15. Melly

15

MELLY

W e finished the wine, speculating about what Grannie told us, but we didn't come up with anything new.

"After I finished the selkie case today, I did some more research into Alfred and Sue," Elrik said softly.

I doubted Grannie or anyone else was listening in. Her neighbors on one side were as old as her and went to bed early, and the ones on the opposite side had gone to Europe for the summer. Grannie was absorbed in her show.

"What did you discover?" Turning in my chair, I faced him. The moon had risen, and a billion stars shone down from the clear sky, the light making his blue skin glow in a magical way.

"Remember the insurance paperwork he had her sign?" he said. "I found the company online. They're local, and they manage all sorts of policies for the residents of Mystic Harbor and the surrounding community. "

"Alfred urged her to sign the paperwork making him her beneficiary of a life insurance policy."

"Which means he's the only one who'll inherit."

"I haven't asked Grannie about their marriage yet. She was having physical therapy when I got here to make dinner, and she was tired after they were through. I told her to nap until it was closer to dinnertime."

"Maybe you'll have the chance tomorrow."

I was sure I would. I doubted I'd keep Creature Cones open if we had no customers. "The fact that Sue and Alfred are married is shocking, although I'll point out that it's relative to the stunning news Grannie just shared. But I don't see how their marriage or her naming him her beneficiary relates to someone poisoning Grannie's punch."

"From what I could gather by snooping in the town's private forum, Sue's policy could be worth millions."

"What?" I blinked up at him. "She was a kindergarten teacher before she retired. I wish they paid teachers more, but they don't. How could she have saved that much?"

"If she was frugal and consistently paid in for years, it's possible. Some of those policies will grow quickly if they're handled correctly."

"You discovered this on the Mystic Harbor forum? Although, it's private. I pretty much had to give a blood sample to be allowed access. I forget to go there most of the time, though I'll occasionally pop in to offer a discount coupon. I like to do things like that for the locals."

"It's a great marketing technique. "

"Exactly. One person has the coupon and everyone else comes with them and pays full price. I started the business because I love ice cream and there wasn't a shop in town. When my dad died, we discovered he'd named me his heir." I held up my hand and released a rueful laugh. "Don't get too excited. He didn't have much. Grannie had Hazel invest my small inheritance."

"I'm still surprised she was a stockbroker, though I don't know why."

"It's not the first career you'd associate with a pole dancing instructor. When she was young, she had a promising career as a ballerina, but she suffered a terrible fall and had to quit. She told me once she took up pole dancing for stress relief. Working the stock exchange must be nerve wracking. When she retired, she decided to turn her hobby into a career and teach."

"Have you taken one of her classes?"

"I tried but kept falling. Not enough upper body strength, she said. She suggested I lift weights. I wasn't excited enough about it to do that."

"It might be fun to see you twirling around on a pole."

"I know most see pole dancing as a sexy thing, but it's hard work. It takes a lot of strength, coordination, and balance. I'm more of a walking-for-exercise kind of girl." I twirled my empty wine glass between my fingers. "Hazel managed the money my dad left me, and when I moved back to town, I used most of it to open Creature Cones. I don't have a lot left; even used equipment is expensive. Thankfully, I had some left. I'll use it if something breaks, I'm injured and can't work, or my business slumps, which it's currently doing. "

How long would it be before I'd have to tap into my savings to keep Creature Cones open?

This had to get better. Please.

"Tell me what you discovered on the town forum," I said as a distraction from my worry.

"Alfred didn't outright name it, but someone was asking about Sterling in general, and he said they were a great company, that he had a friend who'd been paying into a policy for years and she'd saved millions. I realize I'm adding two to three and coming up with six, but I bet he meant Sue."

"They were friends for a long time before they married." Frowning, I tried to remember everything I could about him and their relationship. "She must've mentioned it to him. He talked her into getting married—"

"At the hospital, he said she was the one who peeked into the Elvis chapel and suggested they get married."

"People can be manipulated into doing things like that," I said. "How do you know it was Alfred posting on the forum about Sue's insurance policy?"

