“So you’re working together.” Sherrie ended the sentence on a note of question, hunting for an informational update. Tina gave her a look that said nothing interesting was happening. Or would happen.
“Of necessity. Jenny and Charlie need help. Max and I are available. Simple math, one plus one and all that.”
“Except you had a crush on him all through high school,” Sherrie mused as she pulled out her debit card. “Honey, when God plants your dream right in front of you, I think it’s an invitation to grab hold. See where life leads.”
“I know exactly where my life is heading, thanks.” Tina patted the thin stack of computer printouts. “These are possible café sites near the Erie Canal. Not so far away that I can’t visit, but far enough to wipe the slate clean, Sherrie. And that’s something I desperately need. A new beginning, a fresh start.”
“And you’ve prayed about this, chatted it up with God, right?”
“I think the fire was a good sign that my time in Kirkwood has come to a close,” Tina told her while ignoring the fact she’d done no such thing. A thin ribbon of guilt tweaked her. “If you’re looking for signs, that one was pretty direct.”
Sherrie tucked her debit card back into her purse once Tina ran it through, but refused to be dissuaded. “If someone did set that fire, that’s no message from God, Tina. That’s a depraved act of humanity and shouldn’t go unpunished. And folks around here rebuild after disaster all the time. Look what happened after the floods last year. And those blizzards that took out three old barns? We’re rebuilders. We don’t give up. And I don’t even want to think about you being more than two hours away. We’ve been besties forever, so yes, selfishly, I want you here when my baby comes. Babies should have their godmothers close by, don’t you think?”
“You’re pregnant?” Delight coursed through Tina. Sherrie and her husband had been hoping for a child for years. With two sad outcomes behind them, a well-set pregnancy seemed almost impossible. But a tiny prick of envy niggled the rise of joy, because Tina had thought her life would be on a similar track by now. Married. A cute kid or two. Maybe a dog like Beezer, loving and easygoing. Surging happiness displaced the twinge of envy, and she grabbed her best friend in a big hug. “Tell me when.”
“In less than five months,” Sherrie said. “We kept it quiet until we were far enough along to be more confident, so in four and a half months, I’ll need your help. But you can’t help me if you’re so far away.”
Sherrie was right. She’d be little help from that distance, and starting a new business took a level of dedication that went beyond the norm. She remembered her early days with the café, long, tedious days, keeping overhead down while working to build business up. That meant lots of personal man-hours.
Was she ready to do that again?
The morning’s image cropped up once more, the firemen, sifting through the ashes, their movements kicking up the smell of old, wet, burned wood, a hunk of ugly set in the middle of the season of light.
What if this person was targeting her personally?
She knew the investigators were checking out Sol Rigby to see if he had a reason to torch his own place, but Tina doubted that. Sol was frugal, and he didn’t look well-off, but Tina was pretty sure the old guy was doing okay financially. Which meant he had no reason to want insurance money.
The realization that they would investigate her hit hard. They would check her financials, and while not great, they weren’t bad, either. And no way would she do such a thing.
But clearly the investigators thought someone had purposely burned down her place. The question was who? And why?
“I know the arson investigators talked to your aunt today. And I know this because Jim was with them,” Sherrie offered as if she’d read where her thoughts had wandered. “He didn’t repeat anything that was said, but he said it was a tough interview.”
“My café hurt her business.”
Sherrie nodded. “Which might be motive enough to get it out of the way.”
“Aunt Laura would never do that. Rocco, maybe.” Memories of her uncle’s temperamental tirades hit hard, but Rocco was gone, and Laura wasn’t the hurtful type. She was more mouse than lion and Rocco had taken advantage of that for years. “I know they’re in a tight spot. Rocco didn’t believe in life insurance so Laura and Ryan got left with nothing but a failing business and a stack of bills.”
“Well, he wasn’t the sort to look out for his family,” Sherrie replied. “Which means Laura’s trying to run the place alone because Ryan is no help. Jim said that bunch of boys from Clearwater are a tough group. They’re old enough to drive and he’s sneaking out to hang out with them. Laura’s so busy trying to do things on her own, no one’s watching the kid. And that means trouble’s on the way.”
Talking about this made Tina tired. She’d run the scenario through her head countless times, and had come up with nothing good. All the more reason to start anew somewhere else. She hated drama and avoided it at all costs, but burned-out businesses came with their own spectacle of tragedy.
“Right now let’s focus on this baby. Do we know if it’s a boy or a girl?”
“A boy.” Sheer delight said Sherrie was more than okay with the change of subject. “We found out today. Jim wanted to be surprised, but I said uh-uh. I wanted to know so I can give him the coolest little kid bedroom ever.”
“And Jim said, ‘Whatever you want, honey.’”
“Exactly!” Sherrie laughed and moved outside where Earl was loading the snowblower into the back of her pickup truck. “We’ll talk soon. Don’t make any rash moves, okay?”
“I won’t. I promise.”
“See you later.”
Excitement colored everything about Sherrie today. Her tone, her face, her eyes. And Tina was overjoyed for her friend. She understood the struggles Sherrie had faced, and now she’d pray for a happy ending, a beautiful healthy baby boy for Sherrie and Jim to hold and feed and do all that other stuff one must do with babies.
She and Sherrie had grown up together. Their family homes had been right next to each other. They’d shared classes together, dance instructors and soccer teams. She’d been Sherrie’s maid of honor five years ago, and Sherrie had a rose chiffon bridesmaid dress collecting dust in her closet from Tina’s short-lived engagement a few years after that. Evan Veltre had decided tall, buxom and raven-haired was more his style. Dumping her mid-engagement made her previous boyfriend’s infidelity seem mild by comparison. At least they hadn’t been engaged when the blonde caught his eye.
A niggle of sensibility tweaked her.
Had she been hurrying the process, wanting to fall in love? Had she been trying to fit the guy, rather than letting God’s timing take charge?
The pinch of common sense was nudged by a twinge of guilt. She did like to make her own path, chart her own course, a charge-ahead kind of woman in many ways. Sherrie had asked if she’d turned to prayer.
She hadn’t, not really. Was she too busy, too independent to trust God?
Beezer whined and pawed the door, ready to go. Tina drew a breath, switched off the lights, activated the alarm and went out the door with the big, gold dog ambling alongside her.
Wind tunneled down Main Street, tumbling the last of autumn’s leaves. They scurried along the street, pushed by the stiff breeze, gathering in curves and hollows.
Soon it would snow. And they’d continue to decorate the town in beautiful light, a beacon of Christmas hope and cheer. And once again she’d spend Christmas alone, no family, no beloved, no kids.
Beezer pushed his head up under her arm.
He wanted her to pet him. Talk to him. So she