craftfield 01 - secrets untold (7 page)

After he left, Lily picked up the card. Colt Davis Enterprises.

Why would he want the ice cream shop? Maybe he figured she’d sell quick and easy in her grief. Was he showing up now a sign that she should drop the place? She just wanted her things and return to Amanda’s.

In her room, she packed her clothes and necessities. She’d just set the bag down when the ice cream shop’s door chimed again.

Damn! Didn’t I lock that?

“Thank goodness you’re open.” A woman trailing behind three identical looking girls wiped her brow. “They’ve been pleading for ice cream all day and the store was closed until now.”

“Mommy,” said one of the girls in a purple dress and pigtails, “I want the chocolate ice cream.”

“I want the rainbow.” Another girl, dressed in yellow, bounced on her toes.

“Can I have the kind with caramel in it?” The third girl in a matching dress to the others, hers in pink, pressed her nose to the display glass.

The three girls’ dresses appeared homemade and the mother dug through a battered looking purse. “We have to share, remember. So Amy picked last time, it’s Rachel’s turn.”

“I didn’t get a turn.” The girl dressed in yellow pouted.

“Yes, you did. Before Amy.” The mom smoothed out several dollar bills.

“But that was forever ago.”

Lily’s heart ached for this family. It was clear to her that they didn’t have much money and the ice cream was a treat. The memory of her mom crying cause she didn’t make enough money waitressing to pay for a cake for Lily’s eighth birthday party filled her.

“It’s on the house.”

The mother’s head snapped up. “No, I can’t accept.”

“You have to. You four are our… thousandth customers.” Surly they’d served way more than that by now, but it was the easiest big number she could come up with. She winked at the girls. “That’s why we were late opening today… in preparation.” Lily grabbed two cones from the supply case. “See, we had these cones, dipped with chocolate inside, and specially made for the winners.

“Now, who wants which flavor ice cream?” She set the cones in a carrying case to keep them upright. “And two scoops okay for them, Mom?”

“Yes. Thank you.” The woman blushed. “Thank you very much.”

Lily nodded.

The girls shouted out their flavors at once and Lily quickly made their cones. Soon all three sat at a table, ice cream dripping down their ecstatic faces.

“Now, what’ll you have?” Lily asked, dipping the scoop in water to clean it.

“Nothing for me.” The mom brushed her bangs out of her eyes.

Maybe she was watching her weight or diabetic, but Lily suspected she was the type of woman, like her mom, who gave everything she had for others and took little for herself. “I promise, this is the best ice cream in the city. And if you don’t pick, I’ll choose for you and then you’ll have to get a second scoop if I guess your favorite wrong.” She grinned.

The woman smiled back. “Okay. Pralines and cream, please.”

“Good choice.” Lily prepared the cone and handed it over.

“Thank you.”

“Any time.” Lily nodded and the woman sat at the table with her triplets. The joy of helping them surged through her. Maybe she’d keep this place. Fulfill her mom’s dream of helping people and making them smile. How could she walk away from that?

***

Hours later, Lily wiped her brow and her stomach growled. There was finally a lull in the stream of people entering the shop. Many came to offer words of condolence and kindness. Others seemed oblivious to the fact a murder had taken place and just wanted ice cream.

Lily ordered a pizza.

“You’re busy.” Deputy Garza stood in line and waited until it was his turn to speak with her. “I thought you’d keep the place closed for the week.”

“So did I.” She placed her hand on her hip and smiled. “Guess everyone is craving ice cream today.”

“Need some help?” he asked as the bell over the door rang and the pizza delivery guy entered, along with what must have been a bus load of cub scouts.

Normally she’d say no. But it was just her, and she was starving. The smell of the spicy tomato and sausage was doing her in. “Sure. There’s an extra apron and gloves in the supply closet.” She pointed.

He tied the apron around his waist and quickly started filling orders.

“Thanks for your help,” Lily said, “I can pay you if you like.”

“A slice or two of that pizza as payment.” He winked.

A blush heated her cheeks. “Deal.”

An hour later, Garza and Lily sat across from one another behind the ice cream counter, the pizza box between them.

“Thanks. This is delicious,” he said between mouthfuls.

“Anytime, Deputy Garza.” Her pulse sped up at the intense way he stared at her.

