A young girl with a slick, dark ponytail and an all-white uniform brought out the first round for tasting. A Chardonnay from the coast of California. Considering Cordelia wasn’t much of a drinker, she barely managed a sip. Arline, on the other hand, downed her serving in one gulp and stuck the glass in the pocket of her caftan.
“This tastes like pure sunshine.” Daisy licked her lips. “I feel real fancy sitting here like this, drinking wine like a lady.”
If Cordelia had proper girlfriends, this might’ve been something they would do together, but she’d never really been part of a friend group. She had a habit of keeping folks at arm’s length, afraid that if they got close enough, they’d see her roots. The parts of herself she tried to hide behind neat clothes and a cautious manner.
They tasted a few more samples before the server brought out the Dew Valley Cabernet. Arline excused herself to find the bathroom, leaving Cordelia alone with Daisy and Belinda Sue, who were still sour with each other. Arline didn’t talk much, but she made a good buffer.
“This has been a nice little escape, but when are we going to start asking questions?” Cordelia shifted in her chair. She wanted to feel like she belonged here, but the truth of it was the environment made her restless. It was too stuffy, and they were too... Sarsaparilla Falls. She was just waiting for them to be found out at any moment.
“That owner is coming back around. The one who looks at us like something her dog threw up,” Belinda Sue whispered under her breath. “Let me handle this one.”
Val stopped back around their table to check on them. “Is the Dew Valley to your liking?”
“Very much so. Would we be able to buy a bottle ourselves?” Cordelia asked.
“I’m afraid not.” Val didn’t look the least bit sorry. As if letting the likes of them be seen carrying a bottle of her wine would devalue it. “Dew Valley isn’t for public sale.”
Belinda Sue narrowed her eyes as she exchanged a look with Cordelia. “Are you sure about that? Because some friends of ours from Sarsaparilla Falls just bought a bottle last month.”
Belinda Sue pulled up the picture of Corbin and Edna on her tablet. Val frowned at the photo and shook her head. “I get a lot of customers on a weekly basis, so I wouldn’t be able to say for sure if they were here, but I can say they most certainly didn’t buy a bottle because it’s only for sale at the five restaurants I have a contract with.”
Daisy watched the exchange like a ping-pong match until she saw her opening and dove in. She pulled up a picture of Honey on her phone. “What about this woman? She said she bought an individual bottle here too.”
“That’s not possible.” Val pressed her lips together, clearly losing patience, but not wanting to cause a scene. “And I’d appreciate it if you kept your voices down. Dew Valley is known forits exclusivity, there are only five restaurants that serve it, and I won’t have unfounded rumors tainting the brand.”
“Can we at least get a list of the restaurants that serve it?” Cordelia asked.
Val hesitated. “Sure. Just give me a moment to get that together.”
Val hurried away to retrieve the list, but Cordelia had a strong suspicion she wouldn’t be back. Her suspicions were confirmed when the dark-haired waitress informed them they had another party coming in and would need the seating, despite there being several open tables.
Cordelia slumped back in her chair. “What a waste of time this turned out to be. I guess we can load up on fudge to make the trip worthwhile.”
Cordelia still didn’t believe Val when she said the wine wasn’t for individual sale. The pastor had gotten the bottle from someone, and it wasn’t anyone from Bramble Park.
They stood, ready to leave before the last round could be served. Daisy swiveled her head. “Where did Arline get off to?”
Just as they got ready to track her down, she came rushing into the courtyard, holding her stomach like she had the hounds of hell pressed against her colon. “We need to go. Now.”
“We’re coming. Hold your horses.” Belinda Sue took her sweet time, only because she knew Arline was champing at the bit and she was in the mood to pick a fight.
Halfway back to the car, Arline ducked into an alley between a toy shop and an antique store. She pulled a large rectangular book out from under her caftan. “I knew that uptight hussy wasn’t going to tell us nothing. You could see it on her face, plain as day when we walked in, not looking like we reeked of money. So I stole her guest book.”
“Arline!” Belinda Sue snatched the book out of her hands.“You were always smart as a whip. Don’t let anyone tell you different.”
Cordelia knotted her hands together, torn between fear and awe. “She’s going to know it was us. She’s got my credit card on file.”
“She can’t prove nothing.” Daisy took the book from Belinda Sue and began flipping through the pages. “We just need a name is all, then we can leave the book on the sidewalk. Someone will return it to her. No harm, no foul.”
Cordelia closed her eyes and whispered a prayer under her breath, even though she wasn’t the praying type. “I hope you’re right.”
The three of them gathered over Daisy’s shoulder as she flipped back through the last month, looking for a familiar name. Nothing in the last month. Or two. No single purchases of Dew Valley wine from any customers. Maybe Val hadn’t been lying about the exclusivity.
“This is starting to feel like a lost cause,” Daisy said. She’d gone back six months already and not a single recognizable name had popped up.
“Hold up.” Belinda Sue laid her palm flat on the book. If it hadn’t been for Daisy’s nimble reflexes, she would’ve smacked it to the ground. “Would you look at that?”
The three of them leaned in closer. In a fine-point squiggly black scrawl was the purchase of a single bottle of Dew Valley Cabernet. But the name of the purchaser ended up opening a larger can of worms than they’d been prepared for. Because of all the people they’d suspected of poisoning the pastor, this one would’ve been last on the list.
