Fred was pacing in the kitchen when Harriet entered from the studio.
"Did you eat all the food I left in your dish already?” She picked up his empty dish and poured a carefully measured half-cup of kibble into it. She glanced at the clock on the stove-it was ten after five. Pins and Needles stayed open until six on Saturday night.
She grabbed her purse from the chair by the door; the studio was in good enough shape she could afford to skip a night. A hand-piecing project would be just what the doctor ordered, and she'd seen a new cat print series that would make a nice kitty quilt for Fred. He had adopted a green wool-upholstered chair in her bedroom and was leaving a covering of cat fur in his wake. If they were going to be here for a while, it would need some protection. There was a movie rental store at the bottom of the hill, too; her Saturday night was shaping up nicely.
"I'll be back in a few,” she yelled to Fred, who didn't look up from his dish.
She went out into the damp early-evening air, got into her car and drove into downtown Foggy Point.
The bell on the door to Pins and Needles jingled as she crossed the threshold.
"Be right with you,” Marjory called from behind a row of fabric bolts. “Oh, hi, Harriet,” she said as Harriet rounded the end of the display.
Carla Salter stood beside Marjory, studying her tattered canvas shoes.
"Meet my newest employee, Carla Salter. She's going to start working for me a few hours on the weekends."
"We met the other night,” Harriet said. “How are you doing, Carla?"
Carla mumbled a reply, but Harriet couldn't make out what she'd said.
"I've got the studio pretty much back together, so I thought I'd take a night off and start a hand-piecing project. I saw some cat fabric you were unpacking when I was here on Tuesday. I thought I might make a small quilt for my cat Fred."
"Carla can show you where we put that,” Marjory said. “You know which fabric she's talking about?"
"The Makower UK cats?"
"Yes,” Harriet said.
"Over here."
Carla led her two rows over to a section that had several lines of stylized animal fabrics.
"Thanks.” Harriet pulled several bolts off the shelf.
Carla had moved back a few steps but was still in the aisle.
"What do you think of these?” Harriet asked her.
"I like the blue-and-brown one,” she said, so quietly Harriet almost didn't hear her.
"I do, too. What do you think about the orange for accent fabric? Is it too much?"
"Depends on your cat. If it's got a strong personality it probably would like the orange. If it's the kind that sleeps all day the off-white would probably be better.” She spoke a little louder this time.
"Fred is definitely a strong personality, so orange it is."
"Do you want me to take these to the counter for you?"
"Yes, thanks. I'm going to look around a little more."
Carla's eyes widened and her cheeks turned red.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to rush you."
"No, it's fine. You are doing fine. By the way, did you ever find your friend the other night?” Harriet asked, trying to distract her from her distress. Doing a customer service job had to be a big stretch for her.
Carla twisted her hands in the hem of her faded blue T-shirt.
"She never showed,” she said then looked up. “I'm getting really worried. I got Jason from work to drive me by her place on Friday, but it doesn't look like she's been there."
"Does she have family she might be staying with?"
"She doesn't talk to her family.” Carla paused. “She's had problems they can't understand."
Or maybe they understand all too well, Harriet thought. “What kind of problems?"
Carla was silent, and Harriet was afraid she'd overstepped the boundary of their tenuous relationship. She turned back to the fabric bolts.
"She has problems in her head,” Carla finally said in a soft voice. “That's why I'm so worried about her. She needs to take her medicine. As long as she does it real regular she's fine. Miz Avanell helped her with her medicine. She just got some last week, but I don't think she took it with her when they fired her. It was in her toolbox, and Tony didn't let her take her toolbox when she left. I tried to find it on Friday, and it was gone already."
"Maybe she got a new prescription from the pharmacy,” Harriet suggested.
"She doesn't have money, and the thing is, when she's late taking her pill she starts getting weird ideas. And she starts thinking she don't need to take any medicine anymore. Then she gets hyper and-I'm just worried about her. She's a good person, really. She can't help the way she is."
