completely out of debt.
As she transferred the store-brand puffed rice into bowls, Jo-Jo heard the weather report coming from the little television on the counter. She was glad it was going to be sunny. It was a pain to lug grocery bags in the rain.
She poured the milk over the cereal, carefully dividing it three ways. The kids sat down and began to hungrily devour their breakfast. Jo-Jo noticed that all three of them needed new sneakers.
“The dead woman was identified as twenty-seven-year-old Shelley Hart, a lifelong Sarasota resident.”
Jo-Jo looked over in time to catch the woman’s face on the screen. She gasped as she realized that she recognized her. It was the woman who had come into the bar the other night and sat with that guy in the back. The big tipper.
Chapter 46
W e’ll have three round tiers: a fourteen-inch, a ten-inch, and a six-inch. That should serve seventy-five to a hundred ten people.”
Piper pushed the shopping cart as her mother reeled off the components necessary to make the wedding cake. Weeks ago Piper and Terri had calculated how much of each ingredient would be needed. Now all they had to do was follow their list.
Pounds of flour, granulated and confectioners’ sugar, and unsalted butter were placed in the basket, followed by a large bottle of pure vanilla extract, a couple of cartons of eggs, and several containers of whole milk. After picking up a box of baking soda, they headed for the produce section, where they selected a mesh bag full of key limes.
“That should do it,” said Terri as she surveyed the contents of the shopping cart.
“Wait, we forgot the toothpicks,” said Piper. “You go get in line, Mom, and I’ll run and grab some.”
As she turned the corner, Piper bumped into a man coming around from the next aisle.
“Oh, excuse me,” she said as she looked up. She was startled to see Brad O’Hara’s face. His expression instantly changed from annoyance to pleasure.
“And to think I was expecting this to be a lousy morning,” said Brad.
Again, to Piper, his mouth seemed to be leering more than grinning. And the tattoo of the crying woman on his arm was really freaking her out.
“Oh, yeah, hi. Sorry, my mother is waiting for me at the checkout,” said Piper as she managed a weak smile. “I’ve got to hurry.”
“You’ve got to relax, Piper,” he said as he reached over and grabbed her arm. “Slow down and enjoy life. Let me take you for a kayak ride today.”
Piper pulled away, shrugged, and managed to say, “I can’t. Remember? We’ve got that cruise on the bay this afternoon.”
As she walked off, Piper could well understand why Shelley hadn’t wanted to have anything to do with him.
Chapter 47
I t took him just over an hour to walk home. His mouth was dry, and his eyes burned. Levi spent the time figuring out how he was going to get everything accomplished. There was so much to do.
First he had to face his parents. He dreaded seeing the bewilderment and worry in their eyes. He had never wanted to cause them any pain. He hated to think they were in for still more.
Then he had to finish the hex sign. With no interruptions he could complete it this morning and deliver it to Piper Donovan after the restaurant’s lunch crowd left. Since this was going to be the last lunch he worked at Fisher’s, Levi wanted to stay and help as long as he was needed.
As he walked along Bahia Vista, Levi was oblivious to the cars speeding by and the sun’s increasing intensity. Instead he noticed the weeds sticking out from cracks in the sidewalk and the scuff marks on the toes of his black shoes. Head down, step by step, Levi mentally composed the letter he was going to write.
That was going to be the most challenging task of all. It had to be carefully worded. How to explain things in such a way that it kept Miriam safe yet ended the nightmare for good?
Chapter 48
P iper dropped her mother off at the front door of the inn and then drove around to the
As she transferred the store-brand puffed rice into bowls, Jo-Jo heard the weather report coming from the little television on the counter. She was glad it was going to be sunny. It was a pain to lug grocery bags in the rain.
She poured the milk over the cereal, carefully dividing it three ways. The kids sat down and began to hungrily devour their breakfast. Jo-Jo noticed that all three of them needed new sneakers.
“The dead woman was identified as twenty-seven-year-old Shelley Hart, a lifelong Sarasota resident.”
Jo-Jo looked over in time to catch the woman’s face on the screen. She gasped as she realized that she recognized her. It was the woman who had come into the bar the other night and sat with that guy in the back. The big tipper.
Chapter 46
W e’ll have three round tiers: a fourteen-inch, a ten-inch, and a six-inch. That should serve seventy-five to a hundred ten people.”
Piper pushed the shopping cart as her mother reeled off the components necessary to make the wedding cake. Weeks ago Piper and Terri had calculated how much of each ingredient would be needed. Now all they had to do was follow their list.
Pounds of flour, granulated and confectioners’ sugar, and unsalted butter were placed in the basket, followed by a large bottle of pure vanilla extract, a couple of cartons of eggs, and several containers of whole milk. After picking up a box of baking soda, they headed for the produce section, where they selected a mesh bag full of key limes.
“That should do it,” said Terri as she surveyed the contents of the shopping cart.
“Wait, we forgot the toothpicks,” said Piper. “You go get in line, Mom, and I’ll run and grab some.”
As she turned the corner, Piper bumped into a man coming around from the next aisle.
“Oh, excuse me,” she said as she looked up. She was startled to see Brad O’Hara’s face. His expression instantly changed from annoyance to pleasure.
“And to think I was expecting this to be a lousy morning,” said Brad.
Again, to Piper, his mouth seemed to be leering more than grinning. And the tattoo of the crying woman on his arm was really freaking her out.
“Oh, yeah, hi. Sorry, my mother is waiting for me at the checkout,” said Piper as she managed a weak smile. “I’ve got to hurry.”
“You’ve got to relax, Piper,” he said as he reached over and grabbed her arm. “Slow down and enjoy life. Let me take you for a kayak ride today.”
Piper pulled away, shrugged, and managed to say, “I can’t. Remember? We’ve got that cruise on the bay this afternoon.”
As she walked off, Piper could well understand why Shelley hadn’t wanted to have anything to do with him.
Chapter 47
I t took him just over an hour to walk home. His mouth was dry, and his eyes burned. Levi spent the time figuring out how he was going to get everything accomplished. There was so much to do.
First he had to face his parents. He dreaded seeing the bewilderment and worry in their eyes. He had never wanted to cause them any pain. He hated to think they were in for still more.
Then he had to finish the hex sign. With no interruptions he could complete it this morning and deliver it to Piper Donovan after the restaurant’s lunch crowd left. Since this was going to be the last lunch he worked at Fisher’s, Levi wanted to stay and help as long as he was needed.
As he walked along Bahia Vista, Levi was oblivious to the cars speeding by and the sun’s increasing intensity. Instead he noticed the weeds sticking out from cracks in the sidewalk and the scuff marks on the toes of his black shoes. Head down, step by step, Levi mentally composed the letter he was going to write.
That was going to be the most challenging task of all. It had to be carefully worded. How to explain things in such a way that it kept Miriam safe yet ended the nightmare for good?
Chapter 48
P iper dropped her mother off at the front door of the inn and then drove around to the
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