Death by Scones (6 page)

Jared handed me the pizza and the other items and joined me. We scooted to the edge, just past the branches of my neighbor's ginormous maple tree, to where we could see part of Two Mile Beach. Danger Cove's shoreline was naturally broken up into sections by rock formations and the marina. From our vantage point, the sunlight made the sand glisten. I bet it would've been warm under my toes. Any other day I'd walk over and see for myself. Luscious waves crashed onto the shimmering sand. They appeared almost angry. Maybe nature reacted to death too.

After Mom and Dad had died, I'd sat out here all the time. It was my private space in the world, where I could be alone and stare at the water. No one would bother me and ask me how I was doing or if I was okay. I knew they meant well, but after a while those questions had left me frustrated. No, I wasn't okay, and there was nothing anyone could do to make it okay. And when Grams had gotten on my case about grades or chores, and rightfully so, I'd escape for a bit.

When things had settled down and became more normal and routine, I'd used our neighbor's maple to sneak out. The closest branch hung a good five feet from the roof, but back then I hadn't cared if I jumped and missed. I'd been brave or reckless. Didn't most kids think they were invincible? I never missed though, and it left me with a feeling of power and control—something sorely missing from my life then. Now it looked ten miles away, and the only way I'd consider jumping toward it was if my life depended on it.

Jared pulled a slice of mushroom and sausage pizza out of the box, laid it on a plate, and handed it to me. "Do you want to talk about it more?"

I stared at the greasy cheese and shook my head. "Not now. I just want to relax." Tara had been right. I needed to clear my head. "Tell me all about you. Why are you back?"

"Believe it or not, I'd had enough."

I widened my eyes, mostly because I bit into my slice, and the cheese was so hot I had to swish it around my mouth or suffer third-degree burns.

"The auditions, the competition, the rejections. It wears you out," he said and bit into his slice as if his mouth was made of steel. He didn't look upset though. Jared had always been a meticulous planner. He hadn't liked leaving things up to chance. So when he planned to move to New York, straight out of college, to pursue a career on Broadway, everyone thought he'd gone temporarily insane. There was no predictability with an acting career. It was mostly luck.

"You must've been thinking about this for a while," I said and blew on my slice.

He nodded. "Actually, for about a year."

Wow. He hadn't mentioned it during our infrequent Skype chats or when he'd been home for Christmas last year. It saddened me to think how much we'd drifted over time.

"What about you and Erin though?" I asked. Jared had met his girlfriend, Erin, in New York three years ago. They'd been dating all this time. Had she moved to Danger Cove with him?

My stomach knotted at the thought, and I blamed the grease and the day. It was better than admitting that I hoped my best friend hadn't returned with the love of his life. Yes, I wanted to be able to hang out with both of my friends without their significant others in the way. Was that completely selfish?

"We broke up," he said.

Relief pulsed through me, and I had to bite my lower lip to keep my mouth from smiling. Yes, I was probably going to hell. "When?"

He sipped his drink. "We'd been arguing and having problems for a while."

The realization that he'd been in pain extinguished any other spark of glee in me. And it was another reminder of our distancing relationship. "I'm sorry I haven't kept in touch much."

He looked up and frowned. "What do you mean?"

His gaze was intense, and I suddenly felt foolish for bringing up my feelings while he spoke of his trauma, so I took a bite of my almost-not-scalding pizza and talked around the lump in my mouth. "We haven't talked as much as we used to, and I'm sad about that. I remember a time when we told each other everything."

"We still do," he said quickly. "The important stuff."

I scoffed. "Those things aren't important?"

He chuckled. "Yes, they are, but I didn't want to share the moving until I knew for sure. This wasn't the first time I considered it, but in the past, it was just a fleeting thought. I didn't want to get your hopes up until I knew for sure. And when I knew, I wanted to surprise you." A mischievous grin set on his face.

I giggled. "Okay, fair enough, but what about you and Erin?"

He glanced down at his plate, then cocked his head toward me but didn't look into my eyes. "Did you tell me about you and Will?" His tone was low and husky.

"How do you know that?"

He winked. "I grew up here. I have family and friends here."

