craftfield 01 - secrets untold (12 page)

Why did she think her dad's side of the family would show? No one had ever contacted her before. No Christmas or birthday cards, no phone calls. Nothing.

“Everyone is heading to the gravesite,” Amanda touched her elbow, “ready to go?”

“What? I mean yes, let's go.” She swallowed past her raw throat.

Jarred, Michael, and the other men hefted her mom's closed casket and carried it out to the hearse. Some women from the restaurant picked up the flowers and wreaths to bring to the grave. Lily followed Amanda out to her car, her body numb.

They rode in silence and trailed after the black hearse. At least her mom's killer had been discovered. Both he and Wells were in jail without bond. A court would decide their fate, but Lily was certain they'd get punished, as the cooling dread that had plagued her since her mother's death had eased.

At the gravesite, Lily trudged forward to the awning. Jarred gave her a small smile and that provided strength for her to keep going to the front, where he stood with the other pallbearers, the casket behind them.

Lily took the white roses from Amanda and approached the coffin. “I love you, Mom. I'll never forget the sacrifices you made for me. Go in peace.” She let the roses fall onto the casket, then stepped aside for others to say their last goodbyes.

A light rain began to drizzle. Some of the attendees hugged Lily before they left. The crowd thinned.

“Are you ready to go?” Jarred asked, placing his arm around her lower back. “The staff is going to lower her all the way down now.”

“Give me a few minutes.”

“Take as much time as you need.”

She nodded, not trusting her voice. In silence, she watched the workers lowering her mom’s coffin into the earth. The gears creaking sent a shiver through her. As they shoveled dirt, sealing her mom’s body, the finality of life struck her. No one had any guarantees, and she vowed to live her life and take chances. To enjoy everything she could. She met Jarred at the end of the graveyard. Well, live her life without any more weird dreams or visions.

Chapter Sixteen

Lily brushed her bangs out of her eyes as she scooped the last of the chocolate ice cream for a toddler and packed it into a cone. The little boy smiled, showing only a few teeth, and she guessed he’d be wearing most of the dessert.

Even though the funeral had been only yesterday, it only felt right to open the store as soon as possible and keep her mom’s legacy alive. Plus, Lily needed to stay busy. Her cell rang. She wiped off her hands and dashed to the register to answer it. She balanced the phone against her ear with a shoulder and gave the dad and toddler their change.

“Thank you, come again.” She winked to the young boy. “Hello?” she said into the phone.

“You sound busy.” Jarred’s voice sent a delighted shiver through her.

“Just the usual after Halloween rush.” She leaned against the counter. “Kids gorge on candy, and then want something sweet like ice cream.”

“I can think of something more delicious.” Purring undertones zipped through her like luscious dark chocolate with a delicious strawberry center.

“Oh?” She twisted the straw on her drink. “What do you have in mind, Deputy?”

“Well, since I’m sure you’re not in the mood for ice cream, there’s a new Chinese place that opened last week.” He paused and the rustling of papers crinkled. “It’s been packed, so the crowd might not be too bad for lunch. You interested?”

“Maybe.” She bit her lip. This morning the shop had been pretty steady. Some people had missed the funeral and stopped by for ice cream and condolences. Though she was grateful, she wished she could just continue on with her normal life. Well, as normal as could be without her mom and with her aunts still missing. “It’ll cost you, though. I’ll lose business - so how are you going to compensate me?” She kept her tone light and teasing.

“A back and foot massage?”

“Tempting.” He had strong hands with strong fingers, and she could imagine how good they’d feel working out her tense muscles. “But I was thinking something more monetary… like a free meal.” She took a sip of her watered-down iced tea. Her gaze shifted to the glass case she’d left open after serving the ice cream cone. Drat. The drums would be sweaty without the cool air sealed off. Like leaving a freezer door open. She dashed over to close it when she saw the chocolate drum had melting ice cream running down the sides. Leftover remnants streaked its sides. Right then, a vision exploded before her eyes. People lined up as Lily served ice cream shakes alongside her aunts.

Why hadn’t she thought of that before?