"His full name is Alfred Brightmore. Who else would use the screen name, Bright Alfie?"

"Ah." There was a good chance it was him, then. "Do you think Alfred put the Xylitol in the punch to ruin Sue's kidneys? As a pharmacist, he'd know it could be toxic if taken in large enough doses. Ironically, he called me awhile back and told me he was worried about Grannie. He thought she might have some early dementia. I shrugged it off, though I suspected he could be right. She was slowing down, forgetting things. "

"Which could be dementia but also just a normal sign of aging. I forget things all the time myself."

"Me too. However, when she fell and broke her hip and was in the hospital, they did a full screening and said she's as sharp as a twenty-year-old. Not one hint of dementia yet. If Alfred had been planning this for some time, it would make sense for him to frame Grannie for the crime."

"He suggested something like that at the hospital."

"If Detective Carter could be convinced this was an accident and due to her supposed dementia, the case might be dismissed. The local DA is sharp but not one to lock someone up over an accident."

"They'd let it slide?"

"Oh, they'd handle it in a legal way, but everyone knows everyone here, and the DA's parents were good friends of Grannie's for years. They might suggest Grannie wanted to make a punch with less sugar this time and added Xylitol instead, but messed up and dumped in too much."

"Is anyone in the club a diabetic?"

"I don't know. It would be a simple thing to suggest and even simpler to believe. Grannie's case would be dismissed. Her rep here in town would suffer, and she'd be horrified and embarrassed. You know how much she values her standing in this community. But nothing more would come of it but a slap on her wrist and a stern warning to me to take better care of her."

"If Alfred's involved, he could be hoping Sue goes into full kidney failure and dies since she's refusing dialysis. He'd collect the insurance money and while some might be surprised to find out the two had secretly married, he'd probably have a ready excuse everyone would believe. If it even came out."

"Marrying her could be a ploy on his part to make sure no one else comes forward to claim the insurance payout."

"Does Sue have children or family?" he asked.

"She never married. I think she had a sister." I frowned, trying to remember. "I believe she died a few years ago. There are probably nieces or nephews, but a spouse would have a stronger claim, especially a spouse named as the beneficiary."

"You're right. No one would question him inheriting and if your grandmother is blamed for the Xylitol poisoning, no one would bother questioning Alfred. I read more about kidney failure online earlier. If her solitary kidney is as bad as she says, she probably won't live more than a few months."

My throat choked off with pain. I couldn't insist she do dialysis, not when she was making her wishes plain, but it hurt to think I'd soon lose the woman I considered a second grandmother.

"Someone needs to screenshot Bright Alfie's posts," I croaked.

"I already did, though they're not incriminating." Elrik took my hand and squeezed it. "I'm sorry. Sue's a sweet lady."

"About once a month, she brought me chocolate chip cookies. She knew I loved them, and Grannie never liked to bake. Grannie thought store-bought cookies were good enough, but they're not. They can't compete with those made with love."

"Maybe she'll change her mind."

"I doubt it, but I'm going to make sure she knows I love her and that I respect her wishes. That I'll miss her." Tears started trickling down my cheeks.

He scooped me up in his arms, settling me on his lap. "I'm sorry. It's always hard to lose someone you love." Sitting back on his recliner, he stretched out his legs.

"You haven't shared much about your family." I needed to stop going over this in my mind. One stressor had been piled on top of another, and I didn't want to be sobbing when I went back inside. That would upset Grannie, and she'd never been one to find sympathy for someone in tears. "You mentioned your brother. Do you have other siblings? I was an only child."

"I just have the one brother, Thad. He's older than me by eight years. We weren't close growing up. I think he resented having a new baby take his place."

"That's sad. I can't imagine how wonderful it would be to have a brother or sister to play with. To talk with as you grow up together. I had my mom who was often as stilted as Grannie, but she worked two jobs to support us after my dad left her. And when she got home, she was tired. She'd loved me; I knew that. But life was tough for us. When Mom died, Grannie took over my care. I'd stayed with her during school vacations and a few weeks each summer, but she wasn't used to having a child running around all the time. She encouraged me to have friends over, but that couldn't replace a sibling."

