ARE you sure you’re all right here by yourself?” Grady stood in Bling’s doorway and assessed the damage, which somehow, in daylight, looked even worse than it had on Saturday night.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” Vanessa moved through her shop with apparent determination. “Even if the person who did this was inclined to return, I doubt he’d do it on a bright sunny morning when half of the population of St. Dennis is looking for an excuse to be outside and strolling along Charles Street. And I will have the door locked.” She disappeared into the back room and emerged a minute later with an apron, which she slipped over her head and then tied around her waist. “I think I’ll start back here in the office, what do you think?”
“I think you should do what feels most natural to you. But are you sure you don’t want company?”
“I’m sure. I really want to get this over with. I want my inventory checked and I want the floors cleaned and I want my shop back. Besides, you have something to do. Aren’t you calling someone at the FBI about those fingerprints?”
“I need to check with Hal first to see if the prints they took on Saturday were submitted to IAFIS yet.”
“Tell me again what that means?” She disappeared through a curtain on the right, but came right back out again. “Well, at least the dressing rooms were spared. I thought some things might have been tossed around in there but there’s nothing.”
“IAFIS means ‘Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System.’ It’s a database. Law enforcement agencies can submit fingerprints, which are cataloged. Then, when they have prints they’re hoping to match up, they’ll send them in and request a search. If the prints are on file, they’ll get a confirmation with the name and criminal history of the person to whom the prints belong.”
“So, if the person who broke in here the other night committed a crime before, and his prints are already on file there in that system, when Hal sends in the prints they took here, the FBI can tell him who that person is?”
“As long as the prints are already on file so there’s something to match to, yes.”
“But if they hadn’t committed a crime before, their prints wouldn’t be there?”
“Not necessarily. If the agency that arrested him the first time didn’t submit the prints, they wouldn’t be in the system. And there are prints in the system that were submitted for other reasons-employment background checks, firearms sales, that sort of thing. So it isn’t a definite, but maybe we’ll get lucky if this guy’s been arrested before and his prints were submitted and we’ll find out who he is.”
“Well, we can only hope.” She looked distracted, so he waved a hand in front of her face.
“I’m going to walk down to the police station and talk to Hal. You have my cell number if you need me.” He kissed her on the side of her mouth and smiled at her belated attempt to kiss him back. “I’ll let you make good on that one later,” he told her as he walked to the door. “Come on over here and lock this.”
She took the key from her pocket and walked him to the door. “Tell Hal I said good morning.”
“Will do.”
Grady left the cool of the shop and walked out onto a sunny weekday morning. There was little traffic at this hour-the school buses had collected and discharged their riders and the locals who had to be at their jobs before nine were already there. But there was still a good crowd in Cuppachino as he crossed the street, and he decided to stop in and pick up a cup of coffee to go.
He bought his takeout and was on his way to the counter where the sweeteners and creamers were located, when he heard someone calling his name. He turned to see Grace Sinclair waving to him.
“Good morning.” He waved back.
“So are you enjoying our pretty little town on this fine morning?” Grace asked.
“I am, thanks.” Grady stopped at the table where she sat with an open notebook in front of her.
“Just working on my column for this week,” she explained. “Between the wedding and the break-in and the upcoming historic house tour, it’s more news than we generally have to talk about around here.” She hastened to add, “Not that I equate one with the other, of course. The police blotter doesn’t appear on the same page as the social news, and the calendar of events is always on the back page by its lonesome.”
“You have so many events here that you need an entire page to list them?”
“We don’t simply list them. We have articles that correspond. For example, for the house tour, I interviewed the president of the Historical Society and several of the homeowners whose houses will be featured this year. All with photographs, of course, and advertisements from the merchants who might be offering special sales that weekend.” Grace smiled. “It does keep us all busy. We like to say we have something for everyone at some time during the year. Makes me wonder what we used to do around here before we became such an attraction. Now, what are you interested in, Grady?”
