Chapter 11

Chapter 11

After taking a quick shower and throwing my clothes into the washer, I worked on my paper. I'd given up on talking to Greg tonight. He was either avoiding me or busy. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt. When I woke the next morning, Emma had her head on the mattress, staring at me.

I reached over and rubbed the top of her head. "Ready to go outside?"

She barked her answer. Groggily, I followed her downstairs and let her out. The kitchen looked like I'd left it last night. Greg hadn't come home at all. He couldn't stand to have the table covered with anything, including a project, so he would have at least put my papers in tight little stacks. I'd left the pile on the table for one reason. I needed him to look at what the professor had written in his book. Or on the pages and tucked into his book.

I made coffee as I waited for Emma to come inside. I was so tired. I'd call off, but sadly, this was my business. If I called anyone, it would be to tell the staff that I was changing their hours, not to let them know I was tired.

I could whine to my aunt, but not my staff.

I got ready to go to work. Emma followed me around like I'd sent away her best friend and couldn't figure out why. Finally, I sat down and pulled her into a hug. "Look, he'll be home tonight for you to cuddle with. Right now, he's busy working, and I need to get to my own job. Then I'm going to the library to work before class. We ran yesterday, so today's your rest day."

She growled at me and stomped over to her kitchen bed where she flopped down, her face turned so she couldn't see me. If dogs could serve out all this guilt, what would having kids be like?

I headed into South Cove and noticed the lights on in my aunt's apartment above the Train Station. I took a chance that she'd pick up and dialed her cell.

"What's wrong? Why can't you work?"

I glanced up and saw her looking down at me from what I thought was her office window. "Who said I couldn't work?"

"Why else would you be calling at this hour? You don't look sick," she said as she stared at me.

I shook my head and kept walking. "Hi, Aunt Jackie. I'm fine, thanks for asking. And how are you this morning?"

A tortured sigh, long and loud, came over the speaker. I didn't have my headphones in.

"Sorry I jumped to conclusions. How are you today, Jill?" My aunt's voice was calmer. "How can I help you?"

I wanted to ask if she was out of her mind by retiring, but instead, I let it slide. "I got your note. If you're serious and this is what you want, we'll figure it out. I need to read your plan first, and I can't right now, not with finishing classes and my paper and helping Josh deal with Mandy's absence."

"Poor Josh. He's really quite a good man. I feel bad that he was hurt when I met Harrold. But what are you going to do when Cupid's arrow hits, right?"

"I think ducking would be your best choice."

To my surprise, my aunt chuckled. "Probably not a bad idea. I know you're busy, but I told Harrold I'd approach you with this. I think he believed that I didn't want to spend time with him."

That hit the guilt spot straight on. "I know you and Harrold deserve this time together. I just need to get past my graduation and figure out where we're getting married and get the announcements sent."

"Wait, I thought you'd settled on that mission?"

"Long story. Maybe we can get together on Monday? We haven't talked in forever. I can't promise that I'll have read and understood the proposal yet, but maybe we could just talk in general provisions." I crossed the street and dug out the keys to open my shop.

"Of course. Monday will be fine. I'll buy lunch at the place down the road that looks over the beach. We haven't been there in forever. It used to be one of your favorites."

I was surprised my aunt had remembered. I'd loved watching the waves as we ate. "I'll pick you up at one then. Do you want to make reservations and call me if there's a problem?"

"I'll do that. Jill, I love you."

And then she hung up on me. No goodbyes, no more conversation. She was done talking, so the connection was severed.

That description was a lot like the way my aunt treated everyone. Except Harrold. She adored my new uncle. And I was glad they'd found each other after a lifetime without even knowing the other person existed.

Commuters started showing up early. I could tell when the workweek was going on a little longer than someone wanted. People who usually came in on Friday showed up a day earlier, needing coffee. I remembered those types of weeks when I used to work in family law. Especially if I had court those days.

I offered a double chocolate chip cookie to one of my regulars, and she jumped on the upsell.

"How do you always know when I need an extra hit of sugar for my day?" Charlotte asked as she set down a new romance to purchase and pulled out her wallet.

"When things are calm, you read time management and business books. When you're stressed, you go back to the feel-good romances." I rang up her purchase and went to make her coffee. "I did the same thing before I moved here and changed my life."

"I suppose a second bookstore in South Cove wouldn't be appropriate, right?" Charlotte winked at me as she signed the charge slip and tucked the book into her Michael Kors bag.

