Agony of the Leaves: Tea Shop Mystery #13 (28 page)

Aunt Libby was
just fine this excellent Saturday morning. In fact, it practically took an act of Congress to get her to leave the hospital. She chatted with the orderlies, hugged the nurses, kissed asecond-year intern, and blew air kisses to the lady who’d delivered her breakfast.

“You’re sure Margaret Rose is going to be at Cane Ridge?” Theodosia asked.

“I just spoke with her ten minutes ago,” said Aunt Libby. “She’s there now, waiting for me. She’s got DVDs of
Steel Magnolias
and
Sex and the City
, so we’re going to have ourselves a movie marathon. Popcorn included.”

“You’re going to watch
Sex and the City
?”

Aunt Libby gave a sly grin. “That language doesn’t shock me.”

“Glad to hear it,” said Theodosia, “because it shocks the heck out of most people.”

“I’m not most people.”

“No,” said Theodosia, “you’re certainly not.”

They walked out the front door of the hospital to where Theodosia wasdouble-parked.

“Listen,” said Theodosia, who was having second thoughts about Aunt Libby’s health. “I can stay with you today if you want me to.”

“No,” said Aunt Libby, as Theodosia helped her into the passenger seat, “you’ve got your scavenger hunt.”

“I know,” said Theodosia, “but I can blow that off.” She leaned in and gave her aunt a gentle squeeze. “You’re much more important to me than some little contest.”

“But you said you were doing it for charity?”

“That’s right,” said Theodosia. “At-risk youth.”

“Then you have to do it,” said Aunt Libby. “Besides, you always finish what you start. That’s one of your endearing qualities.”

“You think?” said Theodosia. She felt like she had loose ends strewn all over the place.

“I know,” said Aunt Libby.

Exactly one hour
later, Theodosia pulled into the circular drive behind the Gibbes Museum. She hit Max’s number on her speed dial and, thirty seconds later, he came bouncing out the back door. He lookedwell-rested, adorable, and strangely intense.

“Hello, sweetheart,” he said, settling into the passenger seat, “I take it you’re still investigating?”

Theodosia had pretty much figured that, after sleeping on the information she’d given him, Max would want to know every niggling little detail. And to sort of manage things and keep him from going completely postal, she’d run through a couple of diversionary answers in her mind. But in the end she felt compelled to simply tell the truth. “Yes. Yes, I am.”

Max digested this for a moment, then said, “Because you still care about him?”

“Parker was a friend, but it’s not what you think. There
was no romantic entanglement, I can promise you that.” She reached over and took his hand. “That was all…in the past. Ancient history.”

“Good.” Max did a little more digesting, then said, “I kind of hate to ask this, but are you getting anywhere?”

Theodosia sighed deeply. “Not as far as I’d like. There have been a few problems.”

Max squeezed her hand, then seemed to relax. He leaned back and pulled his seat belt across. “We’ve got a couple hours of driving and picture taking ahead of us, so maybe you’d better tell me all about it.”

“Really? You really want to know the whole sorry mess?” Theodosia felt such enormous relief she wanted to burst into tears.

“If it involves you, I want to know,” said Max.

The day turned
into a magnificent spring afternoon. The sun shone down like an enormous yellow orb, wispy white tuffets of clouds twirled lazily across azure-blue skies, and Theodosia talked her heart out. She started at the beginning, that dreadful opening party at the Neptune Aquarium, and continued with every little nit and nat that had followed in its wake. She laid out hersuspects—there was a virtual smorgasbord ofthem—and carefully explained why each had earned a place of honor on her list. As she talked, she glanced at her scavenger hunt checklist, negotiating the twists and turns of the Maybank Highway until it led them right to the door of the Charleston Tea Plantation.

“Tea,” said Max, glancing out the window. “I should’ve known there’d be tea,” he chuckled.

“But no tea drinking,” said Theodosia. “Unless you want to open that thermos bottle I stashed in the backseat. I’d love to take you on the grand tour, but today we just need to snap a quick photo and be on our way.”

Max turned and stared at her with genuine curiosity. “Tell me,” he said, “did you figure all this out on your own?”

“All this… ?”

“Everything you’ve been telling me for the past half hour. About the suspects and, I guess, what would technically be called motives.”

“Drayton put in his two cents’ worth along the way,” Theodosia said, slowly. “And Detective Tidwell told me about Shelby being named beneficiary. That got my brain pinging, too.”

