Invitation to Murder (Book 1 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) (24 page)

It was lovely, in a uniquely elegant way
that shouted Lillian’s name as its creator.

I said, “I’m impressed,” as I handed it back
to her.

“
Look inside,” she
said.

I flipped the card open and read the message
printed there in her careful hand. “Thank you for giving me a
bright new reason to be.”

“
How lovely,” I said. “Is
it for your new beau?”

“
Jennifer, I made it
especially for you. I mean it, too. Life was getting much too
predictable for my tastes before you called.”

I hugged her, happy that the
circumstances—though bad enough—had led to such a perfect fit of
having my aunt work with me at my card shop. “I’m glad you’re here,
too,” I said.

We were still hugging when
the front door opened. As Lillian and I pulled away, I saw Greg
Langston
standing there, a puzzled
expression on his face.

Lillian must have seen it, too. “I’ll put
all of this away,” she said as she quickly gathered her materials
together and returned them to the storeroom.

“
What can I do for you?” I
asked Greg.

“
You can stop taking so
many chances with your life,” he said, and I knew we were in for
another row. Suddenly I was in no mood for my ex-fiancés
meddling.

“
Outside. Now,” I
barked.

He followed me out to the sidewalk in front
of my shop, and I noticed Deputy Wayne leaning against a tree
nearby watching me. The second we made eye contact he scurried
away, and I wondered if he was watching over me on Bradford’s
orders or if he’d taken to stalking me. I’d have to deal with that
soon but at the moment I had another stubborn man to set straight.
Before he could say a word, I lit into him. “Greg Langston, when
are you going to get it through that thick skull of yours that you
no longer have a say in how I live my life? If I want to twirl fire
baton wearing a skirt made of tissue paper, it’s none of yon
business. Do you hear me?”

He started to say something, but I cut him
off before he could answer. “And another thing. I’d appreciate it
if you’d stop sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. Who’s
feeding you all of your information, anyway?” I knew the answer the
split second I asked the question. My brother had always been one
of Greg’s biggest fans, so it wasn’t much of a stretch figuring out
who his source was. “Stop listening to my brother, too.”

I started back into my shop when he said
meekly, “Don’t I even get to say anything in my defense?” I whirled
around and stared at him. “Do you really want to risk it?”

“
I’ll take my chances.” He
stared intently at me with those big brown eyes, and despite my
anger, I felt my heart start to soften. The next time I had a
confrontation with Greg, I was going to make him wear sunglasses.
“Jennifer, I’m not trying to pry. I just want to be part of your
life again.”

“
Then stop butting into it
unannounced. Be my friend; don’t try to be my
protector.”

He grinned. “That’s a tough promise to
make.”

“
The choice is yours,
Greg. I’m serious about this.”

He held up both hands. “Okay, I’ll do it.
From now on, I won’t watch out for you.” He added softly, “I can
still care about you, can’t I?”

“
As long as you don’t let
it show,” I said with a slight smile of my own.

I left him on the sidewalk and went back
into my shop. Lillian was standing right by the door, and I figured
she’d probably heard every word of our exchange. I had to give her
credit; she didn’t say a word, though she did keep staring out the
window.

“
Don’t tell me he’s still
there,” I said.

She hesitated, then said, “No, he’s just
leaving. You really put that man through the fire, don’t you? You
must care for him still. Don’t try to deny it.”

“
I might,” I admitted,
“but I’m fighting it. Why, does it show?”

“
Not from the way you act,
but you did agree to marry him twice. I know you’ve loved him in
the past.”

I sighed. “But this is the present, isn’t
it?” I looked around the shop for something to do, but everything
appeared to be in perfect order. “So what would you like to do now?
We could have another lesson, or are you beyond that?”

“
Don’t fool yourself,
Jennifer. I spent last night going through those books searching
for the perfect card to make for you. I’m far from being competent
at it.”

