Just a Wish Away (3 page)

Evie nodded. "That makes sense. I'm going to stop by this evening. Aunt Phoebe's friend, Louise, promised to call me if there's any change." Evie paused. "I feel so bad about what happened. It's partly my fault."

"Why would you say that?" Alexa asked in surprise.

"I came by here yesterday afternoon. Aunt Phoebe had just gotten in a big delivery from the Wellbourne estate, all those boxes," she added, pointing to a stack of eight to ten boxes, some of which were opened and upturned on the floor, some of which were still sealed. "She told me she was going to come back after dinner and get a head start on unpacking, because the weekends are so busy and she wanted to make room in the store before the tourists descended."

"You couldn't have predicted a robbery, Evie."

"No, but I knew she was going to be in the store late at night. I should have tried to dissuade her from coming in alone or persuaded her to wait until today. I also could have offered to help. Beverly Adams, Aunt Phoebe's assistant, is on vacation until next week."

"Evie, stop it. Aunt Phoebe wouldn't have been persuaded to wait even if you'd tried to talk her into it. This shop is her baby and she watches over it like a hawk. Besides that, she's stubborn."

"Stubbornness is a Parker family trait," Evie said with a sigh.

"Exactly."

"I'm so glad you were able to come, Alexa. My parents are in Europe right now, and I haven't been able to catch up with them yet, so I want to make sure I'm taking care of everything."

"I'll help you however I can." Alexa said.

"I appreciate that. Did you speak to your parents? Is your father coming?"

"I left a message for my dad, but he hasn't returned my call. That's not unusual. We don't talk often, especially since his wife had another baby."

"I can't believe your father is having babies at his age," Evie said, raising an eyebrow.

"His wife is fourteen years younger," she said, deliberately keeping her tone neutral. She didn't want to get into her feelings about her dad's marriage. She should have been used to it all by now. It had been twelve years since he'd married his second wife, and this new baby was number four.

"And your mom?" Evie asked somewhat tentatively.

"She's actually the best I've seen her in years. She got remarried last year, and her husband is in the wine business. She often goes on trips with him, and she seems happy."

"I'm glad for her and for you."

"Thanks."

"Aunt Phoebe will be happy to see you when she wakes up."

Alexa liked the hopeful note in Evie's voice. She didn't want to think about the possibility that her aunt would never wake up. That was too awful to contemplate. "So what can I do?" she asked.

"If you want to start with clean up, that would be great. I have to pick up my twins from school in a few minutes, so I won't be able to do much more today. If you unpack anything, just make sure to write down each item with a brief description. Aunt Phoebe is a stickler for details."

"I remember that from when I worked here as a kid."

"Some things don't change," Evie said with a smile.

"So the shipment is from an estate?"

"The Wellbournes. They own that big house on the bluff."

"Oh, sure," she said. That house had served as the foundation for many a daydream, not only because it was enormous, but also because there had always been an air of mystery about it. She and Braden had made up numerous stories about the people who had stayed there.

"Jack Wellbourne died last week, and left some of his antiques to Aunt Phoebe."

"That was nice of him."

"She was very excited to see what he'd left her. Apparently, he was quite a collector." Evie grabbed some keys off the counter and tossed them to her. "Lock up when you leave. In fact, you might want to keep the door locked until we're sure there won't be any more trouble." She paused. "If you'd rather not be here alone, we can leave this for later."

That was a tempting thought, but Alexa knew that her aunt would want the shop put back in order as soon as possible, and she had nothing else to do. It was broad daylight, and there were a number of people on the street, so she didn't feel in any danger.

"I don't mind cleaning up and getting some pieces inventoried," she said. "I might as well do something productive."

"If it makes you feel better, the police said they'd keep an eye on the shop for the next few days."

"That's good."

"Where are you staying?"

"I reserved a room at the Cheshire Inn."

"You could have stayed with us. Although, twin six-year-olds, two dogs and a cat make life a little hectic."

"But you're happy," Alexa said, seeing the sparkle of pride and love in Evie's eyes when she talked about her family.

"I am stressed a lot of the time, but life is still pretty wonderful." Her gaze softened. "It's good to have you here, Alexa. I hate what happened to our family. One minute we were all spending awesome summers and holidays together, and then you and your parents were gone. I missed you."

"I missed you, too."

"Did you miss anyone else? Like Braden Elliott?" Evie asked with a mischievous sparkle in her eye.

"Braden was my friend a long time ago."

"You two were inseparable that last summer you were here." Evie paused. "He's back, you know."

Her heart jumped. "Really? I thought he was serving overseas."

"He was until three months ago. Aunt Phoebe didn't tell you?"

"No, but I've been busy with tax season. We haven't been emailing lately." She cleared her throat. "Is Braden still in the Army?"

"I think he's done. He was injured in action several months ago. I don't know the details, but he was in a hospital for about two weeks before he came back here. I've only seen him once from a distance, and at the time he was using a cane. That was awhile ago."

Her throat tightened at the thought of Braden being hurt. "I'm sorry to hear that, but he has a wife to help him get through it."

Evie shook her head. "Not anymore. She asked him for a divorce before he was even out of the hospital."

"Are you serious? How could she do that to her injured husband?"

"She's a bitch from what I hear. I don't know her. But most people think she's pretty hard-hearted. Anyway, Braden rented an apartment and has been keeping to himself since he got home." She paused. "Maybe you should go by and see him."

"I don't think so," she said quickly.