“Lily… Lily?” Jarred’s voice on the other end fractured the vision as he raised his voice. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. I’m fine. Just had an epiphany.” She shook her head to clear the last fragments of the vision. Damn, she’d thought the dream and visions before were just a fluke. Like her connection with her mom had opened up some psychic channel in her and now that her mom’s killer was apprehended and the funeral over, she wouldn’t have any more of them. What was happening to her? “I gotta go. My idea for shakes and malts makes me want to go buy a blender.” Her voice was shaky, but she didn’t want to have him asking too many questions. If he knew she’d had weird dreams and visions of her mom’s death, he’d think she was insane.

She wasn’t supposed to be having visions or dreams that came true. Did she need to get an MRI done? Maybe she had a brain tumor or something. What the hell was happening to her?

Get a grip, Lil. Probably just an overactive imagination
. She dashed to the computer in the back storage room. After searching for half an hour, in between waiting on customers, she found no evidence of visions or dreams with brain tumors. Still, she wanted to get a physical and a brain scan, just in case. Next, she searched online for two industrial blenders and ordered both to be shipped to the store.

The door chimed, and she quick-stepped back to the counter. Camie stood in the doorway, her face pale.

“How can I help you?” Lily kept her voice calm even though she really wanted to throw the old hag out of the store.

“Sorry.” She swallowed and glanced around nervously. “I wanted to say sorry for your mom.”

A punch of sorrow hit Lily’s gut, but she kept her face neutral, or at least she hoped it appeared that way. “Thank you.”
Now get out of my store.

“Listen, my daughter’s birthday is coming up, and she’s insistent on having a huge ice cream cake. I tried to find one online for her, but she’s throwing a fit saying she won’t eat any except… yours.”

Like mother, like daughter; both Barnes women were spoiled and wanted their way no matter what. Lily really wanted to throw the woman out. But if her mom’s ghost hovered nearby, she’d be disappointed in Lily’s actions.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” The thought of not having to deal with Camie Barnes was too appealing to give in.

“Please,” Camie begged, cross the shop to stand in front of Lily. “I can’t trust anyone else and the party will be ruined. Everyone knows what happened with your mom and they hate me for making a scene at my party for it.” She reached out and placed her hand on Lily’s. “This is my way of making amends.”

Lily jerked away. “No.”

Tears filled Camie’s mascara caked eyelashes. If the woman cried any more, underneath her eyes would look like a football players’ black grease they wear to reduce the sun’s glare.

“Your mom would help me. She’d forgive me.”

Low, but Camie was right. And she did like seeing the woman grovel a bit. “Fine.” Lily pushed her shoulders back and marched to the register for the pad and pen. “Give me the details of what she wants.”

***

“I’m stuffed.” Lily shook her head as Jarred offered her a bite of his spicy orange chicken. The Chinese restaurant, even at midday, was dimly lit with paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Crimson tablecloths covered the tables with white placemats with Chinese zodiac signs printed on them.

She pushed her plate away and examined the zodiac, finding hers, she laughed. “Guess this explains a lot. I’m a dragon. What are you?”

For a moment, he frowned at the paper. Did he think horoscopes were vain or silly? It was just fun to her. Nothing to take too seriously. When he glanced up, the light hit his eyes making them appear animal-like. She gasped, and he blinked, the reflective surface of his pupils disappearing.

“I was born in the year of the dog.” He leaned back, a cocky grin on his face. “Must be pretty fierce to be born under the dragon.” When the waiter arrived, he said, “Just the check, please.”

Was he embarrassed she had a stronger animal than he did?

“It says you’re loyal and protective.” She tilted her head to the side. “Did you have them write these up before we came here today?”

He winked and his fingers stroked the inside of her palm. “If I had, I’d have put you as a rabbit so I could explain why I want to chase you.” His voice was teasing.

A thrill raced through her on the idea. “If you could catch me.”

“Oh, I can run faster than a lot of people.” Playfully, his foot nudged hers under the table.

A blush heated her skin. “I may put you up to that one day.”

The waiter returned with their check and asked if she wanted to take anything home.

Thank you for lunch.” She waved off a to-go box. There wasn’t much left of her food anyway, and she needed to get back to the store.