“Me?” He thought it over. “Well, I like to hike…”
“Then you’ll likely want to look into our marsh-and-wetlands walking tour. That’s always the weekend following the Fourth of July.” She started to rustle through a pile of notes on the table. “I have the dates here somewhere…”
“I doubt I’ll still be around in July, but I appreciate the information.” Grady doubted that even if he were in St. Dennis, a walk through some wetlands was hardly what he was accustomed to. Still, it was nice of her to ask.
“Oh.” She appeared surprised. “I was thinking perhaps… well, no matter. If you do happen to be here that weekend, you’re more than welcome to join us.”
“I appreciate that, Miss Grace.”
“I suppose you’d better go fix that coffee before it gets cold,” she told him.
“Good idea. Nice to see you.” He took a few steps away from the table.
“Oh, Grady,” she called him back. “I noticed you coming out of Bling. How is Vanessa doing?”
“She’s just starting to clean up, get her merchandise organized, see what was taken.” He added, “She’s doing all right. She was-still is-upset, but she’s just trying to get it all under control so that she can reopen as soon as possible.”
“What a shame.” Grace shook her head. “She’s worked so hard to make that shop the little gem it is. I’ve been saying since she opened, that girl is one of the hardest-working people I’ve ever known. It makes me so darned mad when I think of someone going in there and breaking up her shop and stealing from her.” She looked up at Grady. “Are there any suspects yet?”
“Not that I know of. I was just on my way down to the police station to talk to Hal.”
“Oh, you just missed him by about twenty minutes. He was in here earlier with… I’m not sure of the woman’s name. Beck and Vanessa’s mother.”
“Maggie Turner.”
“Ah, Maggie Turner.” Grace nodded. “I noticed she was at the wedding the other day. Have she and Beck reconciled, then?”
“I wouldn’t know anything about that.” Grady shook his head. No way was he going to feed into small-town gossip.
“I was just wondering. It seems like such a shame, being estranged from your children. I have three children, Grady. Only one lives close enough for me to see on a regular basis.” A cloud crossed her face. “It isn’t easy to be a parent sometimes.”
“I’m sure it’s a tough job.”
Grace laughed lightly. “Would you listen to me? Go. Fix your coffee and get on your way. It’s a beautiful morning. Enjoy it. And walk on down to the Bay. It’s a wonder with the sunlight sparkling on the water.”
“I’ll do that,” he said. “Thanks for the tip.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled and picked up her pen and turned her attention back to her notes.
He poured a sugar packet and some cream into the cup and replaced the lid, then waved to Carlo and Grace on his way out. It was slightly disconcerting to him that people here seemed so comfortable discussing the business-both private and public-of their friends and neighbors. Grady had never been exposed to small-town life, so Grace’s inquiry about Maggie had taken him aback somewhat. He hadn’t sensed any malicious intent on the older woman’s part, though; her questions appeared based more on concern than on gathering information to be randomly repeated and passed along, but still, it wasn’t his place to give out information about the family his sister had just married into.
From the top of Kelly’s Point Road, he could see the Bay beyond. Grace had been right. It was sparkly and beautiful in the morning sunlight. In the distance, sailboats skimmed along in the breeze, and a catamaran was just edging out from its slip. It was all very peaceful and gentle on the eyes. He’d never lived on the water-had never considered it-but he could see its appeal.
He soaked up sun and small-town atmosphere as he walked to the municipal building and resisted an urge to whistle. It was that kind of morning.
He stopped at the reception area and gave his name and asked to see Hal. The day dispatcher, Garland, introduced himself and reminded Grady that they’d met at the wedding on Saturday before buzzing Hal’s office.
Of course we met at the wedding, Grady mused. Was there an adult living in St. Dennis who I did not meet at the wedding?
“Grady, come on back.” Hal waved to him from the end of the hall. “I see you stopped for coffee. A wise move on your part. I’m ashamed to say our coffee is as bad as most other police stations I’ve been in.” He shook his head. “We really need to do something about that. It’s such a cliché…”
Grady laughed and followed Hal into a conference room, and Hal closed the door behind them.
“I’m acting chief this week but I hate to use someone else’s office, so I set myself up in here,” Hal explained. “Gives me more room to spread out the morning paper and put my feet up, if nothing else.” He rolled his chair out from under the table, and sat. “That was a joke, by the way.”
