Invitation to Murder (Book 1 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) (10 page)

I was many things at the moment, but “all
right” was not anywhere on the list. I felt my stomach lurch, and I
was glad I hadn’t had a chance to eat anything yet. A great many
things were falling into place, and lone of them were good.

“
You’re talking about Tina
Mast, aren’t you?”

Mrs. Albright looked at me as if I’d slapped
her. How in the world did you ever know that?”

“
My brother’s the sheriff
in Rebel Forge.” I debated telling her that Tina had called me just
before she’d died, but it was something I decided to keep to
myself. “I’m curious. Did your daughter plan to Cornell with you to
the shop originally when you visited me the first time?”

“
My dear, you must be
absolutely psychic.” frowned, then added, “Donna was going to
accompany me, but she changed her mind at the last minute. To be
honest with you, we had a bit of a tiff, and she canceled in a
huff. Something was going on between my daughter and Tina, and
Donna was going to try to patch things up with her. She feels
horrible about, what happened, losing her best friend before they
had: a chance to make up. It’s dreadful, really. But how could you
possibly know about that?”

I couldn’t lie to the woman outright, but I
could shade the truth a little. “I just can’t imagine a woman not
choosing her own wedding invitations.”

The explanation appeared to appease her. “Of
course, that makes perfect sense. I’m doing my utmost to persuade
Donna to go ahead with the wedding as quickly as possible, but I’m
afraid she’s fighting me on it. I understand her reluctance to
celebrate a marriage with her friend dying so tragically, but as I
keep telling her, we’ll be celebrating another blessed event if we
don’t move quickly on this. Jennifer, how much time do you need to
make up the invitations? Can you really do it in a week?”

“
Do you still need four
hundred?”

“
No, I’m afraid we’re
going to have to pare that list considerably. I believe one hundred
will be more than enough.

I tried not to let my disappointment show,
since I’d been counting on a much larger check than I was going to
get, but at least I was starting to get some walk-in business to
supplement my income. “I can have them ready for you in four days,”
I said, hoping I wasn’t stretching myself too thin. I’d never made
cards in such massive quantities before, just doing a few now and
then as the mood moved me. But this was my business now, my
livelihood, so fun wasn’t the primary consideration.

“
That would work nicely.”
She pulled a piece of paper out of her purse. “Here, I’ve drawn up
what I’m looking for. We can use the paper you showed me earlier,
or anything you believe will look nice. You know my tastes. Can you
really have these ready by next Monday?”

“
I can, but I thought
Donna wasn’t sure about going ahead with it,” I said as I took the
notepaper from her. The first thing that caught my attention was
that the wedding date was just eighteen days away. That didn’t
leave anybody involved in the festivities much time.

“
She’s not now, but she
will be. I’ll see to that.”

I had visions of being left with a hundred
handmade invitations that I couldn’t use. “I’ll need the balance
before I begin,” I said, trying to keep my voice level. “It’s store
policy.” Well, it was now.

Mrs. Albright didn’t even bat an eyelash.
“Of course. Let me write you a check. Since I will be requiring
fewer cards, I expect a discount.”

“
Of course,” I said. “But
you have to remember, the supplies are just a fraction of the total
expense, you’re paying for a creative design, and that’s true
whether you order a single card or a thousand.”

“
Yes, I understand that,”
she said.

“
I can take ten percent
off the total,” I said, holding my breath, hoping she’d go for
it.

As Mrs. Albright paid the balance, she
asked, “Can you think of a unique place that would be suitable for
le wedding? We’re going to present this as a spur-of-the-moment
lark to our friends. The real reason is that by the time we set
something up formally, I’m afraid my grandchild would be able to be
a guest at her parents’ own wedding, and I will not allow that
happen.”

I didn’t doubt that for one instant. Mrs.
Albright was a force to be reckoned with, and I said a silent
prayer for the groom. It would be bad enough to be raised under the
woman’s iron fist, but marrying into that family might be even
worse. I had a feeling he was going to have the prototype for the
origin mother-in-law who had inspired all those jokes and
terror.

