Samantha sucked in a breath and widened her eyes. “Yeah, I see the need for a bathroom.”
“What?” Reed asked, looking at me like he wanted me to fill him in, but he really didn’t.
“Selene was right. You two are too cute,” Samantha said, also ignoring his request for more information. “It’s settled. I’m getting you tickets to the theater. I’ll get your information from Casey and send them to you.”
“What theater?” Reed asked. “Like a play?”
“Yeah, ghosts on ice,” I deadpanned. We did not have time to do another overnight ghost hunt. Also, my nerves couldn’t handle it. We had enough trouble here without inviting ghosts to the party.
“There’s also this great cobbler place you should try out while you’re here. I work part-time there every other weekend and can give you coupons.”
She worked part time at a cobbler place but drove a convertible? I had so many questions, but Samantha carried on without letting me have a second to get one inserted into the conversation.
“The peach cobbler bites are a great way to get that little taste of Savannah before you leave, and you can walk there to burn off the calories.”
Reed leaned closer, and I did my best not to breathe so I wouldn’t smell his cologne and swoon. “Sounds like we’ll have to stop in later this week. Right, babe?”
Why did my insides jiggle at a hot guy calling me babe? Also, when did he think we’d have time to stop and get a peach cobbler? We had a mystery to solve… err… well, document. No one expected me to solve the murder, least of all me.
“Well, I better get to drinking this before it gets too cold,” I said, looking for a way out of the conversation that hadn’t given me much except a reminder I had to meet up and speak with Bud.
We made quick good-byes, and Reed led us back to our section of the home. I stopped on the small porch outside the back door and surveyed the parking lot. “How do you think she drives that corvette if she’s working part time at the cobbler place?”
Reed shrugged. “She probably has a full-time job and also needs the extra work to afford the car.”
“True.” I laughed. “There is something about this city, though. Right? I like it.”
Savannah had an aura around it that made you feel at home. The weather was perfect in April, and the trees were already blooming, lighting the place up with color.
“I’ve been thinking about looking for work in a different state now that my options are open after losing my job. Oh…” I stopped abruptly, placed the untouched mug of coffee on the rail, and grabbed my phone.
I’d forgotten to text my mother about the boxes. Her being this quiet most certainly meant she was doing something that would upset me once I heard about it.
ELENORE: You never told me if all the boxes fit in the garage.
I slipped my phone back in my pocket and reached for the mug. My hand missed, my finger slipping along the side just enough to push it over the rail. The white ceramic piece toppled over the side and landed upside down on the rock-filled flower bed.
“Shit.”
Reed gave a quick laugh. “You could have just said no if you didn’t want to drink it. You didn’t need to break the dishware.”
“Did it break?” I walked down the two short steps to grab the mug, which had fallen behind an overgrown green bush. The cup sat on the landscaping, unbothered. Beside it, something glimmered between two gray rocks. “What the heck?”
I grabbed the cup, moved the rock closest to me, and pulled up a square cut ruby solitaire ring with a gold band. “Wow, this is gorgeous.”
“What is it?” Reed asked, and I handed the ring to him. He held it up to the sunshine and twisted it in his fingers.
“Good, you’re outside. Samantha wanted me to bring over the coupons for cobbler. She’s going to email the theater tickets,” Casey said as he rounded the corner of his home. “What’s that?”
“I just found it behind this bush.” I pointed to the spot for better clarity.
Casey jerked to a stop as he stared wide-eyed at the ring in Reed’s hands. “That’s my mother’s.”
Reed walked down the steps and handed the ring to Casey. “Are you sure it belonged to your mother? It doesn’t look like it’s been outside very long.”
The landlord swallowed hard as he stared at his open palm. “Mom would not have given up the search for this if she’d lost it in the backyard.”
“Maybe she didn’t realize. Sometimes you can wear rings so much you forget they’re there.” I’d had it happen before once while swimming at my grandparents’ cabin in upper Michigan. It took me until later that afternoon before I realized I’d lost the slim gold band I liked to wear on my thumb.
