Evening Stars (32 page)

He pushed off the counter and walked through the kitchen. When he passed through the doorway, he kept going out the front door. Seconds later, she heard a car engine start.

Averil waited until he’d driven away to go out back and find her sister. Nina still stood by Kyle. She was smiling, but everything about her “aren’t I happy” expression was fake.

Bertie saw Averil first and hurried over. “Is everything all right?”

“Dylan had to leave.”

Bertie sighed. “Did he say anything?”

Averil shook her head.

“You would think after a decade together, your mother and I would learn to communicate better,” Bertie murmured. “All right. I’ll tell Nina. Hopefully this is our last disaster of the day.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

NINA SPENT MOST of Monday waiting to hear from Dylan. She ducked into her small office whenever she had a moment, mostly to avoid being surprised. Because she knew he was going to stop by. He had to. If nothing else, he was going to yell at her.

She still hadn’t decided how she was going to handle his hurt and anger. On the one hand, they weren’t even officially going out. He had no right to be upset that she was seeing someone else. On the other hand, they’d been seeing a lot of each other, and she had kissed him back. Would a heads-up have been out of line?

She alternated between understanding and defensiveness. Even with a full schedule of patients, she had too much time to think. But by four it was obvious he wasn’t going to drop by.

Nina thought about simply driving to his office and having it out with him. She didn’t want the conversation hanging over her head. But maybe work wasn’t the best place for them to clear the air. She could wait until he was home. Or call him. Or wait for him to come to her.

After she left work, she swung by Blackberry Preserves. Not that she was hiding out, exactly. It was just that she hadn’t been to the store in a long time. Averil had been going there regularly and was always talking about what an amazing job Cindy was doing. And Bertie respected their new employee. But checking on things was smart, too, Nina told herself as she drove toward the water.

As she stopped at a light, she scanned the cars around her, looking for Dylan’s familiar BMW. Not that she was going to confront him in an intersection. Besides, she hadn’t done anything wrong. As her brain circled back to the “we’re not even dating” argument, she prepared herself to cycle through it all for the three-hundred-and-forty-seventh time that day.

There weren’t any cars in the lot outside the antique store. Not overly surprising on a Monday before Memorial Day. After the holiday, tourists would swarm the island, but until the unofficial beginning of summer, weekdays were quiet.

She parked and went inside. Cindy was crouched by a hutch on the west side of the store, pulling out stacks of dishes. She stood when she saw Nina.

“Hi,” she said with a smile. “We had a run on table settings on Saturday. It must have been something in the air. We sold four complete sets and a bunch of mismatched pieces.” Her smile broadened. “We’re definitely going to make rent this month. I’ve been digging out the various remaining sets and trying to decide how to arrange them on the table.”

“Are the sets valuable?” Nina asked, still surprised that Blackberry Preserves wasn’t a money pit anymore. Had the potential been there all along? Had she simply needed to find the right person? Or had Bertie and Bonnie hit a lucky streak when buying inventory? After all, they
had
found a painting worth ten million dollars.

“Some are.” Cindy hesitated. “Nearly everything in the store was priced under twenty dollars. When people see that, they can easily assume it’s all junk.”

Nina nodded. “So, you’re saying that upping the price from twenty to fifty can make a difference.”

“It sure can.” Cindy motioned to the dishes. “Even the more modern place settings can be pricey. I sold a retired pattern from Lennox a few days ago. It wasn’t that old, but it was in great shape and had a few serving pieces. I got about twenty-five hundred for it.”

Nina blinked. “Dollars?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I had no idea,” she murmured. “I’m going to go check the computer.”

“Sure.”

Cindy ducked down to pull more stock from the huge hutch, and Nina went into the back office. The computer—still functioning with Windows XP—was on. She went into the password-protected accounting software, then waited while the internet connection gave her access to the latest reports from the bookkeeper they used.

