Live and Lime Die: A Key West Culinary Cozy - Book 8 (3 page)

Marilyn
was in the office, going over supply lists, Kelcie was in the kitchen, preparing
a large batch of Key Lime filling that they planned to use for pies, tarts and
filled strawberries, and Tiara was manning the front counter. Business was slow
at the moment, because they were only half an hour away from closing, so Tiara
was surprised when she heard the bell over the front door jangle. Her heart
pounded in her chest when she saw Samuel Freed saunter in. His hair was cropped
short and looked like someone had taken a chain saw to it, and he was proudly
displaying his tattoos by wearing a minimal tank top.

“What
are you doing here, Sam?” she asked quietly, not wanting her mother to know
that there was a hoodlum in her shop.

“I
came to see you, baby,” he smiled that crooked smile that once upon a time had
melted her heart.

“Don’t
you dare call me “baby,” she ordered, scared and furious at the same time. “I
don’t want you to be here, you need to leave,” she said as he casually
approached the counter. If she had known about his spotty past when she met
him, she’d never have agreed to go out on a date with him in the first place,
despite the fact that his bad-boy good looks made her heart skip a beat.

The
muscles in his jaw flexed, indicating his frustration with her response, and
his eyes had the same intoxicating dark fire that she remembered, but he seemed
somehow…different. Softer maybe.

“Look,
Tiara…I’m sorry that I had to bother you at work, but I didn’t know how else to
find you. When I saw you on the yacht, something…stirred inside me. I looked
for you after you left without even bothering to say goodbye…” he glanced at
her with hurt accusation.

“You
were in jail,” she replied dryly, determined not to let him get to her.

“I
know, and I’m sorry about that too,” he sighed. “This isn’t the place for this
conversation…can you meet me later? Just to talk, I promise,” he held up his
hands innocently. “I have a lot of explaining to do.”

Tiara
shook her head. “No, you don’t. You don’t owe me any kind of an explanation.
Things are over between us – none of the whys and hows matter.”

“They
matter to me,” he said softly, his eyes pained. “Please, just let me talk to
you for a little while, and afterwards, if you still want me to leave, I’ll go
away forever. Please?”

He’d
never come even close to this level of humility, and it threw Tiara off.

She
hesitated, torn, but finally agreed. “Fine. You can meet me at my mom’s house
tonight around eight,” she sighed, wondering if she was making a huge mistake.
Her track record for being able to resist Sam’s charms was less than stellar.

“Uh…will
she be okay with me being there?” he looked doubtful.

“Probably
not, but it doesn’t matter, she has a date tonight, so she won’t be there.”
Tiara missed the calculating smile that briefly flashed across Sam’s face at
that revelation.

“Cool,
I’ll see you at eight, then,” he nodded, hands in the pockets of his skin-tight
black jeans.

She
nodded and watched him leave, not even realizing that he never asked for her
mother’s address.

Tiara
finished out her work day incredibly distracted, dropping things, staring into
space and rehearsing what she was going to say to her former boyfriend. The
only thing that had really bothered her about him was his temper and seeming
inability to control it. Whenever they went out, there was a pretty good chance
that he’d get into an argument, sometimes escalating it to physical contact,
particularly if someone had dared to compliment her. The last argument had
resulted in jail time for him and community service for her, when she’d been
forced to defend herself by breaking a beer bottle over the head of a young man
who’d tried to get handsy with her. She hadn’t spoken to Sam since that night,
and figured that once she graduated and left school, she’d never have to see
him again, yet here he was.

“Are
you okay, honey?” her mother’s voice intruded into her thoughts, making her
jump a bit.

“Oh!
Yeah, I’m fine, just tired,” Tiara shrugged. “Do you mind if I have dinner with
you before your date tonight?” she asked, sounding young and vulnerable.

“Of
course not, that would be wonderful,” Marilyn agreed enthusiastically,
wondering at her daughter’s strange mood. “Should we order Thai?”

Tiara
nodded. “And when you leave, can I just hang out and watch a movie?”

“You
know you’re always welcome to hang out,” her mother looked at her closely. “Are
you sure there’s nothing wrong?”

Hating
the deception, she shook her head and forced a smile. “Nope, I’m fine. I just
need to chill for a bit.”

**

Marilyn
left for her date around seven, and Tiara couldn’t help but remark upon how
fantastic she looked.

“Thanks,”
her mother smiled. “Do you think it’s too much?” she asked, self-conscious.

