Lillian ended the call, put down the phone and went back into the studio.
The blank canvas might as well have been sitting in another universe, a place where she could not go today.
A red compact pulled into the drive just as she was about to pour herself another cup of tea. Her fourth that afternoon. She went to the window and saw Claire Jensen, dressed in a navy blue shirt and a pair of jeans, get out from behind the wheel and walk up the front steps.
Just what she needed. Another interruption. She put down the cup and went to open the front door.
“Hi.” Claire looked and sounded as if she had not slept much in recent days. “I need to talk to someone. Mind if I come in for a few minutes?”
More sisterhood stuff. How much of this kind of thing was a woman supposed to do to retain her politically correct status?
“No, of course not.” Lillian held the door open. “I made tea. Want some?”
“That would be nice. Thanks.”
Claire walked into the front hall, took off her coat and gave it to Lillian to hang in the closet.
“Come on into the kitchen,” Lillian said.
“I assume you know that Marilyn fired me.”
“I heard.”
“It’s not exactly the end of the world.” Claire folded her hands on the table and looked out the window. “Campaign managers get canned a lot. Goes with the territory.”
“I’m sure you’ll find another position.”
“Sure. Something will turn up. That’s not what’s bothering me. It was the scene in the Crab Trap. It’s all over town. I have never been so embarrassed in my life. The worst part is that I have no one to blame but myself.”
Lillian took another cup down out of the cupboard. “It’ll all blow over in a few days.”
“I still don’t know what made me track her down at the restaurant and confront her like that. I guess I was just so angry that I wasn’t thinking straight. She actually accused me of sleeping with Trevor, can you imagine?”
Lillian poured tea. “I take it you didn’t have an affair with him?”
“Are you kidding? I admired Trevor’s political agenda, but that was as far as it went. I’m a pro. I don’t sleep with my clients.”
Lillian set the cup down in front of her. “Probably a good policy in your line of work.”
“You bet.” Claire blew on her tea. “Besides, according to the rumors, Thornley likes to dress up in women’s lingerie and prance around in high heels. Don’t know about you, but personally I don’t find that type of thing a real turn-on.”
“I can see where the lingerie and heels might be a little off-putting. What happens now?”
“I’ll be leaving town in a couple of days. I plan to go to Seattle and regroup. I’ve got contacts there. But I didn’t come here to whine today. Well, maybe just a little.”
“Why did you come here?”
Claire put down her cup. “Marilyn has always been a little overcontrolling and a bit paranoid. I never worried about it too much. You expect that in a strong candidate. But I have to tell you that after those crazy accusations about Trevor and me, I’m starting to wonder if maybe she’s gone off the deep end. If that’s the case, I think you should be careful.”
“Me? Why should I worry?”
“Because I’ve noticed that she’s become a little fixated on your relationship with Gabe Madison. Maybe it’s because she’s divorced now. But I think there’s more to it than that.”
The phone rang. On the off chance that it might be Nella reporting back with the all-clear, Lillian lunged for it.
She heard the muffled noise of a car in motion.
“Hello?”
“Witley is gone.” Gabe’s voice was very even. Too even. “He told some friends that he was taking a vacation. He’s not at his house. No one has seen him for a few days. Heard from your investigator yet?”
“No.” Lillian clutched the phone very tightly. “Where are you?”
“We’re on our way back to Eclipse Bay. It’s almost four o’clock. We should get there around seven.”
“I’ll hold dinner for you both.”
“Now that we know for sure that Witley has disappeared, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be there alone. We don’t know where he is or what he’s doing.”
“I’ll be fine until seven tonight, for heaven’s sake. Claire Jensen is here with me now, as a matter of fact, so I’m not alone.”
There was a murmur of conversation in the background. Lillian realized that Mitchell was speaking to Gabe.
Gabe spoke into the phone again. “Mitchell wants to send Bryce over to baby-sit until we get back.”
“That’s not necessary.” Lillian checked her watch. “Look, I’m going stir-crazy here. I need to run into town and pick up some groceries for dinner. I’ll leave the house right after Claire. I’ll do the shopping and then I’ll stop and see A.Z. at the hospital. That will keep me busy and I won’t be alone. Call me at the hospital when you get into town and I’ll meet you back here at the cottage. That way I won’t be alone for any extended period of time.”
Gabe hesitated. “All right. But don’t take any long walks on the beach by yourself, okay?”
“I thought you didn’t want to scare me.”
“I’ve changed my mind. I figure if you’re scared, you’ll be careful.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t wander off by myself.”
“Good. See you soon.”
Lillian ended the call and put down the phone.
Claire gave her a quizzical look. “Something wrong?”
“To tell you the truth, I don’t really know. There have been a couple of small incidents lately. Someone broke in here the other day while I was at the old Buckley place with Gabe.”
Claire frowned and slowly lowered her cup. “Anything taken?”
“No. Sean Valentine thinks it’s the same guy who tried to burglarize A.Z.’s place.”
“I heard about that. It’s all over town. They’re saying it was a transient.”
“I know. But the thing that’s worrisome is that there was another possible break-in at my apartment in Portland. Nothing taken there, either. Gabe leaped to the conclusion that the culprit might be a guy named Witley.”
“Who’s he?”
“A former boyfriend of one of my clients.”
“But why on earth would he break into your apartment and this place?”
“The theory is that he blames me for ruining his relationship with his girlfriend.”
“You mean because you matched her with someone else?”
“Yes.”
“Uh-oh. Are we talking stalker here?”
“It looks like a possibility. A remote one, I hope. You know, a friend told me I was courting a lawsuit in the matchmaking business. But I never considered this kind of thing.”
“We worry about stalkers when we plan security for candidates. There are always a few nutcases running around. But I must admit, I never thought about it in your line of work.”
“Myformer line.”
Claire blew out a deep breath. “And I thought I had problems.”
“A matchmaker’s life is never dull.”
“I can see that.” Claire got to her feet. “Well, at least you’ve got Gabe Madison looking out for you. Things could be worse.”
“There is that.”
“I’d better be on my way. I can see you’ve got other things to worry about than my little scene in the Crab Trap. Promise me you’ll be careful.”
“Don’t worry, I will.” Lillian rose and followed her out into the hall. She got Claire’s coat out of the closet and handed it to her. “You said you had something you wanted to tell me.”
“What? Oh, yeah.” Claire shrugged into her coat. “But it seems a little petty compared to this stalker business.”
“What was it?”
“It’s about Marilyn. I’m no shrink, but like I started to tell you before Gabe phoned, I really do think she may be a bit paranoid. When you add that to the fact that she’s a very determined woman who always gets what she wants, well, I just think you might want to watch your step around her, that’s all.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ve got something she wants,” Claire said.