Chapter 4

D oreen glared into the phone, wondering how everybody could have such a specifically useful way to view things, yet she felt as if she had absolutely no clue about anything. She had stepped outside to talk to Nick, wandering her garden while discussing Mathew’s estate. It was so cold out here that she was now chilled.

Swearing slightly, she headed inside to her kitchen and put on the teakettle. She and Mack had not mentioned anything about exchanging Christmas gifts, so maybe it wasn’t supposed to be a big deal. It would be hard to think of what she could do that wouldn’t be considered cheap, especially now that she supposedly had some money. She did have the ability to buy things, but she didn’t think that would be what Mack cared about. Then again, maybe she was wrong. Maybe he did care.

She groaned at that and then brightened. Her husband had kept a collection of watches, so maybe that would be something to consider. Yet she had no idea if she could even access those. They weren’t something that her husband ever wore. To him they were more of an investment. She remembered one conversation when he’d told her how he had spent some astronomical amount of money on one, and she’d had no idea that a watch could cost that kind of money.

When she had suddenly become single, she considered getting a watch to help bring order to her new and independent life. Yet she’d immediately dumped the idea because of the expected cost. It hadn’t taken her too long to figure out that, while some watches were definitely pricy, others were ridiculously priced. At least in her mind because she’d been so broke at the time. Now, however, she could see that, for some people, this was probably a major investment and a type of collecting. She just didn’t see the point in a lot of things in life.

She shook her head as she stood in the kitchen and realized that she didn’t have all the ingredients needed for shortbread. As she looked closer at the recipe to see what was involved, she figured it wouldn’t be so horrifically difficult to make shortbreads. She wondered if homemade cookies would be okay for Mack because it would show a lot of progress on her part. She decided to go to the grocery store, yet probably shouldn’t take the animals.

Intellectually it made sense that she couldn’t bring them in among the foodstuffs. She laughed as she imagined Thaddeus in the grocery store when she got to the fresh veggies. He would be all over the place, trying to get free samples. Goliath wouldn’t appreciate the stampede of people. Mugs would be making friends and interrupting her idea of a quick shopping trip. Plus, there would inevitably be those people walking up to her to exclaim, “You’re Doreen. The cold cases lady, with all her animals.”

She sighed and decided against taking the animals after all. Just as she was about to get into her vehicle, her phone rang. Doreen checked her screen. “Hey, Wendy. I haven’t heard from you in a while.”

“I haven’t had a whole lot of reasons to call you, and I don’t mean that in a bad way,” she shared. “Yet, just in case you need a little bit of Christmas money, I have a check for you.”

“A check?” Doreen repeated, drawing a blank.

“Yes, the last of the clothing and items from the house have been sold.”

“Oh,” Doreen replied in delight. “I would never say no to that.”

“I didn’t think you would.” Wendy chuckled. “So come on down and pick it up anytime.”

“I’m heading to the grocery store right now, so I can swing by your store beforehand.”

“Perfect. If you want, I can convert the check to cash, and you can use that to buy your groceries today.”

“I would love that,” Doreen replied. The poor person inside her head was already lining up just what that would look like in terms of groceries. She knew that mind-set was now silly, but, after being as broke as she had been this year, she couldn’t let go of those thoughts that easily. She didn’t even know how much money Nick had deposited into her account or even what her previous balance had been. So she would sort that out later.

Doreen drove out onto the street and down to see Wendy, spent a few minutes visiting, and, as she walked out, Wendy asked her, “Have you got any Christmas plans?”

“I do and I don’t. Mack and I haven’t really discussed that, and I’m really struggling with what to get Mack for Christmas.”

“Ah.” Wendy nodded. “Yeah, that’s sometimes a tough one. Is there anything he particularly likes?”

Doreen shrugged. “He enjoys cooking and eating and really likes his coffee. He doesn’t have time for hobbies. We like gardening, and he’s really good at building patio stuff, but I don’t know if he needs tools. I wouldn’t seem to be the right person to buy that sort of thing for him.”

Wendy laughed. “I get that, but you would be surprised at the things people come up with. Maybe there’s a book that he particularly wanted or something else equally fun.”

“Maybe.” Doreen shrugged. “I have to think about that some more.”

Wendy added, “It doesn’t have to be new, you know? It could be something you’ve made that is appreciated way more.”

“Yeah, I just don’t have any skills.” Doreen winced.

“You have a lot more skills than you know, and you’ve really been putting them to good use helping this town,” Wendy noted.

Doreen laughed at that. “My grandmother is determined to throw me a thank-you party next week,” she shared.

“I know.” Wendy gave her a bright smile. “I got an invitation.”

“Really?” she asked, looking at Wendy in delight. “I didn’t realize Nan was inviting people.”

“Oh boy, I think she’s inviting half the town. I will be there,” Wendy stated. “I wouldn’t miss it. We all have something to thank you for.”

“Oh, I don’t want that,” Doreen muttered in horror. “I would just as soon we skip all that.”

Wendy laughed. “You might, but a lot of people want an opportunity to be there and to see you receive thanks for all the work you’ve done for us.”

“Oh, gosh,” Doreen muttered, her face hot with embarrassment. She returned to her car, really hoping the party wouldn’t be one of those kinds of events. She’d always felt incredibly self-conscious for whoever was in the hot seat, looking as if they were suffering from all the attention.

It was a lovely thing for Nan to do, but it was totally unnecessary. It’s not as if Doreen had done all this for the fame or the spotlight to be on her. All the work, all her efforts and everything she’d done was because of the cases, giving closure to the victims’ families. The fact that solving a cold case also helped somebody else in the process was just a good thing occurring at the same time.

Groaning at the thought of so many people coming to the party, Doreen wondered if Nan needed help paying for it. As soon as she picked up a few groceries, she headed home and unloaded the groceries. Then she called Nan. “Hey, do you want me to come down today?”

“Absolutely,” Nan agreed.

“Do you need some money to help pay for the party?”

“Nope, we’ve got it in hand,” Nan replied. “See you in ten.”