Candy Crush (12 page)

An hour later, she and Butter walked to the
candy store. The temperature felt significantly warmer than it had
since she arrived on Tuesday. Brandon had commented yesterday that
the weekend was supposed to be gorgeous. He called it
Indian
Summer
.

Gabriella told him that in Texas they had
two seasons: hot and not-quite-as-hot. Brandon had made a face and
said he couldn’t possibly live in a place that didn’t have fall or
winter.

The first thing Gabriella did when she
arrived at the candy store was peel the butcher paper off the
windows and door. Sunlight streamed inside, instantly warming the
feel of the place. Even though it was bare, the store was clean,
and neatly arranged. The bright sunlight reiterated the work she
had already put into the store. It was definitely coming
together.

When she went to the store for the rest of
her supplies, she would need to find a sign shop and order
something that looking professional and proclaimed the store was
under new management and would be opening soon. That should start
to get people excited about the prospect of a new business on Main
Street.

It occurred to her that she didn’t know
where anything was located in this town, other than the shops
within the three-block radius that comprised the historic downtown
district. Since they would be working on the store all day on
Saturday, maybe on Sunday she could talk Brandon into driving her
around, showing her where the necessary businesses were located.
She needed to find a grocery store, dry cleaner, gas station… She
mentally continued her list as she stepped outside onto the
sidewalk and looked down at the two half barrels that flanked the
front door of the candy store.

She tugged on one of the plants and grey
dirt crumbled away as it broke free of the surface. She frowned and
stuck her hand in the dirt. Since Miguel had put her in charge of
overseeing the landscaping at his house, she had learned a thing or
two about the art. She also truly enjoyed gardening. It had become
one of her few respites when she was particularly upset about her
lot in life, while she was living with Miguel.

Because of this experience, she knew,
without a doubt, that the soil in these half barrels was the reason
nothing but the hardiest weeds were growing.

With Butter on her heels, she walked next
door to the hobby shop. She looked down at the half barrel to the
left of the door and counted ten dead chrysanthemums. Considering
it was only mid-September, she couldn’t imagine the mums had been
planted more than a month ago, yet they were all dead. The door
opened, revealing an elderly man with a thick head of white hair.
He wore blue jean overalls and a red handkerchief around his neck.
Trying to look the part of a train conductor, Gabriella decided,
and he’d achieved success. Butter rushed up and sniffed his
feet.

“The store opens at ten, ma’am, but if
you’re interested in something specific, I’m sure I can help you.”
He slowly bent at the waist and scratched Butter’s head.

Gabriella offered her hand to shake. “I’m
Gabriella Hadley, the new owner of the candy store next door.”

“Oh, that’s right. I’ve seen you walking
around all week.” He pushed his conductor’s hat further back on his
head. “I’m Milo Thomas. This here’s been my hobby shop for forty
years, and before that, it was my grandfather’s for thirty.”

“Wow, that’s impressive. Tell me, Mr.
Thomas, when did you plant these mums?”

“Call me Milo, please. We aren’t formal
around here.” He scowled at the dead plants. “Shoot, those were
just planted. Couldn’t have been more than two weeks ago. Right
after Labor Day, I think. And dead already. I told Brandon at the
DDA meeting that we ought to find a new nursery next year. I
haven’t said anything since, though. I know the poor kid’s taking
hell right now for these flowers. Most of these merchants aren’t as
easy-going as I am.”

Gabriella found it amusing that this man
referred to Brandon as a
kid
. “May I?” she asked, indicating
the flowers.

“Help yourself,” he replied. “It’s a lost
cause now. I’m thinking I’m just going to pull them up and leave it
empty till next spring.”

Gabriella tugged on one of the dead plants
and watched grey dirt crumble to the ground as the plant easily
came loose. “I think I know what’s wrong, and I’m pretty sure it’s
the soil, not the plants. If it’s all right, I’m going to take
samples from a few of the barrels. When Brandon gets back, I’ll ask
him to take me to the nursery to get the soil tested. You’re right,
it may be a lost cause right now, but maybe we can get it
straightened out before next spring. It was nice to meet you, Milo.
I look forward to working next door to you.”

