A Pour Way to Dye (Book 2 in the Soapmaking Mysteries) (15 page)

“
I’ll do my best not to miss
it,” I said. “Listen, what lime would you like me to pick you up?
Would a late dinner work better for you or an early one? I’m pretty
flexible.”

She smiled at me and said, “I don’t get a lot
of chances to go out at night because of the bookstore, especially
to a place as nice as The Lakefront. Let’s make it seven, shall
we?” She handed me a slip of paper with her address and telephone
number on it. “If I don’t hear from you, I’ll expect to see you at
seven.” She added, “Thanks again for the invitation. I can’t
wait.”

“
It sounds great to me,
too.”

As Diana was leaving, I noticed Kate and
Louisa were watching us. I just shook my head and walked into the
classroom, doing my best to pretend that they weren’t there.

Herbert and Constance Wilson had been talking
to Cindy, but they broke away and we met halfway to the door.

“
Did you enjoy class today?”
I asked them.

Herbert winked at me as he said, “Are you
kidding? She’s better than you are.”

Constance smacked his arm. “I can’t believe
you just said that. Apologize this instant.”

He nodded, then said, “Ben, I’m sorry I told
you the truth. It won’t happen again.” There was another wink for
my benefit.

“
Herbert Wilson, you know
that’s not what I meant.”

“
Woman, give me some
peace.”

They were still squabbling as they left.
Cindy was at one of the stations cleaning up. I was getting the
royal frost treatment from her, but I wasn’t about to let her stay
mad at me.

“
So how’d it go?” I
asked.

“
It was fine,” she said
curtly without looking up.

“
Come on, I heard you were
fantastic. Well done, Sis. I’m proud of you.”

She looked up at me and said, “Benjamin
Perkins, you set me up. I can’t believe my own grandfather had a
hand in it. That phone call was pretty conveniently timed, don’t
you think?”

“
Cindy, I know it might have
looked that way, but I swear to you, today’s absence was unplanned.
He needed to talk to me, and by the time we were through, you were
handling things so well I didn’t want to interrupt.”

Some of the frost was melting, but there was
still a chill in her voice. “It could have been a disaster, you
know that, don’t you?”

I smiled at her. “Not on your life. I’ve got
faith in you, Cindy. I knew you could do it.”

“
Well, they seemed to like
it,” she reluctantly admitted.

“
The important question here
is how you felt about it.”

She thought about it for a few moments, then
said, “I loved it. I didn’t want to, and the last thing in the
world I want to do is admit it to you, but I had a blast.”

“
That’s great,” I said. “Do
you want to teach tomorrow solo, or should I sit in and help
you?”

“
Let me think about it,” she
said. “It really was fun.”

“
Don’t sound so surprised.
Why do you think I’ve been teaching all these years?”

Mom walked in and asked, “What’s this I hear
about you teaching a class today, Cindy?”

“
It’s not that big a deal,”
she said nonchalantly. “Ben needed me to take over, so I handled
things here.”

Mom hugged her, and I could hear the breath
swoosh out of Cindy’s lungs. “I knew you could do it. I’m so proud
of you.”

Cindy pulled back and smiled as she asked,
“Proud enough to give me the rest of the day off?”

I knew she must have lost her mind. Mom
didn’t give away free time unless it was absolutely required. To my
shock, Mom clapped her hands together and said, “Why not? Enjoy
yourself. You earned it.”

“
Thanks,” Cindy said as
grabbed her coat and ran for the door, no doubt hoping to get there
before Mom came to her senses.

“
What was that all about?” I
asked.

“
She had a great triumph
today, Benjamin; she deserves a reward.”

“
What about me? Do I get to
leave early, too? After all, I’m the one who talked her into
teaching.”

She patted my shoulder on her way out the
classroom door. “And a fine job you did at that.” Unfortunately,
with Cindy gone, I need you to help cover the sales floor. Well
done, Benjamin.”

I laughed as I walked into the boutique
section of our operation. My mother had found a way to get exactly
what she wanted, seemingly without effort. I was being set up—no
doubt by my sisters wanting a captive to grill about his life—but
there was absolutely nothing I could do about it but smile.

