He grinned at her.“When are you not hungry?For a tiny woman, you eat like a linebacker.”
Laughing, she gathered up her files to place in her briefcase.“I wouldn’t say a linebacker… maybe a wide receiver.”She shrugged.“What can I say?I was blessed with a good metabolism.Now, where’s this Sassy’s Restaurant you’ve told me all about?”
Grace flipped through the local newspaper while standing behind the counter of Petals, her aunt’s boutique.The women’s clothing shop was a few doors down from Dan Malone’s hardware store and diagonally across from Pro-Care.Bonnie was counting the day’s receipts and chatting at the same time.“The warm weather this past week has had a nice effect on my sales.People are taking walks through town and getting ready for spring.”
“Well, since March twentieth was last week, it’s already spring,” Grace responded.“Down here, you start getting the warmer weather way before New York does.Over a week of temperatures in the low seventies in March is almost unheard of up there.One or two days, maybe, but not nine in a row.This would be considered a heat wave.”
“Are you complaining?”
She chuckled.“Absolutely not.This is my favorite type of weather, not too hot, not too cold.”
“Mine too,” said Bonnie.“And not just because it’s good for business, but of course, that’s a plus.I had a busy morning, and then a pleasant group of women came in after I returned from lunch.They drove down from Newport News for the day just to eat, shop, and walk around.And boy, did they shop!”
“Shopping is one thing.”Grace raised an eyebrow.“The question is, did they buy?”
“Between the four of them, they bought over twelve hundred dollars worth of clothing and accessories.I told them I was expecting a large shipment of summer clothes within the next two weeks, and they plan to come back down to see what comes in.”
After she finished totaling up the sales, Bonnie put the credit card receipts into an envelope and filed them away, so she could compare them to the statements at the end of the month.Then she wrote out a bank slip and placed it with two days’ worth of money and checks into a deposit bag that she concealed in a small shopping bag.She planned on dropping it into the night deposit bin at her bank a block and a half away.Usually, Dan, taking along his concealed .38 caliber pistol and Jinx, walked with her every time she went to the bank to make his own deposits and to ensure Bonnie wasn’t robbed.Even though crime in Whisper was low, one never knew when some creep would try to take advantage of someone in the sleepy little town, he would say.
Bonnie always thought her dear friend was overly cautious but let him play bodyguard anyway.Dan randomly chose when they would make the deposits, so there was no pattern to catch a crook’s eye.Sometimes they went in the morning before opening their shops, and other times they went during lunch or after closing.Tonight though, Grace and she would make the drop on their way to dinner.
It was still a few minutes before the six o’clock closing time, so the two women straightened the clothes on the racks.Bonnie asked, “Did you hire that therapist you told me about at lunch?What’s his name again?”
“Tom Koppel.And yes, I did.He’s giving the hospital his two weeks’ notice on Monday.”
“Wonderful.So you’re almost ready to open up then?”
Grace smiled.“Yup, as soon as all the equipment arrives.The sign looks great—they’re installing it on Tuesday.Oh, and I bought the TV earlier to put up for the patients to watch if they want.It was so nice of Dan to offer to mount it on the wall and run the wiring, along with hooking up the washer/dryer for me.That’ll save me some money.I think I’ll treat him to dinner out one night to pay him back.”
“Well, not tonight.That stubborn old coot’s been fighting a cold for the past few days, and now he’s paying the price.Thank goodness Jimmy Merrick was scheduled to work after school today, so Dan could go up to the apartment and get some rest.Honestly, that man pushes himself to the brink sometimes.”
Grace smiled and again wondered why Dan and Bonnie weren’t a couple.It was obvious they cared about each other, and most of the time, they acted like old married folks.“We’ll bring him some soup from Sassy’s after dinner.”
“Sounds perfect.”Bonnie glanced at her watch.“Well, let’s lock up.I’m getting hungry myself.”
The two women closed the shop and walked up the street to the bank.While Bonnie was making the deposit, Grace glanced across the street just in time to see Sean walking into Sassy’s with his hand on the lower back of an extremely attractive woman.She was stunned and felt her stomach fall in disappointment.She suddenly realized that in the conversations she’d had with Sean over the past week, she had never once asked him if he was seeing anyone special.Apparently, he was, she thought sourly as the couple disappeared into the restaurant.
Bonnie completed her transaction and turned to see her niece frowning.“Is something wrong, Grace?”she asked while scanning the area in front of Sassy’s where her niece had been staring.
“Um, no.Nothing’s wrong,” she lied and put on a fake smile.“I was just thinking that I’m really not in the mood for Sassy’s tonight.Why don’t we drive over to the Cranberry Inn for dinner?”
“That’s fine with me.I haven’t eaten there in a while.”
“…this is Jessica Daly for the Channel Four News.”
Wallace rewound the reporter’s newscast from outside the Dare County Sheriff’s Department and let it play for the fifth time.He could tell she was full of herself and wondered if she’d be so cocky if he cut her down to size.Literally.
Here comes the best part.The FBI agent.Mister High and Mighty—Not.
His deadly work had the localKeystone Kopsrunning around in circles, so they’d called in the feds.It didn’t matter, though—they were a bunch of inept jackasses and would never catch him.
Good ol’ George Wallace had a steady respectable job, helped out his neighbors, and was friendly to everyone he met—well, almost everyone.His coworkers and boss got along with him just fine, and he’d never had any complaints lodged against him at work.He’d never been arrested—even his driver’s license was clean, having never gotten a ticket in his life.He even volunteered every other Saturday afternoon at the local food pantry and drove his elderly neighbor to the library once a month.It was all part of the admirable persona he presented to the rest of the world.People who knew him had no idea what he was capable of, and he would keep it that way.Of course, it was a tad disappointing that no one knew mild-mannered George Wallace was responsible for instilling fear into the hearts of women living in the area, but, ironically, silence ensured his fame.
Striding into his kitchen, he took his dinner out of the microwave and placed it on a tray along with a knife, fork, and napkin.He carried his meal into the living room, sat back down on the sofa, and hit the rewind button on the remote again.
Chapter10
Grace glanced around the almost full dining room of the Cranberry Inn.Named for its exterior color, it was a beautiful bed and breakfast on the north end of town, which opened its doors to the public from five until nine for supper.The Victorian décor matched the architecture of the grand building and inspired a different atmosphere than Sassy’s did.The restaurant on Main Street was always fun, loud, and boisterous, with the bar area having its regular crowd due to a row of TVs showing current sporting events.The dining area was a little quieter, yet it was still filled with happy chatter.Here at the inn, the environment was more subdued, and most conversations were carried out in soft, delicate voices.
