Summer Reading is Killing Me (Phee Jefferson Book 2) (3 page)

  
CHAPTER SEVEN

I spent the rest of the afternoon unloading
boxes of books from the van. I explained to patrons that no, I didn’t know
when the Founder’s Day Celebration would be rescheduled, and yes, we would
still hold a book sale. By the end of the day, I was grubby from the boxes and
cranky from answering the same questions a dozen times. I loved the town of
Miller’s Cove, but the town’s overactive grapevine of gossip exhausted me.
Despite my protests to the contrary, everyone assumed I had all the gritty
details of the investigation since I found the body. They gave me a wink and a
nod hinting they understood I had to keep things under my hat. If I told them
just a little nugget of gossip, they promised to stay mum. When I didn’t spill
the beans, they gave me a disappointed shake of their head and walked away.

When I got home, I fed
Ferdie
,
my oversized Maine Coon cat. I poured myself a tall glass of iced tea and
turned on the
Philco
Model 70 Cathedral radio I
rescued and restored after one of my antiquing trips around the state.
Soft jazz played as I strolled into my living room. I kicked off my
flats and sank into my favorite chaise. With the heat of the late afternoon
beating against my windows, I was grateful the prior owner had installed
central air. I adored all things from the early part of the twentieth century,
but I am a huge fan of cool air on a muggy summer day.  

I pulled my cell phone from my front pants pocket
and dialed Clint’s number. His message played and the sound of his deep, husky
voice sent a little thrill through my body. I left a message. “Hey you. You
must still be in class. Had some excitement here today and wanted you to hear
it from me first. Call me when you get a chance. Love you.”  I hung up and
set the phone on my coffee table.

I heaved a sigh and decided I better jump in the
shower before heading to the movies with Grant. The cool water washed away the
day’s exhaustion and book grunge. Wrapped in a towel, I picked through my
closet and pulled out a navy sundress splashed with white daisies. I put on a
pair of espadrilles and the small white gold heart necklace studded with blue
sapphires that Clint had given me for Valentine’s Day. I left my long, red
curls loose around my shoulders and added a swipe of mascara and a touch of
peach lip gloss. Eyeing myself in the mirror, I decided the outfit said movies
with a friend and not date. After last year, I didn’t want misunderstandings
between Grant and me.

The doorbell rang, and I grabbed my purse and
headed to the door. I stepped outside and Grant gave me a hurt look. “You won’t
invite me inside?” 

Suppressing a nervous titter I said, “I’m ready,
and I haven’t been out to a movie in a long time. Let’s just go.” An awkward
moment lay between us. The last time I watched a movie with him was right
before his mother whacked me in the head with a shovel then tried to poison me.
“What are we going to see?” I gave him a bright smile to hide my discomfort.

“We only have two choices. One is an action film
that involved race cars and fiery explosions. You would hate it, so we’re
watching 
African Queen.” 
Grant
opened the passenger door of his sports car, and I slid into the soft
buttery leather seats.

“I love Katherine Hepburn. I haven’t watched that
movie in years. Perfect choice.” This time the smile I offered him was genuine.
He eased the car onto the road and ten minutes later we were pulling up to the
theater.

“Listen,
Phee
, this
isn’t the time or the place, but I’m sorry for what my mother did to you and to
the people here in Miller’s Cove. I needed to apologize and have you forgive me
before I leave. A law firm in Burlington offered me a position, and I accepted
it.” He pushed a hand through his blond curls. 

“I don’t know what to say. I understand it’s hard
to live here after everything that happened, but you just bought a house and
started at the firm a year ago. Are you sure?”

“I’ve thought about it, and it would be best for
everyone. The law firm has suffered because of me. To be truthful, they’ve been
decent about the whole situation. I haven’t put in enough billable hours because
of all the time spent getting my mom institutionalized. Everyone looks at me
and wonders if I’m like her. Next thing you know, they’ll accuse me of killing
the girl in the park.” I tried to protest, but he put his hand up to stop me. “
Phee
, say what you want, but the taint of what my mother
did will always follow me. Heck! I couldn’t get a date with anyone here in town
if I paid them.” 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you have to leave and
sorry I haven’t been a friend to you through all of this.” Grabbing his hand, I
asked, “Forgive me?”

