food out.”
“Oh, good. I was planning on stopping by this afternoon. I had hoped we could have a short chat.” I froze my gaze on her. “About the local real estate market?”
“Are you thinking of selling?” A sly smile made her face look dangerous and not friendly at all.
“See, that’s the thing. Someone has been spreading a rumor about my house being for sale. I wanted to find out what you knew about the problem.” I nodded to Carrie. “Sorry, that’s our signal. Our table’s ready and I’m starving. I’ll stop by later and we can continue this conversation.”
“I really don’t know anything…” Alice called after us, but I ignored her.
When we got settled and I had my food ordered and a vanilla milkshake on the table, I leaned back in the booth and relaxed.
“Do you want to tell me what that was about?” Greg was watching me. Alice had left a few minutes after we’d walked away, but had shot daggers at us in that short amount of time.
“Basically, I’m letting her know that she’s the one messing with me and I wasn’t going to let her do that anymore.” I sipped the shake. Heaven.
“You think that was what she heard?” He watched me with the shake.
I shrugged. “At worst, she knows I suspect her. And she’ll be nervous all afternoon about what I’m going to ask her.”
“Don’t tell me you’re actually going over there.”
Carrie dropped off our food. “Thanks,” we both said in unison, not meeting her gaze.
“Okay then, I won’t interrupt the conversation.” Carrie laughed and left the table.
“I haven’t decided. If I thought she’d be even half honest with me, I might. But I think I did what I needed to do. I put seeds of doubt in her plan. And if she knows that I know it’s her, maybe she’ll leave the store alone.” I picked up the taco burger and bit into it. It wasn’t the healthiest lunch, but I’d had a few bad days.
“You might be playing with fire.” He focused on his own food. “But then again, you may have just solved your issue. I don’t speak female very well.”
“You translate just fine. I’m not sure she’ll take the hint, but at least she knows that I know she’s behind it. And that’s half the battle. You can’t be a political figure and not know how the games are played. And I think she’s a shrewd player.”
“Because she waited for Bill to leave to start?”
“That, and using her daughter and Deek to actually do the dirty work. I bet that Realtor who came to my door works for her agency. She’s just moving around the chess pieces, but not putting herself, the queen, in play.” When Greg didn’t say anything, I glanced at his face. “What? I’ve been reading a chess mystery. Those players really know strategy.”
Lille approached our table. “Food good?”
“As always.” Greg smiled at her. “Tiny is a genius in the kitchen.”
She nodded, then looked at me. “I heard from Harrold that you’ve been having problems at the shop. I wanted to let you know that I’m sorry about your trouble. People just need to learn how to be nice. It wouldn’t kill anyone.”
“Thanks.” I was shocked at the sentiment. Lille hated me, or so I thought. But she loved Harrold. Maybe that was moving me off the bottom of her list and into her good graces.
“Well, enjoy your meal.” She moved away from the table.
We stared at each other for a full minute. “Did that really just happen?”
He shrugged, watching Lille yell at a server for letting the food sit in the warmer too long. “All I can say is, it has to be the power of Harrold. He tames the most ferocious of female creatures. Lille, your aunt…”
“Hey.” I started to say that my aunt wasn’t that bad, but Greg was right. Aunt Jackie could be a complete bear if she wanted to be. I realized I hadn’t seen her in a while and decided to give her a call this afternoon. She was off the schedule for the weekend; maybe we could sit and talk for a while. “You could be right.”
Greg changed the subject. “So, when is Bill supposed to be back? How’s his father? Should we do something?”
“You already fixed the shower in their bathroom. I think Mary appreciated that more than just sending flowers. I’ll call her this afternoon to see how she’s doing.” Another reason I missed talking to my aunt. I didn’t