Chapter 2

“N o?” Doreen repeated, frowning at Mack. He had stopped by this morning for a cup of coffee, before heading to work. He always greeted her animals with a hug or a scratch behind the ears or a soft touch. She got a hug too, but that didn’t deter her.

Mack looked at her, a hint of a smile on his face. She glared at him, her hands on her hips. He shook his head. “Getting mad at me won’t change anything.” He bopped her gently on the nose. “You know the rules.”

“But you could change the rules,” she replied in a pleading tone. “I haven’t found anything that connects me to this case.”

“I know.” He beamed. “I’ve got to admit I like an awful lot about that.”

Her shoulders slumped. “You could at least throw me a bone.”

“A bone?” he repeated in astonishment. “A bone to you is something completely different and would get me in major trouble.”

She raised both hands in frustration. “But then I can’t work on your current case, not without a cold case to tie in with it.”

“I know,” he agreed, with an even bigger grin. “So just think. I get to work this case on my own.”

“You’ll need my help,” she stated, and then she grinned. “I could just wait until you ask for help.”

He sighed. “I get that you’ve become a force unto yourself, but we did have a very successful department before you came to town. You do know that, right?”

“I know,” she muttered, and her smile fell away. “I’m bored.”

He looked at her. “How can you possibly be bored with all the arrangements Nan appears to be getting into for this party?”

Something in his tone was ever-so-slightly off. Doreen winced. “Has she asked for your help too? I told her that I could handle it,… that you were busy and to leave you alone.”

He faced her, and half a smile peeped out. “You can tell Nan whatever you want,” he began, “but you and I both know Nan does exactly what she thinks she should do. No one tells her to do anything.”

“You won’t get an argument from me on that point,” Doreen conceded, with a sigh. “I am sorry though. She must be getting in your face.”

“You mean, like you’re getting into my face?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“I’m not though,” she protested. “I’m just trying to lend assistance. How could you be suspicious of that?”

He groaned. “And here we are again. Believe it or not, we were doing just fine investigating and solving crimes before you ever showed up in Kelowna.”

“I understand that,” she admitted, “and I’m really not trying to make it sound as if you can’t do your job without me. Honestly, if I were to be truthful,” she began, as she cracked her knuckles, giving away that she was on edge, “it’s me who can’t do without you guys.”

He stopped and frowned at her. “Don’t you have anything else to do?” he asked, a little bit of worry creeping into his tone.

“Not really.” She shrugged. “It seems as if nothing is going on right now. And how is that even possible?” she muttered. “I mean, I don’t want to look forward to a case that’s dangerous or edgy and could get me into all kinds of trouble.” The problem with that statement was how she couldn’t keep the hope out of her tone as she said it.

Mack shook his head. “You, my dear, have a problem.”

“I have a problem because I don’t have a case to work on,” she exclaimed, showing her palms, “and you could help with that.”

“No, I can’t.” He leaned over and kissed her, before she had a chance to reply. “I have to get to the office. I just popped in to see how you were doing.”

“I’m fine,” she muttered in a forlorn tone.

He burst out laughing. “That won’t work on Mugs, and it sure as heck won’t work on me. Besides, you told me how you have all that estate stuff to deal with.”

She shuddered. “Yeah, and do you have any idea how much all that requires? It’s all about intense tiny details,” she muttered. “I mean, it’s all signatures and documents and statements and dates. There’s a lot to it.”

“You’ll be a wealthy woman now,” he pointed out, “so you need to look after it.”

“I know, and I’ve got to find somebody I trust to help. Normally that would be Nan, but she told me that I should pick someone younger,” she noted, with a shiver. “That’s a bit of a challenge too.”

“As much as I hate to even say it, I have a suggestion. Bernard .”

She had met him a while back on one of her cases and knew that Mack didn’t particularly like him, but he had money and seemed to be level-headed in his approach to life and living and spending versus investments. Plus, she found out with a little internet searching how he donated money to those less fortunate. So, in theory, he could help her sort out her money issues or at least point her in the right direction, maybe recommending a financial advisor. “Oh, that’s a good thought.”

“I know. I just don’t like the idea of your hanging around with him. He is quite the character.”