"I'm sorry."

"Why? "

"Because it sounds like you've had a sad life. I only want the best for you."

Was that him? I was beginning to suspect my life would be full of sunshine and happiness if we found a way to be together.

"Would you like to take a walk on the beach?" he asked. "You said you enjoy them."

"Sure. Let me go tell Grannie where we're going and make sure everything's set up for her to settle for the night."

We got up and he followed me inside.

"Is the evening over?" Grannie asked, setting aside her knitting and turning off the TV. Her show must've finished.

"We're going to take a walk on the beach," I said. "I wanted to say goodnight and make sure everything's ready in case I'm not back before you go to bed."

"You go on." Her smile rose as it slid from me to Elrik. "Have a nice walk. I love seeing you with a nice young male like Elrik. He's responsible. Respectful. And such a gentleman."

My face heated but I shot him a grin. "He is pretty sweet."

She nodded. "That he is."

I went to her bathroom and set out the things for her dentures, plus her mouthwash and the pills she took before bed each night. Since her vision wasn't what it used to be, I filled her medication set each week for her.

I got her a new water glass and placed it on the sink. Inside her bedroom, I turned down her blankets and laid out a clean nightie. I also shut off the lamp, leaving only the nightlight glowing in the corner, just the way she liked it.

When I stepped into the living room, I paused, watching Elrik sitting next to Grannie, admiring the mittens she'd already made. She must've pointed out the basket full of them sitting near her side table.

While he went through them, admiring the colors and the tight knit, she was outlining his hand on a piece of paper. She'd be crafting ice lord mittens within a week, and if I knew Grannie, she'd insist Katar come over so she could create a pattern for mittens that would fit an orc. He'd receive at least one pair for Christmas.

"I'm almost finished," Grannie Rose said, shooting me a smile. "There." She held up her pencil. "I appreciate it, Elrik."

"Of course." Before he stood, he leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I hope you sleep well." Rising, he went around the house, checking all the windows and the front door, making sure they were locked. He came over after to stand behind me, his warm hand on my shoulder.

"I can handle everything else, dear." Grannie held up a book entitled Enticed by an Alien Warlord . "I'm reading an alien romance tonight." She wiggled her eyebrows. "I can't wait to get to the steamy parts."

Once again, my grandmother surprised me. Did her friends know she read alien romance? I doubted it.

We left, making sure the back door was locked behind us.

"The beach isn't far." I waved in that direction. We were close enough we could hear the crash of the waves on the shore and smell the salty brine in the air. "It's quiet at night. All the tourists have gone to bed or settled inside their rentals, though you probably know that already."

"You heard I own a place on the water."

My cheeks heated. "Carla told me. I wasn't snooping."

"I don't mind even if you were snooping. Feel welcome to ask me anything. I'll happily share."

Holding hands, we walked down Grannie's driveway and turned right. The beach was only two blocks away.

"Granny can't see the ocean from her home, but she can smell it and feel it nearby," I said. "She used to tell me that the ocean was a part of her. It floats in her blood and has sunk into her bones. She can't bear to be too far away from it."

"Does she go there often?"

"I bring her at least weekly. We drive, of course, and she can't get down to the sea yet. We sit on a bench, though, and that's almost as good. At least she can put her toes in the sand. She hopes to walk there again soon. It's taken her a long time to recover from her fractured hip. The social worker at the hospital told me Grannie might not get strong enough to leave rehab, but she was determined. And with me next door to help out, she had options. She progressed well with rehab and came home sooner than most people her age do after a fall like that. She had surgery, and the spot still bothers her sometimes, but she refuses to let it slow her down—for very long, that is."

"She didn't use a walker before?"

"Nope. She was as spry as us."

The sidewalk emptied into a small parking lot for residents of the buildings on either side, and we wove among the vehicles to reach the beach.

