“This will be way cool,” Ashlee said from the driver’s seat. “Dana, since you’re already stuck with Jason, you can be my wingman, or wingwoman, if you’d rather call yourself that.”
I leaned forward in my seat. “I’m not helping you pick up guys. I’m there to bowl.”
“You can do both. But be sure the guy’s cute. And when you’re talking me up, try to mention that I used to be a cheerleader. Then he’ll know how limber I am.”
I threw myself against the car seat, too disgusted to reply. I was no one’s pimp.
Ashlee adjusted the rearview mirror so she could wink at me. “I’m kidding about the cheerleading. I mean, you can talk about it if you want, but it’s not totally necessary. There are so many other fabulous things you can say about me.” She watched me in the mirror, waiting for my reply.
“Stop sign!” Brittany shrieked.
Ashlee slammed on the brakes, and the car shuddered to a stop, the nose of the Camaro well over the line. “Sheesh, when did they put that there?”
“Back when we were in elementary school,” I said.
She stomped on the gas, and we surged forward. “That can’t be right. I would have noticed it before.” She looked at me in the mirror again. “So will you help me?” She stared at me so long that I began to worry she’d run another stop sign.
I threw up my hands and said, “Fine. I’ll help you.”
She nodded and returned her eyes to the road.
A few minutes later we arrived, relatively unscathed, at the bowling alley. Brittany got out and popped the seat forward so I could slide out and join her. The three of us marched in together. The guys playing at the nearby lanes and seated in the snack area all watched our grand entrance. It helped that we were the only girls in the place.
“Eat first or bowl first?” I asked, raising my voice to be heard over the techno music beating out of the speakers.
Ashlee scanned the crowd. “Definitely better odds at the snack bar. We’ll start there.”
Like some sort of coordinated man-hunting routine, she brushed her long blond hair over her shoulder, while Brittany patted her own shorter style. Together, they sashayed to the snack bar. I trailed behind at a slower pace, giving them room to maneuver.
They stopped before the giant menu board posted behind the counter and looked at it, nudging each other and giggling from time to time. I had no idea what was so hilarious about nachos and corn dogs, so I tuned them out.
When they didn’t edge any closer to the counter, I moved around them to place my order. Whoever was working the snack bar had his back to me as he bent down and shoved packages of napkins into a storage area under the counter. When he’d finished emptying the box, he stood up and turned around.
I almost fell back a step. It was Ricky. If he was already working as a mechanic, what was he doing here?
Chapter 29
Ricky’s eyes widened when he saw me, his expression probably a mirror image of my own startled one.
“Oh, hey,” he said. “How’s it going?” He grabbed a nearby rag and started wiping the counter.
“I didn’t realize you worked at the bowling alley. Someone told me you were a mechanic.”
He grunted. “I wish. I sweep the floors for the mechanic is more like it. He’s supposed to train me one of these days, but I had to get a second job if I wanted to eat.”
I nodded in sympathy. Even with Ashlee and me both working full-time, I still worried about all those extra bills that showed up unexpectedly, like car repairs and doctor visits. “At least this is a cool place to work.” If you liked loud music and even louder bowlers.
Ricky finished wiping the counter and tossed the rag underneath it. “It’s all right, and the food’s free.”
“Can’t beat that.” I leaned on the counter, wondering how I could find out more about why Carla had offered Ricky money for school and then had changed her mind. If he couldn’t afford to buy food, he’d definitely need Carla’s money to pay for his classes.
Ricky looked past me. “Are you gonna order?”
I turned around. Not only had Ashlee and Brittany gotten in line behind me, but so had three other people. Our little conversation would have to wait. I hurriedly read the board. “Give me a corn dog and lemonade.”
He turned to fill my order while I dug money out of my pocket. By the time I extracted the right bills, he’d placed my lemonade and wrapped corn dog on the counter. I tried not to think about how long that corn dog had probably been lying in the heated case. I handed him the money, took my change, and stepped to the side to wait for Ashlee and Brittany.
After ordering, they came away with a bottle of water for each of them and an order of fries to share. That was their dinner? That wouldn’t keep me full for fifteen minutes, let alone the whole night.
We found an empty booth that looked like it was older than all of us combined, and sat down to eat. We were done in five minutes.