She smiled. “If you don’t have anything else for me to do, I might as well talk to him about how to manage my money. He should know what I need to do with all I’m getting from Mathew’s estate.”

“Is it really such a challenge?” Mack asked, amused. “I mean, most people wouldn’t consider having this kind of money a problem.”

“Sure, it’s not a problem now to pay my bills,” she noted, rolling her eyes. “Yet it is a bit of a challenge on how to protect it, how to make it grow into a bigger nest egg, how to help others without my going broke, and that’s the difference here. I don’t ever want to be poor again, and I want to have money set aside for Nan, as needed. Plus, I want to confirm that I can also help other people. However, I don’t know how to manage all that without getting hit with a ton of taxes,” she noted, frowning. “The tax thing… is just outrageous.”

He laughed. “I gather you didn’t have anything to do with tax preparation when you were married.”

“No, gosh no. That would have been considered far too complicated for, you know, a female like me.”

He grinned at that. “That was your late husband’s problem, and, considering he’s now six feet deep in the ground, it’s hardly a problem for him at all. And, while I won’t say I’m happy about his passing because that seems insensitive, I’m really not too upset that he’s out of the picture. And I’m really glad your name was cleared in the process of solving his murder, so now we can move on.”

“I know.” She sighed. “It’s been one heck of a year.”

“It certainly has,” he agreed. “You could also ask Nick about financial planners he could recommend.”

She grimaced but nodded. “I wonder why Nan keeps bugging you to help out with the party plans?” she asked.

“Honestly, she’s obsessed over this whole party thing.”

“Yeah, you’re not kidding,” he replied, again with a hint of an odd tone.

She gave him a searching gaze. “Are you not telling me something?”

“Nope,” he replied, as he walked toward the front door. “I wouldn’t dare.” When she frowned, he laughed. “Don’t you worry about it. I can handle Nan.”

“That’s good because she seems to think that nobody else can properly execute this party. She also thinks I might need a little bit of help handling you, by the way.”

He turned to her, and then real amusement took over his expression. “Are you telling me that she’s giving you advice on how to handle me?”

“Yes, something like that,” she muttered. “She seems to think that you’re so very different from my ex that I won’t really understand anything about you. As if I might fail at our relationship or something. It’s kind of demoralizing.”

“I’m sure she’s just doing it because she loves you.”

Doreen nodded. “I’m absolutely certain of that. She’s been in my corner always, but that doesn’t make this part any easier.”

He chuckled. “No, I don’t imagine it does.” He resumed his walk to her front door. “As much as I want to hang around and hear more details on this, I do have to go to work.” And, with that, he was gone.

She stood there on her front porch, hands on her hips, as she watched Mack leave, wondering what she did to deserve such a gentle and wise man.

Just then Richard stepped out from his house, frowned at her, and made to move back inside again.

She shrugged. “It’s safe enough,” she called out.

He looked around hesitantly. “Are you sure? No buses, no nothing?”

“It’s almost Christmas,” she noted, “so there won’t be tour buses.”

He frowned at her. “What about the Christmas lights tour buses?”

“Christmas lights tour buses?” she repeated in astonishment. “What does that mean?”

“They go around the neighborhood, showing everybody the fancy lights that people put up.”

“I haven’t put up any fancy lights,” she muttered, then nodded at his house. “Neither have you.”

“That’s true,” he agreed, yet looking delighted for a moment. “I was thinking about putting up a few though.”

“I don’t think ours would be considered fancy lights”—she indicated both of their homes—“no matter how many we put up. It really won’t be an issue for those tour buses to come here.”

“Yeah, you say that now,” he muttered dolefully. “Then I’ll look out one day and be under intense scrutiny from all the neighbors, once they have put up their fancy lights.”

She sighed. “The tour buses have been a trial. I’m sorry, Richard.”

“Yeah, you should be,” he muttered, as he stormed back into his house.

She wasn’t sure what he expected or wanted from her. It didn’t seem to matter, since he was the same whether things were going well or things were going badly. Maybe he was just a grumpy old man, and nothing could be said or done. He might always be this way, never content, which was probably not far off the mark. Yet she didn’t need to become a grumpy old woman to go along with it. Whatever his problem was, it was his problem, not hers.