Staged to Death (A Caprice De Luca Mystery) (18 page)

“Will someone be there around three-thirty or four?”

“Julie Ann will be covering the shop tomorrow. The boxes are in the back storage shed. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want.”

“Thanks so much, Isaac. I don’t know if anything will come of this, but if I find another clue, it could help solve the murder.”

“If anyone can figure it out, you can. Let me know when you catch the killer.”

There was humor in his voice as if he didn’t expect her to do it. Probably no one expected her to do it.

Catch a killer. Why did she even think she could?

 

 

The party-planning shop was an array of colors—red, blue, yellow, white, silver, black. There were patriotic themes and displays for over-forty birthdays, as well as tables with the newest and brightest decorations for kids’ parties. Nikki had decided on a heavy, paper-coated dish with pink roses around the edge for their mom. Of course there were matching napkins and cups. They could have gone with plastic instead, but they didn’t want to skimp.

“So what about balloons?” Bella asked.

After another perusal of her sister, Caprice decided she was pale today. Worry about Bella had nudged Caprice the whole time they were shopping. She hadn’t even asked about her coffee date with Seth.

“If the weather is windy, that could be a problem, even with canopies,” Nikki mused. She’d catered plenty of events. “What if we go with sparkly pink bows or something like that?” She pointed to rolls of ribbon on a high stand in the corner.

“Pink and silver would be a pretty theme,” Caprice agreed. “Maybe we could do something with the bows and the chairs too. Mom’s really a girly-girl. I think she’d love that.”

“We could probably rent white chairs, which would look really nice. How about the table coverings? Fabric or plastic?”

“No plastic,” Bella said automatically. “Yuck.”

“Speaking of yuck . . .” Caprice began. She glanced around and didn’t spot anyone nearby. The store’s cashier had even gone back into the storeroom. They were basically alone. “How are you feeling?”

Bella shook her head. Apparently she still hadn’t told Nikki about her pregnancy. Caprice believed the time for all secrecy should stop.

She asked, “Have you told Joe?”

Bella sighed and looked away at the party hats and favors on a nearby display. “No, I haven’t.”

“Told him what?” Nikki asked. “What’s going on? Are you leaving me out of the loop?”

“There is no loop,” Bella snapped. “I just told Caprice because . . . because I had to tell somebody.”

Nikki glanced from one sister to the other. “So tell
me
already.”

“You have to promise not to tell a soul. No one. Not Mom or Nana. Because Joe doesn’t know yet, and I don’t want him to find out until I’m ready to tell him.”

“I promise,” Nikki vowed solemnly. Caprice knew she’d keep that promise.

“I’m pregnant,” Bella whispered.

Nikki blinked and then studied her sister. “Isn’t that a good thing? You want more kids.”

“I don’t think Joe does. At least not right now. He’s said some things lately that have really worried me.”

“What things?” Caprice asked.

“How we have to cut back on any expense that isn’t necessary. He was all over me today about meeting you here. Couldn’t one of you pick me up? And the kids’ play dates . . . He wants me to stop those so I’m not running around so much. He says music lessons for the kids are out anytime in the near future. I’m just scared about how he’s going to react.”

“You have to tell him,” Caprice and Nikki said at the same time.

Bella’s face fell even further. “I know . . . and I will. But Mom’s birthday party is Monday, and I don’t want my pregnancy to be the topic of conversation. So I’m going to wait until after the party.”

“What if he does have a problem with you being pregnant?” Nikki asked.

“He’s just going to have to learn to live with it. No, this isn’t the best time, but a child is a precious gift. Every time I look at Megan and Timmy, I realize that. Even when they make me crazy up to my eyeballs, I realize that. Any child of mine is going to be loved and loved well.”

Caprice gave her a hug. “The two of you will figure it out, I know you will. Nikki and I are going to ride up to Isaac’s place, Older and Better. Do you want to come along? You can catch a ride with us and we’ll bring you back to your car.”

“No. I have to pick up Megan at her friend’s and Timmy at school.” She checked her watch. “I’d better get going. Go ahead and buy what we decided on and anything else we need. I have some money saved from costumes I sewed for Megan’s classmates at Halloween. I stowed the money in a shoe in the closet.”

“So Joe doesn’t know?” Caprice asked. If Bella was keeping more secrets from her husband, that wasn’t good.

Bella’s brow furrowed as she frowned. “Don’t go all judgmental on me. I just didn’t want to face what he’d have to say or what he’d want to do with the money. Sure, if we need it for food, we’ll spend it. But we don’t. Everything is not as black as he thinks. So anyway, buy what you need for Mom’s party. I’m in.”

Nikki’s narrow-eyed look as she studied Bella mirrored what Caprice was thinking. Bella’s marriage was in big trouble.

An hour later, Nikki couldn’t help but stop at almost every display at Older and Better. If she wasn’t picking up a lead-crystal vase, she was studying a piece of Depression glass or peeking into an interesting cupboard that was fashioned with two doors and a side piece.

“I think that was used as a refrigerator in the late 1800s,” Caprice told her. “They put a block of ice in the bottom cavity.”

“Much too pretty for ice. It looks like something
you
might like.”

“I have enough furniture for now. Maybe if I restage my living room—”

They both laughed.

“Not likely anytime soon,” Caprice added. “I’ve got to admit, once Roz and Dylan leave, the house is going to seem empty.”

“Maybe you need another roommate?”

“Or maybe I just need to find another stray pup.”

“I wasn’t talking about another roommate per se, you know.” Nikki’s golden-brown eyes danced with mischief.

“Oh, I know. But it will be a long time till I’m ready for anything like that.”

“Even if the handsome doctor sweeps you off your feet?”

