Charlotte leaned sideways so she was in my direct line of sight. “What did you say to Nicolas?” she asked.
I linked my arm through hers and we started for the storage room. “I just reminded him that you’re a smart woman and you and Rose and Liz aren’t going to do anything stupid.” I leaned my cheek against her shoulder and smiled oh, so sweetly at her.
Charlotte smiled back at me. “I knew you’d understand, sweetie,” she said. “And we aren’t going to do anything stupid. I give you my word on that.”
I felt myself relax. Problem solved.
“We’re just going to find out who killed Arthur Fenety,” she said.
Or not.
Chapter 11
I didn’t argue with Charlotte. I’d seen how well that had worked for Nick. I bit my tongue—literally—and left her unpacking the rest of the wineglasses. I cut through the storeroom and walked out to the back to see how Mac was doing with the table. Maybe once Charlotte and the others talked a little more to Maddie, they’d realize that they needed to leave it to the police and Josh to figure out who’d killed Arthur Fenety.
I was wrong about that, too.
Josh dropped off Maddie at about eleven thirty. I’d ordered sandwiches for lunch from Lily’s Bakery. There wasn’t enough space for a table and chairs in the tiny cubbyhole we used as a staff room, so Mac and I set up a folding teak table that we’d gotten from our last Saturday morning yard sale run in the storage room. It had been painted an ill-advised shade of highlighter yellow. I carried over the chairs I’d mentioned to Mac earlier.
“You know, I think you’re right,” he said, standing back and studying them, his arms folded over his chest. “I think they would work with my table.”
“Are you going to join us for lunch?” I asked.
“Thank you, but I think I’ll man the cash register,” Mac said.
I grinned. “Are you sure?”
He smoothed a hand back over his close-cropped dark hair and smiled. “Very.”
“Oh, Sarah, you didn’t have to go to so much trouble,” Maddie said when she walked in with Charlotte.
“All I did was put out mismatched plates and paper napkins,” I said, inclining my head in the direction of the table, which, because of the color, looked like it was glowing a little. “And don’t worry; I didn’t cook.”
“We should teach you how to cook,” Charlotte said, taking off the apron she wore in the store and draping it over the back of one of the chairs.
I reached for the teapot to pour her a cup of tea. “It’s a lost cause. Just ask Gram. I set off her smoke detector so many times I ruined it.”
“You’re not serious,” Maddie said.
“Yes, I am,” I said. “Would you like a cup of tea?” I gestured at the teapot. It was sitting on top of an old sewing-machine table that I’d repurposed as a small buffet table.
She nodded.
“Rose, we need to teach Sarah how to cook,” Charlotte said, as her friend bustled into the room. Rose was wearing her own store apron and carrying a large plate of sandwiches. Liz was behind her with a second one.
“That’s a lovely idea,” Rose said. She smiled as she moved past me and set the large blue bubble-glass plate on the table. “When do you want to start, dear?”
“Rose, I’m a terrible cook,” I said, as I handed Maddie her cup of tea. “I made a cake once and it was so awful I buried it in Gram’s backyard.”
Rose laughed. “No, you didn’t,” she said, coming around the table and picking up a cup for herself.
“Sadly, I did.” I reached for the teapot. “Mom tried to teach me and Gram tried to teach me and I just can’t cook. I’m hopeless.”
“Nonsense,” she said, turning around to hand the cup of tea I’d just poured to Liz. “You just haven’t had the right teacher.”
I reached for another cup, poured and handed it to her. “Julia Child couldn’t make me into a cook,” I said. “The only thing I know how to make is scrambled eggs.”
She pushed her glasses up her nose. “Julia Child couldn’t make anyone into a cook. She’s dead. You’ll do just fine.” She moved around the table and took the chair at the far end. Liz was on her right and Charlotte on her left, next to Maddie.
Rose reached up and touched my arm as I went by her. “You’ll be hosting dinner parties before you know it.”
“As long as they’re not for the fire department,” I said, grinning at her and taking the chair next to Liz.
“As soon as we figure out who killed Arthur we’ll start your lessons,” Rose said, adding milk to her cup.
I opened my mouth to explain to her that tracking down a murderer wasn’t quite the same as teaching me how to make meat loaf, but Maddie spoke before I could.
“Rose, the police think I killed Arthur.”
“We know something the police don’t,” she said, spreading her napkin on her lap.
Maddie looked confused. “What?” she asked.
“We know you didn’t do it,” Charlotte said.
Maddie smiled, and her eyes welled with unshed tears. She blinked them away and laid a hand on top of Charlotte’s hand. “You have no idea what it means to me to have your support,” she said. “All of you. Josh’s law office has an investigator—he’s a former police officer from Portland. Josh says he’s very good. I guess I’m just going to have to have faith that he can find out who really killed Arthur.”
Rose looked up the table at Charlotte, who shook her head so slightly. I would have missed it if I hadn’t been looking in her direction.
“Why don’t we eat?” I said, reaching for my own napkin. I was happy the idea of Rose and the others playing detective had been put to rest for the moment, but I’d seen the look exchanged between Rose and Charlotte, and I knew they hadn’t given up on the idea.
I picked up one of the platters of sandwiches and offered it to Maddie. She took half a ham and Swiss and smiled at me. “Sarah, I love your shop,” she said. “Where do you get everything?”
“Yard sales and flea markets,” I said, taking half a roast beef, tomato and dill pickle sandwich for myself. “We buy things from people who are moving to a smaller house or into assisted living, or just clearing out the old to bring in the new.” I gestured with one hand. “Pretty much everywhere.”
Avery blew through the door then. She was wearing skinny black jeans and a gray-and-black-checked jacket, and she had her backpack slung over one shoulder. “Most boring morning ever, and I’m starving,” she said. “I forgot my lunch but Mac said there’s food back here.” She caught sight of Maddie and skidded to a stop on the concrete floor. She looked at me. “Sorry, Sarah. I didn’t know you were busy.”
“It’s all right,” I said.
“Hello, Mrs. H.,” she said. “I heard what happened. I’m sorry. It bites.”
“Yes, it does,” Maddie said. She gestured at Avery’s left wrist. “I like your bracelets. Where did you get them?”
Avery held up her arm. She had four brightly colored fabric bracelets around her wrist. “I made them.”
“How did you get the material to hold its shape after you twisted it?” Maddie asked, leaning forward for a closer look.
Avery stretched her arm across the table. “It took a few tries,” she said. She pushed the top bracelet of the stack up her arm a little. “See, this one isn’t as tight. But I figured out that if I wet the fabric and let it dry all twisted, the bracelet held together better.”
She was leaning over my plate as Maddie studied the red-and-black fabric. I grabbed my cup and plate and nudged my chair back.
“Take my seat, Avery,” I said.
She turned her head for a second to look at me. “Oh, hey, thanks,” she said, pushing her hair out of her eyes with one hand. I moved over and slid an empty plate across the tabletop to Avery.
“Nonna says you have a big flower garden,” Avery said to Maddie.