Chapter 15
Penelope
A low hum of conversation filled the cafeteria in the assisted living home when I found Grandma at her table.
She greeted me with a smile, and I gave her a hug before sitting down.
They’d designed the dining hall to be as homelike as they could, with tables in a variety of sizes, seasonally themed tablecloths, and comfortable chairs.
The food was usually good, but as my grandmother liked to eat early and I wasn’t particularly hungry, I wasn’t planning to take much of the chicken with rice pilaf they were serving.
“Well, Penny,” she said as she laid her napkin in her lap. “What’s new with you?”
Where did I begin?
“Let me start by saying, everything is fine. Better than fine. So don’t worry.”
“That’s a surefire way to get your grandma to worry.”
“No, I mean it. Everything ends well. First of all, Sean proposed.”
“I told myself I was not going to say a thing if this day came. But you know what? I lied. I am going to say something. Are you sure this is what you want?”
“Not at all. I said no.”
“Because, honestly, that man is—wait, what did you say?”
I couldn’t help but smile. “I said no. Actually, I’d already decided to leave him. I wanted to find a new place to live first, so I hadn’t told him yet. But then he suggested we go out for dinner, and I didn’t realize what he was planning until it was too late.”
“So he proposed but you broke up with him instead.”
I nodded. “Pretty much.”
She reached over and put her hand over mine. “Oh, Penny. That must have been hard. But I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks. That was definitely a low point. He got mad and left me outside the restaurant with no way to get home. Not that I had a home to go to. But like I said, it all turned out fine. I called my friend Theo, and he picked me up. And guess what else? He offered to let me move into his spare room. Housing problem solved.”
“Theo? Who’s Theo?”
“He’s one of my coworkers.”
She pressed her lips together. “Hmm.”
“Don’t worry, he’s a great guy. We’ve been friends for a while, so it’s not like I moved in with a stranger.”
“Stranger danger wasn’t my first concern.”
I laughed a little and was about to explain that there was no reason for her to be concerned—Theo and I were just friends—when one of the staff came over to our table with a white envelope and handed it to Grandma.
“This was in your mailbox. You must have forgotten to pick it up.”
“Well, goodness,” she said, turning it over. “How did I miss this?”
She slipped her finger beneath the flap to pop it open and took out a card. It said Thank You in shiny blue and silver letters.
“Thank you for what?” she mused.
My eyes widened as I realized what it was. I opened my mouth to tell her to wait, but it was too late. She opened the card, and it released a puff of multicolored glitter.
“What on earth?” she shrieked, dropping the card.
Cackling laughter came from across the cafeteria. Maury Haven howled, leaning forward in his wheelchair and slapping his leg.
“I got you good, Colleen,” he said between wheezing cackles. “Thought you’d open it in your apartment, but this was even better.”
She glared daggers at him. “Maury Haven, you’ll pay for this.”
He just kept laughing.
I tried to help brush the glitter off her clothes, but I had a feeling she’d be finding more of it for weeks. Or longer. I picked up the card from where it had fallen. Inside it read For the laughs.
“Don’t you laugh with him,” Grandma said.
“I’m not. There’s just glitter everywhere.”
She brushed more off her shirt, sending it pooling in her lap. “Maury Haven is not funny. He’s a menace.”
“What are you going to do to get him back?”
“I have a few ideas.” She shot another glare across the room. “Mark my words, he’ll pay for this trick.”
One of the staff came over with a vacuum, and we helped Grandma get cleaned up as best we could. I didn’t miss the hint of a smile she gave Maury when she thought no one was looking. She was pretending she didn’t find it funny, but I could see her laughing on the inside.
She’d probably crack up as much as Maury had when she was alone and wouldn’t have to admit it to anyone.
Once we’d de-glittered her as much as we could, we got our dinner.
I still wasn’t hungry, so I mostly kept her company while she ate.
She didn’t bring up Sean—or Theo—again. I knew she was relieved to hear I’d finally left that relationship.
There wasn’t much more to say about it, now that it was over.
After dinner, I took her upstairs to her apartment, then said goodbye. I needed to go to the grocery store. And maybe I’d stop somewhere for takeout on the way home. Theo wouldn’t be there—he had plans with his parents—and Italian sounded good.
Nature’s Basket was packed, which wasn’t unusual for a weekend.
I maneuvered my cart around as best I could.
The fact that there were only two cashiers didn’t bother me.
I felt sorry for them. Poor things were slammed.
I felt a little silly, but I told the cashier she was doing a great job.
Her grateful smile made me glad I’d spoken up.
As I loaded my groceries into my car, my stomach rumbled a little. Hunger had caught up with me and I was going to feed it with pasta. I planned to hit up a great Italian bistro I hadn’t been to in ages, mostly because Sean didn’t like it.
But that didn’t matter anymore.
They had online ordering, so I put in the order from the grocery store parking lot, drove the short distance to the restaurant, found parking, and went inside.
It smelled like garlic bread, basil, and oregano. Tables were covered with red and white checked tablecloths and twinkle lights added a cheerful ambiance.
I checked in with the hostess and sat down to wait for my order.
Only a few of the tables were occupied and a server dressed in black brought food to a couple seated on the far side.
My eyes wandered, stopping on the people sitting at a table toward the back.
Was that…? It was. Michael Morris. He had a pint of beer and took a piece of bread from the plate in the center of the table.
