Chapter 8 Luke

CHAPTER 8

LUKE

Luke pushed open the door to Ava Dove's new Pink Magnolia Tearoom, glad to get out of the chilly morning breeze, and glanced at the big clock hanging on the back wall. He had fifteen minutes before he was due at the bookstore for his morning shift. Fifteen minutes to find an answer to the question that had been clanging around in his head since he'd listened in on Tay Dove's discussion with his grandmother in the bookshop almost two weeks ago.

It was a pity he didn't know Tay well enough to ask her directly, but there was more than one way to skin a cat. Which was why he was here, looking for Tay's sister Ava.

He'd spent a considerable amount of time between that conversation and now quietly quizzing those people in town who were close with the Doves. While he hadn't found the answer to his question, he had discovered several useful facts about the intriguing Taylor Dove. First of all, he'd learned from Marian, the waitress at the Moonlight Café, that Tay was tight with her sister Cara, who lived in New York and ran some sort of elite matchmaking service. He'd also discovered from Zoe Bell, the vice president of the local bank, that Tay was deeply respected in her field and was on the cusp of having a book published about something called the "Casket Letters," whatever those were. And Kat Carter had offered a tantalizing tidbit, sharing that Tay was not only deeply private, but was known to be very stubborn. Kat had gone so far as to say that it would "take dynamite" to get Tay to budge once she'd made up her mind about something.

Which meant he couldn't fool around if he wanted to kill his boredom by joining Tay's intriguing research project. I'll have one shot at it, and if I blow it, that could be it.

He sighed and looked around the tearoom, a little surprised at how busy it already was. Ava was taking orders at the register, and she waved on seeing him. He waved back and then looked for a seat, realizing that the only ones open were at the counter. He headed that way and noticed that Dylan Fraser sat there. He was a tall and lanky man with auburn hair and beard who was dressed in his usual contractor wear of jeans and flannel. Dylan seemed to be a quasi-permanent fixture here at Ava's, which wasn't surprising, as he was dating her.

On his other side sat Blake McIntyre, the town sheriff and Sarah's boyfriend, his name neatly inscribed on the brass name tag of his uniform. Blake was a fit individual and had a no-nonsense attitude that probably made him very good at his job.

Luke slipped onto the stool beside Dylan. "Good morning."

"G'morning," Dylan said.

"Hi, Luke." Blake pulled his breakfast sandwich a little closer. "Your grandma let you out of the bookshop?"

"For a while." Luke waved at Ava to let her know he was ready to order whenever she had a minute.

Dylan grinned over his coffee at Blake. "Come on. Luke's running that bookshop. His grandma just doesn't know it yet."

Luke snorted. "As if she'd let such a thing happen." As sleepy and boring as this little town was, it was an amazingly friendly place. The high-rise in Atlanta where he used to live had over five hundred people within its walls, and he'd known the names of only three people—one of the security guards, the afternoon porter who delivered packages, and one of his neighbors who kept accidentally putting his condo number on her UPS orders.

That hadn't really bothered him, though. His biggest problem wasn't a lack of friends, but boredom. It was funny, but he couldn't remember a moment of his life when he didn't feel at least a little bored. From his first memories to now, the world around him had seemed as if it were a play being performed on a stage in front of him, while he was the sole member of a very uninterested audience.

School had been easy for him, even college. He'd majored in computer security, hoping for a challenge, but then he'd sailed through his classes without expending much effort. After college, he'd been swamped with job offers, but none of them had caught his interest, and, unwilling to sign up permanently for a job he didn't love, he'd ended up doing contract work at a friend's tech security firm just to help the guy out. It had worked out well, and Luke had made a mint and been able to travel to the four corners of the globe, too, which had been fun and had kept him too busy to get bored.

Now, though, because of Lulu, he'd changed his consulting business model from full-time to part-time. He worked whenever, however, and in whatever way he wanted. That also gave him—and now Lulu—a steady, although reduced, income stream. For a lot of people, that would have been the ultimate freedom, but although he loved Lulu to death, Luke couldn't help but feel as if he was caught in his own version of Groundhog Day .

Which was why Tay's research seemed so intriguing. He enjoyed figuring things out, whether it was something small like solving the weekly crossword or something big like successfully programming a hacker-proof firewall. Solving a real-life mystery would be the ultimate mind challenge.

"How's your grandmother?" Blake asked. "She looked spry when I saw her marching around town yesterday afternoon."

