A Sweet Death, page 3
part #3 of Stoneybrook Series
Hadley bit her lip.
“But?” her brother asked, reading her hesitation.
She exhaled. “I was hoping we would find something to set Miranda’s disappearance apart from the missing teenager from Cascade Ridge.”
“And the druggie boyfriend tie-in only solidifies it.” Paul’s shoulders sagged.
Hadley scuffed her sneakers against the polished wood of her parents’ kitchen floor while she breathed through the tightness in her chest. When she finally met Paul’s gaze, his eyes were narrowed, focused.
“We’ll find her, Had. We’ve got to.”
She nodded, emotion clogging her throat for a moment. “Do you still think Dennis had something to do with her disappearance?”
Paul ran a hand over his face. “If you’re right about the boyfriend, it’s much more likely he or someone much more unsavory was the last to see Miranda.”
Relief spread through her chest. As depressing as she found the candy shop owner, she hated to think someone in town could’ve done such a horrible thing. Something Paul had said stuck in her brain, however.
“Wait—” Her eyebrows rose. “Did you just say we? As in we will find her?” Hadley pointed to Paul and then back at herself.
“As in you are allowed to investigate. Yes. With a missing persons case, we’ll need as many people helping as we can possibly get. And as much as I still don’t like you putting yourself in harm’s way, I need you.”
Biting her lip to hide the smile that wanted to pull across her face, Hadley dipped her head in agreement. It wasn’t as if she thought she’d missed her calling and should’ve gone into police work rather than making jam. She loved her business and wouldn’t change a thing about it. But she and Paul had always done everything together; they rarely made decisions without talking to the other first.
Which was why his and Suzanne’s secret from her hurt all the more. Her gaze flicked over at him as he went back to his notes. Had she done something to make them think she wouldn’t be happy if they got together?
Going back through her mind, she listed the clues she’d found that had led her to believe they were involved in the first place. The lying, the avoidance, and the painted chopstick—one of Suze’s signature artsy creations always sticking out of her curly mass of hair, holding it up in messy buns—she’d found in Paul’s truck glove box. In the few months since she’d discovered one of her friend’s signature hair accessories, Hadley had often wondered if she’d blown it out of proportion, made it into something it wasn’t. But as much as she tried to convince herself nothing was going on, that her two best friends would never lie to her about something this important, her gut told her she was right.
She picked a last bit of clear polish off her thumbnail.
Maybe now was the time to come out and just ask Paul. Technically they hadn’t lied outright to her yet, seeing how she’d only asked leading questions, thinly veiled conversation openers.
But as Hadley opened her mouth to ask her twin bother the question, the sound of car doors slamming shut rang through the quiet house. A wide smile cut across Paul’s previously stern face.
Their parents were finally home.
4
Hadley’s heart practically burst as she opened the front door to her parents’ house to see their familiar black Subaru parked in the driveway. She raced forward, Paul’s footsteps ringing on the old wooden front porch right behind hers.
“Welcome back,” she said as her family spilled out of the car.
After giving her dad a quick kiss on the cheek, she made her way around to the passenger side of the car. Her mom’s dark hair had more gray streaking through it than last time Hadley had seen her so many months ago, to the point it looked shades lighter. But her tired eyes lit up when they landed on Hadley.
“Hi, honey. It’s so good to see you!” After making sure Gran was okay, she turned to meet Hadley in a tight hug.
Hadley breathed in her mother’s lavender-and-laundry smell, sinking into her embrace.
“I’ve missed you so much,” her mom said.
“Me too.”
Hadley and Paul had offered to come down and help with Gran’s house many times, but their parents had been adamant each time that they were only a week or so from coming home. That deadline had come and gone so many times, Hadley was beginning to wonder if she shouldn’t just show up unannounced.
Pulling away, Hadley moved toward her grandmother. “Gran, how are you?”