Grady smiled to acknowledge the comment. “I just thought I’d stop in and see if there’s been a response on those prints that Sue lifted over the weekend.”
“I was just getting ready to call you.” Hal had a stack of papers in front of him, which he gathered in one hand. “I had Gus print out everything that came in. We have a couple of matches. There’s no doubt in my mind that these are the two we’re looking for.”
He slid a couple of sheets across the table. “Jackie Weston here is probably the woman who called herself Candice. She was picked up on bad-check charges in Wisconsin about six months ago but didn’t serve any time, not sure why, but I’ve requested her picture, so we’re going to need Vanessa to take a look, see if that’s the woman who was in her shop. The other one, this Edmund Dent, he’s the one who has me worried. Check out his criminal history.”
Grady’s eyes scanned the second sheet. “He’s got a history, all right.” He read down the list, then glanced up at Hal. “Assault, assault with intent to kill, sexual battery… and this guy is out on the street?” He shook his head.
“This arrest for arson in Wisconsin…” Grady tapped his finger on the section he read from. “Vanessa told me that one of her ex’s brothers and a cousin burned down her house after Medford was sentenced.”
Hal nodded. “The date’s just about right. I’m still waiting for his picture. If this is the cousin, Vanessa will be able to identify him.”
“Why don’t you just call her? She’ll know the name, right?”
“I’d rather not do that over the phone.”
“If you get the pictures, I’ll take them up. She’s at the shop.”
“By herself?” Hal looked up, his eyebrows raised.
Grady nodded. “With the doors locked and Grace Sinclair sitting at the front table at Cuppachino.”
“No one’s likely to get past Gracie, but still…” Hal got up and poked his head out the door. “Gus? How’re we doing with that picture we’re waiting on?”
“It’s just starting to come through now. You’ll have it in a minute,” the officer called back.
“You have anything you can arm yourself with?” Hal asked, and Grady shook his head no. “You licensed to carry in Maryland?”
“Not anymore.”
Hal rubbed his chin and thought it over. “You a decent shot?”
“I’ve qualified as a sharpshooter. The only person in my family who’s better is Connor.” Grady smiled. “Maybe.”
Hal left the room and came back a few minutes later with a Glock in one hand and a clip in the other. “How ’bout we swear you in as a part-time, temporary officer of St. Dennis?”
Grady raised an eyebrow.
“I know you’re… well, spending a lot of time with my girl, son. I’d like to know you’re watching her back with something more than your eyes and ears. Unless I’m way off base, this Dent is going to want to push on her a little more before he’s through. I’d like you to be able to push back.”
Grady nodded. “All right.”
“Come on into Beck’s office and we’ll fill out the forms and make it nice and legal…”
When the paperwork had been completed, Hal handed over the Glock and got Grady a holster to clip onto his belt.
“I hope I don’t need this,” Grady remarked.
“I hope you don’t, either. But I’d rather you had it and didn’t need it than need it and not have it.”
Gus came in with the photocopy of Edmund Dent. Both Hal and Grady studied it.
“I feel I might have seen him somewhere,” Grady said. “Maybe passed him on the street one day last week.”
“It’s sure possible. I imagine he took his time, watching her. Figuring out her routine, where she went, where she lived…”
“Hal, you don’t spend all that time studying someone just to break into their shop and steal a dress that you’re going to destroy and leave in their house.”
“I know. And that’s what’s worrying me…”
“I think you’re right to be worried,” Grady told him. “I’ve seen this type of pattern before. The first attack is on property, but it escalates. He’s already shown her that he can get to her, at her shop or at her house. I think when Vanessa completes her inventory, she’s going to find that nothing was taken except that dress and the cash receipts.”
Hal nodded. “That’s how I’m seeing it, too. And the woman-you think she was involved?”
“Not really. I think he only brought her along to go into the shop and see what’s what. But I’m betting she wasn’t in on the break-in. She wouldn’t have ripped up that dress. But an arrogant man who wanted to take a poke at Vanessa, though, yeah, he’d do that. Especially if he wanted to take a poke at the woman-Jackie-too.”
