A Pour Way to Dye (Book 2 in the Soapmaking Mysteries) (8 page)

I smiled. “How do you know we’re not having
an early dinner?”

She laughed. “You’re right, I don’t. What can
I get for you?”

Louisa ordered her burger and a diet soda.
“I’ll have the same,” I said. “But make mine an iced tea.”

“
Coming up,” Ruby
said.

Once she was gone, Louisa looked at me
steadily, then said, “So tell me about your love life.”

Oh no. Was that why she’d wanted to have
lunch? I would have rather discussed the Joy men than talk about
what was going on in my personal life.

“
You go first,” I said,
hoping that would dissuade her from the topic.

To my surprise, she said, “I’m still dating
John Labott, and you know it.”

John was one of our suppliers, and he’d had a
crush on Louisa forever, but he had always been too shy to do
anything about it. It had finally gotten so bad that Louisa had
asked him out herself.

“
How is that
going?”

Louisa shrugged as Ruby delivered our drinks.
“When it comes to love, you never know, do you?”

Ruby said, “Amen to that. Just listen to the
King.”

I waited until she was gone before I said
softly, “She thinks Elvis has the answer to everything.”

“
Who knows? Maybe she’s
right. Enough about me, though. What’s going on with
Kelly?”

“
I’m not sure. Listen, do
you really want to hear this, or are you just making polite
conversation?”

Louisa took a sip of her soda. “Ben, have you
ever known me to be polite about anything? I really want to
know.”

“
Okay, here goes then. We’re
supposed to take her daughter Annie to the Fair on the Square
tomorrow, but to be honest with you, Kelly doesn’t seem all that
excited about it. I’m beginning to wonder if she’s having second
thoughts. Honestly, I’m thinking about cancelling myself just to
save her the trouble.”

“
Benjamin Perkins, that is
exactly the wrong thing to do. Honestly, do you know anything at
all about women?”

I held up my hands. “Hey, take it easy on me.
So what do you think I should do?”

“
I think you should go ahead
with your plans. If Kelly wants to cancel, she will. You know how
strong-willed she is.”

I took a sip of tea, then said, “That’s one
of the reasons I’m so fond of her.”

“
Then give her some time,
and trust her judgment. If she’s having second thoughts about
anything, she’ll tell you.”

I thought about it, and realized that Louisa
was probably right. Kelly was a strong, independent, and assertive
woman. Until I heard otherwise, I was going to keep our date for
the next day. I was saved from any other discussion by the arrival
of our burgers, and it was nearly impossible to talk while eating
one. After we were finished, I was glad for the chance to walk back
to Where There’s Soap. At that point, any exercise I could get was
worthwhile.

I hesitated when I got to the porch, and
Louisa asked, “Aren’t you coming in?”

“
No, I’d better do a little
more checking on this fence. I want to pin Paulus down and see if
Andrew knows what he’s talking about.”

“
See you later, then.” I
started for the Miata when Louisa called out, “And Ben, don’t worry
about Kelly. Things will work out.”

“
I hope you’re right,” I
said. Mom had given me special dispensation to park with the
customers on the grounds that I was trying to get the situation
resolved, and I’d need my own transportation to do it.

I drove to Paulus’s house, but his car was
gone and no one answered the doorbell. Where in the world could he
be? I thought about calling Kate and asking her, but even if she
knew, I wasn’t sure she’d tell me. I’d pushed her once, but I
didn’t think I’d have a chance pushing her again so soon.

As I drove around town trying to think of
anything I could do to help the situation, I suddenly found myself
parked in front of Kelly Sheer’s law office. Now how had that
happened? Was I there to check on her progress on our case, or was
it for more personal reasons? Either way I had a legitimate reason
to visit her, and if I could get a better read on our situation
while I was there, that was fine, too.

