Harris said, and once again, Olivia was impressed by the young man’s kindness.
Scowling, Millay replied, “This is dark fantasy, my friend. Just because I’m writing about mythical creatures doesn’t mean my chapter will be full of sunshine and giggles.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” Laurel shot back. “My life is so overloaded with sunshine and giggles.” Her boys began to laugh at the silly face their mother was making and the writers couldn’t help but join in.
Olivia could see the twins were getting restless. “So, we’ll comment on Millay’s chapter and we’ll keep our eyes and ears open. Talk to people. Keep thinking about that damned haiku. If anything comes up or one of us happens to track down Jethro Bragg before we meet on Saturday, let’s get in touch with one another.” Olivia rose and Haviland immediately jumped to his feet. The twins, who hadn’t noticed his presence before, became instantly curious. Approaching the poodle without the slightest indication of caution, they reached out their plump hands and roughly grabbed Haviland’s curly fur.
“Doggie!” one of them shouted.
Before Olivia could decide exactly how to detach the human barnacles from her friend, Laurel took a plastic purple squirt gun out of her bag and aimed it at her sons.
“Let go of the nice doggie
The twins obeyed instantaneously.
“Perhaps you should write a parenting book,” Olivia told Laurel on her way out. Laurel smiled sheepishly, suddenly looking like a young girl herself.
“I know threats aren’t the best parenting method, but sometimes you just do what you can.”
“I wasn’t being sarcastic,” Olivia assured her friend. “I’m impressed with your calm and effective techniques. There are worse things than bribing kids with Happy Meals once in a while.”
Flynn was placing bookmarks in a spinner rack when the writers appeared in the front of the store. Olivia waited for her friends to leave before speaking to him. “I’d like to get Laurel’s boys a few books about pirates. Are there any available for their age level?”
Tossing the bookmarks aside, Flynn gestured for Olivia to follow him back to the children’s section. “Are you their fairy godmother?” he teased.
“Certainly not,” Olivia replied. “I’m merely an adult who realizes that the only chance they have of growing into decent human beings is by becoming enamored of books. Laurel can’t afford new ones, but I can. It’s as simple as that.”
Eyes twinkling, Flynn selected several board books from a lower shelf. As he did so, Olivia chose two macaw puppets and added them to the books in Flynn’s arms. “Those too.” She pointed a finger at him. “And no more references to fairy godmothers or I’ll be forced to sic my dog on you.”
Haviland curled his upper lip, exposing a row of pointy, white teeth.
Flynn’s fingers paused over the cash register. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t poke fun at you after what happened to your friend. I’m not normally insensitive. Please accept my apology.”
Olivia knew everyone in the small town would have heard about the murder by now, but she couldn’t help bristling a little. “No matter how private the pain, it becomes everyone’s business in a town as small as this. Skeletons don’t stay in closets in Oyster Bay. They’re brought out and paraded through the streets.”
Accepting Olivia’s credit card, Flynn held the plastic in his hand and gave her a sympathetic look. “Sounds like you know about this custom firsthand.” He waited for her to respond and when she didn’t, he turned away in order to tender the sale. “I suppose it’s a good thing I’ve got such a dull past,” he stated airily, clearly trying to lighten the mood. “You can’t get into too much trouble trapped in cubicle land for half your life. Borrow someone’s stapler and not give it back, jam the fax machine, use the last of the powdered creamer at the coffee station—that’s about as far as you dare go.”
When Olivia reached out to take the bag, Flynn’s fingers folded over her hand. “Remember, I’m new to Oyster Bay. Keep your secrets locked away from me as long as you want. I only want to see what you’d like to show me.”
Unused to hearing such frankness, especially delivered by such a handsome and charismatic man, Olivia found herself at a loss for words.
When a mother carrying an infant in some kind of sack across her chest approached Flynn in search of a book called
Outside, the air was twenty degrees warmer and stiflingly moist. Haviland blinked against the sun’s glare and cocked his head at his mistress.
“All right, so I’m flustered!” Olivia snapped. “He is very good-looking and it has been quite some time since my last—”
Haviland barked.
“Point taken, Captain. My mind should be on other matters.” She hastened to the Range Rover. “But there’s no need for you to act jealous either.”
Ten minutes later, Olivia parked in the employee lot of The Boot Top and, giving her kitchen staff the most cursory of waves, went straight back to her office. Haviland perched firmly in the threshold, thereby increasing his chance of being fed choice tidbits by Michel.
Olivia called her aesthetician in New Bern and listened as the woman recommended several products to render Harris’s skin condition less irritating.
“I’m in search of something more permanent than a topical cream,” Olivia explained. “We’re talking about a good-looking boy here, but because of this issue, he probably hasn’t had a proper date since high school. And he’d be a real catch. Harris would treat some lucky girl like a queen.”
The aesthetician laughed. “Then send him my way!”
“Can you help him or not?” Olivia was impatient to get to her computer.
“Only if you bring him into the spa,” the woman replied sweetly. She never seemed bothered by Olivia’s abruptness. “I can see if he’d benefit from a series of laser treatments or IPL, which stands for intense pulse light. I can’t prescribe a treatment over the phone.”
Olivia wondered how she’d ever raise the subject to Harris. She didn’t know him well enough to pull him aside and embark on a discussion about his facial rash, let alone drag him to a posh spa in New Bern to have it treated by a laser while she footed the bill.
“I’ll find a way,” Olivia promised.
Next, she pulled up the website for the
“The meeting is
She leaned back in her chair, lacing and unlacing her fingers together as excitement and anxiety coursed through her blood. She could feel it rushing through her heart, surging through her extremities as she rose from her chair.
“The Talbots want a bigger piece of Oyster Bay.” Taking Chief Rawlings’ card from her wallet, Olivia picked up the phone and began to dial his number. “The question is: How far will they go to get it?”
Chapter 9
