A Flicker of Doubt (Book 4 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) (17 page)

“
Sony, but the smallest
special-order batch I make is six dozen. As I said, I’ll be glad to
sell you all you want come October.”

I knew Millie made smaller quantities than
seventy-two—I was holding one at the moment—but I kept that fact to
myself, I wasn’t about to do anything to get myself put of her good
graces.

He was unfazed by her extravagant demand
though. “Six dozen it is.” He reached into his wallet and pulled
out a hundred-dollar bill and a business card. “Let me know when
that runs out and I’ll replace it. You can call me next Monday to
let me know when I can pick up the first batch.”

Millie didn’t know what to think, but she
took the man’s money, and he was soon gone. She looked at me and
said, “Harrison, I had no intention of making these for sale again
this time of year.”

“
You’ve got a reason to
now,” I said. “Any chance you could make a few dozen every Monday
and slip some under my pillow?”

She swatted me lightly with the towel in her
hands. “You’re as bad as he is. Don’t you have a business to
run?”

I nodded. “As soon as I get a pint of milk,
I’ll be out of your hair.”

She retrieved one from, the cooler, and I
said, “Thanks again; these are wonderful.” As I walked out I heard
her muttering to herself, “I can’t believe that man took me up on
it. What’s the world coming to?”

I walked down to At Wick’s End and unlocked
the front door. I had the best breakfast a man could ask for, and
the solitude of my candleshop to enjoy them in a leisurely
fashion.

Life was looking up indeed. I ate three
doughnuts, though I’d promised myself to stop at two. If I didn’t
start kayaking again, and soon, I was going to have to start
walking for exercise again. Being in such close proximity to Millie
was definitely a detriment to my waistline.

Eve came in twenty minutes before it was
time to open, and I was glad I’d finished eating before she showed
up. Though it was my candleshop, I still felt like a child in
school around her sometimes.

She sniffed the air, then said, “Harrison,
have you been experimenting with scents again?”

“
I call it Pumpkin
Surprise,” I said. “Do you like it?”

“
It’s a tad strong, isn’t
it?” Eve wasn’t a big fan of jocularity. It was time to come
clean.

“
Actually, Millie made me a
special order of pumpkin doughnuts. Would you like one?”

She shook her head. “I’ve had my breakfast,
thank you very much.”

“
I’m sure it was sensible
and well-balanced,” I said softly, but not softly
enough.

“
Some of us have to watch
our figures,” she said icily and disappeared back in the storeroom.
“I’ll be doing our inventory. Surely you can handle our customers
until I’m finished.” My last crack was going to cost me, but I
didn’t care. It was amazing just how much better I felt after
eating my favorite comfort food. I opened the front door on the dot
of nine and was startled to find Mrs. Jorgenson standing in front
of the shop. As I let her in, I offered to take her coat, which was
soaking wet.

“
Did we have a lesson
planned for to- I day?” I asked

She shook her head. “No, but I’m in need of
more supplies. I trust you can assist me.”

“
Yes, ma’am, I’m at your
service.” As I followed her to the waxes, dyes and scents, I added,
“Have you gone through your first batch already?”

She sniffed the air. “Let’s just say I’m
still unsatisfied with my results so far.”

“
What seems to be the problem?” I asked “Maybe I
can help.”

She frowned, then said, “Harrison, you know
how I feel about soliciting free advice.”

I suddenly thought about what a resource for
Micah’s Ridge I had before me. “Tell you what; I’ll swap you for
information. I’ll answer your questions about candlemaking, and you
answer mine about who really runs Micah’s Ridge.”

It was taking a chance, approaching her like
that, and if I’d had more time to think about it, I probably would
have chickened out. After all, Mrs. Jorgenson and her extravagant
forays into the candlemaking world were becoming a necessity to my
bottom line.

She thought about it a full minute, then
said, “You know I don’t believe in gossip, don’t you?”

“
Yes, ma’am, and I would
never ask you anything about anyone that was of a personal nature.
I’m more | concerned about who says jump and who says how
high.”

