“I just want everyone to get along. I’m not sure that’s being too nice.” She nodded to someone over my shoulder. “Can you excuse me? Bill needs a refill on his coffee.”

  I watched as she got a coffee and delivered it to the man sitting next to Deek. They made quite a pair. The minister and the surfer dude telling ghost stories to a group of kids like they were sitting around a campfire. It was cute.

  Something outside moved across the window, and I turned back to see a man staring in the window. When he saw that I saw him, he took off. Weird. I went over and checked the lock. We had closed the shop and locked the door after the last family left. Maybe it was just someone who had seen our lights and had wondered if we were still open.

  I opened the door and stepped outside. No one was on the street. Wherever he’d gone to, he wasn’t in view now. Or maybe I’d imagined him? I rubbed my eyes and felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning around, my hands were up in a boxing move, protecting my face.

  “Whoa, slugger.” Deek held up his hands in a defensive stance. “What’s going on? Why are you out here?”

  I dropped my hands and turned back to the street. “I thought I saw someone out here.”

  “A parent?” He frowned and studied the empty street. “I didn’t think anyone was coming back tonight. Maybe one of the kids got homesick.”

  “Maybe.” I shook my head and moved back toward the door. “Or maybe I’m just seeing things.”

  “Have you been listening to our ghost stories?” Deek held open the door and waited for me to go inside. Then he locked the door again. “Just kidding. Anyway, no one’s out there now. Maybe you should go take a nap. The kids are starting to settle in. Several of them are already asleep.”

  “This was a great idea. You have a real knack for events.” I studied the room. He was right. Most of the kids who were left were either sleeping or tucked in a chair with a book. If I was going to get a nap in, this was as good a time as any. “I’ll go crash on the couch in the office. If you need me, just shake my shoulder. I’m a light sleeper.”

  “Okay, but if you hit me when I’m trying to wake you up, I’m filing workman’s comp.” He stopped by a chair where a girl had her head on the table. “Genny, let’s go find your sleeping bag. You’re done for the night.”

  I made my way to the office. Deek was right. I felt beat. I laid my head down and wondered what Greg and Emma were doing. Before I could reach for my phone, I fell asleep. I dreamed of books and maple syrup.

  I blinked at the sunshine in my eyes. I must have slept through the night. I rolled off the couch and headed into the café to grab coffee. Sadie stood next to the pot.

  “Can I get a cup?”

  She looked at me. “Girl, you can get a pot. Maybe you should go wash up in the bathroom and comb your hair?”

  I reached up and pulled it into a pony, using the band I had kept on my wrist. “Better? Why does it smell like maple syrup in here?”

  Sadie handed me a cup and pointed to a table where Pastor Bill was making pancakes. “We’ve got bacon going too. Go get cleaned up, and I’ll bring you a plate. Parents are starting to arrive, and you need to look like you didn’t sleep on the couch all night.”

  “But I did.” I sipped the coffee. “I’ll be out in a few minutes. I’ll get a plate then.”

  It was actually more like fifteen minutes, after I found my bag with a change of clothes and popped into the shower. Aunt Jackie had thought it was a mistake to leave the three-quarters bath down in the office, but this wasn’t the first time I’d used the shower. And it made a great place to store mops and other things for the cleaning crew.

  When I came out, my hair was still wet, but my mood was lighter. I got food from Pastor Bill and then found an empty table. Evie joined me. I noticed she was either still in the same clothes or had several pairs of tan capris. My aunt had wanted to design a uniform, but I’d talked her out of it. I don’t think she wanted to wear polo shirts any more than the rest of us. “Did you get some sleep?”

  She nodded. “I’ll take a nap after we close down today, but I’m good. Deek was a machine. That guy can do an all-nighter and still be up and fun with the kids in the morning. I’m in awe.”

  “He’s a natural at all this event stuff. I’d be lost without him.” I picked up a slice of bacon. “And thank goodness for Sadie and Bill. They love this stuff.”

