There wasn’t a lot I could say to make Jane feel better. We all have regrets about things we could have or should have done or said in life. If she was right about Aaron, then it was particularly tragic. But if Aaron wasn’t Olivia’s killer, then beating herself up over this was pointless.
“If there’s anything I can do to help, I’m here for you. Even if you just need someone to talk to.” It wasn’t much, but it was all I had to offer her.
She smiled and nodded. “That’s means a lot to me, Mia.”
She walked me to the door, and I gave her a hug before I turned to leave. No one could foresee a murder. I hoped she would let herself off the hook and quit beating herself up over it, but it was her sister that had ended up dead, and if I were in her shoes, I’d probably do the same thing.
Chapter Six
“So, what did Olivia’s parents have to say?” Christy asked me when I got back to the shop. We were in the kitchen, working on a large batch of candy corn flavored marshmallows. The smell was out of this world, but they seemed to be gooier than they should be.
I turned and looked at her. “Only Jane was at home. Her parents had gone to make arrangements at the funeral home. She thinks it was Olivia’s boyfriend, Aaron Cox, that killed her. Do you remember him?”
She smirked. “Yeah, I remember him. He was a troublemaker when we were in school. He was always getting into fights. Rumor had it that he was drinking a lot and he might have gotten into drugs.”
“I don’t remember that about him. Just goes to show you that you don’t always know everything you think you do about a person.” I smoothed the candy mixture onto a pan to cool and looked at my mother as she stood by the stove. “I think these marshmallows are too sticky. Something went wrong.”
She glanced at me, then turned the fire off beneath the chocolate she was melting and came to take a look. She eyed the candy, then took the spatula from me and pressed it gently into the candy. “I think it will be okay. It’s a little humid out. Let’s just give it time to cool.” She handed the spatula back to me and I smoothed the rest of it down.
“Seems a shame Olivia was killed,” Mom said over her shoulder as she went back to the stove.
“It really is.” I sighed, looking over the candy. It was either going to set up the way it needed to, or it wasn’t, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. “What’s next?”
“It’s almost time for us to go to lunch,” Christy said, glancing at the clock on the wall.
“Why don’t you two go ahead and go, then?” Mom suggested. “I heard Stephanie and Missy out front. They can help me back here.”
“Are you sure?” I asked her. She had a hairnet on, and her cheeks were pink from the heat in the kitchen. She looked tired, and I hated to leave her to do the rest of the work.
She nodded. “I think the new girls are going to work out just fine. You go on. I’ll take my lunch when you get back.”
I turned to Christy. “No one needs to argue with me. My feet hurt like crazy.”
“Mine too. Let’s go get something to eat.”
We took our aprons off and washed up and then headed out front. The candy shop was filled with customers. We had to squeeze between them to get to the front door, and the cape of my Batgirl costume got stuck between two customers. A gentle tug and I was free.
“See you two later,” Stephanie said as Christy opened the front door.
“We’ll be back in a while,” I said. “I think Mom might need your help in the kitchen.”
“I’ll go right back there,” she said, and slipped between two customers, heading to the kitchen.
“Wow, things are getting crazy in there,” I said, inhaling the cool breeze once we were out on the sidewalk. “I never thought I’d look forward to Tuesday, but things will be calmer then and I can’t wait.”
“Me too. Ghostly Grins Café?” she asked.
“Sounds good.”
The Ghostly Grins Café was a few blocks over, and we walked over, enjoying the cool air. It felt good to be able to move around. We tended to do a lot of standing in one place back in the kitchen.
We were pleasantly surprised to see the café wasn’t quite as busy as I thought it might be. But we were unpleasantly surprised to run into John Green. He looked up from where he sat at a table and smiled at Christy in a manner that was far too friendly. I frowned at him.
“Uh oh.” Christy stood still a moment. I nudged her, and we went and sat at a booth. The Ghostly Grins Café was casual about seating, and if there was an empty booth or table, customers seated themselves.
Much to my dismay, John didn’t hesitate to come over and say hello.
“Hey Christy, Mia.” He looked at us with that grin of his. John Green was self-confident, I had to give him that. I didn’t blame Christy for being smitten, but he had some nerve waltzing over to us like we were old friends that hadn’t seen one another in some time.
“John,” Christy said, making a noise in her throat. Her eyes went to mine, and I turned to John.
“What’s up, John? Why are you still in town?” I
