Snuffed Out (Book 2 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) (21 page)

Millie smiled. “I’ll have it ready in a
minute.”

The man loosened his tie, looked at me and
said, “Is it as good as it smells?”

“
Better,” I said, then took
another bite. For a minute I was afraid he was going to try to
steal a carrot off my plate, but Millie came back soon enough.
“Would you like coffee with that?”

“
You wouldn’t happen to have
a tall glass of cold milk around, would you?”

“
Coming right
up.”

He sat across the cafe, no doubt to enjoy
his own memories. I watched him just long enough to see the
expression on his face when he took the first bite, then returned
my full attention to the meal before me.

Before I realized what I’d done, my plate
was clean. “Seconds?” Millie asked.

“
Not unless I take a nap for
the rest of the day. I’m going to have a hard time staying awake as
it is. Millie, that was wonderful.”

“
I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
I thank you for talking to Heather.”

“
As I said, you’re welcome.
I’d say you shouldn’t have, but I’d be lying. Now I’d better get
back to work.”

As I left the cafe, my blue jeans felt snug
on me. I was going to have to do a lot more walking if I was going
to be able to wear them much longer.

I lingered outside the candleshop, not eager
to go back in on such a beautiful autumn day. There was that
crispness in the air filled with a longing to cut school and play
hooky. In the other jobs I’d had in my life, one day off now and
then never made that much difference, and I probably took more time
off than I should have. But if I was being honest with myself,
there was a part of me that longed for those days. It wasn’t that I
didn’t love At Wick’s End, or River’s Edge, for that matter, but
I’d been in school entirely too long without a day off.

That wasn’t going to happen, though.

I walked back in and found Eve watching me
from the second I passed through our door.

I asked, “What is it? Did I get a stain on
my shirt?”

She shook her head. “Not that I can see.
Harrison, I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

Uh oh. This couldn’t be good. “What’s on
your mind?”

“
Don’t you trust me?” she
asked, a mixture of anger and hurt in her voice.

“
What makes you ask me that?
You know I do.”

“
Then why don’t you ever
take any time off? Believe it or not, the candleshop was running
just fine before you came along. Belle used to take two afternoons
off a week, and if the mood moved her, she would grab an entire day
now and then, too. I’m perfectly capable of handling things around
here.”

“
You know what? When you’re
right, you’re right.” I started for the door.

“
Where are you
going?”

I said, “I’m taking this afternoon off.
After all, I trust you.”

“
I didn’t mean right now”
she said, surprised by the immediate success of her
argument.

“
There’s no time like the
present” I said. “See you in the morning.”

“
That will be fine,” she
said, still unsure about what exactly had happened.

I’d been looking for an excuse to get away,
and Eve had offered me a perfect one.

I thought about going up to my apartment and
changing, but my jeans would be good enough for whatever I wanted
to do, and I honestly needed to get away from River’s Edge.

There was gas in my truck, money in my
wallet, and a smile on my face. I suddenly knew exactly what I
wanted to do. I was less than an hour from the Blue Ridge Parkway,
a place I truly loved. Who wouldn’t? It was a ribbon of road that
ran through some of the prettiest country there was. Even the
forty-five-mile-an-hour speed limit appealed to me. I wanted time
to savor the colors of the trees, and since the road wound through
a higher elevation, I should get a great show. I would have never
tried it on the weekend because of the traffic, but I figured I’d
be safe during the
week.                        

Driving up into the mountains, I rolled my
windows down despite the chilly air and turned my radio off
completely. It was an afternoon worth bottling, if I could have
figured out a way to do it.

It was nearly six by the time I got back to
Micah’s Ridge. Beside me on the seat, I had a bag of apples, a jug
of cider, and a half a case of pumpkin butter. I was hooked on the
stuff, and loaded up whenever I visited the mountains. It amazed me
that I’d been able to get a week’s worth of relaxation in one
afternoon, and I promised myself to start taking advantage of
having Eve there to run things at the candleshop. There was a world
to see beyond the confines of At Wick’s End, and I was going to
start taking advantage of it.

Eve looked surprised to see me as I walked
into the store. “Harrison, I thought you were gone for the day.”
She was totaling out the cash register and getting the deposit
together.

“
I know how much you hate
going to the bank, so I thought I’d do it for you. Not that I don’t
trust you,” I added with a smile.

I handed her a jar of pumpkin butter and
said, “By the way, here’s a souvenir from my trip.”

I wasn’t sure how Eve would react, but she
smiled as she took the jar. “I haven’t had this since I was a
little girl.”

“
Well, then I’d say it’s
high time you had some now, wouldn’t you say?”

She allowed a slight smile to break through.
“You’re certainly in a good mood, aren’t you?”

“
I appreciate the break,” I
said as she handed the deposit to me.

“
Any time,” she
said.

“
I’m going to hold you to
that.”

“
Goodness me, I’ve created a
monster.”

I saluted her and said, “You can’t even
imagine.”

I was feeling good about the world as I
walked out of At Wick’s End.

Then I heard angry voices down the way.

It appeared the truce between Sanora and
Heather was officially over.

“
I don’t want you here,” I
heard Heather nearly shout as I rushed toward them.

“
Do you honestly think I
care what you want?” Sanora was matching her, toe to toe. “You
tried to come between my husband and me. It didn’t work, though,
did it?”

Heather’s cheeks burned. “He was your
ex-husband.”

“
Ladies, what’s going on?” I
asked forcefully.

“
Butt out, Harrison,”
Heather snapped.

“
This doesn’t concern you,”
Sanora added.

“
So at least you two agree
on something. This is all none of my business.”

Neither one of them cracked a smile. Hey, it
was a tough crowd.

I continued unabashed. “Since we’ve agreed
it’s a personal matter between the two of you, why don’t we go
somewhere in private where you can discuss the situation like
adults.”