"I think we'd have trouble keeping both of them busy, but hey, if you're feeling froggy, jump." I handed her a to-go cup and a bag with her cookie. "I'd have to beg my sweets supplier not to sell to you. A lot of times, I sell more cookies than books."

"I'm too corporate to quit. I'm on the partner track, although I think it's more of a hamster wheel at this point. Someday, I'll have everything I want, and I'll call you from my beach house in Boca to gloat." She smiled and held up her hand. "Thanks, Jill. I appreciate you."

"And I'll send you a book to read."

Charlotte was right. I wasn't going to have a tidy nest egg at the end of this rainbow. But on the other hand, one of the tasks on my to-do list today was to write a book review. Charlotte probably had to try a murder case or something. I'd take my life over hers any day.

Josh walked into the bookstore, and I immediately regretted even thinking those words. He looked haggard, and I wondered how much sleep he was getting. "Good morning, can I get you some coffee?"

"Please." He glanced around the dining room that was empty now that Charlotte had left. "I wanted to talk with you. Ask you a question."

"Okay." I went to get his coffee. He took it large and black. One habit he hadn't changed when he started dating Mandy. He'd been dating my aunt before she met Harrold, but he'd been more attached than Aunt Jackie had been. Especially due to the age difference between Josh and my aunt. He was an old soul, but then he'd met Mandy. She'd woke up the younger side of Josh I'd never seen him enjoy. I wasn't sure what question he might have today, probably about the day I stopped at the farm stand to chat with Mandy. I put his to-go cup in front of him and refilled my own. Then I nodded to a table that was close by. "Let's go sit."

We sat at the table, and Josh sipped his coffee. After over five minutes of nothing—I'd been watching the hands on the clock on the wall move—I couldn't take the quiet. "So, what did you want to ask me?"

He bit his lip, then pulled out a notebook. He flipped to an empty page. He picked up his pen, then set it down again. Finally, he met my gaze. "Did you see the picture at Steve's shop? The one of Mandy as a teenager?"

Oh no. I'd been hoping he hadn't seen it. Especially after Steve had told me about Mandy and Tank's history. "I did. I'm sure it doesn't mean anything."

He made a short note. "That's the problem. It does mean something. Mandy told me about a guy she'd been crazy about after high school. Ted. She'd called him Ted. But I think her Ted is really this Tank person. The guy who's been helping me find the treasure."

"I know. I saw the picture too, and Steve confirmed it. But he was coming to town because the professor called him. Not for Mandy."

"What if he's the one who kidnapped her? He wants credit for the find if we do happen on Santiago's treasure. He's always talking about how much status it would give him at his museum job. And probably a book deal. People do crazy things to get their book published." Josh leaned back into his chair. "Tell me I'm imagining things. That he's just here to find the treasure because he wants to honor his favorite professor."

"I wish I could." I figured Bakerstown police were checking out Tank's alibi, but it didn't mean that I couldn't do some social media investigations. If he documented his travels, we'd know when he arrived in town and would be able to possibly rule him out in the kidnapping. Unless he'd hired it out.

My brain hurt.

"So Tank is Ted. I guess the fairy tale had to come crashing down sometime." He wrote down something else in his notebook. "He's here to save the girl, unless he's the one we need to save her from."

"Let's just find out more about Tank. I met him in class about three years ago. He was the professor's teacher assistant, but since he hadn't taken that class yet in his undergrad degree, Professor Wellborn made him audit the class. He was my study partner that semester. He joked that since we were older than most of the students, we were the only ones who really understood history." I stood and went over to grab my laptop. I'd look him up while we talked.

"Did he hit on you?"

Josh's question was out of the blue, but then I figured out that he was trying to determine if Tank could even have a friendship with a woman. For some men, especially men who looked like Tank, women fell into a different category than friends. Josh wanted to know if Tank was a player. I thought about our encounters, then shook my head. "No. He was fun. Easy to talk to. I even invited him over to the house for dinner one night, but I think he called off at the last minute. He was just a study partner. Then he worked with Professor Wellborn for a few years while he finished his graduate studies. The last I heard of him was an article in the school paper on how he was using his degrees and love of history to build a career. It was one of those ‘see what a degree can do for you' pieces."

Josh nodded. "He does know a lot about history. He helped me classify a statue I'd had around for years that was part of the Catholic missionary development in this area. If they'd put more effort into the settlement process back then, we'd all be speaking Spanish and be under Spain's rule."

