Invitation to Murder (Book 1 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) (14 page)

Sara Lynn grabbed a plate, popped a freshly
made waffle on it, then sat down beside me. “I cooked, so you get
to do dishes.”

“
I knew there was a
catch,” I said, though honestly I didn’t mind doing them, not if I
was going to feast like this.

“
So what would you like
tonight?” she asked. “I thought I’d grab something on the way
home,” I said. “What do you feel like, Chinese or
Italian?”

“
I feel like a home-cooked
meal, Jennifer. Don’t concern yourself; I’ll pick up some groceries
on the way back here after work. Isn’t it convenient that you
already gave me a key to your apartment?”

I’d done it so she could take care of Oggie
and Nash on the few occasions I left town, but I’d never meant for
it to be a permanent thing. “Just don’t get too used to it. Like I
said, this is just temporary.”

She waved a hand in the air, dismissing my
comment like she was shooing away a gnat. After we finished eating,
Sara Lynn said, “I’m going to go, but I’ll see you this evening. If
you need anything in the meantime, let me know.”

“
I will,” I said as I
watched my sister disarm her apartment defenses.

Once she was gone, I stretched and decided
to do the dishes before I took my shower. It was quick work, and
before long I was ready to start my day. Going to my car, I saw a
figure standing across the way watching me. My heart stuttered
until I recognized Wayne’s pickup truck parked at the end of the
lot.

I wondered if he’d been out there all night
doing penance for losing me the night before.

Bradford was at the shop waiting for me. I
pointedly ignored him as I brushed past him on the sidewalk and
unlocked my front door. He said, “Hey, why the cold shoulder?”

“
How would you like it if
Sara Lynn came to your house to stay, unannounced and uninvited?” I
said.

“
If she cooked for me, I
could probably learn to live with it.”

“
That’s not funny,
Bradford. Between the two of you, I don’t have a minute to myself.
Oh, and stop punishing Wayne. He was still outside my door this
morning keeping a lookout.”

“
Are you sure about
that?”

“
I saw his truck, and he
was in the bushes right across from my apartment. You should teach
your deputies how to stake someone out better,
Bradford.”

My brother shook his head. “Maybe I did come
down on him a little harder than I should have. I told him to go
home last night at midnight.”

“
Great, so now he’s
stalking me.”

Bradford said, “I sincerely doubt that.
Don’t worry; I’ll have a talk with him.”

“
I think you’ve done
entirely too much talking, big brother. Did you arrest Frank last
night?”

Bradford scratched his chin. “I would have
if I could have found him. He wasn’t in any of his normal hangouts,
and they hadn’t seen him at the shelter, either.”

I remembered the icy steel grip of his hand
on my arm. “Do you think he’s after me, too?”

“
No, chances are, he
hitched a ride and left town before I could get him. Frank’s a
little off, but he’s not stupid. I bet the second he realized what
he’d done, he hit the road. I’m pretty sure you won’t have to worry
about him anymore.”

I wasn’t at all certain my brother was
right, but I didn’t want to give him the slightest reason to
increase his security around me any more than he already had. “Was
there a particular reason you came by this morning?” I asked him as
I got ready for my day.

“
Can’t I come by to say hi
to my little sister without having a reason?” he asked.

“
No, sorry, that’s not one
of your choices today. So why are you here?”

Bradford shrugged. “I just wanted to make
sure you were okay this morning. That’s it, I swear.”

He could be sweet when he wanted to. I
kissed my brother on the cheek, then said, “I’m fine, I promise.
Now get out there and make Rebel Forge safe for the world.”

“
Yes, Ma’am,” he said as
he offered me a two-fingered salute.

Lillian came in two minutes before it was
time to open. Though she was skilled at applying her make-up, I
could see the bags under both eyes.

“
How much sleep did you
get last night?” I asked as I watched her drain a cup of
coffee.

She laughed. “There will be plenty of time
for sleep once I’m older. You missed a delightful time last
night.”