Luke had to grin. "She does march, doesn't she? Even with her cane."

"She's must have been a general in a past life." Dylan took a sip of his coffee. "Blake, I hate to mention this, but our man Luke here is a loser. He thinks he's too good to join a premier softball team like the Dove Ponders."

"Sheesh," Luke muttered. "Not that again." For the past two weeks, Dylan had been after Luke to join the local softball team for the Town-to-Town Softball Jamboree.

Blake eyed Luke now. "Too good, are you?"

Luke shrugged. "I'm still thinking about it." That wasn't exactly a lie. He did think about it, but only because he was glad he wasn't going to do it. Softball was about as interesting as watching mud dry, and he wanted no part of it.

"Sign up," Blake ordered. "We only have five positions left."

Which meant they were desperate, as they'd had six positions open two weeks ago. "I'd like to, but right now, I'm overwhelmed with work and Lulu's schedule."

"You'll be sorry if you miss out." Blake took a tentative sip of the coffee steaming on the counter in front him and grimaced. "Whew, that's hot."

"Stop drinking it black, then," Dylan said with a look of disgust. "Order a flat white instead." He picked up his cup and took a loud sip. "It's perfection."

Blake pulled his cup closer. "I'd rather get gored by a wild boar than order a—what did you call it? A fat bite?"

"Flat. White." Dylan turned his attention to his avocado toast.

Luke needed a cup of coffee right now and—the real reason he'd stopped by—a chance to talk with Ava about Tay. He glanced down the bar and eyed the clean, sparkling mugs lined up near the coffee maker, but Ava was busy at the register, ringing up other customers.

Dylan must have realized that Luke was trying to get Ava's attention to place an order, because he held up his cup. "Best flat white in Dove Pond—you should give it a try."

"Probably the best in the South," Luke corrected. "I have one every day, although I usually have mine around three in the afternoon."

Blake nodded wisely. "The three p.m. caffeine bump works wonders."

"Everyone needs one." Dylan leaned across the counter and called to the teenager with pink-streaked hair who'd just come in from the kitchen with a tray of clean cups. "Kristen, when you have the time, could you please bring Luke here a flat white?"

"Sure." She went right to work on it.

Dylan watched as Kristen fixed Luke's coffee, a gleam of pride in his eyes. "My daughter's a great barista, but she'll be an even better doctor once she graduates from high school."

"Medicine is a terrific field," Blake agreed. "She'll make crazy money."

Luke nodded. "She'll be able to support you in your old age."

Dylan slapped the counter and beamed. "That's my retirement plan in a nutshell. Everyone should have at least one wealthy, able-to-diagnose-kidney-failure kid."

Luke wondered if Lulu would make a good doctor, but then remembered how she usually tore the arms off her dolls while saying coldly, "They had it coming." Maybe medicine wasn't in the cards for her. "It's good your daughter already knows what she wants to do."

"Oh, don't let Dylan fool you." Blake blew into his mug, the steam rising. "Kristen doesn't know about the whole be-a-doctor thing yet. Does she, Dylan?"

Dylan sighed. "Not yet. I just thought of it on my way home from work yesterday. I still need to convince her of it."

Luke laughed, and Blake sent Dylan an amused look. "You love shrimp. I'm surprised you didn't decide she should become a shrimp boat captain."

"She gets seasick, or I would," Dylan admitted. "Which is why, instead of captaining a shrimp boat, my daughter is now destined for medical school. She's a straight-A student already. All I have to do is explain how the profession desperately needs new prospects filled with questionable fashion sense and loads of sarcasm."

"You make it sound so easy," Luke said. "It's all I can do to keep Lulu from wearing her tutu when we visit her momma at the prison."

Blake finished the last bite of his breakfast sandwich and wiped his hands on his napkin. "How does Lulu handle those visits?"

"Better than we expected. Grandma Rose and I visit Caitlyn once a week, but we only take Lulu once a month. It was tough for her the first time or two, but honestly, Caitlyn looks better and better, so I think Lulu knows her mother is in a safer place now."

"How long is she in for?" Blake asked.

"She was sentenced to twelve years, although we expect her to get out early for good behavior, so hopefully no more than ten."

"Ten years is still a long time."

Luke had to agree. "Fortunately, although Lulu is small in size, she's big in determination and personality, so she seems to be handling it okay. My only complaint is that she delights in being contrary. I never win any arguments, even the easy ones, which sucks. Just this morning she decided I'm too tall."