I admired my card again. “I wouldn’t say
that.” I took it and mounted it behind my cash register. “You don’t
mind if I display it, do you? I honestly don’t have anything like
it. It’s lovely.”

“
I’d be honored,” she said
as the front door opened. I was ready for Greg, just in case he was
back for another tongue-lashing, but instead I saw my brother come
in.

It was perfect timing. I had a dozen things
I needed to talk to him about, and he wasn’t going to like a single
one of them.

“
I need to talk to you,” I
said.

“
Can we take a walk and do
it, Jennifer?” He looked at Lillian with a mixture of fear and
dislike.

“
What is it with you two?”
I asked. “Why can’t you get along?”

Lillian said, “Ask him. I’m sure I wouldn’t
know.”

“
Come on, Aunt Lillian,
you know full well why there’s so much bad blood between
us.”

She blew out a puff of air. “Don’t tell me
you’re still upset about the banana pudding incident. Bradford
Shane, that was thirty years ago.”

Bradford shook his head. “Doesn’t matter.
Mom made it especially for me, and you stole it.”

“
I was hungry, you
nitwit,” Lillian said. “Christine never told me it was for you, and
by the time she realized what I was eating, it was too late. I made
you another bowl myself the next day.”

“
It wasn’t as good as
Mom’s.”

I couldn’t help myself; I busted out
laughing. They both looked at me as if I were insane. Once I got my
breath back, I said, “That’s it? You’ve been battling all these
years over a bowl of banana pudding? You both are
unbelievable.”

For the first time in thirty years, it
appeared that my brother and my aunt were in perfect agreement that
I was the only crazy one in the room. I grabbed Bradford’s arm and
said, “Let’s go. I can’t take the two of you at the same time.”

He huffed slightly as we walked outside. I
said, “Here all these years I thought you were the great
peacemaker, and now my illusions are shattered.”

“
There’s more to it than
that,” he protested.

“
I certainly hope so, but
you two can deal with it yourselves. I have enough to worry about
without your squabble. There are some things I need to talk to you
about.”

“
Yeah, well there’s
something I need to tell you, too.”

“
Me first,” I said,
steamrolling over him. “You need to tell your deputy to stop
watching me. He’s giving me the creeps.”

“
Which deputy are you
talking about?” he asked.

“
Wayne Davidson. He’s been
stalking me the past few days, and I don’t like it, whether it’s
been on your orders or he’s doing it on his own.”

Bradford looked puzzled by my statement.
“Sis, I haven’t had him on you since he blew it the other night.
That’s the honest truth.”

“
Then he’s developing a
new obsession.”

I relayed my conversation with Corrine in
the bank line, and Bradford whistled softly. “That’s it. I’m
pulling him in. Let me know if you spot him again, okay?”

“
What are you going to
do?”

Bradford said, “I’m going to have one last
talk with him, and if that doesn’t work, he’s gone. We’re here to
make folks feel safer, not add to their worries.

What else is on your mind? Let’s get it all
on the table.”

“
Okay, here’s something
else that’s been bugging me. Have you been keeping Greg Langston
up-to-date on what’s been going on in my life? He seems to know
what’s happening with me the second I do.”

Bradford actually reddened slightly. “Sis,
he’s a good guy. You two belong together. At least you would if you
weren’t so stubborn.”

“
Stop matchmaking,
Bradford. We’re through.”

He looked shocked by my statement. “Come on,
Jennifer, I didn’t mean anything by it. You can’t cut me out of
your life.”

“
I’m not talking about
you, you big oaf. I won’t deny that Greg and I had a good thing
going, but it’s dead. You can trust me on that, okay? So would you
stop telling him everything that’s happening in my
life?”

“
You may not love him
anymore, but I’ve got a feeling it’s not mutual.”

“
That’s his problem,” I
said. “Just kill the pipe-line, okay?”

