Page 7 of You Can Leave Your Hat On

But on the way to their seat, Maisey’s hat kept clipping people’s faces and knocking off other people’s hats. “I’m sorry.” “Excuse me.” “Oh, I’m so terribly sorry.” “Pardon me.” “I’m sorry.” By the time they got to the table, she’d uttered those phrases a dozen times.

They’d no more than placed their drink orders when she stood. Carly gazed up at her. “Where are you going?”

“I saw a coat and hat rack out in the foyer. I’m going to put my hat on it. Damn thing’s bugging me. Be right back.” It took her a hot minute to get back to the foyer because the place was so packed, but when she did, she hung her hat on a peg. Apparently several other women had the same idea, because there were at least five more hanging there.

Lunch was wonderful. They served traditional English tea cakes and finger sandwiches, along with a choice of several different hot teas. A guitarist and flutist played and sang traditional British and Scottish tunes, and it was all very grand. Everything in the place was dark, highly-polished wood and brass, and it felt for all the world like an old Scottish pub, but with floral china on the tables. Before their meal was over, they ordered a bottle of Prosecco and enjoyed it. It had been a very, very long time since Maisey had such fun, and she wasoverwhelmed with gratitude for her friends and the way they included her in everything.

“Oh my god, this is delicious,” Cherilyn mumbled with a full mouth as she took a bite of her dessert.

“British sticky toffee pudding. One of the most delicious things on earth,” Carly agreed with a smile. “I love it. Ross’s mom makes it from time to time. I can’t tell you how often I dream of this stuff. I have to learn to make it.”

“Oooo, I want the recipe!” Maisey exclaimed after she swallowed the bite she’d been chewing. “It’s incredible.”

“You learn to make it, you teach me. I’m no cook, but I’d make this,” Cherilyn told her.

Maisey nodded. “I know, right? It’s so amazing.”

They finished their dessert, paid the tab, and headed out. Just as she was climbing into the van, Cherilyn asked Maisey, “Where’s your hat?”

“Oh! I almost forgot it! Thanks!” Not wanting to keep her friends waiting, Maisey was very nearly running as she headed back into the building, and she grabbed the hat from the rack, then ran back out. When she was buckled into her seat, Cherilyn took off for the hotel so they could collect their cars.

“Be sure and get all your stuff,” Cherilyn reminded Carly and Maisey, so Maisey started gathering stuff up. She had a few things that Lyra had given her from the farm?a small trophy that all the visitors received, a printed invitation back with a number to call to schedule, a small bottle of merlot with the farm’s label on it, and a scarf with their racing colors. She was really excited about getting to wear the scarf at some point. Then there was the gift bag the restaurant had given all the women who’d attended?sampler bags of tea, a packet of scone mix, a charm to commemorate the event, and a small booklet with the history of the pub. And it had the recipe for the sticky toffee pudding on the back! But altogether, it was a lot to carry.

“Damn hat,” she mumbled as she tried to pick everything up. It was too much, so she plopped the hat down on her head. At least she wouldn’t have to carry that.

Blackness dropped, a darkness so deep that it was terrifying. Out in the distance, she could see a little bit of light, but very little. A voice was saying something, and then she heard one inside her head: “Oh, god, please, no! I don’t know where he is! I swear, I don’t!” More of another voice, and then the one in her head spoke again. “I swear, if I knew, I’d tell you!” More of the unintelligible voice before the one in her head said, “It won’t. He doesn’t love me anymore, so if you think this will get him here, you’re wrong! Please! Please don’t! I…” The sensation of falling was so acute that Maisey could feel every muscle in her body tense.

The next instant, she was lying on the pavement, staring up at the sky, with Cherilyn on one side of her and Carly on the other. “Maisey? Maisey! Are you okay? Hey, Maisey, honey, are you all right?” Carly was yelling, as though Maisey were deaf.

“You don’t have to scream. I can hear you,” Maisey whispered, groggy. She lay there for a minute before she managed to say, “Oh, no.”

“Oh no what? Are you sick and didn’t tell us?” Cherilyn barked.

“No. It’s happening again.” How, she wasn’t sure, but it was.

“What’s happening?” Carly asked.

“I saw… somebody. And something. But I don’t understand. I bought this hat new. It shouldn’t…” When she’d struggled to sitting, she picked up the hat, and her heart fell into her shoes. “Oh, shit.”

“What?” Cherilyn demanded.

“This isn’t my hat. I picked up somebody else’s hat. It’s not mine. See? It’s got a really, really narrow ribbon for a band. Minehad a wide grosgrain ribbon. Shit, shit, shit. This is somebody else’s hat, and somebody died while they were wearing it.”

Carly planted her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I wish I were.” Maisey struggled to stand, so Cherilyn and Carly helped her. On her feet, she looked around and reminded herself that she was in Lexington. “Damn it. I have no way of knowing whose hat this is. No way. I’m not even from here. What the hell do I do?”

Carly shrugged. “Go back and see if you can swap it? Maybe find the person who had it?”

“No! They might be the killer.”

Cherilyn’s eyes went wide. “So you’re saying this one belonged to somebody who was killed too?”

“’Fraid so,” Maisey said with a nod.

“How does this keep happening to you?” Carly asked. “It’s not like you want it to.”

“I told Aaron last time, these things are seekingmeout. I’m not seekingthemout. I wish they’d quit. I bought the coat. I accepted the boots as a gift, so it’s not about things that I buy. And I didn’t even get this hat as a gift. I accidentally picked it up. This thing waslooking for me. Don’t you see?”

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