Invitation to Murder (Book 1 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) (15 page)

I held the red, silver and black abomination
up to Lillian, but she was nose deep in one of the books I’d just
gone through. “So what do you think of my design?”

She looked up, then stared at the card for a
few moments before trusting herself to speak. “It’s certainly
unique, isn’t it?”

I couldn’t hold my smile in any longer.
“Relax. This is the bad choice to make sure she picks the one
like.” I put the jagged invitation down and grabbed the fireworks
display. “I’m just afraid this might be a little too much for her,
too.”

“
I think it’s perfect,”
Lillian said as she took the card from me. “She’d have trumpets
announcing the wedding if she could. Are you telling me that you
just came up with this?”

“
Well, I borrowed the
basic idea from one of the books centered on an Independence Day
celebration, but I doubt it’s ever been used for a wedding
invitation before.”

“
I feel you’re pretty safe
saying that.”

I frowned at the card I favored. “Do you
think I should come up with something else?”

“
Heavens, no. If she
doesn’t like either of these, she can go back to your original
design or take her business somewhere else. If she threatens to do
that, though, remember, we keep all of the checks.”

“
I’m tempted to run down
to the bank and cash this one before she can change her mind,” I
said with a laugh.

“
You’re just joking, but
I’d do exactly that. You don’t want to give her time to stop
payment on it if she changes her mind yet again. Go on; I can
handle things here.”

That was pretty obvious,
since we hadn’t had a customer all morning. “You know, I think I’ll
do it. Can I get you anything while I’m out?”

“
No, I’m going to study a
little more. Cards really are fascinating, aren’t they?”

“
I think so,” I said,
happy that Lillian was getting into the spirit of card
making.

I felt a little guilty walking down Oakmont
Avenue toward the bank. After all, if Mrs. Albright wanted her
money back, was I really in any position to say no? I didn’t want
to give any of my customers bad service, no matter how truculent
they might be. But then again, I couldn’t afford to be a pushover,
either. If I was going to succeed in running my own business, then
I was going to have to toughen up and hold people to their
commitments. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t give a refund if someone
was unhappy with a purchase, but special orders were going to have
to be something else entirely, especially when I felt I’d already
met the spirit of the agreement I’d had with Mrs. Albright in the
first place.

Corrine Knotts was waiting in line ahead of
me at the bank. I’d been her babysitter a dozen years ago, and
she’d blossomed into a lovely young woman, “Hey, Corrine, how are
you?”

“
I’m fine, Miss Jennifer.
I heard you opened your own shop.”

“
I sure did. It’s called
Custom Card Creations. You should come by and see it. Hey, why
aren’t you in school?” Corrine was a junior at Tech, and I’d heard
she’d gotten a full scholarship for mathematics. It always amazed
me when people were good at something I was dreadful at I could
barely balance my checkbook.

“
We’re on break, so I
thought I’d come home.” She frowned a second, then said, “Do you
mind if I ask you something?”

“
Go right
ahead.”

She bit her lower lip, then asked, “How well
do you know Wayne Davidson? He’s been working for your brother for
years, hasn’t he?”

“
I know him a little. Why
do you ask?”

Corrine frowned, then said, “We’ve been
going out lately, and I thought things were going pretty well, but
he just broke up with me. He said he was suddenly interested in an
older woman.”

Oh, no. I hoped I wasn’t the older woman he
was talking about. I was a good six years older than Wayne was, but
I resented the term if he was using it about me.

“
I’m so sorry,” I said.
Knowing Corrine like I did, I thought Wayne was out of his mind if
he’d dumped her to ask me out. She was as pretty on the inside as
she was on the outside.

“
You know, I’m just
puzzled by the whole thing.” She lowered her voice. “If you want to
know the truth, in a way I’m kind of relieved.”

“
Why’s that?” I asked as
our line moved forward.,

“
He’s been getting pretty
possessive lately, showing up on campus and following me around in
the shadows. Truthfully, it was starting to creep me out a
little.”

“
You mean he was stalking
you?”

She started to say something when it was her
turn at the teller’s cage. I could barely contain myself wanting
more information as she made her withdrawal. When it was my turn, I
said, “Wait one second. I’d like to talk to you more.”

She glanced at her watch. “I’m late as it
is. We’ll talk later, I promise. It was good seeing you.”

“
You, too,” I said as the
man behind me coughed to show his impatience. “You should get that
throat looked at,” I said as I smiled at him sweetly.

I cashed the check, not even feeling guilty
as I stuffed the bills into my pocket. At least now I could afford
to buy lunch. I went over to Hirasi’s, a place that had
Mediterranean food, something I knew Lillian loved and that I was
acquiring a taste for. I just hoped the owner made a go of it.
Restaurants on Oakmont were either there forever or disappeared
overnight, and Earl and his family were too nice to just
vanish.

Lillian looked pleased by my choice for
lunch. I said, “It’s my treat, remember?”

“
I trust we’re dining on
Anne Albright’s check.”

“
Absolutely,” I said. “I
might not even bother putting this in the register.” Before she
could protest, I said, “Hey, I’m kidding. I worked for Sara Lynn
long enough to know that everything has to go on the books. You
know, having her in my apartment isn’t as annoying as I thought it
might be.”

“
You sound surprised.” “To
be honest with you, I am,” I said as I took a bite of food. “I
couldn’t believe it when she just I showed up on my
doorstep.”

“
I’m glad she did,”
Lillian said. “I was wondering when one of your siblings was going
to step up and be counted.”

“
I’m not sure how long
she’s staying,” I said. “We’re doing this on a day-by-day
basis.”

“
Jennifer, you need
someone there with you besides those cats of yours.”

Okay, it was time to get the lunch topic off
me. “I heard the oddest thing at the bank when I was cashing that
check.” I told Lillian about my conversation with Corrine.

