The Stolen Valentine (3 page)

“What do you think, Smudge?  Am I ready to be an aunty?”  Remembering Grace’s news from last night she smiled.  Smudge smiled at her, his expression almost human.  Darcy could hear his thoughts, almost, telling her that she’d be a great aunt.  After all, she always kept his food dish full and his water fresh, didn’t she?

Looking at her reflection in the mirror, at her heart-shaped face and her green eyes still a little red with sleep, she ran a hand down the flat of her stomach.  Maybe there’d be a baby in her future someday, too.  It had been what she always wanted with Jeff, until it became obvious that she and her now deceased husband weren’t going to be able to stay together.  Now with Jon, she wanted to try again.  When they were ready.

She could hear the alarm going off in the bedroom and quickly stepped into the shower, drawing the curtain closed behind her.  She let the water slough down her shoulders, then lathered her poof and got to washing up.  She knew she’d have to be ready when Jon left if she wanted to ride into town with him. 

Hmm, she thought to herself with a wicked smile.  Maybe it would be quicker if he joined her…

***

Jon let her out at the intersection where he had to turn right to get to the station and she had to turn left to get to the bookstore.  He offered to drive her all the way but she told him it was okay and she could walk.  She was glad she had when she saw Grace walking into the Bean There Bakery and Café.  She hurried over in the direction of the café to catch up with her sister.

She found Grace just giving her order at the head of the short line of customers.  Elizabeth Archer was working the counter today, her auburn hair pulled back into a net to reveal the scars on the left side of her face.  Elizabeth was still short tempered whenever anyone talked to her, but she’d been in town long enough now to be comfortable with letting those scars show.  It hadn’t always been that way.

Darcy waved to her sister as Grace took her purchase from Elizabeth in a small brown paper bag and turned to leave.  They went over to one of the small tables near the front windows instead, and leaned in close to whisper.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at the doctor’s?” Darcy asked.

Grace laughed, genuinely more happy than Darcy had seen her in a while.  “Stop pushing me, sis.  My appointment isn’t until ten.  I’ve got time.”

Darcy kept her voice down, fully aware how much some people in town liked to gossip.  She didn’t know how many people Grace had told her secret to or if she even wanted anyone else to know about it yet.  “So, this puts a whole new spin on Valentine’s Day, doesn’t it?”

“I’ll say.  Aaron immediately started making all these plans to go out and celebrate and I had to rein him in and tell him just to keep it quiet for now.  At least until the doctor tells me everything is okay.”

“Well, now you know why you’ve felt so tired.”

“Yup.  Hey, how about you and Jon coming over for dinner tonight?  The four of us can at least celebrate for now, and then Aaron can take me out to dinner on Valentine’s Day or whatever it is he’s going to plan.”

“What a great idea, sis.  Want us to bring anything?”

“How about something to drink?  Just nothing alcoholic.”

“Of course.  I know how this works.”  She checked her watch and found she was late to help Sue open the bookstore.  She promised Grace again that she and Jon would be over tonight, and hurried back out into the cold.

***

As Darcy busied herself with dusting the shelves and books in the store she let her mind drift again towards what Valentine’s gift she could get for Jon.  She was still completely stumped. 

Some of the books in the store had sat in place for months.  She’d have to clear out her stock soon, maybe even put out a discount display to try and clear some of these out.  She pursed her lips.  Not long ago, Jon had suggested to her that she start selling electronic reading devices, maybe even offer a selection of electronic books to borrow like libraries did.  It wasn’t a bad idea, but she’d resisted the suggestion.  She wanted to keep the store going just the way her great aunt had done.  Books were special to her.  She had to wonder sometimes, though, if the rest of the world still felt the same way.  Maybe Jon was on to something.

Thinking of her Great Aunt gave her an idea.  She decided to have a look through her Great Aunt Millie’s journals.  They had helped her with so much in the past whenever she’d been stuck.  Maybe she would get some inspiration from them now.

Stepping into the back office, she took down the old leather-bound books and sat down to peruse them.  She slowly flipped through the pages of old photographs and precise, flowing penmanship.  She smiled at the way she could hear faint echoes of Millie’s voice as she read.  It was all interesting, but there wasn’t anything that was jumping out at her yet.  Nothing to suggest what a young woman in love could do for her boyfriend on Valentine’s Day.

