FIFTEEN
Upon returning to Haven’t Got a Clue, Tricia’s bright mood seemed contagious. Pixie’s choice of music—from Frank Sinatra’s catalog—seemed to give everyone “High Hopes.” The sales weren’t tremendous, but enough customers passed through the door to make the afternoon at least interesting.
“Any fun plans for the evening?” Tricia asked as her employees gathered their coats at the end of the workday.
“Laundry,” Pixie lamented. “I have a stack of ironing a mile high.” And all her clothes always looked freshly pressed, not a task many people still employed.
“Grace is giving a speech at the Milford Senior Center. I, of course, will accompany her,” Mr. Everett said.
“What’s the topic?” Tricia asked.
“Estate planning.”
“Oh, dear,” Pixie said.
“When one reaches our age, it’s the prudent thing to do,” Mr. Everett said sensibly.
“Well, hopefully, I won’t need to do that for another couple of decades,” Pixie said, quickly changing the subject. “What are you doing, Tricia?”
“Dinner with Angelica, and then David may drop over.” She didn’t want it to sound like a done deal—even if it was.
“Well, have a nice evening,” Pixie said brightly, as did Mr. Everett. Tricia watched them leave, left a kitty snack for Miss Marple, grabbed her coat, and headed for Angelica’s apartment.
Minutes later, the sisters sat in the living room with a tray of drinks and a plate full of crackers to accompany pumpkin hummus, which Angelica had made from scratch.
“Pretty festive for this time of year,” she quipped, slathering a cracker with the orange dip.
As Tricia was motivated to help Ginny in her goal to have input to the Morrison Mansion project, perhaps this could be the time to lay that foundation.
“You haven’t given me an update on the Morrison Mansion’s renovations in a while,” Tricia said innocently.
Angelica looked chagrined. “I’m afraid it’s a bit of a sore subject with Ginny.”
“So I gathered.”
“As far as I’m concerned”—and here Angelica paused, looking decidedly shameless—“I’m in seventh heaven. I had fun revamping the Sheer Comfort and Brookview inns, but this renovation will be my crowning glory.”
Tricia absorbed what her sister had said. “Renovation, not restoration?”
Angelica winced. “Well, a little of both. Sadly, too much of what once made the mansion special is gone—from lack of attention or theft. I’m trying to discern what’s been lost that can either be repaired or replaced, but I want the house to be safe and comfortable for guests visiting it.”
It seemed a reasonable plan.
“What work is actually going on at this time?” Tricia asked, trying out the hummus. It was good!
“Pulling out all the crap that made the rooms into office spaces.” She sighed. She’d spent a considerable sum for just that purpose. “We’ve got to repair the plaster, sand or replace the floors where necessary, paint, and wallpaper. We’re nearing the stage where I can start to think about furnishing and decorating it.”
“And that’s where David steps in?” Tricia asked.
Angelica’s lips quirked into a smile. “Of course, but I don’t want him to know I’m Nigela.”
“Why not?”
Angelica’s expression darkened. “Because…because I don’t trust him to hold my secret. Yet,” she amended. “When you’ve been together a little longer, then I’ll tell him. And please, don’t you spill the beans.”
“I don’t like lying to him—you know that.”
“I’m not asking you to lie. I’m asking you to be discreet,” Angelica said, slathering some dip onto a cracker.
“What if someone else in the village tells him? It’s a pretty open secret. As Mr. Everett confided to me, people in the village who know or have guessed have kept their mouths shut because they know that Nigela has been a boon for the village. They don’t want to impede any future growth or investment as it’s been so beneficial to everyone.”
Angelica’s brow furrowed. “You mean a lot of the people know I’m Nigela?” she asked, horrified.
Tricia nodded.
“How?” Angelica implored.
Tricia shrugged. “Your relationship with Antonio, for one. They know Nigela has a family connection. Plus, our family dinners are well known.”
Angelica looked distinctly unhappy. “I’ve tried to be discreet.”
“Yeah, and you redecorated the Sheer Comfort Inn. You’ve been involved in the Brookview Inn. You revamped NR Associates real estate office. Your sticky fingers are all over NR Associates’ projects.”
Angelica’s frown deepened. “Was I that obvious?”
“I’m afraid so,” Tricia said.
Angelica sighed. “What can I do?”
Tricia shrugged. “You need to accept the possibility of coming clean about your alter ego.”
Angelica shook her head vehemently. “No. Absolutely not.”
“What if one of the Nashua TV channels decides to come after you?”
“Why would they?” Angelica asked, horrified.
“To stir up interest. Interest equals ratings, equals sales. Sales equal revenue.”
“You don’t have to tell me that,” Angelica complained, and took a healthy swig of her drink.
“It might be a good idea for you and Ginny to come up with a strategy…just in case.”
“I will…when it becomes necessary.”
Again, Tricia shrugged. “Well, I think Ginny could be an incredible asset in the renovation.”