"Well, she's lucky to have a friend like you to worry about her."
Carla's cheeks turned a deeper red, and she busied herself picking up the bolts of fabric.
"These'll be at the front,” she said, and carried them to the cutting table.
Marjory cut the fabric and sent Harriet on her way with promises to see her the next day at Avanell's. Harriet continued down the block, turned the corner and walked another block to Foggy Point Video.
"DeAnn?"
"Oh, hi, Harriet."
"Do you work here? Of course you do. Why else would you be behind the counter? I'm sorry."
"Harriet, it's okay. Why would you know where I work? My family owns this place. I work here part-time."
"I'm sorry. I must seem like a fool. I'm still getting used to being back in Foggy Point. I'm not used to seeing people I know running every other business I go into."
"Well, it has its good points and its bad points. Here everyone knows everyone else's business. Most of the time, anyway-and we protect our own,” DeeAnn added.
"What are people saying about Avanell's murder?"
"So far, no one seems to know much. Tony, the supervisor, fired a girl who had worked there for a while a few days ago, and now she's missing along with the contents of the safe. The police are working on that theory, but I haven't heard anything more."
"So, they think this girl killed Avanell and then robbed the place? Or Avanell caught her in the act? Does that seem possible?"
"It's the only thing they've got, according to my cousin who works in the sheriff's department."
"It's just so sad. Avanell and my aunt Beth were friends for as long as I can remember."
"The community is going to miss Avanell, too. She was a generous benefactor for a lot of civic projects around here."
"Had she donated much lately?” Harriet asked.
"Hmmm. You know, now that you mention it, I don't think she has been involved this year. Of course, we haven't had anything big going on, either. I'm the secretary of the Foggy Point Business Association. Avanell made a substantial donation to the skate park and playground equipment project two years ago. And of course, there are the scholarships, but then I guess she set those up when George died. Why do you ask?"
"I just wondered. My aunt seemed to think she was worried about something, and you know money is always one of those things people worry about."
"I can't imagine Avanell having to think about money. In our business association meetings she seemed pretty sharp where that was concerned. For our projects, she was always getting suppliers to sell us materials at cost, and she got the skate park ramps donated outright. I can't imagine she would be different in her own business."
"It must have been something else, then,” Harriet said, deciding she had learned all DeeAnn could tell her. “I'm starting a new hand-piecing project tonight and was hoping to find a good movie to watch while I do. Something light and fluffy."
She had developed an embarrassing addiction to romance movies. She always cried at the happy endings.
"Follow me.” DeAnn led her in the direction of a sign that read Romantic Comedy.
A half-hour later, Harriet had two comedies and a historical romance in her bag and a week to watch them in.
Dusk had turned into dark while she was in the video store. She knew Foggy Point was safer than Oakland, but she still hurried up the deserted block toward her car.
As she turned the corner she heard a shuffling noise behind her. She sped up, and the sound turned into the distinct rapping of boot heels on pavement. The footsteps sped up as well.
"Hey,” Aiden called. “Wait up.” A strange-looking dog danced around his feet. “Randy, sit,” he said, and the little dog obeyed.
"Aiden,” she said in relief. “You scared me to death."
"I'm sorry. I saw your car parked up by Pins and Needles, and I was on my way to the Rice Bowl when I saw you go into the video store. Randy and I were waiting for you to come out, but she got distracted by a rat back there,” He pointed to a narrow alley. “And you got by us."
"What did you want?"
"I was going to offer a deal I hoped you couldn't refuse."
"I'm listening,” she said, and reminded herself again that Sarah was right, Aiden was way too young for her to be having heart palpitations over.
"Okay.” He nervously rubbed his well-muscled left arm with his right hand. “How about I buy dinner, and then we go back to your place and watch your movies,” he said in a rush.
"You don't even know what movies I have in here,” she said as she held up the bag.
"I don't care. If you like them, I'll like them."