The bell over the door jingled as someone entered.  Sighing, closing the journal she’d been reading through, she stepped out of the office to find her friend Helen walking towards her with a smile.  Her graying hair was done up just so and she wore a smart blue pantsuit today, obviously attending to her mayoral duties instead of the bakery.

“Hi Darcy,” Helen greeted her, pulling off purple knitted gloves.  “Are you busy?  I was hoping that we could have a chat about the Valentine’s night dance.”

“Sure Helen.”  Darcy took Helen’s coat and hung it on the rack behind the checkout counter.  “I’m not busy right now at all.  Sue’s off running an errand for me so it’s just us.  What’s up?”

“Well, it’s hard to have a dance without a band,” Helen told her as they sat down at one of the reading tables.  “The one we had lined up quit at the last minute.  Something about the lead singer having medical issues.  I offered to pay them to just do instrumentals, but they insist they won’t perform without the whole group.”

“Oh, no!” Darcy exclaimed.  “Oh, jeez. And we’re only five days away from it, too.”

“Exactly.  It’s short notice, and I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

“I actually might be able to help,” Darcy said.  “I have a cousin over in Meadowood who’s in a band.  They mostly do high school dances or weddings, but I can see if they’re available for this, if you want?”

Helen looked a little skeptical.  “Do you think they could handle something this big?  A townwide dance like this?”

Darcy smiled at her friend.  “I’m sure it will be fine, Helen.  Let me make a call.”  Darcy went straight to the phone and racked her mind for the number.  It had been a long while since she’d said more than hello to Kim.  Helen listened in, and slowly her frown was replaced with a smile.

***

Darcy called Jon after Helen left.  He answered his work phone in a clipped professional voice.  “This is Detective Tinker, can I help you?”

“It’s me, Jon,” Darcy told him.  “How’s it going?”

“Oh, hey Darcy.  You need my help, do you?”

“Well, I haven’t been kissed in, like, four hours.”

He laughed.  “That I’d definitely like to help you with but I couldn’t even get away from work for lunch.  We think we have a lead in this burglary case and we need to check it out.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.  I guess I’ll just have to wait.”  She smiled, always in a good mood when they talked to each other like this.  This was definitely what love was.  “So, do you think you could get off work by five o’clock?”

“Uh, probably.  You want a ride home again?  Should we maybe look at getting you your own car?”

“No, no.  It’s not that.  Besides, I’ll be able to ride the bicycle again soon.  You and I have a dinner date.”

“We do?”

“Uh-huh.  With Grace and Aaron.  At their apartment.  She wants us to help her celebrate.”

“Oh, well in that case I definitely can,” he promised.  “I’ll have the uniformed guys do some of this.  No problem.  Unless, you know, the world comes to an end or something.”

She tried to laugh at that but couldn’t.  The way things had gone in their little town of Misty Hollow, the end of the world wasn’t that far-fetched.

***

Darcy could tell there was something wrong as soon as they arrived at Grace and Aaron’s apartment.  She felt it first, a shiver running up her spine as Jon knocked on the door, bottle of carbonated grape juice in one hand.  Grace’s face as she answered the door was pinched and her eyes were tight.  She invited them in, and Jon looked over his shoulder at Darcy.  Obviously, he sensed it too.

“What’s wrong?” Darcy asked, without waiting for Grace to say anything. 

Jon closed the door behind them.  Grace shrugged and went straight back into the kitchen.  Darcy smelled the risotto on the stove.  “I’m sure it’s nothing, sis,” Grace said.  “Nerves.  That’s all.  Pregnant women get emotional, don’t we?”

Jon shook his head when Darcy turned to him.  He didn’t know what to say.  Darcy took her coat off and dropped it on the couch as she followed Grace into the kitchen.  She put a comforting hand on her sister’s shoulder.  “You know you can tell us, Grace.  What is it?”

Grace sighed and set aside the white plastic spoon she’d been using to stir the contents of the pot.  “Aaron was supposed to be home an hour ago and I can’t reach him.  Not at work or on his cell phone.  It’s so unlike him.  I’m just being silly, right?”

