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A well-dressed woman of medium height stood in the doorway. Her brown hair was a slightly darker shade than Lauren’s, threaded with gray.
“I’m guessing you’re Mitch,” Lauren’s mother said, her hazel eyes seeming to take in everything about him.
“Yes, ma’am,” Mitch replied. “I’m sorry you’re seeing me like this, but I’ve just finished mowing the lawn.”
A slight smile tipped her mother’s mouth.
“Are you going to let me in, Lauren?” she asked.
“Sorry.” Lauren stepped aside.
Her mother sailed into the house. “Hello, Annie.” She bent down to gently stroke the silver-gray tabby. “Are you looking after Lauren?”
“Brrt,” Annie replied, her head seeming to nod yes.
“Hi, Aunt Celia.” Zoe suddenly appeared. “We weren’t expecting you, but it’s nice to see you.”
“I know you girls are busy,” Lauren’s mother replied. “So I thought I’d surprise you. I hope I haven’t come at the wrong time.”
“Not at all, Mom.” Lauren hugged her mother, feeling guilty that she hadn’t visited her in a while. Her weekends had been taken up with dating Mitch and the occasional sleuthing mission.
“I see you’re taking good care of your Gramms’ house,” Mrs. Crenshaw said with approval.
“We sure are.” Zoe grinned. “And the café. Would you like a latte? I can make you one and put a peacock pattern on top of the micro foam.”
“I’ve heard all about your swans and peacocks.” Mrs. Crenshaw looked fondly at Lauren. “Why don’t we sit down in the kitchen? You’ve told me about Mitch for a while now, Lauren, but this is the first time I’ve met him.”
Lauren’s cheeks flamed.
“Mitch is all hot and sweaty,” she protested. “It’s not really fair for you to meet him like this.”
“Nonsense,” her mother said, taking Mitch’s measure as she eyed his tall, muscular frame covered in his grass-stained jeans and t-shirt. “I know you don’t care much for yard work, so I think it’s sweet of him to help you out like this.”
“She made him lemonade,” Zoe put in.
“Brrt!”
“I’d love a glass if there’s any left.” Her mother swept into the kitchen.
Lauren sent Zoe a help me look.
Zoe just grinned.
“Where’s Dad?” Lauren asked, as she hurried after her mother.
“Mowing our lawn, actually,” she replied as she sat down at the large kitchen table. “Now, Mitch—” she patted the chair next to her “—tell me a little about yourself. Lauren says you’re a police detective.”
“That’s right, Mrs. Crenshaw.” Mitch sat down and smiled at the older woman.
Lauren shifted in her chair as her mother grilled Mitch – discreetly, of course. Had her mother found out or sensed somehow that she and Mitch had gone away on a romantic weekend together? But the topic didn’t come up.
She glanced over at Zoe, who seemed amused at the interrogation – but she wondered if her cousin would still look like that if it was her mom interviewing Chris?
“I won’t keep you three any longer.” Mrs. Crenshaw finally rose from the table. “Now I know why you haven’t come to Sacramento to visit your father and me so often lately, Lauren.”
She flushed as she walked her mother to the door.
“Enjoy your evening with Mitch tonight, dear.” Her mother smiled at her. “I think he’s a keeper,” she added in a low voice. “Especially if he’s doing yard work for you without grumbling.”
Lauren wondered if she’d inherited her lack of enthusiasm for mowing the lawn from her mother.
“Thanks, Mom.” She hugged her.
Her mother held her tightly for a few seconds, then stepped back. “Maybe next time I visit I’ll be able to meet Chris – I’ve heard about him from Zoe’s mom.”
Lauren nodded, wondering what Zoe would make of that.
***
THEY ALL HAD DATES that Saturday night – Lauren and Mitch, Zoe and Chris – and Annie and AJ in a manner of speaking.
“What are you doing?” Lauren asked the cat as she waited for Mitch to arrive.
Annie put a paw out on the coffee table, reaching for Lauren’s phone.
“Brrt.” She hooked the cell onto the carpet and pressed a button.
“Are you going to video call AJ?” Lauren smiled.
“Brrt!” Yes!
