Snuffed Out (Book 2 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) (22 page)

“
This will
do nicely,” she said as she took a bite. “Bob
will never believe this.”

“
I’m willing to bet if you
offer him some for breakfast tomorrow, he won’t say no.”

She grinned. “No doubt you’re right.” We ate
our cake, then Celeste said, “Now for some shopping.”

I finished my slab, thought about getting
another piece, then decided to wait until lunch. Dessert after
lunch, I amended. I was going to have to supplement my menu with
some healthy fare. And some time on one of Erin’s kayaks, if I
wanted to be able to wear my jeans much longer. Maybe if I worked
it right I could slip out a little early. Well, Eve had opened the
door for me taking more breaks from the shop. All I was doing was
trotting through it.

Celeste picked out a nice array of things,
from some beeswax blocks I’d just got to a Christmas-tree mold that
I’d been wanting to try myself. I totaled her purchases up, then
gave her a ten-percent discount.

“
Why the price break?” she
asked as she saw the minus sign on the register.

“
Didn’t I tell you? It’s
chocolate-cake day. Hey, they’re a lot better than
coupons.”

She thanked me, then walked out just as it
was time to officially open up. “Come back soon, Celeste, and you
don’t have to bring a cake with you next time.”

“
Don’t tell me, you’d like
an apple pie next, wouldn’t you?”

“
Well, I wouldn’t say no to
one, but you don’t have to bake something every time you
come.”

“
Come on, Harrison, don’t
let me down and start getting normal on me. My friends back home
are going to howl about this.”

I shuddered when I thought about what new
stereotypes about the South I was setting, but let them think we
were all a bunch of eccentrics. It was my bit as goodwill
ambassador for the land below the Mason-Dixon line.

I’d nearly forgotten about my next session
with Mrs. Jorgenson when Eve came in at noon and reminded me. She
said, “Are you ready?”

“
Ready for what?” I asked.
“I’m not going to lunch today.” I’d had another piece of cake
midmorning, despite my good intentions, and I was still pretty
full.

“
Good, you could probably
use the practice. She’s due here in less than an hour.”

Then it hit me. “Thanks, I forgot all about
it. Don’t worry, I’ll be ready.”

I left Eve to manage the front and started
making preparations for my next lesson in candlemaking. If Mrs.
Jorgenson arrived promptly, which I had no doubt she would, I’d
have just enough time to dip the demonstration candles for today’s
lesson. That was the thing with Mrs. Jorgenson; she always wanted
to start from the ground up, but once she’d mastered a technique,
she was perfectly happy to let me do the grunt work in preparation.
And why not? She was paying handsomely for the privilege, money the
candleshop could ill afford to lose.

We’d done translucent candles during our
last session, so I decided on a nice, warm red for our candles
today. On a lark, I set up two double-boilers with melting wax,
then changed the hue just enough to see the difference between the
two pots.

I knew I could set my watch by her. Just as
the first batch of candles were cooling from their dips, Mrs.
Jorgenson rushed into the room.

“
Sorry I’m late,” she
said.

I glanced at the clock and realized that she
was two minutes past due. “I was about to give up on you,” I said
with a smile.

She didn’t notice. “I don’t expect you to
extend the lesson on my account.”

“
Hey, it’s on the house.
I’ll even throw in a piece of chocolate cake at the
end.”

“
I don’t eat chocolate, and
I haven’t had cake since my seventh birthday.”

I should have known better than try to tease
with her. Though she’d warmed up to me since we’d started our
lessons, we weren’t exactly at the “buddy” stage.

She looked disappointed when she saw the
dipped pairs of candles on the racks. “I thought I’d be doing that
today.”

“
I figured if I skipped the
first few steps we could get right on it. After all, you’ve
mastered dipping.”

She nodded, then said, “Yes, I suppose
you’re right, but I do enjoy it so. Will we be twisting tapers
again today?”

“
No, ma’am, we’re going to
the next stage and start braiding candles. It’s great
fun.”

“
What do we do first?” she
said, eager to get started.

“
It’s the same basic
technique, we just add one more candle and braid the three
together.”

She selected two of the darker red tapers
and one of the lighter, then braided them with expert skill.
“You’ve been practicing,” I said.

“
I may have made a twist or
two since our last lesson.”

“
No braiding?” I
asked.

She said, “Not candles, at any rate.”

“
Let me guess, you used to
braid your sister’s hair.” No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t
see Mrs. Jorgenson as a little girl. Some people were just born
middle aged.

“
No, but the late Mr.
Jorgenson used to enjoy braided loaves of bread and it’s the same
principal, isn’t it?”

“
You never talk about him,”
I said. “What was he like?”

For a minute I thought she wasn’t going to
answer. After some hesitation, she said, “He was jolly, and he had
a way of making me laugh as well. He also had a gift of acquiring
money that was quite astounding, though I told him repeatedly I
would have rather had the time he stole from us than all the money
in the world.” She suddenly realized how much she was revealing and
said, “Are you going to braid those, or may I?”

“
They’re all for you,” I
said.

I’d thought I had made too many tapers for
the lesson, but Mrs. Jorgenson used them all. “It’s amazing how
they touch and then separate again, isn’t it?”

“
It is.”

She held one braid she was
particularly proud of and said, “I know I’m just a silly old woman,
but would you accept this as a way of my saying thank-you above and
beyond my regular payment? Look at me, giving a candle to
a
candlemaker.”           

She started to pull it away, but I wouldn’t
let her. “I’m honored,” I said as I took it. “I’ll start burning it
tonight.” She looked pleased by my acceptance.

After Mrs. Jorgenson was gone, Eve said,
“What was that all about?”

“
I’m not quite sure I know
myself,” I said.

