I crossed the street and went to open my shop. We’d be filled with townsfolk trying to find out what had happened at the newest business in town. Tragedy was good for business. Which was a horrible and jaded thought. But true, nevertheless.
Before I could get over to the art studio with the coffee, Greg came into the shop. He waited for me to finish up what was probably my last commuter and then leaned on the counter. “Good morning, beautiful.”
“Hey, hot stuff.” I nodded toward the commotion. “You’ve got the town in an uproar. I’ve had twice the visitors this morning than normal and everyone asks me what’s going on.”
“I’m sure you tell them you have no idea, right?” He grinned at me. “Toby said you ran off Meredith.”
“I did no such thing. I was going to bring her over to the shop, but I didn’t want to take her if you didn’t know where she was going.” I responded quickly, then saw the grin on Greg’s face. “Stop teasing me. Did you find her?”
“Yeah, she’d gone back up to the apartment to get her cell phone and to see if Neal had come back yet.” Greg shook his head. “All I can say is those two have marital issues that are extreme enough to get them on one of those talk shows.”
“I heard part of it.” I shook my head. “Some people shouldn’t be together. It’s more of a power play relationship than a supportive one. There’s no way I’d put up with it.”
He nodded. “Anyway, Toby said you volunteered coffee?” He started stacking paper cups. “I think I need enough for four, maybe five. The EMTs left about thirty minutes ago when Doc showed up with his own help.”
“Doc Ames is here?” My shoulders sagged. “So she’s dead?”
“I think you already knew that, but yeah. The victim was that drunk woman from the class. I don’t know why she was in the building, but according to Meredith the door might have been unlocked when she came down. I guess she thought Neal was going to lock it. And Neal didn’t.” He rubbed his hand through his hair. “And again, thank you for making our relationship normal and sane.”
“That takes two.” I handed him two carafes of coffee, then bagged up a dozen assorted treats from the dessert case that would travel across the street well. Which meant cookies and chocolate-filled croissants. And a few muffins. “Let me know if you need more coffee. Toby can bring the carafes back if he’s working today. Or do I need to switch his schedule?”
“He’s already called Deek and they switched out. I was supposed to mention that too.” He glanced at his phone when a text beeped. “That’s Bill. The husband is awake and eating breakfast.”
“Did he notice his wife was even gone?” I made a note to charge the food off to our Jill account and then watched Greg’s reaction.
“According to Bill’s text, when he asked about the Mrs., the guy said she liked taking morning walks and would be back soon to eat. Steve asked if he needed to call her to get her back at a specific time.” Greg shook his head. “Bill could be an actor, he played that so well. I called him and asked him to let me know when the guy came down. I’m heading over there now, as soon as I drop off the food for the guys. Thanks, Jill.”
He leaned in for a kiss, then snuck a croissant from the bag. “I guess I need to eat and run. See you when I see you.”
Which meant he probably wouldn’t be home except to sleep and shower. Murder investigations were hard on Greg. He didn’t like the thought of anyone dying in our quiet town. And definitely not being murdered.
As if they’d been waiting for Greg to leave, a pile of customers flooded into the shop. Some went over to browse the bookcases as they watched out the windows to see what Greg did now. Others came up to order coffee and a treat. The good thing was, there were too many of them for me to have time to chat. Which meant I could avoid any pointed questions.
Evie came down at eight to grab coffee. She had on sweats and a jacket and Homer curled in one arm. I leaned in for doggy kisses as she filled a travel mug with coffee. “Is it always this busy on your shift? The last few days I’ve come down, it’s been dead in here.”
“No, we have lookie-loos from the incident.” I lowered my voice. “You’re going to hear it sooner rather than later, so here you go. The drunk woman last night at the paint thing? The tourist with her husband? She was killed this morning.”
Evie’s eyes widened. “By whom? Her husband? He didn’t seem that mad at her.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. But you need to know because people are going to ask you what you know during your shift. Deek’s coming in instead of Toby, so he’ll help divert any questions, but you don’t know anything.”
“I don’t know anything,” Evie explained.
I nodded. “Exactly.”
“No, I mean I don’t know anything. Why would they ask me?” Evie looked totally confused. Homer kept watching her face, wondering if his walk had just been sidelined.
“Because you work here. Because I’m dating Greg. Well, we’re living together.” I shrugged. “It’s just always been that way. People think we’re in the know on all kinds of things, when usually I’m the last to know something. Maybe it’s the fact we’re a coffee shop. Like the old general stores in the past, with a stove for the old guys to sit and talk around?”
“Okay, not what I expected, but I can play dumb.” She glanced over toward the Drunken Artist. “That poor woman. I feel so bad for her.”
“Me too.” I watched as Evie took her coffee and her dog to the back room and the back door. I liked having Homer around. His bright eyes took in everything and everyone and he seemed to love his new home. Evie—she was a little harder to read. But she worked hard and people liked her. I just hoped she liked being here as much as Homer seemed to like the California coast.
I refilled the dessert case in between helping customers. Deek came in a couple of hours before his shift started. He had his laptop bag on his shoulder. He glanced around the still-crowded shop and came around the counter. “I came in to write before my shift, but if you need help…”
“No worries. I’m handling it. Besides, it’s been a while since I’ve had a busy shift. I didn’t even have time to read today.” I nodded to the last piece of caramel-drizzled cheesecake on the cardboard on the back counter. “That one’s too broken to put on sale. Do you want it?”
“Sure. Unless you do.” Deek knew my sweet tooth.
I shrugged. “I’ve already destroyed a piece so I could call it damaged. And ate it.”
“Your aunt would go nuts if she heard you say that.” Deek winked at me, dished up the cheesecake, and went to find an empty table.