A Flicker of Doubt (Book 4 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) by Tim Myers

past helping people resolve their issues
with one another. I think I can help them in a private
session.”
    I knew Pearly had worked as a very
successful psychologist before becoming the River’s Edge handyman
in his “retirement,” but his suggestion still managed to startle
me. “Are you saying you want them to go into couple’s therapy?”
    “ I’m thinking more along the
lines of a conflict- resolution approach,” he said.
    I patted his shoulder. “Pearly, you can call
it whatever you’d like if you can get them both to stay at River’s
Edge.”
    “ Excellent,” Pearly said,
the gleam in his eyes growing sharper, “thank you,
Harrison.”
    “ Don’t thank me,” I said, “I
don’t want any of the credit for this, or any blame, for that
matter. Just let me know how you do.”
    “ Absolutely,” he said,
already lost in planning his approach to the volatile situation. I
could tell that Pearly was eager to speak with the women in a
professional capacity, though he’d been retired for some time. If
he could patch things up between Heather and Sanora, he would be a
miracle worker. And the best thing about it was that I wasn’t
directly involved with the problem, at least for the time
being.
    I walked into The Crocked Pot and asked
Millie, “How about a cup of coffee? Tell you what, why don’t you
surprise me with the blend?” Millie loved it when
    I was feeling adventurous. I added, “No more
of those strong caffeine surprises, though. It took me three days
to get to sleep the last time you mixed me one of your
specialties.”
    “ It will be something
gentle, I promise.”
    “ Are there any more of those
orange-slice muffins in back?”
    “ Sorry, they’re all gone.
But I’m making a fresh batch in the morning.”
    I considered my waistline, then denied the
direct evidence to the contrary that I needed to cut back. “Save
three or four for me,” I said.
    “ You can have two,” she
said, but I saw the dimples blossom on her cheeks.
    I joined Markum and took a sip of coffee.
Millie had kept her word; it was a gentle, nutty blend that I
really liked. I said to him, “Sorry about that Pearly cornered me
before I could get inside.”
    “ No problem, Harrison. Was
it River’s Edge business?”
    I nodded, but didn’t elaborate. The last
thing I wanted to do was air our dirty laundry with customers
around.
    He accepted it at face value. “Any chance
you could get that coffee to go? We’ve got a lot to talk about it
and I’m not sure this is the right place for it”
    “ Sure thing,” I said,
standing up and sipping the coffee. Millie let me take her mugs
with me, as long as I brought them back by the next morning so they
could be washed and put into circulation again. “You want to go to
my apartment or your office?”
    “ Let’s go to my office,” he
said. “There’s something there I want to show you.”
    We walked upstairs together, but I stopped
at my apartment door before we got to his office. “I’ll just be a
second.”
    I went in, moved the deposit pouch from
under my arm to under the couch, then retrieved Markum’s lease. The
deposit would have been better off in the bank, or even in
somebody’s safe, but my hiding place under the couch would be fine
until I could take it in the morning. I’d made a mistake with a
deposit when I’d first taken over At Wick’s End by leaving it in my
truck, but that had never happened again. I’d learned that
particular lesson all too well.
    I tucked the lease in my back pocket and
walked down the hall to Markum’s office. The travel posters on the
walls had changed since I’d been there last. For a man who spent so
much of his time in exotic locales, he never seemed to grow tired
of the vistas of faraway lands.
    I took the lease out and slid it across the
desk toward him.
    “ What’s this?” he
asked.
    “ Didn’t you get Cragg’s
letter? Everyone else in the building got one.”
    “ Oh, you mean the one about
the lease?” He