“Jarred, please.” His dark hair accented his hazel eyes which crinkled slightly in the corners from his smile.

She nodded. Was the air conditioning on the fritz? Cause it suddenly felt hot. They both reached for another slice, bonking heads.

“Sorry.” He reached out a hand and caressed her cheek. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll survive.”

“You’ve been working a lot recently. Have you taken a leave from school to decide if you want to keep the shop open or not?” He gave her a sympathetic smile. “You could always hire more help and run the business in the background.”

“At first, I wanted to sell, but now I’m not so sure.” She took another bite of pizza. “I’m studying to be a nurse.”

He nodded. “So, a nurse? What made you chose that profession?”

“I've always wanted to help people.” She shrugged. “But after all that’s happened, I’ve put in for a leave of absence at school. Hopefully I should receive approval next week, and my professors have given me leniency on assignments. Now I’m torn between keeping this place open or pursuing my degree full time. I think I’d miss this place, though.”

“You must have great willpower not to gorge all the time?” He glanced at the ice cream cones in the plastic display case. “I’d eat so much I’d gain a hundred pounds and make myself ill.”

She wiped her mouth with a paper napkin. “I only splurge a few times a month.”

“So you’ve got great willpower.” He finished his slice, then said. “I wouldn’t have that much discipline. Sweets are my weakness.” His voice deepened and her breath caught.

“What other weaknesses do you have, Deputy?” She licked her lips.

“Beautiful women who are strong on the inside, even though they don’t think they are, due to circumstances beyond their control.”

“Oh?” He thought she was strong? His words sent shivers through her and she felt powerful with him… protected. Like he could scare away anything bad that might lurk in the darkness. She played his words over in her mind. He thought she was beautiful? “You’re not so bad yourself.” Like the sexiest cop she’d ever seen. Muscled, square jawline, and hazel gaze that drew her in.

Jarred leaned forward, their lips a breath apart. Instinctively, she half-closed her eyes.

Behind the counter, someone coughed and Lily jerked backward, falling on her butt.

“Excuse me, can I get some help here?” a woman’s nasally voice sounded.

“Of course.” Lily scrambled to stand. There stood Camie, decked out in a white pantsuit and turquoise jewelry.

“I only came in to collect my refund.”

“Pardon?” Lily frowned.

Jarred rose near Lily’s side. “Good to see you, Mrs. Barnes.”

The look of shock on Camie’s face was priceless, and Lily wished she had a camera to capture it. “Uh… Deputy Garza, what are you doing here?”

None of your business
. “What can I do for you, Camie?”

“My refund.” Her head snapped so fast to Lily that her bleached blond hair bounced. “I paid a deposit for the ice cream cakes, and since I never received my order, I want my money back.”

She made it sound like Lily’s mother’s death was nothing more than a nuisance. Shoving down the desire to leap over the counter and strangle the woman, Lily stomped to the register. She mashed the buttons, opened the drawer, yanked out the cash and slid it across the counter. “Thank you for your business. I’m sorry my mom being murdered inconvenienced you. And by the way,” she poured sticky syrup into her tone, “you’re no longer welcome in
my
store.” God that felt good.

Camie gasped and snorted, then she gathered up the cash and darted out the door.

From the encounter, Lily’s bones felt like they’d turned to jello as all the adrenaline and rage flooded out of her. Her mom was dead and being rude to Camie or anyone else wasn’t going to bring her back. Letting out a cry, Lily turned, tears flowing down her face. “Promise me you’ll catch whoever did this.”

“I will.” His defiant voice injected a layer of confidence in him as he enfolded her in his arms.

Chapter Ten

Two days later, Lily clamored to get her phone out of her purse during her anatomy class. Was it her aunts finally? “Sorry.” She rushed out of class and hit answer not even looking at the number. “Hello?”

“Are you okay?” Jarred’s voice came over the line.

“Yes, just got the evil eye from one of my professors. What’s up?” Had they found out something about her mom’s killer? She clutched the phone tighter.

“I wanted to share the findings with you.” His voice was neutral, almost business-like, and a rustling of paper sounded over the line. “Do you want to meet for coffee?”

