Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story) (12 page)

“Sweetie, there’s
some answers we’ll never have until we walk the golden path
ways in heaven.
” Sh
e slid across the vinyl-covered seat
.
“
I’m going to grind a bag of
coffee beans for you to take with you.
I have a sup
ply of nice shin
y beans. W
hen the beans lose their
shine, they lose their robust flavor
.” There was only a
hint of a smile
on her face
. “C
offee trivia.”

I sensed
she wanted to light
en the heaviness permeating
the air
. I couldn’t
wrap my imagination around
losing a
life partner
after so many
years, much
longer t
han the twenty-nine
years
I’d
been alive.

I sat and stared
at
the coffee mug wit
hout
really
seeing it
until Julia pl
aced a bag
on the table in front of me
.
“Let’s go
into the back
room and I’ll help you with those
boxes.”

Together
,
we carried
them
to the apartment
.
“Thanks
.”
I plac
ed my hand on her shoulder. “A
ppreciate your help.”

“I’ll get out of your way. L
et me know
if you need anything else
.”
She cru
shed me to her. Did a mother’s hug feel
much the same
?

I
t
fascinated me
,
the things you
can
learn about
a person from her
closet
.
Anne
’s
dresses and skirts
were soft and
flowing—
feminine.
We wore the same size
, judging by
the
six
stitched
on the
labels.
I buried my fa
ce in one of her dresses and
breathed in the
lingering,
sweet earthy aroma of
her perfume
.
He
r pants were
a couple of inches
short on me.
She
must have been five-four
, or it could be
a difference in
body proportions
. I folded a few pieces
and stacked them on the bed,
things
I
’d
decided
to keep,
without
a clue
why.

From the
top of the stairs
,
one by one
I
gave the filled
box
es
a shove with my foot, letting them
tumble to the bottom
.
And
Goldi
e and I headed to the
ch
urch perched on a rolling knoll to drop off the cartons.

The
setting
of the small church
evoked peace
.
E
ither
from
seeing the church
again
, or
handling Anne’s clothes—
que
stions
bombarded me
.
Had
my parents truly
consider
ed
me their daughter? Had
I ever
belonged
in their world?
Thinking back, I could never recall fitting into their life.

The desire to
belong flowed through my senses
and threatened my logic
.
“Stop it!
”
Goldie perked up her ears and eyed me from the passenger seat. I softened my voi
ce
to reassure her
.
“S
orry, b
aby
, everything’
s okay
.”

Was it possible
? A
future and a hope
here in Serenity Cove
?

Chapter Seven

I parked
in front of the bookshop
on Main Street
.
R
ed paint
scream
ed
from
the
windows
.
G
et out of town.
G
o home.
Leave NOW
.
I
text
ed
Sam
,
and
lea
n
ed ag
ainst my truck while I
waited
for her
.

She
came out the door of he
r shop.
T
he windows
demanded her attention
.
“Why
?
Who’s doing this?
” Her mouth arched
downward and distress filled her eyes.

“
I’ll find who’s responsible. Y
ou can count on it
.”
When
I
placed
my arm around her
,
wanting to comfort her
,
she backed away
. Had
I misread her interest
?
We
’d
talked and laughed over dinner
—w
e
’d
connected.
“What’s up
?”

“We
can’t hap
pen. It’s not you—it’s me.
You’re a great guy
.
I’ve never met anyone so kind and generous.
”

What was
with the
you’re a great guy
speech
?
I hadn’t purposed marriage.
“Can w
e talk
?” S
he lowered
her head and
darted back inside
.

Maggie
hurried out
of her store
joining me in front of the bookshop
.
H
er eyes lock
ed
on
to
the windows.

“Who
did
t
his?
” Her expression flipped
between anger and sympathy
. “P
oor
Sam
.”

“
A
cleanup
crew’
s
on the way
. Y
ou didn’t see anything unusual?”

“Nothing
.” She
shrugged.
“
As usual,
I came
in
through the alley.”

Alec
zipped his cruiser into
a
parking spot
. H
e
l
obbed a hello our direction and
came
to where we stood
. He studied
the pane
. “Maggie
’s car—n
ow this. Let’s get to it and catch this culprit
. H
ow can I help?
”

“S
tart with the shop
owners.”
I pointed across the street.

“You g
ot it
,
boss
.” He stepped off t
he curb and waited as
a car
slowed to gaze at the painted words
, lifting their phone as though snapping a picture.

“
I’m
going to talk to
Lilyan this after
noon.
”
I rubbed my neck
to relieve the
knotted
tension.
“How about John—
think he would stoop to this level?”

“Anne’s dad is in
his eighties. And
I’d hate to think he’d deface the bookshop. It’d be an insult to his daughter’s memory.
And
you know
Lilyan
. S
he’s
always been a little out there
with her unbridled imagination
, but she’s never shown any signs
of being m
alicious.
”

“You’re right.”
I stared at
the closed door of the
book
shop
. “
I
t cou
ldn’t hurt to t
alk to John
. P
itch
a good word on
Sam
’s behalf.
”

“
Are you sure that’s what S
am wants?” Maggie raised an eye
brow.
“
Just saying.” She
patted my shoulder. “I’m going to go check on Sam. This can’t be easy for her.”

I wanted to
talk to her
about
Sam
. But
I
wasn’t in the mood for
opinion
s—p
ro or con.
Instead
,
I left and
made the rou
nds of shop
owners and met
up with
Alec
an hour later to
compare notes.

“
N
ot much to go on.”
I shoved
the
pe
n
into my pocket
.
“
I’ll take Nicole and
pay
Lilyan
a visit
.
The situation warrants taking a
female officer—d
on’t want any misunders
tandings
.”

Alec
flip
ped
the cover over his
notebook. “
You think
Lilyan
’s
involved?
”

“
Not likely
.
While I’m gone, talk to
some of
the
locals
,
s
ee what turns up
.
We’ll meet back at the station later.
”

“I’m on it
.”
He adjusted his cap.

Nicole waited
outside
as I pulled into
the
lot
.
When she first joined the
SCPD
,
I
’d
let her slim build
, that filled out her uniform nicely,
fool me—u
nti
l she rode with me on a call to
Mick’s Bar
. Her actions changed my mind.
She could handle herself in the field, and she could handle Vince,
a typical barroom tro
ublemaker. The expression on his face
when she
took him down in one smooth sw
oop
was
priceless.

Nicole
swung into
the truck. “W
hat’s going down?”

On the drive
,
I
brought Nicole up to speed on the situation with
Lilyan
.
I curved
onto a road
le
a
d
ing
into an area
of older homes. Sidewalks and curbs had never been put in.
The streets were paved with dirt
more than asphalt.
I
located the house number and parked
on the
dusty
shoulder. “
Nicole, you take the lead
.”

Lilyan
opened the door
,
he
r stressful frown quickly
fading
into a
smile
.
“
Logan
. Nicole
. C
ome
in.” If we were in the South,
I would have called her mannerisms
Southern
c
harm
.