“Ready to do some bowling?” I asked as I wiped mustard off my fingers.
Ashlee scanned the snack area. “Yeah, there’s only a bunch of old guys in here now. Maybe the hot guys are already bowling.”
I slid out of the booth and tossed my trash in the can. Ricky was still busy helping customers. I’d have to wait to speak with him. With any luck, everyone would run out to see Ashlee bowl in her ridiculously short skirt, and I could talk to him in private.
We paid for our games and got our lane assignment, then moved over to the shoe rental. Ashlee immediately rejected the brown-and-white saddle shoes the guy offered her, and insisted on a black-and-white pair. She held them up for me.
“These match my outfit,” she declared.
“Fantastic,” I said.
I took the first pair the guy gave me, and we made our way to our assigned lane. I swapped out my shoes before hunting for the lightest ball on the racks that I could find. A bright pink number at the end of the row drew my attention. I tested the weight before I returned to our spot.
When I got back, Ashlee was sitting with some guy I didn’t know. They had their heads bent together, and Ashlee was twirling her hair, while he kept rubbing the stubble on his chin and nodding. Brittany was lacing up her shoes at the other end of the row of chairs, and I took a seat beside her.
I gestured to the cozy couple. “Who’s that?”
Brittany straightened up and tipped her foot first one way, then the other, frowning at the bowling shoe. “I think he said his name’s Zach. He came over right after you left. He thinks Ashlee’s hot.” She giggled.
How did Ashlee do it? I’d been gone for five minutes to pick out a ball, and she’d already snagged a guy? At least she didn’t need me as her wingwoman anymore.
I entered our information into the console and bowled first. Gutter ball. On my second roll, I knocked down two pins. Brittany didn’t fare much better. We waited for Ashlee to take her turn, but she was busy smiling and whispering with Zach. I went over to the two lovebirds and tapped her bowling shoe with my own. “You’re up.”
Ashlee gave a start, as if she’d forgotten we were even at the bowling alley. She batted her eyelashes at Zach. “Gosh, it’s been so long since I bowled.”
He stood and offered his hand. “Let me show you how.”
Oh, gag.
They went over to the ball return, and Zach picked up a ball and handed it to her. Then he stood close enough behind her that I couldn’t have wedged a shoehorn in between them. At least no one could see how short Ashlee’s skirt was with Zach blocking the view. He guided her arm as she swung the ball forward and released it. My stomach roiled as I watched them.
Beside me, Brittany giggled. “Aren’t they the cutest couple ever?”
I settled back and got ready for what would turn out to be the longest bowling game in history. Every time it was Ashlee’s turn, I’d have to remind her. Then she and Zach would bowl together like conjoined twins. After each turn, Ashlee would have to tug down her skirt so she didn’t get arrested for indecent exposure. Then Brittany and I would bowl. In between turns, I checked on Ricky at the snack bar. A steady stream of customers kept him busy.
Finally, the tenth frame arrived. I was so happy to see the end of the game, I bowled a spare. Brittany closed out her round, followed by Ashlee and her new friend. All our scores were abysmally low.
“Another game?” Brittany asked.
I couldn’t imagine sitting through another ten frames of Bowling with Lovers. “Let’s take a break.”
Zach’s eyes lit up, and he put an arm around Ashlee’s waist. “I can show you my crazy skills in the arcade,” he told her.
“Okay,” Ashlee said a little too brightly. I knew Ashlee hated dating guys who spent time playing video games rather than paying attention to her. Maybe Zach wasn’t such a catch, after all.
“I need to freshen up my makeup,” Brittany said, grabbing her purse off the seat.
That left me to stake out the snack bar. I loitered near the napkin dispensers while Ricky waited on the two customers in line. Once they left and no new customers appeared, I stepped up. Ricky placed his hands on the counter and looked at me.
With my corn dog still sitting in my belly, I ordered a small soda.
He set a cup under the dispenser and pushed a button. When the cup was full, he popped on a plastic lid and set the soda on the counter. “Two bucks.”
I made no move to get my money out. “Prices have gone up since I was a kid,” I said.
He eyed me. “Aren’t you in your twenties? You can’t be much older than me.”
