I can’t help but wonder what other oddities Heather Kent may have lurking in that bedroom of hers.
Heather Kent was rife with secrets.
I bet her rental house is a virtual jackpot of clues. Or not.
Either way, I’m determined to find out.
Chapter 14
Shopping for my wedding dress turned out to be a bust.
I’m not happy with the fact I’ll have to go again. I’d like nothing more than for the perfect dress to simply show up in my closet. Heck, I’d be happy if it magically appeared in Jasper’s closet right about now. It’s not that my heart isn’t in it. It’s just that there are far too many choices. It probably didn’t help that I only tried on three. In all fairness, none of them appealed to me, and come to find out, wedding dresses are practically impossible to get on and off.
As soon as Gwyneth and my mother left, I turned to Georgie, Macy, and Emmie.
“I have a sudden urge to drive out to Seaview,” I say. “Anyone care to join me?”
Macy narrows her baby blue peepers over mine. “I recognize that wily look in your eye. You’re up to no good.” She gets a wily look in her own eye. “I’m in.”
My shoulders bounce with a touch of pride. “Okay, so I’m up to no good. But I promise it’s not above the law. I just want to do a simple drive-by of Heather Kent’s place.”
Emmie sucks in a breath as her eyes round out. “Bizzy Claire Baker, you’re going to break in, aren’t you?”
“No.” It comes out thick and defensive. “Okay, so I might look through a window, but that’s totally legal and we all know it.”
A dark laugh strums from Georgie. “You can count me in, Toots. I haven’t met my quota of breaking into a dead person’s place this week.”
The three of us take a moment to stare at our kaftan-loving friend.
“What?” She tosses her hands in the air. “I can’t help it. Dead people have been known to leave a lot of good stuff behind.”
We speed back to the inn and pile into my car as we make a beeline for Seaview. I remember Camila telling me that’s where Heather was staying, and on our way there, Emmie puts on her sleuthing hat and finds Heather’s address in no time flat.
It turns out, Heather posted many a selfie in front of her rental house, and the address itself was visible in more than one photo. Not a bright move in my opinion, especially since she thought someone might be stalking her. Although in her defense, she thought it was a supernatural stalker. I’m not so convinced.
In no time at all we’re parked in front of a pale yellow house with a dogwood hedge in full bloom and an overstuffed mailbox that looks as if it’s about to vomit all its contents onto the street below.
Emmie makes a face as she inspects the place. “I sure hope she didn’t have any pets in there.”
“Huh,” I say, taking off my seatbelt and opening the door. “Now that you mention it, maybe I’d better do a pet wellness check.”
“Ooh!” Georgie grunts as she does her best to untangle herself from the back seat. “I’m coming, too. It’s going to be creepy and morbid to see everything the way she left it, not knowing that she’d never be home again. You know there are a lot of things I would hide if I thought I’d never see my cottage again.”
Macy looks over at her. “Like those funny vases Mom thinks you smoke funny things out of?”
“And they make your brain funny, too,” I add.
Georgie waves the idea off. “Heck no. I’m talking about the raw milk and butter in the fridge. I’m known down at the retirement villas as the resident vegan.”
“Georgie”—I glance at her from the rearview mirror—“you don’t live at the retirement villas.”
She lifts a finger. “Don’t tell them that either.”
The four of us start to get out and a thought hits me.
“Wait a minute,” I say. “One of us has to stay behind and be the lookout.”
“Not it.” Georgie bolts before we can stop her.
“Me either.” Macy shrugs at Emmie. “Sorry, Em. Have fun.”
Emmie groans, “I always miss out on the fun.” She gives me the side-eye. “You’d better save something borderline dangerous for me. I call shotgun on the next investigation.”
“Duly noted,” I say. “Stay out of trouble.”
“I assume you’re talking to yourself.”
I shut the door and head up the porch. It’s stifling hot out, which I think will work in my favor, considering no one in their right mind wants to be out in this heat. It feels as if a glass dome has been set over all of Seaview, effectively turning us into ants ready to combust from the heat.
Both Macy and Georgie are nowhere to be seen. I’m about to knock on the door in the off chance someone is inside just as Macy peers from around the side of the house.
“Hey, amateur. Over here.” She gives me a spastic wave in her direction, and I quickly traipse over. “I can’t believe you were about to knock on the door.”
“Pfft.” I hear Georgie but don’t see her. “Who was going to answer? A ghost?”
“Well, she did believe she was being stalked by a poltergeist.”
“Poltergeist?”
Georgie sticks her head out from inside the window near the back of the house, and I let out a yelp.
“What are you doing in there?” I hiss, trying to keep from notifying the neighbors of an apparent break-in in progress.
“Never mind,” she says, reaching her hand my way. “Get me out of here before the ghosts take me to the other side.”
I step on the garden hose outside the window to give me the boost in height I need before giving her a hand, and in less than a second, Georgie has me landing headfirst in the bedroom.
She belts out a wicked cackle. “You didn’t
