Christmas In Paradise (Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mysteries Book 4) (23 page)

“Everything is happening so fast.
My life had settled into such a dark place, but taking this job, and meeting you and Kyle and Jordan, has made all the difference. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.”

Tj turned from the highway onto a residential street. “
I’m glad things seem to be working out. It seems like you were due for some good luck.”

“Tell me about it. The past two years have been so hard.
Now I feel like my life is beginning all over again. This time I’m going to cherish every moment with my son.”

The house was a single story with a large front porch. The front door was centrally located with a large window on e
ither side. Tj knew that based on Kyle’s description, the living room and kitchen/dining area were in the front, while the two bedrooms and shared bath were in the rear.

The house was painted in a soft yellow with white trim around the windows and along the eaves. Snow covered the ground, but Tj knew that beneath the icy surface was a lawn and garden.

“It has a fence all the way around,” Kallie commented as she observed the chain-link fence in the front and a tall wooden fence in the rear. “That is so awesome. Brady can play outside and I won’t have to worry about him running into the street. I really can’t believe I can afford such a nice house. Are you sure you understood Kyle correctly when he told you the rent he was asking for?”

“I’m sure.” Tj got out of the vehicle and waited while Kallie unhooked Brady from the car seat in the back. “Kyle got a really good deal on the house and he wants to rent to someone he knows will take care of it.”

“I’ll treat it like my own,” Kallie promised.

Kyle must have heard them pull up
because he walked out onto the porch and waved at them to come on in.

“I can’t wait to meet the neighbors,” Kallie
said as they walked up the walkway that someone—probably Kyle—had shoveled. “It looks like the neighbors on the right have kids. Maybe they’re young enough for Brady to play with.”

“That tricycle looks like it
’s meant for a child about Brady’s age, so maybe they do.”

Kallie ran up the steps to the house and hugged Kyle. “Thank you so much. I love it already.”

He laughed. “I’m happy to have a renter I know will watch out for the place. Come on inside; you’re going to love the kitchen. It’s small, but the woman I’m buying the house from loves to cook, so she spared no expense on the appliances.”

Tj watched as Kallie made her way through the house
, praising every aspect of the cute little home, and Brady ran up and down the hall with the sudden burst of energy that only kids seem to have. The house really was adorable. It would be perfect for Kallie and Brady. Now that Kyle had come through with the house, Tj hoped Jordan could come through with the custody arrangements.

After Tj finished with Kallie she headed to the library to talk to Frannie. It made no sense that Bob had two suitors in Serenity. Maybe she’d misunderstood when Frannie claimed she hadn’t received the flowers. Or maybe there was a clue in the timeline of events that she was missing. Tj wasn’t sure exactly how understanding the events of the previous summer would help, but her instinct told her to dig a little deeper.

“I’m glad you stopped by,” Frannie
said when Tj came in the front door of the library. “I’ve been curious how the investigation is going.”

“Not well,” Tj admitted. “I’m not getting anywhere
, and when I called Roy at home he admitted that they aren’t doing any better. It doesn’t help that Boggs doesn’t consider Bob’s death an active investigation because Bonnie confessed. I’m not sure if it will help, but I’d like to understand exactly what happened when Rupert visited last summer.”

“Let’s have a cup of coffee in the back,” Frannie suggested. “I’ll hear the door if someone comes in.”

Frannie poured two cups of coffee and gestured that Tj should have a seat.

“
How can I help you?”

“I know it was months ago
, but do you happen to remember what day of the week it was when Rupert came to see you?”

“Actually
, I do remember. It was a Friday. I know that because the library is closed on the weekends, and I almost gave into Rupert’s charm and agreed to a date on Saturday.”

“So he seemed like his old self. The man you remember
ed from college.”

“He really did,” Frannie
said. “Initially, I told him that I wasn’t interested in renewing our relationship, but he managed to talk me into lunch. He was thoughtful and charming and seemed sincere. By the end of the meal I had pretty much convinced myself to accept his invitation for the next day, before I remembered the pain he’d caused, so I turned him down. When he left he said he still loved me and wouldn’t give up.”

“Did he bring you flowers by any chance?”

“No. I didn’t receive any flowers.”

“Do you have a favorite flower?” Tj
asked. Maybe Rupert had purchased the flowers for Frannie but for some reason had never given them to her.

Frannie
thought about it. “I guess my favorite are Casa Blanca lilies.”

So he
had
bought the flowers for Frannie, though it seemed he never gave them to her.

“Did you hear from Rupert at all
again after your lunch?” Tj asked.

“No.
I never saw or heard from him again until Thanksgiving.”

“Okay, thanks for sharing this. If I find anything out
, I’ll let you know.”

After Tj left
the library she tried to put together everything she’d learned from her inquiries over the past few days. Rupert had visited Frannie on Friday. They’d had lunch. He’d seemed nice and cordial. Ellen had mentioned that she’d spent Friday night with him after Frannie had rejected him. He’d ordered the flowers from Rita on Saturday morning and she’d delivered them that afternoon. The fire had occurred on Saturday night, and Tj had confirmed that Rupert had been at the Motor Inn and had been seen with the crowd, watching the firefighters extinguish the blaze, so he most likely hadn’t gone out at all that evening. Libby had seen him on Sunday afternoon, after he’d called the service on Sunday morning, complaining that he didn’t feel well, so it didn’t seem he’d left the motel on Sunday either. He’d asked Rita for his money back on Monday, so maybe he’d planned to give them to Frannie and then changed his mind. But if he had simply changed his mind, why had they been smashed? Could Bob have done that himself?