“
Good news, Ladies,” I said
to my two remaining sisters. “It appears that this is your lucky
day. I’m working with you two this afternoon.”

Kate looked at Louisa, and asked, “It’s too
late to call in sick, isn’t it?”

Louisa laughed. “I feel something coming on
myself.” Two fake coughs were followed by, “I’m not well, not well
at all.”

“
Both of you are ungrateful
shrews,” I said with a smile. “But I’ll ignore your pettiness and
help anyway.”

They both collapsed against me laughing,
until Mom talked out of the break room, “What is this? No
foolishness during business hours,” she commanded, though her eyes
were twinkling. I knew she loved having us all working at Where
There’s Soap together, and while we’d never get rich doing it, we
were just as glad to be there.

After Mom disappeared in back, my sisters
fell on me like a shroud. “Come on, Ben. We want details,” Kate
said.

“
I’m not sure what you’re
talking about,” I answered as innocently as I could
muster.

Louisa smiled. “I’m sure if you use your
imagination, you’ll be able to come up with the topic. So what made
you ask Diana out? Not that we don’t approve, mind you, it’s just a
little out of character for you to act with such swiftness in your
love life.”

I stared at them a few seconds, but it was
obvious I wasn’t going to get any peace until I gave them both
something. I took a deep breath, then said, “I won a dinner at the
raffle, and I had to take it tonight. Diana was here, so I asked
her. Satisfied?”

Kate looked at Louisa and said, “Do you buy
that for one second?”

“
It’s lame enough to be
true,” she said. “Or did he make up the raffle win as an excuse to
ask her out?”

“
Good point,” Kate said as
she turned to me. “Well, did you?”

“
Ladies, do you honestly
think I’d choose The Lakefront if I was going to fake a free
dinner?”

Louisa laughed. “True, The Hound Dog would
have been a better choice. Well, cheaper, anyway.”

“
Are you two finished now? I
for one would like to get some work done.”

They finally agreed to relent, and I set
about working in the boutique. For the rest of the afternoon, I
helped customers with their selections of molds, base soap,
aromatics, and emollients. Lately I didn’t often get to work the
floor, and it was a real pleasure spending time there.

A woman in her late fifties came in late in
the day sporting teased hair and spandex. She didn’t look like the
typical soapmaker, but then again, we saw a range of customers at
Where There’s Soap, and I’d learned early on not to judge people by
their appearances.

I noticed as she asked Kate a question, and
my sister pointed straight at me. As the woman approached, I could
see Kate’s grin. It was all I could do to keep from sticking my
tongue out at my sister.

As the woman neared me with her right hand
extended, she said, “My name’s Linda Mae, and I want to shake your
hand.”

“
Okay,” I said warily, doing
as she asked. “May I ask why?”

She smiled broadly. “You surely can, Darlin’.
I hear you’re the one who finally took care of Ernie.”

I pulled my hand back. “You heard wrong.”

She looked surprised by my reaction. “You
mean you didn’t do it?”

“
No, ma’am, I did not. Sorry
to disappoint you.”

She shrugged. “Life’s full of disappointment,
isn’t it? At least somebody did it, and whoever it was, I hope and
pray I have the chance to shake his hand someday.”

It was a pretty callous attitude. “How well
did you know Earnest Joy?” I asked.

She snorted. “Long enough to be married to
him for eleven months. That man was meaner than a snake. You did
the world a favor.”

“
I keep telling you; I
didn’t do anything,” I insisted. “When were you
divorced?”

She winked at me. “Now who ever said we were
divorced?”

That was a shocker. “Funny, I didn’t hear
your name being mentioned in the will,” I said.

She frowned, crinkling her nose at the same
time.

“
Yeah, that’s why I came to
town. Ernie and I kept separate households, so to speak, but I’ve
got the wedding papers, and they’re as legal as can be. I’m going
to get my share, you can believe that.”