She pressed me. “Do you know of such a
place?

“
Are you looking for a
church?”

Mrs. Albright scoffed. “There will be no
church wedding, not under these circumstances. That’s where I draw
the line. Besides, they’ve been done to death Never mind, I
shouldn’t have bothered asking you.”

Probably not, I thought as I jotted a few
ideas down on the back of a flier for the shop. I named a jutting
point of land that overlooked the lake, in case the couple wanted
an outdoor ceremony, and a topiary garden that I always thought
would be perfect for weddings. I briefly considered adding the Putt
Putt Palace to the list, but I knew better than to turn her scorn
onto me. “You could always try these two places,” I said as I
handed her my thoughts.

“
I appreciate your help,
Jennifer. I’m counting on you to get those invitations done in
time.”

I glanced at the date she’d selected, and
wondered how on earth she expected people to respond in time. A
thought suddenly occurred to me. “We need to do RSVP cards, too. Do
you have any ideas about that?”

“
My dear, they can come or
not; it’s entirely up to them. Trust me, this will be
fine.”

I wondered if she had any intention of
anyone showing up for her daughter’s proud moment, but then I
realized that could be the point. The invitations would announce
the wedding to her friends without requiring them to attend. I had
a hunch they were being issued for the presents that would surely
follow as much as for legitimizing the ceremony and explaining the
happy, healthy, “premature” baby that was sure to arrive in six or
seven months.

“
I’ll get right on them,”
I said. “When would you like to see the first card so I can get
your approval?”

“
I don’t have time for
that,” Mrs. Albright said. “I trust you’ll do a good
job.”

After she was gone, Lillian came back into
the shop. “I waited outside for her to leave so you wouldn’t fuss
at me. What was so confidential, Jennifer?”

Ignoring her question, I said, “I’ve got to
have a hundred invitations ready in four days. Are you willing to
help?”

“
You know I am, but I’m
the first one to admit that I’m not all that competent a card
maker.”

“
Think of it as on-the-job
training, then,” I said, promising myself to make ten extra
invitations so we could select the best hundred from the batch. I
was trying to figure out the most efficient way to meet my deadline
when the front door chimed again. I’d put the electric signal in to
announce customers, but it was becoming a harbinger of trouble for
me.

My visitor matched that description
perfectly when saw that Greg Langston had decided to visit my shop
in person after all. Perfect, that was just what I needed—another
complication in my life.

Chapter 7

“
Greg, I’m really busy at
the moment,” I said, trying to convey the message that I didn’t
have time to deal with him.

“
Yeah, I can see you’re
overwhelmed with customers.”

I wanted to dispute his impression, but I
couldn’t do a thing about it. “Just because no one is here doesn’t
mean I’m not busy.”

“
You always were so good
at expressing your opinions clearly and succinctly. Hey,
Lillian.”

“
Hello, Greg. I can see
you two would like some privacy, so I’ll get out of your way.” With
that, she moved two steps back, still within easy eavesdropping
range. For some odd reason, my silly aunt was grinning broadly. Oh,
well, there was nothing I couldn’t say to Greg in front of
her.

I turned back to him and said, “I mean it. I
really am busy.”

His eyebrows arched, but he didn’t comment
again, “I won’t keep you, then. I just wanted to know how long
you’ve been dating Deputy Wayne behind my back.”

“
What? Have you lost your
mind?”

“
Don’t deny it, Jennifer.
I saw the two of you on your front porch last night. I don’t know
what kind it of silly fantasy you were acting out in that
ridiculous coat and wig, but I knew it was you.” I was speechless.
There were so many things I wanted to address I literally couldn’t
figure out where to start. “Greg Langston, have you been stalking
me?”

“
No, of course not.” He
looked sheepish about something. “I just happened to be passing
by.”

“
Of course, I’m just seven
miles out of the way between your pottery shop and your apartment,
but you ‘just happened’ to be in my neighborhood.”