Nina had tried keeping the books herself, but she simply didn’t have the time or enough accounting knowledge. Three years ago she’d turned that over to someone on the island. For eighty dollars a month, the handful of bills were paid and the receipts recorded and any employee’s payroll processed. All Nina had to do was print out the reports and enter inventory information.

The business’s checkbook balance was usually a few hundred dollars. It went up over the month, then dropped when bills had to be paid on the first. Most months, income covered the cost of their part-time employee. Summer was their best time. If she was lucky, Bonnie could pull a couple thousand out of the store each year.

Now Nina scrolled through the various reports. The checkbook balance was— She stopped and stared at the screen. The number seemed to dance and shimmer.

Seventeen
thousand
dollars? Seventeen thousand
dollars?

Her mouth dropped open as she went back through the register. There it was. Deposit after deposit. There were notes. Linens. Lunch boxes. Dolls. Three chairs and a sofa. The chandelier. The bills hadn’t changed. Cindy was working nearly forty hours a week, so she was making more than any other part-time people they had previously had, but still.

Nina looked at the other reports. Inventory had been updated. There were lists and approximate values, which were all a big increase over costs. Bonnie didn’t believe in splurging when she went on her trips.

Nina returned to the checking-account balance and stared at the number. This could pay for a new roof. They could replace the carpet. If this kept up, they could pay on the mortgage on the house. As long as she could keep her mother from taking out a second. Something Bonnie liked to do as soon as the previous one was paid off.

The income meant Nina could start saving some of her own money. Put some aside for her future—whatever that meant.

Nina logged out of the accounting system and stood. As she looked around the back room, she realized that what she’d always thought was junk was more. Or it could be. Bonnie would never take the time to figure out what was valuable and what wasn’t, but Cindy obviously could.

Nina returned to the front of the store. Cindy had stacked dishes on sideboards and chairs. Now she was playing with different settings and linens.

“Your sister is much better at this than me,” she said when she saw Nina. “She gets the colors right.” She held up a plate covered with flowers. “I’m pretty sure these are hand painted. Not my style, but still, someone will like them.”

Nina looked at the chandelier hanging overhead. “We need to get someone out here to appraise the pieces you think are worth more. Like that. I’ll get you some names of people to contact.”

Cindy grinned. “That would be great. I’ve made some estimates myself, but I’m still learning.”

Nina crossed to the jewelry displayed in a modified wardrobe. “Does this get locked at night? Isn’t some of it valuable?”

“Some of it probably is. Again, I’m not sure about some of the pieces. We haven’t been locking the wardrobe. There’s no lock.”

“Get somebody in and have a lock installed.” Nina looked around. “Maybe we should think about an alarm system. We certainly need better locks on the front and back doors. Also, there’s too much clutter.”

There was more that had to be done, she thought, feeling the weight of responsibility crowding in on her. The whole store needed to be organized. Who knew what else was buried in the piles of crap? Everything had always been so haphazard, but now that needed to change. It was like the painting, but on a smaller scale.

“How is everything being priced?” she asked. “You’re checking things online, right? You can’t depend on what my mom says. Bertie is sensible, so she might have some ideas. Maybe we should start using a bar code system. Although that would have to be installed.”

Once her mother found out about the money in the account, she was going to take it and do something stupid. Nina could feel it. Which would mean there wouldn’t be a new roof or paying off the mortgage. Bonnie would find a way to blow it on an endangered turtle or taking six hundred people she’d never met to dinner.

Cindy frowned. “Nina, you seem upset. Are you unhappy with my work?”

“No, not at all. It’s just you’re not an expert and some of these things are valuable. We have to take care of them.”

“I’m doing my best.”

Nina nodded absently. “Where’s Averil? It’s just like her to be gone when I need her.”

“She’s home, working on her book. We’ve been talking about it, and she’s making progress on the story. It’s going to be great.”

Nina shook her head. “Right. And will that happen before or after my mother learns to act like an adult?”

She grabbed her bag and headed for the door. “Thank you, Cindy. I need to go think about all this,” she said as she walked out into the late afternoon.