Milo beamed at her. “Anytime, Gabriella,
anytime. It’s pretty slow around here in the mornings, so feel free
to pop in and I’ll share a cup of coffee and expound on the history
of our fair village.” He winked and walked back inside his
shop.

Gabriella walked back to her own shop,
pleased that she might be able to do something to help solve
Brandon’s problem with the flowers. She walked inside and turned to
lock the door behind her, because she intended to go upstairs and
start working on the apartment, when a shadow fell across the door.
She gave a little jump and then realized it was Daniel Franks, the
assistant police chief.

Chastising herself for being so easily
spooked, and knowing it was because she had just told Brandon her
story about Miguel, Gabriella opened the door and invited him
inside.

“Morning, Gabriella,” he said as he tipped
his hat. “Thought I’d stop by to see how things were coming
along.”

He looked around and whistled. “I’ll be
damned. You’ve made some serious improvements in a very short
time.”

“Thank you. I’m in a hurry to get it opened.
It will be nice to actually have a steady income again.” She smiled
at him.

He smiled back, but it didn’t quite reach
his eyes.
Cop eyes
, she thought. Always assessing
everything.

“What’s your ETA to open?”

Gabriella shrugged. “I’m hoping to have a
soft opening by early October, and maybe a grand opening by the
weekend before Halloween.”

Daniel looked around again. “That’s
certainly possible,” he said softly, clearly admiring how far she’d
progressed. “What about the apartment? Are you living there?”

Gabriella shook her head. “No, it was pretty
trashed. I’m staying in one of Brandon’s guest rooms until it’s
cleaned up. I have some people coming over tomorrow morning to
start work on that front. So maybe I can move in next week
sometime.” The thought did not cheer her like it should.

Even if they were not sharing a bed, she
still had come to enjoy sharing a house with Brandon. It would be
very different to be alone in her own apartment, to go to bed
alone, to wake up alone. To make her own coffee each morning… It
would be very different not to have Brandon’s face, Brandon’s body
be the last thing she sees before she goes to bed each night. Her
dreams had taken a decidedly erotic twist since she took up
residence in his guest room.

Maybe she
should
be looking forward
to moving into her own apartment.

Daniel was talking. Gabriella forced herself
to focus on his words, not the latest fantasy that had woken her up
a few hours before dawn this morning. She had lain in bed, panting
and talking herself out of hurrying down the hall to Brandon’s
bedroom until she finally fell back asleep again.

“It’s going to be a hot one today. Up to
seventy, at least. You may want to get up there and open some
windows, air the place out a little.”

“Thanks, that’s a good idea. I don’t miss
eighty-five in September, but it will certainly be nice to see a
comfortable seventy.”

She smiled at him again but he did not
return the smile. He seemed to be thinking of something else, and
Gabriella wondered if there was some big, unsolved case in town
right now. She hadn’t even opened a newspaper since she
arrived.

“Well, I gotta go. Call me if you need
anything.” He tipped his hat again and walked out the front
door.

Gabriella took a step toward the front door
and nearly tripped over Butter, who’d been hovering at her feet.
“Butter, watch it,” she said as she stumbled and righted
herself.

Butter ran to the back of the store, and
Gabriella walked to the front door and locked it. Then she grabbed
her purse off the counter, walked back through the store, went
through the storeroom and out the back door. She glanced around and
realized she had yet to call to have the dumpster emptied. She made
another mental note to do so before Brandon realized it and
chastised her again, but first she decided to head upstairs and get
to work on her next project.

She walked up the rickety stairs, Butter on
her heels. At the top of the stairs, she realized Daniel was right:
the day was warming quickly, and it was much warmer on the second
level than downstairs. She pushed the door open and the first thing
she noticed was the smell. It slammed into her and she staggered
backwards, eyes streaming. She put a hand over her nose and mouth
and gagged.