“
I don’t have anything to do
with any of that,” I said, trying to back up a few steps in case
her taste in clothes or basic insanity was contagious.

“
Don’t fret about it,” she
said. “I’ve got a lawyer of my own. Well, if you’re not the man
deserving of my thanks, I’ll just head on out.”

Kate waited until Linda Mae was gone, then
came up to me and said, “What was that all about?”

“
Let me ask you something.
Did you know Earnest Joy was married?”

She said, “Sure. Terri and Andrew’s mom died
ages ago, though.”

“
Apparently he married Linda
Mae later.”

Kate looked puzzled. “So why did she want to
see you?”

“
I’d tell you, but it sounds
too crazy to believe,” I said.

“
Try me, Ben.”

I bit my lip, then admitted, “She said she
wanted to shake the hand of the man who killed her husband.”

Kate shivered noticeably. ‘That’s dreadful. I
almost feel bad for Earnest.”

“
It’s tough, I’ll grant you
that. Still, there’s a part of me that thinks she’s exactly what he
deserved. It would be nice to believe that she managed to make him
just a little miserable while he was alive; he spread so many dark
clouds himself.”

She put a hand on my arm. “Ben, I can’t stop
you from thinking it, but you shouldn’t say things like that. It
could get you into real trouble, given Molly’s suspicions. There’s
no reason to give her more cause to think you might have done it,
and bad-mouthing a dead man would surely get her attention.”

I scratched my chin. “It’s hard to imagine
being in much deeper than I am now, but thanks for the advice. I’ll
try to watch what I say.”

She nodded, then walked back to the register,
and I started waiting on legitimate customers again.

By closing time, I’d made my share of sales.
Kate looked at Louisa and said, “He really wasn’t nearly as bad as
I thought he’d be. What do you think?”

“
He’s got potential,” she
said. “But he’s going to need a lot of work.”

I shook my head. “Say what you want. I was
magnificent, and you both know it.”

They were still laughing as I left.

It was time to get ready for my date. I was
old enough to know better, but as I showered and dressed, I still
couldn’t keep the butterflies out of my stomach. I hadn’t wanted to
abandon my budding relationship with Kelly, but ending it hadn’t
been my choice. Molly had always offered a safe and comfortable
evening when I needed it, but that wasn’t an option anymore,
either. Ready or not, tonight I was embarking on a new
relationship, and I wasn’t about to let what had happened in the
past—no matter how recently— affect it.

It was time for a fresh start.

I got to Diana’s apartment ten minutes early,
so I parked out front and tried to sit patiently until it was time
to ring her doorbell. I’d run the Miata through the car wash in
town on the way over to her place, and it gleamed. Five minutes
that seemed like a month later, I finally walked to her door.
Before I could even knock, it opened.

She looked absolutely lovely. Her lustrous
brown hair was curled and wavy, and she’d done something with her
makeup to really make her eyes dance. It didn’t hurt that the
burgundy dress accentuated her curves perfectly.

Without stopping to censor my reaction, I
said, “Wow.”

She smiled brightly. “For such a short
sentence, that’s the nicest thing anybody’s said to me in
ages.”

“
You look great,” I added
lamely.

“
Thank you. I love that
suit.”

I nodded my acceptance of her compliment.
“Nothing but the best for The Lakefront, right?”

“
Absolutely,” she said as we
walked out together. “This is going to be so much fun.”

“
I think so,
too.”

She looked at my Miata and said, “It’s my
turn to say wow. I love your car.”

“
Thanks. I’m pretty attached
to it, too.” I held the door open for her, and she graciously
accepted the courtesy for what it was.

As we drove to the restaurant, I asked, “So
how did you happen to own a bookstore?”

“
My parents died when I was
nine years old, and I found my solace in books. Charlotte MacLeod,
Carolyn Hart, Agatha Christie; they all saved me. I never wanted to
do anything else with my life but share my favorite mystery writers
with the world. As soon as I turned twenty-one, I got my
inheritance, and that’s when I opened Dying To Read.”

“
It must have been tough,
losing them like that.”