  “They’re good with the kids. It’s not really my jam. Don’t tell Sasha. I mean, I love Olivia, but after spending a day with that girl, I’m ready to get home to my Homer. He’s all the kid I need. Someone to care for and to talk to, but he doesn’t talk back or ask why.” She finished her pancakes. “Did your man find out anything more about the husband? I’d lay money on him being involved in this. He’s just too perfect. Even his reactions when someone talks to him. I swear, he takes a beat before he answers, just to make sure he says things the exact right way.”

  “He has an alibi, at least he did the last time I talked to Greg.” I stood and grabbed my cup and held my hand out for hers. “More coffee?”

  “Please.”

  The conversation went on pause as I went to get coffee. Evie took the plates to the trash can and came back to the table.

  I set her cup in front of her and rejoined her at the table. “I have to admit, he’s a likely suspect. And I know he’s hiding something. I just can’t figure out what it is.”

  “The entire family is that way. I saw Harper yesterday walking outside and popped out to tell her how sorry I was for her loss. She looked at me like I was speaking another language. But then she caught what I was saying and thanked me for my concern. Then she asked me when the kids were going to be gone. That she’d like to come in and browse, but she wasn’t comfortable around kids.” Evie sipped her coffee. “I told her to come in before noon because we were closing for the weekend after we announced the readathon winners. She said she’d come in on Tuesday and miss the crowd.”

  “I can relate.” I wasn’t sure what Evie was getting at except she clearly didn’t like either Harper or Alicia’s husband. I agreed with her assessment mostly. It was hard to not like a fellow business owner. They’d put their hopes for a future into the business in our town, and that was pretty cool.

  “Well, I guess we’ll see if she does come in or if she orders online.” Evie stood and finished her coffee in a couple of gulps. “If you don’t mind, I’m running upstairs to take Homer for a quick walk. Then I’ll be down to finish this readathon up. I’m sure the kids that went home will be showing up soon.”

  As I finished my breakfast, my mind wandered back to the new people in town. Was it weird that Scott was still in town? Had it been him outside the window last night? Or, more likely, had it been a parent of one of the kids sleeping over just checking to see if we were locked up tight? Either way, the thought made me shiver.

  Chapter 20

  The last kid walked out of the shop with a pile of books he’d just bought. He’d won the readathon, so he had a gift certificate, which he’d spent and then some. His mom handed over her credit card without a problem. She dropped her voice as he headed to the door, one of the books already open as he walked. “Reading wasn’t his thing until he started coming to your book club. It’s made all the difference.”

  With the readathon over, the group of staff and volunteers huddled around a table in front of the cash register. My aunt wanted to debrief to see what had worked and what hadn’t before we disbanded and closed for the rest of the weekend. I was beat and my hand was cramping from writing down the books on the kids’ cards. “We need to make their check-in cards bigger.”

  My aunt frowned. “Why?”

  Deek held up his writing hand twisted into a fake grip. “Because I won’t be able to write for weeks. Who’s going to type out all my good ideas for books if I can’t use my hand?”

  “Baby.” Evie slapped his hand, and he groaned in fake pain. “I think we should actually do it over three days. And the last night could be a lock-in. We’d let a certain number in to sleep over, and then we’d start the party the next morning.”

  “If you had more help, you could do the lock-in either at the church or the rec hall,” Pastor Bill offered. “You can’t fit more kids in here, but the rec hall you could have twice the number. Maybe even more.”

  I groaned.

  My aunt started to say something and then bit her lip. Instead, she nodded. “I think Jill’s right. We need to table this until next week’s staff meeting. Sadie, Bill, thank you so much for your help. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

  “True that.” Deek held up his hand for a high five from Pastor Bill. “And wicked ghost stories. You had me freaking out along with the kids. Tell me they weren’t true.”

  Bill stood and held his hand out to Sadie to help her up. “There is no light without darkness, Deek. Have a great weekend, you all. And maybe I’ll see some of you on Sunday?”

