Waking up exhausted after a series of nightmares, Motts drowned her sorrows in a strong cup of coffee and a few slices of toast. She added so much lemon curd that she thought her lips might pucker off her face from the tartness. The bright, sugary spread helped wake her up and chase the dreams away.
Her mind kept trying to drift back to yesterday and her close call with a frosty end. On the plus side, her parents were spending the day with her grandparents, who lived next door to her uncle and auntie. Granny Martha could run circles around her daughter-in-law.
Granny Martha had always encouraged her two grandchildren to fly as high as they wanted. She’d been one of the reasons Motts had the courage to pursue running her own business. I should visit with them more often. I’m a dreadful granddaughter.
The reprieve would be brief, however. Her mum definitely hadn’t got the “Cornwall isn’t safe” lecture out of her system yet. It didn’t matter to Motts, who had no intentions of leaving her cosy cottage by the sea.
Motts took her laptop, Cactus and Moss, and her tea out into the garden. She allowed them to explore the garden while she considered her plan for the day. “What will you do if you actually catch the butterfly?”
Meow.
“Helpful.”
“Are you in the garden, poppet?”
Motts shut her laptop and darted around Cactus to open the garden gate for her granddad. John Mottley had run a bookshop in Looe for years before selling it. He’d met his beloved wife Martha in the library at university. They loved telling that story to their grandkids. “Did you leave Gran to fend for herself?”
“My Martha never once backed down from a fight.” He gave her a fierce hug before slowly bending down to greet Cactus. “Hello, young man. Taking care of my granddaughter, are you?”
“Granddad.”
“Now don’t go getting yourself addicted to catnip and stumbling around the village. You’ll make a name for yourself in the wrong way.” He continued to lecture Cactus, who purred up a storm.
“Granddad.”
“What are your plans for the day?” He wandered around the garden, inspecting her growing plants with Cactus on his heels. “Your lemon verbena needs pruning. Why don’t I come over on the weekend next to help you out? Your gran’s going on one of her trips again.”
At least twice a year, Motts’s grandmother went on a driving tour with several of her friends. Her granddad always stayed home. He tended to spend most of the time either reading or with his grandkids.
Motts shared both her love of gardening and her allergies with her granddad. “I’ve been thinking about adding a trellis along the fence later this summer. I want to try my hand at growing peas.”
“You’ll want to plant them either this autumn or next spring. Give them the best chance at growing.” He inspected the area of the garden she’d pointed out. “I might have wire netting you could use. I’ll bring some over when I come to help with your pruning. You can store it in the shed until you’re ready to plant. Now, what are your plans for the day? Hmm?”
“I’ve got three more paper columbines to fold and add to an arrangement for one of Marnie’s brides. It’ll take me a minute.” Motts retrieved Moss and gestured for her granddad to lead Cactus into the cottage. “After I drop the flowers off at the bridal shop, I wanted to….”
“You wanted to?” He followed her over to the table where her origami papers were laid out. “Were you going to continue your investigation? Maybe poke the O’Connells with a stick? See which of them murdered Nadine?”
Motts studiously kept her attention on folding the last few columbines. “Did you know Nadine O’Connell?”
“Your gran knew her better. I knew her husband and her son-in-law a little. Can’t say I liked any of them. Nadine could test the patience of a saint, as they say.” He picked up one of the flowers to inspect. “I do remember how much she butted heads with Amy even back when she was a young girl. Those two never got along.”
“Mother and daughter?”
“Amy was a troubled soul.” He shook his head, then offered the flower back to her. “They had vicious rows before Nadine fell ill. When your gran told me Amy planned to care for her mother, you could’ve blown me over with a cotton swab.”
“How do you blow someone over with a cotton swab?”
“With great care and attention to detail.”
Motts finished up the last of the flowers. She decided not to attempt to figure out what he meant. “Could Amy kill her own mother?”
“Almost everyone is capable of murder under the right conditions. Amy had a temper for sure. I doubt an extended illness improved either her or Nadine’s personality.” He absently patted Cactus on the head. “My money is one of the boys. I don’t see how Amy could’ve carried her mother out to sea.”
“Jasper and Mikey.” Motts had the former on the top of her list. “Jasper definitely inherited his mum’s temperament.”
