River nodded, and Mrs. Crabtree sipped at her tea. No one really knew how old she was. Some people said she was in her seventies, others that she was over a hundred. She was a force, to be sure. There was no weakness in her energy, no uncertainty or sadness like there was when she came in asking to talk to her deceased husband. Purpose indeed.
“Have you let the community board know you want to be involved?” River asked.
“I will. I wanted to tell you first.” She motioned vaguely to the shop. “In case you had some silly notion that it wasn’t a good idea.”
She wouldn’t take offense at their predictions being silly notions. “Nothing here. You?” she asked Audrey, who shook her head.
“But you should know,” Audrey said, glancing between River and Mrs. Crabtree, “that snake from last night has some connection to River, and we don’t know how that’s attached to all this.”
Mrs. Crabtree actually threw her head back and chortled. “Trust our River to go and fall for the bad girl. You keep it in your pants until this is all over, young lady.” She shook her finger at River.
River wasn’t even sure how to respond to that. “Young lady?”
“Shut up. You know what I mean.” Mrs. Crabtree finished the tea with a contented sigh. “You’re going to be my right-hand person on this, River. So you start thinking outside the box about how we’re going to attack. I’ll do the same, and we’ll take our ideas to the community when we’ve got something solid.” She stood, and it seemed like the cane was unnecessary now. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
She left, the door chiming softly as it closed behind her.
River and Audrey sat in silence for a moment, and then Audrey laughed.
“What are you going to come up with, young lady?” she asked as she cleared the mugs.
“I don’t think my parents even called me that when I was little.” River shook her head. “But she’s right. We need to think outside the box if we’re going up against a company like that.”
The doorbell chimed and a guy in slacks and a button-down polo came in. He raised an envelope. “River Rigel?”
She glanced at Audrey and then held out her hand. “That’s me.”
He gave a quick smile, handed it over, and was gone.
River saw the Black Pinnacle logo in the corner of the expensive stationery and held it up to Audrey. “My turn.”
Audrey looked over her shoulder as she opened it. It was a carbon copy of the letter she’d seen from Paul last night, except her number was slightly higher. There was a phone number along with a request to discuss the acquisition of her property.
Audrey huffed. “They’re starting low. Who would sell a building like this for that amount?”
“Someone desperate. Someone who hasn’t ever seen that kind of money, or who wants to start again somewhere else and thinks this is enough.” River threw the letter on the counter. “Fortunately, I’m not that someone.”
A couple customers came in, and their day moved along at the normal pace, with a few readings dotted with sales of merch from the shop. Throughout, River was distracted by thoughts of the issue at hand. Images of Marina limping along last night, in obvious discomfort, also intruded. River had wanted to reach out and take care of her, but she wasn’t about to show anything Marina could construe as weakness.
By the time River was home and Shamus was curled up on her lap, she was tired of the looping thoughts. She flipped on the TV for some distraction and smiled when she saw Madison Ford reporting from Washington, DC on the latest political upheaval.
An idea started to form and soon took on a life of its own. She grabbed her phone.
“It’s really great to see you again,” Madison said, kissing River’s cheek. “I’m glad you called.”
“I can’t believe you flew over just to chat.” River pulled out Madison’s chair and sat opposite her at A Cup of Joe. Billy chatted with customers, but River could see him keep looking their way.
“Hey, what’s the point of keeping your exes as friends if you can’t create a little chaos together.” She smiled and sipped her coffee, giving a little murmur of appreciation. “Give me all the details you have.”
River held up her hand. “One sec.” She waved Mrs. Crabtree over and motioned at Billy, who nodded. She pulled out the seat for her, and she settled into it like a queen seating herself in front of her subjects.
“Mrs. Crabtree, this is Madison Ford?—”
“You think I don’t watch TV or read the paper?” Mrs. Crabtree held out her hand. “It’s a pleasure.”
Madison’s smile was genuine. River knew full well how much she liked interesting characters, and Mrs. Crabtree was definitely one of those.
“Likewise.” She looked between them. “Tell me everything.”