“
I’m not going anywhere with
her,” Heather said.

“
I’m willing to,” Sanora
said, a little sweeter than needed.

Heather grunted at her, rolled her eyes at
me, then stormed back into her shop.

I asked Sanora, “What brought that on?”

“
I made the mistake of
leaving my shop at the same time she left hers. Harrison, I’m not
looking for trouble, but I won’t be a doormat either.”

“
All I ask is that you two
try to get along.”

“
You’re talking to the wrong
person then,” Sanora said. I

“
Let me go talk to Heather.
I’ll see what I can do.”

The wind chimes over Heather’s door danced
as I opened it, and she turned rigidly to me as I walked in.

“
Harrison, I’m not in the
mood for any foolishness right now, so just turn around and walk
right back out.”

Esmeralda lithely danced to me and leaped up
into my arms. It looked like she’d forgiven me. “Sorry, I can’t. I
seem to have an armful of cat at the moment.”

“
How could you take her side
like that?” Heather asked, the tears a heartbeat away.

“
What are you talking about?
I’m not taking anybody’s side.”

“
Exactly.” Heather crowed.
“And why is that, Harrison? I thought we were friends. Apparently I
was wrong.”

I shook my head and scratched behind Esme’s
ear. She was purring contently as I did so. “If you think I’m some
kind of fair-weather friend, you’re sadly mistaken. But if you
consider friendship me standing by while you muck things up. then
you’re wrong there, too. I’m trying to help. Heather.”

“
Then stay out of it,” she
said.

I laughed. “Sorry, that’s not the kind of
friend I am, either. I have a tendency to meddle. Probably should
have told you that before, shouldn’t I?”

She tried to look sternly at me, but my
feigned sincerity won her over and her harsh countenance finally
broke into a smile. “That’s not fair. I want to be angry.”

“
By all means, don’t let me
stop you,” I said.

“
Why do you care,
anyway?”

I said, “Well, you’re my friend, and I want
to help you get over this animosity you have for Sanora. Besides,
things are tense around River’s Edge, and it’s not good for anyone.
Any chance of burying the hatchet and I don’t mean in someone’s
back?”

“
Oh, I won’t sneak around to
do it. I’ll come at her from the front.”

“
Now, now, no backsliding.
And here we were making such good progress.”

She shook her head. “I admit it, I lost my
temper. It won’t happen again.”

“
So any chance we could
offer her a cup of coffee and talk about it?”

Heather shook her head. “I’ve already talked
too much as it is.”

“
Good enough. I do
appreciate you making the effort.”

I handed her Esme, who seemed reluctant to
leave my grasp. “By the way, I believe this belongs to you.”

She took her cat from me and gave me a
genuine laugh. “Haven’t you heard? Cats don’t belong to people,
it’s the other way around.”

I bowed to them both, then left while
Heather was still in a good mood. I’d taken a chance, confronting
them like that, then following up with Heather in her own den, but
it had been true. Since Sanora’s return, it felt as if all of
River’s Edge had been tiptoeing around the two of them. Maybe now
they’d released enough tension to at least ignore each other if
they couldn’t manage civility.

I hoped so, at any rate.

The joy of my trip had been dampened but not
entirely eliminated, so before anyone else had the opportunity to
kill the rest of it, I decided to take the deposit to the bank.

Upstairs later, for dinner I had a few
apples, sipped some cider, and had pumpkin butter on toast. That
was one of the coolest things about being an adult, as far as I was
concerned. Every now and then I could have dessert for dinner. Some
people didn’t think it was all that great a perk, but it was one I
reveled in.

I was in no mood to go out.

Instead, I curled up
with
Rest You Merry
from Ms. MacLeod and settled in for the
night.          

Chapter 16

I normally got to At Wick’s End an hour
before opening the shop, but since I had indulged in a little extra
sack time, I rolled in with just thirty minutes to spare.

I found the woman from the day before
standing outside the door, a chocolate cake in her hands.

She offered it to me, then said, “Here’s the
cake, as promised.”

I smiled broadly at her, trying to hide my
surprise. My sense of humor oftentimes got me into trouble, but
this was the first time it had brought me a cake!

“
I see you’ve brought your
golden ticket,” I said as I unlocked the door and held it open for
her.

She stepped inside, then said, “My husband
thought you were kidding, but I knew better.”

“
You should have brought him
along. I wouldn’t have minded sharing.”

She laughed. “Are you kidding me? He kept
after me last night until I baked him one, too.” I took the platter
from her and said, “Feel free to look around. If you don’ mind, I
think I’ll have a slice for breakfast.”

“
Breakfast? You’re kidding
me.”

I shook my head. “Hey, it’s got flour, eggs,
all kinds of healthy stuff in it. Breakfast is the most important
meal of the day, you know. Care to join me?”

“
I had cereal, thanks
anyway.”

I smiled. “You don’t know what you’re
missing.” I flipped all the lights on and went back to the office
for a knife, a couple of plates and two forks. I thought about
trotting upstairs for a glass of cold milk, but since Eve wasn’t
due in until noon, I had to stay with the shop.

I put the utensils down and said, “Forgive
me, but should have introduced myself. I’m Harrison Black.”

“
Celeste DeAngelo,” she
said.

“
Celeste, it’s a pleasure
knowing you.” I cut a fat wedge of cake and tasted the first bite.
“Wow, it’s wonderful.”

She smiled. “I’m glad you like it.”

“
Are you sure you won’t join
me? How about just a small slice?”

She laughed lightly. “Why not? I’ll cut my
own piece though.”

I handed her the knife and
she cut a sliver of cake and put it on the offered plate. I sneered
at her serving size. 
 
”You could read through that. Come on, have some
cake.”