“
I can’t imagine having
more fun than I had. Sara Lynn moved in with me.”

I searched my aunt’s face for a clue as to
whether she knew about the new arrangement or not, but if she did,
she was too good at hiding it. “Is that so?” she said. “Are she and
Bailey having trouble?”

“
She’s there watching out
for me,” I said. “Was that your idea, or Bradford’s?”

“
I don’t have a clue what
you’re talking about Now, are we going to make some cards and
invitations today, or are we going to just stand around and chat
all morning?”

If there was anything that would make me
feel better, it would have to be creating some new cards. “Let’s
get started,” I said, suddenly very glad I had a shop of my very
own, even though everything I owned in the world was committed to
its success.

I played with the scripted-type font Lillian
had found until I had a design and layout I was happy with.
Lillian, watching over my shoulder the entire time, said, “You’re
not going to print that out and paste it to the card, are you?”

“
Actually, I have a couple
of ideas.” I ran one copy on gold paper using my color printer,
then trimmed it with some specialty scissors and laid it inside the
prototype card I’d made. Before my aunt could say a word, I said,
“I’m not finished yet.” I grabbed a sheet of transparency with
adhesive on one side and ran it through the printer; then I cut
around the announcement and laid it in place of the other
one.

“
So which one do you like
better?” I asked.

“
Let’s make another
prototype so we can see them side by side.”

I grabbed my pliers and wire. Lillian asked,
“Do you mind if I try it myself?”

“
Be my guest.” After
carefully folding one of her blanks into thirds, she snipped the
wire and attached it to the front parts of the card. “There, how is
that?”

I didn’t say a word, but I handed her the
two brass fittings we were using to represent rings. She’d
forgotten to thread them before she’d attached the wires to the
stock.

Lillian frowned, took the fittings from me,
then made another card. It was a much better job, all the way from
the fold to the wire attachment. She handed it to me, and I said,
“That’s quite good.”

“
You mean with the
rings?”

“
I mean all of it. You’re
going to be a pro at this in no time.”

Lillian took the card back, careful not to
show that she was so pleased with the effort. “I’ll get better,”
she said. “Now let’s see that insert.”

She took the transparency and removed its
back, placing it inside the card. While she did that, I grabbed a
glue stick and fastened the other one in place. We put both cards
on the counter, standing up so that their sides made them stable,
then stood back and examined the results.

“
So what do you think
now?” Lillian asked when the front door opened.

“
I think they’re both
atrocious,” a voice I knew said behind me.

Evidently Anne Albright had decided to take
a more active role in the wedding invitations after all.

Chapter 10

“
Excuse me,” I said. “I
thought you were leaving the invitations up to me.”

Mrs. Albright snorted. “I
had second thoughts. obviously it was a good thing I trusted my
instincts.” She was back to her old self, and I wondered where the
sweet, concerned woman had gone.

“
I think they’re just what
you need,” I said. I was in a stronger bargaining position than I’d
been in before. After all, I’d already deposited her check. If she
thought she could bully me now, she was mistaken. “I’ve already
bought supplies to make the announcements this way,” I said. “It
would be awfully expensive to change the design at this stage,
since I can’t return my purchases.” That was true, at any rate. It
took an act of Congress to get Grady to take anything back once it
was purchased. Maybe I stretched things on the claim that the
supplies had been expensive, but I was counting more than the
five-dollar bill Grady had charged me. I’d also put in quite a bit
of my time designing the cards and finding just the right
tone.

“
I can write you a check
to cover those ... things,” she said, and she whipped out her
checkbook. “Name a figure.”

“
These really are quite
lovely,” I said, having no desire to start over. “I don’t know why
you don’t like them.”

“
They’re stark instead of
elegant. We’re not announcing the opening of a discotheque; this is
a wedding.” She scribbled furiously in her checkbook, and before I
could protest, Mrs. Albright shoved the check under my nose. I was
about to shove it right back when I saw the figure she’d hastily
scrawled. The amount was for considerably more than my time and
materials had cost.