She nodded. “I can agree to that then, at
least on principle. What would you like to know?”

I said, “You first. What are the candles
doing?”

She looked down at her hands and said,
“Actually, I’m having a difficult time getting them out of their
molds.”

“
Did you use the release I
sold you?”

She said, “I used some, but the directions
made me quite cautious against overusing it I do hate
chemicals.”

I said patiently, “Don’t be afraid to coat
the interior. If you don’t like the spray, you can add stearin to
your wax. That works like a charm. Don’t use it in rubber molds
though; it eats right through them over time.”

She said, “That sounds simple enough.” She
grabbed a few blocks of wax from the shelves, some stearin, a
selection of scents and dyes, then she asked, “What would you like
to know?”

“
What do you know about Greg
Runion?”

She bristled slightly at the question.
“Harrison, I told you I’m not a gossip.”

“
I don’t care if he wears
pink ruffles at home or dances with pigs. I want to know if he’s
got the sources to pull off this major development he’s
planning.”

Mrs. Jorgenson frowned. “Yes, I saw that
disgraceful story in the paper this morning as well. Might I ask
why you’re suddenly so interested in Greg Runion?”

“
A friend of mine has been
taken in by the man, and I’m concerned about him.”

“
As well you should be,” she
said gently. “You asked if he has the resources to finance his
latest scheme. My guess would be no.”

“
So where’s he getting his
backing? Is he using Cyrus Walters’s money?”

“
Do you know Cyrus?” Mrs.
Jorgenson asked.

“
Yes, we’ve become friends.
At least I thought so.”

“
Now that’s a curious
comment Why do you say that?”

“
He threw me out of his
house a few days ago, and when I came back to straighten things
out, there was a guard posted at the front door.”

Mrs. Jorgenson frowned, stared out the bay
window in front of the shop, then said, “Harrison, you must never
tell her I suggested this, but there’s only one thing to do. You
must call his sister in West Virginia.”

“
Thanks, but I already spoke
with Ruth, and she’s coming as soon as she can get
away.”

Mrs. Jorgenson eyed me carefully. “Why,
Harrison, you’ve become quite resourceful, haven’t you? Ruth will
cut through this nonsense, you can rest assured on that point.”

“
So what should I know about
Greg Runion?”

“
I’ve heard rumors that he
has a financial backer on this project of his to turn the banks of
the Gunpowder River into a nightmare of condominiums.”

“
Who is it?” I
asked.

“
I’m sure you don’t know the
gentleman, but perhaps I could arrange an introduction, if I handle
it just so.”

“
Thanks, I’d really
appreciate that,” I said. “So, are you going to tell me his name,
or is it shrouded in mystery?”

“
It won’t mean anything to
you, but I’ll tell you if you promise you’ll keep it to
yourself.”

“
I promise,” I said,
wondering who this financial backer was.

“
Grover Blake,” she said in
a hushed voice.

“
I’ve met him,” I said. “In
fact, I just had some of his barbecue.”

Mrs. Jorgenson sniffed the air. “Honestly, I
don’t know why you bother asking me things. You seem to know
everything going on in Micah’s Ridge.”

I tried to mollify her. Mrs. Jorgenson was
one person in town I couldn’t afford to alienate. I said, “I was
under the impression that Grover gave all of his money away when he
moved back here.”

She smiled at that. “Then you don’t know
everything. It makes a quaint story, but that’s all it is. He’s got
more assets than I do, and that’s saying something for our part of
North Carolina. So what are you going to do with this
information?”

I’m going to go talk to him.”

“
Be careful, Harrison. All
is not as it seems there.”

I thanked her, then said, “Tell you what;
you’ve paid for your purchase today with information. This is all
on the house.”

“
Nonsense, I pay my way and
you know it. Ring these up so I can get started on my next
pour.”

I did as I was told and totaled the supplies
as she added more items to her pile.

Eve poked her head out of the storeroom. “I
thought I heard voices,” she said, her words fading as she saw who
my customer was.

“
I’m going to walk Mrs.
Jorgenson out,” I said, “Then I’ve got an errand to
run.”