On the edge, I sat on the wooden bench and took off my shoes. "This is where we sit." I nudged my head toward the parking lot behind us. "They don't mind if I park there for a short time."

We left our shoes under the bench and strode out across the wide sandy beach, not stopping until we'd reached the water. Facing it, we remained in place, taking in the moon shimmering as it etched its way across the inky surface and the soft swish of the waves sliding toward us before retreating backward. A few people passed behind us, but the place was basically deserted.

"It's gorgeous," he said. "I didn't grow up near the ocean but like Grannie Rose, I feel like it's in my blood. I have a deck, and I love sitting there at night, listening to the waves and the call of the seagulls."

"I understand what she means about the ocean being in her blood. When I go inland, even for a short time, I miss it. It's like there's a thread between us. It stretches but it's always trying to tug me back to where I belong."

"I can feel that."

"The water's calmer here on the bay side of the Cape. The open Atlantic side has stiff cliffs and crashing waves. You can't swim there often. Too many riptides. But it's dramatic and furious, like that side is the wild sister who grew up doing whatever she pleased, and this side is the calmer, more sedate sibling who does what she's told."

"Which side calls to you most, Melly?"

"Oh, the Atlantic." I flashed him a smile and held out my hand. "Let's walk. The tide's out, and we might find a few shells."

He took my hand, and we strolled, him walking in the water with it gliding up to swirl around his ankles, me with it kissing my toes.

"Since you love the ocean, you must've enjoyed visiting your grandmother," he said.

"Mom and I lived about forty minutes away, closer to Boston. When Mom sent me to stay with Grannie, I spent all day long here. I'd make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, fill a water bottle, pack up the sand toys, and come to the beach." We continued to stroll along the shore, kicking at the waves and pausing only to lift a pretty shell we'd toss into the sea.

"I grew up close enough to the glaciers that I could hike across them," he said. "It's a sharp contrast to this. Like the Atlantic side of the cape, the glaciers are the wilder brother where the green valleys are the tame brother."

I grinned up at him. "And which do you feel closer to?"

He squeezed my hand. "Definitely the wild one."

"I've seen pictures of deep crevasses and pristine blue and white ice that can be found far below the surface."

"When I was young, I'd attach a rope to my waist and tie it to a spike I'd drive into the ice. I loved climbing down into those gaps. It was both amazing and terrifying."

"What did your parents think about you doing that?"

"Honestly? I didn't tell them. But like the ocean is in your blood, the ice calls to me. It's part of my soul. "

"I can't imagine. We get snow here in the winter, but it melts fast, and we have no glaciers. The only ice I've dealt with is some coating my windshield after a storm or slippery roads when I drive to work and walk inside my shop. Most businesses in town remain open all year round, though I don't imagine my ice cream shop will make much during the winter. No one seems to want to eat ice cream when it's freezing outside."

"I would." He squeezed my hand. "You know it's pretty much a cliché that you own an ice cream shop, and I'm an ice lord."

"I thought of that. I can handle the jokes that might circulate around town. Can you?"

"Absolutely."

"I used to drop my things about here." I pointed farther up the shore. Kraken's Keep, an exclusive seafood restaurant, was open, and people sat on the deck enjoying their meals and the view of the sea. "I would bring an umbrella and a folding chair, tying everything onto a red wagon Grannie kept in the garage."

"That must've been hard to pull across the sand," he said.

"I was a determined kid. I wanted to be at the beach, and I wanted to enjoy it in comfort. I bet if I ever go camping, I'd bring a big mixer and an extension cord I could plug in to run it."

Pausing, he frowned down at me. I liked how the moonlight played on his features, lighting his blue skin to an iciness I found incredibly sexy. "Why?"

"So I could make pizza dough."

"With the mixer. "

"I mean, I can make it without one, I suppose, but it's nice to have a dough hook to do the hard work for you."

"How would you cook your pizza?" He still didn't look convinced. Truly, he needed to go camping with me, something I'd only done a few times when Grannie sent me to summer programs as a teenager.

