Seeing Lola and Lacey together reminded me that I needed to make things right with Raine. We were talking but I knew Raine was still sore that I never showed her the photos of Edward on the front stoop of the inn. I was sure it would take a great deal of time before that sting had lessened. After a healthy, thoughtful lunch of salads at a local restaurant, Lola, Lacey and I decided to top off all that fiber with sticky, gooey ice cream. Lola reasoned that if we ate it fast enough, the ice cream might still have a chance to catch the fiber train and get whisked from the station before the fat and sugar particles got stuck. She was a hoot.
We decided to drive back to Firefly Junction for the ice cream so we could bring Raine a bowl of her favorite peanut butter and chocolate swirl. Raine was in her front yard watering the grass with a hose when we pulled up.
"We come bearing melted ice cream," Lola announced as she climbed out of the jeep with Raine's bowl and her own cone of coconut creme.
Raine turned off the hose. "You girls must have been reading my mind. I was just thinking about ice cream." She took the bowl and smiled at Lola and Lacey, but I got more of a faint grin.
The four of us sat on the steps of her front porch to enjoy our frozen treats.
"What have you all been up to?" she asked. "Wait, let me tell you. It's what I do for a living, after all. I'll bet Lacey and Sunni were investigating Minnie's murder, most likely getting themselves into sticky situations to find out the truth about poor Minnie. And Lola was at the flea market hoping to find a few last treasures before going back home."
"Hey, that's spot on," Lola said.
Raine shrugged as she dug her spoon into the ice cream. "Some people actually believe I have a sixth sense." That statement was a pointed jab at her bestie.
"I'll say you do," Lacey said. "It's almost as if you were following us around all day."
"Don't need to," Raine said confidently. "It just comes to me. Thank you for thinking of me with this ice cream. I've had an unusually busy Sunday of tarot card readings."
"Are you busy tonight?" Lola looked at Lacey and me. "By the way, what are we doing tonight?"
"Not sure," I said. "We could hang out at the inn."
"We should do one of those séances to see if we can conjure up that man standing on the front porch next to Mary Richards. Even through the fuzziness, he looks pretty darn dashing." Lola was busy working on her cone as she spoke. She hadn't noticed she'd gotten everyone's attention.
Lacey seemed to be flashing her a brow lift to remind her about the touchy subject. Raine was staring at her with a glint of excitement about the séance suggestion. I couldn't see my face, but I imagined it with my mouth drawn into a tight, forced smile. Lola looked up for a second and was surprised to see she was the center of attention.
"What? I was just trying to come up with something fun to do." Unfazed, she went back to her ice cream.
"Sunni doesn't like séances," Raine said curtly.
I tilted my head at her. "I never said that. I just don't want you to be disappointed when there is no ghost connection."
"And my best friend has no confidence in my ability," she added.
"All right, let's do it," I said. "I have confidence in you. I just don't have confidence in the so-called spirits that roam the halls of the inn." Sometimes, it was hard as heck pretending that I was a non-believer when I had a very good reason to believe.
Raine sat up straighter on her step. "Do you mean it? We can have a séance at the inn?"
"Sure," I said. "But you're not allowed to mope if nothing comes of it. We'll just have fun and you can give it another go."
Lola did a little happy dance with her feet on the porch step. "Yay. I haven't been to a séance since Melony Fitch's slumber party in the fifth grade. And back then, we all freaked ourselves out so much before we turned out the lights, it never really happened."
"I guess it's settled then," I said. "We could order some pizza first."
"I've got one last client at six," Raine said. "Then I'll be over."
"Sounds good. That leaves Lacey and I a few more hours of investigating." I looked at my partner. "Feel like a little trip over to Carl's Custom Bikes?"
"Absolutely. I've been thinking about buying a custom hog to ride to work."