I was getting awfully close to thirty, but who was counting? “I’ve been noticing how expensive everything is these days. I don’t know how Erin manages to pay for school.”
“Her aunt helped her out some. And with this extra job, I might be able to give her a hand.”
I was touched that he cared enough about Erin that he’d help pay for her school. “I heard Carla offered to help you out so you’d be able to afford a few classes, too.”
Ricky crossed his arms. “I’m my own man. No one pays my way.”
“Is that what you told Carla?”
“You bet. She accused me of refusing the money because I didn’t want to bother with school, but that wasn’t true. A guy needs to support himself on his own. I didn’t want any help.”
Was it that simple? Had Ricky’s pride kept him from accepting the loan, or had Carla withdrawn the offer? Did Ricky tell people he’d refused it to save face? Patricia seemed to believe that Carla had retracted the loan offer.
A cough came from behind me. An overweight, balding man had gotten in line and was waiting to order. I guessed my time was up. For now.
I pulled two ones from my pocket and handed them to Ricky. I stuck a straw in my soda and wandered through the bowling alley, sipping my drink. Ashlee was still in the arcade, looking totally bored. At least until Zach talked to her. Then she plastered a smile on her face and nodded at whatever he was saying.
Brittany had finished her bathroom run and was now chatting with a good-looking guy in the lane next to ours.
Score one for Brittany.
When I’d finished walking the length of the bowling alley, I tossed my soda cup in the trash and went back to the snack area. Ricky was finishing up with another customer.
When he saw me, he gave me a wary look. “Back again already?”
“Bowling makes me thirsty. Another soda, please.” I’d better slow down on the beverages, or I’d spend the rest of the night making bathroom pit stops.
He retrieved my drink and set it on the counter. “You know, I’m glad you came back. Erin feels real bad about pulling those scissors on you the other night. She told me she wants to apologize, but she doesn’t know where you live or anything.”
And as long as she was a murder suspect, I wasn’t going to tell her. “Well, I did surprise her when I dropped by the spa unexpectedly like that. I can’t blame her for being on edge after her aunt was murdered there.”
“I hear ya, but she’d love a chance to tell you how sorry she is. She knows she scared you pretty bad.”
I bristled at the comment. Sure, I’d been petrified, but I didn’t want other people to know that. “She freaked me out a little,” I conceded, “but I think a lot of that was my own fault. It’s just that I heard . . .” I paused, unexpectedly embarrassed to be accusing this guy’s girlfriend of stabbing someone. What if it wasn’t true?
“You heard she stabbed her mom’s old man?” Ricky finished the sentence for me. “Patricia told you that, didn’t she?”
“It might have been her,” I said.
Ricky banged his fist on the counter. “She loves to spread that story around. Thinks she’s making Erin look bad. Never mind that it wasn’t Erin’s fault. But Patricia lives in her big, fancy house with her white picket fence. She has no idea what the real world is like.”
In all his defense of Erin, he had yet to deny the accusation. “So is it true? Did Erin stab her mom’s boyfriend?”
He leaned toward me. “Only after he made a move on her. She told him no. When he wouldn’t lay off, she stabbed him to protect herself.”
I felt like cheering for Erin. “I had no idea that’s what happened.”
“Her mom didn’t want to look like a bad mother, so she convinced the boyfriend not to press charges.”
“Is that when Erin moved in with Carla?”
“Yeah. Her drunk of a mom wouldn’t kick the bum out, so Erin left.”
How sad that her mom had picked a boyfriend over her own daughter. “I’d move out, too.”
Ricky’s eyes focused behind me, and I knew another customer had arrived. I put my two bucks on the counter and moved out of the way. I didn’t have any other questions for Ricky at this point. He’d told me everything I wanted to know.
Now I had to decide if he was telling the truth.
Chapter 30
I returned to our bowling lane. Ashlee was waiting near the ball return, slouched in a plastic chair. She must have ditched Zach, because he was nowhere in sight.
“What happened to your friend?” I asked, setting my soda in a cup holder.
Ashlee shot a glare toward the arcade. “Still playing some stupid video game. I bet he’s there all night.”
Brittany came up to where we sat, pulling her phone from her pocket and checking her reflection in the mirror app. “You guys up for another game or what?”