“I don’t get swept off my feet easily.” At least that had been true before she’d met Seth.

“Red roses help, don’t they?”

“Did Nana tell you?”

“We’re looking out for your best interest, that’s all. You have to be prodded every once in a while to help you realize you can still have dreams. How was your coffee date this morning?”

Caprice wasn’t sure what she thought about having dreams, at least not the happily-ever-after kind. If anything, she was more interested in the here and now with Seth and what could possibly happen with that.

But when she remembered sitting across the table from him at the Koffee Klatch, their knees bumping—

The aroma of brewing coffee had wafted all around their small wrought-iron table. Seth had looked so handsome in khakis and a polo shirt.

Smiling at her, he’d noticed how she’d had her coffee prepared. “So you’re definitely a whipped cream kind of woman.”

“And you’re straight black coffee all the way.”

“I’ve grown up on caffeine. Necessary in my line of work.”

“How do you sleep at night?”

From the look he gave her, maybe he was thinking about how
she
slept at night. Then he shrugged. “I’ve trained myself to fall asleep and wake up on demand.”

“Sort of like a soldier.”

“I guess you could say that.”

“I admire what you do. It’s selfless.”

Holding her gaze, he took her hand and folded his fingers around hers. “You could give a guy a swelled head.”

“Only if he deserves it.”

Seth had chuckled and she’d grinned back, and the warm feeling surging through her had had nothing to do with hot coffee. Knowing their coffee date would soon be over, she’d explained, “My family is having a surprise birthday party for my mom Monday at my place. Would you like to come?”

“I would. But I’m working at the clinic until three.”

“If you can be at my place by four, you’ll be able to shout surprise.”

“I’ll try to make it by four. If I can’t, I’ll phone you and come over after you surprise her.”

Suddenly she thought of Seth meeting the clan. “My family can be overwhelming. I have two sisters, a brother, Nana—”

He squeezed her hand. “I’ve worked in a big-city ER. I think I can handle a few relatives.”

What she liked about Seth as much as everything else was his ability to put life in perspective.

She’d lost her perspective completely when he’d walked her to her car, pulled her close . . . and kissed her.

Oh, yes, Seth could sweep her away. But was she going to let him?

Julie Ann, Isaac’s main clerk, came from the back of the store to greet them, interrupting Caprice’s reflection on her date, the heat that still lingered when she relived Seth’s kiss.

She whispered to Nikki, “The date was everything a coffee date should be.” That was all she was going to say.

“You’re Nikki and Caprice, right?” Julie Ann inquired.

“We are. Did Isaac tell you we need to look through some boxes?”

“He phoned me this morning. Right this way. Take the back door outside the shop and go to the storage shed. He doesn’t usually have files in there, but he carried the boxes there for you.” She looked at Caprice. “He said if you feel like baking him some biscotti, that would be a great repayment.”

“I’ll do better than that. I’ll make him a rum cake.”

Julie Ann laughed. “I think he’d carry more boxes down for you for that. Come on. I’ll unlock the back door.”

Five minutes later, Caprice and Nikki were checking out the old storage shed and Julie Ann had returned to the shop. Shelves with old lanterns and tools, antique tin cans and figurines lined two sides of the shed. In the back, chairs, mostly ladder-back with cane seats, were stacked on top of each other. In the sparse space that was left in the middle of the concrete floor sat four cartons, none of which were labeled. Isaac had laid a tattered rug on the floor and tossed pillows on top of that so they could sit there if they wanted to sort through the contents of the cartons.

As Nikki began to untape one box, she asked, “So do you think Dad’s going to be able to get Mom to your place without her asking too many questions?”

“I think Dad can persuade Mom to do anything. He’ll just tell her I’m having an impromptu picnic. The only thing she won’t like about that idea is she doesn’t have time to cook anything for it. Dad and I will stay in contact by cell phone. So this really should be a surprise. Unless one of us lets something slip.”

“You mean Bella?”

“I mean Bella. On the other hand, she’s not saying much about anything because of her secret. So she’ll probably stay away from Mom and Dad until the party.”

Nikki began to get bored after sorting through the first two boxes. She’d looked through one and Caprice the other.

“This is dull,” she complained.

“Detective work is mostly dull, from what I hear. It’s the details that matter. Like Nana says, I have to find the missing link.”

Nikki climbed to her feet, put her hands on her back and stretched. Crossing to an ornate table lodged between two chairs, she said, “This is kind of cute.”

“It would be more attractive if it were painted and distressed,” Caprice responded, after giving it a quick once-over.

Nikki took a step back and studied it again. “I think you’re right.”

“I have to be right or my clients would fire me.”

“I guess they would. You’re always dealing with expectations. If they don’t sell their house, I suppose you don’t get referrals.”

After a thoughtful pause, Nikki asked, “It’s been a lot harder for you to get into the home-staging business than you let on, hasn’t it?”

A fistful of receipts in her hand, Caprice set them in her lap. “Beginning to stage homes took a ton of research, a lot of footwork, and honing PR skills I didn’t know I had. People are people across the board, it’s true. But when I went after high-end staging accounts, I had to learn what rich people want.”

“What
do
they want?”

“They want me to be right. They want to be able to trust me, not just my skill, but my connections. If I recommend a real estate agent, they want it to be the best real estate agent for them. They want an offer they can live with and be proud of. Early on I learned these clients, especially the entrepreneurs, network like no others. That’s how I’ve been able to get this business up and running so quickly, fitting into their networks.”

“You’re good at whatever you do, Caprice. We’re all in awe. Vince won’t admit how much he respects you, but I will. Sometimes, I do think Bella feels intimidated by you.”