“Hmm.”

Theodosia wasn’t sure how to interpret this. “
Hmm
meaning not good?” she asked.

But a smile creased Max’s face. “It means I can’t quite believe I’m having a romantic relationship with my very own Nancy Drew.”

Theodosia blushed. “I don’t think poor Nancy ever had much romance in her life. Probably too young, I guess.”

Max made a Groucho Marx gesture with his eyebrows. “But we’re not.” He unsnapped his seat belt and reached for her. Pulled her into a kiss and then continued with a caring, gentle hug. “Poor dear, you’ve been through the wringer this last week. Now I feel awful about being gone. Missing in action.”

“But now you’re back,” said Theodosia.

“Willing and able to help,” said Max. “If you want me to, that is.”

“I think,” said Theodosia, reaching for her cell phone, “I can use all the help I can get.”

Fenwick Hall was
their second stop, a brick manor house at the end of a broad avenue of oak trees. Though no longer a private home, it was reputed to have a tunnel leading from the basement to a nearby creek. John Fenwick, the owner and
builder, had been known to have sneaky dealings with pirates as well as local riffraff.

“Okay, got it,” said Max, as Theodosia stopped just outside the impressivewrought-iron gates. Hedouble-checked his photo, then said, “Where to next?”

“Down Bohicket Road to Kiawah Island,” said Theodosia. She glanced at her scavenger hunt list. “We need to get a shot of Beachwalk Park. And then swing back to Johns Island and find the Johns Island Presbyterian Church.”

“It’s historic, I take it?”

“Founded in the early seventeen hundreds,” said Theodosia.

“I’ve been noodling all your information around,” said Max, “and as far as the suspects on yourlist—Manship; the lawyer, Beaudry; the ex-girlfriend, Shelby; and the aquarium guy, Sedakis—well, I can see why you’d want to keep an eye on them. But the one that seems sort offar-fetched is Peaches Pafford.”

“You think?”

“She’s just a businessperson who knows how to jump on a good deal when she sees it.” He paused. “Unless she’s really thewhacked-out character you say she is,” said Max.

“She’s one tough nut,” said Theodosia. “In fact, if Peaches had a nickname it would probably be Old Ironsides.”

A sly grin stole across Max’s face. “Sounds like I’m going to have to meet this Peaches Pafford for myself. And the sooner the better…tonight even.”

“I can pretty much guarantee it’s not going to be tonight,” said Theodosia. “Tonight Peaches is having a private oyster fest at her restaurant.”

“So I heard. Which makes it perfect.”

Theodosia shook her head. “No, it doesn’t. Because I hear the event’s completely sold out. You can’t possibly get in without a ticket.”

Max reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out four orange tickets. “Wanna bet?”

Theodosia did a double take, then focused her eyes back on the road. “Seriously? You have tickets? For the Oyster Fest at Aubergine?”

“Never underestimate the power of a PR guy,” said Max.

Theodosia grinned. “The big schmooze, huh?”

Max’s eyelids fluttered in a gesture of mock tribulation. “You have no idea how hard I have to work.”

“Well…great,” said Theodosia. “Then I guess we
are
going.” She’d never been to Aubergine before and figured it might afford her a chance to toss a few more probing questions at Peaches. Maybe catch her off guard.

“There’s only one small problem,” said Max.

“Oops,” said Theodosia. “I knew there’d be a catch. What is it? The tickets are promised to somebody else?”

“Nope. We can go, but only for a short while. The thing is, I also have a donor’s dinner tonight. Eight o’clock sharp. It’s practically a command performance.”

“So if you don’t show up by eight you turn into a pumpkin?” Theodosia turned into the parking lot of the Presbyterian church and eased to a stop.

“Or, worse yet, I get fired,” said Max. “So, my dear, like the proverbial bad date I’m going to have to duck out on you.”

“Man,” said Theodosia, “you’ve been home for, like, one day and you’re already dreaming up excuses to dump me.”

“Dump you?” said Max, leaning across the front seat and putting his arms around her. “Never. Not on your life.” He kissed her slowly then, in a dreamy, easy way. And Theodosiaresponded—although the fact that they were sitting outside a church gave her pause.

“Okay, so here’s what we’re going to do,” said Max. “I’m going to give you three tickets. Maybe you can get Drayton and Haley to come along, too. Seeing as how I have to run off like the scoundrel you think I am.”

