Murder Vows (Storage Ghost Murders Book 4) (6 page)

Pearl
thankfully picked up her thought. “Ah, I see. If you asked him to come over and
look at the door then he’d see nothing was wrong. You’d look a berk in front of
Frankie, he might work out that the door was actually locked. Can you think of
another reason to go over?”

Grace
already had. “Frankie, we’ve run out of bread. I’ll nip over to the cafe and
get your favourite.”

Before
Frankie could say yes or no Grace shot out of the shop and ran over to the
cafe. She noticed Gordon West’s van in the cafe’s car park. There was a
telephone number on the side. Perhaps she should make a note of that later.
She’d think of a genuine reason for him to visit the shop.

Gordon
West was the only male in the cafe, he was sitting at a corner table. He was
thick-set and had a typical builder’s look about him. A newspaper was open in
front of him but Gordon was checking his phone. Grace sat at a table next to
him, her back facing him. How was she going to strike up a conversation with
him?

From
her position Grace could see across the road to the shop. She pressed her lips
together as the faces of Archie and Pearl stared back at her. She saw the
urgency on their faces but they did look comical sitting in the window like two
ghostly bookends ready for sale.

Grace
heard Gordon giving his order to the waitress. It was a deep, growly kind of
voice that smokers sometimes have. Gordon asked if he could have the all-day
breakfast. The waitress agreed that he could.

Grace
glanced across the road again. Pearl was giving her a look as if to say, ‘Get
on with it!’

Grace
thought of something. She turned in her seat, a smile ready.

“What
can I get you?” the waitress interrupted.

Grace
held her smile in place. “I’d like a corned beef, sausage and fried egg
sandwich, to go, please. With tomato ketchup.”

The
waitress looked bored as she wrote it down. “These tables are for customers who
are eating in only. You can wait for your takeout at the counter.”

Grace
had no intention of moving away. She politely said, “I’ll have a cup of tea
whilst I’m waiting.”

There
was a tut from the waitress. “It won’t take that long.”

“I’ll
still have a cup of tea. Thank you,” Grace said. The waitress didn’t move.
Grace added, “Milk, no sugar. Thanks.”

The
waitress rolled her eyes and shuffled away.

There
was a deep laugh behind her. Grace looked around. Gordon West was grinning at
her. He said, “Talk about service without a smile!”

Grace
nodded and returned his smile. This was perfect! He’d made the first move. All
she had to do now was add some comment and then talk about having some building
problems at the shop. He’d offer to have a look and ...

All
her thoughts stopped as someone walked into the cafe.

Chapter 12

It
was like something from a film. The woman appeared to glide into the cafe in
soft focus. Everything about her was perfect, from her professionally styled
wavy hair down to her designer shoes. She must have been in her late fifties or
early sixties even, but her make-up gave her an attractive youthful glow. The
smile on her face was genuine and she seemed unaware of the attention she was
gaining from everyone in the cafe.

Grace
blinked. Was she a film star? Some sort of celebrity? If she wasn’t then she
should be. The woman glanced at Grace and gave her a friendly nod, her eyes
twinkled. Grace couldn’t help but nod back as if they were friends. The woman
walked past Grace and towards the corner table. Everyone else in the cafe was
staring at the woman so Grace turned around and did the same.

Gordon
West was also staring at the vision, admiration and love shone from his eyes.
He stood up as the woman approached, he opened his arms

They
knew each other?

The
woman laughed and walked into Gordon’s embrace. They hugged and the woman laid
her head on Gordon’s shoulder. Then she stood back a little and looked into his
eyes. She said, “Have you been smoking today? I can’t smell anything but you’ve
tricked me before!”

Gordon
let out a boom of a laugh. Grace heard tea-cups rattle. Gordon said, “As if I
could trick you! How long have we been married?”

Married?

Grace
tried to remember the name of Gordon’s wife. She looked over to the ghostly
bookends across the road. They had seen the woman in the cafe. Archie was
pointing and mouthing a name.