David
had confirmed that Rupert’s doctor had called in a prescription for the man on Monday morning, but Rupert had never picked it up, so David delivered it Monday evening, although Libby had told her that when she saw Rupert on Sunday afternoon he’d said he was fine. Something wasn’t adding up.

Later that day Tj met Kyle for drinks at Murphy’s. Jenna was tied up, and Tj was trying to keep her distance from Hunter until she’d had a chance to think things through regarding his request for a date, so it was just the two of them. It was only a few days until Christmas and the bar was filled with holiday shoppers scurrying about to find last-minute gifts.

“So where does Bonnie come into this?” Kyle asked
after Tj filled him in on everything she’d learned. “Didn’t I hear that the reason she went to the cooking retreat was because she met Bob and he invited her?”

“Frannie told me that he noticed Bonnie on Friday
, when they’d had lunch. I was able to talk to Bonnie, and she said she met Bob on his way out of town on Tuesday and invited her to the retreat. He was charming and simply lovely—her words,” Tj clarified.

“While this is very interesting
, I don’t see how it helps us.”

“I’m not sure,” Tj admitted, “but my instinct tells me it
’s relevant. I’m going to see if I can get Hunter to contact Bob’s doctor to find out what he was being treated for. I know there’s the whole doctor confidentiality thing, but Hunter’s a doctor too, so maybe there’s some sort of agreement that doctors can talk to each other.”

“Even if Hunter can get Bob’s doctor to talk
, how is he supposed to find out who this doctor is?” Kyle asked.

“
David said Rupert Kingston’s doctor called in a prescription. I’m sure Hunter can get the contact info from David.”

“Probably. So what’s up with you and Hunter?”
Kyle abruptly changed the subject.

Tj was shocked Kyle would ask
. “What makes you think something is up with me and Hunter?”

“Because I ran into him earlier and mentioned we were meeting for a drink. I asked him if he wanted to
join us, and he said you’d been avoiding him so he supposed he should respect your wishes and keep his distance.”

“Oh.” Tj
took a drink of her beer. She really didn’t want to talk about Hunter, but Kyle was a good listener and she trusted his opinion, so maybe it couldn’t hurt. “Hunter asked me on a date. A real date. You know I love Hunter, but I feel like we’re in a good place right now, so I don’t want to risk messing that up. Going on a date with Hunter would change things. If it didn’t work out I’d lose him. Again. When we broke up it took me a long time to get over it. I just don’t think I’m ready to put myself out there like that again.”

“Have you told Hunter th
at?” Kyle asked.

“Not in so many words
, but he knows how I feel.” Tj looked Kyle in the eye. “I loved him. I was planning my life around marrying him and having his babies. And then, without warning, he came home from college for winter break with some debutante his mom set him up with on his arm.”

Kyle took a deep breath but didn’t say anything. Tj realized he was probably
considering his response. One of the things she loved about him was that when he gave advice he really thought about it beforehand.

“I can tell that Hunter loves you and I don’t believe that he would hurt you
, but I understand that you’ve already been hurt. It seems like he’s ready to move your relationship from a friendship to something more, but if he’s really serious about his feelings for you, it seems to me that he’ll wait as long as it takes for you to be ready as well. You should talk to him. Tell him how you feel. If he won’t wait, he’s not really serious and it’s better that you know that now.”

Tj hugged Kyle. “Thanks. You always know what to say. I will talk to him. Tomorrow. Right now I’m going to relax with my best friend, or I guess I should say
my best friend along with Jenna. I don’t want to think about complicated romances or murder investigations that don’t seem to be going anywhere. I just want to have a beer and some chicken wings and enjoy the snow and the holiday music.”

“You know me. I’m always happy to drink beer and eat chicken wings if it w
ill help out a friend in need.”

Serenity Community Hospital joined the rest of the town in creating a magical Christmas
wonderland. Several fir trees that graced the lawn near the entry had been decked out with white lights, and a large Santa dressed in a lab coat with a stethoscope hanging out of the pocket greeted everyone who entered the lobby. Tj wanted to check in with Hunter regarding the telephone conversation she knew he’d had with Bob King’s doctor. He’d told her that he was swamped so she’d offered to bring lunch to him. A quick meal in his office was better than none at all.

“How come your office isn’t decorated?” Tj asked
Hunter when she came in through the open door.

Hunter looked around. “I guess it didn’t occur to me
. The rest of the hospital is decorated, and I try not to spend too much time in here, although I find that since my dad retired and moved east, all I do is sit here. Maybe I should have picked up a little tree.”

“
I’ll bring you one of those live trees they have in the grocery store. They’re small enough to sit on a table and are already decorated. And when the holiday’s over you can plant it in your yard.”

Hunter smiled. “Thanks. That would be nice.”

“So did you speak to Dr. Livingston?” Tj asked, bringing the conversation around to the real reason for lunch.

“I did.”

“Did he tell you anything that will help us figure out who might have killed Bob King?” Tj wondered.

“I’m not sure what I discovered will help us find the ki
ller, but it does explain a lot about the man’s behavior.” Hunter unwrapped the ham sandwich Tj had brought and took a bite.

“You mean the whole hot
-and-cold, good-guy/bad-guy thing?”

“In a nutshell.
It seems that Rupert Kingston became Bob King around the time he graduated college.”

“We already knew that,” Tj reminded Hunter as she began serving the potato salad she’d brought to go with the sandwiches. “We think he changed his name in order to con people.”

“He didn’t change his name,” Hunter clarified. “He
became
Bob King.”

Tj frowned.
“What do you mean?”