“I noticed the other day that you were limping. Have you hurt your leg?”
“It’s an old injury from when I was working in the NYPD. I’ve been writing all day and sitting in one position for too long makes the muscle cramp.”
“Were you shot?”
Gabe nodded. “My partner and I were running after a drug dealer. He took exception to being arrested.” He looked down at her camera. “I didn’t think anyone used manual cameras anymore.”
Natalie smiled. He was changing the subject, but that was okay. “It’s a 1969 Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic. It was my grandmother’s.”
He studied the buttons and levers.
“It takes wonderful photos. A digital camera could probably do the same thing, but I feel close to my grandma when I’m using it. She was a great photographer.”
After waiting for so long, the sun was falling rapidly toward the mountains. Natalie held the camera to her eye, focused the lens on a crop of spruce trees, and waited.
Within seconds the last rays of sun splintered across the top of the range, cascading through the trees and onto the lake as softly as the wings of an angel. Natalie clicked the shutter, waited for a second, then did the same thing again. By the time the sun disappeared she knew she had some great shots.
She grinned at Gabe. “That’s a wrap.”
“Will you develop them yourself?”
“Not this time. Mabel gave me the name of someone in the local photographic club. He’ll develop them for me tomorrow.”
Gabe patted Sherlock. “You’ve got everything worked out.”
“Don’t be fooled,” she said softly. “I might not have a dying hero to worry about, but plenty of other things stop me from sleeping.”
“It might be easier now that you’ve installed a state-of-the-art security system.”
Natalie nodded, but it wasn’t the people who were alive that kept her awake.
* * *
Gabe parkedhis truck outside the general store. If it weren’t for the fact that he’d run out of food, he wouldn’t be here. Coming into town always increased the risk of someone recognizing him, but seeing Mabel was more of a worry.
Each time she spoke to him she dug a little deeper, trying to uncover more information about his life. It didn’t help that he was equally as skilled at evading her questions.
He peered through the window at this week’s display. Drills, sanders, chainsaws, and grinders sat on wooden crates, all waiting for DIY adventurers to take advantage of the discounts. Gabe didn’t need any tools, but hewasthinking about buying a barbecue.
Before he ran the gauntlet of Mabel’s questions, he wanted to see the store that Natalie’s friend wanted to buy. As he walked farther down the sidewalk, he realized how good an investment the building could be.
The general store was the only place you could buy groceries in Sapphire Bay. Everyone who lived here regularly visited the store. Tourists stopped by to refill their coolers or buy enough food for a few days. If that wasn’t a good enough reason to open a candy store close by, then the tourist buses were.
According to the sign on the lamppost, ten buses a week stopped here. Multiply that by the number of people on each bus and you had a good opportunity to broaden your customer base.
Gabe pressed his face to the French bakery’s window. The glass counter was still sitting where the owners had left it. Half a dozen tables and chairs, complete with red tablecloths, were waiting for the next customers to arrive. Even the light fixtures could have come straight out of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.
If the kitchen was as well maintained as the front of the store, it would be perfect.
“I can’t believe it.” Caleb held his hand over Gabe’s forehead. “You’ve come into town on your own. Are you feeling all right?”
“Very funny,” Gabe muttered. “I thought you were working to a tight deadline.”
“I am, but everyone needs to eat. My cupboards are bare, and a certain someone hasn’t invited me for dinner.”
“If you want to test drive a new barbecue you can come over tonight.”
Caleb smiled. “Do I get to choose the meat?”