“For
where he’s taking you? Not at all. You’ll fit right in with the society set,”
she teased.

She
saw her mother to the door and headed to the bathroom to touch up her hair and
makeup, wondering why she even bothered. She’d made up her mind to hear Sam out
and send him on his way, never weakening in her resolve, but knew full well
that that was far easier said than done. To calm her nerves a bit, she poured a
small glass of Pinot Grigio and took it out on the back patio, parking herself
on a lounger.

“She
looked beautiful tonight,” Tiara heard the voice of Tim Eckels, her mother’s
somewhat creepy neighbor, coming from the other side of the trees that
separated the two yards.

“Hi
Tim,” she called out, peering into the trees, but seeing only shadows in the
rapidly falling twilight. “Yes, she did look beautiful.”

Tiara
had visited with the neighbor enough to realize that, while odd, he was
harmless. Part of the reason that he was so incredibly creepy and awkward
around her mother was because he had a huge crush on her, thinking that she was
so beautiful that he literally couldn’t put a sentence together in her
presence. She hadn’t shared that information with her mother, not wanting to
make things any more uncomfortable than they already were between the
neighbors. Tim had applied for a job at the shop, having been raised by a
loving grandmother who had taught him to be a wunderkind when it came to
desserts, and had been passed over when Marilyn hired Kelcie. He was still sore
about that, and mentioned it nearly every time he encountered Tiara.

The
former mortician, who had retired in Key West, stepped through the trees and
pushed his thick horn-rimmed glasses up his nose.

“It’s
the detective, isn’t it?” he asked, blinking.

“Yup,
they seem to like each other,” Tiara nodded.

“But
you’re here,” he was puzzled.

“Yeah,
I’m hanging out here, waiting for a friend,” she replied, glancing at her
watch.

“If
you’re waiting for a friend, why do you sound unhappy about it?” Tim might be
strange, but it seemed that he missed nothing.

“I’m
actually meeting him to say goodbye so that I never have to deal with him
again,” she admitted, seeing no reason not to be honest. It wasn’t like the man
ever spoke to anyone else – who would he tell?

His
eyes narrowed, and he nodded thoughtfully. “Sometimes goodbyes are good. I have
to go get something ready,” he said vaguely, heading back through the trees.
“I’ll bring pie for you later, you might need it.”

Accustomed
to his unusually mysterious statements, Tiara just said, “Thank you,” and
sipped her wine, glancing repeatedly at her watch, stomach full of butterflies.

**

Samuel
Freed had woken up on the beach after looking for Tiara with great hunks of his
long, raven hair shorn almost completely off, which had upset him greatly at
first. Since then, however, he’d had the impromptu haircut trimmed up by the
stylist onboard, deciding that short hair was more appropriate for the new,
clean-cut image that he planned to present to his former girlfriend. Dressing
with care for his date – she might not think it was an actual date, but he knew
that it was – he donned a clean pair of designer jeans, a pink button down with
the sleeves rolled up, its color contrasting perfectly with his deep tan, and
slid his feet into butter-soft boat shoes. Except for the tattoos that peeked
out below his sleeves, he looked like a member of the boating set whom he
served, having learned how to successfully adopt their mannerisms and style.

Taking
one last look in the mirror, and spritzing on an expensive cologne that had
been left on the boat by a previous guest, he headed back to shore, taking care
to avoid any of the areas where he knew Jenna might be lying in wait for him.
Since Tiara had crossed his path, he’d completely lost interest in the spoiled
socialite, and thus far, had managed to avoid making late night visits to her
room.

**

Tim
Eckels trudged, determined, back to his house. Once inside, he parted the
curtain in his guest bedroom that faced Marilyn’s back patio just enough so
that he could easily observe without being seen. He headed for the kitchen, and
took a small plastic bag out of a cabinet that was tucked into a little-used
corner. Placing the bag on the table, he went to his laptop, plugged in the
cord for his printer and printed a photo, which he glared at as he held it up
in front of him. Opening the plastic bag, he pulled out a thick lock of raven
hair and brought it to his nose, frowning as he sniffed it.

“Not
her…oh no,” he muttered, shaking his head as he pulled out supplies for what
needed to be done. Slipping back into the guest bedroom to check on Tiara one
more time, he then returned to the kitchen and got to work.

Tiara
heard the doorbell ring and set her wine glass down on the table next to her
lounger, heading inside to admit the young man that she had once cared about.

