Pecan Pies and Homicides (11 page)

“How can we help?” Aiden gestured at himself and his sister.

“Talk to the people from Oak Knoll at the carnival this weekend. I'll make a few special pies that will loosen their lips, encourage them to say if they witnessed anything unusual at the party.” Ella Mae glanced at her watch. “It's almost suppertime. Barric, do you have a place to stay?”

“I have a room at the resort,” he mumbled.

Jenny whistled. “Fancy. How are you swinging that on a farmer's salary?”

“Hey, now. Leave the guy alone.” Aiden said. “He's been through enough. Besides, you already gave him a nosebleed.”

“Sorry about that,” Jenny told Barric. “I was taking everything out on you. All of my grief. You didn't deserve that.”

“Yes, I did. A punch in the face isn't nearly enough,” Barric said. “I should have been protecting her. I knew Morgan would lose it when he found out she was pregnant, but I thought she'd be smart enough to hide it from him. I guess she told him that night and he had one of his goons deal with her.”

Ella Mae didn't think Eira would risk her own safety or that of her unborn child by confessing that she was carrying another man's baby. “A more likely scenario is that someone overheard your conversation at the Gaynors'. Exactly where were the two of you when she told you about the pregnancy?”

“A man's office. It had a huge desk and one of those globes that opens up to reveal bottles of liquor. But the door was closed. No one could have heard us,” Barric insisted.

Barric was clearly unaware of the number of hidden panels within Rolling View. Like Partridge Hill, the grand house was built to help protect its magical owners, and though Ella Mae didn't know the exact locations, she was certain that the Gaynor mansion was replete with passageways, niches, peepholes, and trompe l'oeil.

“Why don't you leave that pricey hotel and come stay with us?” Jenny asked Barric and then checked herself. “If that's okay with Ella Mae.”

“No.” Barric was quick to refute the offer. “I can't . . . I need . . .” He wiped his forehead with the napkin again. “Thanks, but I can't.”

Something isn't right about him
, Ella Mae thought. She had no clue what he hadn't told them, but he was hiding something. As with the concealed compartments in Rolling View, one would have to know which button to press to reveal Barric's secrets, but that would prove difficult with him staying at Lake Havenwood Hotel. Suddenly, she had an idea. “Did you come to Havenwood in search of work?”

“Yes.” Barric released a defeated sigh. “I must have knocked on every farmhouse door in the county, but no one's hiring right now. I was told to come back in the spring. I really wanted to buy my own place, but I can't sell my Oak Knoll farm. I'm upside down on the mortgage.” He studied his knuckles.

Ella Mae tried to relieve his embarrassment. “But you have experience with animals, right?”

“Cows and horses mostly. I grew grain and produced high-quality animal feed on my farm. All organic. The best feed on earth.”

Ella Mae smiled. “My friend Chandler Knox is a large-animal vet and he's been looking for an assistant. I'll tell him to expect your call. It's not farming, but it's something to tide you over in the meantime.” She passed him a business card with Chandler's number on the back.

“Thank you.” Barric put the card in his pocket and stood up. “I don't have a cell phone, but if you learn anything about Eira, call me at the hotel. Night or day. I won't be sleeping. Not anymore.”

A heavy silence descended over the pie shop.

“Is your nose okay?” Jenny asked quietly. “I could get you some ice.”

Barric looked at her, and for just a moment, Ella Mae saw that lightning flash of anger in his eyes. “My nose will heal. Other parts of me never will.”

And with that, he was gone.

• • •

That night, Hugh brought Ella Mae supper. He was waiting for her in the driveway, an extra-large pizza and a DVD from Redbox resting on the hood of his truck. Ella Mae was thrilled to see him, especially since she'd struck out at the Gaynors' house. She'd been hoping to question Opal about Barric and Eira, but no one had answered the door and there were no lights on inside the stately mansion. Ella Mae decided that she'd have to stop by Loralyn's nail salon the next day after work. Until then, she was determined not to think about Eira, burning groves, or her mother.

After Chewy jumped down from the Jeep to greet Dante, Ella Mae gave Hugh a hug and then ushered everyone into her cottage. While Hugh entertained the dogs, she fixed a salad of field greens, plated the pizza, and opened a bottle of red wine. Snuggled up close, she and Hugh ate on the sofa, bookended by their dogs.

