A Timely Vision

“Would you like to join us?” I ventured, since he seemed alone.

“No, thanks. I’m meeting someone. I’ll talk to you later.”

I watched him walk away and wondered if Shayla would be tripping in after him. Our food arrived after he was gone. Luke and I spent the next thirty minutes making small talk around burritos and enchiladas.

When all the food was gone and the conversation had simply died out, I smiled and said, “I guess I should get back to the shop. Lunch was great.”

“It was. Let’s do it again sometime. Where’s your shop?”

I gave him the directions, which didn’t take long. He picked up the check, and we said good-bye. I walked across Duck Road, wondering how someone who had seemed so interesting could end up being kind of boring. Maybe he was shy, although that didn’t fit my ideas about lawyers.

At any rate, I didn’t expect him to call or anything. We obviously weren’t well matched. I stopped for an extra minute at town hall where Nancy was beaming. “It’s been a very good day,” she told me. “I had misplaced an important message for the chief, and somehow it found its way back to my desk. I think it was the janitor. Then they finally got the phone system working right. I even heard from my daughter. How was the ribbon cutting?”

“About like normal, maybe a few less people.” I took my messages from her, hoping there would be one from the chief explaining Silas Butler’s message.

“And there was food too!” She pushed back her hair. “Someone needs to get after the other chamber members. What if a newspaper decided to cover a ribbon cutting? Say, about last night, did you hear or see anything out of the ordinary? ’Cause I have to tell you, I had a lot of wine, and I’m blaming it on a few things.”

“Like what?”

“There was a sound. It was like someone was talking, in a breathy kind of way, you know? Then on the way home, I saw some shadows where there shouldn’t have been shadows. Do you believe in ghosts, Dae?”

“I’d like to. I haven’t ever seen one. But I did hear something last night at the Blue Whale. I’m not sure what it was, but I didn’t have that much wine. I think someone was trying to tell us something.”

Nancy’s red lips formed an O. “That’s what I was thinking too. I think Wild Johnny Simpson knows that some people think Miss Elizabeth killed him. He loved her even though he left. He doesn’t want her blamed for his death.”

“I guess that’s possible.”

“Any word on Miss Mildred?”

“Not really.” I didn’t want to repeat what Luke had told me. I didn’t have the heart for it. There was no message from Chief Michaels in the small stack of notes she gave me. That made me feel even worse. Why hadn’t the chief told me about Silas Butler? “I have to get back to the shop, Nancy. I’ll see you later.”

“All right, sweetie. You take care.”

I followed the boardwalk back to Missing Pieces, hardly noticing the antics of the gulls over the water. I was surprised to find the “Open” sign out and the door unlocked. Without thinking that someone might have broken in, I walked inside and looked around.

“I hope you don’t mind.” Gramps was down the aisle with the dinnerware. He wasn’t alone. “Mary Lou wanted to come in and take a look around.”

Mary Lou smiled and waved. “Hi, Dae. I can’t believe I’ve never been in here. You have a huge collection. Mind if I look around with Horace?”

“That’s fine.” I gave Gramps the you-know-what-to-sell look and walked back outside. I was surprised to find Kevin about to walk in. “Done with lunch already? Shayla eats like a bird, but this is quick even for her.”

He smiled. “What makes you think I had lunch with Shayla? I think she’s dating your future husband right now.”

“My future husband?” I searched my brain and remembered that he’d heard Tim propose to me at the Blue Whale. “That proposal was something he does from time to time. He started in high school and won’t take no for an answer.”

“Unless he’s seeing someone else?”

“Exactly. Sorry for the Shayla crack. I know she likes you.”

“I like her too, but not in the way you’re thinking. I’m a humble innkeeper now. I don’t think my life is exciting enough for her. Maybe she and Tim will work things out.”

“That would be nice, but unlikely.”

“Is that jealousy I hear? You don’t want him, but you don’t want anyone else to want him either?”

“No! That is definitely not it.” I laughed, but wondered what brought him to the shop. Whatever it was, I was glad to see him. There was no one else I could talk to about Chief Michaels. Gramps would never take me seriously and worse, would feel the need to tell the chief. “You came to see me?”

“Yeah. Have you got a few minutes?”

We went to sit down on one of the boardwalk benches overlooking the water. It was a quiet day, probably a lot of visitors on the beaches since it wasn’t so hot. The water lapped gently at the shore, and I spotted a bicycle tire someone had thrown out down there. I’d have to remember to mention it to the public works guys.