The slender woman was wearing smart, navy-blue slacks so crisp and clean they still had the crease running up the front and a soft, cream-colored waterfall sweater showed off a perfectly pressed polka-dot blouse underneath. Her white hair was gathered into a graceful chignon. Her blue eyes—the same that she’d passed to her son and he’d passed on to his children—were fierce and fiery.
She wrapped Hadley into a tight hug. “Better now that I’m here.”
The wispy scent of her signature perfume, Chanel No. 5, teased the air around her. Hadley stepped back, taking in her grandma.
“How are you?” she asked. Gran’s rosy cheeks looked fuller than when she’d seen her at Grandpa’s funeral.
Gran smiled. “Footloose and fancy free. Officially. Handed over the keys yesterday.”
Hadley chuckled. “Glad to hear the sale finally went through. Sure took you guys a while to sell a house on the beach.” She winked playfully at her mother.
“It needed a lot of work,” Hadley’s mother, Lauren, said, her eyes widening for effect.
“I didn’t help things at all, tumbling down the stairs,” Gran added, placing a hand over the hip she’d broken and had replaced.
While Hadley’s parents had originally gone to visit in hopes of cheering Gran up and keeping her company, they’d eventually come to the realization the house was too much for her to take care of on her own. Gran had agreed and accepted their invitation to move in with them, so they began the process of fixing up the house for sale. A few weeks into their renovations, Gran had taken a spill and broken her hip, pushing out their time line as they got her through surgery and the physical therapy that followed.
Gran grabbed Lauren’s hand and squeezed tight. “I just don’t know what I’d do without your mom and dad.” She looked from her daughter-in-law over to her son.
Hadley’s mother smiled warmly back. “We were glad to be able to help.”
“Anything for you, Mom,” Steven, Hadley’s dad, said as he and Paul rounded the car after having taken the luggage inside.
“Gran, you’re a sight for sore eyes.” Paul stepped forward and then enveloped her into a big hug.
“Paul, you get away from me with that prickly beard.” Gran screeched, but her tone was playful.
Instead of letting go, he kissed her on the cheek and hugged her tighter.
Any bite to her statement was softened as she laughed and swatted at him. Stepping back, Paul wrapped an arm around his mom.
Lauren beamed at her children. “Shall we get dinner started?” she asked.
Paul’s smile faded. “Actually, I can’t stay.”
“Does this have to do with Miranda?” Lauren asked. “I was talking with Josie on our way up and she said everyone’s devastated. I was hoping we’d arrive to good news and she would’ve shown up by now.”
Sighing, Paul ran a hand over his beard. “No such luck, unfortunately.”
“That’s just awful,” Gran said, wrapping her arms around herself. “Well, you get going, dear.” She patted Paul’s arm. “I’m here now, so I’ll get to see you plenty after you find that poor girl.”
Paul smiled sadly, then waved and headed to his truck.
The rest of the family went inside, crowding around the kitchen island.
Lauren pulled in a deep breath. “Gosh, it’s good to be home.”
“I don’t know, Mom. That salty sea air must’ve been good for you. All three of you look great.” Hadley leaned her elbows on the counter.
Lauren’s face adopted a wistful expression. She glanced at Gran and Steven. “It was lovely, but a lot of work. Stoneybrook is definitely more our pace. Plus, we’ve been going on for weeks about how much Gran is going to love it here.” Her brown eyes sparkled.
“Absolutely.” Hadley nodded. “There’s a quilting society and a knitting club. If you’re up to it, you could come to the farmers market tomorrow. They all have booths.”
Gran lifted her chin. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I also want to see your jam business. I’ve heard it’s taken off.”
“It really has.” Hadley smiled. Her weekly market sales kept her going, but it was her online sales that had been on the rise lately. She was almost contemplating buying another car now that her bank account had a little more padding.
After her then-husband Tyler had spent down all of their savings on an affair, she’d felt like she might never dig herself out of the financial hole her divorce had left her in. But she was beginning to see the light.
