Deadly Greetings (Book 2 in the Cardmaking Mysteries) (13 page)

“
They’re heart-shaped
stickers. Honestly, Lillian, perhaps we should trade jobs after
all.”

Lillian handed me the list, and I said
quickly, “Okay, I saw this and this and this,” as I checked the
items off.

Lillian said, “It might help me know what to
pull before you check them off the list. I swear, Jennifer, this
would be faster if you just did it yourself.”

“
I don’t want you to feel
left out,” I said, though I agreed with her.

“
You’ve got to be kidding;
you won’t hurt my feelings. While you do this, I’ll focus on our
other list.”

I couldn’t help wondering if Lillian’s
incompetence was feigned or real, but it didn’t really matter. She
was right; I was much happier doing the job on my own. By the time
I finished, I’d seen that every item listed on the invoice had been
in the box. At least this time, it appeared that the order had been
filled properly.

“
All done?” Lillian
asked.

“
I am. So why am I a little
disappointed everything was there?” I asked her.

She laughed. “I can answer that, my dear.
It’s because you bristle with competence, and you accept nothing
less from the world around you. Think how fun it would have been to
catch them with their knickers around their knees.”

I grabbed one of the stools we kept in back.
“Lillian, am I impossible?”

She put an arm around me, and for just a
moment I remembered what she’d been like when my parents had died,
loving and supportive, always there for me. “My dear, I think
you’re just about perfect.”

A few errant tears crept down my cheeks, and
I wiped them quickly away. I swear, sometimes my emotions get the
best of me when I least expect it.

To divert my aunt’s attention from my
behavior, I asked, “So do you have any other ideas about what we
should ask tonight?”

Lillian stared at the board a few moments,
then said, “No, I’m afraid much of it is going to have to be
spontaneous. The last thing we want is for anyone to suspect we’re
looking into Maggie’s murder.”

As I studied the board, I asked, “Why, don’t
you want to be tarred as an amateur investigator?”

“
Jennifer, one of the people
coming tonight could very well have killed Maggie, if our theories
are correct. Do you honestly think it’s a good idea to warn them
that we’re suspicious, when even the police are ruling her death an
accident? This killer is very good, so we don’t want to give any
reasons to set their sights on us, now, do we?”

That surely took the fun out of it. “You’re
right, of course. So how do we ask questions without it sounding
like we’re grilling them?”

Lillian smiled. “Follow my lead, dear child.
I’ve been doing it for more years than I care to admit. If there’s
any advantage in being married to as many different men as I have
in my life, it’s learning early on how to spot a lie.”

“
So you think it’s some kind
of acquired ESP that came with your vows?” I asked.

Instead of laughing at my jab, Lillian
looked at me with a serious expression. “Don’t scoff. Being able to
separate the truth from the fiction made me a very rich woman.”

I didn’t even know how to comment on that,
but I didn’t have to. The front door chimed, and I walked up to see
who was visiting. Greg Langston was there, and after a quick glance
at the clock, it looked like he wanted to start our date early. The
poor dear even had a bouquet of daisies in his hand.

Too bad I was going to have to dash his
hopes yet again.

HANDCRAFTED CARD TIP

While precise, sharply cut edges are perfect
for many cards, sometimes I like to tear the edges of additions to
the cards I’m making. This rough border gives a much more informal
tone to the card, and while I wouldn’t use it on a wedding
invitation, it’s perfect for any card that just says hello to an
old friend.

Chapter 8

“
Greg, I can’t go out with
you.”

He looked at me like I’d stabbed him in the
heart. “Jennifer, I’m not going to let you get cold feet. We’re
going, and that’s final.”

“
You don’t understand,” I
explained. “I’ve got a meeting here tonight, and I need to prepare
for it. It won’t be over till ten, and I know how you hate to eat
that late. I do too, for that matter, but it can’t be helped. I
really am sorry.”

Greg paused a second, then said, “No, I’m
not willing to accept that. I think a late dinner would be
perfect.”