“Mmm…okay.”

Max gave her an earnest stare. “Are you sure? Are you sure
that works for you? You’re not going to feel cheated or something?”

“Not in the least. Besides, it’ll give me another chance to harass Peaches.”

Max shook his head. “You really are incorrigible.”

By five o’clock
that afternoon, Theodosia had dropped Max at his apartment and headed for home. She was planning to meet him at Aubergine at seven, so she had a little time to hang with Earl Grey, then laze in a bubble bath.

But just as she stuck her toe into a frothy soup of T-Bath Bubbles, she remembered she had to call Drayton and Haley.

Okay, gotta do that first.

Turns out Haley already had plans to attend a rock concert with her boyfriend du jour. Some hot new group called the Smoke Jammers. But when Theodosia got Drayton on the line, he jumped at the chance to attend the Oyster Fest.

“Have you ever known me to say no to eating oysters?” asked Drayton.

“I had a hunch you might be up for it,” said Theodosia.

“But…won’t I be a third wheel? I mean, your friend Max just returned from New York. You two haven’t seen each other for an entire week.”

“We spent the afternoon together doing the second leg of the scavenger hunt,” said Theodosia.

“Better him than me,” said Drayton.

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short,” said Theodosia. “Your photos were great. But here’s the thing…Max has to run off to a donor’s dinner at eight. So you’d be my date, too.”

“A backup date,” said Drayton.

“Something like that.”

“And we’d get an opportunity to see Peaches again,” said Drayton.

“Exactly my thought. I figured it might be a sort oflucky-strike extra.”

“Then it sounds like a plan,” said Drayton.

“Excellent.”

“So I should meet you there?” Drayton asked. “Where exactly is this chichi restaurant of hers?”

“Tell you what,” said Theodosia. “Max and I have to drive separately anyway, so I’ll drop by your house and pick you up.”

Theodosia allowed herself
ten minutes of bubble bath reverie while she listened to an Alicia Keys CD. Then, refreshed and relaxed, she jumped out of the bathtub, ready to get duded up.

Or should she? How formal was this event tonight? Should she slip into her de rigueur black cocktail dress or switch things up and goboho-chic? Fun and funky was always better, she decided, so she stepped into her closet to see what garment tickled her fancy.

Ah. She had a terrific, floaty raspberry-pink top that would look great with gobs of pearls and a pair of white, tapered silk slacks. Really perfect.

Or was it? Could she wear white? Should she wear white? Only one way to find out. Phone up the arbiter of taste for the Greater Charleston metropolitan area.

Delaine sounded perturbed when she took Theodosia’s call. “You’re asking me if you can wear white?”

“Yes, I am,” said Theodosia. And then added, “You know, because it’s before Memorial Day and all that.”

“Theodosia!” Delaine sounded supremely exasperated. “Those tired old dictums went out the window years ago! In fact, practically every fashion rule that ever existed has been tossed out.”

“Then how come you’re always telling me never to wear brown with black or wear tights withpeep-toe shoes?”

“
Excuse
me!” Delaine bellowed. “Did you call to harass me or ask for advice? Because, if you must know, Dougan and I are also attending the Oyster Fest tonight. And I’m hurrying to get ready, too.”

“Sorry,” said Theodosia.

Delaine’s mood shifted, as it always did, just like the swirling tides of the nearby Atlantic. “Oh, don’t worry about it, sweetie. I’ll just take it out on you later.”

At six thirty
that Saturday night, with Drayton sitting next to her wearing acream-colored linen jacket anddove-gray slacks, Theodosia pulled into the parking lot behind Aubergine. She cruised the first three rows, past BMWs, Mercedes-Benzes, and Audis. Deciding this was a fairly tony crowd and that this part of the lot was parked up solid, she figured she’d have better luck at the back of the lot.

Circling back, she bumped off the smooth asphalt and onto crunchy gravel, still searching for a parking spot.

“I think there’s a spot over by the Dumpster,” said Drayton.

“Just our speed,” said Theodosia. She cranked the steering wheel hard, pulled into a narrow slot between the hulking brown Dumpster and a pickup truck, then did a double take and cried out, “Holy crap!”

Drayton’s brows lifted slightly. “Excuse me?”

“You see that truck?” Theodosia was pointing and gesturing like crazy.

Drayton glanced out the window. “Yes?”