Crowned and Moldering

“Hello, Whitney,” Mr. Jones said, and gave me and Wade a quick, forced smile. “Nice meeting you, Wade. If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go run an errand. See you all later.” And he was gone.

“He didn’t have to leave,” Whitney said, pouting as she watched Mr. Jones run to his car.

Wade grabbed my arm. “We’ve got to go, too. Remember, Sha

I almost laughed. My big tough foreman looked scared to death. I didn’t blame him. Whitney was in predator mode.

“Sha

I stopped and turned around.

“I’m glad I ran into you,” she said.

I stared at her. “Are you talking to me?”

“Of course, silly,” she said, giggling.

Giggling? Had hell frozen over? Whitney didn’t giggle. Not around me. I was more suspicious than ever, and I gripped Wade’s arm like a vise. No way was he leaving me here to face her alone.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I wanted to let you know that I’ve hired a contractor to redo my powder room,” she said blithely. “And I’d like you to deliver the blueprints of the house to him.”

“But . . .” Nobody else had ever worked on Tommy’s house but me. Ever. My first reaction was confusion. “I always do the work on your house.”

“I know, but just this once I’d like to make a change. You don’t mind sharing with someone new, do you?”

I was so furious, I could barely speak, but I managed to squeak out a word. “Who?”

She smiled brightly. “Cliff Hogarth.”

Chapter Eight

My breath caught. I tried to remind myself that Whitney wasn’t really as awful as I sometimes painted her to be. But then there were times like this when the woman was truly Satan’s spawn.

I had to swallow a few times before I could respond, and even then my voice sounded raspy and slow, like I’d caught the plague or something. “Cliff can get the blueprints himself from the Pla

“Of course he can,” Whitney said reasonably. “But he’s been away from town so long that he doesn’t know all the ins and outs and all the right players. And since your father built the house, I know you can get ahold of them so much faster than he could. Would you mind?”

“My father built the house,” I murmured, staring at my hands. “And I do the work.”

“I know, but—”

I looked up at Whitney. “That’s how it’s always been.”

She tossed her hair back. “I know, Sha

“If Cliff wants a favor from me he can ask me himself,” I told her, and kept to myself the part about how I’d do him a favor when hell froze over.

“Well,” Whitney answered with a tiny wince that didn’t cause any nasty frown lines between her eyebrows. “He probably would, but he told me he’s worried that you’re feeling threatened by him being back in town.”

“You should ask yourself why I might feel that way,” I said. I might have said more, but, thankfully, Wade dragged me away from her before I could snap her ski

I hated that she sounded so sensible when I came across like a petulant child.

I’d never had a true homicidal thought, but around Whitney, all bets were off. The more I stewed over how she’d tried to manipulate me, the more enraged I grew. Sure, maybe she only wanted to help Cliff, but she was earning extra bonus points for screwing with me.

“Get the blueprints, huh? When pigs fly.” My breath was coming fast and heavy, like a prize bull catching sight of the flashing red cape of a bullfighter. It wasn’t a pretty analogy but it worked for my current situation.

Wade grabbed the keys from my hand and opened my truck door. “It’ll be okay, boss.” He gave my arm a light shake. “You need to chill out.”

“I’ve always done the work on Tommy’s house,” I explained haltingly. “That was the deal my dad made when he sold it to him.”

“Your dad sold the house to Tommy?”

I nodded, not sure why I’d never mentioned that fact to Wade. Dad had been both owner and builder of many of the beautiful Victorian-style homes that studded the dramatic Alisal Cliffs. He’d always been fond of Tommy, even though he’d broken my heart when he dumped me, so Dad had given him a good deal on a lovely home. One that Tommy couldn’t really afford at the time.

At first I’d been horrified that my own father had gone behind my back to help Tommy, but in the end, I was glad he did. I wanted Tommy to be happy—I really did. Just not with Whitney.

“We don’t need the work, boss,” Wade said.

“You know it’s not about the work or the money. It’s about Cliff Hogarth. He’s a bloodsucker, going after my clients behind my back. And Whitney’s so clueless, she doesn’t get that he’s manipulating her. Meanwhile, she turns around and tries to do the same to me.”

“You’re right,” Wade said calmly. “But you can’t do anything about it right now.”

“I can’t hunt him down and punch him in the nose?”

He smiled. “Not right now. You’re too flipped out. You need to get in your truck and leave. Go home and pour yourself a glass of wine. Or go visit your girlfriends. Do something. Just let this go for now. We’ll deal with it later.”

“Oh, God.” I felt so powerless and that wasn’t like me. I was a fighter. But right now, I was just plain tired. “Okay, I’ll go home for now. But we’ll find a way to get back at him.”

“Yeah, we will.” Wade gave me a comforting hug and rubbed my back. “We will.”

*   *   *

I stopped by the house to feed Robbie and Tiger and play with them for a few minutes, but I knew I was too agitated to stay home alone. Wade was right about visiting friends. I needed a friendly face. I ran upstairs to grab a warmer jacket, then drove over to He

Jane and I had been BFFs since we were babies. Her uncle had lived next door to me until recently. We were the same age and had gone from first grade to senior graduation together. She knew all the players, especially Whitney, although Jane had never been the target of as much scorn as I had. Probably because she hadn’t been Tommy’s girlfriend.

I walked inside the massive Victorian B and B and found Jane sipping wine in the well-appointed front parlor, surrounded by her guests. She was describing some of the restaurants on the pier to them, but looked up when I entered the room.

“Sha

“Sorry if I’m interrupting.”

“No, no, your timing is perfect.” She glanced at her guests. “This is Sha

One of the women gasped in delight. “Oh, you did the most fabulous job. We travel a lot, but I’ve never been in such a gorgeous home before. The Victorian details are fantastic.”

“Jane chose all the furnishings,” I said. “I just hammered and painted and all that stuff.”

Jane laughed. “She’s being far too modest. Believe me, the place would still be a shambles if Sha

Jane handed me a glass of pinot noir, and I sipped it while she spent a few more minutes making small talk with her guests. We both made suggestions about the best places to shop in the town square and the easiest, fastest route to get to the Anderson Valley wine country.

I had to admire my friend, who certainly looked the part of elegant i