“
Don’t avoid the
question,” he said sternly.

“
Which one? None of them
are true.” I ticked them off on my fingers, which were perilously
close to his nose. “I am not dating Wayne. Even if I were having
the affair of the century with him, it wouldn’t be any of your
business. I wasn’t acting out anything.” I thought about explaining
to him that I’d been hiding my identity from a killer, but I was
too mad to go into it. Then suddenly it dawned on me. “Bradford put
you up to it, didn’t he?”

“
I don’t know what you’re
talking about.” He broke eye contact with me, a sure sign that he
was lying.

“
Don’t bother denying it.
My brother thinks that I‘m in need of protection. Why he called you
I’ll never know.”

“
I’ll tell you why he
asked me to watch out for you. Fie knows that I still care about
you, Jennifer, and I don’t want to see you throwing your life away
on somebody like Deputy Wayne.”

“
You mean instead of
somebody like you?” I snapped, being a little snippier than I’d
meant to sound.

“
You could do a lot
worse,” he said, then threw his hands up. “Forget it—this isn’t
worth it.”

“
I couldn’t agree with you
more.” As he stormed out, Greg did his level best to slam my front
door, but the shock absorber on it was brand-new, and it barely
whispered shut. Loaded for bear and ready for fight, I glanced over
at Lillian. “Is there something you’d like to add to the
conversation?” I asked her. “Me? I sincerely doubt it,” she said.
“Good. Now let’s get started making some wedding
invitations.”

“
She’s certainly given you
a lot of leeway, hasn’t she?” Lillian said as I went through my
stock searching for a paper that would please Anne Albright. I
chose a white paper I’d made myself with flecks of gold glitter in
it; different enough for her tastes but traditional enough for a
wedding announcement. I handed the stock to Lillian and said, “We
need these cut into sheets that are five and a half inches by
eleven. Can you handle that while I gather the rest of the supplies
together?”

“
Certainly,” Lillian said.
“Should I use regular scissors or that craft knife I used before?
Or do you have a special tool for me?”

I grabbed a stationery paper cutter and
handed it to her. “Use this.” I took one of the full sheets,
carefully marked the different cut lines for her, then said, “Use
this as a template. You’ll be able to get the most invitations per
page this way. Don’t throw the excess away. We’ll use that
later.”

“
Yes, Ma’am. And what
happens if a customer happens to wander into the shop?”

I thought about shutting down so I could
meet my deadline, but I really couldn’t afford to turn any
potential customers away. “I’ll handle the foot traffic. You just
focus on making those cuts.”

Lillian nodded, then took the cutter and
sheets to the table we’d worked at before. I said, “Would you mind
working in the back on my bench? I need to be up front where I can
wait on customers.”

“
Do you think it is wise
for you to work in the window like that? You’re awfully
exposed.”

“
Lillian, if the killer
wants to get me, there’s not much I can do about it, but I won’t
let myself be driven into a hole to avoid her.”

She nodded. “I knew what
your answer would be, but I still felt obligated to ask. If you
need me, just call.”

With Lillian in back cutting the blanks, I
started playing with design ideas based on what I knew of the
mother of the bride. It wasn’t the ideal situation for me, but I
didn’t have much choice, and there was no way I was returning the
full fee just because my guidelines were looser than I’d hoped. I
grabbed a few of my nicest pencils and some plain typing paper,
then sat down at my table with Mrs. Albright’s crib sheet and got
started. I didn’t know whether to be happy about it or not, but not
a single customer interrupted my work. I played with a dozen
different designs. Paper flowers always enhanced a formal card, and
I often used a technique called quilling for wrapping spirals out
of strips of paper to create teardrop petals, but I needed
something different, something with real snap. I played with the
idea of bells, tuxedos and wedding gowns on the front, then
searched through my collection of stamps and even looked at the
manufactured accessories I used on some of my cards, but nothing
grabbed me. I wasn’t beat yet, though. “Lillian, I’m going out for
a few minutes. Could you watch the front?”