  He didn’t wait for an answer, just put his arm around Sadie and grabbed their bag. They left through the front door.

  “What? Is that dude kidding?” Deek turned to me.

  “I didn’t hear the stories. But we do have some good ghost stories here at South Cove. I’ll have to tell you one.” I held up a hand when I saw the light flash in his eyes. “But not today. I’m beat and heading home.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” My aunt glanced at her watch.

  “Did you drive up here?” I cleaned a few cups off the table next to us. “Or can I walk with you?”

  “I’ll let you walk with me.” She glanced around the shop. “We probably should do some cleanup.”

  “Not today. I’ll do some on Tuesday when I open. We’re all off the clock.”

  Deek and Evie had paused by the office door when they heard Jackie mention cleanup.

  I waved them off. “Go on and get out of here. We’ll see everyone Monday afternoon at three for a staff meeting. We can clean then.”

  After they left, I grabbed Aunt Jackie’s purse and my tote from the back room, locked that door, then came out front, turning off lights and machines as I went. I looked inside the almost empty dessert case. “Do you want cookies to take home? I have three sugar and a brownie.”

  “I’ll take one of the cookies for Harrold, but you can have the rest.” My aunt pulled out a mirror and lipstick from her purse and freshened her makeup. Newlyweds. Harrold loved her for who she was, not how she looked. “I think our sales from the event are going to make up for closing early today.”

  “I know they are.” I pointed to the bookshelves. “Deek’s going to have to do some ordering to get those refilled. Especially with summer coming in fast. We don’t want to be low on books.”

  “Deek’s a real asset to the bookstore. Have you thought about a possible promotion for him?” My aunt put her makeup away and slipped the cookie into her purse.

  “What are you thinking of?” I knew we wouldn’t be able to keep him as just a bookseller for long, but on the other hand, my aunt ran the bookstore’s financial budget. “I don’t think I can take him off the floor. He loves working with people.”

  “Let me think about this, and I’ll give you numbers and a proposal next week. I’d like him to be able to step in for me when I decide to retire and travel.”

  I hid the smile that came from her words. My aunt had retired once and had to come back to work for me after losing a lot of her retirement savings. Now, with Harrold, she was feeling strong enough again to start thinking about traveling and not working. It was a good sign. “Sounds like a plan. We’ll have to see what Deek’s plans are. You know his ultimate goal is to be a professional student.”

  “Yes, but I think his mother has other plans for her basement.” My aunt stood and adjusted her blazer. “Are we done, then? Harrold is probably ready to eat lunch.”

  “After you.” I finished shutting off the lights and locked the door. We started walking, and she took my arm.

  “I’ve been thinking about that developer who was interested in your house. Do you have a break-even point where if you’re offered above that, you’ll take it?”

  “No.” I turned and looked at her. “Where would I go? Where would I take Emma? Greg and I are making a family there. It would have to be a lot of money and come with a new place for me to live before I’d even think about it. And I don’t move for chump change. Not anymore.”

  “How does Greg feel about the two of you moving?”

  I looked straight ahead. “He agrees with me, and we’re not moving. I wish the rumor mill worked in my favor, not just against me.”

  “I didn’t mean to make you upset.” My aunt paused, then she patted my arm. She nodded to the dress shop. “Now that’s a woman who needs some positive rumors, and soon. Everyone is saying horrible things about her, like she killed her sister so she wouldn’t have to be partners anymore. Lille said that brother-in-law is telling everyone how Alicia hated her sister.”

  “Funny, I’m hearing the opposite. That Alicia and her husband weren’t seeing eye to eye. I guess you never know what’s going on in someone’s personal life.” I started walking again. I was going to regret asking, but she was my aunt. “Greg and I are going to Alicia’s funeral tomorrow. Do you and Harrold want to go? We can ride together in the truck.”