She said, “I trust that will be sufficient.
Now I suggest you go back to your sketchbook and present something
to me that’s acceptable by tonight.”

“
I’ve got store customers,
too, you know,” I said. “I can’t just drop everything to make more
invitations.”

“
For what I’m paying you,
you certainly can.” She gestured to Lillian. “I’m sure your
assistant will be able to handle the foot traffic in your shop.
I’ll be back at five p.m., ready to see two design choices other
than those things.” She swept the invitations off the counter as
she gestured, and before Lillian or I could protest, the mother of
the bride was gone.

Lillian and I stared at each other ten
seconds; then we both burst out laughing. My aunt said, “I thought
you were going to explode at any moment, but you kept your cool.
Jennifer, I believe you’re more mature than I am myself.”

“
You didn’t say anything,
either,” I said in my defense.

“
No, I didn’t think it was
my place. After all, you own Custom Card Creations; I’m just here
doing volunteer work. Now show me that check. I’m dying to see the
amount it took to keep you quiet.”

I handed it to her, and Lillian’s smile
faded quickly. “My word, she’s certainly paying for the privilege,
isn’t she?”

“
I never told her how much
it would cost to start the process all over again,” I said. “It
surely would have been less than that.”

Lillian said, “Don’t misunderstand me; I
think you were right to take it.”

“
Even though I’ve got five
bucks in materials invested in my design?”

“
Come now, Jennifer, you
have more than that, and you know it. Your professional design
services shouldn’t be free, and besides, I think Anne Albright just
assessed herself a rudeness penalty fee.”

“
You’re right there. Well,
I guess I’d better get back to work. Do you mind handling the
customers while I do a little more brainstorming?”

“
Not at all. I may need
some help, though. Remember, I’m not a professional.”

“
No, but you are an eager
apprentice. Now let me see what I can come up with.” I grabbed a
dozen books from the rack on basic and advanced card-making
techniques, hoping that something in one of the books would spark
an idea. I didn’t mind taking another cardmaker’s concept and
making it my own. I thought of it as inspiration rather than theft.
I certainly wouldn’t mind if someone took one of my ideas and did
the same thing. I glanced through the sections on wedding
invitations, but they were all too safe, too conservative for Mrs.
Albright. Then I spotted a card for a July Fourth party and started
wondering if that was what she might approve of. Instead of the
colored streamers used on the card’s design in the book, I decided
to use a fireworks burst of silver and gold. After drawing the
bursts and cutting them out, I went to my papers to see what color
would reflect them best. The wedding was at seven, and while it
would be light at the beginning of the ceremony, it would be dark
by the end of it. I placed the fire bursts on a black background,
then tried a midnight blue. Much better. I wouldn’t have to make
the paper myself; that was a big plus given my deadline. I still
liked the tri-fold invitation, so I made the creases, then laid the
bursts on one side of the front doors. With the card closed and the
two faces folded to meet in the middle, it appeared that the
fireworks were exploding in the sky. I got a piece of foam tape,
applied it to one side of the matched bursts, then pressed them
into place, That was much better. The fireworks explosion appeared
to float above the card, and it was easy to open the two doors of
the front to reveal the message inside. After I had my front piece
set, I went to my computer and started playing with fonts until I
found something I liked. Using a golden script, I printed it out on
a transparency sheet and my first mock-up was ready. The upside of
this card was that I was using stock I had on hand. The downside
would be cutting out all of those bursts under deadline.

Now it was time to come up with something so
hideous that Mrs. Albright would be forced to choose the first
design. I briefly considered using a Halloween theme, but I knew it
had to be at least slightly credible. Instead, I finally decided to
aggressively cut a piece of red stock with jagged edges; then I
pasted it onto silver background paper. Another run through the
printer for the announcement itself—this time using black letters
on the transparency—and I had a card that was so outré it should
have been outré with the trash.