"You mean to tell me you want to sit through an educational video on women and menopause? You are an evolved young man."
"Very funny. I think we both know that isn't what you have in there. For one thing, you're not old enough."
"You don't know that."
"Yes, I do. My brother Marcel told me you were one class ahead of him in high school. And I do know my mammalian biology. By the way, he had a crush on you back then."
"I was, and I knew that."
"But you were a mysterious older woman who wouldn't give him the time of day?"
"He was a Star Trek geek who went around making secret hand gestures and speaking Klingon to his friends."
"I'd like to think you were saving yourself for his charming younger brother."
"Listen to what you're saying. When I was in high school you were in second grade."
He closed the distance between them, and her breath caught in her throat as he gazed deep into her eyes.
"I'm not in second grade anymore."
He cupped her chin in his hand and brushed his mouth lightly over hers. The touch of his lips shocked her to her core, but she didn't break away.
"You're definitely old enough,” she said when they separated.
"Do I get to come watch movies, then?"
"I'm not so sure that's a good idea,” she said and absently rubbed a finger across her lips.
"If I promise to behave myself?” he asked. “Unless you don't want me to, that is."
"I have a feeling I'm going to live to regret this, but okay. You buy dinner, I'll show movies and we'll see what Fred thinks of Randy."
Dinner turned out to be fast food Chinese take-out. Harriet dropped Aiden and Randy at his apartment so he could get his car then went on up the hill. She carried dinner into the kitchen.
"Fred,” she said. “This could be a big mistake. He's too young, and even if he were old enough, I'm not ready to consider getting involved with anyone. And frankly, Fred, I don't think I ever will be. Your daddy was it for me."
She had filled two bowls with rice and was arranging the beef and broccoli on top when she heard a soft tap on the kitchen door. She opened it, and Randy bounded inside, followed by Aiden.
Randy was similar in size to a beagle, but shaped more like a shoebox. Her head was round and her ears small triangles that looked like they had been glued on as an afterthought. Her color was a tan-and-grey mix that was highlighted with bluish freckles. She jumped up in front of Harriet, and for the first time she noticed the dog's eyes.
They were the same yellow-blue as Aiden's.
She looked at Aiden and then back at Randy.
"That's weird,” she said.
"Not for her. It's not unusual for dogs to have white eyes."
"So, you're the weird one?"
"Didn't your mother teach you to be nice to guests? Especially when they bring you dinner?"
"Aunt Beth may have mentioned something about that, eons ago when I was young."
"Not the age hang-up again. Do you realize that if I were ten years older than you instead of the opposite we wouldn't be having this discussion?"
"Yes, we would. Ten years is ten years no matter which way it goes. Besides, no matter what our age difference, we shouldn't be having this kind of discussion."
"You're not a lesbian, are you? I mean it's okay if you like girls, I just didn't pick up that vibe from you, and usually I have pretty good gaydar."
"I am not a lesbian. I'm not an anything. I'm not on the dating market."
"Oh, God, you're not married, are you? Do you have an estranged husband stashed away somewhere?"
"No, nothing like that. If you must know, I'm a widow."
His face lost its smile. “I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"It's okay, there's no reason you would have known. My husband died five years ago."
"I'm sorry,” he said again.
Randy sensed the change in mood and instantly went to her master's side. He reached down and scratched her ear.
"How about we just eat and watch the movies and not worry about anything else,” Harriet suggested. “Here.” She handed him the two bowls and picked up the bag of movies. “What do you want to drink? The options are pretty much water or tea."
"Water is fine."
She grabbed two bottles of water from the refrigerator and led him through the kitchen and dining room and up the stairs to the second floor, with Randy bringing up the rear. Aunt Beth had set one of the upstairs bedrooms up as a TV room-a burgundy leather sleeper sofa was oriented opposite a large television with a small side chair next to the window.
Aiden set the food on the large ottoman situated between the sofa and TV.
"This looks cozy,” he said. He pushed a fluffy pink afghan out of the way and sat down.
