He nodded. “You’re right. I can’t answer those questions either. Who knows what happened? I just hope Alec can find his killer soon, and we can put this behind us.”
I gazed at Skip. Jared said that he was someone that had his own issues, but I couldn’t see him murdering his brother. I felt like he was genuinely grieving him.
“I know Alec is going to find his killer soon. You don’t have to worry about that.” I hoped that what I was saying would give him confidence in Alec and maybe alleviate some of his grieving. It wouldn’t do a lot, but at least knowing that whoever had killed his brother was going to be behind bars soon had to help a little.
He looked at me steadily. “You don’t know how much I appreciate that, and I know my mom is going to rest better once his killer is put behind bars. That’s the main thing. I just want my mom to get some closure on this and maybe be able to heal from this loss. Nothing can replace Richard, even though he was the biggest troublemaker in the world, but neither of us would have wanted him out of our lives.”
“I understand completely.”
He nodded. “I suppose I should get back to work.”
“I’ve got to get going, too. I’ll come back in another week or two and see what else you’ve gotten in. I’m getting excited thinking about planting my garden. I just wish the weather would warm up enough so I could start planting.”
“You probably need to start some seedlings inside the house. That way they’ll be ready to go once the ground does warm up.”
“You’re probably right. I think I’m going to stop and look at your starter kits and see what I can find.”
He nodded. “Okay, Allie. Let me know if you need any help.”
“I sure will. It’s good talking to you, Skip.”
I headed over to the area where the packets of seeds were displayed on a rack. There were some mini greenhouse kits that you could use to start seeds inside the house, and I decided to see if I could find something to bring home with me and get my flower seeds started.
Chapter Twenty
“What are we doing here?” Lucy asked, turning to me. I had just pulled up in front of the catering company and parked my car.
I turned to her. “It really bothers me that we saw Della and Jared at the Cup and Bean. Don’t you think it was suspicious?”
She nodded. “I sure do. It’s just weird. She has to know that Jared was doing drugs and supplying them to Richard. And now she’s hunkered down at a table with him? And she might even be considering hiring him? Even if she wasn’t considering hiring him, it’s just weird that she was with him like that.”
I nodded. “I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. Let’s go inside and see what she thinks about having me make desserts for her. And maybe we’ll find out what’s going on with Jared.”
“That’s a good idea,” she said. We got out of my car and headed inside.
“Good morning, Della,” I said as we headed up to the front counter. She was sitting at the desk, a pile of paperwork in front of her. She looked up and smiled. “Good morning, Allie. Good morning, Lucy. How are you ladies this morning?”
I nodded. “We’re doing well. I just can’t get over how bright the sunshine is today.”
“Oh, isn’t it wonderful? I swear that spring is going to be here any day now.” She chuckled and came up to the front counter. “What can I help you ladies with?”
I shrugged and put both hands on the front counter, glancing over at her desk. And that’s when I saw it. One of those cups of protein shake from the new vitamin shop, I looked at her and smiled. “I was just wondering if you had any more thoughts about me making some desserts for you?”
“Allie, I would love to have you make some of our desserts. In fact, in three weeks I’ve got a wedding that I’m catering, and I wondered if you could make some petits fours? The bride wants a dessert table along with her wedding cake, and I told her we would make several items. She’s coming in for a tasting next week to firm things up. I would love her to try some of your desserts, and I’m in the middle of making up a list of things you can provide for us.”
“That sounds great,” I said, my eyes going to the cup on the desk again. “Oh, wait a minute. Alec has been working on Richard’s murder case, and we still haven’t been able to take a honeymoon yet. It’s up in the air as far as when we’re going to be able to leave, but it should be in the next week or so. We’ll be gone for two weeks when we go.”
“Oh, that’s probably going to make things tricky for us then,” she said, sounding disappointed. “Maybe we should skip this one and have you make something for another event?”
I nodded. “It’s probably best. I’d hate to make a promise that I can’t fulfill.”
“That’s what we’ll do then. We’ll wait for another catering event to have you help us out.”
“So Della, have you hired anybody to replace Richard? Or for the other position?” Lucy asked, leaning on the counter.
She shook her head. “Not yet. I’ve interviewed a few people,
