Page 18 of Merry Murder Season
I looked around the empty shop. “I think I’m good.”
Evie laughed as she picked up her coffee cup. “Your aunt told me I should talk you into shortening this morning shift. She said you don’t get enough customers after the commuter rush to make it worthstaying open.”
“There is no way I’m setting up a split shift for the morning. I’d be fine, but what happens when I’m off on vacation? Then someone has to work early, then come back for a later shift? It doesn’t make sense for the employee.” Sometimes my aunt looked at the business side without thinking about the human component. “Besides, it’s my shift, I don’t mind having some time to read some of these advance copies the publishers send. I still have my reviews to do for Deek’s newsletter.”
“Don’t remind me. I’m behind on that too.” She took another sip of coffee and headed to the back. “Thanks for being a great boss, Jill.”
It warmed my heart when I heard things like that from the staff. I considered all of them friends. Tilly was my newest stray and she had fit in like she’d been on staff for years. Sasha had been one of my first employees. She’d been part of an employment program we’d participated in, and after the state-covered training time was over, I’d hired her on permanently. Then she went to school and now had a great job in the city working with computers. Or maybe she did accounting. Either way, she was a success. She and Toby had dated for years, and I’d thought it might turn into something, but neither one of them wanted to sacrifice their job to make the relationship work. For them, it was a location issue. Toby couldn’t imagine leaving South Cove. Sasha couldn’t imagine coming back. She didn’t want to give up her job or her life in the city.
It reminded me of Beth and Jim’s situation, except Jim didn’t want Beth working at all. If Sasha had moved back to South Cove, she would have had to cobble together several jobs to make what she made in the city. And that would interfere with her time with her preschool daughter, Olivia.
Lovewas never easy.
When I got home, Beth’s car was parked in the driveway. She was nowhere to be found. I had an idea where she was though, so I changed, and Emma and I went to the beach.
I found Beth sitting on a piece of driftwood, staring outinto the ocean.
She waved as we approached, and I saw her wipe tears away from her face. When we got there, Emma greeted her like she hadn’t seen Beth in forever. I unhooked her from her leash and she ran to the shoreline to play in the waves. My dog loves the beach almost as much as I do.
“Hey, I thought you were coming to the shop to get the key.” I picked up a rock from thepile below us.
“I just got here, so I thought I’d wait here instead. I knew you’d come eventually.” She watched Emma chase a seagull.
“Did Amanda and Jimget off okay?”
The only answer I got was a shrug.
“Okay, what didJim do or say?”
She laughed and looked at me. “I’m kind of an open book, aren’t I?”
“You wear your heart on your sleeve. It’s not a bad thing.” I saw a couple coming down the stairs and called Emma back to us. She ran fast, then sat in front of me, a big doggie grin on her face. I clicked the leash on and she lay down, watchingthe newcomers.
“I don’t know if they got on their plane or not because he didn’t even want me to go to the security line to say goodbye. He just pulled the car up to the curb and left it running. Then he got their luggage out and waited for his mom to say goodbye. He said he’d call me when they got in.” She wiped tears away. “No hug, no kiss. No tearful goodbye. He’s making me pay for asking for a littletime to think.”
“You can’t give in. This is the opportunity of a lifetime.” I realized what I’d said after it came out. “Sorry, I know, it’s not my business. It’s just sucha good offer.”
“The thing is, I agree with you. If I allow him to bully me out of this job, where do I draw the line? Number of kids? What color do we paint the kitchen? What books I can read? Is Jim thinking that a marriage means he makes allthe decisions?”
I shook my head. “Sorry, I’m not a ‘Jim whisperer.’ Maybe you should ask Greg. I’m sure he’s going to say Jim’s an idiot. He tells me thatall the time.”
Beth laughed, which waswhat I’d hoped.
“Come on, let’s walk and then go see what we have for lunch. We might have to run to that local seafood place you love and eat there.” I stood and held out my hand. When she took it, I pulled her up to her feet. “No moping today. We’re going to talk about what your life would look like in your new position. And we’re going to eat. And maybe walk some more. Then make plans for the rest of the time you’re here. What do you want to get done this week?”
As Beth mapped out her goal list for the upcoming week, we headed out to walk the beach. We were following the couple that had come down earlier, but the beach was straightforward. There wasn’t much else we could do.
When the couple turned around and got close enough for me to recognize them, I stopped talking mid-sentence. We’d been discussing my work schedule, and I was about to tell Beth that we could visit the college library inthe afternoons.
“Josh, where’s Mandy?” I asked.
Josh Thomas was walking with the mean girl from the jewelry store. Matty. She narrowed her eyes when I said Mandy’s name, and Josh turned beet red. He might not think this was a date, but Matty had other plans.
“She’s at the farm. Her cousin’s having a wedding shower this weekend, so she’s helping to decorate. We were just walking and talking about the holiday programming for South Cove.” Josh stammered a few times as he tried to explain.
“It’s unfair for the motorcycles to be let onto Main Street. If the street is closed to traffic, then it should be closed to all traffic. Especially since that gang was probably involved in poor Chip’s murder,” Matty said, her eyes flashing her anger about the city’s regulation.
“There’s no evidence that any of the Demon Dogs killed Chip.” I didn’t understand why this woman was using lies and rumors to talk others into joining her lynch mob, but I didn’t like it. “And ifyou don’t like the council’s ruling, maybe you should go to a meeting and tell them. I don’t believe I’ve seen you at any of the city council meetings. No one came to complain about the street closing.”