Eve glanced at the clock, then said, “I
don’t want you to think I’m trying to get rid of you, but if you’d
like, I’d be happy to watch the shop for the rest of the day.”

“
I can’t do that to you,” I
said. “I’ve been taking too much time off lately as it
is.”

“
Please, Harrison, you’re
here all the time. It’s only two hours until closing.
Go.”

“
You’ve talked me into it,”
I said. “I’ll be back for the deposit, though.”

“
It can wait until tomorrow.
See you then.”

“
Bye, Eve. And
thanks.”

“
At Wick’s End belongs to
you. I’m just trying to get t you to enjoy it a little
more.”         

I thought about going by Erin’s for a kayak
ride, but then I remembered I owed Wayne a call, and a tennis
match, if he was up for it. Wayne was a great deal more to me than
my mechanic; he was also one of my best friends in the world. But
lately, since taking over River’s Edge, I’d been too busy to do
anything with him, and finally he’d stopped asking. He was one part
of my old life I didn’t want to change.

I went up to my apartment and dialed the
phone number to his garage.  

When I got him on the line, he said, “Wait a
second, the voice sounds familiar. Don’t tell me, give me a second,
I’ll get it.”

“
You are such a funny guy.
Any chance you can skip out early and get a few sets of tennis
in?”

“
What happened, did the
candleshop burn down?”

“
Bite your tongue. No, I
thought I’d take a few hours off. We could hit some
balls.”

“
I don’t know,” he said.
“Let me check my schedule.”

I waited a few minutes, then he came back
on. “Nothing here that can’t wait. My guys have it under control.
You want to meet me at the court?”

“
See you in half an
hour.”

I changed into shorts and a long-sleeved
T-shirt, grabbed my racket and a can of balls I’d had three months,
and headed out. When I got to the court, Wayne pulled up right
behind me.

I said, “Perfect timing. How have you
been?”

He shook my hand in a grip that could have
broken every finger if he’d wanted to. “I’ve been busy, but that’s
a good thing. You ready?” he asked after we both stretched a
little.

“
A moment of silence,” I
said, as a part of our ritual. We both stood there as I peeled back
the lid of the can, and I was rewarded with the swoosh of air as
the seal was broken.

I tossed a ball to him, took two for myself,
then jogged over to the other side of the court. My serve was
rusty, but I managed to get one in after three straight shots into
the net.

The only silver lining was that Wayne hadn’t
played since the last time we’d taken the court together
either.

We split the first two sets and were both
too tired to play a third. Wayne reached in the back of his truck
and brought out a cooler.

“
Want one?” he asked as he
brought out a bottle of water.

“
Sure,” I said and we moved
to a picnic table nearby.

As we drank, Wayne asked, “So how’s life
among the flames?”

“
I lost a tenant at River’s
Edge.”

He nodded. “That’s right, I read about that
potter in the paper. Some freak accident, right?”

“
I don’t think so. You don’t
want to hear about it, do you?”

Wayne said, “Are you kidding? The most
exciting thing that’s happened to me lately is that I worked on
Sandra Bullock’s car. At least she looked like her until I got
closer. Give.”

So I told him about Aaron’s death and the
suspects in my mind. “The lawyer did it,” he said flatly.

“
Why do you think
that?”

“
Why not? They’re always up
to something no good.”

I shook my head. “As foolproof as your logic
is, I don’t think so.”

He said, “Sounds like Aaron was a bit of a
player.”

“
That’s the way it’s turning
out, but I never would have pegged him for one.”

Wayne took a drink of his water, then said,
“So who’s the last woman in his life?”

“
I’m not sure,” I
admitted.

“
You might want to find
out.”

“
Why do you say
that?”

He polished off his water, then said, “Think
about it.  He’s had an ex-wife for quite a while, and unless
you think this Heather did it, you’ve got to look at his last love.
Especially since you won’t agree with me about the lawyer. Follow
his love life.”

“
How do I find out who she
was? He was keeping this one a secret, as far as I can
tell.”

“
Somebody had to have seen
her visit him. Ask your other tenants.”

I laughed. “Have you been watching Murder,
She Wrote again?”

“
Hey, you asked.”

“
No, you’re right. I’m going
to see if I can figure this out.”

Wayne said, “When you do, let me know. This
is frustrating. It’s like reading a book and finding out the last
chapter is missing.”

“
Books are neat; it’s life
that’s messy,” I said.

“
Get that out of a fortune
cookie, did you?”

I slapped him on the back. “Do me a favor,
buddy, don’t ever change.”

He held his hands out. “Why should I? I’m
the perfect me.”

As I drove back to River’s Edge, I wondered
if anyone had seen Aaron’s secret love. It wouldn’t hurt to ask
around.

After a shower, and changing into clean
clothes, I had just enough time to talk to Millie before she left
for the day. Unfortunately, she hadn’t seen a soul. Nor had Tick,
or Heather, or any of the other first-floor tenants, though Heather
suggested I talk to Sanora.

I was going to do just that, but The Pot
Shot was closed when I went by. So it was another dead end.

When I got up to my apartment, there was
something taped to my door. For a second I thought Markum might be
back in town. Then I saw the words. “Mind your own business or
else.”

It appeared that someone wasn’t happy with
me.

Most likely Heather or Sanora had decided I
was being too nosy butting into their business, but I thought the
note was over the top. I started to throw it away when I got
inside, then thought better of it and put it on the table by the
door. Tomorrow I’d have to ask them about it and see if I could
mend fences. With all of us working so closely together at River’s
Edge, I didn’t want something like this hanging over our heads.

I put the water on to boil, since tonight
was going to be spaghetti night given the state of my finances, and
then I set the table. The center of it looked bare, so I searched
around for a candle to burn. It was a habit I’d started with
Belle’s tribute soon after she’d died, and I’d found it
soothing.