Софи Райан: Two Tall Tails

Meanwhile, Hercules took one last pass at his face before moving across the kitchen to sit by the cupboards and stare at the one where I kept the tea.

“You two are not at all subtle,” I said.

They exchanged a look and Owen meowed again.

“Okay, I’m going,” I said. I scooped up the last bit of dumpling, then got up and headed for the living room and the telephone. I sat on the footstool and pulled the phone down beside me. As I was punching in Rebecca’s number, I looked over to see Hercules watching me, head poked around the living room doorway.

Rebecca agreed to come for tea in the morning to hear all about the new books for the Reading Buddies program. She had served on the library board for years and had a soft spot for the literacy project.

Hercules followed me around while I threw in a load of laundry and did the dishes. I told him about the rest of my day and he made little murping noises that at least made it seem as though he was interested.

Later I curled up in the big chair in the bedroom and called Marcus. This was the longest we’d been apart since we’d become a couple, and I missed him like crazy. Owen stretched out across my lap while Hercules sprawled on his back on the floor, moving his paws in the air as though he were doing a halfhearted yoga routine.

If Marcus had been in town, I would have pushed Maggie to talk to him about the thefts. Not only was he a detective with the Mayville Heights Police Department, but he also knew Susan, Rebecca and Nic. The two of us had met when I’d gotten caught up in one of his cases and it had taken a long time for us to work through our differences. Marcus was the kind of person who looked at the facts and I tended to pay more attention to feelings. It had taken a case involving his sister, Hannah, for each of us to be able to see things from the other’s perspective.

But Marcus was out of town at a hockey skills clinic. There wasn’t anything he could do so I didn’t say anything. If I couldn’t figure out who had taken the missing items from the co-op store, I would nudge Mags to get him involved when he got back. So I talked about Reading Buddies and how good Maggie’s pizza had been, and when I hung up, Owen’s narrowed golden eyes were fixed on my face.

“Don’t give me that look,” I said, scratching behind his left ear. “I didn’t tell Marcus because there’s nothing he can do.”

Owen continued to stare at me. I leaned forward and stared pointedly back at him. “Was there anything you did today that maybe you’d just as soon not share with me?” I said. To my amusement, Owen suddenly became very engrossed in his feet.

Rebecca arrived for tea about nine thirty the next morning. She was tiny, barely five foot three in her sock feet, with blue eyes and silver hair in a pixie cut that showed off her gorgeous cheekbones. Abigail was working for me in return for a shift I’d taken for her the week before so I didn’t have to be at the library until noon.

Copies of the new books we’d received were on the table. After she’d hugged me and talked to Owen and Hercules, Rebecca sat at the table to look at the books while I made the tea.

“Wonderful choices,” she said. She held up one of the picture books. “I especially like this one with the dancing cows.”

I smiled. “We all agreed on that one. Even Susan’s twins gave it a resounding yes.”

Rebecca smiled back at me. “It’s always good to get the approval of your target audience.”

I set a cup of tea in front of her. “Thank you, dear,” she said. She took a sip and nodded her approval. “I’m glad you called me. I wanted to talk to you about Reading Buddies. Everett and I would like to throw an end-of-school party for the children next month. I’m sorry, I know it’s short notice.”

“I don’t know what to say,” I said, smiling across the table at her.

I’d put a plate of cut-up fruit on the table because I knew Rebecca had been instructed by her doctor to restrain her sweet tooth a little. “Well, that’s easy,” she said, reaching for some apple slices. “You say ‘yes.’”

“Okay. Yes.” I gave her arm a squeeze and she beamed at me.

I was touched by the generous offer, which I suspected had originated with Rebecca. Everett was just as kindhearted as his wife, but Rebecca had an extra soft spot when it came to anything involving kids.

She leaned down for a moment to speak to Hercules, and I realized I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t ask her about the missing items from the co-op store because I was certain she’d had nothing to do with the thefts. It made no sense. Looking at Rebecca smiling down at Hercules, I found it hard to imagine her looking furtive while she browsed in the shop and stuffed a couple of placemats in her tote bag. There had to be some other explanation for what had happened.

“Do you think Eddie would agree to come to the party?” Rebecca asked. “He’s so good with children.”

“I think he probably would,” I said, getting up to refill my cup. Now that he didn’t have all of Rebecca’s attention, Hercules had started nosing around the canvas bag next to her chair.

“Leave that alone,” I said quietly to him.

Hercules immediately sat down, the picture of innocence, but when I turned back to the counter, from the corner of my eye I saw him nudge the bag with his nose once more. I swung around again. “Cut that out!” I said sharply.

“Oh, he can’t hurt anything,” Rebecca said.

“You spoil him and Owen,” I said, frowning in mock annoyance at her.

Since my attention was diverted, Hercules decided it would be a good time to give the tote a poke with his paw. That was enough for me. I moved to pick him up just as the bag slid down the chair leg and toppled over. A small plastic baggie fell out. Hercules swatted it with a paw and it skidded across the floor, stopping at my feet.

“Very, very bad,” I said to the cat, who didn’t look the slightest bit repentant. I bent down to pick up the baggie. Inside were five chocolate-dipped chocolate chip cookies that I recognized as coming from Fern’s Diner. I straightened up and looked inquiringly at Rebecca.

She didn’t quite meet my gaze.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

There were two spots of color high on her cheekbones. “I don’t suppose you would believe that I doesn’t know how those cookies got in my bag?” she said. The look on her face reminded me of Owen the last time he’d decapitated a Fred the Funky Chicken and scattered bits of dried catnip all over the living room.

I pointed a finger at Hercules. “There will be consequences.”

He made a soft murp and seemed to shrug, almost as though he were trying to say he didn’t really think so.

I sat down again, setting the cookies on the table, and reached over to catch Rebecca’s hands in mine. “What’s going on?” I asked again.

Rebecca pursed her lips and met my gaze this time. “I’m a weak old woman.”

I shook my head. “You are not old and you most definitely are not weak. You’re one of the strongest women—one of the strongest people I know.”

That got me a small smile. “Do you remember me telling you that my doctor wants me to cut back on the sweets a little? And by the way, my mother had a sweet tooth and she ate cookies until the day she died and she was just fine.” Her chin jutted out just a little. I’d seen that defiant pose before.

I waited without speaking. Rebecca cleared her throat. “I guess that isn’t really relevant,” she said after a minute. “I’m, uh . . . I’m having a hard time following his instructions.”

“You’ve been buying cookies at Fern’s.” I tapped the baggie with a finger.

She nodded. “I can’t make cookies at home. Everett has a nose like a bloodhound. I’ve been getting half a dozen at a time and . . . having them when I’m not home so he doesn’t find out. He’d be so disappointed in me.”