License to Dill (24 page)

Taking Amy's arrival as a sign, Piper said, “Why don't I walk over with you to Scott's, Aunt Judy? Mind watching the shop, Amy? I know you must have plenty of questions about last night, but I'll just be a minute.”

“That's fine,” Amy said cheerfully. She slipped off her light jacket to hang in the back room.

“Scott needs his car keys,” Piper said, dropping them into her pocket, “and I'll get to see his new office, which I've never gotten around to doing, though he's invited me a few times.” After what he'd just gone through because of her, Piper felt she owed Scott at least that courtesy. Arriving with her aunt, on the other hand, would keep things a little more . . . what? Casual? Noncommittal? Her thoughts regarding Scott had become a bit confused.

When they walked in a few minutes later, Scott popped up from the small desk in his outer office. “Hey, great! Good to see you!”

“And to see
you
,” Aunt Judy said. “I've brought the potato and ham casserole I promised.”

“And I brought your keys,” Piper said.

“Terrific,” Scott said, taking both and setting the dish on the desk. “How do you like the new digs?” he asked.

“Very nice,” Piper said and gazed approvingly at the simply but smartly decorated reception area, which still had a fresh-paint-and-new-carpet smell to it.

“More chairs are on their way,” Scott said, explaining the relative emptiness. “And this will be my assistant's desk—once I get an assistant. Come see the rest.”

He led them to the next room, which held a large cherrywood desk topped with a computer. Two straight, blue-cushioned chairs sat before it, and shelves with the requisite legal books lined the wall along with tall file cabinets. Piper didn't see any papers on the gleaming desktop and presumed the file cabinets were empty.

“Very impressive,” she said. “Certainly more attractive than the assistant DA's office in Albany. Have you opened for business?”

“Not quite yet. Still getting settled. But if someone happened to walk in and needed a will looked over . . .”

“Oh, I'm sure there'll be lots of people needing you,” Aunt Judy said. “And hopefully for nice quiet things like wills and trusts, not murders. We don't need any more murders in Cloverdale.”

“Are you okay?” Piper asked Scott. “I was surprised to hear you came to work so soon.”

“I'm fine,” Scott said. “Tip-top. What about you? I was too out of it to ask you last night.”

“That needle never got near me. But I was terrified when Tucker jabbed you.”

“Were you?” Scott held Piper's gaze.

“What you did was very brave,” Aunt Judy said. “You had no idea how lethal that syringe was, and you acted anyway to protect Piper and Frederico.”

Scott dropped his eyes, and for the first time in Piper's experience he seemed uncomfortable with the praise. “I suppose it was instinct,” he said. “What anyone would do. Is Frederico okay? We probably knocked his bed around, not to mention all the noise.”

“He's fine and wasn't aware of a thing,” Piper said. “Apparently his medications kept him sleeping deeply, which meant Don Tucker's injection of more sedative really would have put him over the edge. And nobody would have suspected.”

“Tucker totally fooled me,” Scott said. “I'll never underestimate senior citizens again. They're not automatically harmless grannies and grandpops.”

Aunt Judy laughed. “No indeed! We're just older versions of the person we've been all our lives. And some manage to hide their darker sides better than others.”

“Tell me about it,” Scott said, shaking his head. “Well, this whole thing has been a real learning experience, in many ways. I'm really, really glad I could be there for you, Piper.”

The look on Scott's face as he said that brought a catch to Piper's breath. She didn't trust herself to speak for a moment. “Thank you, Scott,” she finally managed to say. “I'm glad it all worked out and nobody was hurt.

“Well!” she said more briskly, turning to Aunt Judy. We'd better head back to the shop.”

“Yes, I suppose we should,” Aunt Judy said, explaining to Scott, “Amy's there alone.”

“And the place has been a madhouse all morning,” Piper added, stepping smartly into the reception area. “I just wanted to pop in for a minute as well as bring you your car keys,” she said as she led the way out. “And Aunt Judy's casserole, of course. Love the new office!” And she was out the exit door, Aunt Judy scurrying to keep up.

Once outside, Piper slowed as Aunt Judy made cheery comments on Scott's office setup. But Piper was less concerned with Scott's décor than understanding what had come over her a few moments ago. She'd thought all the warm and fuzzy feelings she once held for her ex-fiancé had died a slow death long ago. What had brought about their sudden reincarnation? If that's what had happened. Or was it temporary insanity?

The short distance back to her shop along with Aunt Judy's kindly chatter didn't allow much time for self-analysis. They came to the pickling shop's front window, and Piper glanced in to see Amy standing at the counter, facing a very familiar figure. Even though his back was to her, Piper knew immediately who it was.

Will.

W
ill turned as Piper and her aunt entered the shop. There was a flurry of greetings, then Aunt Judy and Amy seemed to melt away in an instant.

“I was in town so I thought I'd come by,” Will explained, then paused. “Actually,” he said, “I wanted to see for myself that you were okay.” His blue eyes searched her face, and Piper wasn't sure what he was finding there.

“Why don't we get away from here for a bit,” she said. “Amy—?” she began, but Amy's voice called from the back room.

“I'll be fine.”

Will grinned and took her hand, leading the way out of the shop. Piper spotted two women striding purposefully in their direction and pulled Will the other way.

“Quick,” she said, “before they see me.” She and Will hustled off, slowing only when Piper felt confidently out of sight.

“It's been like that all morning,” she said. “People showing up to hear firsthand what happened.”