I glanced over my shoulder at the guy I’d seen Brittany talking to earlier. He was laughing with his friends, but he let his gaze stray our way every few seconds to see what Brittany was doing. “I thought you found someone new to hang out with.”
Brittany looked toward the group of guys and gave a little wave. “I told him we’d hook up after I was done bowling. He wanted to play another round with his friends, anyway.”
While I’d mentally vowed never to bowl with Ashlee again, my talk with Ricky had given me enough time to recover from our first game. “Sure, one more game is good.”
With Zach no longer giving Ashlee lessons, the second game moved much faster. Before I knew it, the tenth frame was over, and we’d all broken a hundred with our scores. We changed out of our shoes and returned them to the shoe rental area.
On our way out of the building, I spotted Zach still in the arcade. He held a large plastic gun and was shooting at a series of zombies as they popped up on a giant video screen. Two of his buddies stood to one side and cheered every time he shot a zombie in the head.
Ashlee stuck out her chin and tossed her hair over her shoulder on the way past. “He wasn’t that hot, anyway,” she muttered under her breath.
During the entire ride home, she whined about how immature Zach had turned out to be. Her tirade continued as she made her way up the stairs and into the apartment. I left Brittany to console her and escaped to my bedroom.
As I got ready for bed, I took my phone from my pocket and found that I’d missed a couple of calls from Jason. Too late to call now. Whatever he’d wanted, it’d have to wait until morning.
On my way to work the next day, I stopped by the Daily Grind for a large latte with a double shot of espresso. While I sipped my coffee, I sat in my car in the parking lot and called Jason but reached his voice mail. I’d try again later. I set my coffee in the cup holder and my phone on the passenger seat and drove to the farm.
Once in the office, I uploaded the new farm photos to the Web site. Esther came in as I was cropping the photo of the honeybee. Her blue cotton shirt was wrinkled, and her curly gray hair was uncombed.
“Everything all right, Esther?” I asked as I saved my changes to the file.
She sank into the guest chair. “Gordon and I had a long talk last night.”
My fingers froze over the keyboard. “About what?” For a second, I held out hope that Gordon had merely wanted to talk to Esther about something innocuous, like how much food the pigs were eating or how many guests were booked for next week, but that idea died as soon as she spoke.
“He told me how the whole town is talking about Gretchen killing that lady and how our reservations are disappearing because of it. I was up half the night fretting.”
“You know how Gordon worries about the reputation of this place. I’m sure we have more reservations than he realizes.”
She bit her lip. “I think Gordon might have a point. One of my own friends told me she almost canceled her appointment with Gretchen. If people are too scared to come here, we might need to make some changes.”
My stomach sank. While I’d been hoping she’d tell Gordon he was overreacting, this farm and spa was Esther’s livelihood. I couldn’t expect her to ignore the rumors altogether. At the same time, though, Gretchen didn’t deserve to be fired over gossip. “Esther, a man was murdered at this very farm when we first opened, and we didn’t go out of business. If guests are willing to stay here after all that, they won’t let a bunch of rumors stop them from visiting.”
Esther dropped her gaze to the floor. “I have to think about the farm.”
I didn’t have the heart to make her feel any guiltier than she already did. “I’m sure you’ll decide whatever’s fair for both Gretchen and this place.”
“Thanks, Dana.” She slowly stood and shuffled out of the room. I knew she liked Gretchen a lot, and I didn’t envy her decision.
I finished working on the Web site and took a minute to call Jason again. I got his voice mail and hung up without leaving a message. Then I went out the back door of the kitchen to tidy up the patio area. I cleaned up a few pieces of trash the guests had left under the table, then got the pool net out of the shed and skimmed the surface of the water, removing a handful of leaves and dead bugs.
On my way back to the shed, I passed the pigpen and noticed the water trough was muddy. I pointed a finger at Wilbur. “Didn’t I just clean that yesterday?”
He sniffed at me and turned away. With a sigh, I leaned the net against the fence, pulled on the boots, and grabbed the hose before letting myself into the pen. I stepped over to the water trough, and my boot slid in the mud. I struggled to keep my balance while Wilbur snorted at me.
“You know, you could always help,” I said crossly. “You and your buddies should be a little neater around the trough.” Wilbur hung his head, and I felt a pang of remorse. “Never mind. I know you try your best.”