Her heart hammered against her throat. “Sure.” She started walking to her car in the student parking lot. “Jazzy’s Café is between us. Want to meet there in half an hour?”

“Sounds good. See ya.”

Lily clutched her arms around her. Damn, she’d run out of the classroom without her coat. Oh well, she had a spare jacket in her truck. What had the police found? Did Jarred want to meet with her in person and tell her it was Camie, or even Mr. Griffin, who’d killed her mom? She’d testify or whatever else they needed her to do.

Her truck backfired as she started it, but quickly hummed to life, and she barreled down the road. She made it to the café in fifteen minutes and dug through her glove box for a mint. Hell, she probably looked terrible after not sleeping, and taking Amanda’s sleeping pills didn’t help. She put on some lipstick and dabbed on mascara. The idea of Jarred thinking she was pretty or liking her sent a thrill she didn’t expect surging through her. But he was here for her mom’s case, not to date. Besides, she wasn’t ready to see anyone anyway. At least that’s what she told herself, as she exited her vehicle and ran through the drizzling rain into the café.

She ordered a hot green tea with honey and picked a table near the back. Cops liked to sit in the back of places, didn’t they? So they could watch the people coming and going and not have their back to the door? Taking a seat diagonal from the entryway, she sipped her tea. A few minutes later, Jarred walked in wearing a raincoat, with his dark hair was matted to his head.

After he ordered, he sat down next to her, his back to the wall.

“Hi. How are you?” he asked.

“I’m good.” She stirred her drink.

“You’re dry. So you must have missed the downpour.” He nodded toward the window which revealed sheets of rain pounding against the street.

“Thanks for helping me the other day…you know when my mom—”

“Any time.” He smiled.

Now that she’d gotten some sleep and the initial shock of her mom’s death not as raw and cutting, she looked at him. His face was unfamiliar. Surely she’d have seen him around town. “Sorry are you new here?” Her face burned. “I mean, I don’t think I’ve seen you before...”

He chuckled. “No, I transferred here from Chicago. Got into a motorcycle accident while pursuing a suspect.” He held up his pant leg showing a white jagged scar down his calf. “I was lucky. But decided to leave the city and find a nice small town and here I am.”

“Welcome then. I wish we could’ve met on better circumstances.”

“It’s okay.” He took a drink.

Underneath the table, her foot tapped restlessly. “You said you had news?”

“Yes.” He gave her a half smile and took her hand in his. “We ruled you out as a suspect yesterday.”

She stiffened and let go of his hand. “I didn’t know I was still as a suspect after our meeting with Wells.”

“We can’t play favorites and had to check out everyone’s story.” He shifted, his expression softening. “Especially since you called the Sherriff saying for them to go to the shop and check on your mom.”

What could she say? He wouldn’t believe she’d had dreams and later a vision. “When I couldn’t get ahold of her, I called the police. It was just a bad feeling I had. Like I said before.”

He nodded. “We’ve interviewed the two individuals you suggested, as well as anyone we could find who might have been in the area at the time of the murder.”

“Have you had any luck locating my aunts?” Ever since her mom’s death, she’d been worried about them. What if something had happened to them?

“No.” He frowned, reservation filling his voice. “Are you sure they went to the Bahamas?”

“Yes. Well, that’s what they told us, and where they go every year.”

“Have you ever not been able to get ahold of them during one of their trips? How long do they stay gone?”

She bit her lip, thinking. Had her or her mom ever spoken with them while they were on vacation? She hadn’t, but she wasn’t sure if her mom had or not. “I’m not sure. There’s never been a time when I needed to contact them until now.” She shook her head. “My mom never mentioned talking with them, but I don’t know that she didn’t. They leave every October and don’t return until February.”

Disbelief and shock radiated across his face before he schooled his features. “Hopefully they’ll check-in soon.” He reached out and touched her hand. His wide palm and long fingers engulfing hers and a pleasure filled her chest. “I know you’re worried about them.”

He’d wanted to meet her because of the case, not her aunts. “Have you found out anything more about my mom’s murder?” She leaned forward, her hands clasped in front of her on the table. Had they discovered who had done this? His face was serious, his brow furrowed. Was it someone she knew, or a complete stranger? Had the murder been one of their regular customers, down on his or her luck?