Hal sighed heavily. “If he tries to take another poke at her, take him down, Grady. Don’t let him get close enough to touch her.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Hal slapped Grady on the shoulder. “Thank you. I’m real glad you decided to stay awhile in St. Dennis. Real glad.”
“Thanks.”
Grady left the station wondering what he’d gotten himself into. When he agreed to come to his sister’s wed ding, he had no idea he’d end up playing small-town cop. Then again, he hadn’t counted on Vanessa, either. He still wasn’t sure what was going on between them, but he didn’t want to examine it too closely yet. It was enough to know that whatever it was, it made him happier then he’d been in a long time.
If things had gone differently, he’d be hiking on the Bull Run Mountains right about now. But the mountains would be there when this was all over, and he was pretty sure it would be over soon enough. Men like Dent didn’t bother with finesse or restraint. He’d strike fast and he’d strike soon-and Grady would be there when he did.
It had taken her awhile to decide where to begin, until finally she told herself, Oh, hell, just pick a spot. She opted for the office, thinking she might as well start at the back of the shop since the glass man would be coming later that day to take the measurements to replace the cracked window and the glass counter. After she finished with the office, she picked up all the merchandise that had been tossed on the floor. She refolded everything, looking over each garment to assess its condition. Except for having been tossed onto the floor-which had been relatively clean, because it had been vacuumed on Saturday-nothing seemed to be damaged. Still, they had been tossed around and spent the past two days on the floor, so maybe she couldn’t sell any of them as perfect and new. Maybe I should have an after-the-break-in sale. “All merchandise tossed around by the burglar-thirty percent off!”
She made a mental note to ask Stef if she thought thirty percent was enough of a discount.
The mannequins were still in the front window dressed up for the wedding. Vanessa stood, hands on her hips, looking them over.
“Oh, hell, the wedding is over anyway,” she said aloud. “Time to move it all out. I wonder if it’s too early to move all those cute golf and tennis things to center stage.”
She needed music and wanted something upbeat, so she brought her CD player from the office and plugged it in on the counter. Odd he didn’t take this, she thought, since it was right there on the desk in plain sight. She put in a few CDs and turned it on loud enough to drown out her own singing. The music lightened her mood, and before too long, she had the windows stripped and ready for the glass people to do their thing.
She turned her attention to the jewelry case, and was surprised to see that very little, if anything, appeared to be disturbed, other than the glass counter and shelves. She checked the sales slips for Wednesday through Saturday, and when she finished, she could account for every piece of jewelry she’d had in that case. As far as she could tell, the only things missing were pieces that had been sold. She was wondering why someone would take the time to break the glass but not steal anything from the case, when she heard a tap on the door.
Vanessa unlocked the door. “Hi, Miss Grace. Come to view the carnage?”
“No, I came to bring you some coffee. I figured you would be needing a break right around now.” Grace handed her a cardboard cup with the Cuppachino logo on it.
“That’s so thoughtful of you. Thank you.”
“Thank Carlo. When I told him who it was for, he wouldn’t take a dime for it.” Grace looked around the interior of the shop. “Well, this doesn’t look too bad…”
“I’ve been picking up in here for the past two hours, but for the most part, it really isn’t too bad. The glass will be replaced and the contents are insured. I called my insurance agent, and surprise, surprise, she’d already heard about the break-in.”
“You use the Radell Agency?”
Vanessa nodded.
“So do we at the paper and the Inn. That Alice Radell is the best insurance agent I ever worked with.”
“She’s been very helpful. But speaking of Alices… I’ve been meaning to ask you about Alice Ridgeway.”
“What about her, dear?”
“I heard that you knew her fairly well.”
“Oh, yes. I grew up in that neighborhood, you know.”
Vanessa nodded. “I heard that, too. I was wondering if we could get together sometime to talk about her.”
Grace frowned. “She isn’t… bothering you, is she?”
“Ah… no.”
“Because she’s really harmless, you know.”
Vanessa stared at her. “You mean, when she was alive?”
“Oh…” Grace laughed. “Of course. I meant, she was harmless.”