“Nothing to forgive. It’s time for me to move on.”
He squeezed my hand and sat up straight. “Enough of the gloom and doom twins
act. Let’s go have Jujubes,
slushies
and one last
movie together before I leave.”

My eyes welled up, and I turned away. I had been a
crappy friend to Grant. I had been through a lot in the past year, but friends
and family surrounded me through all of it. Whenever I seemed upset or afraid,
someone told me a joke, shared a cup of coffee or just sat quietly and
listened. Who helped Grant? I was his closest friend. His father was dead. He
had no other family. I decided even if he left, I would still try to reach out
to him. I swallowed the lump in my throat, turned around and gave him a
fierce hug. “I’ve been awful to you. There are so many things I wished I’d
said, but I just…”

Grant held me and said softly, “Don’t cry. I know
you, and I can tell what’s in your heart. It’s okay. We’ll be okay. Now let’s
stop crying and hugging before we start a rumor.”

I wiped my eyes and gave a weak laugh. “That train
already left the station. I’m sure rumors started when we talked in the coffee
shop this morning. I’m buying the Jujubes tonight. In fact, I feel so bad about
not being a good friend, I’ll get you your very own box.” 

“Oh boy! You must feel guilty! I’m taking you up
on that offer.”

Two hours later, we exited the theater laughing
and joking like we were teenagers. “Grant, thanks for bringing me. I’ll miss
you when you leave. Promise me you won’t be a stranger.” 

      “I won’t. I’ll come
visit, and the city is just an hour away. If you feel adventurous, you could
break your boycott and chat online. I swear you’re the only American under
thirty who doesn’t use social media.” Grant gave me a playful nudge. “You
realize that the twenty-first century is here to stay, right?”

“Believe it or not, I’m the one who created the
library’s website.” At Grant’s incredulous look, I bragged a bit. “I can do
website design. I even helped Julia with her yoga page. I just prefer to keep
my personal life a little more private. The world doesn’t need a status update
every time I change my toenail polish!”

“Fine. We’ll stick with telephone calls and smoke
signals. No one in this town needs social media anyway. We’ve got Nellie Jo.
Fastest way to hear what someone’s up to is to go get a cup of coffee,” Grant
joked. He dropped me off and after a brief hug on the porch and a tearful
“we’ll keep in touch,” I went inside.

It was strange that Clint hadn’t returned my call.
I reached into my purse to check my phone and realized I had left it on the
coffee table earlier. I had five missed calls. Three were from Clint, one from
my mother and one from Juliet. Listening to my messages, Clint’s deep voice
rumbled, “I’ve tried calling a couple times because I heard about the
excitement in town. I’m getting a little worried. Call me when you get a
chance.” The next message from my mom was fishing for the latest gossip. I
listened to the last message from Juliet. “Hey,
PheePhee
.
I want to give you a head’s up that Clint called me. He’s a little worried that
you might be upset about today. He couldn’t get in touch with you, so
he called to ask me to check on you. I wasn’t going to tell him you went to the
movies with Grant. Clint might not have a jealous bone in his body,
but he’s still a man with a gun. Call him, then call me.
Ciao
.”

I groaned. I had wanted to tell him about finding
the body before anyone else did. Too late now. Clint might understand me
making peace with Grant, but he wouldn’t like me sticking my nose into another
murder.  

CHAPTER EIGHT

As I started dialing Clint’s number, my phone
chimed out Foreigner’s 
Hot-Blooded.
Clint’s
name and number popped up on the screen. Darn Juliet for messing with my ring
tones.

“Hi, Clint. Sorry for not answering earlier. I
left my phone on the coffee table when I went out this evening. I’ve lots to
tell you,” I blurted.

“I was worried about you. When you didn’t answer
my calls earlier, I thought about jumping in my car and heading home to check
on you. Jaime called to report you found
Elody
 Campbell
dead at Longfellow Park this morning. How are you holding up?” Clint asked.

I heard the concern in Clint’s voice and hurried
to reassure him. “This may sound weird, but I’m okay. I didn’t know her, so I
guess I feel a little detached. Does that make sense?”