A second later, a “meow” sounded from the other end and AJ’s brown furry face came into view.
“Brrt,” Annie chirped into the phone, lifting a paw as if waving hello to her friend.
“Mew!” AJ copied her friend, her paw in the air.
“Have fun,” Lauren told her, wishing Zoe was here to witness the online play date. She’d already left for her date with Chris, borrowing Lauren’s car. She still hadn’t made up her mind where to take him, telling Lauren she’d decide on the drive there.
The doorbell rang and Lauren hurried to answer it. She hoped her mother’s interrogation of Mitch that afternoon hadn’t freaked him out. But when she opened the door, he smiled at her, stopping her heart completely.
“I’m glad I met your mom,” he greeted her.
“I had no idea she was coming over.”
“I know.” He slipped his arms around her waist and drew her to him. “But I think it was past time I met her.”
She melted in his arms, returning his kiss.
“All ready to go?” he murmured.
“I’ll just say goodbye to Annie.” She hurried into the living room, not wanting to disturb her if she was busy “chatting” with AJ.
Tinkle.
Annie pushed her pink ball, glancing at the phone screen as she did so.
A jingle echoed from the other end of the phone.
“Bye, Annie,” Lauren called softly. The tabby barely looked up from her game of video play date.
“Brrp,” she replied absently, pushing the ball forward again and looking at the screen.
***
LAUREN ENJOYED HER date with Mitch – two of the comedians she didn’t find funny, but the last one had her giggling nonstop. Mitch chuckled along with her.
“I’m glad we did something different,” Lauren told him as they left the club.
“Me too.” He smiled down at her as he held the car door open for her.
As Mitch drove them back to Gold Leaf Valley, she wondered if Zoe’s date had been enjoyable as hers.
***
“WHAT TIME IS IT?” ZOE dragged herself into the kitchen the next morning. Her pixie cut was disheveled, and her robe hung open, revealing red sleep shorts and matching t-shirt.
“Nine o’clock.” Lauren crunched granola.
“Brrt?” Annie asked. She sat next to Lauren at the table.
“I had a great night, Annie.” Zoe smiled. “I got to bed late, that’s all.”
“What time did you get in?” Lauren asked curiously. She’d gotten home first.
“One?” Zoe squinted, as if by doing that she could recall exactly what time it had been.
“Tell us all about it,” Lauren invited. She’d filled Zoe in on her dates with Mitch in the past – as much detail as she’d been comfortable with, anyway.
“We had Ethiopian!”
“What happened to Nepalese or Moroccan?”
“I’d just about decided on Nepalese,” Zoe explained, sinking down at the table, “when I drove past this little Ethiopian restaurant on the way to Chris’s apartment. So I thought, why not? I bet he hasn’t been there before!”
“Had he?”
“Nope.” Zoe grinned. “We had spicy chickpeas and this amazing chicken and spices dish, and lots of rice. Then for dessert, we both felt like ice cream, so he took me to this incredible place – we have got to go there – and we had two scoops each! I had red velvet, and maple rhubarb, and he had cinnamon, and chocolate mint.”
“Wow,” Lauren murmured. She’d never heard of maple rhubarb ice-cream before. “Let’s go next weekend.”
“Deal.” Zoe grinned. “We could double date! I checked the opening times and they’re open on Sundays.”
“I’ll tell Mitch.”
“And I’ll tell Chris. And we could go to the farmers’ market first, and then have ice cream for lunch.”
“Brrt!”
***
OVER AN HOUR LATER, they set off to visit Harry at his bed and breakfast in Zeke’s Ridge.
“I hope he doesn’t mind us calling in,” Lauren said as she drove through Gold Leaf Valley.
“I’m sure he won’t,” Zoe told her. “What do you think, Annie?”
“Brrt.” Annie seemed to agree with Zoe. She sat in her carrier, strapped in the back, looking out the window at the passing rural scenery.
“Check out the gardens!” Zoe’s eyes rounded as Lauren turned into the driveway, the tires crunching on the gravel. Pine trees, large green bushes, and the occasional clump of cheery yellow buttercups greeted them.
“I know,” Lauren agreed, as she parked in front of the house. There were no other cars around.
