tapioca pearl around in my mouth as I watched him climb into his black pickup truck and drive off.
—
It wasn’t until I was at the edge of town, walking along Wildwood Road, that I realized I’d never gone into the antiques store to check out the cheval mirror. I didn’t bother turning back. There wasn’t much point, since I didn’t want to go through the hassle of getting the mirror back to Seattle and there was a good chance it was out of my price range anyway.
Except you’ll soon have a lot more money, thanks to Cousin Jimmy,
I reminded myself.
“Crazy,” I said aloud. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around that.
As I left the road for Jimmy’s driveway, I caught sight of movement in the distance. A man in a gray business suit stood at the far edge of the property, just above the beach. He held something in his hand and I realized a moment later that it was a camera. He raised it up to eye level and snapped pictures of Jimmy’s house and the surrounding grounds.
Puzzled, I picked up my pace, wanting to ask what the heck he was doing. But either he saw me coming or had finished taking his photos, because he headed down the beach away from Jimmy’s property. As he disappeared from sight, I broke into a jog, hoping to catch up with him. I passed by the house and hopped up onto a log at the top of the beach, but the man was nowhere to be seen.
Uneasy and slightly annoyed, I gave up on the idea of confronting the man and let myself into the house. I didn’t know why people had taken to lurking around, but considering Jimmy’s murder, I wasn’t about to rule out sinister motivations.
Chapter 10
Despite Chloe’s assurance that I didn’t need to take anything to the barbecue, I put together a quinoa salad with a lemon Dijon vinaigrette. When that was done, I flopped down onto the couch and tried calling my mom to tell her about Jimmy’s will. Maybe my inheritance would seem more real once I’d talked it over with her. But it wasn’t to be. Not then, at least. All I got was her voicemail, so I left her a quick message letting her know that I wanted to talk to her but that I’d be out for the evening. If I didn’t hear from her before six o’clock, I added, I’d call her tomorrow.
Noticing that I had a new text message, I brought it up on the screen. It was from my friend Cassidy, a general inquiry into how I was doing. I typed out a reply, telling her about Jimmy’s death but not the fact that he was murdered. When I didn’t receive an immediate response, I set my phone aside.
I had some time to spare, so I settled into a chair on the back porch to read, immersing myself in a fictional mystery rather than the real-life ones that had been occupying my thoughts lately. There was something comforting about knowing that the mystery would be solved by the end of the book, all loose ends tied up, justice prevailing.
A gentle tap-tap at my leg pulled me out of the story a few pages later. Flapjack batted his paw against my jeans once more before hopping up into my lap. I set my book aside and spent a few minutes cuddling him while taking in the ocean view. As Flapjack purred, I closed my eyes and focused on the way the light breeze played across my face, tickling my cheeks with stray strands of my hair.
The smell of the fresh ocean air and the sound of water rushing over a sandbar as the tide crept in helped to ground me, to settle my hectic thoughts. Muscles I hadn’t realized were tight slowly relaxed and I found myself breathing more deeply, more freely.
What was it about this place that had such a calming effect on me? Even finding Jimmy’s body farther along the cove couldn’t spoil the tranquility the beach brought to my spirit.
A seagull cried out and I opened my eyes as the bird landed on the water, tucking in its wings to float and bob about on the waves. I drew in a long, deep breath of air full of the smells of the beach. As I exhaled, I stood up, holding Flapjack in my arms, and cast
—
It wasn’t until I was at the edge of town, walking along Wildwood Road, that I realized I’d never gone into the antiques store to check out the cheval mirror. I didn’t bother turning back. There wasn’t much point, since I didn’t want to go through the hassle of getting the mirror back to Seattle and there was a good chance it was out of my price range anyway.
Except you’ll soon have a lot more money, thanks to Cousin Jimmy,
I reminded myself.
“Crazy,” I said aloud. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around that.
As I left the road for Jimmy’s driveway, I caught sight of movement in the distance. A man in a gray business suit stood at the far edge of the property, just above the beach. He held something in his hand and I realized a moment later that it was a camera. He raised it up to eye level and snapped pictures of Jimmy’s house and the surrounding grounds.
Puzzled, I picked up my pace, wanting to ask what the heck he was doing. But either he saw me coming or had finished taking his photos, because he headed down the beach away from Jimmy’s property. As he disappeared from sight, I broke into a jog, hoping to catch up with him. I passed by the house and hopped up onto a log at the top of the beach, but the man was nowhere to be seen.
Uneasy and slightly annoyed, I gave up on the idea of confronting the man and let myself into the house. I didn’t know why people had taken to lurking around, but considering Jimmy’s murder, I wasn’t about to rule out sinister motivations.
Chapter 10
Despite Chloe’s assurance that I didn’t need to take anything to the barbecue, I put together a quinoa salad with a lemon Dijon vinaigrette. When that was done, I flopped down onto the couch and tried calling my mom to tell her about Jimmy’s will. Maybe my inheritance would seem more real once I’d talked it over with her. But it wasn’t to be. Not then, at least. All I got was her voicemail, so I left her a quick message letting her know that I wanted to talk to her but that I’d be out for the evening. If I didn’t hear from her before six o’clock, I added, I’d call her tomorrow.
Noticing that I had a new text message, I brought it up on the screen. It was from my friend Cassidy, a general inquiry into how I was doing. I typed out a reply, telling her about Jimmy’s death but not the fact that he was murdered. When I didn’t receive an immediate response, I set my phone aside.
I had some time to spare, so I settled into a chair on the back porch to read, immersing myself in a fictional mystery rather than the real-life ones that had been occupying my thoughts lately. There was something comforting about knowing that the mystery would be solved by the end of the book, all loose ends tied up, justice prevailing.
A gentle tap-tap at my leg pulled me out of the story a few pages later. Flapjack batted his paw against my jeans once more before hopping up into my lap. I set my book aside and spent a few minutes cuddling him while taking in the ocean view. As Flapjack purred, I closed my eyes and focused on the way the light breeze played across my face, tickling my cheeks with stray strands of my hair.
The smell of the fresh ocean air and the sound of water rushing over a sandbar as the tide crept in helped to ground me, to settle my hectic thoughts. Muscles I hadn’t realized were tight slowly relaxed and I found myself breathing more deeply, more freely.
What was it about this place that had such a calming effect on me? Even finding Jimmy’s body farther along the cove couldn’t spoil the tranquility the beach brought to my spirit.
A seagull cried out and I opened my eyes as the bird landed on the water, tucking in its wings to float and bob about on the waves. I drew in a long, deep breath of air full of the smells of the beach. As I exhaled, I stood up, holding Flapjack in my arms, and cast
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