The sun was still shining. That surprised her. She felt as if she’d been through some kind of time-space rift and it should at least be night. Or December. She paused by her car and looked back at the store.

The good news was Bonnie and Bertie were able to find valuable items for bargain prices. The bad news was it all had to be managed. Her to-do list had just grown by a dozen items. She had to get someone in who understood the value of antiques to help them price everything. Make sure they couldn’t be ripped off by a thief with a crowbar and a couple of free hours. Get Bonnie and Bertie regular paychecks. Figure out a way to protect the rest of the money. Make sure the government was getting its share so there weren’t any fines or visits from overly eager IRS agents.

Her head was already pounding, she thought grimly as she got in her car. She needed to talk to Bertie first so they could come up with a plan. At least Bonnie never looked at the store’s books. She claimed numbers numbed her creative energy and sucked out her life force. Nina wasn’t sure her mother even had a password to access the accounting programs. Which meant there was time. Unlike the painting, this wasn’t going to blow up in her face.

If she could just get a system in place, she thought as she drove back to the house. Something simple, that meant the store was covered and Bertie and Bonnie had their money. Then maybe she could start her graceful exit. At least financially.

She pulled into the driveway and got out. Kyle pulled in behind her.

“Hey, beautiful,” he called as he got out of his low-slung sports car. “I was hoping to find you at home.”

Because he couldn’t call first? Nina sucked in a breath. No, she told herself. None of this was Kyle’s fault. He was a good guy who liked her and wanted to be with her. She wasn’t going to punish him for that.

He walked to her and kissed her. “I want to take you flying.”

“In a plane?”

He grinned. “My self-flying skills aren’t what they should be. Yes, in a plane. A little one. It’s a beautiful afternoon. The sun won’t set for another three or four hours. You can see the Sound how it’s meant to be seen.”

“From the sky?”

“Uh-huh.”

She was tired and confused and still trying to absorb what she’d learned at the store. Going inside and making notes seemed to be the smartest use of her time.

Before she could tell him that, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “Come look at your world from a different perspective. It will change everything.”

“I could use that,” she admitted. “Let me go get out of my work clothes.”

He walked inside with her. She headed down the hall to her room. As she passed Averil’s room, she saw her sister sitting on her bed, typing steadily on her laptop. Penny lay next to her. They both looked up when she paused in the doorway.

“Hey,” Averil said. “What’s up?”

“I’m going flying with Kyle.”

“Sounds like fun. Did you hear from Dylan?”

Nina shook her head. Right now she couldn’t deal with him. She pointed at the computer. “Working on your book?”

Averil nodded. “I really am and it’s going well. I have no idea if it’s any good, but I like it and I’ve gotten further than I ever have before.”

“Good luck.”

“You, too. I’ll tell Mom you won’t be back for dinner.”

“Thanks.”

Fifteen minutes later Nina had changed into jeans and a shirt. She unfastened her braid and brushed out her hair, then rejoined Kyle in the living room.

He stood when he saw her, then stepped close and kissed her. The feel of his mouth was familiar and arousing. He was uncomplicated, she thought. Not emotionally demanding. Just fun to be with. Easy. Right now easy sounded really good.

She slung her bag over her shoulder and led the way to the front door. As they walked out to her car, she heard her phone ring. She pulled it out and glanced at the screen.

Dylan.

Talk about timing, she thought, pushing the decline button and tucking the phone in her pocket.

* * *

Flying in a four-seater Cessna was nothing like taking Alaska Airlines to Las Vegas, Nina thought as she checked her seat belt and hoped Kyle really knew what he was doing. Sure the man had
told
her he was a fighter pilot, but did she have any proof? He could be a mechanic or a janitor for all she knew.

The cockpit of the small plane was tight on space. There were what seemed like hundreds of dials and gauges, sticks and a weirdly shaped thing she assumed was the steering wheel.

“You know what you’re doing, right?” she asked, hoping she didn’t sound as nervous as she felt. Because no matter how much crap there was in her life right now, she wasn’t ready to die.