Sylvia!
That was it. Didn’t Archie say she used to be a model? That would explain her
poise and elegance. Well, fancy that. Grace reckoned Gordon West had done well
for himself.

Gordon
pulled a chair out for Sylvia and she lowered herself gracefully. Grace
suddenly realised that she was still staring rudely at the couple. She turned
away. She’d picked a good place to sit, hopefully she’d be able to hear
everything.

Sylvia
spoke first, “Now, tell me how your day is going? More importantly, how is
Jessie doing? Have you heard from her? This is going to be a difficult week for
her.”

Gordon
replied, “She’s tough, she’ll deal with it. You worry too much.”

“I
have to worry! It’s my job. Jessie needs to show her emotions more, she keeps
everything bottled up. I’ve told her she can talk to me any time but she never
does. She’s like a female version of you!”

“Just
let her be, you can’t change her. I don’t like seeing you in this state,
Sylvia, you put everyone else before yourself. Take a day off, go to the spa.”

Sylvia
laughed. “I can’t take a day off, there’s so much to organise. You know what
it’s like. Anyway, I like to be busy. And you can’t expect Jessie to help, not
after ...”

Sylvia
was interrupted by the waitress. Grace heard Sylvia laugh again as the waitress
announced the delivery of a full English breakfast.

“Really,
Gordon! When was the last time you had something like this?”

There
was a pause and the waitress moved away. Gordon said, “I felt like I needed a
full meal. I didn’t have time for breakfast this morning. It does look too much
though. Help yourself to something.”

Grace
heard the concern in Sylvia’s voice as she spoke softly, “Gordon, what’s wrong?
It’s not like you to miss breakfast. And don’t think I haven’t noticed you’re
not sleeping well. What’s on your mind?”

There
was a sigh and the sound of a plate being pushed to one side. Gordon said, “I’m
trying to hold it together, for Jessie’s sake. But this is a difficult time. I
keep thinking about ...”

Once
again the waitress interrupted Grace’s secret eavesdropping operation. It
wasn’t the one that took Grace’s order, it was another girl that now beamed
down at her.

“Grace!
I thought it was you! How are you?”

Grace
gave the purple-haired waitress a blank look.

The
waitress laughed and said, “It’s me, Chloe! I’ve dyed my hair since we last
met, it used to be green. I went out with your Frankie for a while.”

Grace
forced a smile. One of Frankie’s ex-girlfriends, this could be awkward.

It
was awkward. Chloe went on. “When I heard that someone had ordered a corned
beef, sausage and fried egg sandwich, with ketchup, I thought there’s only one
person I know that would order that! Frankie Abrahams! But it’s you! Is the
sandwich for Frankie?”

Grace
could only nod. Chloe was very loud. All conversations in the cafe had stopped.
Or it might be that Chloe was booming over the top of everyone’s voices.

Chloe
looked wistfully over to the antique shop. “Me and Frankie had a great time
together, a good connection. We were on the same level, you know. I miss him.
He said he’d phone me but I think our love was too strong for him.”

Grace
now remembered Chloe. Frankie had complained of a headache every time he
returned from a date with her. Grace now knew why.

Chloe
stared brightly at Grace and asked, “Is he single? I think it’s time we gave
our love another go. I’ll tone down my love vibes. Look, I’ll write my new
number down, he’s probably been trying me on my old number.”

“Probably,”
Grace mumbled. She wished Chloe would hurry up and leave. She could hear Gordon
talking about something. And what was that Sylvia just said? Did she mention
Archie’s name?

Chloe
took for ever to write her number down. Then the original waitress returned
with Grace’s takeout sandwich and tea, she put them on the table. The two
waitresses glared at each other, the original one tutted and walked away.

Chloe
muttered, “Miserable cow. Grace, I’ve put my number down. I am seeing someone
but he won’t mind if I share my love with Frankie too.”