"Maybe." History tended to tell the story of the winners in the fight. But sometimes, what happened was what was supposed to happen. I found Tank's Facebook page and started scrolling. "The last post he made was when he was on his way to Peru. He said he'd been called home for a bit and would be back online soon. That was a week ago. From this, he wasn't in town on Wednesday when Mandy disappeared."

"Okay then. I hoped he wouldn't be the bad guy in this." Josh stood and pulled out a five from his pocket. "I need to go open the store. Kyle had an appointment with his wife this morning. Thank you for your help in sorting out this Tank thing."

"Josh, just because someone posts something doesn't make it real." I closed my laptop and stood as well. I was going to say more, but then a couple walked into the shop and made a beeline to the coffee stand. "I'll talk to you later."

"We're going out on Monday again with the boat if you want to come. Eleven at the dock again." Josh waited for a response.

"Sorry, I already have an appointment." I didn't want to tell him about my aunt's business. Especially since it would feel like I was rubbing his nose in her happiness.

He nodded at the couple and hurried out the door.

I picked up my laptop, the money, and my cup. I'd go wipe the table later. I smiled at the older couple. "Are you guys staying the week or just day visitors?"

"We're at South Cove Bed and Breakfast for the week. How did you know?" The woman smiled at me. "I need more coffee. This one dragged me out of bed too early so we could go watch the day start on the beach."

"It's the best way to learn about a new place, Betsy." He glanced around at the bookshelves nearby. "Although, I need to refill my Tbr pile, so you get us some coffee while I find a book or two for the flight home."

"Oh, no, you're not getting books without me getting some." Betsy smiled and handed me her credit card. "Two large coffees, black. And two of those cinnamon rolls. We'll be back in a few to ring up the books."

The two disappeared into the stacks. I set down their credit card and made the coffees in to-go cups but then put the cinnamon rolls on plates with silverware. I set everything on a tray while I watched them stroll through the bookshelves, stopping when something caught their eye. Soon they were back with two books each and excited chatter about the books they'd left behind. As I rang up their purchases, I held up the store's bookmark.

"If you get home and want to buy one of those other books, I ship within the continental US." I handed a couple of bookmarks to them with the card and receipt. "Ordering is easy on our website."

"We might just do that." Betsy tucked the card and receipt away, then took the tray. "Okay if we take this outside to those tables?"

"Of course. And there's free refills on the coffee, so just let me know." I grabbed my washcloth and spray and headed over to clean the table I'd left.

They headed outside, then sat at one of the sidewalk tables and ate their rolls. I loved watching couples like that. Out in the world and exploring new places. I hoped Greg and I would continue to carve out time to just be us after we walked down the aisle. It was sweet.

Deek came in from the front and saw that I was watching. "Do you know them?"

I shook my head and headed back to the coffee bar, straightening a basket of napkins as I did. "No, just seeing my future."

He did a double take of the customers, then met my gaze. "I think that's your aunt's future, not yours. Or if it's yours, it's years down the road."

I started to say something, then realized he was right. Betsy and her husband reminded me of Aunt Jackie and Uncle Harrold. I'd thought I'd been drawn to evidence of the number of years in the relationship, but maybe, it was just the couple's comfort level with each other. "You're right. And I've got some news to share."

I told him about my aunt's plan to retire. "So if you have any friends who want a good part-time job, I think we can add one or two more people."

"Are you giving up your morning shift?" He pulled out his laptop on a table and then went to grab some coffee. He had a couple of hours until his shift, and depending on how the writing had been going, he either came down from the apartment or worked upstairs. I think he liked the noise, even though it was quiet, of the café to write in.

"I might cut down a few shifts." My mind was spinning about all the manager things I'd need to take over again.

"There are some things your aunt did that you could assign out."

I looked at him hopefully.

He laughed and shook his head. "I'm your author whisperer and the newsletter/website guy. I wasn't thinking me. I was thinking Evie. She's getting a business degree, right? Maybe you two could talk about her role changing to an assistant manager."

I blinked. Once, twice. Then I grabbed my book I needed to finish so I could write the review.

"What, is it such a bad idea?" Deek called after me.

I turned back, grinning. "No. You just made me realize that this might not be all on me. I'm going to talk to Aunt Jackie next week, but I think having an assistant manager is a great idea."

I settled into the couch in the back and waited for the next customer. I'd finished the book yesterday, but I needed to remind myself of a few plot points. If the store stayed quiet, I could finish looking it over and start the review before I went home to run with Emma before my class.

My worry list was decreasing, even if just a little.