"Pretty much. She's just less likely to second-guess herself these days."
"Why didn't she try calling again if she got the machine?"
"I expect she figured we were...indisposed."
He grinned then, some of the intensity and anger easing. "So we were. Tired?"
She shook her head. "I couldn't sleep now. Maybe I'll just make coffee and do some work in my studio. I'd bake bread if I had a kitchen. I think I'll—I don't know, maybe I'll make potpourri."
He glanced over at her. It wasn't yet dawn. But he seemed to understand. "Go to your studio, Piper. I'll bring the coffee."
* * *
Chapter 17
Piper's day filled up with her insurance adjuster, a quick trip out of town to a real store for basics, and explanations to her father and brothers about what had happened the night before. They were furious Hannah had set a trap for Tuck without mentioning it to anyone. If she'd waited, they might have caught Tuck at more than carrying a shovel across Piper's yard. As it was, the police had released him. Tuck was making noises about pressing charges against Clate for threatening him with a knitting needle, and he wanted his shovel back.
Hannah, however, was unrepentant. She'd told Ernie as much as she intended to tell him, and the rest she told Piper when she finally was able to get over to see her aunt late in the afternoon. Hannah served her lemonade—ordinary, fresh-squeezed lemonade —on her deck. "Frankly," she said, "I was afraid Tuck would end up getting himself hurt if he wasn't stopped."
Piper tried her lemonade; it wasn't very sweet. "Then you don't think he's responsible for the calls?"
"Nor did he poison my springwater, steal the herbs from my— Clate's garden, put the tincture on Stan Carlucci's doorstep, or set your house on fire. That," she said emphatically as she settled back in her chair on her deck, "was someone else." She inhaled deeply, shutting her eyes as she settled back in her deck chair, fatigue visibly washing over her. "Ernie put me through the wringer, you know."
"I'm sorry, Hannah. If you were just a regular old lady, nobody'd never dream of suspecting you."
Her eyes popped open. "I am a regular old lady."
This from a woman in a nineteenth-century yellow calico dress.
"Piper Macintosh, I'll have you know that I am what eighty-seven looks like. I'm no different now than I was at forty-seven. I'm just more focused in my energies, and I know more about the things I take pleasure in doing, and about myself, and I don't bother trying to hide who I am in case someone might not like me. And,"she added emphatically, "I'm more aware of how many time I have left." She gave a small smile. "And how much. When you're eighty-seven, eternity stretches before you."
Piper didn't want to think about eternity right now; she was more concerned with the here and now. "Were the police satisfied?"
"That I'm not terrorizing you and setting houses on fire, I think so. They're not convinced I didn't poison myself accidentally, and Ernie—I remember when his mother was born, the nerve of him— had the audacity to suggest that I'm using your troubles to cover my tracks with Stan Carlucci." She sniffed. "Just how devious do they think I am?"
"Pretty devious, Hannah."
Her deep, beautiful, old green eyes sparkled. "I don't know. I think I like being considered devious."
"What made you suspect Tuck of trying to find the treasure?"
"The way his eyes shifted, his general demeanor last night. He wanted his greed and envy of Andrew and Benjamin to pay off financially, but he was afraid he'd end up getting blamed for things he didn't do. My mention of the map offered him the chance to try one last time to get to the treasure before anyone else did."
"Clever. But he didn't actually say anything incriminating?"
"Not that anyone else would have noticed, no," Hannah said, smug.
Piper let her aunt enjoy her victory. "Well, if it wasn't Tuck and it's not you, who in blazes is it? Does Ernie have any ideas?"
"The calls concern him, but in his opinion, everything else can be explained by blaming Tuck or me."
"You?"
"Of course. The daffy witch. The crazy aunt who conjured up a man for her niece. What Tuck didn't do, I did."
"You know I don't believe that," Piper said.
Hannah smiled. "I know. Piper, I had a dream last night." Her vivid green eyes grew distant, but she frowned, visibly shaking off whatever was on her mind. "No, it's not clear to me yet. When I'm meant to understand it, I will. I need to be patient."