-breakfast.”

I stopped eating. Wincing, I said, “You might not want to count on her. Rumor has it that she has run through her money.”

Holmes burst out laughing. “Are you kidding me? She’s the McDade heiress. They own commercial properties up and down the East Coast. Who told you that?”

“Apparently her friends think she’s broke.”

“The other WAG Ladies?” Holmes stifled a snort. “She could buy and sell them ten times over.”

“How do you know that?”

“I’m an architect. Everyone knows about McDade Properties. It’s huge.”

I took a sip of my drink. “Brenda told me she used to be a teacher.”

“Maybe she was. I don’t know how involved she is with the day-to-day management of the company. But I’m pretty sure she’s loaded.”

“But they called her a penny-pincher.”

“Now that is helpful to know for when I negotiate with her. I’ve met that type before. People who have a lot of money often accumulate it because they’re tight with it. But it will be a while before the house is ready to sell in any event.”

The balsamic sauce for my steak was absolutely delicious. But I was taken aback by Holmes’s revelation. Brenda was wealthy, and Joanne had been wiped out. Now I feared Addi might have attempted to murder Louisa, and Brenda could have murdered Seth! I felt like someone had cranked the wheel of reality and everything had changed.

“What do you know about the Barlows?” I asked.

“I know better than to mention the Barlows in front of my parents, and you’d be wise not to as well.” Holmes shot me a warning look.

“Family feud of some sort?” I asked.

“You could say that.” Holmes put his fork down and took a long sip on his straw. “The Barlows’ daughter Bobbie was infatuated with my father.”

I couldn’t help smiling. “That’s kind of cute.”

“Not really. She stalked him. You don’t often hear about women stalkers, but Bobbie was a nut. They were friends in high school, which isn’t all that strange. Wagtail kids often hang out together. But on a school holiday from college, Dad met my mom. Her family had bought a cottage in Wagtail, and Dad claims he was smitten the second he saw her. That didn’t go over so well with Bobbie, who showed up at his college and followed him around.”

“Bobbie wasn’t Addi’s mom, was she?”

“Bobbie would have been Addi’s aunt. Senior year, Dad proposed to Mom, and Bobbie hit the roof. She kept going to Dad’s house and making scenes. She even broke in and hid in my dad’s bedroom a few times. Stupid things like that.”

“The house where Rose lives now?” I asked.

“The very same. So my granddad had a talk with Judge Barlow. They say it came close to fisticuffs. Grandma Rose even had to ask the Barlows to send Bobbie out of town on the day of the wedding so she wouldn’t ruin it.”

“That’s so sad. If I were crushing on a guy who proposed to someone else, I would be so offended I wouldn’t want to see him!”

“Theona took Bobbie to New York City the weekend of the wedding to keep her away.”

“That was thoughtful of her.”

“Rose and Theona got along. It was the two men who could not come to terms. They say Judge Barlow was furious with everyone for breaking Bobbie’s heart, but mostly he was angry with my grandfather.”

“Rose’s husband.” Things started to clear up for me. No wonder Rose didn’t want her family to know she was dating her deceased husband’s archenemy. What a mess.

“Right. But things got worse. Bobbie overreacted, I guess. Mom said Bobbie married the first man who came along and smiled at her. The judge nearly blew a gasket when Bobbie showed up pregnant. There was a hasty wedding, and they went off to live somewhere else. Bobbie died a few years later, and the judge never forgave my family. Isn’t that weird? He was convinced that she would still be alive if she had married my father.”