“
We can do it tomorrow, I
promise.” Honestly, he was as stubborn as ever, though I didn’t
mind it nearly as much as I had when Barrett had been so insistent
earlier.

Greg smiled as he said, “If we can do it
tomorrow, we can do it tonight. Ten o’clock sounds great.”

Before I could say another word, he was
gone.

Lillian had obviously been eavesdropping
again in the back room. “I knew there was something I liked about
that young man. He’s persistent, isn’t he?”

“
A little too much for my
taste,” I said. “Now my schedule’s going to be all out of whack
eating that late. Blast it, I forgot I have to go home and feed the
cats.”

Lillian glanced at her watch. “So go feed
them. You’ve got plenty of time; just don’t dawdle. I’ll start
getting things ready here.”

“
Thanks,” I said as I
hurried out the door. I knew if I waited till midnight to feed
Oggie and Nash, there would be an open cat rebellion, and I wasn’t
in the mood for shredded paper towels and toilet tissue all over
the apartment, their favored method of showing their
displeasure.

I raced back to my new place, intent on
making the round trip in minimum time. It wasn’t that I didn’t
trust Lillian to get things in order, but it was my shop, and
ultimately, everything that happened there reflected on me. I might
be preparing to grill some of my best customers, but that didn’t
mean I wasn’t going to do right by them in everything else. I’d
ordered two extra embossing kits so my group could play with them.
If the club members liked the equipment, I offered the ones we used
at a healthy discount, but still allowed myself enough of a profit
to make it worth my while. It was something I’d wanted to try at
Sara Lynn’s shop, but she’d always vetoed it, hating to give anyone
a discount on anything. I believed that it encouraged more
spending, not less. After all, what fun was it to have a new tool
or technique and nothing to practice it on?

Both of the doors in the building’s foyer
were shut, which was fine with me. I was in no mood to deal with
either one of my fellow tenants. When I got to my door, there was a
bouquet of flowers leaning against it. Barrett just wouldn’t get
the hint! What was I going to have to do to convince him I wasn’t
interested, smack his hand with a ruler? Without giving it a second
thought, I grabbed the bouquet and marched down the steps. Barrett
answered after my third knock.

“
Hey, what’s the problem—is
there a fire? Oh, hi, Jennifer. Listen, I’m sorry, but if you came
by to take me up on dinner, I’ve already made other
plans.”

“
You arrogant son of a
snot,” I said, “How dare you? I wouldn’t date you if there was
bonus money at the end of the evening, do you understand? Here. I
don’t want these.” I slammed the flowers into his chest, but
instead of looking miffed, he just smiled.

“
What’s so funny?” I asked,
ready to blast him again.

“
I don’t want them either,”
he said.

“
So take them back to the
flea-bitten florist where you bought them and try to get your money
back.”

“
Jennifer, I’m afraid you’re
mistaken. I didn’t send you flowers, and I won’t ever in the
future, not if this is the way you react to them.”

That stopped me. “What do you mean you
didn’t send them? If they weren’t from you, who are they from?”

Barrett reached into the crumpled bouquet
and snatched out a card. “I’m willing to wager the name of your
admirer is in here. Shall I read it to you?”

I snatched the card out of his hand; then
after a moment’s hesitation, I collected the flowers, too. “Sorry.
It was an honest mistake.”

“
I’d love to stand out here
in the hallway and chat, but I’ve got company.”

I rolled my eyes. “Tell Penny I said
hi.”

I was halfway up the stairs when I heard him
say, “It’s not Penny.”

“
Don’t brag about your
conquests to me,” I said just as an older man stepped through
Barrett’s door.

“
Jennifer, say hello to my
father.”

“
Hi,” I said as I ducked
around the corner. The older gentleman looked amused by the
display, and as I fumbled with my door key, I heard him ask
Barrett, “Is that the one you were telling me about?”

“
Charming, isn’t
she?”

Why wouldn’t my stupid key fit into the
stupid lock?

I finally got it, then bolted inside just in
time to hear the elder say, “Well, she’s got fire, I’ll say that
for her.”

