Murder and Salutations (Book 3 in the Cardmaking Mysteries) (14 page)

She shrugged. “What can I say? I’d like to
believe that all of my ex-husbands still carry torches for me. Why
is it so hard to believe that Luke loved Eliza to k the end?”

“
Because she was fooling
around with my brother-in-law, remember? I wonder if Bradford’s had
any luck tracking him down.”

“
I can’t honestly imagine
Bailey being that elusive, can you? We really should spend more
time with Sara Lynn. It’s not good for her to be alone right
now.”

I nodded. “Why don’t you go over to Forever
Memories this afternoon? I can handle things here.”

“
I wasn’t talking about
right now. Honestly, she’s surrounded by the things she loves in
her shop. Tonight is when she’ll need us the most. What do you
think? Should we make it another girls’ night out?”

There was no way I was going to be able to
keep from telling her the truth, so I decided to get it out of the
way. But first, I wanted a little diversion. “I got a salad from
Hurley’s, and there’s more there than I could ever eat. Why don’t
we split it?”

“
That sounds wonderful,” she
said, “but you didn’t answer my question.”

“
Why don’t we eat first,
then we can talk?”

It was obvious that Lillian thought I was up
to something, but she didn’t have a clue what it was yet. She
retrieved plates and cutlery from the back room while I grabbed a
couple of bottled waters from the refrigerator. After splitting the
salad between the two plates, I realized that I still probably had
more than I could handle.

I had to give Lillian credit. She managed to
hold her tongue ten minutes into the meal before she started
grilling me.

“
So why can’t you go out
with us tonight?”

“
I’ve got a date,” I said,
hoping she’d drop it, but knowing she never would.

“
Is it the mysterious
stranger from last night?” Lillian asked.

“
No, it’s Greg,” I said.
Maybe if I gave her short and simple answers to her questions, it
would go quicker.

“
You and Greg are dating
again?” She sounded surprised by the notion. “I thought you’d
written him off for good.”

“
I have,” I said. “But his
girlfriend thinks it will do us both some good if we go out on one
more date so we can get it out of our systems.”

“
That is one understanding
young woman,” Lillian said.

“
It’s just dinner. Nothing
more.”

Lillian didn’t look as though she believed
it for a second. “And where is this dinner taking place?”

I mumbled the name of the restaurant, again
hoping she’d let it go.

No such luck.

“
I’m sorry, I didn’t catch
that. Where are you going?”

“
The Chateau,” I said,
louder than I’d meant to. “He’s taking me to the fanciest
restaurant in Rebel Forge. There, are you happy?”

“
The question is, are you,
Jennifer? Do you really want to get Greg out of your system
forever?”

I stabbed an errant lettuce leaf, then
stared at it— impaled on my fork—for a second before I ate it.
“Most of the time I think so, but then Greg does something charming
and I find myself falling for him again. Lillian, I know you think
we belong together, but I don’t. And in the end, that’s what
matters, isn’t it?”

My aunt patted my hand. “My dear, what you
think is the only thing that matters. If you can’t find happiness
with him, then you should move on. Just be prepared for the
consequences of your decision, though.”

“
What do you
mean?”

She sighed gently, then said, “This woman
wants him in her life, and she wants him all to herself. Sending
you two out on a date is her desperate attempt to get all of Greg’s
attention, and not just some of it. Are you prepared to lose him
forever?”

The finality of Lillian’s words struck home.
Was I really ready to let him go? He certainly found ways to upset
me, but I had agreed to marry the man, not once, but twice. What if
we’d gone through with the ceremony one of the times we’d been
engaged? Would we still be married, or would I have a failed
attempt under my belt in my thirties. I honestly couldn’t answer
the question, and for the hundredth time, I wondered if going out
with Greg again was the wisest thing I could do.

I suddenly realized Lillian was still
staring at me. “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”

“
You’ll do the right thing
when the time comes, Jennifer. I have faith in you.”