She looked to Darcy for an answer.  Darcy didn’t know what to say.  She knew she should comfort Grace and tell her it was nothing, that Aaron would be walking through the door at any minute, but she couldn’t.  She knew her sister was right.  Aaron wouldn’t be this late without calling her.  Especially now that he knew she was pregnant.

Grace suddenly flung herself into Darcy’s arms.  Darcy wasn’t prepared for this level of emotion from her sister.  Grace was usually so calm and stable.  It had always been Darcy who was the emotional one.  Now she held on to Grace as her sister tried not to cry.

Not knowing what else to do, Darcy suggested they go back to making the dinner.  She pitched in, stirring the sauce and helping cut up vegetables for the salad.  Jon stayed in the living room, and Darcy could hear him on his cell phone out there, calling the station, the chief, and a few other people.  She caught his eye at one point.  He shook his head.  No news.

They ate dinner in silence.  What should have been a happy celebration had become solemn and stressful.  Aaron’s empty chair constantly drew Darcy’s attention.  Where was he?  Darcy had always known Aaron to be a very thoughtful man.  To leave his wife worrying like this definitely wasn’t like him.

They finished dinner and cleaned away the dishes and still, Aaron didn’t come home.  Darcy told Grace that she and Jon would stay with her and wait.  Grace swallowed and sat down heavily on the couch and shook her head.

“Something terrible has happened to him, Darcy,” Grace said.  “I just know it.”

Chapter Six

Darcy woke up slowly, disoriented and stiff.  She remembered, then, everything that had happened last night.  She and Jon had spent the night at Grace’s apartment, trying to be there for her sister.  They’d called everyone they could think of, and Jon had even gone outside quietly explaining to Darcy that he was going to call the area hospitals.  No one knew anything.  Aaron was missing.

She had finally convinced her sister to lay down with her on Grace and Aaron’s bed, and Grace had fallen into a fitful sleep sometime after two in the morning.  They had both slept in their clothes, and Darcy had never really fallen asleep at all.  Her sister was gently snoring now, and Darcy just didn’t have the heart to wake her up.  Carefully, she slipped off the bed and went down the short hall to the living room.

Jon had slept the night on the couch, but looking at him now it was obvious that he had gotten as little sleep as she had.  His clothes were rumpled and there were dark circles around his eyes.  He was in the kitchen, cooking scrambled eggs on the stove.  He smiled at her weakly, and she went over and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Good morning,” she whispered, leaning her head down onto his chest.  He was almost a foot taller than she was, and right now she needed to feel his comforting strength.  “He not back yet?”

Jon shook his head as he sprinkled pepper over the eggs.  “I’ll go into the police station in a little bit and check to see if there have been any accidents reported.  I’ll call the hospitals again, too, and if I have to I’ll call the surrounding police departments.  I just wanted to make sure that you guys had breakfast before I left.”

“I love you,” she said, meaning it deeply.  “I’ll stay here with her.  The bookstore can be closed for a day.  Should we file a missing persons report, do you think?”

Darcy started to fiddle with the antique ring on her finger.  Her great aunt’s ring.  Usually it made her feel a little better, made her feel connected to the woman who had been there for her when her own mother was so distant.  This morning, though, it wasn’t doing anything for her.

“I’ll put out a general be-on-the-lookout message for him.  He’s got to be somewhere.”

Darcy nodded.  “Sure, but where?”

Jon opened his mouth to say something to her, then stopped, closing his mouth tightly as he took the eggs off the stove and used the spatula to load them onto a serving plate.

“Jon?” she said to him, putting her hands on her hips.  “What is it?  Come on, you know you can tell me anything.”

He didn’t look happy about it.  “Okay.  Look, don’t think any less of me when I say this.  As a police officer, I tend to look at the facts.  We have a man who disappeared after hearing that his wife was pregnant.  A lot of men don’t take that news well.  Some of them even run away to avoid their responsibilities.”

Darcy gasped.  “Aaron isn’t like that!”  Wincing at how loud that was she looked down the hallway to the bedroom where Grace was still sleeping.  She lowered her voice as she continued, “Grace told me that Aaron was over the moon happy when he heard about the baby.  Plus, he isn’t the kind of guy to run away from her.  This wouldn’t be so strange if he was.  He’s totally devoted to Grace.  No.  He’d never do this.”