I tried not to slam the door, but I couldn’t
help myself. After all, I might as well live up to the reputation.
Ten seconds later something pounded on my floor, and I could hear
my downstairs neighbor, the thoroughly unpleasant Mr. Wallace,
shout, “Quiet! You’re disturbing my peace.”

I wanted to shout something back at him, but
he was right. I hadn’t been much of a new neighbor, even if he had
started things off on the wrong foot. I made myself a promise to
try to be quieter and see if I could at least get along with one of
my fellow tenants. Barrett was hopeless. His smug expression was
still in my mind when my roommates sashayed up to me. “Hi, you
felons. What have you two been up to today?”

Oggie rubbed against my legs and I picked
him up, stroking his fur. Though Nash loved attention too, he
wouldn’t deign to offer such an overt expression of affection for
me. I played with both of them for a few minutes, fed them, then
headed back for the door. That’s when I remembered the flowers.
Several of the daisies were broken, hanging precariously by their
stems, while most of the baby’s breath and ferns were most likely
still on Barrett’s doorstep. I worked with them a few seconds
trying to salvage something, but they were hopeless. I owed whoever
had sent them an apology. I dug the card out of my jacket pocket
and read the note. It said, “From Your Not So Secret Admirer,” but
that wasn’t what creeped me out. It was signed “WD,” and there was
only one person in all of Rebel Forge I knew with those initials:
Wayne Davidson, the deputy who wouldn’t go away. I thought about
calling Bradford, but that would lead to a conversation I didn’t
have time for just then. I’d tell him later, but for the moment I
had other things to do that needed my full attention. I grabbed the
flowers and threw them in the trash cans outside and thought about
adding the card but changed my mind. I might need it as evidence if
Wayne’s behavior escalated. Hopefully he’d gotten it out of his
system, but I wasn’t taking any bets. I planned to take Bradford’s
advice and watch my back until the situation was resolved,
hopefully by Wayne leaving Virginia altogether.

I was still a little shook up by the time I
got back to the card shop, and Lillian could tell the second I
walked in the door that something was wrong.

“
What happened,
Jennifer?”

I didn’t want to tell her; I didn’t want to
talk about it to anyone. Talking somehow made it real. But I had no
choice. “There were flowers waiting for me when I got to my
apartment.”

“
How delightful,” she
said.

“
Read the card.” I handed it
to her and watched her expression. Her smile vanished quickly.
“What does Bradford think you should do?”

“
I don’t know, because I’m
not telling him, and neither are you. Not tonight,
anyway.”

Lillian frowned. “Jennifer, you know I’m not
your brother’s biggest fan—we’ve had plenty of differences in the
past—but he is the sheriff.”

I took the card back from her and tucked it
in my pocket, then thought better of it. I didn’t want that thing
in physical contact with me if I could help it. I pinned it to the
board in back of the register so I could deal with it later.
“Lillian, we’re not going to talk about this right now. Do you
understand?”

She neatened a stack of paper on the
worktable. “I understand, but I don’t agree. He might be more
dangerous than you realize.”

“
Lillian, I said drop it.”
The last thing I needed was a vision of Wayne Davidson lurking in
the shadows while I was trying to find Maggie’s killer and run a
shop, too. I’d meant it. I would tell my brother soon, but not
right away.

To my surprise, my aunt didn’t say another
word, I though I knew she had to be burning inside to talk about
it. It was funny, but our relationship had started to change since
she’d come to work at Custom Card Creations. She treated me more
and more as an equal than a young foal in need of protection. I
liked it, and wasn’t about to go back to the way things had been
before. “Now let’s get ready for our meeting. Where should we hide
the board?”

“
I don’t think we should
hide it at all,” Lillian said. “I’ve been thinking since you were
gone. If we leave it out where everyone can see it, our questions
will be a perfect way to open the inquiry. What do you
think?”

I took the whiteboard and slid it behind the
counter where no one could see it. “We don’t want to alert the
killer if we can help it, remember? Tonight calls for
subtlety.”