“The house looks amazing.” Zoe tilted her head as she stared at the old Victorian painted in cream with pale blue trim.
“What if he isn’t home?” Lauren fretted.
“I don’t think we have to worry about that.” Zoe gestured to the older man coming down the porch steps. “Is that him?”
“Yes. What are we going to ask him?”
“Leave that to me.” Zoe got out of the car.
“I hope Zoe knows what she’s doing,” Lauren murmured to Annie. She unstrapped Annie’s carrier, freed her, and fastened her harness on her.
“Brrp?” Annie looked around the grounds with wide green eyes. Green bushes and big pine trees beckoned them to explore.
“Hi, Harry,” Lauren called.
“Hello.” Harry looked at them quizzically. “Oh, Lauren from last weekend. The B&B is closed right now.” His voice broke at the end. “Excuse me.”
“I’m Zoe, Lauren’s cousin.” Zoe held out her hand. “Lauren told me all about your place and I thought it sounded amazing. I’m sorry about your wife.”
“Thank you.” Harry nodded. His eyes sharpened as he noticed Annie standing next to Lauren. “Who’s this?”
“This is my cat, Annie.” Lauren gestured to the large silver-gray tabby. “I hope it’s okay that she came with us.”
“She wanted to see your place, too,” Zoe told him engagingly.
“Of course.” He smiled a little. “She certainly is a beautiful cat.”
“Brrt.” Thank you.
“Come in.” He motioned toward the house. “Would you like a cup of tea – or coffee? I’ve got soda and juice as well. Edna always has – had – a well-stocked kitchen.”
“That’s very kind of you,” Lauren replied, feeling guilty that they were here on a sleuthing mission. “A glass of water would be nice.”
“I’d love some juice,” Zoe replied. She entered the foyer after Harry. “Wow. This place is gorgeous.” She gazed up at the chandelier, then looked over at the wooden mantel decorated with two silver candlesticks. “Lauren has a Victorian as well, but it’s not nearly as big as this.”
“It’s just a cottage,” Lauren replied.
“You’re from Gold Leaf Valley,” Harry said as he urged them to sit on the sofa in the foyer.
“That’s right.” Lauren nodded.
“Lauren said you’re from Sacramento,” Zoe remarked, sinking down on the plush antique sofa.
Annie sat primly on the floor next to Lauren’s feet, surveying the room.
“Yes.” Harry sighed. “It was Edna’s dream to run a B&B and look what happened.” He pressed his lips together, as if trying to control his emotions.
“I’m sorry,” Lauren apologized. “Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. We could go—”
“No.” Harry shook his head. “It was good of you girls to drop by.”
“What about your family?” Zoe asked.
Lauren frowned at her cousin’s bluntness.
“We couldn’t have children. That was why Edna enjoyed her job as a substitute teacher so much – she got to have children in her life that way. I have a brother in Arizona, but Edna was an only child.”
“I’m sorry,” Lauren said. She was beginning to think Zoe’s idea of visiting Harry wasn’t a good one. They shouldn’t have intruded on his grief.
“I’ll be back in a minute with your beverages.” He left the room, exiting through the discreet inner door the same way he’d done that night when Lauren and Mitch had returned from the Italian restaurant – the night Edna was murdered.
“Are you sure about this?” she whispered to Zoe. Her cousin had jumped up from the sofa and was exploring the room. She picked up a brown book from the counter and leafed through it.
“Here’s your entry in the guest register.” She held out the book to Lauren.
“Put it back.” Harry would return any moment.
“Who else signed this? Mitch, and—” Zoe squinted “—this handwriting is terrible! Donald – no, Donna. Oh, Donna and her sister who visited the café. The other winners.”
“Yes,” Lauren hissed. “Put it back, Zoe.”
“Okay,” Zoe grumbled, returning the book to the counter. “We are supposed to be sleuthing, you know.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t.”
The side door opened and Harry came in, wheeling a little silver trolley.
“Edna’s idea.” He served them their drinks, then looked down at Annie. “I’m sorry, I didn’t ask if your cat would like some water. We’ve got plenty of bowls – for breakfast, you know.”