I sprayed out the trough and filled it with fresh water. As I dragged the hose back through the pen, one of the pigs bumped me. I felt my feet slip out from under me again, and I flung my arms out to the sides in a desperate attempt not to hit the mud. I felt my weight shift and pull me backward. I jerked forward, overcorrected, and fell to my knees, caking my pants with muck.
“Oh, yuck,” I muttered to myself as I pulled myself to my feet. I tried to wipe the big gobs off with my hands but mostly spread the mess around even more. My knees were now coated.
I tromped over to the outside faucet and wiped off my pants as best I could with the nearby towel before washing my hands. I removed the boots and put my own shoes back on, then marched straight to the laundry room and opened the cabinet where I kept a change of clothes.
The shelf was bare. I thought back to how I’d put on those clothes after I’d fallen in the duck pond last month. Maybe I needed to work more on my balance, given the way I was always falling down.
I retrieved my purse from the office and headed to the lobby. Gordon stood at the front counter. He took a step back when he saw me, as if the mud might jump off my clothes and dirty his clean white dress shirt.
“What happened to you?”
“Had a little accident in the pigsty. I need to run home and change.”
He waved his hand in front of his face, though I knew he couldn’t smell anything. “Don’t let the guests see you on your way out.”
I looked out the window. A few cars were in the parking lot, but I couldn’t see any people. The sidewalk was empty, as well. I glanced around the vacant lobby. I almost asked what guests he was referring to, but didn’t. It might remind him of how much our appointments were down. “I’ll be careful,” I said.
I went to my car, got an old towel out of the trunk, and laid it across the seat. Then I gingerly sat down and brought my legs in after me, careful not to brush my muddy knees against the steering wheel. As I placed my wallet and phone on the car seat, I accidentally brushed the ON button to the phone and saw I had two missed calls—one from Ashlee and one from Jason—and a single voice mail. I accessed the voice mail and hit the speakerphone button.
Ashlee’s voice filled the inside of my Honda, her high-pitched tone one note below what only dogs could hear. “Oh, my gosh, Dana, you have to call me! You won’t believe what Brittany told me! You’re gonna flip out!”
What on earth was Ashlee so excited about? Had Brittany run off with the guy she met at the bowling alley? Whatever it was would have to wait until I got home. I needed to change my clothes before I did anything else.
I sped to my apartment and donned a clean pair of pants, tossing the dirty ones in the tub until I could deal with them after work. I grabbed an extra change of clothes to keep at the office and was rooting around in my closet for a sack to carry them in when my cell phone rang. I snatched it up without checking the display. It had to be Ashlee, still dying to fill me in on whatever had her so worked up.
“Dana, I hate to bother you at work.”
It took my brain a second to register that I was talking to Mom, not Ashlee.
“Dana? Is this a bad time?” she asked.
“No. I’m here. Is anything wrong?” Mom rarely called me during work unless there was a problem.
“No, everything’s fine. I’m on my break and wanted to call and see if you and Ashlee can come to dinner tonight. I miss having you girls around.”
I thought about how much I’d enjoyed our dinner earlier in the week. “I’d love to come over. I already need to call Ashlee back, so I’ll ask her if she can make it, too.” I grabbed my shoe off the floor and pulled it on. “Say, Mom, could you make that asparagus thing you used to cook? The one with the Parmesan cheese broiled on top?”
“I’d love to,” Mom gushed. “I didn’t realize you liked vegetables.”
I finished tying my shoe. “Neither did I until I stopped eating them. Now I actually miss the occasional bit of green.”
“I’ll add asparagus to the grocery list. Now I’d better let you go.” I started to say good-bye, but she interrupted me. “Oh, before I forget . . . Tell Jason how much I enjoyed his story in this morning’s paper.”
I had no idea what story she was referring to. “Jason and I have been playing phone tag so far today. Did he have a follow-up article about Patricia’s craft store?” I grabbed my other shoe as I waited for her answer.
“No, not that. The story about Stan, of course.”
I froze with my shoe partway on my foot. “What about Stan?”
“Don’t you know already? I was sure Jason would tell you right away. Stan was arrested for that spa owner’s murder.”