“I’ve been thinking about using a cold storage—”
“For what?” Motts carefully completed her bouquet and tried not to laugh at the absurdity of her granddad renting a cold storage. “What are you going to put in there?”
“Fish?”
“You always give the fish you catch to Auntie Lily. Also, shouldn’t you be discouraging my curious nature?” Motts gingerly attached one of the columbines to a paper-wrapped wire stem.
“The best part of being a grandparent is not concerning myself with parental restraints.” He wiggled his bushy grey eyebrows at her, making her laugh. “And my job is to always encourage my grandchildren.”
“Courage cautiously calls comfortably casual constraints.” Motts wrinkled her nose. “I ran out of c words.”
“Come on then. We’ll walk down to the village. We can run your errands, poke our nose in at the O’Connell warehouse, and still have time for lunch.” He set Cactus down on the table. “And your nan isn’t here to complain when I have a pint with my lunch.”
“She’ll know.”
“And that’s half the fun.” He waited patiently while she finished the bouquet. “Will you carry it like that?”
“Could you grab the hatbox on the shelf behind you, please?” Motts used a sturdy box pilfered from Marnie’s shop. “This should keep the bouquet safe until we drop it off at the bridal shop.”
“Well, come along, poppet. Adventure and my midday pint are just around the corner.” Her granddad headed out of the cottage. He waited patiently while she topped up water and food for Moss and Cactus, then locked up and set her security system. “Good lad, your Teo. Like the cameras and alarm he’s installed for you.”
They left her granddad’s car parked outside of her home and walked down the narrow steps into the village centre. After dropping off the flowers, Motts waved to a busy Marnie and meandered down the street toward the harbour. Her granddad told familiar stories about Polperro.
“What was dating Gran like?” Motts interrupted his retelling of one of his favourite fishing trips in his twenties.
“Being on a roller-coaster ride through candyfloss.”
Motts considered the visual for a few seconds in silence. “Sounds sticky.”
He coughed a few times and chuckled. “Does it?”
“The candyfloss. It dissolves. You’d get it in your face and eyes.” Motts frowned at her granddad in confusion when he continued to laugh. “What?”
“Never mind, poppet.”
“I’ve missed something, haven’t I? Not sure I want to know.” Motts sighed. She hated not understanding jokes. They continued up the lane until they reached the warehouse. She noticed a familiar vehicle parked in front. “Why is Teo here?”
Teo seemed to have the same question for her. He seemed utterly unimpressed with their presence outside the warehouse. Motts wasn’t certain, though. “What are you doing? Aren’t you supposed to be recovering at home and staying safe?”
“Granddad needs cold storage.” Motts grabbed his arm and dragged him forward. “See? Granddad.”
Teo folded his arms across his chest, glaring down at both of them. “For what?”
“Candyfloss.” Motts paused, then rubbed her forehead while both men laughed. “You’ve met my granddad, right? At my auntie and uncle’s house.”
The two men shook hands while continuing to chuckle. With a Teo-sized impediment to poking their noses into the O’Connell business, Motts figured they might as well leave the police to their investigation. Her granddad, ever the social butterfly, invited the detective inspector to join them for lunch.
“Why don’t I meet you there?” Teo agreed. “It won’t take me long to wrap up here.”
Her granddad wrapped his arm around her shoulders, leading her away from the warehouse. “Nice lad.”
“Lad?” Motts shook her head. “We wasted a walk.”
Wasted walk weighs… what’s another w word?
“On the contrary, poppet, we’ll have a lovely lunch. Your copper will join us. And we can pop by to see Amy at her cottage afterwards without his knowledge.” Her granddad patted her arm and winked at her. “He’ll never be the wiser.”
“I’ve been to the creepy house with the dolls. Not sure I want to inflict them on my dreams again.” Motts shuddered. “Besides, I don’t believe she’d welcome me to her cottage.”
“I’ve a history with her parents. You let me do the talking.” He gave her another wink then guided her toward Griffin Brews. “Why don’t we have a coffee while we wait for your copper?”
“He’s not mine, Granddad.”
“Is he not?”
“We’re only dating.” Motts had never seen the need to rush into labelling a relationship in the early stages. She’d keep repeating it until people stopped asking. “We’re still figuring each other out.”
“I think he’s yours whenever you’re ready for him to be.” He went in when she held the door for him. “You take your time, though, poppet. Make him wait.”
“Granddad.”