A businesswoman with a conscience? I was so busy putting her into my mental Friend category that my slide into the next phase of the conversation was awkward. “Yes, it’s very sad that Henry’s gone,” I said, “and that’s partly why I’m here. Did you know that there was someone else out with Henry that day?”
“I hadn’t heard that.” She frowned. “Was he hurt, too?”
“Not directly.” I explained about Adam and the heart attack and about the fictional man who’d called 911 on Adam’s cell phone and helped direct the EMT crew to Adam. The story was getting better every time I told it, and I was sorry it wasn’t true.
“Anyway, Adam never learned the name of the man who helped him and I said I’d try to find out. I don’t suppose it was your husband, was it? Adam would love to thank him.”
Larabeth was shaking her head. “Couldn’t have been. Cole flew out West skiing that weekend.” She sighed. “I would have liked to go with him, but there was a grand reopening at the Lansing store and I never miss those.”
We chatted awhile longer, during which she became an ever firmer friend by smiling when I told her that I drove the bookmobile, and when the sun started dropping into the water, I headed home, thanking her for her time.
All the way back to Chilson, I thought about times and dates, about marriages and money.
But I also thought about wooden boats.
Chapter 17
The next morning I did my best to play catch-up on the tasks that had gone undone while I was out the day before, so it was nearly noon before I remembered to act upon my brilliant middle-of-the night idea. I reached for the phone, hoping it wasn’t too late.
“Is this Pam Fazio?” I asked. “The world-famous graphic designer?”
“Shh,” she hushed. “Didn’t I tell you to keep that a deep, dark secret?”
“Haven’t told a soul,” I said. “And if you want, I’ll make a pinky swear on it at lunch. Round Table in half an hour? I’ll buy, because I want to ask you something.”
“Not Shomin’s Deli?” she asked.
“I haven’t seen Sabrina in a while,” I said. “Don’t want her to get too lonely.”
Pam laughed and said she’d see me soon.
And half an hour later, I was sitting at one of the diner’s back tables when Pam came in. I waved her over and she made the trek across the room, fake-panting as she dropped into a chair. “Whew! Wasn’t sure I was going to make it all the way.” She drew her hand across a brow that wasn’t the least bit damp. “If this is your way of getting me to exercise, it’s not going to work, because I’ll need dessert to get me back to the store.”
“I’d prefer,” I said quietly, “that this conversation not be overheard.”
“Oh-ho!” Pam, suddenly perky, sat up and plopped her elbows on the table. “An excellent opener. What’s the topic of the hour?”
“Felix Stanton,” I said.
Pam’s perkiness slid away. “Felix. Ah. Well.”
“And do you girls need menus today?” Sabrina put down glasses of ice water and took out her pad. “I didn’t think so. Ham sandwich with a side salad and raspberry vinaigrette for you,” she said, nodding at Pam, “and a burger with everything but and an order of fries for the bookmobile lady. Anything other than water? Right. I’ll put this up and you’ll have your food in a jiffy.”
She walked over to where her husband, Bill, was sitting while tapping away at his computer, planted a kiss on the top of his head, and headed off to the kitchen.
I turned back to Pam. “When we were at Shomin’s last week and Felix was being all cranky, you said you’d known him for a while. That he gets like that every so often.” I fiddled with one of the straws Sabrina had left. “But you’ve only been in Chilson a year and Felix . . . well, I guess I don’t know if he’s a native, but he’s had that real estate and development business for years.” I tipped my head questioningly.
Pam grinned. “Should have figured you’d pick up on that.” She ripped open her straw and jammed it into her ice water. “Felix and I grew up together, down in Ohio. It’s because of him that I heard of Chilson in the first place. His parents came up here every summer when he was a kid, and as soon as he was old enough to be on his own, he moved north.”
It was a familiar story. A lot like mine, actually. “So the two of you are friends,” I said.
“We have a lot of history—no, not that kind of history,” she said, rolling her eyes at my smirk. “We were next-door neighbors from kindergarten through high school. He was another brother, practically. Just one that didn’t live in the same house.”
“A lot of shared history, then,” I said, “and a lot of shared loyalty.”
“Not so much of that second one.” She looked at the ceiling for a moment, then back at me. “Felix isn’t the kind of guy who inspires loyalty, somehow. I like him, even love him in a distant cousin sort of way, but . . . well, let’s just say that if I wanted some help moving across town, he’s not who I’d call.”
I knew what she meant. “So, if I asked why you said he was being even more Felix-ish than usual, would you tell me?”
She shrugged. “I thought it was common knowledge.”
Apparently not common enough. “What is?”
Pam looked around, but no one was sitting within two tables of us. “You know that new big mixed-use building on the waterfront? Retail shops on the first floor, professional offices on the second floor, residential units on top?”
“Sure.” I also knew it was more than half-empty. “Are you saying . . . ?”
She nodded. “It’s Felix’s pet project and he’s overextended to the max. He keeps telling me all he needs is one good anchor store to make it work, but every time he gets close to signing someone, they back out.” She sighed. “I’m getting worried about him, to tell you the truth. If he doesn’t get a big success soon, I’m not sure what he’s going to do.”
Our lunches arrived and the talk turned to other things, but all the while, part of my brain was chewing over what Pam had told me and thinking pretty much one thing: hmm.
• • •
Deep in thought, I walked back into the library and I was still so deep in thought that I didn’t notice how the personal space between Holly and Josh was playing out until I’d almost walked past the main desk.
At that point, however, I clued in to the fact that something was wrong, came to a slow stop, and then backed up. Holly was at the desk, being perfectly friendly as she checked out books to an elderly man. Josh was nearby, working on the library’s most hated printer.
There they were, less than three feet apart, and Holly had managed to turn herself so that her back was to the printer. This couldn’t have been an easy thing to do, because the printer was placed next to the computer where she was working. I watched the scene for a moment, wondering what was going on and hoping Holly didn’t end up with a stiff neck by the end of the day.
Josh looked up, rolled his eyes and mouthed a single word: House.
This could only mean that Josh still wasn’t giving Holly the address of his new place and that Holly was getting well and truly miffed. Which was understandable, because the three of us shared all of our major life events and most of the minor ones. Why Josh was making this a point of contention, I didn’t know, but I hoped it wouldn’t cause lasting damage to our happy trio.
My concern must have shown on my face, because Josh—after making sure that Holly wasn’t watching—grinned at me, then winked.
I sighed and continued on to my office. Sometimes it was best not to know exactly what was going on.
• • •
Late the next afternoon, it had been prearranged that I drop Julia off at her sister’s house. Why, exactly, I was doing so I hadn’t understood from the beginning, but it had something to do with a birthday and soup and family traditions, and who was I to stand in the way of traditions? Besides, since the final stop of the day was barely two miles from the sister’s house, it wasn’t a problem.