“It does. It’s always harder when you know the
person. I’m glad you’re okay. Jaime said it was a violent crime scene.
Elody
Campbell was a senator’s daughter which means the FBI
are making noise that they plan to take over the case for Senator Campbell’s
safety. Jaime is determined to run the investigation without the feds breathing
down his neck. He doesn’t think
Elody’s
murder is
related to the Senator or his staff.”

“Tina told me that
Elody
is the ‘it’ girl on the club scene and a
Tweetaholic
.
I suppose I should pull my head from the library stacks and read something
about the famous for being famous crowd. I wonder if Audrey Hepburn would tweet
if she became a star today,” I mused. 

“More than likely. I appreciate stars like James
Dean and Bette Davis, but they had their own love-hate relationships with the
press. Check out Elizabeth Taylor and all the scandal attached to her
marriages. They didn’t have a way to spread their gossip as quickly as stars do
today. Times they are a
changin
’, my lovely
Phee
.” Clint sang.

“Well, aren’t you the Bob Dylan wannabe!” I
laughed. “So what has Jaime learned about
Elody’s
murder that makes him think it’s not related to the Senator?”
Subtle,
Phee
,
I
thought.

“Nothing he’s shared with me.” Clint’s voice
turned serious. “I want you to leave the investigating to the professionals.
After last year, I couldn’t handle anything else happening to you.”

“I’m just curious,” I fibbed. Lying sounded so
harsh. Fibs were like small half-truths. It’s splitting hairs, but I didn’t
want him to worry about me. I twisted my hair nervously around my finger as I
changed the subject. “How was your day?”

“I’ve been in class with our new deputy, Lu
Gifford. You and I are going to have dinner with Lu Monday evening if that’s
okay. How’s my little guy, Watson?”

“That’s fine. I’ll pick up a nice bottle of wine
and a six-pack of beer. We can grill out. My parents are keeping Watson until
tomorrow morning because I went out to the movies with Grant tonight.” I
slipped the last news in quickly. Juliet and Wade had planted a tiny seed of
doubt in my brain this morning. It sprouted and grew flowers in the last few
minutes.

“Okay.” Clint drew out the word. An edge crept
into his voice which made my stomach tighten.

“I ran into him at Nellie Jo’s. We needed to clear
the air. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you beforehand, but I didn’t think you would
have a problem with me meeting with an old friend,” I said a little
defensively.

“I guess I understand,” Clint said slowly. “Do you
want to talk about it? You’ve been avoiding him, but I think it’s good you
finally cleared the air with Grant. You’re a kind soul,
Phee
,
and you want to save everyone. That’s why I love you.”

I smiled and the knot in my stomach uncoiled.
“You’re the sexiest, handsomest, most understanding boyfriend in the whole wide
world, Clint Mason.” 

“I know. Can I have that engraved on a plaque so I
can hang it in my office? So tell me about this evening.”

“It was awkward at Nellie Jo’s. Everyone was
watching us. I felt like a bug under a microscope. I don’t get people like
Elody
wanting to be watched by the public. It would freak
me out. This morning wasn’t the time or place for us to clear the air with people
trying to eavesdrop. We went to the movies because that’s always been our
thing. I feel like such a jerk after we talked. Grant wasn’t the reason his mom
killed those people any more than I was. Everyone in town’s been treating him
like he’s the criminal, including me. He’s leaving Miller’s Cove, and it’s
all my fault!” I wailed.

“It’s not your fault. You can’t blame folks for
how they feel. I guarantee you that Grant understands why you’ve avoided him.
He’s not an idiot, for heaven’s sake, so stop beating yourself up over it. You
aren’t responsible for the whole town. If you were, I’d ask for a new patrol
car and a raise,” Clint joked trying to lighten the mood.

“It’s been one of those days. I’m tired and have a
guilty conscience about Grant. I don’t want it to ruin the rest of the evening
though. I want to end today on a high note by flirting with a good-looking
deputy on the phone.” I blushed at a sudden thought. “Don’t tell my mom we have
phone sex!”

“I’ve missed you,” Clint’s voice lowered to a
husky growl, “I don’t think I’ve told you lately, but you’re the hottest
librarian I know.” 

“Hmm. . . I’m the only librarian you know, but
it’s a start,” I changed my voice to what I thought was a sexy French
accent. “And how are you going to make up for
ze
days
you’ve been gone?” 

For the next few delicious minutes, Clint told me
how he planned to make me smile when he returned.