  “That’s a lovely thought, dear. I’m glad you are going. I’ll ask Harrold if he has plans.” She paused at the door to the Train Station. She hugged me quickly. “Thanks for everything.”

  “Have a great weekend,” I said, blinking back tears. I didn’t know why this conversation was making me so emotional, but right this minute, it seemed like I might never see my aunt again.

  “You’re a sweet girl, Jill.” She patted my face and then opened the door to go inside the model train shop.

  I stood outside for a second, watching her through the window as she greeted Harrold and gave him the cookie. They were truly in love. I could see it through the glass. I turned and left before they caught me watching and thought something was wrong.

  Love, sisters, murder. The words were all running through my head. Something had happened before Alicia wound up dead on Harper’s floor. And we knew she’d left her home and husband weeks ago. So where had she gone? The easy answer was to Harper’s. But were they speaking to each other then? Lara had made it seem like they had a falling-out a few years ago. How long had that lasted? Surely not through her applying for the business license here, since she’d put her sister on as a partner in the building. At least in the eyes of the South Cove business community. I needed to make a timeline.

  Greg was gone when I arrived home, which made it easier for me to execute my timeline. I pulled out some butcher paper from the office and laid it on the table. I took out my notebook and tried to see dates. I didn’t have to go back to when they were kids, but maybe back to when Harper had come out to California? I checked her website and found what I’d been looking for. Her graduating date from the design school. That would be the start date. Then I put today at the other end. I added Alicia’s death date and then started adding in other days as I knew them. Probably stupid, but it gave me something to do since I didn’t have the energy to run with Emma.

  As I added things, I kept coming back to what Sadie had said about seeing Harper in town. What if she hadn’t seen Harper? What if it was Alicia? Was that stupid? Maybe Alicia had run here to hide from Scott, and he’d found her.

  I shook my head. That didn’t work. He had an alibi for the day and time of death. One that was miles away.

  I grabbed a quart of ice cream and went into the living room to watch a cooking show. I was still there when Greg showed up later. “Hey.”

  “Hey, yourself.” He picked up the now dead flowers and carried them to the kitchen. “Did you ever hear from the florist about these?”

  “Nope. And I forgot to call today. I’ll call on Monday.” I picked up the empty ice cream carton and my spoon and followed him.

  He threw the flowers away in the trash can and then picked up my timeline. “What’s this?”

  “My mind was rambling on me, so I thought I’d put everything down.” I sank into a chair. “I know, I’m not supposed to be thinking about this stuff.”

  “No, I’ve said you can’t investigate this stuff. You know, like go talk to people and get yourself in trouble.” He tapped the paper. “This is good stuff. Why are Sadie and Deek on here?”

  “They both saw Harper in Bakerstown and thought she was ignoring them. Deek said the woman said she was getting confused with Harper a lot. I thought maybe they’d seen Alicia instead. But the timeline doesn’t work for that either since Sadie’s encounter was after Alicia died.” I studied the freezer. Maybe there were two more cartons of ice cream and that could be dinner. If there was only one, I’d probably have to share. “What do you want for dinner?”

  “Hummm?” Greg was still looking at my timeline.

  I leaned forward. “What, did I miss something?”

  Ignoring my question, he pointed to Lara’s name. “What’s this note?”

  “Who is that note, you mean.” I rolled my shoulders. “Lara was one of my old divorce clients. She was a fashion designer, so I took a shot that she might know Harper. She actually knew both Harper and Alicia. But it was a dead end, except she told me that Harper didn’t want Alicia to marry Scott. Apparently, there was bad blood at the beginning, so the sisters didn’t talk for a while. One good thing, she wants to design my wedding dress.”

  “Harper?” Greg wasn’t looking at me.

  “No, Lara Gunn. The designer I called. Why is this important information?”

  He turned to me. “Because neither Harper nor Scott said anything about the sisters not talking for years. And Scott said he and Harper were close. Which we know from Lara is a lie. I just wonder what else he’s lying about?”