“Oh, then I guess that is weird. Wouldn’t he have had to walk past it to get to the room you were in?”
“Sure, but he probably didn’t even see the food in there. He heard our voices and followed them.”
“I see. Still seems weird. And it is odd that he was in the hardware store. I hope he’s not some creeper. I want you to be safe at Tides.”
“Cooper will protect me.” Jane wasn’t worried. She looked down at the dog, who smiled up at her as if agreeing that he would protect her. Then something Mike had said hit her.How did he know Mr. Smith was in the hardware store?“You saw him in the hardware store? Were you with Andie?”
Andie had said she’d seen Mr. Smith there too. And didn’t Liz say Andie was with Mike at the inn? Seemed like a lot of coincidences.
“Andie? No. I wasn’t with her.” Mike focused on buttering a roll.
“Oh, I think she mentioned seeing Smith downtown too.”
“Lots of people go there. Why would Andie be in the hardware store? If you need something fixed, I can do it.”
“She didn’t mention why she was there. Why do you think Mr. Smith would be in there?”
“Maybe Andie has him fixing something at Tides,” Mike joked.
The waitress brought their meals, and they concentrated on digging in. The lobster was buttery and sweet; the salad was crisp.
“So, I was hoping now that you have Liz to cover and since it’s the slow time for the inn that you could stay over more,” Mike said. “I cleaned out a space in my closet.”
Jane looked up, her heart melting at the hopeful sparkle in Mike’s green eyes. He’d been asking her to stay over more and more… even mentioned something more “permanent,” whatever that meant. Jane loved Mike, but she wasn’t sure she was ready. Her first husband had died not long after they were married, and she still had some unresolved issues around that.
But she didn’t want to disappoint Mike. “Liz is doing well, so I guess I could stay over more.”
Cooper gave a soft woof and wagged his tail.
“Cooper is excited about that,” Mike said.
Jane was excited, too, but she couldn’t push away the nagging feeling that Mike was leaving something out about being with Andie and how her mother had mentioned him.
“Did you visit Mom at Tall Pines yesterday? She mentioned seeing Cooper and something about measuring.”
“No. I … Oops.” Mike dropped his roll, and Cooper scarfed it up. “Guess you got an extra treat.”
Jane’s brow furrowed. Was he avoiding her question?
He sipped his water. “I mean, yes, I was there. You know how I take Cooper once a week. Brightens people’s day. And, of course, I dropped in on Addie. I don’t know what she means about measuring, though.”
That made sense. Jane was probably making too much of her mother’s remark. With her dementia, she often said things that weren’t reality. “Probably one of her confusions.”
“Probably. But she seemed good overall,” Mike said.
Jane smiled and dug into her lobster salad, certain she was making too much of everything. Bunny’s suspicions and the mystery books they were reading must have put her in a suspicious mode. Everything was perfectly fine, wasn’t it?
* * *
Jane stopped in at Bradford Breads on the way back from her lunch with Mike. The bread store was set up like something between a bakery and a country store. Loaves of fresh bread sat in display cases and on wooden racks. Strategically placed old barrel-shaped tables held spreads, honey, jams, and other things one might put on bread. The homey smell of sourdough permeated the air and made Jane’s mouth water even though she’d just come from lunch.
“Hey, Jane!” Claire came out of the back, with Rob just behind her. Their cheeks were flushed, and Jane’s brows rose automatically. Rob was a nice guy and handsome, too, with his dark silver-tinged hair and deep-hazel eyes. She was glad that he and Claire had developed a relationship. She was about to make a joke about them baking in back when Claire’s gaze skidded past her to the window.
“Is that Cooper in the car?”
Jane turned. Since she was just running in, she’d left him sitting in the passenger seat with the windows cracked open. “Yep. We just came from a late lunch with Mike.”
“Perfect, because I happen to have some dog biscuits for him in my purse. I was going to drop them off at Tides.” Claire darted into the back again and returned a few seconds later with a bakery bag in her hand.