Kelly’s office was in a complex downtown near
the courthouse, the main professional building for Harper’s
Landing. There were three other attorneys in the building, along
with two accounting firms. I walked into her office and saw that
she’d hired a new receptionist. The man was in his late twenties,
and I hated to admit it, but he was quite a bit better looking than
I was.

“
May I help you?” he asked
before the door could close behind me.

“
I need to see Kelly,” I
said.

“
Do you have an
appointment?” he asked as he scowled at his computer
terminal.

“
No, but she’ll see me if
she’s here.”

He gave me a look that conveyed how sorry he
was, and how deluded I must be. “She’s in conference at the moment,
then she’s due in court. If you’d like to make an appointment, I’d
be happy to set you up with something late next week.”

“
Tell her Ben Perkins is
here to see her,” I said, fighting the urge to blow past him and
tell her that myself.

If he recognized my name, he didn’t show it.
“Mr. Perkins, I’m afraid I can’t interrupt her at the moment.
She’s-”

Kelly came out of her office. Her long blonde
hair was pulled back, and wire-rim glasses were perched on her
nose. She looked great in her tailored suit, but I preferred her in
blue jeans.

“
Ben, what are you doing
here?” I’d had warmer welcomes from people I had to collect money
from.

“
I need to talk to you,” I
said.

“
I tried to tell him you
were busy,” the receptionist said.

Kelly took my arm and pulled me into an empty
office, no doubt where a partner would be someday. “What’s this
about?”

“
What did you find out about
our property line?” I asked.

She frowned. “It’s not as simple as I thought
it was. There’s some doubt about the original survey. I’ll have to
look into it myself on Monday.”

There was no way in the world I could wait
until then. “Why not now? This is important, Kelly.”

“
And you don’t think what
I’m doing is? I’m in a meeting at the moment, and then I’ve got to
be in court. By the time I’m finished, the register of deeds will
be closed. I’m sorry, but I’ve got to get back in
there.”

“
That’s fine,” I said. “I
didn’t mean to interrupt.”

A handsome man about my age poked his head
out of her office. “Kelly, is everything all right?”

“
It’s fine,” she said
curtly. “I’ll be right there.”

The man looked at me like I was unworthy to
be taking up space. I was getting a great many more hostile
reactions than I’d been expecting when I’d decided to visit
Kelly.

He finally closed the door, and I said,
“There’s no shortage of good-looking men around here, is
there?”

Kelly sighed. “Ben, I really do have to
go.”

“
Sorry to keep you,” I said.
I knew she had a practice to run, and that I couldn’t expect her to
drop everything to help me. I could hope, but I couldn’t reasonably
be angry if she didn’t.

As she ducked back into her office, I asked,
“We’re still on for tomorrow aren’t we?”

“
I’ll be there,” she
said.

So that idea had been a complete wash. I
tried to think of anything else I could do, but Paulus was AWOL
again, Kelly didn’t have time to help, and Andrew and his father
were both being stubborn mules. I’d thought Earnest Joy had been
the truculent one, but Andrew had been more adamant about that
fence than his father had been. So should I try to talk sense into
Earnest? The poker debt that Andrew had mentioned sounded bogus to
me, but I’d have to hear Paulus’s side of things before I
acted.

I was pulling out of the parking space in
front of Kelly’s office when I noticed my grandfather’s car parked
in front of Myra’s Shoes. I pulled back in and shut off the engine.
It was time to talk to Paulus about what was really going on.

He was trying on a pair of pristine white
walking shoes when I found him inside. “There you are,” I said. “We
need to talk.”

I swear, it looked like he wanted to run
away. I just wasn’t having much luck with my people skills, even
with my family.

“
What about?” he asked
grumpily.

“
A poker debt. Does that
ring any bells?”

Paulus looked at Myra a second, then said,
“Do you have these in elevens?”

The slim older woman with bright white hair
said, “Paulus, I told you before, they’re not going to fit.”

“
Humor an old man, would
you?”

She shook her head as she said, “I swear
crusty old geezers like you will be the death of me someday.”

