Chapter 6

Chapter

Six

G race waved Cat over to a booth as soon as she opened the coffee shop door. Grace must have been here early as every table and booth was filled. Cat went over and greeted the woman, taking her hat, scarf, mittens, and coat off before scooting into the other side of the booth. She saw a menu on the table. “Do we order up front,” Cat asked as she looked for a counter. She hadn’t been at this coffeehouse before.

“No, they’ll come by in a minute. I know the owner and she likes hiring college kids so if they do sit-down service, she can hire more people. Katie has such a big heart.” Grace pointed to the menu with her long fingers that had several diamond rings on each hand. As well as a nice manicure. Cat wasn’t sure the last time she’d even had a manicure. Probably when her last book was released, just before she’d gone on the book tour. She liked to look professional so she packed suits to wear and even had her hair done before the tours started.

Grace looked like she dressed like this all the time. She had a beautifully draped blue blouse with a leather jacket over the top. Her hair was light brown with sunny highlights. “I’m so glad we’re doing this. We didn’t live here when your ex-husband was on staff. I’m sure if we had, you and I would have been best friends.”

Cat kind of doubted that, but she smiled and nodded anyway. “So when did you move to Aspen Hills?”

“Five years ago? Time flies. Ronnie, that’s my husband, he teaches in the business department. He wanted to be a lawyer but got tired of school, so he got an MA and started teaching. He just finished his PhD and now he’s in school all the time.” Grace waggled her finger. “The moral of that story is to be careful what you wish for, you never know how the universe will interpret your wish.”

Cat sat the menu down. She knew what she was having. And maybe Grace was right, they could have been friends. “I know that feeling. I thought the only thing I ever wanted to do was teach, but then I got hired as a faculty member and the writing bug hit. Micheal was so embarrassed when I told him I was writing paranormal young adult. He wanted me to focus on literary studies. I love genre fiction and telling stories people what to read.”

“It’s too bad you don’t write mysteries, you could have a field day with Allen’s murder, am I right? He was such a sweet man. Hen-pecked, though. His wife always wanted more. That’s why I work. I want to be able to pay for my wants all by myself without some man telling me no. Of course, Ronnie doesn’t know the meaning of the word when it comes to me.” She grinned as the waitress came up to their table. “I’m going to have another one of these large mochas with real milk and whipped cream and a plate of your chocolate chip cookies.”

Cat gave the waitress her coffee order, black with two pumps of caramel, and then added a plate of snickerdoodles. They probably weren’t as good as Shauna’s, but she’d find out. And share with Grace. The woman seemed to have a sweet tooth.

After the waitress left, she turned back to Grace. “I’ve heard that Allen was involved in some money issues with the college.”

“Oh, that’s just rumors. They also say that Dante killed him and we both know that’s not true. Allen had his own money tree. He didn’t need to pick off anyone else’s tree. I wasn’t sure why he even worked. His wife had a trust from her father. He was a famous writer and set her up for life. Compounding interest is the true millionaire maker, am I right?” She smiled as the waitress delivered their drinks and cookies. “Thanks, doll.”

“I didn’t know that,” Cat wondered how Dante had missed that little bit of background. “Are you sure?”

Grace nodded. “Lucy and I were good friends. She even gave us a card from her money manager. I called once but Ronnie and I don’t have enough saved for them to even bother to talk to us. You have to be really rich. We’re just Aspen Hill’s rich. I heard you donated a lot of your ex-husband’s estate to the college. That was nice.”

“Our relationship was challenging so I thought it would be best,” Cat didn’t want to talk about Micheal, especially to someone who didn’t know the full story. “I’m so sorry for Allen’s wife. I know losing someone is hard.”

“The good thing is she’s got the kids, and the money doesn’t hurt either. I heard this morning that the college has already replaced him. They don’t let a body get cold, do they?” Grace asked as she ate a cookie. “I mean, he hasn’t even had a funeral yet. It’s on Thursday, at three in the college chapel if you want to come. I got the invite right after the announcement that they’d replaced him. I work for the fundraising department, but I work from home. I don’t think my personality fits into the small cubical they wanted to give me.”

As they talked, Cat started to relax. It was nice having someone to talk to who knew what it was like as the wife of a Covington professor. She’d had the same insecurities and crazy schedule when she was married to Michael even though they were both professors, Michael was more established and on the cusp of doing something great in the field of Economics. Cat had written a fictional witch academy book. Both were great accomplishments, but only one got props from academia.

By the time they’d finished the cookies, Cat realized they’d been talking for over an hour. “Sorry, I need to get back and check on the writers in this group. It’s their first official day and I like to be around as much as possible.”

