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I looked over at Holly. She seemed completely exhausted. “Want to go back home?” I asked her.
She said quietly, “I’m not sure what I want right now. I realize I need to call my parents and let them know what happened. But this is going to be so devastating to them. They were crazy about Frank and were always so proud of him. I probably need to let the extended family know, too, because I’m sure my folks won’t be up to it. But I’m not sure I’m totally up to the task right now. I hate to be the one to break the bad news to them, but I know it’ll be better coming from me.”
“There’s no reason you have to tell them right this second,” I said.
Grayson shifted uncomfortably. “This is going to be a tough time for you, Holly. Ann and I really appreciate the great hospitality you’ve shown us. But maybe it would be best for us to move to a hotel for the rest of our stay. Especially since you’re going to have family coming in for a service.”
Holly quickly said, “No, please, stay with me. It’s the perfect distraction. My folks won’t want to stay with me . . . they always go to a fancy hotel when they visit Charleston. I know you’ll understand if I end up leaving y’all up to your own devices sometimes, though. I’ll make sure you have a key so you can come and go when I’m not available.”
“Absolutely,” I said. “And we can give you a hand with anything you need help with, too.”
Holly glanced behind me. “Looks like Meredith is coming back over to have another word with us.”
The librarian joined us with an apologetic air. “Sorry. It’s just that I wanted to say a little more about Warner. I noticed you were talking with him for a while.”
“He had a lot to say,” said Holly, a little ruefully.
Meredith nodded. “Warner’s in the library a lot, as I think I mentioned before. He even asked me out one time. I thought he was a nice enough guy and ended up going out with him for a coffee.” She paused. “While we were at the coffee, I brought up Frank. Just casually. Like I said, I knew they were colleagues of a sort, and Frank was in the library even more than Warner was. Warner’s entire attitude changed then.”
“Because you mentioned Frank? How did he change?”
Meredith said, “I could tell he was really bitter about Frank’s success. He said he thought Frank used his connections to poach sites that Warner thought should have been his. He was talking about it like Frank was almost cheating somehow.”
I thought again about Holly’s family. Not only did they have money, I knew they were well-connected, too. Holly and Frank had grown up in Charleston and hung out with other influential families. Although their parents had moved away, they’d chosen to stay and probably still nurtured many of those relationships. I could imagine that someone like Warner might get annoyed at Frank using his network to relic hunt.
Meredith continued, “Anyway, Warner was clearly pretty angry, and I decided I didn’t want that kind of energy around me. Also, he had me pay for both our coffees. He was kind of apologetic about it, but he wasn’t working at the time.”
“It sounds like he still doesn’t have a day job,” said Holly.
Meredith said, “Makes sense. He’s always at the library at odd times.” She grimaced. “I’m not saying that Warner did anything. He seems pretty harmless. But I wanted to let you know, just in case. And of course, I’m going to tell the detective that Warner may not have been Frank’s biggest fan. That little episode just occurred to me.”
“Thanks for letting the detective know,” said Holly.
We started walking to the car as Meredith headed back toward the library. I was feeling unsure about what we should do next. I didn’t know if Holly would prefer to spend some time alone or if she wanted to have Grayson and me around for a while as a distraction. Finally, I asked her.
Holly mulled this over for a few seconds. She said, “You know, I think I’ll feel better if I just go home, stare at the wall for a while, and snuggle with Murphy. Maybe cry a little. Do you mind if I send you two out to explore on your own?”
“Not a bit,” I said.
“We totally understand,” agreed Grayson.
We had a quiet ride back to Holly’s house, each of us in our own thoughts. When we pulled up to Holly’s place, it was almost as if Murphy had a sixth sense about Holly’s emotional state—he was looking anxiously out the window and started making small barks when he spotted her. Fitz then appeared in another window, sitting on the sill and looking curiously out at the driveway.
Holly gave us a smile. “There’s nothing quite like a dog waiting for you. Or, I guess, a cat.” She glanced up at the sky and said, “You know, today might be the perfect day for you to head to the beach. It’s sunny, not too humid. There’s sure to be a nice breeze near the ocean. A day like this is a blessing this time of the year.”
I looked over at Grayson and he gave me a thumbs-up. Holly was right. Considering everything that was going through my head right then, I didn’t believe I could go sightsee and genuinely take anything in. The beach sounded like the perfect idea.