“
Of course,” Eve said. “Nice
to see you again, ma’am.”

“
I’m sure,” Mrs. Jorgenson
said in reply. She wasn’t big on mingling with anyone but the owner
of the store, but I had to give Eve credit. She never gave up
trying to engage the woman.

I walked Mrs. Jorgenson out to her car. As
she got in, she said, “Remember, Harrison, there are more layers to
this than you might realize. Watch your step.”

“
Surely you don’t think
Grover’s a threat do you?”

She pursed her lips. “If he takes it in his
mind not to like you, you’ll live to regret it I promise you that
I’ve seen it happen too many times before. Remember, he might sound
like a sweet old man, but Grover is as sharp it a razor.”

I said good-bye, then jumped in the Ford
truck and headed over to Graver’s barbecue stand and backyard. I
had another reason to watch my step. It would be bad enough to be
banished from ever coming back to Grover’s and miss that succulent
barbecue, but if I got Markum blackballed, I wasn’t sure he’d ever
be able to forgive me.

And I wouldn’t even be able to find it in my
heart to blame him.

Chapter 14

I found Grover watching over the fire in his
backyard pit. There were no cars parked by the road when I pulled
the truck in, so I’d have his full attention.

“
Good morning,” I said as I
approached.

“
Harrison Black,” he said
neutrally. “The sign’s not out, or didn’t Markum tell you what to
look for?”

“
Actually he
didn’t.”

“
There’s an old red shirt I
hang from a tree branch when I’m serving,” he said. “Other times I
like to be left alone.”

There was no mistaking the tone in his
voice, that this was one of those other times, but there was no pay
I was going to wait to approach him about Runion with half of the
power structure of Micah’s Ridge looking on.

“
I need to talk to you about
something, Grover. Believe me, I wouldn’t bother you if it wasn’t
important.”

He poked a thick slab of wood under the
cooker and watched the smoke a moment “Most folks don’t like to
press me,” he said quietly.

There was a distinct chill in his voice now.
“I’m worried about what Greg Runion is going to do to Micah’s
Ridge.”

Graver’s gaze snapped from the fire to me.
“What’s that got to do with me?”

“
I know you’re backing him,”
I said softly.

Grover tried to bring off a fake laugh, but
he’d hesitated too long before deciding on his course of action.
“Man, haven’t you heard? I gave all my money away when I came back
home. Why else would I sell my barbecue from a place like
this?”

“
Look, I’m not here to
refute the legend you’ve built up for yourself, and the last thing
I want to do is anything that’s going to keep me from your
barbecue, but | you can’t let him do this. Do you have any idea
what the river’s going to look like? He’s going to destroy
it.”

“
It’s no business of mine,”
Graver said abruptly.

“
I wish I could believe
that,” I said.

The fire under the cooker was now completely
forgotten. “Mr. Black, I’ll ask you to leave now.”

“
You can’t let him do this,”
I said.

“
I said go!” He was as
furious with me as I was with him. “You’re not welcome here
anymore.”

I gave up. There was no way I was going to
be able to break through his resolve. “Fine, let it happen, then.
It’s on your head, not mine.”

I was five steps away when he called out to
me, “Mr. Black, hold up a second.”

Had he changed his mind? I turned and saw
that look in his eyes, the look of anger and just a little hate for
me. “You can tell Markum he’s not welcome here, either.”

I lost my temper. “That’s just plain mean,
Grover. He had nothing to do with me being here. Banish me if you
want to, but don’t take it out on him.”

Grover spat on the ground, then turned his
back on me and gave his full attention back to the fire.

I had no choice. I’d come looking for
answers, but n instead all I’d managed to do was to bring my friend
to grief.

How in the world was I going to tell Markum
what I’d done?

There was nothing else I could do but look
for my friend and give him the bad news. What if he showed up at
Grover’s as soon as that T-shirt went up? I couldn’t stand the
thought of him going through a shunning with everyone looking on. I
drove back to River’s Edge and went upstairs, hoping that he’d be
in his office.