A Fatal Chapter

Tricia did not smile. “Good night, Christopher.”

And without a backward glance, she left the bar.

EIGHTEEN

Lights blazed inside the Cookery. Angelica stood behind the door waiting when Tricia arrived at precisely eleven o’clock. She unlocked the door. “So, spill,” Angelica said eagerly.

“Spill what?”

“Your conversation with Christopher,” Angelica said, and turned back to the counter to grab her hoodie.

“Basically the same thing he’s been on about ever since he moved to New Hampshire. Can we get back together again.”

“And you said . . . ?”

“No.”

“Are you sure there isn’t just a little spark of interest left?”

“Has Christopher tried to enlist you to his cause?” Tricia accused.

“Well, yes,” Angelica admitted. “But I told him I would not interfere. See, I will be a good mother-in-law to Gi

Tricia ignored the last part of that statement and addressed the first. “Thank you.”

Angelica jerked her thumb toward the street beyond. “Let’s not waste any time. We’ll pick up the flowers from my car and then do the hanging planters in the middle of the village.”

“It’s a plan.”

Angelica flicked off the lights and locked the door. They headed out of the Cookery with Tricia again carrying the ladder and ready to tackle the job once more.

Angelica headed north up the sidewalk at a brisk pace, and again Tricia found it hard to keep up. The door to the Dog-Eared Page opened and a laughing couple emerged. They turned south, away from Tricia and Angelica, who headed for the municipal parking lot and Angelica’s car.

“It’s going to take a good two hours, if not longer, for us to replace those flowers,” Angelica said with a weary sigh.

“Then the sooner we get started, the sooner we can go to bed.”

“Isn’t it tragic that we’ll both be going to bed alone?” Angelica said wistfully.

“I wouldn’t say tragic,” Tricia said, hoping the subject of Christopher wasn’t going to come up again.

Angelica shrugged. “I’ve loved and lost, and I miss the companionship, but right now my life is too hectic for a relationship,” she said reasonably.

“And mine will soon be hectic when I can finally get started on rebuilding my store—and my life.”

They left the ladder on the sidewalk and entered the nearly empty municipal parking lot to retrieve the bags of flowers from Angelica’s trunk. Back on the sidewalk, Tricia unfolded the ladder, and this time Angelica didn’t even blink at the thought of climbing it. Since she’d already sorted the flowers, Tricia hoped the job would go a lot faster.

“So, what precipitated that tearful speech from Toni Be

“Toni and Pete may have been more than just friends, at least according to Mariana,” Tricia said.

“Oh, yeah?” Angelica said, shoving a reasonable facsimile of a carnation into the basket’s dirt.

“Did you know she was married to Jim Stark?” Tricia asked.

“No. So, she kept her maiden name? Good for her.”

“Jim called me to ask if my insurance had come through, and I mentioned I was sorry Pete had died, suggesting he might have been a friend. He let me know in no uncertain terms that they weren’t.” She handed Angelica another handful of silk fakery.

“Do you really want to a

“Don’t think I haven’t considered that. The minute I get the okay to start repairing my home and shop, I want to get moving.”

“And yet, after all the time and money you put in, Bob will still own the property,” Angelica pointed out.

“I told you how much he wants for the building. Karen Johnson advised me he was asking too much. I trust her. I’ve never trusted Bob. You’re in the same boat. And you’re still attached to a building Bob owns, too.”

“Yes. NRA Associates has contacted Bob about selling the building, and his prices are off the charts.”

“What will you do?” Tricia asked as Angelica descended the ladder.

“Punt.”

“What does that mean?” Tricia asked while Angelica folded the ladder.

“It means when my lease is up I’m moving the Cookery and my home to the lot the Chamber office now occupies.”

“It’s a shame you’re going to raze that lovely little house.”

“I have no intention of doing so,” Angelica said as they moved across the street to start on the empty baskets there. “I’ve already bought a lot on the outskirts of town. I’ll move it there and sell it.”

“Won’t that be frightfully expensive?” Tricia asked.

“Not really. The money we found in all those boxes of junk that were left behind when we took over the property was almost equal to a third of the selling price,” Angelica said as she set up the ladder once more. “It would have been an expensive lot, otherwise. I can at least break even on moving the house. I hate waste. I’ve listened to Gi

Tricia smiled as she watched her sister climb the ladder once more. “I’m glad you think so. And Gi

“We should talk about your options for your store before you put too much into the reno,” Angelica said, taking another bunch of flowers that Tricia handed her.

“My lease demands that I make the repairs.”

“Yes, but if you don’t want to overpay for the building or the next ridiculous rent increase that Kelly Realty demands”—once again, she didn’t pin the blame on Bob himself—“then we need to find a property for you to develop.”

“I’ve already thought of that,” Tricia said as she watched Angelica place the flowers in a harmonious arrangement.

“Good.”

“But I’m not sure I’m up for all that work.”

Angelica gri

“Oh, sure, when you’ve got a big, strapping son waiting in the wings to do your bidding. I’m all alone.”

Angelica looked down at her sister. “Oh, no, you’re not. Not as long as there’s breath in my body.” She turned to her handiwork. “How does that look?”

“Perfect.”

Angelica climbed down the ladder once again. As they collected their stuff, a couple of the pub’s patrons passed them heading for the municipal parking lot. They said hello but acted as if placing fake flowers in baskets at such a late hour was a normal occurrence. If the couple thought it odd, the sisters were past caring.

They moved down the street.

“See the camera?” Angelica asked. She pointed to a spot over the Coffee Bean’s transom. The device was trained on the hanging basket in front of the store.

“Boy, that’s small,” Tricia said, squinting.

“It is, but you’d be surprised how good the images are. And if our flower thief shows up, it’ll nail him.”

“What if it’s a her?”

“I can’t imagine a woman destroying flowers.”

“Not all the people who complain about the village improvements are men.”

Angelica nodded. “I guess you’re right. But I know there are more tall men than women in this village, and it had to be someone tall to snip all those blossoms. Except for us, can you see any other woman hauling a ladder around at this ungodly hour to destroy the plants?”

Tricia shook her head.

They finished the basket and moved on to the next.

“Back at Pete’s wake, when I got up to get Grace’s cake, I met a woman who dated Pete for a while,” Tricia said.

“The way he spoke, Pete seemed to think he was the reincarnation of Casanova,” Angelica said, pushing a pseudo nasturtium into a pot.