"On the grill, of course. You stretch it out and carefully lay it on the oiled grate. When it's partly done and browning nicely on the bottom, you flip it over and top it with cheese and everything else. You cover the grill and let it smoke and bake. Complete yum."

"I've got to try that sometime."

"Have you ever been camping?"

"A few times, if you count sleeping in an ice cabin."

"Brr." I hugged my waist. "You lay on ice?"

"My family owns an exclusive business. People and monsters come from all over the world to sleep inside our ice cabins and watch the northern lights ripple across the sky. Because they want to retire, my brother plans to take over the business from my parents soon. We don't lay on the ice. Each cabin has a full array of fake fur bedding, plus squishy furniture you can snuggle up on. Imagine sipping cocoa as you sit outside covered with blankets, staring up at the stars while the northern lights sway across the sky in blues, pinks, and greens."

"It sounds amazing." And fun.

"I'll go camping with you sometime—and we can make pizza—if you'll travel with me a different time to stay in an ice cabin."

"It's a deal."

We continued walking, sharing our favorite pizza toppings and the food we might eat when we stayed in one of his family's ice cabins. I liked that he could picture me there with him, that he wanted to share something special like that with me.

"You must've gotten sunburned during those summers spent here on the beach," he said.

"Not too much. I—well, Grannie—was careful. Even though I promised to stay out of the sun and put on sunscreen, she always insisted I wear a long-sleeved shirt that blocked UV rays, plus a big hat. I'm glad she made me do it, though I grumbled a lot back then. I still love the feel of the sun on my skin. It's part of the ocean. They kiss a lot and are very happy together."

" They kiss, huh?" Stopping, he turned to face me. "Who exactly are you talking about?"

"The sun and the ocean. The sunlight swoops down and kisses the crests of the sea, making it sparkle with pleasure. Haven't you seen that?"

"Right now, the ocean is cheating on the sun with the moon. I see lots of sparkling going on offshore."

"It's a reverse harem," I quipped. "The ocean has two lovers, not just one."

"Two, huh? What about you, Melly? Would you want two lovers?"

"I guess it depends on what the first lover has to offer and what he doesn't." My face ached from my grin. I started walking again. "Maybe a second could deliver what the first can't handle all on his own."

Elrik huffed and swooped after me, splashing through the water to pick me up into his arms. Turning, he strode deeper into the water as it surged around his thighs. He held me in his outstretched arms, growling as he threatened to dip me into the waves.

I squealed and clung to his shoulders, wrapping my legs around his chest. My sundress dipped into the water, but so far, my body hadn't. "Stop, stop!"

"Maybe you need to sample what your first lover can offer before you start dreaming about a second," he said with a smirk. "You don't know what you're missing."

"My first lover hasn't yet made an offer."

He stilled, staring down at me with a hint of vulnerability in his glacier eyes. "And if he did?"

"I believe he'd have to try it to find out what I might say," I said softly. Heat coasted through my veins. I couldn't wait to see where this might go next.

"Your potential lover has been waiting for you to say she's ready," he said gruffly, his sapphire gaze locked on mine.

"Perhaps I've also been waiting since my potential lover made a vow not to get involved with anyone."

"A vow that he has thrown away."

"Completely?"

He grinned. "Completely."

"Then I'm ready."

"Just like that?" he said, his eyes widening.

"Just like that."

"Mate," he growled against my throat. "You smell wonderful, like the sea and chocolate, and just you."

This felt right. So right.

"Mate," I said with all the emotions buried deep within my heart. "If you stay at my place tonight, we'll have to be careful. "

"My home isn't an option. We need to stay close to your grandmother in case she needs us."

I loved that he cared enough for her to feel that way.

He frowned, clearly thinking. "I could drive away and park my truck in the supermarket lot a few blocks over. I could walk back if this means you're inviting me into your apartment."

"I am." I winked at him. "Let's go back to my apartment, where we can talk about what my potential first lover might have to offer."

"I don't want to talk." He pivoted and strode from the water and up the shore. "I want to show."