Not keen on getting in a conversation about her divorce, however, Hadley changed the subject. “You three sit down. You’ve had a long drive. Let me start dinner,” she said, pulling up her sleeves to wash her hands in the sink.
Hours later, Hadley left with a stomach full of dinner and a Tupperware container full of food to take to Paul at the station.
Despite the terrible weight sitting heavy on her shoulders at the thought that Miranda was out there somewhere, Hadley had to admit having her parents back made almost everything seem better. The sun was already hiding far behind the jagged mountain peaks as she jogged down the front steps. She felt warm and happy in a way she hadn’t in a good while.
After clicking on the chinstrap to her helmet and moving the chocolates in her basket to make room for Paul’s dinner, she got her bike ready for the ride back into town. Before embarking, she turned on her headlight, which cut through the darkness like a hot knife through cold jam.
The valley had yet to have its first big freeze, so bugs still chirped and clicked in the fields alongside the road as Hadley’s tires crunched through the packed pebbles. Birds sang long, lazy songs, and the air smelled of the first hints of woodsmoke. But it all began to fall away, leaving only quiet once she turned onto the smooth pavement of Fir Street. The wind rustled the oak leaves, yellow from the cold, and her tires hummed. She could’ve almost closed her eyes, it was so peaceful.
It was a good thing she didn’t, though. The roar of an engine, and the blindingly bright shock of high-beam headlights stunned her as a car came screeching around the corner of Fir and Main Street, cutting her off.
Her bike wobbled as her hands jerked in surprise. The ditch to her right loomed, and she was about to get better acquainted with the ground before she leaned to the left and pulled the bike back on course. Heart racing from the scare, Hadley squinted against the bright lights.
The glossy, white paint of the convertible shimmered as it zoomed past Hadley, and the silver Mercedes emblem glinted in the light from her bike. There was only one person in the valley who drove such an extravagant car.
Cassie Lee.
Hadley normally wasn’t one to pay attention to the types of cars the local teenagers drove—which tended to change often due to breakdowns and accidents—but everyone knew Cassie’s car. Not many eighteen-year-olds in the lower valley drove sports cars. Her vehicle’s flashy appearance, added to the reckless way she screeched through the Stoneybrook streets, made it difficult to miss the girl.
Her heart rate finally slowed down from the surprise, and she began to breathe normally. Still, Hadley didn’t feel completely settled until she reached the steady streetlights of the downtown portion of Main Street.
Seeing Cassie reminded Hadley of how she’d been so tight-lipped for Paul when he’d gone to visit earlier. The recent scare on her life still fresh in her mind, Hadley contemplated Cassie’s involvement in Miranda’s disappearance. Did Cassie seem like a person who could be responsible for hurting another? From what Hadley had heard around town, the teen definitely had the mean-girl, queen-bee act down, a role requiring a shocking lack of humanity or empathy.
Hadley chewed on her bottom lip as she thought. Cassie was a grade-A snob and could very well be declining to say much as an excuse to throw around her family’s influence.
Or…
A shiver skittered up and down Hadley’s spine as her bike tires whirred along the sidewalks around the town hall building. It was possible the girl was lying to hide something more sinister.
5
The next morning, Hadley bundled herself into her favorite quilted down jacket and trundled out to the Jam Van.
After dropping off dinner for Paul the night before—and dramatically complaining to him that her nice sisterly gesture had almost cost her her life—she’d decided to drop her bike off at the jam kitchen and drive the van home in lieu of braving the dark streets on her bicycle again. Even though she’d brought the near miss up to Paul in a lighthearted storytelling way, she had to admit the event had made her a little skeptical about her small town’s safety.
Tiny, cold raindrops stung her face as she walked up the path toward the driveway and added another thing to the list of reasons she was happy she’d decided to drive the van home last night. Climbing inside, Hadley shot one last longing glance at her cozy house. Ansel, her black-and-white cat, sat in the front window, watching her leave. She couldn’t see Marmalade, her orange kitten, but knew the spunky girl was most likely sitting under the sill, attacking the older cat’s tail. Ansel looked down and swatted at something below the window, proving her conjecture.
