A Novel Death: a Danger Cove Bookshop Mystery (Danger Cove Mysteries Book 10) by Elizabeth Ashby, Ellie Ashe Page A

climbed up until he could pull himself onto the branch and stood on it. Leaning forward, he stroked the dog's ears, and then with a quick move he grabbed the dog around the middle and hauled Winslow back against his body. Winslow clung to Adam as they made their way back down. When he hit the ground, he set the dog down and then looked up at the cat, who was still sitting on the branch, staring at us.
    "I think the cat will come down on its own, once Winslow is gone," he said, and as if to prove his point, the cat descended to a lower branch and curled up.
    Winslow was sniffing every inch of my backyard, and Mrs. Fitzwilliams scolded him as she shuffled off the deck and toward the gate. "That dog is always rooting through my plants. Pippa needs to get a fence for that yard."
    "Pippa?" I asked.
    "Yes, Winslow is Pippa Montague's dog. He's a runner. Likes to take off and roam around," Adam said.
    I promised to bring the ladder back later and thanked Mrs. Fitzwilliams for helping me, and she gave me a wave as she rounded the corner to walk back to her house. Adam leaned the ladder against the fence.
    "Sure you don't want me to carry it back?" he asked.
    "No, I can handle it," I said. The ladder wasn't that heavy. It was just long, and if I had to, I'd drag it.
    "Guess I'll take him home." Adam whistled, and Winslow ran across the yard, his tongue hanging out.
    "Wait!" I said. "Can I come with you?"
    Adam tilted his head. "I guess so. Why?"
    I tried to come up with a good excuse, but nothing came to mind.
    "Well, he was stuck in my tree," I said, and Adam's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Okay, I'd like to meet Pippa Montague."
    Adam stood still and kept his gaze on me.
    "Because her ex-husband was killed in my shop."
    "Does this have something to do with the cat hair?"
    I nodded.
    "You're not going to interrogate her, are you?"
    I smiled. "I don't interrogate. I charm."
    For a moment, he didn't respond, and then he shook his head. But when he looked back at me, he was smiling wide enough to show off a dimple in his left cheek.
    "I suppose there's no harm in letting you help me deliver Winslow," he said. "And I want to see someone try to charm Mrs. Montague."

CHAPTER TEN
     
    Pippa Montague still lived in the large house, in the Craggy Hills Estates, that she'd bought following her divorce from Cal. According to my mother, this purchase had fueled the rumor that Pippa had gotten a bundle out of her ex when they'd split. It was a two-story white house that sat back from the quiet road.
    Adam pulled into the long driveway that curved in front of the porch, parking by the front door. When we got out, Winslow bolted toward the tall wooden fence that barricaded the backyard, jumped up onto a neatly stacked cord of firewood, and easily leapt over into the backyard.
    Pippa walked out to greet us, wearing a cream-colored suit with a pale-blue silk top under the jacket. From her appearance, I would have guessed that we caught her on her way to a wedding, or at least a fancy tea party.
    "Good evening, Dr. Whitaker," she said. She walked down the steps to meet us, her lustrous copper hair sculpted into a helmet that moved as one unit in the evening breeze. "Hello, I'm Pippa Montague."
    She extended her hand to me as she introduced herself.
    "Meri Sinclair," I said with my best PR smile. I ignored that I was wearing a dusty sweatshirt and torn jeans. "Winslow got stuck in a tree in my backyard, and Dr. Whitaker and I were just returning him."
    Pippa looked around, and if her chemically frozen forehead could have registered confusion, I'm sure it would have.
    "He jumped back over the fence," Adam said.
    She shook her head. "That dog. I don't know why my husband insists on having such difficult breeds."
    It was my turn to look confused. I hadn't heard that Pippa was remarried, and because she still used Cal's last name, it hadn't occurred to me to ask.
    "Would you like to come in?" she asked.
    "Oh, that's—"
    "That would be lovely," I said,