A man sat across from him, but I couldn’t see much of his face.
From what I could see, I didn’t recognize him.
Michael was dressed casually in a long-sleeve T-shirt, while his companion wore a button-down shirt with the sleeves cuffed to his elbows.
They both had a beer, although Michael’s was already half-empty and the other man’s was mostly full.
They were talking, but I was too far away to even guess what they were saying.
Curiosity filled me. Ever since finding the note in the painting, I’d been pondering who might be a suspect. Michael Morris had been one of the first to come to mind. If Edwin had a strained relationship with his son—and it seemed clear that he had—he could have feared the worst.
I chewed on my bottom lip, wishing I could hear what they were saying. The table next to them was empty. What if I…?
But I was by myself. If Theo were with me, he’d give me a subtle gesture, nodding toward the table, and we’d both quietly get up and sit next to them.
Could I do the same thing alone?
There was no reason I couldn’t. Other than my own fear holding me back.
Nervously, I adjusted my glasses. I was about to commit to staying right where I was—I couldn’t do it alone—when a little spark flared inside me.
I didn’t know where it came from, but I straightened in my seat, imagining how excited Theo would be when I told him I hadn’t let the chance go to waste.
The way he’d smile with those dimples and give me a fist bump.
He’d be proud of me.
I glanced around. The hostess was on the phone, probably taking a to-go order. And the server was nowhere to be seen.
My heart beating hard, I slipped a menu from the front counter and walked as casually as I could to the table next to Michael and his companion. Choosing the chair that would put me back to back with the other man, I sat down and buried my face in the menu.
“I know that’s not what you want to hear,” the second man was saying. “But it’s the truth.”
“It’s bullshit. The bastard can’t get away with that.”
“He can, and he did.”
“That was supposed to be my money. I don’t know how he talked my mom into screwing me over like this.”
“I told you, her signature is on everything. You need to take it up with her.”
Michael groaned. “She’ll just cry again.”
The other man cleared his throat. “She did just lose her husband.”
“He was an ass.”
“Which means she’s not allowed to mourn?”
I heard a glass hit the table and I had a feeling Michael had just swallowed the rest of his beer. “She can wear black for the rest of her life for all I care. And don’t look at me like I’m the asshole here. She had me thrown out of his funeral. Do you know how mad my wife is about that?”
“You were drunk and belligerent.”
His tone was mocking. “Am I not allowed to mourn?”
“Look, I’m your attorney, not your therapist. Family strife is messy. Contracts are not. Whatever happened between you and your father that prompted him to make the changes he did is not my problem. My job is to tell you what it means. And it means that money is no longer yours.”
“This is not how things were supposed to go down. I was supposed to…” He trailed off.
“I know you’re not happy, but there’s nothing else that can be done. You could try to sue your grieving mother, but you don’t have a solid case, and I wouldn’t recommend it.”
Michael sighed, but he sounded frustrated, not apologetic. “I’m not going to sue my mother.”
“Good, because I’d fire you as a client if you did.”
“Thanks, I appreciate your loyalty,” Michael said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“I’ve helped you out because we’re friends. Or we used to be. So can I give you some advice, not as your attorney, but as a friend?”
“Sure.”
“Be careful. I know there was a lot more to your father than his reputation as a beloved artist. But you need to quit rampaging around town, drunk off your ass, talking about how much he screwed you over to anyone who’ll listen. It’s not a good look. Especially if people start asking questions.”
“What are you implying?”
“You know exactly what I’m implying. I can’t protect you from everything.”
“Excuse me?” a female voice said.
The server startled me so much, my glasses slipped all the way down my nose. I pushed them up and gave her a weak smile. “Hi. Sorry.”
“Did someone seat you? I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I had another table.”
“Oh, no. You’re fine. I’m waiting for a to-go order.” I opened my mouth to keep explaining what I was doing at a table, when I should have been sitting in the lobby, but I had no idea what to say. So I said nothing and kept smiling at her like an idiot.
She didn’t seem to know what to do about me, either. After hesitating for a second, she glanced toward the kitchen. “I’ll go check on that for you. What’s the name on the order?”
“Penelope.”
“Great.”
I squirmed in my seat as she walked away.
Thankfully, Michael and his attorney were still talking.
They didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the weird girl eavesdropping on them.
But I wondered if I should stay there or go back to the lobby.
I was kind of committed, so maybe it was best to stay where I was.
A few moments later, the server came back with a to-go bag, and I breathed out a sigh of relief.
Michael and the attorney’s conversation had kept going, but I didn’t hear anything else that seemed important.
As soon as she handed me my food, I thanked her and scurried out of the restaurant as fast as I could.
My head was spinning as I got in my car. Michael was clearly angry at his father, and it definitely had something to do with money. That wasn’t necessarily suspicious, but something about the way he’d said This is not how things were supposed to go down bothered me.
He might have just meant he’d expected to receive an inheritance when his father passed, and he hadn’t. But what if it meant something else? Something worse? What if the falling-out hadn’t just been an argument?
And what had his attorney been implying?
I really needed to talk to Theo. But he was at his parents’ house. I couldn’t interrupt a family dinner.
At least I wouldn’t have to wait until Monday to see him again. Unexpected benefit of being roommates—it was going to make our little investigation that much easier.