The check had come by then and Grace threw two twenties on top, waving away Cat’s offer to pay. “I’ll get this. I hear that Maggie Martin is attending your retreat this month. She’s a force, that woman. She keeps her husband in line and had two Deans list kids the entire time they were in school. I don’t think she allows anyone she loves to be mediocre. I bet she was conflicted when they came to Covington. Not quite as prestigious as where she wanted to land, but it has way more perks.”

After promising to meet up again in a couple of weeks, Cat walked home. Her mind was filled with information she’d learned today. And the factors that didn’t feel right. Like Mike’s quick promotion after Allen’s death. And Roxie being passed over for the job.

As soon as she got back to the house, she made herself a cup of tea and sat down at the kitchen table. She updated the murder book she’d made for Allen’s death including the mystery of who was being light-fingered with the money which was Dante’s mystery that had started this. She could be wrong, but she felt like they all were connected. She just didn’t know how. Yet.

She had just finished with the updates when Seth came into the kitchen. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. She looked up and smiled at him, “Hey.”

“Hi, gorgeous. Sorry, I’ve been such a pill lately,” he reached out and stroked her face. “I’m just an insecure man with too much time on my hands. Are you doing okay?”

She’d take the olive branch. She leaned into his hand. It felt rough on her skin. A working man’s hand, her father had always called it. She sighed as he dropped his hand and took a drink of his coffee. “I’m good. I was writing down what I found out today about Covington and Allen Johnson. And before you hear it on the grapevine, I visited Dante at his office. He has so much security it’s a little disconcerting.”

He raised his eyebrows and asked, “What’s going on with Dante?”

She told him about her visit to the fundraising department and how she wanted to keep up appearances for the gossip train. “I guess I’m going to a funeral on Thursday.”

“I’d come with you, but the whole fake dating Dante thing,” he grinned.

“Sure, now you’re fine with the arrangement if you don’t have to go to a funeral.” Cat threw a napkin at him.

“I do what I can for the team,” he nodded to her notebook. “Give me that and I’ll add what I know about Allen and Lucy.”

She handed over the notebook and the pen. “Did you know she had a trust fund?”

Seth looked up at her. “Seriously? She was so down to earth. You never would have guessed.”

“Guessed what,” Shauna asked as she came into the kitchen with a basket of towels to fold. The first floor had a small laundry room next to the kitchen which allowed her to get a lot of things done at the same time.

Cat filled her in, while Shauna folded clothes and Seth wrote. She loved afternoons like that when they were all together. As she did, she went to the stove and dished up a bowl of soup for her lunch. She was starving.

After they’d finished, Shauna glanced at the clock. “What’s on the schedule for tonight? Do you need someone to run the writing sprint?”

“Maggie volunteered, but can you do it Wednesday night? She has a thing with her husband,” Cat remembered the conversation. “And do you want to go to a funeral with me? Seth has tapped out because it interferes with my undercover work.”

“I’d love to,” Shauna punched Seth in the arm. “You’re just afraid of funerals.”

“I’ll admit it, I don’t like them.” He pushed the book back to Cat as he stood. “I need to check in with Sam. He probably needs let out and fed. That dog eats more than his weight every day, I swear.”

When it was just the two of them, Shauna took Cat’s now empty bowl and put it in the sink. “That felt nice.”

She nodded, agreeing with her friend. “Like old times. I think we might just be over a hump.”

Cat hoped she hadn’t jinxed it.

Professor Ernest Turner was back to being the face of Covington College’s English department for the group. He provided Tuesday’s learning session. He liked to give the group his Hemingway talk and for a group of mystery and thriller writers, it was probably the best one in his roster. His lectures could get dry and the man loved hearing his own voice, so Cat tried to either bring work like edits or working on a schedule to the meeting or avoid it completely. Today she had marketing plans to make for the next release that should keep her from falling asleep.

She couldn’t protect the rest of the group, however.

He always came early and filled up on Shauna’s treats. The man was a widower and didn’t have the money to eat out all the time. A professor’s salary wasn’t a lot of money, unless you were in danger of being poached to a bigger school like Michael had been. Shauna had started making him a to-go box with not only homemade treats but also a loaf of bread and two quarts of whatever soup she’d recently made.

The woman had a heart of gold.

When they got started, Cat settled in the back. Maggie sat next to her; laptop perched on her lap. As she wrote, Cat glanced over. The woman was working on her book. It most definitely wasn’t a transcript of Professor Turner’s talk, even though, by the way he smiled at her, he clearly thought she was taking notes.

The good thing was he never asked questions until the end and that was just to see if anyone wanted something explained or expanded upon. Cat hadn’t taken any of his classes when she went to school in Covington. Somehow, she’d avoided it. Now, she was so grateful, but she felt like she paid for that lack every month when she had to listen to him drone on about the genius that was Hemingway. At least in Professor Turner's eyes. He was still watching Maggie Martin. He must have recognized her from a faculty event.

