The night air felt cool and refreshing. I stood beside my car and texted Calvin to let him know I was on my way. Then I raised my face to the starry sky. What an evening!
A few seconds later, Rocky and Deena came jogging up the sidewalk from Cuties’.
“You okay, sis?” Evidently, Rocky was turning into our mom, the way he kept worrying over me.
“Why’d you leave so quickly?” asked Deena, slightly out of breath.
“Quickly? I spent, like, two hours with that guy. It felt anything but quick.”
Deena peered at her phone in surprise. “Oh! It’s ten o’clock. I didn’t realize it was so late.”
I suppressed a smile. Time flies when you’re having fun.
“Did Bart do something to offend you?” asked Rocky. He looked like he was ready to go back in there and pull Bart out by his ear if I said yes.
“Besides drinking a bit too much and talking very little? No.”
“So, you didn’t learn anything?” said Deena. “Was this all for nothing?”
I hesitated, biting my lip. “No—I did learn a few things. For one, he told me he’s a widower.”
Deena’s eyebrows popped up. “Oh, really? How—I mean, that’s too bad. How did she die?”
“He didn’t say.” I met Deena’s gaze and knew we were wondering the same thing. Were the circumstances of his wife’s death in any way suspicious?
Rocky appeared puzzled. “I didn’t know his wife died. Of course, I didn’t even know he’d been married.”
“He’s not a big sharer, that’s for sure,” I said dryly. Glancing back at the pool hall, I narrowed my eyes. “I’m still trying to get a read on how trustworthy he is. I think I need to mull over everything he said.”
After Bart had sprung his bombshell about seeing Wanda leave Flower House, he’d refused to say much else on the matter. When I’d pressed him as to why he hadn’t mentioned it to the police, he said he didn’t want to get “the old lady” in trouble.
“Besides,” he’d said, “that Lowry guy was a jerk. Whoever did him in probably did the world a favor.”
It was a callous thing to say and more than a little disturbing. Bart didn’t seem to care that the police were focusing their investigation on an innocent man. I’d tried to tell Bart that the police needed a full picture of events and that, just because he’d seen Wanda, it didn’t mean she was guilty. He’d only shrugged and turned his attention to the TV behind the bar.
After that, I’d told Bart I needed to leave and pick up my dog. He stood up and offered to walk me to my car.
“No need,” I said, reaching into my purse. “I’ll just pay you for my share of the food and drinks.”
“No, no, no.” He put his hand on my arm. “It’s on me.”
A sudden blush burned my cheeks. Oh, man. He one-hundred-percent thinks this was a date. I took a quick step backward, disengaging from his clasp. “Okay, thanks,” I mumbled. “That’s nice of you.” On that awkward note, I hightailed it out of the bar.
Now, Deena and my brother both regarded me with concern.
“Are you okay to drive?” asked Rocky. “I can give you a ride.”
I shook myself and smiled. “Oh, yeah,” I assured him. “I barely had one drink this whole time. I’ll fill you guys in tomorrow, okay?”
We said goodbye, and I got into my car and headed to Flower House. I was eager to see Calvin. And Gus, of course. But, more than anything, I wanted to talk with Calvin and get his take on everything that had happened today.
A few minutes later, I parked in the driveway and entered through the kitchen workroom. The light was on, and when I pushed through the door into the hallway, Calvin and Gus were just coming downstairs. The corgi was already leashed. Calvin handed the end to me.
“Here ya go. He’s eaten, been outside twice, and chewed through another one of his toys. He should be ready for bed.”
“Thanks.” In that moment, I felt strangely like a divorced mother at a child-custody handoff. Calvin’s wan, unsmiling face might have had something to do with the weird vibe. “Do you want to chat for a minute?” I asked. “We could sit in the … café.” I’d pointed to the study, then moved my hand to point farther down the hall.
“I’m pretty tired,” he said. “I’ll just see you in the morning.”
“Oh, okay. No problem.”
Without another word, he turned and went back upstairs, letting the door click shut behind him.
Gus looked up at me, and I shook my head slowly. “I don’t know either, buddy,” I said softly. “I guess we’ll just leave.”