"It is. It's where Aunt Beth comes to unwind."
Fred had apparently been sleeping upstairs and chose that moment to join the party. He didn't have much experience with dogs.
What happened next would have made a good highlight reel for one of those funniest home videos shows, Harriet thought later.
Fred came in the door and in one leap landed on Randy's back. Randy yelped and jumped onto the ottoman. Chinese food flew everywhere. Fred hissed, Randy cried, and Aiden and Harriet each tried to grab their respective pets. The cat jumped up onto a bookshelf, a clump of broccoli dangling from his head. The dog ran down the stairs, trailing rice as she went. The two adults collided and then rolled off the ottoman onto the floor in front of the TV.
Harriet found herself on top of Aiden. She looked down at the surprised expression on his face and burst out laughing. He smiled. She picked a clump of sticky rice off his eyebrow. He grabbed her hand and licked the rice off her fingers. Her fingers twined in his.
Aiden took her other hand and pulled both over his head. “Okay, you have me where you want me. What are you going to do now?"
Harriet's heart hammered in her chest. A shiver rippled through her. With a sudden movement, Aiden flipped them both over. He lowered his head and brushed a gentle kiss across her lips. She closed her eyes, and he kissed her again, questioning this time. She was shocked at her own eager response.
The kiss deepened, and Harriet lost all sense of time and place as his body melted onto hers. She felt abandoned when he finally pulled away.
"If we don't stop now, we won't be stopping at all,” he said and looked hopefully at her.
She blushed. “We aren't that kind of friends…” She paused.
"Go ahead and say it,” he said. “We aren't that kind of friends yet. That means there's hope eventually we will be."
"I wouldn't hold my breath. You caught me in a weak moment, that's all."
"Yeah, right. Don't kid yourself. You wanted it as much as I did."
Harriet pulled her hands from his grasp and pushed him off and onto the floor. Standing, she retrieved the two bowls and started picking up bits of broccoli and beef. Aiden rose and brushed smashed rice off his jeans.
"Go downstairs and bring the yellow sponge from beside the sink and paper towels from the rack under the cabinet,” she ordered and continued collecting the bigger pieces of remains and putting them into the bowls.
Aiden returned and began wiping up what was left of the mess.
"Did you see Randy while you were down there?"
"No, but I can guess where she is. She always goes low. She'll be under a bed or sofa somewhere."
"I'm sorry Fred attacked her. I've never seen him do that before."
"That's okay. I'm sure Randy will be fine after a few years of therapy."
"The bad news is that dinner is ruined, and all I have here are salad makings."
"Don't worry. I'll call Jorge and see if he can whip up a batch of nachos for us, if that's okay with you."
"That sounds great."
Aiden made the call, and they both went down to Tico's Tacos to pick the order up.
"The white cup in the bag is guacamole for the señorita,” Jorge said, and looked hard at Aiden. “The boy doesn't share too well,” he explained to Harriet.
When they returned, she held the kitchen door open for Aiden, who carried their bag of food and the two bottles of Dos Equis Jorge had thrown in. Randy sat on the floor below Fred, who was studying her from the kitchen table.
"Looks like they've patched things up since we left."
"I'm sure Fred remembered his manners and apologized."
"Naw, Randy made the first move. She's like that."
Thankfully, their second stab at ethnic dining went better than the first. The nachos were crisp and cheesy. They were smothered in beans and shredded chicken, and topped with onions, jalapenos and chopped tomatoes.
"I may never eat again,” Harriet said, and threw her crumpled napkin onto the ottoman near the nearly empty nacho platter.
"Jorge is definitely a good cook,” Aiden said in a lazy voice. He set the plate on the floor, where Randy cleaned up the remains.
"So, you went to school with my brother. Now you've met my sister and me. And your aunt and my mom were best friends. What about you?"
"What do you mean, what about me?” She felt her full stomach tightening.