Grayson and I went inside to change and put together a bag of waters, sunscreen, and other stuff for the beach. I also wanted to check on Fitz and make sure he was doing all right, although I’d seen him in the window. After all, he was in a totally different location with different smells—and a dog. When we got inside, though, Fitz had already jumped down from the windowsill and was sprawled out on the floor downstairs in a sunbeam. I figured he must have vacated the spot only when he wanted to see what Murphy was barking at. He lazily opened an eye and started purring as we approached.
“I guess Murphy and Fitz are friends now,” said Holly, a bit of wonder in her voice. “I never would have thought a cat would want to hang out in the same room as Murphy.”
“Fitz is a pretty extraordinary cat,” said Grayson, shaking his head and looking at Fitz admiringly. Murphy was flinging toys at Grayson’s feet, not far from the orange and white cat, and Fitz was completely unfazed. What’s more, it even looked as if Fitz was toying with the idea of participating in some sort of game with the dog.
Holly walked into the kitchen to fix herself a cup of hot tea. Grayson and I got ready to head back out again. I said, “Holly, I’ve got my phone and a portable charger. Please let me know if you need us to head back or if you need anything at all.”
Grayson said, “We can run errands for you on the way home, too. Whatever you need.”
Holly’s eyes glistened. “Thanks, y’all. I appreciate it. I’m going to be fine, though. I just need a little time to process everything.” Then, apparently wanting to change the subject, she started talking about the beach. “Folly Beach is the closest, although there are others. You could also head out to Sullivan’s Island or Isle of Palms.”
“Which one do you recommend?” I asked.
“It’s sort of whatever you’re in the mood for. Sullivan’s will probably be the quietest. Isle of Palms will have plenty of activity. And Folly is good for people-watching and quirkiness.”
Grayson and I looked at each other. “Folly?” I asked him. Grayson nodded.
Holly said, “It’s a really funky, low-key spot. I think you’ll enjoy it. Be sure to grab something to eat at one of the restaurants there.”
It wasn’t long before we were at the beach. Holly had warned us that parking could be tricky, but fortunately, it wasn’t that bad. We were probably lucking out because it was in the middle of a workday.
We opened the trunk, where we’d thrown the beach gear. Grayson chuckled. “I don’t think we packed enough stuff.”
I grinned at him. “It looks like we’re planning on living on the beach.” I grew more serious. “I just couldn’t think, you know? I felt so bad for Holly. So I just kept grabbing things. We probably have three bottles of sunscreen.”
“I was the same way.” Grayson frowned. “Come to think of it, let me take a look at what we have.”
After a quick inventory, Grayson came to the conclusion that not only did we have far too many extras of some items (sunscreen and towels), but we had forgotten other things we’d planned on bringing (water).
“Yeah, we’re going to need water,” I said, making a face. “I hate to lose our parking spot, though.”
“There were plenty of them,” said Grayson with a shrug. “How about if you get some of our stuff set up on the beach, and I run to the store real quick? I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
We checked our GPS and saw that the closest spot was Bert’s Market. Grayson drove off and I headed down to the beach with a couple of towels and a bag of assorted other stuff.
The tide still seemed to be coming in, and the ocean had lots of rolling waves. There were surfers with varying degrees of expertise who were trying to ride them. I lay back on the towel and put my sunglasses on.
“I can tell you were worried that I took so long,” said Grayson in a teasing voice.
I blinked behind my sunglasses. “What? Did I fall asleep?”
“You were out cold. There was a seagull right next to you, looking like he was about to rummage through your beach bag.”
I yawned. “No food in there.”
Grayson said, a note of pride in his voice. “Not yet. But Bert’s had sandwiches for sale, so I bought some.”
I sat up, still feeling drowsy. “I can’t believe I just passed out on the beach like that. I don’t usually take naps.”
“Maybe due to the fact that it was such an unsettling morning,” suggested Grayson.
I glanced at my watch and saw that it had indeed taken a while for Grayson to return to the beach. “Have a tough time finding parking?”
He grimaced. “You could say that. I had to drive around the block a few times. But eventually, a surfer finished loading his surfboard and drove away, and I took her spot.” He handed me a water.