“In what way?”
“Well, if nothing else, as a cover to keep your alter egos separate.”
Angelica’s eyes widened in delight. “That’s absolutely brilliant. Ginny could be the public face of NR Associates whom I, as Angelica, coordinate with.”
“Um…I think she’d like to be more than that.”
Angelica frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Why don’t you ask her?” Tricia said.
“I will. In fact, I’ll text her this evening.”
Tricia’s expression remained bland. “Good idea.” And yet, she hoped Angelica wouldn’t cut David out of the renovation. If he lost his library job, working for NR Associates would keep him in Stoneham.
It was a selfish thought, but Tricia couldn’t help herself.
She was tired of being alone.
Tricia left Angelica’s place early, eager to see David, and hopeful Angelica and Ginny would have a meaningful conversation in her absence. But while she was in good spirits when David arrived, it was evident that he was feeling morose.
“Would you like a beer or something?” Tricia asked once he’d hung up his jacket.
David settled on one of the kitchen stools. “No thanks. They say alcohol is a depressant, and I’m already feeling up to my neck in crap. I’d just as soon skip feeling any lower.”
“I’m so sorry,” Tricia said. She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around him, resting her chin on the top of his head. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
David pulled from her embrace and stood, taking hold of her hands. “Just being with you is enough.” He leaned forward and planted a light kiss on her lips. “Let’s go sit on the couch.”
He led her to the living room, and they sat together. Soon, Miss Marple jumped onto David’s lap and began to kneed his thigh. He smiled and smoothed the fur on the back of the cat’s neck. “Making biscuits, Miss?”
Miss Marple said, “Yow!”
He and Tricia laughed, which lightened the mood.
“What kind of a day did you have?” David asked as Miss Marple settled down on his lap, purring.
“Not bad. The Chamber meeting went well.” And then Tricia remembered that Amelia Doyle had been there. She chose not to mention it to David. “I had lunch with Ginny. I think she might step up to help Angelica to—” But then she stopped. “To be a liaison between NR Associates and Angelica. I might find out tomorrow.”
“Good for Ginny. Anything else?”
“Nothing seems to have budged on the Lauren Barker murder case,” Tricia commented.
“No news is good news?” David suggested.
“Every day without an arrest means someone might get away with the crime.”
David shrugged. “I don’t find sleuthing so interesting now that it not only endangers my job—but the likelihood of me ever again working in my chosen field.”
“Aren’t you exaggerating just a bit?” Tricia asked.
David shook his head. “The average time spent as a librarian is decades long. That means job turnover isn’t exactly rapid, meaning the likelihood of me finding another position as a children’s librarian is as rare as finding gold nuggets in my sock drawer.”
It sounded like a declaration that he’d already given up on hanging around Stoneham should the job go bust.
“I understand,” Tricia said softly. She would soldier on and make her quiet inquiries or perhaps she could rope Angelica into coming along with her on her travels if the situation warranted it. If nothing else, her sister made the perfect sounding board for Tricia’s theories.
“I can’t help thinking about Lauren. I was wondering…Did the library pay her an honorarium for her library appearance?”
“Well, we would have.”
“Was it high?”
“Yeah, a thousand bucks,” he said, sounding irked. “If her estate comes after us, we’ll argue that she didn’t fulfill the terms of our agreement.”
“Did you have it in writing?”
He nodded. “If they want to be difficult, we’ll offer to pay something and see where it goes.”
“Should you have reminded Lauren of the terms when she refused to do anything but sign at the event?”
“I should have done a lot of things that night,” David remarked.
“Remind me again why Amelia didn’t attend the signing. I mean, Lauren was a well-known author. This was a big event for the library.”
David shrugged. “Something about having a previous engagement.”
It sounded lame but reasonable.
“What made your day turn sour?” Tricia asked.
Again, David shrugged. “Just a lot of little things. But the best part is always the kids. This little guy came in all grumpy. He didn’t see why his grown-up had dragged him to such a stuffy old place. And then I showed him all the wonderful things he could take home. Things like movies, board games, video games, manga, and books, books, books, and more books. So we sat down and chatted so I could figure out what he was interested in, and he had a stack of books to take out. He told me he was going straight home to read.” David offered a weak smile. “That kinda thing always makes my day.”
“It makes my day to hear a story like that, too,” Tricia said, nestling closer to him.
“Not just a story—real life.” He leaned his head against hers. “Thanks for asking me about my day. I feel better now.”
“I’m glad. I could make you feel even better,” Tricia said softly.
David sighed. “I know you could…. But I’ve got a ton of reading to get through and a paper to start. I really should be going.”
“So soon? You only just got here.”
“We’ll have time on the weekend.”
Tricia nodded, her admiration for David soaring, proud he was dedicated to his education and life goals.
“If you gotta go, you gotta go,” Tricia said sadly.
“Well, maybe I could stay just a little longer.”
Tricia faced him and smiled. “I can live with that.”