“Drool all you like,” Ella Mae admonished Chewy. “I refuse to share a single bite of pepperoni and sausage.”

“Same goes for you, big man.” Hugh gave Dante's head a quick scratch. “Hold out until the movie starts. I have a surprise for you both.”

Ella Mae handed Hugh a cold bottle of beer and sighed in contentment. “This is just what I needed. A peaceful evening in with my favorite men.”

A dog began to bark from somewhere in the garden, causing Dante and Chewy to jump up and dash to the front door. When no one opened it for them, they raced to the window seat and peered into the darkness. Seeing nothing, they darted back to the door, barking fervently.

Hugh got up, looked the dogs in the eye, and said, “No.” The word was heavy with authority and they ceased their barking immediately. “Do you have a canine visitor?” he asked Ella Mae.

“Partridge Hill has new tenants. One of them is a Schipperke named Miss Lulu.” She told Hugh about Jenny and Aiden.

“Should we introduce our boys to the new lady in town? We won't be able to concentrate on this movie until they've met her. They'll just run from the window to the door and back all night.”

Ella Mae grabbed Chewy's leash. “We'd better keep them reined in. We don't know how Miss Lulu will respond to our canine Romeos.”

The couple led their eager dogs across the frost-brittle grass and into the garden. They found Jenny seated on a stone bench whose legs were made of kneeling cherubs. In the spring, the bench would be nearly obscured by a riot of yellow and silver white roses, but now it looked cold and uninviting.

Miss Lulu took one look at the Jack Russell and the Great Dane prancing at the ends of their leashes and grinned coyly. While the dogs sniffed one another and rubbed noses, Ella Mae introduced Jenny to Hugh.

Jenny removed a thick woolen mitten and shook his hand. “Miss Lulu is used to all kinds of people and pets. Dogs were welcome in our coffee shop and we even had a customer who brought her cat every day. The cat, Mrs. Pickles, would sit in the lady's bike basket and drink warm milk from a saucer while she read the paper and sipped her cappuccino.

“Sounds like a cool place,” Hugh said.

“It is. Luckily, I found another cool place.” After winking at Ella Mae, Jenny got to her feet and rubbed her arms. “I'd better go in. Miss Lulu and I just got home from a walk and I thought I'd sit here for a minute and enjoy the stars, but I'm freezing.” She looked at Ella Mae. “Can I leave Miss Lulu out for a little longer?”

Ella Mae gestured at Chewy and Dante. “Sure. The boys will keep an eye on her. They know not to wander off the property.”

Jenny wished them a good night and went inside. Ella Mae glanced up at the windows on the second floor. It made her happy to have lights shining upstairs again. She particularly liked how they cast a warm glow across the slumbering garden.

“Let's get back to our movie.” She took Hugh by the hand. “I've got microwave popcorn and a blanket big enough for the both of us.”

Hugh smiled. “We should make this a Tuesday-night tradition. Just think of how many movies we could see over the next forty-odd years.”

“And how many miles I'll have to run to burn off that pizza,” Ella Mae joked.

“I can think of more interesting cardio exercises,” Hugh said.

Ella Mae swatted him in the stomach. “What are we watching, by the way?”

“This awesome action flick about a guy who fights terrorists and rescues a boat full of kidnapped sorority girls.”

Rolling her eyes, Ella Mae said, “Seeing as you deliberately picked this trash, I can promise you that it'll be all the action you'll see tonight.”

Hugh's laughter burst from his mouth, bending into a translucent curlicue before dissolving into blackness. Watching his breath vanish into the air, Ella Mae found herself holding him just a little tighter.

• • •

Wednesday passed by in a flash. Customers shivered in the cold as they waited expectantly on the porch or stamped their frozen feet on the sidewalk, hoping for a seat in The Charmed Pie Shoppe to become available soon.

All day long, Aiden darted in and out of the kitchen, his arms loaded with takeout boxes and his pockets stuffed with cash. “I feel kind of awkward driving around town in a pink Jeep,” he complained after returning from a delivery. “I'd use the Camaro, but that car is a ticket magnet. Cops go out of their way
to leave Jenny expensive love notes under the wiper blade. Of course, that might also have something to do with her habit of parking ten feet away from the curb.”