"Why not?"

It was a good question. And the real answer was because she was scared. But she couldn't begin to explain her muddled thoughts to Evie. So she said, "Because we don't know each other anymore. I'm sure I'm the last person he wants to see right now. Braden is part of my past. He was a childhood crush, that's all. There's nothing between us now."

Evie shrugged and gave her a small smile. "Not yet anyway."

* * *

"You need to work, Braden. And I could use your help."

Braden rocked the wooden chair in his kitchen back on two legs, folded his arms across his chest, ignored the ache in his healing ribs and stared across the table at his longtime friend, Drew Lassen. Drew had gone from skateboarder to police officer, a path Braden had never foreseen his once wild and rebellious friend taking. But then they'd both changed a lot since their high school days. "I'm not a cop," he said simply. "And I don’t need to work. I'm supposed to be resting."

"You've been resting, and you can't sit in this apartment all day every day." Drew glanced around the room, a frown spreading across his face as he took in the bare furnishings. "This place sucks."

"It's fine."

"It's depressing. You should have gone to your mom's house."

He shook his head. "The last thing I need is my mother hovering over me."

"Where's the rest of your stuff?"

"Kinley has it," he said shortly.

"You're being generous to a woman who doesn't deserve it."

"There's nothing she has that I want anymore." As the words left his mouth, he realized just how true they were.

"Fine, but I've known you a long time, and you're not someone who just sits around."

"I'm recuperating, didn't you hear?" he asked, a cynical note in his voice as he remembered all the platitudes he'd been offered by the doctors who'd attended to him in recent months, as if time would heal all his wounds. That simply wasn't possible. Most of his wounds weren't physical.

"You look like you're ready to be back on your feet," Drew said.

"I'm sure you have enough manpower to keep the citizens of Sand Harbor safe," he said.

"Ordinarily yes, but two officers are out sick and another is on vacation. Plus, I need to provide extra security for Daniel Stone's fundraiser on Saturday night. He's launching his senate campaign here in Sand Harbor this weekend."

"Trying to remind the locals he was born here?" Braden asked cynically. Daniel Stone's parents owned a house in Sand Harbor, but the Stones were very wealthy and had homes all over the world.

"I don't care about his reason, just what it means for me – which is more security."

"I'm sure he can afford to hire his own security."

"Well, I don't need your help with Stone." Drew paused. "Did you hear about the break-in at Phoebe Gray's antique shop?"

"No," he said, his gut tightening at the mention of Alexa's aunt. No matter how many years passed, every time he saw Phoebe or heard something about her, he thought about Alexa.

"It happened last night," Drew said. "I'm surprised no one told you."

"I haven't spoken to anyone." Since he'd returned home, his mother and sister had been driving him crazy, asking him every two seconds how he felt, whether he needed anything. He knew they were concerned, but he needed to be on his own for a while so he could sort out his life.

"Phoebe went down to her store last night and interrupted a robbery. She was knocked out and has a serious concussion."

He was shocked. "I can't believe it. Do you have any leads?"

"None. We've had some vandalism around town, but nothing to this extent, and certainly no one was assaulted in the previous incidents. We're hoping when Phoebe wakes up, she'll be able to give us some information, but until then, I'd like to get your help. You can use some of those investigative skills you acquired in Army Intelligence."

"Did you run this by your boss?" he asked doubtfully.

"I mentioned it to Chief Hayes. I made it clear that you would just be helping out on a peripheral level, and he was fine with it. He's good friends with Phoebe and he doesn't want to leave any stone unturned. He's also aware that we're shorthanded, and you have an excellent background for this kind of work. Plus, you're a local boy. People will talk to you."

"I don't know, Drew."

"Do you have something better to do?" Drew challenged.

"Obviously I don't," he said. "What exactly do you expect me to do?"

"Look around the store, see if we missed anything, ask some questions, talk to the other shop owners."

"I suppose I could do that," he said slowly. He liked Phoebe, and she was Alexa's aunt. He wondered if Alexa had heard about the robbery. He drew in a deep breath, just the thought of her unsettling him. It had been years since he'd let himself think about her for longer than a second. "I'll stop by there tomorrow."

"Go today," Drew said as he got to his feet. "Let me know if you find anything."

* * *

It was six o'clock and the May sky was starting to darken when Braden approached the antique store. He'd always liked twilight -- that in between time between day and night when everything seemed very still. It was a Wednesday evening and most of the shops closed up by five during the week.

He hadn't been in the antique store since he was a kid, probably not since that last summer he'd hung out with Alexa. She used to help her aunt on the weekends and occasionally he joined her, although he'd never been as interested in the antiques as she had been. She'd loved making up stories about the treasures they sold, and like always he'd gotten caught up in her imagination. She could take almost anything and spin it into a story so real he thought it had actually happened. He'd admired her ability to escape reality so easily. Unfortunately, her imagination had been honed by an unhappy home life. She'd told him that when her parents started fighting, she'd pull the covers over her head and make up stories where she was part of some big, happy family.

His household had been much happier, but his father had been gone a lot. He was career Army, and they'd moved around a lot before his mom finally decided to settle in Sand Harbor where her family was. He'd met Alexa shortly after his arrival, and he'd connected with her instantly. The reality that his dad might not make it home had been with him constantly. It was that nagging worry that had made escaping into Alexa's stories even more appealing. They'd been quite a pair, sharing everything. He'd told her things he'd never imagined he'd say out loud, much less to another person.