"I'm just getting to know you. If we're going to be that kind of friends we need to get better acquainted. You know a lot about me, and the only thing I know about you is that you have a mean cat, broke my brother's young heart and you've been widowed."
"You have some nerve,” she said with a smile. “Fred will probably need years of therapy to recover from his visit to Foggy Point. Your brother was a stalker who needed to be reined in. We are not going to be ‘that kind of friends,’ and my marriage is none of your business."
"Okay, we'll start with the basics. What about your family. Where do your parents live? And how did you come to be living with your aunt?"
"I'm not certain where my parents live,” she said, and realized that fact no longer bothered her. “I heard my father took a job in Singapore."
"You don't know?” Aiden said, his shock apparent in his voice.
"Well, I read a Time magazine article that said he'd taken a job in Singapore, so I suppose that means they moved there. I'm sure Time checked their sources before they printed the article."
"Wow,” he said and leaned back against the cushion of the sofa. “Are you not speaking to them? Did you have a fight or something?"
"Nothing so dramatic. They have their lives, I have mine."
"That's pretty harsh. How can you not talk to your parents?"
Harriet stiffened. “How can you pass judgment when you know nothing about the situation?"
He reached for her hand. “You're right. I'm sorry,” he said. “I've just never known anyone who didn't talk to their parents."
She pulled her hand free. “You keep saying that like I have a disease.” Her voice was hard. “It's not that I refuse to speak to them, or that they refuse to speak to me. It just never comes up. I talk to them whenever they bother to make contact, which is admittedly not often. They relocated several times when I was in college, and once I was twenty-one their secretary quit updating Aunt Beth as to their ever-changing contact information. When they call, I talk to them."
"Are they some kind of spies or something?"
Harriet looked at him. “You've got quite the imagination. No, it's nothing that interesting. My mother is a physicist who invented something that has to do with particle acceleration years ago. I think she might do something with nuclear fission, too-I've never really known, to tell the truth.
"My father works in genetics. He was on the team that cloned Dolly the sheep, and now is doing stem cell research. At least, that's what the article said. It's hard to pursue their kind of research in the United States, so they have almost always worked abroad."
"Wow, that's kind of cool,” Aiden said. “Your parents are famous."
She looked at him without smiling.
"Your childhood must have been exciting. Where did you live when you were a kid? Before you came here, I mean."
"Do we have to talk about this?"
"I'm just trying to understand who you are,” he said and smiled.
"You're just trying to get in my pants, and I can save you some trouble. It's not going to happen."
He looked hurt. “I want to get to know you. I'm evolved-really."
"Yeah, right. If you must know, I didn't grow up anywhere. I was born in London. My parents were living there while one of them was doing a fellowship."
"You have dual citizenship? Cool!"
"After London my parents moved to Switzerland then Japan, I think, then Scotland. It's hard to remember. In any case, I was sent to New York with a nanny. If they wanted to be parents, they sent for me. When they got tired, I went back to New York. When I was school age, New York and the nanny were replaced by boarding school, sometimes where they were working, sometimes not. Aunt Beth intervened when I was eleven and she and Foggy Point replaced boarding school."
"That must have been better,” Aiden said.
"It was great. Do you have any idea how odd you seem to the rest of the school children in Foggy Point, Washington, when you're fluent in four languages and passable in three more? How do you relate when the other kids are trying to learn the capitols of Europe and you've ordered room service in most of them? I was a freak. Plus, I came and went a few times on top of everything else."
"You speak seven languages?"
She gave him an exasperated look.
"So, what movies do we have?” he asked, finally letting her off the hook.
It turned out that it didn't matter-he fell asleep before the opening credits. She covered him with the fluffy afghan. At the end of the first movie, she took Randy downstairs and let her out into the yard. She did her business and came right back.
"Good girl,” Harriet said. The little dog waggled her body.
She made it to the first break-up between the hero and heroine in the second movie before she, too, fell asleep.
Grey light was streaming in the window when she woke.