“I can share my water with Annie, if that’s okay,” Lauren told him. She took a sip, then put the glass down on the pale gold carpet, holding it so it wouldn’t tip over. “Want some?” she softly asked the tabby.
“Brrp.” Thank you. Annie delicately lapped at the water, her pink tongue darting in and out of the tumbler.
“Look at that,” Harry marveled.
“Do you have pets?” Zoe asked.
“No.” He shook his head. “I would have loved to have a dog, but Edna and I were at work all day and it didn’t seem fair. I did think now that we were running this place together that we could get one, but then Edna—” his voice broke.
“I understand,” Lauren told him, feeling extra guilty they were bothering the poor man. She didn’t know about Zoe, but she was sure Harry was innocent.
“Have you heard from Detective Castern?” Zoe probed.
“A couple of days ago. He wanted to go over my statement again. I didn’t have anything else to add. He particularly wanted to know where I was at the time of – the time of—” Harry buried his face in his hands.
Lauren glanced at Zoe. We should leave.
Not yet, Zoe’s return glance said.
After a moment, Harry recovered. “I told him the same thing I told him on the night it happened.” He took his hands away from his face. “I was in our living room. I didn’t hear a thing – until you and Mitch arrived back here from dinner.” He looked at Lauren.
“When was the last time you saw Edna before – you know?” Zoe asked.
“Zoe!” Lauren hissed.
“Brrt!” Annie sounded shocked as well. Lauren suspected she’d taken a liking to Harry.
“We were watching TV. Our quarters are through there.” Harry pointed to the side door in the foyer. “Kitchen, living room, bedroom, and bathroom. There was a commercial, and Edna said she wanted to go upstairs and check on something.”
“Like what?” Zoe asked.
“It was so important for Edna to get every detail right, especially on our opening weekend. Sometimes she’d wake me in the middle of the night because she suddenly remembered something she needed to put in the rooms before you—” he looked at Lauren “—and the other ladies arrived.”
“My room – suite – was beautiful,” Lauren told him. “I loved the lavender shower gel.”
“See?” Harry beamed. “Edna was good at things like that. Me, I can do handy work and gardening and I enjoy talking to people, but Edna was the one with all the drive.” His face suddenly crumpled. “What am I going to do here all alone?”
“You could operate the B&B yourself,” Zoe suggested.
“I don’t know.” Harry sounded doubtful.
“Do you need to do anything right now?” Lauren asked gently. “I thought you were retired.”
“That’s true.” He brightened a little. “I’ll still get my pension, and we were able to buy this place outright. I should be able to afford to stay here without renting out the rooms.”
They spoke to him for a while longer, then Harry invited them – and Annie – to take a walk in the garden before they left.
“Your cat might like to see it,” he told them.
Annie sniffed the grass, tried to chase a butterfly while towing Lauren along, and investigated the flowers, Lauren making sure they only looked at the blooms that were safe for cats.
“This is a beautiful place.” Zoe stretched out her arms and whirled around. “Can you imagine living here? No neighbors, just peace and quiet.”
A bird suddenly chirped a pretty tune, causing Zoe to smile.
“You don’t think you’d get lonely by yourself here?” Lauren asked.
“No.” Zoe shook her head. “Not if I had Chris – or you and Annie,” she added hastily.
“I understand,” Lauren replied. And she did.
“This would be a great place for a honeymoon,” Zoe mused.
Not if Edna disturbed you every five minutes. Lauren was instantly ashamed of herself. The poor woman had been murdered, and Harry truly seemed to have loved her.
They said goodbye to Harry when they were ready to leave.
“Your fellow Mitch doesn’t have any inside information on the investigation, does he?” Harry asked as he accompanied them to their car.
“No,” Lauren replied. “He’s off the case, anyway.”
“Too bad.” Harry shook his head. “Detective Castern has been pretty brusque with me. All he’s told me is he’s pursuing every possible lead. Whatever that means.”
“I am sorry,” Lauren told him.
“Me, too,” Zoe added.
“Brrt.”
They waved goodbye to him as they drove away. Lauren wished she could have shared some details with him on the search for Edna’s killer, but she didn’t have any. Did Harry’s request for inside information mean he was innocent? Or guilty?