Dylan shot him a surprised look. "Too tall? Really?"

"She said it hurt her neck to look up at me so I shouldn't walk standing up straight." Luke nodded a thank-you to Kristen as she set his coffee in front of him. "I can change a lot of things, but not my height, so she'll just have to get used to it."

Kristen crossed her arms and leaned against the counter. "Anything else for you guys?"

Dylan and Blake shook their heads while Luke ordered a breakfast sandwich to go and then absently watched as Kristen left to put in his order. "I can't wait for Lulu to be that age."

Dylan snorted. "Really? I have to worry about school, homework, sulking, does she work too much or not enough, boyfriends— Lord, don't get me started. It's a long list."

"I worry about all of that now. Lulu is six and she's already dating."

Blake looked stunned. "Don't you think it's a little early?"

"She didn't ask for permission." And probably never would. "I wish Lulu was a little older. Then she'd be easier to argue with. Right now, she wins every argument by throwing up her hands and saying, ‘I can't deal with this right now.' And then she saunters off like she's a forty-year-old in desperate need of a fresh vodka spritzer."

Dylan laughed. "I stand corrected. Kindergartners are just as difficult as teenagers."

Blake announced, "This conversation is making me rethink the idea of having children at all. Plants are just as good, right? They freshen the air and none of them talk back."

Dylan eyed Blake up and down. "You think Sarah won't mind having plants instead of children? Can I be there when you tell her that? I'll record it and release it on the net."

"That'll trend." Grinning, Luke glanced at his watch and realized his fifteen minutes had come and gone. He looked down the countertop to where Ava was ringing up her last customer. The second she glanced his way, he waved. She stopped to pick up his breakfast sandwich where it sat waiting in the kitchen pass-through.

She placed the small white bag in front of him and then looked from him to Dylan and Blake. "What sort of trouble is going on here?"

Luke smiled and, more to irk Dylan than anything else, said, "Why, Miss Ava, you're looking as pretty as a peach this morning."

Dylan's smile disappeared, and he narrowed his eyes at Luke.

Ava laughed as she leaned against the counter. She looked a lot like Tay, but was shorter and had much longer hair, which was neatly braided. She sent him a curious look. "What's got you out and about this early? You don't normally visit until Lulu comes home from school."

"I wanted to see you. I have a question about your sister."

Dylan straightened in his seat, while Blake turned to look at him.

"Ohhh!" Ava leaned forward, her eyes bright. "Which one?"

"Taylor. I don't know her well, but I need to ask her for a favor, and I thought you might know the best way to approach her."

Dylan elbowed Blake. "This is getting interesting."

"Very," Blake agreed.

Ava patted Luke's arm. "Ignore them or they'll take it as encouragement and talk more. What favor do you want from Tay?"

"I'd like to help her with her research."

Ava's smile dimmed. "That's a tough one. My sisters and I always promise to help her, but to be honest, we're just being polite. We have no idea how to do any of the stuff she does, and the few times we did try to help, you could tell she didn't think we did it right, anyway. She hates being interrupted when she's working, too, so… Honestly, I don't know what to tell you. When it comes to research, Tay would rather be left alone."

That wasn't at all what he wanted to hear. "I'm really good with online searches. And I know she wants to see the Day family records, so she's going to need help getting past my grandmother."

"Getting past her?"

"Grandma Rose believes William Day is a stain on the family history and hates even hearing his name. Heck, I'm a part of the family, and I wouldn't have even known about the train robbery he took part in except for my parents. Grandma Rose won't give Tay access to the family archives if she thinks Tay's shining too bright of a light on William."

Ava looked concerned. "Can you help Tay get access to those records?"

"I can try. Grandma Rose is a bit paranoid when it comes to William. She's even worried that Tay's research could attract treasure hunters who will tear the town apart."

Blake had just dropped his napkin on his empty place, but he looked up at that. "As town sheriff, I have to agree with your grandma about the treasure hunters. What with social media and the like, things could get ugly fast."

Dylan eyed Luke over his cup of coffee. "You're quite the gentleman, offering to help Tay. Maybe later you can carry her books home from the library, too."

Ava cut him a hard look. "If you keep that up, I'll put you on our blacklist."

Dylan's smile disappeared. "You have a blacklist?"

"Yes. You can still come here, but your coffee will be lukewarm from that day on."

Dylan gripped his cup protectively. "Don't joke about my cof-fee."