Grace’s
stomach heaved. She was finding it harder to maintain a polite smile.

“Excuse
me, please.”

It
was Sylvia. She smiled politely at Chloe and said, “I love that hair colour, it
suits you. Would you mind if we squeezed past? Thank you.”

Chloe
moved and Grace watched in despair as Sylvia left, followed by Gordon.

Now
what? She could still get Gordon’s telephone number.

Grace
stood up, grabbed the sandwich, pushed some money into Chloe’s hand and raced
out of the shop.

She
skidded to a halt as someone hollered her name.

She
looked over at the person hollering. It was a furious-looking Frankie standing
in the doorway of the shop.

Chapter 13

Grace
looked towards the cafe car park, Gordon’s van was still there. Gordon and
Sylvia were chatting by the back doors. She could rush over and ask Gordon
about some building work.

An
ear-splitting whistle rang out. Grace knew that sound, Frankie had tormented
her many times with his whistling when they were younger. She looked back at
Frankie. What was his problem?

Grace
decided to go back to Frankie. She could just imagine him storming over if she
took the opportunity to speak to Gordon now. As she approached Frankie she
said, “What’s wrong? You don’t have to shout at me like that!”

Frankie
jabbed his finger towards the cafe. “I saw you! Sitting in the cafe, having a
cup of tea like you’ve got all day to do what you want. And all the time, I’m
in this shop slaving away.”

Grace
took a step closer to him. “I know you’re in a bad mood because of some
football match but you’re not going to take your bad mood out on me! I have a
right to a break and, for your information, I never got to have a cup of tea
because I was trying to get away from one of your ex-girlfriends.” Grace shoved
the paper-clad sandwich into Frankie’s chest. “This is for you! I hope you
enjoy it, if you’re not too mad to eat it.”

Frankie
gulped and looked down at the sandwich. He took hold of it and sniffed it. “Is
it...?”

“Yes,
it’s that disgusting concoction that you love. Are you going to let me in to
the shop or not?”

Frankie
cleared his throat and mumbled, “Sorry, Grace. I’m being a prat. Of course you
deserve a break. Sorry. Hang on. You said, ‘ex-girlfriend’. Which one?”

“Chloe.
She’s got purple hair but she said she used to have green hair.”

The
colour ran out of Frankie’s face. “Has she got a loud voice? Like a fog-horn?”

Grace
nodded.

Frankie
grabbed her by the arm and shoved her into the shop. He slammed the door and
leant against it. “Grace, what did she say? Did she ask about me? Does she know
I’m alive?”

Grace
smiled. All his earlier bravado and anger had disappeared. She said, “Yes, she
asked about you. She’s written her number on that paper bag. Shall I go back
and let her know you’re interested in meeting up again?”

Frankie’s
arm shot out. “No! I can’t go through that again. She’s so intense. And so
loud! Is she coming over? Quick! Look out of the window!”

“It’s
all right, she’s not coming over here.” Grace had an idea. “She might though.
Why don’t you take the rest of the day off in case she does? Then I can take
the morning off tomorrow.”

“Really?
You’d do that? Thanks, Grace.”

“And
I’d like the van tomorrow.”

Frankie’s
eyes narrowed. “I’m not sure about that.”

“Just
how loud was Chloe?” Grace said.

“Okay,
you can take the van.” Frankie hunched his shoulders and tip-toed away.

Grace
said, “She can’t see you through the door, you don’t have to walk like that.”

Frankie
nodded. He stood straight and set off walking at a normal pace. There was a
creak as the shop door opened. Like a streak of lightning Frankie shot off
through the shop.

It
wasn’t Chloe coming into the shop, it was Mrs Brown, one of their regulars.

Pearl
had been watching the exchange between Frankie and Grace. She said, “Well done
for standing up to him. It’ll serve him right if that Chloe person catches up
to him. I take it you need tomorrow morning off for a specific reason?”