TWENTY-EIGHT
Once she returned to her store, Tricia looked up the library’s main number and made the call she’d been avoiding. She was told Amelia was in a meeting. After explaining the nature of her call, Tricia was assured that Amelia would contact her at her earliest convenience.
Hmm.
Tricia returned to her apartment, showered, and dressed in her standard uniform of dark slacks, flats, and a peach sweater set to compliment the season, and headed down to her store to set up the beverage station for the day. Pixie was the first to arrive that day, and she, too, had gone for an outfit with an orange tinge, along with black hose and shoes. Pixie looked striking no matter what she wore. Mr. Everett wasn’t far behind, and the three of them started their day as usual with a coffee klatch in the reader’s nook. Their chat was interrupted soon after the store’s official opening when Tricia’s phone rang. Sure enough, it was the library’s main number.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Miles, it’s Amelia Doyle. How may I help you?”
Tricia explained about the Chamber’s support of the upcoming library sale.
“I wasn’t aware of that. I have so many new duties. When would you like to meet to discuss the project?”
“My schedule is pretty flexible. When would it be convenient for you?”
“I don’t have much on tap on Friday. That is, of course, unless you’d like to meet late this afternoon. Could you come to the library about four thirty?
“Yes. I don’t think our first discussion will take more than half an hour.”
“Great. I’ll see you then.”
“Good-bye.” And the connection was broken. Tricia set down her phone and stared at it.
“Is anything wrong, Ms. Miles?” Mr. Everett asked.
Tricia sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t feel comfortable speaking with Ms. Doyle.”
Mr. Everett nodded. He knew all about the conflict with David and Amelia, thanks to his wife being on the library board.
Pixie, as ever, spoke her mind. “Why, what’s going on?”
Tricia explained how Amelia blamed David for the unsuccessful book signing at the library almost two weeks before.
“Well, that doesn’t seem fair. Like David orchestrated the fiasco? Things happen. She can’t blame David because the event didn’t go as planned.”
“I just hope that in time things will mellow out.”
“Hear, hear,” Mr. Everett said, and raised his coffee cup in solidarity.
Tricia’s ringtone sounded again. She glanced at the phone’s screen, seeing that it was Ginny.
“What’s up?” Tricia answered.
“Hey, Tricia, I’m sorry, but I have to cancel our lunch today. Will’s got a fever, and I didn’t want to send him to daycare. I’m going to be working at home to take care of him. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Mind? Of course I don’t. You take care of that little bambino so he’ll be in the pink for our dinner on Sunday. And take care of yourself, too.”
“You are an angel,” Ginny said.
“No, little Will is.”
“Thanks for understanding. I’ll see you on Sunday,” Ginny promised.
“Looking forward to it,” Tricia answered, and they ended the call.
“Oh, dear,” Mr. Everett said, sounding upset. “Do you think the baby will be all right?”
Pixie waved a hand in the air. “I’ll bet he’s just cutting a new tooth. Kids are resilient. He’ll be fine by the weekend. Mark my words.” So said the former EMT.
“I’d better text Angelica to see if she’s free for lunch,” Tricia said.
“You do that,” Pixie said, and got up, taking her cup with her.
Just then the shop’s door opened with their first customer of the day.
Mr. Everett rose from his seat, and while Pixie greeted the patron, he headed to the back of the store to wash his cup and returned with his lamb’s wool duster. Meanwhile, Tricia texted her sister, who was free for lunch but again suggested they meet at Angelica’s apartment. She knew as soon as their online chat ended that Angelica would be calling Ginny to be apprised on little Will on an hourly basis for the rest of the day.
See you at one o’clock or thereabouts, Tricia texted back.
Suddenly, a big Granite State tour bus roared up the street.
“Get ready for the onslaught,” Pixie called happily. “I predict it’s going to be a great day.”
“From your lips to God’s ears,” Tricia said, and the three of them laughed.
After the bus disgorged its occupants, there was usually a ten-to-twenty-minute lag as the tourists made their way south along Main Street. So Tricia, Pixie, and Mr. Everett prepared the shop for what they hoped would be a great sales morning.
Pixie chose upbeat music to greet the customers, and Tricia’s employees were in high spirits as the first of the day’s customers entered the shop. Still, her meeting with Amelia hung heavy on her mind. She consoled herself with the knowledge that she’d have a pleasant lunch and dinner with her sister, and then, as icing on the cake, could reconnect with David. And there was also the anticipation of possibly seeing Larry Harvick remove the bees from the library’s rooftop. Yes, it was going to be a great day.
Pixie and Mr. Everett arrived a few minutes late from their lunch hour because they had to wait for a table at Booked for Lunch—and finally settled for a couple of seats at the counter. Tricia wasn’t concerned about their tardiness because that meant that Angelica’s retro café was doing great business. They decided that if the weather was fine the next day, they might bring their lunches and eat on a bench in the village’s square.