Ella Mae laughed. “I noticed that when she parallel parked outside the Cubbyhole. She practically needed a drawbridge to reach the sidewalk.”

Aiden opened a pink bakery box and Ella Mae eased a chocolate bourbon pecan pie into it and watched as he deftly tied the box with string. “The Cubbyhole? That's the shop Suzy owns, right?” His mouth curved into a secretive grin. “She's really cute. And smart.”

“I'll tell her that you said so.”

“I need to stop by her place and thank her. I told her that I had no idea where to put my stuff in your house—how to arrange it, you know—and she came over and took care of everything. That woman could read me, well, like a book.” His cheeks and neck reddened.

Ella Mae wondered if she should encourage Aiden's interest in Suzy. She liked her new employee well enough, but until she could be sure he had nothing to do with the fire at Oak Knoll, she didn't want her best friend to get involved with him. The person who needed to get close to Aiden Upton was Verena. Verena would have to ask only a single question and then Aiden would be in the clear. Either that or he'd prove to be a murderous arsonist.

I'll have her call in a takeout order tomorrow
, Ella Mae thought.

To Aiden, she said, “You'd better hit the road. Mrs. Frazier said she needed that chocolate bourbon pecan pie badly, so we have to get it to her ASAP.”

Aiden raised his brows. “What's the rush?”

“She's the mother of five-year-old triplets. Boy triplets.”

“Holy crap. I'd better get going.”

Ella Mae couldn't help but smile as she watched the burly man in his peach apron rush out to a pink Jeep carrying a pink bakery box. “He looks good in pastels,” she said to the cheerful kitchen and prepared to serve the last customers of the day.

After closing, Ella Mae made her way to Loralyn's nail salon. Perfectly Polished was busy and nearly every chair was occupied. The majority of Loralyn's clients were women, but there were also several men receiving treatments. Ella Mae tried to picture Aiden in the pedicure chair having his toes painted a delicate rose pink and had to stifle a giggle.

“May I help you?” the receptionist asked with overt dislike. Ella Mae wasn't exactly her favorite person. She wasn't a client and only stopped by when she had a bone to pick with Loralyn.

“I'm here to see your boss.” Ella Mae smiled politely.

The girl glanced down at her appointment book. “I don't see your name written here, Ms. LeFaye.”

“That's because this is a private matter. I am here at Ms. Gaynor's request and she'll be very unhappy if our meeting is delayed.”

The idea of earning her employer's displeasure struck a chord with the receptionist. She told Ella Mae to wait and strode to the back of the salon where Loralyn's office and the massage, facial, waxing, and tanning rooms were located.

Loralyn appeared a moment later. She sidled up to Ella Mae and gave her the once-over. “I don't think there are enough hours left in the day to help you. You need a facial, a mani-pedi, a paraffin treatment, and lots of waxing.” Pointing at Ella Mae's chin, she said. “Beards are not sexy on a woman.”

Refusing to take the bait, Ella Mae said, “Can we talk in your office? It's about the party.”

“I asked you to deal with my mother over that subject. I'm in the middle of finalizing the carnival fashion show lineup.”

“I only need a few minutes.”

Loralyn surveyed the menu board listing the salon's services. “We'll chat during an express facial. Just some hydration and a few extractions. My new esthetician works miracles with blemishes. She's also hearing impaired, so I can have her turn her hearing aids off during your treatment. Follow me.”

Ella Mae had no choice but to agree. The receptionist shot her a triumphant look and said, “Enjoy being perfectly polished.”

Inside a room decorated like a beach cabana, Loralyn told Ella Mae to lie down on the spa table. She then beckoned to someone in the hall and a moment later, a petite Asian woman entered the room. The woman gave Ella Mae a shy smile. Loralyn tapped her own ear and said, “This will be a silent service, Yuri.” The woman bowed, made the necessary adjustment to her hearing aid, and began lighting the candles positioned in each corner of the room. She then moved behind Ella Mae's head, placed a finger on either side of her temple, and applied gentle pressure. “We begin.”

Ella Mae exhaled. She felt more relaxed already. Loralyn dimmed the lights and perched on a stool at the foot of the spa table. “Well?”