For a few minutes, we sat quietly, watching the surfers navigating the waves and a couple of small children playing with buckets in the shallows. Then Grayson asked, “Did you know Frank very well?”
I shook my head. “No. He came to the school once on family weekend, I think. And he helped Holly a couple of times when we were moving in or out of the dorm. But I never got the impression that he and Holly were very close. He was older than she was.”
“What do you make of what happened last night?” asked Grayson. “When Frank showed up at Holly’s door, I figured he wasn’t in the mood to socialize with you and me, and that’s why he took off.”
I took a sip of my water, thinking. “I was wondering at the time if he had something personal that he wanted to bounce off Holly. Maybe something to do with his divorce. But now I wonder if it was something else. Like maybe he was worried about something.”
Grayson nodded. “You think it had something to do with his relic hunting?”
“It might have. He definitely had something on his mind. But maybe it had something to do with his practice and him not wanting to sell it although his partner did. Whatever it was, I guess it was something that he wanted to confide in Holly about.”
Grayson stretched out on his towel and put his sunglasses on. I did the same thing. We were quiet for another few moments before Grayson said, “That guy Warner, the other relic hunter, was sort of offbeat, wasn’t he?”
“Awkward, for sure.”
Grayson said, “I can kind of understand where he’s coming from, though. From what he said, he and Frank were basically competitors. And Meredith, the librarian, was saying that he was upset with Frank for using his connections to get the best relic hunting sites.” He turned his head and glanced over at me. “How did a dentist end up being so well-connected?”
“Remembering back from when I was in college, Holly’s parents were bigwigs of some kind. To me, of course, they were just parents, but I realized there was a good deal of money there. Plus, they were both very involved in Charleston politics, from what I recall. Holly would roll her eyes a little. Sometimes, when she was home from college, she’d had to go to political fundraisers that she thought were really boring. I can’t remember what her parents did . . . maybe work on the council?” I shrugged.
“But they’re not local anymore? Holly mentioned them staying in a fancy hotel when they got here.”
I said, “No, they moved to Virginia for her dad’s work. I’m honestly not sure what he does. I think he’s a CEO of something.” I gave Grayson a wry smile. “Clearly, I wasn’t all that interested in Holly’s family when I was at school.”
“Well, it was college. I mean, I wasn’t exactly spending my time thinking about my roommate’s family, either. I was either studying or trying to find out where the next weekend’s party was going to be.”
I had to chuckle at this. Grayson didn’t exactly fit my image of a partier. “Really?”
“Sure,” he grinned at me. “I went to a small school in an even smaller town. There wasn’t a lot to do. Luckily for me, I managed to graduate with an English degree without too much trouble, but that was mostly just because I enjoyed reading.”
“Did you always want to be a journalist?” I asked.
He chuckled. “Nope. If I had, I’d have at least applied to one of the big journalism schools. I just knew I was good at English. My parents were a little worried about what I planned on doing with that degree.”
“What was their suggestion?” I asked with a smile. “Although I have a feeling I know what it might have been.”
“Law school, of course.” He grinned at me. “That’s apparently the only right answer when one is an English major.”
“But that didn’t have any appeal for you?” I was pretty sure of his answer again. I couldn’t picture easy going Grayson as a lawyer.
He shook his head. “The whole idea was the total opposite of what I wanted. I did consider becoming an English teacher, though. Maybe for high school.”
I rolled over to get the sun on my back. “You’d have been a great teacher, actually. Probably would have converted a bunch of kids into English majors. But you’re great as a newspaper editor, too.”
“I just kind of fell into it,” he said with a shrug.
We were quiet for a few minutes before he sighed. “I just feel awful for Holly. I know she said she wants us to stay over with her, but are you sure we shouldn’t move to a hotel? Her family is going to be in and out, surely, and I don’t want to be in their way. Or be any trouble for Holly, who seems great.”
I shook my head. “Holly never says anything she doesn’t mean. She wasn’t just telling us to stay to be nice—I think she genuinely wants us there to be a distraction for her.”
“Got it,” said Grayson. “Well, maybe we can pick up supper tonight and bring it over to her?”
“Great idea,” I said with a smile.
Then we enjoyed the sun for a while until the heat chased us into the ocean, where we dodged surfers and little kids. The water was warm, and we ended up body surfing in the waves, something I hadn’t done since I was a kid. I’d forgotten how much fun it was.