“
Okay. Anything else you
want to chew me out about while you’re in the mood?” I glanced over
and saw a couple of tourists approaching us warily. When I thought
about how it must look to them to see a civilian upbraiding the
sheriff in his full uniform, I had to laugh.

“
What’s so funny?”
Bradford asked.

“
We must look comical to
everyone else,” I said. “I knew we should have had this
conversation in my shop.”

“
No thank you,” Bradford
said.

“
So I know you didn’t come
by for an earful of grief from me,” I said. “Was there something
yon wanted to tell me?”

“
I don’t know if I
should,” Bradford said, “It’s police business, but I thought you
had a right to know.”

“
You know you can trust me
to keep my mouth shut,” I said. “Besides, I’m on your payroll,
remember?”

“
Well, it
concerns—”

At that moment, Bradford’s radio went off.
“Boss, I need you over on Hastings Avenue. We’ve got a hit-and-run,
and it looks pretty bad.”

“
I’ll be right there,”
Bradford said as he started running back to his patrol
car.

“
Bradford, what were you
going to tell me?”

“
It’ll have to keep until
later,” he said as he got into his car and sped away.

My brother couldn’t have devised a better
way to drive me crazy if he’d tried.

There wasn’t much I could do about it,
though, so I walked back to my shop. At least I’d gotten a lot off
my chest. It felt good standing up to Bradford and Greg. Though I
knew they both meant well, it wasn’t enough. I was a grown woman,
perfectly capable of handling my problems in my own way. If I
needed some furniture moved, I’d call one of them, but as far as
the rest of my life was concerned, it was off-limits to their
meddling from now on.

When I walked back into the card shop,
Lillian was waiting by the door. “What did your brother want?”

“
I have no idea,” I
admitted. “He never got a chance to tell me.”

Lillian said, “You were gone an awfully long
time. Have you just been walking up and down Oakmont by
yourself?”

“
I had some things I had
to get off my chest first,” I said as I straightened a stack of
envelopes that didn’t need it.

“
Jennifer, what did your
mother used to say about that?”

I was in no mood to have my mom’s pearls of
wisdom dropped back in my lap. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Ignoring me completely, she said, “Her
favorite saying was that you never learn a thing by talking.”

“
I didn’t run him off for
good; Bradford will be back. There was a hit-and-run he had to take
care of first. Have you just been hovering by the door all this
time waiting for me to show up?” I asked the last part with a
slight smile, trying to get things back on a light footing. I loved
my aunt dearly, but when she started quoting my own mother to me,
it was time to put a stop to the conversation. Though she was Mom’s
sister, I still thought I knew my mother better than Lillian did,
whether that was true or not.

Lillian accepted the ab. “Of course I
haven’t been idle. Actually, I’ve been studying your card
offerings, and I have a suggestion.”

“
Okay, I’m willing to
listen to just about anything.”

Lillian chose one of my cards. “No offense,
my dear, but these are just too sweet. If you’re going to compete
with the giants, you need an edge.”

Fascinating. My aunt had been in the card
business less than a week and she was already telling me how to
compete with Hallmark. “Go on.”

“
Here’s what I suggest.”
She handed me a card, obviously one she’d just made while I’d been
gone. “It’s a sympathy card. Well, kind of.”

I took it from her and saw a graveyard
sketched on the front of the card. Lillian had always had a knack
for drawing; I had to say that for her, even if I didn’t approve of
her subject matter. “It lacks something, wouldn’t you say?”
Something like taste, I thought to myself.

“
Open it,” she
suggested.

As I did, I saw that my aunt had made the
card a pop-up. She had been doing her homework, at any rate. A
tombstone lifted out of the ground, and on it was printed, “My
sympathies for your upcoming nuptials.”

Despite my initial reaction, I had to laugh.
“Did you have anyone in particular in mind for this?”

“
Myrtle Entwistle is
getting married to the most awful man in a few weeks. Believe me, I
have nothing but sympathy for the poor woman.”