Duh. Why would I think he'd not know? I was just surprised someone he knew thought it would matter enough to tell him.

"Okay, but if I was breaking up with him…" Then it hit me. Maybe Jared was so upset about the breakup that he hadn't wanted to share. And here I was making him relive it. I could be so dense at times.

I held up a hand. "Okay, let's change the subject. I'm just thrilled you're home."

His smile sent chills down my back.

He raised his glass. "To friends, pizza, and rooftops."

I laughed. Guilt momentarily stabbed me in the chest. How could I have fun when a man had just died? But I pushed it away and said, "Hear, hear!"

We clinked glasses, and my phone rang.

I pulled it from my skirt pocket. I glanced at the display. It was Will. "Hello?"

"Riley." He sounded breathless. "Are you okay? Grandmother told me what happened. I can't believe it."

Him and me both. "I'm fine."

"I'm sorry I can't get away right now. It's been one patient after another today. Some sort of food poisoning." Will had recently graduated from medical school and was interning with Danger Cove's general practitioner, Dr. Eckhardt.

My thoughts bounced to Nathan Dearborn. Maybe he had eaten elsewhere before coming to the bakery, and it was that food that killed him. "Any idea where this tainted food came from?"

"A kindergartener's birthday party last night. The culprit being hot dogs."

That definitely wasn't an event Nathan attended. "Oh. Poor kids."

Jared's brows rose, and he looked to me.

"Will you be okay? Are you alone?" Will asked.

"No, Jared's with me. I'll be fine."

Will let out a breath. "You didn't mention he was coming for a visit."

"It was a surprise. I only found out this morning."

"I see. Well, I certainly don't want to interrupt your reunion." His words were clipped and strained.

Will was the same age as Jared, Tara, and me. We all went to school together, but he'd had his own set of friends. He and I hadn't discussed Jared on our dates, of course, so I never had reason to suspect there might be some animosity between them. Was that what I was picking up on now?

"Are you all right?" I asked.

Will was silent for a moment and then said, "I should get back to the kids. I'll call you when I get a break."

"Okay. Bye." I hung up and stared at my phone.

"Something wrong?" Jared asked.

"Did you and Will have any issues when you were living here?"

Jared chuckled. "That was a long time ago. I don't remember anything. Why? Did he say something?"

I shook my head. "No, but I got the feeling he doesn't like my hanging out with you."

He smirked. "Some people believe men and women can't be friends without sex coming between them."

I laughed loudly, but my thoughts ran to that night in his dad's pickup and the kiss we shared. "That's crazy. Look at you and me."

He hesitated and then said, "Yeah, exactly."

It had been five days since Nathan died in the bakery's bathroom. Five days to dwell and obsess over a dead man by the toilet. The weird part was it didn't seem to matter to the town. The day following his death, business had continued normally, just like Tara predicted. That Saturday there had been heavy traffic around lunchtime. Nothing new there. Sunday and Monday the bakery was closed, and then Tuesday and Wednesday we had the regular hectic mornings and lunches with lulls in between. It left me a bit puzzled. How could people continue to eat and socialize, even use the bathroom, after someone had died there? It felt so morbid. I wasn't exactly complaining. The business couldn't afford any more no-sales days. But that didn't mean I wasn't a bit bothered.

"I just don't get it," I said to Amber shortly after she came in for her shift.

"No one knew him. It's hard to feel for someone you don't know. I'm really not surprised," she said while wiping down the counter by a bowl of individually wrapped red-and-white mints.

"But he was a member of our community."

She glanced at me with a frown. "Why is this bothering you so much?"

I scoffed. Why wasn't it bothering her? There had been a dead man in the bakery, and nobody seemed as unnerved as I was. Grams called me back last night. She was glad I was all right but hadn't seemed fazed by Nathan's death. I was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with me.

"Tomorrow is his funeral. I hope people show up. I don't know if he had family," I said and slid the cupcake display door shut.

The bell chimed as the door opened and a customer walked in. It was time for me to leave, so I patted Amber on the shoulder and whispered, "I'm out of here. I'll see you tonight."