“
I just wish I did,” I said.
“Enough about Greg. What are we going to do this afternoon to solve
Eliza Glade’s murder?”

“
I was hoping you’d ask,”
Lillian said. “I’ve got a great idea about how to approach Kaye
Jansen. It’s going to be tough to get her to talk, but I think I
know how to do it.”

“
She came by the card shop
this morning,” I admitted. In all honesty, I’d forgotten all about
Kaye, given what had happened since her visit.

“
What did she
want?”

“
She was taking up a
collection for flowers. While she was here, I took a chance and
asked her a few questions.”

“
Did you have any luck with
her?”

I related what Kaye had told me, and I swear
it was all Lillian could do not to rub her hands together with
glee. “That’s excellent work, Jennifer.”

She got up and headed for the door. I asked,
“Hey, where are you going?”

“
I’m going to track down
those rumors and see if my of them are true.”

“
And what am I supposed to
do in the meantime?”

Lillian smiled at me. “Why, you make and
sell cards, of course.”

Before I could stop her, she was gone. It
appeared .hat my aunt had ditched me once again, but I wasn’t going
to stand idly by, waiting for her to report back in.

There was some snooping I could do myself,
and the best part was, I didn’t even have to leave the card
shop.

Chapter 8

At first I was afraid she wasn’t there, but
after ten rings, Savannah picked up the phone.

“
Hey, it’s Jennifer. I
wasn’t sure you were working today,” I said.

“
That’s the problem. Things
are hopping right now. Can I get you something to go,
honey?”

“
No. Listen, I’ll call you
back later when you’re not as busy.” I suddenly felt silly for
bothering her. Though it was true that Savannah had the best
grapevine of anyone I knew in Rebel Forge, it wasn’t fair to impose
on our friendship.

“
Now how on earth will you
know that all the way over there at your card shop?” Savannah’s
laughter matched her personality perfectly: warm and joyful. “I’ve
always got time for my friends. What can I do for you?”

“
It’s nothing, really. I was
just wondering if you’d heard anything about Eliza Glade’s
murder.’’

“
Do you honestly think folks
around here can about anything else?” She lowered her voice as
added, “I’m afraid your sister’s ears must have burned off by now,
the way people are talking about her. I wouldn’t blame her if she
never left the house again.”

“
Have you heard anybody
else’s name mentioned as a suspect?”

“
Jennifer Shane, what are
you up to? Are you digging into another murder?”

“
Savannah, I’m afraid if I
don’t, Bradford’s not going to have any choice but to arrest Sara
Lynn. That would tear my family apart. You know that, don’t
you?”

Her voice was suddenly soothing and
motherly. “Now take it easy, child. Let me think about it a second.
I’ve heard Addie Mason’s name mentioned more than a time or two,
and everybody knows how upset Luke was with his ex-wife. Let’s see,
one woman mentioned Polly Blackburn, but that’s about it. Sorry I
don’t know more.”

“
Has anybody said anything
about Kaye Jansen?” So far, Savannah had named nearly every suspect
on my list.

“
No, I don’t think so, but
that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. I do my best, but some folks
just don’t talk loud enough for me to overhear them.”

I heard her husband, Pete, call out to her,
“Here’s another order. Savannah.”

She barely covered the phone as she said,
“Then trot out here and deliver it yourself. I’m on the phone.”

I walked over to the door with the telephone
in my hand and opened it, just so Savannah could hear the chime.
“Thanks for your time, but you’re busy, and I am, too.”

“
I’ll keep my ears open,
Jennifer,” Savannah said. ‘This is important.”

“
Thanks,” I said as I hung
up the telephone.

I felt better recruiting
Savannah to our cause. She’d hear more of the gossip around town in
an hour than I would in a month, and now that she was helping out,
Lillian and I could focus on the four people who had the most to
gain from Eliza’s death. Besides my sister and her errant husband,
I amended silently. Since there were no customers in the store, or
even prospects on the sidewalk out front, I decided to go through
my storeroom and collect some boxes for my move. I hated to leave
Whispering Oak, but the cottage was going to be a neat place to
live, even if Reggie wasn’t excited about the prospect. That was
okay
with me. Helena more than made up for
it with her own enthusiasm.

