was. “Spike and Jaimee don’t get along,” he said before going to the service porch to let the dog in. I heard the clatter of claws as Spike charged into the room. The toy fox terrier sniffed the floor, looking indignant. He then ran straight to where Jaimee had been standing and started to bark. It took a few minutes of Mason telling his dog Jaimee was gone before Spike would calm down.
Mason put the hankie back into the bag and thanked me again, saying he would make sure his daughter got it. Then he sat down next to me on the soft leather couch.
“So, that’s your ex,” I said. I left it hanging, hoping he’d explain why she was there. Mason picked up on it and said she’d claimed to have found a location for the wedding and wanted a check for the deposit.
“But I wanted to see the place and talk to the manager,” he said, “so we both drove down in my car. Lucky that I did. Jaimee made it all sound perfect until we got there. They’re renovating the hotel. No wonder the room was available. It was stripped down to the studs.” Mason started to laugh. “The manager promised me they’d hang white tarps over the ripped out walls for the reception.” He shook his head a bunch of times like he was trying to make sense of something. “She argued all the way back here. Like somehow this mess is my fault.”
He leaned next to me and put his arm around my shoulders. “She’s nothing like you. You’re fun, an adventure to be around. Believe me, I never had to get her out of jail.”
“Is her boyfriend Mark coming to the wedding?” I asked.
I felt Mason stiffen. “We’re discussing it.” Before I could pry more, Mason reminded me that I’d asked him to find out anything he could about Dan Donahue.
“He’s a pretty blah guy,” Mason began. “No arrests or anything like that. The best I could find out was that he’s struggling with the store, but . . .” Mason stopped and leaned in a little closer. “He just got an influx of money.”
“How’d you learn that?” I asked.
Mason chuckled. “I’ve got contacts everywhere. I talked to the owner of the building. It seems Dan was consistently late on his rent until a month ago. He told the landlord he had a new investor.” Mason let the information sink in and then glanced at the empty coffee table. “What kind of host am I? What can I get you?” He paused for a moment then got an impish grin.
“Coffee, tea or me?”
CHAPTER 15
I ended up passing on all three of Mason’s offers. He’d wanted me to stay—overnight—but I put him off. I was not ready to walk in my house the next morning and have to pass Barry pouring a bowl of cereal, so I convinced Mason to wait until my house was my own again.
When I finally pulled into my driveway, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was relieved to find the backyard quiet and without so much as a stray paper plate to show what had gone on there before. The kitchen was empty when I walked in. The trash had been taken out and the counter wiped clean of pizza residue. No animals rushed out to greet me. I assumed they were all sacked out somewhere, worn out from all the earlier activity. I went to turn out the light and quietly go across the house. Okay, it was more like sneak across the house.
I had my hand on the light switch when I heard one of the bedroom doors open. “Oh, you’re home,” Barry said in what I’d call feigned surprise as he came into the kitchen. I did a little double take at his attire. He had on blue plaid pajama pants and a white tee shirt. I guess he was wearing clothes, but just barely. He noticed me noticing his outfit and smiled. “Hey, I see people at the grocery story like this, but it seems to be making you uncomfortable.” He went out of the room and reappeared a moment later with jeans on.
“Jeffrey’s asleep, but he wanted me to be sure to thank you for this evening. It meant a lot to him to have the drama group over.” Barry leaned against the counter. “I’m sorry. I know I should have checked with you first. There isn’t any excuse for it. It all happened