The woman was older—mid- to late sixties, she’d guess. Dressed in sky-blue capri pants and a white blouse, she had cheery blue eyes and a friendly smile. Silver earrings shaped like wings dangled from her ears.
She could have been Francine Vaughn’s twin.
The fact that she traveled with a sheriff only made the resemblance more disturbing. Kyle was a cop, not a sheriff, but as far as Savannah was concerned, a badge was a badge.
Or, speaking metaphorically, a baseball bat. A knife to the heart.
Mayor Townsend called the meeting to order. “We have a good turnout tonight. Thank you all for showing up. Celeste, I didn’t think you’d be back from your trip for another week.”
Francine Vaughn’s doppelgänger spoke. “I came home early. I’d been away from Angel’s Rest for too long and I’d become a little homesick.”
Celeste. Angel’s Rest. This must be the famous Celeste Blessing. The woman who, according to everyone Savannah had met here in town, was considered to be the beloved angel of Eternity Springs.
Just like Francine.
Francine had fooled everyone. Especially Grams. Rattled, Savannah reached for the water glass sitting in front of her and missed, bumping it. Water sloshed and splashed onto the table. While Savannah stared stupidly at the mess, Sarah took a tissue from her bag and wiped it up.
She leaned over and whispered, “No need to be nervous, Savannah.”
The mayor continued. “We’ll, we’re glad to have you back, Celeste. Town just isn’t the same without you.”
Oh, wow. They even fawn over her the same way people did Francine.
The mayor continued. “We have a new member of the Chamber I want to recognize. For those of you who haven’t met her yet, Savannah Moore is our newest resident and merchant. She is working to open a gift shop in the old Golightly place. She wants to help us clean up our town with her specialty soaps and lotions. Welcome to Eternity Springs and the Chamber of Commerce, Savannah.”
“Thank you,” she said quietly as those seated around the conference tables broke out in spontaneous applause.
The sheriff kept his hands beneath the table, and so she couldn’t tell if he participated or not.
Mayor Townsend continued. “Now, on to business. I promised Zach we’d keep this meeting short, so I plan to rip right through my list.”
Savannah made a point to keep her gaze on the mayor and away from the man seated across from her. That didn’t stop her from feeling the weight of the sheriff’s gaze—make that the sheriff’s cold, flat, faintly accusatory glare—upon her. Just why does he have a stick up his butt toward me, anyway? I haven’t so much as crossed paths with him in a week.
Unless … has he checked up on me?
No, why would he do that? She’d given him no reason to do so. Why, she’d been sweet as sugarcane to the man.
“LaNelle, would you like to update us on plans for this year’s quilt festival?” the mayor asked.
The owner of the town’s needlework shop, LaNelle Harrison, flipped open a manila folder. “Certainly. It’s almost hard to believe, and it makes me worry about where we are going to put everyone, but registrations are running twenty-five percent above this time last year.”
Jim Brand asked a question, and the discussion veered to hotel space, which effectively derailed the mayor’s intention to keep the meeting short.
As beds were counted and the dearth of local B&Bs bemoaned, Savannah attempted to block all thought of Sheriff Turner from her mind and allowed her attention to drift. She’d forgotten to check Inny’s water bowl before she’d left. Had she remembered to put the check for her latest essential-oils order in the mail? She needed to be sure to stop by the Trading Post on her way home and buy milk.
Despite her determination to ignore the man, Savannah found herself watching Zach Turner’s hands. When he pulled a small black notebook and a silver pen from his pocket and jotted a note, the action struck her as … official. Her throat went tight. Had he checked up on her? Had her effort to deflect his request to see her ID that day up at Lover’s Leap failed?
Every time someone asks me that question, it spells trouble for me. Big trouble. With that, her thoughts went spinning into the past.
Outside the movie theater when she is thirteen, the police officer pulls his notebook and a silver pen from his pocket. “May I see your ID?”