Page 13 of Vows of Murder

My phone rang. It was my aunt.“Good morning.”

“Don’t forget my hairdresser is coming to the house on Saturday morning.” My aunt didn’t say hello. She just got right to the point.

I glanced at my planner. I hadn’t written this down. “That will work fine. Amanda and Beth might need a stylist. Do you think they could be part ofthe schedule?”

“Who are Amanda and Beth?” My aunt’s sigh said it all.

“Greg’s mother and his brother’s girlfriend? I know I mentioned them.” I smiled at Amanda, who was pretending not to listen. She was pretty good at it.

“I’ll tell the shop there will be two more.” Aunt Jackie paused. “I know you’re not working this week. Do I need to go in and check on anything?Make deposits?”

“Evie’s handling anything that comes up. I told her that if it gets crazy and she doesn’t know what to do, she could call me, or you if she can’t reach me.” Since my aunt’s retirement this last year, I’d been trying to keep her out of the day-to-day business. When she was in town. Which wasn’t often due to her love of travel.

Chapter 6

We’d already taken three windmill statues back to the car and Amanda was still shopping. We were near the bookstore, so I aimed her that direction. “I need to chat with the owner here for a few minutes. See if there’s anything you need.”

“You just got me three books. I’m going to have to ship back books along with all these cute souvenirs I’m getting today,”Amanda gushed.

I thought maybe she was on a shopping high. Maybe that was what she’d had in common with the first Mrs. King—they both loved shopping. I liked it up to a point, then I was done. Most of my friends were that way as well. My aunt had insisted on a designer dress for my engagement party, then the designer had moved out of South Cove and down to LA. So a friend of mine had offered to make my dress but ended up going to work for a designer in Europe. She recommended this bridal shop in Santa Barbara instead.

I was happy with my dress. My aunt thought I should have found a new designer and gotten a one-of-a-kind creation. I didn’t want the one-of-a-kind price tag. I had a feeling that Amanda would have sided with my aunt. Luckily, all of the wedding decisions were already made. Again. For a third time. If Amanda complained about something not being good enough, I could use that excuse. But so far, she hadn’t complained.

I paused at the entrance and found the cashier’s desk. Walking over, I introduced myself and asked if the owner or manager was available. The clerk shook her head. “Sorry, it’s Monday. Alisha works weekends and takes off the first two days of the week. She’s the owner and manager.”

I pulled out a card and handed it to her. “If you’d give her this, I’d appreciate it. I’d love to come and chat about possible joint ventures we could do together.”

The woman glanced at the card. “I’ve been to your shop. I’m part of the writer group that meets there on Thursday nights. It’sa nice place.”

“Thanks. This is nice as well.” The shop had floor-to-ceiling bookshelves surrounding the small first floor with an additional two rows of shelving down the middle.

“I like your seating area. When we have events, they’re held upstairs in the children’s section. That’s the only place we have for people to sit. Then we have to drag chairs in and put them away after the event.” The woman, Faith per her name tag, pointed upstairs. “We usually have two people on staff at all times. One for each floor. This morning,it’s just me.”

A woman was standing behind me, waiting to buy a book. I stepped out of her way. “Well, I’ll let you get busy, then. Please ask Alisha to call me. I’dlove to talk.”

“Sounds good,” Faith responded, turning to the customer. “Did you find everything you needed?”

I wandered through the stacks and found Amanda looking at the self-help books. “Finding anything?”

“I need something on turning your life around when you’ve been challenged. But I don’t see anything with that subject. If I needed a twelve-step program or was codependent, there are a ton of choices.” Amanda stood from examining the books on the bottom shelf.

“What about a grief book? Maybe there’s something in that category about starting over,” I suggested as I went around the shelf. And found books on the history of cars. “Or maybe I could find something in myshop tomorrow?”

Amanda smiled as she followed me out of the shop. “Did you have a productive encounter?”

“No, the owner wasn’t working.” I headed to the next souvenir shop. “But Ileft my card.”

“In my experience, you need to call ahead and see when your target is going to be in the store. It’s an old salesman’s trick.” Sheshook her head as we window-shopped. “Can we grab something to eat now? I’m beginning to feel a little peckish.”

* * * *

By the time we got home, Greg had already called to tell us he wouldn’t be there for dinner. I parked the car in the driveway and turned to Amanda. “Do you want to go out and find something for dinner? There’s a lovely seafood restaurant just down the highway. We can drop these packages off, let Emma out, then head out for dinner. Or we could go to Diamond Lille’s if you’re feeling likecomfort food.”

“I don’t want to be a bother.” Amanda looked tired.

I shrugged. “If we eat at home, I have to cook. If we go out, I get a break too. It’s up to you, though. If you’re too tired, I can grill something.”

“I’d love to get some seafood. It’s not something we eat a lot at home.” She smiled as she grabbed her bags. “Just tell me what’s easiest for you. I’m the interloper here.”

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