“I see,” Vanessa said, although she wasn’t sure she did.
“What did you want to talk about, then?”
“I’d just like to know a little about her, that’s all. All I know is that she kept to herself a lot, and that she grew a lot of herbs.”
“Well, she wasn’t completely antisocial. She did have friends,” Grace made a point of telling her, “but she didn’t care to go out. Everyone visited her at her home.”
“Did you visit with her?”
“Oh, of course. We were friends, even though I was a lot younger. I’ve often wondered if anything still grew in her garden.”
“A lot of herbs, but I’m not sure what they all are. There’s a bunch of what appears to be herbs hanging over the back door.”
“Really? What do they smell like?”
“I don’t think they smell like anything, Miss Grace. They’re very dry.”
“Oh, of course they would be.” Grace smiled. “I’m sure it’s just something she put there for good luck.”
“Good luck,” Vanessa repeated flatly. Yes, her luck had certainly been swell lately.
Grace glanced at her watch. “I’m going to have to dash. I need to get these articles to the printer or we’ll have no paper this week.”
“Thanks for the coffee.” Vanessa walked her visitor to the door. “And maybe sometime we could chat about Miss Ridgeway…”
“Yes, I’d like that.” Grace was halfway out the door when she turned and asked, “You haven’t happened to find any of her books. Her journals or… anything like that?”
Vanessa shook her head. “No. I’ve looked through the books on the shelves in the living room, and there are several books about herbs, but I haven’t found any journals or… anything like that.”
Grace started to close the door behind her. “Have you been in the attic yet?”
“Yes, several times. Although I haven’t had time to look through the boxes that are up there. I’ve been so busy with the shop and then in the off-season, painting the downstairs and the bedrooms and trying to get the kitchen in order. You’ll have to stop over sometime and see what I’ve done in the house.”
“I’d like that very much.” Grace turned and smiled again. “Yes, I would like that.”
“Anytime. And thanks again for the coffee…”
Grace waved before she hustled down the sidewalk in the direction of her newspaper’s office. Vanessa was shaking her head as she closed the door behind the tiny woman. Well, she took my mind off feeling bad about this place. And it was nice of her to bring me coffee…
Vanessa’s cell began to ring, and she searched her pockets until she found it.
“Hello?”
“I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d take him when you didn’t want him anymore.”
Vanessa laughed.
“You think I’m jesting but I am so serious. I just passed him on Kelly’s Point Drive. He’s seriously fine, so whenever you’re finished with him, just toss him my way.” Steffie paused. “I hope this doesn’t interfere with our friendship.”
“It won’t, because he’ll be leaving for Montana any day now,” Vanessa said.
Steffie sighed. “So I suppose I will need to schedule some consolation time. We’ll be busy at Scoop but I can work it in.”
“What are you talking about? I won’t need consolation.”
“Please. It’s Steffie you’re talking to here. You know you’re going to miss him, Ness.”
“Well, sure. The sex has been great.”
“Is that all you can say?”
“It has been.” Vanessa bit a cuticle and frowned.
“Get off it. You’re not that shallow.”
“What shallow? It’s the truth. And sex matters.”
“What about the rest of it?”
“Yeah, well, the rest of it matters, too,” Vanessa admitted. “But it’s all moot. So it doesn’t matter-it can’t matter-beyond the next few days or however long he’s going to be here.”
“A girl can still dream, Ness,” Stef protested.
“I don’t dare dream, Stef. Any dream involving Grady is bound to have an unhappy ending. I’ve had enough of those.” She caught herself before she could say more. “And speak of the devil; he’s just crossing the street and walking in my direction.”
“Well, I’ll let you go, then, so you can chat with that guy who doesn’t really matter all that much…”
“I didn’t say that, damn it,” she whispered as Grady pushed open the door and came in. She slipped the phone into her pocket, knowing as well as Stef did that she’d been lying through her teeth.
“I thought you were keeping this door locked.” He frowned.
“It was locked. I just opened it to let Miss Grace in. She just left.”
“I had a little talk with her over at Cuppachino when I left here this morning.”
