“Yeah, I’ve missed you, too.” He grinned back at me.
We headed southwest, running a route I often used that was slightly uphill, enough to give us both a challenge, I hoped.
“So, who do you run with when I’m not in town?” Liam asked. Even though he was taller we’d been running together since we were teenagers and we easily fell into a comfortable pace.
“No one,” I said.
“Mac doesn’t run?”
I glanced at him but didn’t see anything other than genuine curiosity on his face.
“He does some kind of Israeli self-defense workout,” I said.
“Krav Maga?”
I nodded and pushed a stray piece of hair behind my ear. “I tried to get Nick to come running with me.”
Liam gave a snort of laughter. “I know how that went,” he said. “When we went to hockey camp, man, did he hate the running drills! He was always the last person to finish, so he always ended up with extra sprints to do.” He grinned at the memory.
I’d forgotten about Liam going to hockey camp. “So you know Ethan Hall?” I said.
“Yeah, I know Ethan,” he said. “Mom told me about the body you found. That’s the case that Rose and the rest of them are working on, isn’t it?”
“It is.” We crossed the street starting a long, slow climb uphill.
“So Ethan’s father got scammed?” Liam asked.
“Uh-huh. I’m guessing he thought it was a sure thing. The bottles of wine he bought were supposed to improve with age and increase in value.”
“Except they were swill.”
I nodded. “Basically.” I pushed a little harder, trying to keep the pace and not slow down.
“So this guy that Rose and Alfred are trying to find is mixed up in this fake wine thing?” There was a fine sheen of sweat on Liam’s forehead. I wasn’t the only one feeling the hill, it seemed.
“Maybe,” I said. “It’s a giant long shot.”
We crossed another cross street and the incline got steeper.
“I remember the guy said he was some kind of wine dealer or broker,” Liam said. “He gave us his card. Now I wish I’d kept it.”
“Did you find his face in any of your photos?” I wondered how this so-called wine dealer was connected to the woman from the financial seminar. I was sure the Angels probably had a theory.
He shrugged. “Just profile, not full-on. I did send them to Rose.” He shot me a look. “You think I should ask Nick if he wants them?”
I laughed. “It’s probably a waste of time. Neither Nick nor the police seem to think the Angels are onto something.”
“What do you think?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
After our run Liam went up to Gram’s apartment to shower and I changed into an old pair of jeans and a paint-spattered hoodie, collected Elvis and went to work in the backyard. Elvis prowled around while I picked up branches and other debris.
Liam had offered to drive Mr. P. over to Charlotte’s for supper so Rose and I could leave early for my gravy-making lesson. After Elvis and I finished in the yard for the day, I showered and changed.
Rose was waiting for me in the hallway. “This is not a good idea,” I said.
She smiled. “You’re too hard on yourself.”
“You know I can’t cook,” I reminded her as I unlocked the SUV. “Unless you call scrambled eggs cooking.”
“As a matter of fact, I do call that cooking,” Rose said as she climbed in. “And I think you’ve created a self-fulfilling prophecy. For the next week I want you to look in the mirror every morning and say, ‘I am a good cook.’”
“Like that’s going to work.” I laughed. Then I saw the expression on her face and realized she wasn’t joking.
“Every morning,” she repeated firmly.
“Yes, ma’am,” I said, slipping the key in the ignition.
“Are you just saying that to humor me?” she asked.
I looked over at her. “Not anymore, I’m not,” I said.
Rose just laughed.
Nick’s SUV was in Charlotte’s driveway while Liz’s car was parked in front of the little yellow house. The kitchen smelled like turkey and fresh bread, but there was no sign of Charlotte.
Rose set her carryall on one of the kitchen chairs. I took her coat while she started unloading her bag. Liz was putting napkins around the dining room table.
“Hi,” I said. “Where is everyone?”
Liz inclined her head in the general direction of the stairs and the rest of the house. “The spare room. In a moment of what may be temporary insanity, Charlotte is testing paint colors on the walls.”
“I didn’t know Nick was finished in there.” Charlotte had had a water leak in her extra bedroom and Nick had been slowly doing the repairs—given his schedule and the fact that he still did some paramedic shifts, it had been very slowly.
Liz frowned at the napkin in her hand, shook it out and carefully refolded it. “He laid the carpet last weekend. Avery is going to help Charlotte paint as soon as they settle on a color.” She set the napkin in place and looked at me then. “Charlotte got some of those little sample pots and Avery painted swatches on the wall. Nicolas is in there giving his opinion.”
“So, why aren’t you in there giving your opinion?” I asked, although I was pretty sure I knew the answer.
“I already gave mine,” she said, “and it was suggested that I might be happier setting the table.”
“And your opinion was?”
“That dandelion wine is something you drink in the bandstand behind the library with a college boy who is way too old for you, not something you paint on the wall of your spare room.” There was a challenge in her gaze that I for one wasn’t going to argue with.
“Duly noted,” I said.
I hung the coats in the living room closet and went in search of Charlotte and the others. I found Charlotte standing in the middle of her spare room, arms crossed over her aproned front. Nick and Avery were just in front of the end wall, looking at five different patches of paint color on the otherwise white wall.
Charlotte smiled when she saw me. I went to stand beside her, draping my arm around her shoulder. “How’s the decision-making process going?” I asked.
“We’re down to three choices,” she said, “and I’m starting to think that I should have just gone with off-white.” She turned her head to look at me. “And don’t you dare tell Liz I said that.”
I mimed zipping my lips shut.
Nick turned around and smiled at me. “Hey, Sarah,” he said. He gestured at the wall. “Want to weigh in?”
“Go ahead,” Charlotte said.
I joined Nick and Avery in front of the wall.
“The two that have tape across them are out of the running,” Avery said.
I looked at the three remaining colors. “Not that one,” I said, pointing to a deep green grass shade. “It’s too dark. The room will seem smaller.” I leaned in toward the two other shades.
Nick moved closer to me and I caught the scent of his aftershave, which usually made me feel fifteen again. “Take your time,” he said.
“Hey! No fair,” Avery said sharply.
“What do you mean, no fair?” I said.
She crossed her arms and glared at Nick. “He’s trying to be all sexy so you’ll agree with him.”
“I am not,” Nick retorted, but the touch of color that tinged his cheeks gave him away. Avery was right.
I turned to her. “Doesn’t matter,” I said, laughing. “Nick’s ‘all sexy’ doesn’t work on me.”
Avery made a triumphant face at him.
Nick swiped a hand over his mouth and said, “The hell it doesn’t,” so softly only I heard the words.
I shot him a stink eye and went back to studying the wall. The choices were a medium gray and a very pale butter yellow. “That one,” I said, touching the patch of yellow paint.
“Yes!” Avery crowed, doing a fist pump in the air. She turned to Charlotte. “Sarah likes dandelion wine, too.”
Charlotte’s gaze shifted to me.