Cat had gotten a high number of words during her morning writing session, so she was in a good mood. Her agent had emailed to tell her that she’d gotten an extension on the Tori-goes-to-college book series. With a fat advance that would help support the house and their lifestyle for a few years.

Someday, she dreamed she’d make a huge advance on a stand-alone book. Enough that she’d never have to write again. She could finish all the restoration the house needed. And maybe they could take a long vacation somewhere like Tuscany. But she knew that even if that happened, she would write again. Even if she never sold another book, she’d write. Well, maybe. Maybe she’d go back to teaching and ignore the muse’s siren call.

If you ignored her long enough, she gave your book idea to someone else.

Grace’s words about being careful what you wished for echoed in her head. She went back to her work. Just before she was finished, she saw Maggie close her laptop and she realized Professor Turner was done and the group was waiting for her to end the session.

She jumped up and set her laptop down on her chair after closing it. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

As the group moved out to walk into town for lunch, Professor Turner thanked her for inviting him again and took the basket of food that Shauna had brought into the room as soon as she’d heard Cat excuse the writers.

“Cat, can you check on my schedule in the kitchen? I think I have the meetings for today wrong,” Shauna nodded toward the door, giving Cat an excuse to leave.

“Sure, just let me grab my laptop,” Cat said goodbye to Professor Turner and tried not to run out of the room. If he caught you in a conversation, you never knew how long you’d be there. Shauna loved chatting with the older professor. Or if she didn’t, she hid it well. Another skill learned behind the bar in her previous occupation.

“Oh, Catherine?” Professor Turner called after her.

Cat froze, made sure there was a smile on her face before she turned, and then said, “Yes, Professor?”

He looked between her and Shauna. He dropped his voice to almost a whisper. “I noticed Margaret Martin in your class today. Do you realize she’s the wife of the president of the college?”

“Yes, I know who she’s married to,” Cat wasn’t sure if the professor was just nervous about having one of the higher administrators spouses hearing his lecture or what. “Is there a problem?”

He used his index finger to silently ask her to move closer. Then he checked the doorway again, to make sure they were alone. “She had contacts with the same people your husband did before he died.”

Cat met Shauna’s gaze and thought about his words. Professor Turner knew the history of the college and he wasn’t comfortable with what that meant. “You’re telling me she has friends in one of the families?”

He shook his head and dropped the volume of his whisper even more. “No Catherine, I’m saying she is part of the family.”

Uncle Pete made an unscheduled stop that afternoon. He sat at the table where Cat, Shauna, and Seth were eating lunch. “I came right in the knick of time.”

“You’re always welcome to eat with us. You know that,” Shauna said as she stood, filled a bowl with chili, and pulled out a small plate for cornbread. She set that and the utensils in front of him. “Soda or water?”

“Water. Shirley’s on me to hydrate, whatever that means. Liquid is liquid in my mind. And there’s nothing wrong with a Pepsi now and then,” he picked up a spoon and took a bite. “Shauna, this is the best chili I’ve ever had.”

“Thank you, I think you’re exaggerating,” Shauna set a glass of water in front of him. “And Shirley’s right. From what I can see of your intake, your blood should be fifty percent coffee and the rest Pepsi.”

He chuckled, “That’s exactly what she said. I guess I do have some bad habits.”

“Are you heading back to the station after this? I can make up a basket for your dinner,” Shauna asked.

“That’s totally unnecessary but appreciated. I’ll drop the food at home before I go back, just in case I’m called out. This investigation has been a little touchy with the college and the families. Everyone wants an update every time I turn around.” He looked at Cat as he cut open a square of still-warm cornbread to put butter inside. “You ruffled some feathers yesterday.”

“By visiting the fundraising department?” Cat wondered who had complained.

Uncle Pete looked at Seth before answering, “And stopping at Dante’s office.”

“No worries, I already knew about Cat’s visit,” Seth said as he stood to refill his bowl. “We’re cool.”

“Well, I’m not cool with you hanging out with that character,” Uncle Pete turned back toward Cat. “Just because a tiger’s been in a cage at the zoo for years doesn’t mean he’s tame.”

“That’s oddly specific,” Cat said as she spread butter on her cornbread. “Anyway, who complained? I think it’s important.”

“President Martin for one. He asked if you were now on my payroll,” Uncle Pete reached for another square of cornbread. “And the new head of fundraising, Mike Tosan called and asked if you were dating Dante. That he was concerned for your safety.”

“He never even met me,” Cat said as she thought about the calls. It was one thing to follow up on the investigation, but this overprotection of her from people who barely knew her was new. “Oddly enough, Professor Turner just expressed a similar sentiment because of Maggie Martin being in the retreat class. He says she’s connected.”

“He said she was family,” Shauna corrected.

Uncle Pete choked on the bite of chili he’d just taken. “He said what?”