“Well, I hope your conversation with her made more sense than mine did. I asked her about Alice Ridgeway, the woman who used to live in my house. She asked me if Alice was bothering me. As if she expected the woman to still be there. And then she asked me if I’d found any of Alice’s journals. Like she was interested in those.” Vanessa’s hands were on her hips. “I suspect that Miss Grace might have known Alice Ridgeway a lot better than I’d previously thought.”
She paused. “What’s that in your hand?”
“Photocopies of the people we suspect broke into Bling and your house.” He pulled the sheets of paper out of the envelope Hal had given him and laid the photo of Jackie Weston on the counter. “Look familiar?”
“That’s Candice,” she said as she leaned forward. “Her hair wasn’t blond like this-it was brown-but that’s definitely her.”
“And this?” He placed the picture of Edmund Dent next to Weston’s.
“Oh my God, that’s Gene’s cousin.” Her eyes grew wide. “Edmund Dent. That slimy, sleazy little son of a bitch burned my house down. Not that there was anything in there worth saving-I didn’t have very much-but the fact that he thought I was inside-”
“What?”
“Oh, yeah. He thought I was inside the house. That’s why he and Gene’s brother torched the place.”
“How do you know this?”
“Because the doors and windows were all nailed shut. The arson expert testified that there was no reason to do that unless they were trying to trap someone inside.”
“And yet they were still acquitted?”
“The jury couldn’t decide which of the cousins and which of the brothers were involved, even though the circumstantial evidence pointed to Edmund and Gene’s brother, Calvin. I never doubted that it was them. They were both really angry with me for calling the cops on Gene.”
“Well, apparently, Edmund is still pretty pissed at you.”
“I imagine they all blame me for Gene dying in prison.” She leaned on the counter, one hand holding her stomach. “I guess he’s not going to stop until I’m dead, too.”
Grady put his arms around her from behind.
“That is not going to happen,” he told her. “I will see him dead before he lays a hand on you.”
“You can’t watch over me twenty-four hours a day, Grady.” She turned and put her hands on his chest, her fingers toying absently with the collar of his shirt. “Besides, sooner or later, you have a life to go back to. Don’t you have some hikes or something lined up?”
He nodded.
She started to say something else, when she froze momentarily, then looked down.
“Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?” She grinned and pulled up his shirttail. “I always wanted to be able to say that but never thought I’d get the chance.”
“Hal put me on the force as a temporary part-time officer.”
“He can do that?”
“He’s acting chief in Beck’s absence.”
“He hired you just to watch over me?” She frowned. “That’s not a very good use of taxpayers’ money.”
“We didn’t discuss remuneration, and I don’t expect any. He just wanted to be able to give me a handgun. Just in case.”
“I do not like guns, but if Edmund Dent is in St. Dennis, I’m not going to argue.” She picked up Jackie Weston’s picture. “I feel real bad for her. I could be very wrong, but I didn’t get the sense that she was a bad person. I’m sorry she got involved with that family. They’re not nice people. That bad-news gene-and yes, the pun is intended-seems to run in the family. And I believe he’s been abusing her. All the signs were there.”
“I reviewed his criminal history. Their neighbors called the police several times to report screams and loud banging coming from their apartment, but she always insisted it was the television.”
“I knew it. She just has that defeated look about her.” Vanessa sighed. “If her fingerprints were in the database, she must have been arrested before, right?”
He nodded. “About six months ago, for passing bad checks.”
She looked back at the woman’s photo. “I can’t decide whether or not to be mad at myself for having been so nice to her.”
“If it makes you feel better, I don’t think she had anything to do with the break-in.”
“I hope not. There ought to be a law against men like that.”
“Well, there is, but unfortunately, too many women ignore it.”
“Some habits are very hard to break, Grady. Once you start believing that you deserve what you’re getting, it’s real hard to convince yourself otherwise. It took me a long time to realize that I could make it stop.”
“I’m surprised you ever took that kind of treatment from anyone. You are so strong, so self-assured.”