After she ducked into the storeroom, we had
the place to ourselves. Paulus leaned toward me and said, “So you
know.”

“
Know what, that you bet our
back parking lot in a game of poker and lost?”

He rubbed his chin, then looked me in the
eye. “Ben, it was a long time ago. I was drinking then, pretty
heavily, I might add.”

This was the first time I’d heard about it.
“How bad was it?”

“
I blacked out a few times,”
he admitted. “I don’t remember the bet, or even the poker game, but
Earnest showed me the note the next day, and my signature was on
it. We were friends up until then, but that ended that. He never
said another word, and I just figured he tore the chit up and threw
it away. I never dreamed he’d actually try to collect on it. I’m
sorry.”

Paulus looked as if he wanted to cry, and I
put an arm around his shoulder. “Listen, we’ll work this out,
okay?”

“
I know you’re the family
fix-it man. If you can make this right, I’ll be eternally in your
debt, and I mean it.”

I stood. “I’ll do what I can. And thanks for
coming clean with me.”

“
What are you going to do
now?” he asked.

“
I’m going to go see Earnest
Joy.”

Paulus looked like he’d rather take a
beating, but he offered, “Would you like me to go with you?”

“
No, I’d better handle this
alone.” As I left the store and drove toward Earnest Joy’s house, I
finally felt like I was doing something productive. From the hours
I’d seen posted at his store, I knew he would most likely be home.
I wasn’t going to threaten or bully the man—I knew neither approach
would work—but I was going to tell him we were fighting it all the
way.

Earnest’s Cadillac was parked in front of his
house, so I knew he was there. The Joy family homestead was an
older place. I knew Earnest could afford a much better home, but
he’s stayed in the place he’d grown up. There had to be something
sentimental about the man to want to do that. If I could find that
part of him and appeal to it, I might not have to sue.

I couldn’t see a doorbell, so I knocked on
the front door. It yielded to my touch and swung silently open.
“Earnest?” I called out. “Are you there?”

There wasn’t a sound from inside, and I
thought about just leaving. After all, he might shoot me and claim
I was breaking in, knowing how ornery the man could be.

I’d just turned to leave when I saw flashing
lights behind me. Molly Mikes jumped out of her squad car with her
gun drawn. I instantly put my hands up in the air. True, this was
the same curvy brunette I’d taken to the Senior Prom, but it was
also an officer of the law drawing a bead on me. “Hey, it’s just
me.”

“
What are you doing here?”
she asked as she approached.

“
I’d feel a lot better if
you’d put that gun down,” I said.

She shook her head. “Not happening. We just
got a tip that something bad happened here. Don’t follow me in.
I’ll be back in a minute.”

I knew better than to try to argue with her.
I waited while she entered the house, her gun sweeping an arc as
she entered. There was nobody I’d rather have looking out for me
than Molly. She was smart and competent, and I’d heard from more
than one source that she was the best cop in Harper’s Landing.

I must have held my breath the entire time
she was inside. Six minutes later I heard an ambulance approach,
and two men with a gurney rushed inside. I wanted to follow them
in, but Molly had been pretty clear about my instructions. She came
out a minute later and gave me a look I hoped I never saw again in
my life.

“
Tell me what happened,” she
said in a flat, official voice.

“
What’s going on?” I asked.
“Is somebody hurt?”

She stared at me a few seconds, then said,
“Actually, somebody’s dead.”

“
What happened?” I asked. A
thousand scenarios raced through my mind, none of them good for me
and my family, given the current state of discord between the
Perkinses and the Joys.

“
I’m asking the questions
right now. Ben, I’m just going to ask you one more time. What went
on in there?”

“
Molly, I swear I don’t know
what you’re talking about. I just got here two seconds before you
showed up. There’s no bell, so I knocked on the door. It swung
open, so I started to go inside, and then I saw your lights. That’s
all that happened.”

She shook her head. “Did you touch anything
while you were inside?” she asked.

“
No, not a
thing.”