“You've become the town wonder—once again. Which is great. But I wish you'd find other ways of achieving that.”

“Believe me, so do I.”

“What you pulled off, though, was pretty amazing.”

Piper looked at Will and saw he truly meant it. She also saw the small reservation in his eyes. “I did try to reach you last night, you know. When I needed to get to the hospital.”

“I know. And I kick myself for letting my cell go dead.”

“And Scott just happened along as I was making up my mind about whether or not to disturb Gil.”

“I totally understand. Doesn't mean I like it any better, but I understand.”

They spotted more curious-faced townspeople up ahead and took a second evasive detour into a residential area.

“The thing is,” Piper said as they passed a blue-shuttered Cape Cod, “I can't just ignore Scott after all this.”

“You can't?”

Piper smiled. “No, I can't. He deserves my gratitude. As a friend.”

“Will he take it that way, though? The friend part, I mean? Seems to me he's been trying his best to get things back to the way they were in Albany.”

Piper sighed. She knew that. And there was no way she would go back to the way things were between Scott and her those last few months in Albany. But there had been happier times in the early part of their relationship, and apparently certain feelings from that time period had resurfaced—though not at her bidding. She shook her head.

“It's all very confusing. I want to do the right thing—the right thing for all concerned. But I have to get my head straight. That'll take a little time. Can you be patient for a while?” She looked at him.

Will gazed back at her. He was silent for a while but then did an amazing thing. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. “That's the best I can do right now,” he explained, “what with half of Cloverdale probably watching us from their windows. I always knew you were a very special person, and what you just said proves it. Take as much time as you need. Just know I'm not going anywhere.”

Piper smiled, a lump forming in her throat. “Thank you.”

They strolled on in silence awhile longer, then turned back onto Beech Street. As they did, Piper spotted two figures up ahead: Erin and Ben. They were standing, hand in hand, in front of Ben's insurance office.

When Ben saw them, he suddenly looked embarrassed, and Piper guessed it wasn't because of Erin, who, for her part, was looking rather pleased. Piper wondered what was going on. As she and Will drew near, Ben said, “Piper, I feel like such an idiot—”

“No need, Ben,” she said, sure of what he was talking about. “How were you to know that message summoning you to an accident was actually left by Don Tucker? He needed to get you away from Frederico.”

“Still, I should have double-checked. It's just, I'm used to getting summoned like that a lot, and—”

“Sheriff Carlyle completely understood,” Erin said, jumping in. “He said they should have set up a code word long ago to avoid just such a problem. The important thing is that it all turned out okay. I heard that Francesca Conti and the coach have already left town, by the way.”

“That was fast,” Will said.

“Perhaps they got tired of the food at the Mariachi,” Piper said but then felt a twinge of guilt over the dire things she'd suspected of the two. Carl Ehlers had been under her microscope as well. There wasn't much she could do for the Italian couple to make up for it, but Piper vowed to send as much business Carl's way as she could in the future. She hoped he would get a second chance with Wendy Prizer in time. “What about the rest of Bianconeri?” she asked.

“The bus showed up to carry them off to their next tournament. But not all of them got on it. A few of Frederico's friends decided to stay around awhile. Some grumblings were overheard about the team management in general, and I have a feeling Bianconeri is due for a major shake-up.”

“It could probably use it,” Will said, and the others nodded.

Erin brightened suddenly and asked, “Did you know that Ben has a new assistant?”

“Yes, I met Leila—” Piper began.

“No, not Leila. Mrs. Spearman.” Erin indicated the interior of Ben's office as she stepped aside from the window so Piper and Will could see. A plump, middle-aged woman sat at a desk near the front, typing.

“What happened to Leila?” Will asked.

“Leila got a job offer in Rochester,” Ben said. “It came with a much better salary than I could afford, so I urged her to accept it, even though she felt terrible about leaving so soon. Erin found Mrs. Spearman for me right away,” he said, smiling at his just-as-pleased-looking girlfriend. “Mrs. Spearman is quite experienced and happened to be between jobs.”

“How fortunate!” Piper said. “For everyone.”

“Yes, wasn't it lucky?” Erin said. “We were just on our way to lunch, by the way. Want to join us?”

“Thanks,” Piper said. “But I should get back to the shop.”

Ben nodded, and they all made “another time” noises as the couples said good-bye and went their separate ways. Once they'd gone some distance, Will asked, “Does Erin have relatives in Rochester?”

“I wouldn't be at all surprised,” Piper said, her lips twitching upward.

They walked a little farther until Will said, “Think those relatives in Rochester could come up with an opening in the legal profession?”

“I wouldn't know, Will,” Piper said, turning to look at him.

Will squinted at a plane passing overhead. Its silvery wings caught the sun briefly before disappearing behind a cloud. “Might be worth checking into,” he said, his expression deadpan.

“Might be,” Piper agreed.

She left it at that.

PEARL ONIONS WITH DILL

MAKES 4 QUARTS

½ cup pickling salt

2 tablespoons sugar

4 cups white vinegar

4 cups water

4 quarts white pickling onions (about 6 pounds), peeled

8 fresh dill heads

4 teaspoons mixed pickling spices

16 peppercorns

Mix salt, sugar, vinegar, and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add onions and simmer for 3 minutes.

Into each of 4 clean, hot, quart jars, put 2 dill heads, 1 teaspoon of mixed pickling spices, and 4 peppercorns. Fill with onions and pour hot brine over, leaving ½" headspace.

Seal and process in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes.