“Good,” I said.
“I told her about Bob. I think she met him a few times with Jesse, so I wanted her to know he’s not doing too well. She was so sweet, said she was going to send a card to Ned because they’re buddies.”
I remembered seeing Bob and Althea together the day of Jesse’s memorial. I told Jane about how they’d been talking so intently the day Jesse was buried.
“And she patted his cheek?” Jane said.
“Yeah,” I said. “It looked like they knew each other pretty well.”
“I guess that makes sense. Jesse would’ve introduced his girlfriend to his best friends, right?”
“Sure.”
Something in the tone of my voice must’ve alerted Jane. “Okay, Shannon, I know everyone is a suspect in your view, but I really like Althea. And Bob is a sweetheart.”
“I totally agree. I’m just telling you what I saw.”
“I appreciate that,” Jane said. “But it sounds like they were having a completely innocent conversation. Probably just commiserating with each other. After all, both of them just lost a close friend.”
“That’s all it was, I’m sure.”
“I can tell you’re placating me, but I’m going to let it go. I like Althea a lot and I don’t want to think that someone I care about might turn out to be the bad guy.”
“I like her, too.” That was the problem, I thought. I liked a lot of the people on my suspect list.
“Listen,” she said. “Do you want to go out for an early dinner tonight?”
“Yes. I won’t even talk if you don’t want me to.”
She chuckled weakly. “I won’t hold you to that.”
“Thanks.”
I picked her up at five thirty, and we headed for our favorite spot, Bella Rossa on the square. Dinner was wonderful, as usual, and we chatted easily through the meal. Nothing heavy, no worries, just idle chitchat. I think we were both a little burned out by everything that had been happening lately.
But there was one thing I needed to talk about. “I know I promised to keep the conversation light, but I need to ask you something and I don’t want you to get mad at me.”
“Okay,” she said warily.
“It’s about Stephen. What’s his deal? Is he going to live there indefinitely? I’m concerned that he’s monopolizing your time.”
She thought for a moment, choosing her words carefully. “It’s odd having a man around who notices when I walk into the room. A man who watches my every move, who comes to my rescue when any little thing goes wrong. I spilled a drop of wine on the tablecloth at happy hour the other day and he instantly removed all the glasses and carried the cheese platter away. Then he whipped the tablecloth off and ran to the laundry room to clean it.”
I frowned at her. “That’s downright peculiar.”
She shook her head. “It’s sad. I always thought I would love to have a man pay attention and take care of me like that.”
“Not like that.”
“Now I wonder if I’ve been lying to myself all this time.” With her elbow on the table, she rested her chin in her hand. “I thought I wanted that kind of deeply romantic care and concern from a man, but it turns out I don’t. Stephen’s behavior is a little disconcerting.”
“No, Jane. It’s downright creepy.”
She grimaced. “Unfortunately I agree.”
“Look, you can still have all that stuff you’ve always dreamed about. Just not with Stephen. He’s nice-looking and probably a decent guy, but he’s not the one for you, so it doesn’t feel right when he behaves so obsequiously around you. Another man doing the same thing might make you feel differently.”
“Obsequious,” she said with a smile. “A ten-dollar word.”
“Hey, I’ve got hidden smarts.”
She laughed and sat back in her chair. “Enough about Stephen. Let’s find something more interesting to talk about.”
I took a sip of wine and swirled it for a moment. “Okay, let’s talk about us. We’re both healthy, our businesses are thriving, we have good friends, we live in a beautiful place, and of course, we’re both totally hot.”
She lifted her glass to mine. “Totally.”
*
It was almost nine o’clock when I dropped Jane off at Hennessey House and drove home. I hoped she would be able to sleep tonight, but I was afraid she was too upset about Bob to be able to relax. It was too damn bad that all this horrible stuff with Jesse and the necklace had coincided with the opening of her B-and-B. There was no way for Jane to enjoy her moment in the sun when there was death and destruction happening all around her.
As I was locking up the house before heading to bed, the phone rang.
It was Jane. She was sobbing. “My things. My rooms. Everything’s a mess! I—I’ve been robbed.”
“Call the police,” I shouted. “I’ll be right there.”
*
Mac caught me racing down the driveway and ran after me. When he heard what was going on, he jumped in the truck to go with me.
“This is about the necklace,” he said.