“Any time.” His cell buzzed and, after glancing, a frown settled on his face. “I’ve got to go out of town on a case for a few days, but we’ll catch up and have dinner after that?”

“Sure. Everything okay?”

Leaving cash for their bill, he rose and held out his hand. She stood and they strolled outside.

“Yeah. Just something’s come up. I should be done in a few days.”

Snow tickled her nose outside, and she snuggled into his side for warmth as they walked to his Jeep. Still, something was bothering Jarred. His brow pinched as he drove her back to the ice cream shop. She pushed aside the nagging feeling sinking into her stomach as they drove.

“Looks like you’ve got a line.” Jarred nodded to the front of the store. Sure enough, a dozen girls in private school uniforms waited out front.

“Oh man, I’m five minutes late.” She hated letting down her customers. “Gotta go. I’ll call you later.” She gave him a quick hug, then hustled across the street.

The day whizzed by as Lily filled ice cream and cake orders. It was after ten p.m. before she locked the door and yawned. Usually, she closed the shop at nine, but she’d been steadily busy all day. If this kept up, she needed to hire help for even the winter months. Would Amanda like to help out part-time? She’d ask her friend tomorrow. Right now, she could barely keep her eyes open.

Upstairs, she fell across her bed, not caring that she hadn’t eaten dinner or showered. Soon, she drifted off to sleep. She dreamed of her aunts standing in the cold outside of the shop, rattling the door. They muttered about losing their key.

Lily jerked awake. Darkness filled her room, and she strained to listen. No sound at the door. Still, she padded downstairs and searched the doorway and the street for any sign of her aunts. Nothing. With a shrug, she climbed back upstairs and pulled her blanket over her head. She really needed to figure out what was causing these dreams and visions. Maybe it was stress. Whatever it was, it needed not to wake her up at one thirty-two in the morning.

***

Downstairs rattling woke Lily up and she groaned, blinking at her alarm clock. Five a.m. Who the hell needed ice cream this early? She yanked her pillow over her head to drown out the now banging on the ice cream shop’s door.

Whoever this was, she was going to let them have all her pre-coffee rage. She tossed her covers off and stomped downstairs.

“Do you’ve any idea of what time it is?” She yelled crossing the shop. Two figures in coats huddled by the door. “We don’t open until ten.” What if they were robbers? She stopped short, then shook her head. No, they probably wouldn’t knock.

One of the figures peeked through the window. Aunt Jess! Lily raced over and threw open the lock. She had them both in a hug before they could say a word.

She pulled back and noticed they were both super pale and shaking as though they hadn’t eaten in days or something.

“Oh, my God, what happened to you two? We’ve been trying forever to get hold of you!” Lily pulled back and her stomach sunk. Both her aunts had pale faces and appeared ill. How long had they been out here? “Come inside, you both must be freezing.”

“W-What’s happened?” Aunt Martha asked. “We had a bad feeling and flew back as soon as we could. There was a lot of… bureaucracy and we were… bumped from several flights on the way here.”

“I was so nervous,” Aunt Jessica rubbed her hands, “I couldn’t get the lock open… I mean I couldn’t find my key… I must have lost it.”

Just like her dream. Lily’s legs faltered, and she dragged a chair out. “You both might need to sit down.” She plopped into the chair before she fell. How was she going to explain everything and tell them her mom had died while they were away?

Chapter Seventeen

“You both have some explaining to do.” Lily wagged her finger at both of her aunts. “Where have you been?”

They looked at each other, their eyes widening, then at her. “Bahamas. You know that,” both said in unison.

“No, you couldn’t have been. Neither of you answered my text or voice messages, and even the police couldn’t locate you with their contacts overseas.”

Aunt Martha leaned against the wall beside the door as if using it to keep her from falling. “Police? What’s happened?”

“I knew something bad was happening.” Aunt Jessica’s face paled even whiter than the walls.

God, how was she going to tell them? “There was an accident… Mom fell.” She thought she’d cried so much already that she wouldn’t be able to cry more, but the tears fell anyway, hard and fast.

“Is she at the hospital?” Martha shook her head. “No, it’s worse than that, isn’t it?”