Hadley sighed, wishing she could stay home and snuggle up on the couch with her cats, a book, and a cup of steaming tea and wait out the gloomy weather. But today was Saturday, Stoneybrook’s weekly farmers market, and she had jam to sell.
Pulling the door shut behind her, she sank into the seat and sucked in a deep breath, sitting in the new car smell the delivery van still held. She swiped at her tired eyes and wondered if her brother had gotten any sleep last night. When she’d left him with his dinner, he and Kevin had appeared ready to pull an all-nighter. They’d just gotten the files from Cascade Ridge on the teen who’d gone missing last week, and they were combing through for any similarities.
A shiver trickled down Hadley’s back as she started up the van. Blinking one last time at the gray, cloudy sky, she pulled out of her driveway and turned toward town.
After parking in the alley behind her jam kitchen, she hopped out and began loading the boxes of jam she’d set aside to take to the market. While she worked, her phone buzzed. Her forehead wrinkled in concern when she pulled it out and read over the message from Suze.
Hey, nothing big to carry today, so I’m gonna drive myself. I’ll meet you there.
A pit formed in Hadley’s stomach. She sent back a thumbs-up because she didn’t trust her words—even typed—to not convey the disappointment she experienced at Suze’s announcement. They always rode to the market together in the Jam Van, ever since Hadley got it earlier that year. Sure, it was only truly necessary for Suze when she needed to transport a piece of art too large to fit in her powder-blue Mini Cooper, but it had become a sort of comfortable ritual Suze had taken her up on even when she’d only had a box of small prints she could easily fit under one arm.
Drops of rain gathered on her phone screen as Hadley stood in the alley. Maybe Suze was running late. The woman was known for her scattered sense of time, usually arriving anywhere she went at least fifteen minutes behind schedule. Hadley’s aching heart relaxed a bit.
That’s probably it. She doesn’t want me to have to wait for her. Giving a decisive nod, she pushed the worries and doubts away and loaded the last box into the van.
Her phone beeped again.
Text me when you get here and I’ll come help you with the tables and the canopy.
Oh, so Suze was already at the market. The stabbing ache of doubt hit Hadley full force once more. Suze never got to the market early. What was going on? Slamming the van door vented most of her frustration, but she couldn’t help the river of scenarios rushing at her as quick and forceful as the great Cascade River which flowed through their small town.
Maybe she was meeting Paul for breakfast, and was already down at that end of town, so she didn’t want to come all the way back here?
The thought would support the fact that Suze and Paul didn’t know Hadley knew about their secret and were still trying to hide the relationship from her. Hadley chewed on her lip. The only problem with that scenario was the town hall and Fenton Park end of town was only a few blocks away, so it wouldn’t have taken Suze more than two minutes to drive back.
Which means maybe Suze just doesn’t want to hang out with me as much anymore…
Hadley hated the tight sensation in her chest as the idea swirled through her mind. She and Suzanne were adults, grown women. This kind of friendship drama didn’t have a place in a thirty-year-old’s life.
But as she locked up and headed around to the driver’s side, concern only wormed its way deeper into her heart. She almost considered not texting Suze when she pulled into her usual spot in the parking lot, proving the anxiety had latched on and made a quick home in her.
“Don’t be silly, Hadley,” she told herself, texting Suze after all.
Her shoulders tensed when she saw Suze cresting the small hill between the market and the parking lot a few moments after she sent the message. She focused on pulling open the van’s door and setting out the wagons they used to cart their supplies back and forth.
“Hey.” Suze stopped next to Hadley, grabbing the other end of the foldable cart and clicking it into place.
When it was open, the two women stood eye to eye. Suze pushed a damp curl out of her face and said, “Nothing like a drenched market day to make everyone glad it’s the last outdoor one of the season.”