Although it was late, I showered as soon as I got home. Maybe it was all in my head, but there was a good chance I’d picked up an assortment of odors: sweaty health club, boozy pool hall, men’s overpowering cologne, cigarette smoke. On second thought, it probably wasn’t in my head so much as in my hair. As I let the water wash over me, I reflected on what a long, eventful day it had been. Yet, in spite of all my questioning, I’d only uncovered more questions than answers.
I breathed in the soothing fresh scent of my natural lavender body soap and shampoo and felt instantly better. After toweling off and slipping on a lightweight nightgown, I plugged in the diffuser in my room and added a serene blend of essential oils: lavender, frankincense, bergamot, and ylang-ylang. I would sleep well tonight.
Crawling into bed, I grabbed my phone to pull up some relaxing music. Then I paused. Having the phone in hand brought me back to my failed attempt to snoop on April’s phone. I laughed out loud. What was I thinking? Gus perked up and gave me a disapproving look.
“Sorry,” I whispered. “It was such a bumbling, foolish thing to do.” If only it had worked.
I opened a search screen on my phone and typed in “April Finley, University of Tennessee.”
Aha, I said to myself. “She really is active on social media.”
There wasn’t a lot of written text to peruse, but there were a ton of pictures—at least from the last year or so. Not so much in earlier years. As I scrolled through her photos, I saw plenty of selfies and a bunch of memes, plus several of her with girlfriends. However, the most interesting images were the ones of April with Vince and Isaiah. I found only one with the three of them together, in a recent group photo. Prior to that, the pictures were of April and Vince together or April and Isaiah together, as if she’d been in a relationship with each of them at separate times.
A love triangle? Ugh.
From what I could tell, she and Vince were a couple last fall and early winter. By late winter and into spring, Vince had been replaced by Isaiah. There was even a Valentine’s Day photo with a heart around April and Isaiah. However, by the start of summer, April was solo in all of her pictures again, and her relationship status was single.
Not that any of this mattered. There was nothing here to indicate any desire to “take Lowry’s place.” Wasn’t that what April had said about Isaiah at Richard’s B&B? Then he’d responded that it was her aim, rather than his. And in the phone call I’d overheard, April had said something about being “in charge now.”
I yawned. This was all very curious but super frustrating. I had no way to find out any more and no idea if it was relevant anyway. Plus, I was starting to feel like a creepy voyeur.
I placed my phone on the bedside table, and it immediately buzzed. Frowning, I picked it back up. It was a text from Calvin: You up?
I replied, Yes. A moment later, my phone rang.
“What’s up?” I said, upon answering. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Sorry to bother you.” His voice was low and husky. He sounded tired. “I just wanted to apologize for being rude earlier.”
“You weren’t rude,” I protested. “If anything, I was rude for leaving Gus with you for so long.”
He chuckled softly. “Okay, neither of us was rude. How was your evening? Did you get to talk to Bart?”
“Uh, yeah. You could say that.” I told him about Bart asking me to join him for a drink.
“Oh. Wow. That’s—that was convenient, huh?” He sounded less than thrilled, which, for some reason, made me smile.
“Yeah, in a way. I learned some more about him. But I wasn’t able to definitively eliminate him as a suspect—or strengthen the case against him.” Unless you count the fact that his wife is deceased. I felt bad even thinking it, poor guy. Still …
“That figures,” said Calvin.
“Yeah. There was one thing he said, though, that might be significant.” I shared what Bart had said about seeing Wanda come out of Flower House.
“Aw, man,” said Calvin. “Really? Wanda?”
“I’m not sure what to make of it.” In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I tended to question Bart’s claim. Was he even telling the truth? “I think I’d better go pay a visit to Granny tomorrow.”
“Sounds like a good idea.”
We lapsed into silence, creating a natural point to say goodbye. Yet neither of us did. It felt as if we both wanted to prolong our connection.
“Well,” Calvin said at last. “I should let you go.”
“I’m glad you called,” I said. Did that sound silly?
“Me too.”
I smiled. “Good night, Calvin.”
“Good night, Sierra.”
As I hung up the phone, I felt a swirl of mixed emotions. Considering the events of the past couple of days, a fair amount of anxiety and doubt threatened to trouble my mind. On the other hand, there was also a healthy dose of relief after chatting with Calvin. I was glad there was no weirdness between us.
I decided to focus on the latter as I switched off the light and snuggled under the covers. It made for a more restful transition to sleep.