"Who's joking?" She took a dishrag from its hook and wiped down the counter. "Luke, I hope your grandmother doesn't give Tay a hard time about those family archives."

"So do I. I'm intrigued by the whole story—the train robbery, the unknown link between our ancestors, the lost gold—all of it. It's fascinating and, to be honest, things are kind of slow for me lately."

"So it's not really Tay you're interested in." Ava seemed disappointed to discover that.

Luke hated to let her down, but the truth was the truth. "I'd like to help her with her research if I can. In return, I'll do my best to make sure she gets access to everything she needs."

"That seems like a fair bargain." A flicker of concern crossed Ava's face. "She takes her work seriously. I don't think she slept at all last night. Her light was still on this morning."

Blake frowned. "She'll wear herself out doing that."

Yet more evidence that Tay needs my help. "Ava, what's the best way to approach your sister about this? Any hints?"

"Explain to her why you want to help and what you'll do in exchange. I can't promise that'll work, but she's a pretty direct person."

"I'll try that, then." He hadn't gotten as much help as he'd hoped for, but it was a start. He glanced at the clock and then pulled out his credit card. "I should head out. Grandma Rose will have a cow if I'm late."

"Sure." Ava took his card and left.

Blake shot a curious look at Luke. "Are you so bored that research sounds like fun?"

"Secret codes sound like fun. Even Grandma Rose was intrigued when Tay mentioned them."

"Really?" Dylan asked. "I mean, Wordle is great, and a sudoku is okay if you're stuck in the dentist's office, but where's the fun in an unsolvable secret code?"

"No puzzle is unsolvable," Luke said.

"If Tay and the rest of the world's overly enthusiastic historical researchers can't figure it out, neither will you."

"Doomed to fail," Blake agreed, finishing his coffee.

Luke looked around. Where was a glass of tossable water when you needed one?

Ava returned. "Leave Luke alone, you two." She slid his credit card, the receipt, and a pen across the counter to him. "I hope you can convince Tay to let you join in. Even if you can't solve any of Sarafina's codes, Tay could use some help."

Dylan smacked Luke on the shoulder. "Awesome! You just have to expend some effort, not get results."

Blake pushed his empty coffee cup away. "Sounds too good to be true." He stood. "If you all will excuse me, I've got to get back to work. Ava, it's good to see you." He waved and headed for the door.

Ava reached over and poked Dylan in the chest. "Don't you have work to do, too?"

He sighed. "I'm being dismissed." He stood and collected his coat. "Luke, I'll see you around. Don't forget the Dove Ponders, will you? We need you on the team."

"Look for someone else, and soon."

"Nope, just keep thinking about it. Bye, y'all." He winked at Ava and left.

Luke picked up the bag holding his breakfast sandwich. "Thanks for this." He started to leave, but then stopped and turned back to Ava. "Where is Tay today?"

"In Asheville. She said she'll be going there for the next few days, as she's searching the court archives for trial transcripts. But , this coming Friday"—Ava stacked the empty plates and mugs—"she's meeting some friends for lunch at the Moonlight Café. I heard her making plans on the phone this morning."

"If I don't see her beforehand, I'll catch her then."

"Don't let her turn you down. She seems a little lost since she got back. Just be persistent."

"I like having you in my corner. It's nice."

Ava grinned and carried the dirty dishes to a nearby tub. "You're doing us all a favor. Tay's always been happier hidden off in a corner somewhere. That was fine when we were kids because there were so many of us that even then she was still in the middle of our madness. But now she's alone way too often, sometimes for days. Who does that?"

He sometimes did. Or used to, before he'd gotten Lulu. Programming work was like that, and apparently so was academic research. "Thanks for your help, Ava."

"Good luck. I— Oh, there's a customer. See you around." She headed to the register.

Luke left, tugging his coat closer as he stepped out into the cool morning air. It was up to him now. Somehow he had to convince Tay to let him in on the most exciting treasure hunt this town had ever seen, one with a real-life secret code to solve and the possibility of an age-old lost treasure, too. Better yet, the whole thing would happen under the supervision of a very pretty, somewhat mysterious, rumored-to-be-magic college professor. It's like Agatha Christie meets Harry Potter.

Grinning to himself, he headed for the bookshop, the cool and crisp air invigorating. The first thing he had to do was convince his grandmother to give Tay the key to the Day family archives, which was a difficult, if not impossible, task.

Well, he'd wanted life to get more interesting, hadn't he? Straightening his shoulders, he headed for the bookstore, ready for battle.