When it was Tricia’s turn for lunch, she hurried next door to the Cookery, climbed the steps to Angelica’s apartment, and rapped on the door.
“Come in,” Angelica called above Sarge’s joyful barking.
Once inside, Tricia tossed the dog a couple of biscuits and settled on one of the stools at Angelica’s kitchen island. Angelica stirred a steaming pot with a wooden spoon.
“What’s on tap for lunch?” Tricia asked.
“Beef barley soup with buttered, seeded rye bread.”
“Sounds great to me,” Tricia said.
“What do you want to drink?”
“Water’s fine.”
Angelica turned to the fridge, grabbed a glass pitcher, turned to one of the kitchen cabinets, and plucked a tall glass, filling it with the chilled water and presenting it to her sister.
“So, what’s going on?” Angelica asked.
Tricia sighed. “I’m supposed to meet with Amelia Doyle this afternoon to talk about the January book sale.”
“About time you set that up,” Angelica said, getting out bowls and plates for their lunch.
“I wonder if it’ll be an awkward conversation.”
“Why should it be awkward?”
Tricia told her sister about her conversation with Mary days before—and her uttered oath of snitch.
“Yes, that certainly could be awkward,” Angelica said as she ladled soup into bowls, setting one in front of each of their usual places, and a plate with several pieces of bread.
Tricia tasted the soup. Mmm…good! She buttered a slice of bread. “Anyway, I’ll try to keep the conversation on topic.”
“And what if Amelia wants to talk about possibly being accused of murder?”
Tricia shrugged. She took another spoonful of soup. “Of course, it wasn’t me who reported Amelia’s past interactions with Lauren Barker. It was Mary.”
“But it was only at your insistence. I’m sure if there’s any flack, Mary will want it known that she only reported it under duress.”
“Maybe.” Tricia ate more of the soup, but her enjoyment had soured, thanks to Angelica’s words.
“Do you honestly believe Amelia Doyle is capable of murder?”
“I didn’t think Grant Baker was, and look what happened,” Tricia countered.
Angelica nodded solemnly. She’d had several counseling sessions after discovering the former police chief’s body.
“And,” Tricia added, “Ms. Doyle isn’t exactly loved at the library.”
“So David says,” Angelica said.
“Yes. But she’s not only been hard on him but other library workers, as well. He seems to think she can’t outright fire him because the disaster of Lauren’s signing and then death on the property weren’t his fault. Grace seems to have his back.”
“Good for Grace. But speaking of David, I texted him this morning to see if he wants a tour of the Morrison Mansion this evening.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, the rug was delivered, and I want to unroll it and see how it’ll look in the front parlor. More importantly, to see if it’ll fit.”
“What if it doesn’t?”
“I’m sure it’ll go somewhere else. There are six bedrooms on the second floor.”
“How did you get the rug back from the cleaner so soon?” Tricia asked.
“Money talks,” Angelica answered simply. “Anyway, I thought the three of us could go together and then have dinner at the Brookview Inn. What do you think?”
Tricia nodded. “I’d like to see what you’ve done in the past few weeks and how you envision David and Ginny helping out. It’s too bad Ginny can’t be there with us.”
“She’s going to start working with me on Friday afternoons beginning next week. If you can spare an hour or so, you could come by and sit in on our gabfest.”
“That would be fun. Thanks for the invite.”
“Wonderful. If I speak to her before Sunday, I’ll let her know. Otherwise, we can mention it at our family dinner.”
The sisters polished off the soup and bread, and Tricia rinsed the dishes, handing them to Angelica to place in the dishwasher.
Tricia glanced at the clock. “I’d better get back to the shop. Next week, I’ll host at least a few of our meals. You’ve done far more than your share of late.”
“Well, I do love to cook, and I’m not doing nearly enough of it now that we have our family dinners at Antonio’s house. And since I work from home, it’s not a big deal for me to whip up something for us for lunch or supper. Soon, leaf peeping season will be over, and we can go back to our usual routines.”
Tricia nodded. “When and where do you want to meet to go to the mansion?”
“Why don’t you and David meet me there after your meeting with Amelia? Then you two young people can go back to your place and have another riotous evening of reading separate books.”
“Stranger things have happened,” Tricia remarked. “I’m off,” she said, and headed for the door. “See you later, alligator.”
“In a while, crocodile.”
Tricia smiled all the way down the stairs and through the Cookery. It wasn’t until she opened the door to Haven’t Got a Clue that her thoughts again turned to her upcoming meeting with Amelia, and her mood immediately soured. At least she had something to look forward to. If she could just get through the rest of the afternoon, she could spend a pleasant couple of hours with David and Angelica while they made plans for the future.
And that, she decided, was that.