“It was hard-won, believe me.” She smiled. “Just something else I have to thank Hal for.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you’d seen me when I first arrived in St. Dennis…” She laughed ruefully. “Not just the way I looked, which was way inappropriate for anyone other than a teenager-I was just a mess all the way around. Looking back, it’s a miracle Hal even opened his door when he saw me standing on his front porch.”
She stopped and took a drink from the coffee Grace had brought her.
“I was scared to death that someone in Gene’s family would come looking for me-prophetic, huh? I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat. Here I was, bunking in with strangers who had no real reason to take me in except the goodness of their hearts, and I sure wasn’t used to people like that. I had no money, I couldn’t pay Hal room and board. I told him I’d get a job, but it was winter and there wasn’t much tourist action. Besides, there wasn’t much I was qualified to do. Long story short, Hal asked me what I would do if I could do anything, anything at all. I told him the only thing I ever dreamed of was owning a little dress shop, since the only job I ever had was in retail. He told me that if I did two things for him, he’d help me to have that little shop. One, I had to take classes at the community college-business classes, math, that sort of thing-and two, I had to go talk to a therapist. He promised me he’d never ask me what we talked about-and he never has, though I often volunteered. Anyway, I went to school and I did really well-surprised the hell out of me, how well I did-and I went to therapy every week for almost two years, which Hal paid for. It helped me to put a lot of things in perspective. Dr. Campbell-she was my therapist-helped me to understand that sometimes, you just have to let certain things go.”
She smiled up at him. “So yes, I am strong now. It took me a while, but I don’t let my past dictate what my future is going to be. That’s one of Dr. Campbell’s mantras, by the way.”
“Smart woman, your Dr. Campbell.”
She nodded. “Very.”
“You really have a lot to be proud of, you know that, right?”
“I got lucky, I had Hal and Beck and Dr. Campbell on my side.”
“I think you’re overlooking the fact that you must have had a lot inside you that you didn’t realize was there. Friends and family and even professional therapists can’t give you what you don’t already have. They can only help you to find what you’ve got and tap into it.”
“That’s what Dr. Campbell always said. Were you in therapy, too?”
He shook his head. “Psych major.”
“I should have known.”
He laughed and looked around the shop. “Speaking of moving on, let’s finish this up so that you can reopen as soon as the glass is replaced.”
“The glass guy should be here soon.”
“Do you have a large trash container? I can get this broken glass up for you while you try to figure out what’s missing.”
“I already made a list for the insurance agent,” she told him. “He took the money and the dress that Candice-excuse me, Jackie-tried on. She must have been with him, for him to have known which one to take.”
“She could have just described it,” he replied. “I doubt he would have taken her with him on the break-in. There’d be less chance that he’d be seen coming and going if he was by himself.”
“Maybe. I hope you’re right, for her sake. If he’s arrested, he’ll go to prison, so maybe she can get away from him.” She paused on her way to get the trash container for the glass. “I’d like to think that could happen for her. I’d like to believe she’d get another chance to make things right for herself. She didn’t seem like someone who should be involved with someone like that.” She thought over what she’d just said, then laughed ruefully. “Then again, neither was I…”
Diary-
Well, didn’t I say that Grady Shields was a nice young man? Apparently Vanessa thinks so, too. I noticed he hangs around Bling quite a bit, in a most protective manner, I might add. Which is only right, since our chief of police is away on a honeymoon with Grady’s sister-not that that obligates him, of course, but it is lovely that Grady is keeping an eye on Vanessa. But one cannot help but notice there’s nothing brotherly in the way that young man looks at her!
As for Vanessa, she’s come across some of Alice’s old herb books! Oh, yes, I’m dying to get my hands on them, since so much information has been lost to me since dear Alice passed, and let’s face it, my memory isn’t what it used to be. Blessings on Vanessa, she invited me to come to the house and look at those books-I will take her up on that as soon as I can without appearing overly anxious. I did inquire if she’d found any of Alice’s journals, but so far, she says she hasn’t seen them. I cannot even begin to imagine what she might think should she open any one of those and read about the activities that once took place in the very house she now calls home… and more shocking still, the names of those who participated!
Oh, dear-how would one explain…
– Grace