I was still amassing my collection of boxes
when the front door chimed. I couldn’t have been more shocked if
the president himself had just walked in the door when I saw Addie
Mason standing there with a gift bag in her arms.

“
Hi,” I said warily.
“Listen, I’m sorry about before. I was out of line.”

She shook her head. “No, I was the one who
lost it. I came to say I’m sorry. Lillian helped me realize that I
was just lashing out at you.”

Addie handed me the bag, and I saw it was
full of custom-made soaps and candles from her business. “You
shouldn’t have,” I said. “But I wanted to.” As she looked around my
shop, Addie said, “I’ve always wanted to see how you make, these
wonderful cards. It’s fascinating.”

“
I’d be happy to show you,
if you’ve got the time, but who’s watching your place?”

Addie’s posture slumped. “I didn’t have the
heart to keep it open,” she admitted. “It was probably insane for
me to even come in today, but to be honest with you, I was afraid
if I didn’t go in this morning, I wouldn’t be able to step inside
the shop ever again. Crazy, isn’t it?”

“
No, it makes perfect sense
to me. So what kind of card would you like to make?”

She looked as if she was ready to cry, but
she manned to hold it in. “Can I take a rain check, Jennifer? I
just want to go home, now that things are patched between us. I
never could stand having anyone mad at me. It’s a character flaw, I
guess.”

“
Hey, everybody wants to be
liked,” I said, though I wasn’t sure it was true. Eliza Glade
surely hadn’t put in much effort to achieve that, it.

As Addie started for the door, I said, “Hang
on a second.” I grabbed one of my basic card-making kits and
pressed it into her hands. “If you feel like trying it later, this
will give you something to do.”

“
I can’t take this from you,
Jennifer. That’s not why at brought you a gift.”

I smiled at her. “Don’t worry, I promise
it’s not quid pro quo. I’d like you to have it.”

“
Thanks,” she said, and
before I could say another word, she was gone. Now why did she have
to go and be nice to me? I was all ready to go after her as my
prime suspect, and she’d made a peace offering and set out an
apology. It was going to be hard thinking of her as a murderer now.
Then again, could that be the point? Had she come by my card shop
with gifts in hand to diffuse my zeal? If so, it was a clever and
devious act, more suited to her former partner than to what I knew
of Addie. But it had worked—or at least it had before I inspected
she might be playing me. I put the gift bag on the counter and
tried to think about what Lillian and I should do next. I knew she
was following her own line of inquiry, but so far I hadn’t added
much to the mix. I was still staring off into space when Lillian
came back. I was surprised, when I glanced at the dock, to see that
it was almost closing time.

“
You’ve been gone a while,”
I said.

“
Detective work takes time,
skill, dedication and a gentle manner with people,” she said.
“Besides that I stopped off and had a facial, too.”

“
Does that help you
think?”

“
No, but my skin feels
absolutely marvelous. That’s reason enough to pamper myself, isn’t
it? I wish you’d let me treat you to a day at the spa. It’s
wonderful, Jennifer.”

“
Thanks, but I’ll stick with
my oatmeal and olive oil scrub,” I said.

“
You don’t know what you’re
missing,” she said.

“
And isn’t it probably
better that way? One day of pampering with you and I’d never be
able to face my homemade scrub again.”

“
Perhaps you have a point,”
she conceded. “So what have you done this afternoon? Have we had
much business?”

“
It’s been quiet,” I
said.

Lillian noticed the gift bag on the counter.
“What have we here?”

“
You’re never going to
believe this. Or maybe you will. Addie came by with a peace
offering, and from the way she was talking, I have a sneaking
suspicion that you were behind the whole thing.”