The phone started to ring. “And I’m going to get that,” Mac said.
Only Liz and I were left, standing just inside the door. “Thank you, Sarah,” she said.
“For what?” I asked.
“For letting Avery fill your front window with four aging rock and rollers, or at least a reasonable facsimile of them.”
I looked over at the window. “I like it. I’m not just saying that. She did a good job. It’ll get people talking. It’ll bring in business.”
“I’m so glad you came home,” Liz said.
I smiled. “Me too.”
I was right about the window. Another ski tour on the way out of town after lunch stopped when someone on the bus spotted the “band” in the window. Forty-two people piled out and stood on the sidewalk to check out the band. The tour guide, a man in his twenties wearing a navy ski jacket and a knit Red Sox hat, came inside.
“Your window display’s fantastic,” he said.
“Thank you,” I said. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Avery by the cash register, grinning and looking like she was about to come out of her skin with excitement.
A middle-aged woman opened the door and poked her head inside. “Can we take a look around?”
“Of course,” I said.
“Did you do the band?” she asked, walking over so she could see the display from the back.
I shook my head. “Two of my staff did.” More people were coming in behind her.
The woman took a couple of steps closer to me. “I did them, you know,” she confided. “Well, two of them.” She turned down the waistband of the gray spandex pants she was wearing. KISS was tattooed on her left hip.
“Good for you” probably wasn’t the most appropriate answer, but it was the only thing I could think of to say.
We ended up doing more business than we’d done in the store in the entire month of January.
Avery stayed to help, eating up the compliments on her work and answering questions with enthusiasm and maturity.
It was a few minutes after closing time when the bus pulled out of our parking lot.
“I can’t believe they all liked the window,” Avery said with a satisfied smile, leaning against the cash counter.
“I told you that you’d done a good job,” I said.
“I’ll get the vacuum and start cleaning up,” she said, pushing herself upright.
I walked over to Charlotte, who was straightening up a display of wineglasses and charms.
“Thank you for helping Avery,” I said. “She’s so excited.”
“I didn’t really do much.” Charlotte smiled. “Avery did most of the work.”
I leaned over and kissed her cheek. “You always say that,” I said. “And you’re always wrong.”
Mac came in from the storeroom. “What time are we starting in the morning?” he asked.
Sunday was moving day for Rose, the only day we were all free to help her.
“Eight thirty,” I said. “Do you want me to pick you up?”
He shook his head. “Thanks. I don’t mind walking.”
I looked at Charlotte. “I could pick you up,” I said.
She nodded. “If it’s not too much trouble. I’m bringing a thermos of hot chocolate and some muffins so we can take a break after a couple of hours.”
“I’m borrowing Glenn McNamara’s cube truck,” I said. “That way we should be able to move the big stuff in just one load.”
I’d tried to rent the truck from Glenn, but he wouldn’t hear of it. “Just put some gas in it, Sarah,” he’d told me. “And we’ll be square.”
“What are you going to do with the SUV?” Mac asked, reaching for the bottle of hand sanitizer we kept by the cash register.
“Leave it in Glenn’s parking lot. That way we can back the truck close to the steps at the house,” I said.
“Do you want me to drive it?” he said. “We could put a lot of the small things in the back.”
I nodded. “That’s a good idea. Could you drop me at Glenn’s? It’s faster than if I walk over there.”
“Sure,” he said. “In that case, is eight o’clock too early?”
I shook my head. “Not for me.”
Charlotte came downstairs in her coat and boots.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” I said.
She nodded. “I’ll be ready.”
Avery pulled on her hat, a purple monkey with ears and tufts of black hair. “Yeah, don’t worry, Sarah. I’ll make sure to drag Nonna out of bed in time.”
Liz made a face at her. “I’m not drinking anything with kale in it,” she said as the three of them went out the door.
Rose was winding Mr. P.’s scarf around his neck. “Rose, would you two like a ride?” I asked.
“No, thank you, dear,” she said. “It’s not that cold. We’re going to walk.”
I turned to Mac, who was pulling on his parka. “What about you? Could I drop you somewhere?”
He smiled. “Thanks, but I think I’ll walk. Rose is right. It’s really not that cold.” He fished his gloves out of his pocket. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
I nodded.
Rose and Mr. P. were ready to go, so the three of them set off down the sidewalk together. I locked the door behind them and walked around shutting off the lights. I found Elvis upstairs, sitting on my desk chair. “That’s not your chair,” I said.
He blinked at me and then lay down on the seat.
“Still not yours,” I said, reaching for my coat.
He looked down at the fabric seat and then up at me as if to say, I’m sitting here and you’re not.
In the back of my mind all day I’d been trying to figure out what to do about Vince. I understood his impulse to protect Asia. But it wouldn’t do her any good if he went to jail for something he didn’t do. And if she’d had anything to do with Lily’s death, it needed to be dealt with, not hidden, as painful as that would be.
“I’m going down to Sam’s,” I said.
Chapter 17
I hadn’t been certain of what I was going to do until I said the words out loud. Elvis jumped down from my chair and went and stood by the office door. “You can come,” I said. I looked around even though the cat and I were the only ones left in the building. I felt odd about what I was about to admit. “I need you to help me figure out if it was really Vince’s daughter who was harassing Lily.”
“Merow,” the cat said. I decided to take that as agreement.
“You have to go in my gym bag,” I said. “I can’t walk into The Black Bear carrying a cat.”
Elvis put a paw over his nose and ducked his head.
“It does not smell,” I said. He did this every time I wanted him to get in the bag. “You spend more time in that bag than my running clothes do. If anything, the bag smells like cat.”
He looked at the bag. He looked at me. What he didn’t do was move.
I crossed my arms. Elvis started washing the fur on his chest.
“Okay, don’t come, then,” I said with an elaborate shrug.
I pulled on my hat and picked up my gloves. Elvis made a squinty face at me. Did he think I was bluffing? I was asking that question about a cat, I realized. Luckily for me, Elvis caved at just that moment. He got up, went over to the empty gym bag sitting on the floor and pawed at the zipper. I bent down, opened the top, and he climbed in.
“Thank you,” I said, giving the top of his head a little scratch.
This wasn’t me getting involved in the Angels’ investigation, I told myself all the way down to The Black Bear. This was just me looking out for a friend.
The pub was busy. No surprise. It was Saturday night, and I knew Sam had a local band playing later. He came across the room to me when I walked in. “Hi,” he said. “Are you meeting Jess?”
“No,” I said. “I was hoping Vince might be here.”
Sam’s expression changed. “He is here. He talked to Michelle Andrews this morning, by the way.”
I sighed softly. “I was hoping he hadn’t.”