She didn’t look all that surprised by the
news. “It seems that Wayne is a little too dedicated to his
relationships. This just proves it.”

“
How come I haven’t heard
anything about it?”

“
My dear, people seem to
just open up around me. It must be something about my sympathetic
nature.”

A thought occurred to me. “If you knew about
Wayne, why did you urge me to go out with him when he asked
me?”

Lillian looked sheepish. “I hadn’t heard
anything at that point, but when you told me he’d expressed
interest in dating you, I started asking around. I wonder if we
should say something to Bradford about him?”

“
I’m not sure. I’ve
already gotten him into trouble this week with my brother. I think
I’ll wait a bit and see if he does anything else. It’s not fair to
smear him if I don’t have anything specific to back it
up.”

“
I suppose that’s for the
best, but I would watch my step around him if I were
you.”

I pushed my plate away. I’d had enough, and
though it was good, I was more of a burgers-and-shakes kind of gal.
“Believe me, I’m watching everybody around me right now, including
you.” I gave her my best stare; then we both cracked up
laughing.

After we cleaned up, Lillian said, “So, more
of the same this afternoon?”

“
No, I’m happy with those
cards, and if I keep messing with them, I’ll overdo the designs.
Why don’t we have another lesson while things are
quiet?”

“
That sounds lovely,” she
said. “There’s something I’m dying to try.”

Before we could get our supplies out,
though, the front door chimed and another customer walked in.

There was a steady stream of people in and
out after that, making purchases of everything from premade cards
to the nicest kits I offered. It appeared that my little card shop
was meeting a need that no one else in town had seen but me. I was
just totaling out the register for the day when the door chimed
again. “Sorry, we’re just closing,” I said without looking up.

“
I’m here to see your
samples,” Mrs. Albright said.

“
Absolutely,” I replied as
I met her near the door.

Lillian said, “Jennifer, if you don’t need
me, I’ll be going now.”

“
Of course,” I said,
shooting her a dirty look for leaving me alone with that woman.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, bright and early.”

Lillian waved a hand in the air. Then I
locked the door behind her.

“
So what do you have for
me?” Mrs. Albright asked.

“
Let me just get them. I
made two samples, so you’ve got a choice.”

“
My dear woman, you’ll do
more than two if I don’t find one I like.”

It was all I could do not to roll my eyes at
her. I retrieved both card choices; and, without a word, I handed
them to her. She studied both carefully, then said, “You’ve
captured the spirit of what I was after. Well-done.” She paused,
and added, “Jennifer, I know I’ve been short with you, and I’m
sorry, truly I am. If you can’t imagine the pressure I’ve been
under lately.”

She was right. I hadn’t even tried putting
myself in her place, with a pregnant daughter she was eager to
marry off.

“
That’s okay. I’m glad you
approve of the prototype.”

She flung the fireworks card down on the
table and landed me the garish nightmare I’d created. “This will do
nicely. I like the bold color choice, and the design is
perfect.”

For a rave party maybe, I
thought as I tried to hide
my surprise.
“So you’re happy with this?”

“
Absolutely. You have my
approval to start production.”

A joke was one thing, but this was going too
far. “Don’t you want to ask your daughter and her groom what they
think?” Surely saner minds would prevail if she took a poll among
the people concerned. Melinda would never speak to me again if I
went ahead with the order.

“
My daughter mentioned
wanting to be consulted, but really, she’s just a child. What does
she know?”

“
That may be so,” I said,
not believing it for a second. “But it is her wedding.”

Mrs. Albright frowned, then grabbed the card
back from me. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt. I’ll be in touch.”

I let her out of the store, then wondered if
I’d been too quick to muddy the waters, especially after she’d
finally approved of my design. No, the expedient way was not
necessarily the best way here. I’d never be able to forgive myself
if I had a part in ruining a wedding. Better I should jump through
more hoops than let my passion be smeared by what was turning out
to be a very bad joke. I’d had fun making up the dummy, but I
didn’t know if I could face doing a hundred of those
atrocities.

I balanced the register report, then tucked
the deposit into my handbag before heading out the door. Getting
out of the shop, making the deposit and driving home were all
uneventful activities, something I was extremely grateful for.

I couldn’t wait to get inside my apartment
and close the world behind me, even with my sister staying
there.

Something was strange about my door as I
approached it, but it wasn’t until I was ten feet away that I saw
what it was.

Someone had taken a wig, much like the one
I’d worn investigating Tina Mast’s murder scene and louse, and
nailed it to my front door.

Written above it in something that looked
like blood were the words “I WARNED YOU.”

Chapter 11

I stared at the wig for a minute before I
could move. After fumbling around in my pocket for my cell phone, I
dialed my brother’s number. “Bradford, I need you over at my
apartment as soon as you can get here.”

“
I’m kind of covered up
right now in paperwork, Sis. Can it wait?”

“
Listen,” I said, trying
to keep my voice calm. “I don’t want to alarm you, but something’s
happened.”

“
Okay, before I rush over
there with my siren blaring and my gun drawn, tell me about
it.”

I took a deep breath, let it out slowly,
then said, “I just got home, and I found a red wig nailed to m
front door. It’s just like the one I wore when we went to the house
where Tina Mast was killed.”

Bradford paused a moment, then said, “It
couldn’t just be some kind of prank, could it? I normally don’t
like coincidences, but is there any chance it might be?”

“
Maybe if that’s all there
was, but there’s one other thing I haven’t told you yet. Over the
wig, somebody wrote ‘I warned you’ in something that looks like
blood.”

“
Okay, here’s what I want
you to do. Do not go into that apartment, do you understand me? I
want you to go back to your Gremlin, get inside and lock the doors.
Don’t move after that until I get there. Do you
understand?”