Gabriella waited a few minutes and then took
her hand away from her face. The lingering smell was bad, but not
nearly as bad as the initial blast when she opened the door. When
they first checked out the apartment on Tuesday, Brandon had said
he thought something was living in the bedroom. Maybe whatever it
was had died.

Gabriella took a step inside. She turned
immediately and opened the nearest kitchen window, which was over
the sink, and overlooked the alley below. She stepped into the
kitchen and headed toward the next window, which was in the small
dining area, and overlooked the roof of the
Made in Michigan
store next door, which did not have a second story. She turned to
walk into the living room, and that’s when she saw the most likely
source of the smell.

A body. A human body. While she had never
seen dead human bodies other than in funeral homes, Gabriella felt
pretty certain this one had been dead for a while. It was gray and
bloated and the head was twisted at an unnatural angle. Not to
mention the wide-open, unblinking eyes.

She screamed. She turned and tripped over
Butter again, crashing into a white ladder-back kitchen chair. Her
knee hit first, then she fell and the seat of the chair jabbed into
her abdomen, pushing all of the breath out of her lungs. She rolled
over onto her back, gasping for air and whimpering from pain.
Butter stuck her nose in Gabriella’s face and she pushed the dog
away.

“Gabriella? Miss Hadley? Are you up there?”
she heard someone calling from the bottom of the stairs.
“Gabriella? It’s Milo. Are you okay?”

“Milo,” Gabriella gasped, still trying to
catch her breath. “Call 9-1-1. There’s a dead body up here.”

She didn’t hear any sound for several
heartbeats, and then she heard the creak of the stairs, as someone
laboriously climbed them. Milo’s silhouette darkened the doorway
and then he stepped inside when he saw Gabriella sprawled on the
floor.

“Gabriella, are you okay? What happened?” He
leaned over and helped her to her feet. She limped over to the only
other kitchen chair and gratefully sank into it.

“I’m fine, I tripped, that’s all. Knocked
the wind out of me. But he doesn’t look so good.”

She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder
without turning around. She did not want to see the body again. She
figured she could go the rest of her life without ever seeing that
body – or any other dead body, ever again. Milo’s eyes followed to
where her thumb indicated and he sucked in a sharp breath.

“That’s Mr. Partridge.”

“Who?” Gabriella asked, momentarily
distracted from the smell and the fact that they were standing in
the same room with a dead body.

“Mr. Partridge. The only merchant who
insisted everyone call him by his last name. He was the last candy
store owner. He disappeared two years ago. Everyone assumed he’d
died but they never found a body. I can’t believe he’s been up here
all this time.”

Gabriella shook her head. “He wasn’t.
Brandon and I checked this place out on Tuesday, and there was not
a dead body, nor was that smell here.” She fumbled with her purse,
pulled out her cell phone and dialed 9-1-1.

***

It was one o’clock before Gabriella was able
to finally leave the candy store and walk back to Brandon’s house.
She felt as though she were walking in a daze.

The news she’d received before she left
wasn’t good: the apartment and candy store both were now considered
a crime scene. Bright yellow caution tape had been zig zagged
across the front and back doors to the candy store, as well as the
bottom of the stairs leading to the apartment. Milo had tried to
cheer her by commenting that this would certainly get people
talking about the candy store’s planned opening, but his words did
not have the affect he was undoubtedly hoping for.
Crime
scene
was not quite the look she had been trying to
achieve.

Daniel had appeared shortly after the first
squad car, and Gabriella found it amazing that in the course of
three days she’d gone from a potential interest for a date to a
potential suspect in a murder. She wasn’t at all worried that
they’d actually accuse her of murder, because the ME on site said
he thought the man had been dead possibly for years. There was
evidence that he had been frozen and thawed, very recently.

Gabriella pushed the thought out of her
head. She felt sorry for the man’s family, but at least now they
had closure. What really bothered her was the fact that Daniel had
told her he had no idea when she would be able to get back into her
candy store. Her early October soft opening was already looking
like a faded dream.