“Hi,”
Sam gave her a gentle smile when she opened the door.

Entirely
flabbergasted by his appearance, she said nothing for a moment, making an
effort to keep her mouth from falling open in shock. He looked like someone who
would grace the cover of an exclusive men’s magazine.

“Can
I come in?” he prompted, when she didn’t return his greeting.

“Oh!
Umm…yeah, of course,” she got past her initial reaction, and smiled
involuntarily. “Come on in. It’s such a nice night, I thought that we could sit
out on the patio.” She led him through the house and back outside, to the
patio.

“Would
you like some wine?” she offered, feeling awkward at being alone with him.

“No,
thanks,” he surprised her by saying. “I don’t usually drink anymore.”

“Oh,
well…wow. That’s great,” she nodded. “Will it bother you if I…” she raised her
glass.

“Oh
no, it’s nothing like that, go ahead, knock yourself out. I’m just getting into
the habit of making better choices,” he explained, gazing into her eyes.

Tiara
took a sip, simply to break eye contact without being obvious about it.

“That’s
actually what I wanted to talk to you about,” he began. “I’ve really changed a
lot since I got out of jail. I have a really good job and I’ve turned my life
around. I’m not the same loser that treated you like you weren’t important.”
Sam reached for her hand and she withdrew it, avoiding his touch.

“Tiara,
please don’t be like that,” he pleaded. “I’m a responsible adult now. I’m ready
to have someone in my life – I’m ready to have you in my life.”

The
change from the arrogant, demanding bad-boy that he’d once been, to the
well-dressed young man who smelled pleasantly of expensive cologne, was
astonishing, but Tiara had made up her mind before he’d ever arrived on her
mother’s front porch, and she had no intention of budging.

Seeing
the resolution in her face, Sam sighed, as though in defeat. “You know what…I
changed my mind about having some wine, would you mind?” he asked, casually.

Feeling
a chill, and not knowing why, Tiara stood. “Of course not, I’ll be right back,”
she said, searching his eyes before turning to head into the house.

The
moment her back was turned, Samuel Freed slipped a tiny plastic bag out of his
shirt pocket, opened it, and poured the powder that it contained into Tiara’s
glass of wine, stirring it with his finger and quickly wiping it on the back of
his jeans as she returned with the bottle and a glass for him. She poured him a
glass and handed it to him, then topped off her own, recorking the bottle and
setting it on the table next to her.

“Shall
we toast?” Sam asked with a smile, raising his glass. “To new beginnings…” he
said, and the polite smile disappeared from Tiara’s face as she stopped raising
her glass.

“I
meant for me,” he shrugged. “I’ve made a new start, isn’t that at least worth a
toast?” he asked, tilting his glass toward hers.

Tiara
giggled nervously. “Yes, of course it is…I’m happy for you,” she smiled,
raising her glass and clinking it against his. “To your new beginning,” she
repeated, being more specific, and took a large swallow, making a face
afterwards.

“What’s
wrong?” Sam asked.

“I
don’t know…I think the wine may be going bad,” she frowned.

“Mine
tastes great,” he said, taking another sip and pretending to test it.

“I
don’t drink it that often, so I guess I’m not really well-versed in what it’s
supposed to taste like,” she replied, feeling a bit foolish. The new Sam seemed
so much more mellow and classy than the old one had been. He seemed to be much
more like what she actually wanted in a man.

There
was a rustling in the tree line, and Tim appeared, carrying a Key Lime pie. The
look on his face when he noticed Sam was a fleeting glimpse of utter fury, but
it passed so quickly that Tiara never noticed it.

“I
brought a pie,” he announced, addressing Tiara, who was more than relieved to
see him. She had no idea how she was going to get rid of Sam, so the neighbor’s
arrival was a welcome distraction. Maybe they’d both leave at once.

“How
thoughtful, Tim, thank you,” she smiled, feeling strangely sleepy all of the sudden.
When she stood to go to the kitchen for three plates and forks, she was a bit
unsteady on her feet, but passed it off as an effect of relaxing after all of
the adrenalin that had been flooding through her since Sam had arrived. She went
into the house, her head feeling fuzzy, and gathered up the plates and
silverware, remembering to grab a handful of napkins as well. As she stepped
out the back door, the world seemed to tilt sideways, and she absently noted
that both Tim and Sam were gone, before collapsing onto the patio.