I was having dinner at her house later. Uncle Doug drove a big rig, and whenever he came home from a long haul, he wanted the whole family together. Grams, as far as I knew, would not be attending.

I grabbed my bike's handlebars and wheeled it out the back door. My bike, in-line skates, and Danger Cove's trolley, which traveled along Main Street to the pier and back, were my normal modes of transportation. The wind, sun, and fresh air felt amazing on my face as I rolled around town. I was never deficient in vitamin D, and it was awesome exercise, which meant I could taste test all the baked goods I wanted.

Besides, I didn't own a car. I had my license but hadn't driven in over a decade. After the accident, I had no desire to get behind the wheel of a car. Everyone thought I simply didn't like driving, but truth be told, it terrified me. Grams and Tara disliked when I bicycled and skated after dark, but this was Danger Cove. Nothing bad had ever happened here to me or anyone I loved. Maybe that was naïve.

The air was warm, and it smelled like salt water. That was common, but every once in a while the scent was stronger than normal, and it always took me back to the last time Mom and I carried a blanket and picnic basket to the beach. It was a couple of months before the accident, and it was just the two of us while Dad was at work. She liked to surprise me with last-minute gatherings for just us girls—lunch on the beach, romantic comedy movie-athons, mani-pedis.

I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Miss ya, Mom."

Instead of going straight home, I decided to make a trek past Nathan's house. I couldn't place my finger on why it was so important to me. It almost felt like I was drawn there on a gut level. I hadn't been that way in a long time. His place was on the other side of town, but the pedaling didn't bother me. Danger Cove was pretty hilly in areas, especially on Craggy Hill, but I was used to it.

I stopped in front of Nathan's house and cringed. The three-story, large Victorian was an eyesore. It had probably been gorgeous in its day, but now loose roof shingles looked like they'd fall off and kill the next visitor. The windows were caked with dirt and dust. Weeds had evicted the grass some time ago, and the front walkway was cracked. The place looked unlivable. Yet there was a shiny white Toyota Camry in the driveway. Was that Nathan's, or did he have family?

*   *   *

When I stepped inside Amber's house, it smelled of tomatoes, onions, and beef. Aunt Bernie had made stew. It was her specialty. It was delicious, and I sometimes had seconds, but it was all I ever ate when I came over. Even in the summer. Amber said it was all the woman knew how to cook. She was exaggerating though. It wasn't the only meal, but it was the best. Amber and her stepmother hadn't gotten along well during Amber's teen years. They'd mellowed out some, but I frequently had to remind myself that my baby cousin was still a baby, even at age twenty.

Uncle Doug rose from the ratty brown sofa and pulled me in for a bear hug. "Riley, you look more beautiful each time I see you. How is that possible?"

I decided to dress in 1990s grunge-style for this evening and wore thick black tights under a pair of cut-off denim shorts, a black Nirvana T-shirt, an oversized, yellow-and-black plaid shirt, and my yellow floral Dr. Martens. I resembled Tara's bumblebee look from the other day, but yellow was Uncle Doug's favorite color. And lemon was his favorite flavor, which is why I'd secured a box of lemon squares to my bike's basket.

"Because you spend most of your days staring at other truckers," I said.

A hearty laugh bellowed out from his chest, and he smashed my face against his shirt. Uncle Doug was a big guy—nearly six feet tall with broad shoulders and a slight gut.

I pulled away as Aunt Bernie came into the room. She was nearly as tall as her husband but exactly the opposite in body type. Where Uncle Doug was broad and thick, Aunt Bernie's build was thin and long. Her chin-length brown hair framed her slender face. And to slam home their
Odd Couple
look, Uncle Doug wore gray sweatpants, white socks, and a red jersey, and Aunt Bernie wore a light-blue maxiskirt, short-sleeve white blouse with a ruffle down the front, and an old-fashioned cameo locket around her long, thin neck.

She smiled and pulled me in for a tight hug. Uncle Doug brought her into our lives three years after Aunt Sandra died. Amber wasn't ready for a stepmom, but Aunt Bernie always went out of her way to make us feel welcome in their home after she and Uncle Doug married.

"Riley, it's good to see you. I hope you're hungry," Aunt Bernie said.