Линси Сэндс - Meant to Be Immortal [calibre]

“So?” Mrs. Vesper set down the teapot to eye them both expectantly. “What happened?”

“Joan and Margaret got it right,” Mac told her when CJ didn’t respond. “I was trapped in the basement, got in the tub, and fortunately the firemen got me out in time. The EMTs started to take me to the hospital but turned back when they realized I was fine, and then I left for the police station with CJ and Officer Simpson.”

“Oh,” Mrs. Vesper breathed, and shook her head. “Well, this has been an awful start to your move here.”

“It was not the best start, no,” Mac agreed with a wry twist of the lips.

“Well, have a cookie, dear. Cookies always make everything seem better,” Mrs. Vesper assured him. “You too, CJ. Have a cookie.”

CJ reached for a cookie, and Mac followed suit, but while she immediately took a bite of hers, he just turned his over in his hands, eyeing it as if he’d never seen one before.

“Are you just going to hold that like you did the coffee at the station?” CJ asked with amusement. “If so, give it to me. Mrs. Vesper’s cookies are too good to waste.”

“He’s probably a dunker,” Mrs. Vesper guessed, and then tsked as she glanced down to see the three full cups still sitting in front of her. “Goodness, I poured them and then didn’t give them to you. Here you are, dears.”

“Thank you,” CJ murmured as she took the teacup the older woman now held out. Setting it on the table in front of her, she added cream and sugar and then pushed the sugar bowl and cream toward Mac. He immediately added a teaspoon of sugar and a dollop of cream just as she had done, but he didn’t dunk his cookie in his tea; he simply took a bite and chewed it experimentally, his eyes widening as he did.

“This cookie is really good, Mrs. Vesper,” he complimented the minute he’d swallowed. “Delicious. It has been millennia since I’ve had anything so tasty.”

The older lady beamed under the exaggerated praise, and then said, “Now aren’t you sorry you wouldn’t have them when you stayed here?” Turning to CJ she added, “I couldn’t get this boy to eat a thing when he was staying with me. He ate out for every single meal.”

“I stayed here for a week or two last month while I searched for a house in the area,” Mac explained to CJ. “At first, I hadn’t settled specifically on this town and was doing a lot of driving around, both here in Sandford and farther afield.” He shrugged. “A lot of the time it was just easier to stop at whatever restaurant was nearest and eat there rather than rush back for meals.”

“You didn’t have that excuse when you stayed here Tuesday and Wednesday night this week, though,” Mrs. Vesper pointed out with a bit of asperity and told CJ, “He was only supposed to stay Tuesday night, but the moving truck was held up at customs and he stayed Wednesday as well.” Head swiveling back to Mac she added, “And you didn’t eat a thing then either.”

Mac nodded solemnly. “But I assure you I certainly shall not make that mistake this time now that I know what a fine cook you are.”

Mrs. Vesper started to smile, but then blinked. “This time?” she asked with alarm.

Mac nodded, his mouth full of cookie again, and it was CJ who explained. “He needs a room now that his house has burned down.”

Mac swallowed so that he could add, “One next to CJ’s room if that’s possible.” He winked at the older woman and confided, “She’s guarding my body.”

“Guarding your body?” Mrs. Vesper echoed, her wide eyes turning to CJ.

“It will be fine, Mrs. Vesper,” CJ assured her. “I suspect it will turn out that Mac’s house burning down was just a firebug who thought it was still empty. After all, he’s just moved in and hasn’t lived in Sandford long enough to have made enemies.”

“Oh, goodness, no, dear, he hasn’t,” Mrs. Vesper agreed.

“But until we know for sure, we have to at least take precautions to ensure he’s safe from further attacks,” CJ pointed out. “Just in case. But I don’t want you to worry. You are in no danger. No one knows he’s here, and I took precautions leaving the police station and on the drive to ensure no one followed us,” she assured her. “And, no doubt, Captain Dupree will make arrangements for him elsewhere after tonight.”

“But my dear, you work for the SIU,” Mrs. Vesper pointed out with a slight frown. “Why are you guarding his body instead of one of our town’s police officers?”

Good question, CJ thought dryly, but said, “I’m afraid all of Dupree’s officers are busy at the moment, so he asked me to keep an eye on Mr. Argeneau until one of his men becomes available.”

Mac nodded solemnly. “So, I’ll need a room close to hers. In case there’s trouble.”

CJ narrowed her eyes on the man. There was just something about his expression and tone of voice . . . She got the feeling he wasn’t worried at all, but was happy to use the excuse of his safety as a way to stick close to her, though she couldn’t fathom why. They were virtual strangers.

“Oh, dear,” Mrs. Vesper said unhappily, drawing CJ’s attention back to the older woman as she confessed, “I’m afraid that won’t be possible.”

“It won’t?” Mac’s smile slipped.

“No,” she said apologetically. “I’m all full up, you see.”

“Really?” CJ asked with surprise. “I was your only guest when I left tonight.”

“Well, yes, but then the Wilkersons showed up.”

“The Wilkersons?” CJ felt sure the lady had mentioned the name once or twice while she’d been chattering away before CJ had left for the police station, but she hadn’t been paying that much attention then.

“Yes, dear. You remember, I told you that Ned and Mary Wilkerson’s three sons and their wives and kids were coming,” Mrs. Vesper said, and then turned to Mac and explained, “You see Cindy Wilkerson is getting married, and her brothers and their wives are in the wedding party, as groomsmen and bridesmaids. And then Bobby, the oldest Wilkerson boy, well, his four-year-old daughter, Nina, is the flower girl, and she is the sweetest little thing.” Mrs. Vesper shook her head with wonder. “A pretty sprite with big blue eyes and long, curly blond hair. She’s going to look adorable walking up that aisle. Yes, she is.” She sighed at the thought, and then seemed to realize she’d gone on a tangent, and quickly said, “But anyway, the wedding is tomorrow. Well, today now, I suppose, and they’re staying until Sunday.”

She huffed out a breath, and then turned back to CJ. “They all moved to British Columbia for university, one after the other, and ended up settling there. Cindy’s the only one who stayed in the area. Well, the boys and their families flew in on the same flight and were supposed to land in Toronto at eleven. I expected them here shortly after you left for the station, but their flight was delayed a couple hours. They only got in about forty-five minutes ago. The whole lot of them were exhausted. I’d just got them all settled and managed to climb into bed myself and turn off my light a minute or two before I heard your car pull in, so I got back up to let you know so the noise of kids and others wouldn’t startle you in the morning.” She shook her head unhappily. “Between you and them every room is full up. I simply have nowhere to put another person.”

“Oh, I see,” CJ said with a frown. That was a problem.

“Except perhaps with you,” the old lady added thoughtfully.

CJ gaped at the suggestion. “Mrs. Vesper!”

“Well, dear, your room does have the salon attached,” she pointed out, and then said to Mac, “It’s the room you were in when you stayed here.”

CJ felt her heart sink at Mrs. Vesper’s suggestion. Her room was actually a suite with a bedroom and attached salon that was a small sitting room with a dining table and chairs set up at one end by a large picture window, and a couch, coffee and end tables, as well as a TV set up on the other end closest to the entry. CJ had paid extra money to get the suite with the salon so that she could use the table to make notes after her interviews, and would have somewhere to relax at night other than the bed. She had not rented it expecting to have a roommate.