"Aiden, wake up,” she said and shook his shoulder.
Randy jumped onto the sofa and started licking his face. He awoke, spluttering and spitting, and pushed her down.
"What time is it?” he asked. “Did I miss the movie?"
"It's ten after seven, and, yes, you did miss the movie,” Harriet told him and laughed.
"Did you take advantage of me while I was asleep?"
"You wish. But I did take your dog out."
"You're still wearing last night's clothes, so I guess we did sleep together, huh? Was it good for you?"
"You've got a one-track mind, buddy boy. I need to get dressed to go back to your mother's house."
"Do I at least get a cup of coffee before you throw us out?"
"Yes, you can have a cup of coffee, but then you have to go so I can get ready."
He was still sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and reading the paper when she came down from her shower. She was dressed in jeans and a red T-shirt. Randy was licking the floor around the empty bowl Harriet had filled with cereal for her before she went upstairs. She looked hopefully at Harriet.
"I thought you were leaving,” she said.
"I am. I'm just not anxious to go to my mom's house. My brother's arriving today."
"Don't you get along with your brother?"
"We don't not get along. Since he's the oldest he expects everything to be his way. He thinks he knows what's best for all of us no matter what the subject. And he hates Foggy Point. He couldn't wait to leave when he got out of high school, and he'll blame Mom's death on the fact that she lived here. He wanted her to relocate to Seattle when he got out of college, but she wouldn't consider it. He's sure she stayed here because of me. He might be right. Maybe if we'd moved to Seattle all those years ago she'd be with us today."
"You can't know that. She might have died in a car accident or been hit by a meteor."
They were still arguing when the studio doorbell rang.
"Are you expecting company?” Aiden asked.
"Not that I know of.” She got up and went to the studio, Randy close on her heels. She opened the door. Sarah Ness walked in without waiting to be asked.
"Hi, Harriet. I hope it's okay that I came this early. I knew you'd be up since you're going to Avanell's at nine. I made a quilt for my sister's birthday and need you to stitch it for me by Monday."
"You do know it's Sunday, right? And you know I'm going to be at Avanell's all day."
"It's not that hard.” Sarah said. “My sister's birthday is Wednesday."
"I can have it for you by the end of the day on Monday, but it'll cost you."
"I don't remember asking for a discount."
"Give it to me,” Harriet said.
"It's in the car, I'll go get it."
"Who's here?” Aiden asked as he came into the studio.
"Be careful,” Harriet said. “There are probably still pins on the floor, and believe me, you don't want to step on one in your bare feet."
"Dr. Jalbert,” Sarah said. “What are you doing here? Is there a problem?"
"Miss Ness,” he said with a smile. “We're just fine here, thanks for asking."
Sarah stiffened. She looked from Aiden to Harriet and back again.
"I'll be back Monday at four,” she said and turned on her heel and left.
Aiden grinned.
"You're not helping things, you know,” Harriet said. “She's a customer. According to Aunt Beth, a very good customer."
"She needs to know how things are, and the sooner she does the better for all of us."
"And just exactly how are things? Never mind, forget I asked."
"I know how things aren't, and she's my customer, too. Or at least her cat is, and the sooner she understands what isn't going to happen the better off we'll all be."
Harriet opened her mouth to speak.
"Stop right there. I don't want to hear about how she's my age and all."
"How do you know what I was going to say?"
He raised his eyebrow and stared at her.
"Okay, so maybe I was going to mention age,” she admitted. “She is closer to your age, you know."
"Yeah, and she's a self-centered neurotic. Is being my age supposed to make up for that?"
"No, and it's none of my business, anyway. I need to go to your mom's house."
"Want to go with me and Randy?"
"I think not. Besides, I'm picking up Mavis."
They went back into the kitchen. Fred was eating his kibbles and keeping a wary eye on Randy, who sat under the kitchen table watching his every move.
Aiden gathered Randy up and left. Harriet went upstairs, brushed her teeth and then left to pick up Mavis.