St. Marin's Cozy Mystery Series Box Set - Volume 1 : Books 1-3

Chapter 4-5

Most everything in the town of St. Marin’s was within walking distance, so when we turned up a side street away from the water – toward Daniel’s side of town, I found myself thinking – I was delighted. I loved this street with its rambling Victorians towering above cute Craftsman cottages. Mart and I had thought about buying something small on this very lane, but the lure of the water had taken me a few blocks away, over by where the museum was. We strolled to the far end of the street, and Cate led us up the sidewalk to the most wonderfully out-of-place home on the block. It was a lean, angular modern building clad in long, thin planks of what looked like bamboo. Windows were scattered about the front in a pattern that I liked, but couldn’t describe. The trim on all the windows was a gunmetal gray, and the front yard was covered in wood chips with a shrub here and there.

“In the summer, this yard becomes a meadow of wildflowers. It’s a nice contrast to the hard lines of the modern house design. Sort of like Lucas and me. He spends so much time with old things at work that he really wanted to come home to something that only had our story attached, so we built this home when we moved here. The wildflowers are my way of softening our space, blending us in a bit.”

“I love it,” I said and meant it. “Did the neighbors object?” I could see how some of St. Marin’s more, um, traditional community members might have found the sleek design – and maybe the wildflowers too – in poor taste since they didn’t match the historical design of most of the town.

“There was some grumbling of course. Always is in a small town. But people like Lucas so much, they pretty much stayed quiet.” Cate’s voice was matter-of-fact – even. She clearly didn’t let much get to her.

As we went in through the full-glass double doors, I gasped. “Oh my goodness. It’s so beautiful.” The doors opened into a long, wide hallway with a view to the dining room and kitchen and beyond that a full wall of windows that looked out over the brackish canal that ran behind the house. In the half-light, I could see two egrets and a great blue heron standing sentry in the reeds. “That window.” I walked right to it and stared.

I heard a deep chuckle to my left and turned with embarrassment. There, apron over his khakis and polo, was a man I took to be Lucas. He was tall – well over six feet – and thin, reed-like is how I could describe him. “The view gets everyone the first time.”

He put down the pasta spoon he had been holding, wiped his hands on the apron, and came to greet me. “I’m Lucas. Nice to meet you.”

“I brought home my new friend. I expect you made enough pasta,” Cate said as she flung her wool cape over the back of club chair in the living room just in front of the kitchen.

“I’m Harvey,” I said with a smile. “And that’s Mayhem.” My pup was doing the usual sniff and greet with the most adorable dog I’d ever seen. “This must be Sasquatch. I love his eyebrows.”

“Nice to meet you, Harvey. Someday I need to know the story of that name. And yes, that’s our resident pillow stealer. Guard yours if you ever stay over. You’ve been warned,” he said as he headed back to his work. “Pasta puttanesca okay? I felt like capers today, and Merv down at the fish market had some amazing anchovies.”

I tried not to wince. I wasn’t the biggest fan of seafood, which made me ridiculous in this town where dinner was literally out the window. Something in my face must have given me away because Cate asked, “Not a big fan of anchovies?”

“Not really. I don’t like much fish, actually.”

Lucas gasped with mock horror. “That’s it. You’ll have to leave,” he said with a smile. “Just kidding. Lucky for you, I cook the anchovies separately so I can mince them over the top, so I’ll just leave them off your plate.”

I sighed with relief. “Thanks. If you have a tiny bit I can try, I’m always game. Just anchovies . . . “

“They’re the stuff of pizza nightmares, I know.” Lucas turned the big saucepan full of pasta and veggies with tongs. “Trust me, these are not those anchovies.”

“Wine?” Cate said holding up a glass.

“Yes, please.”

She poured me a glass of a gorgeous pinot noir, and I savored my first sip. Then, Lucas plated our food and we sat down at their long, blonde table. The conversation wandered from Lucas’s work at the museum to my shop to Cate’s plan for a series of portraits of the oldest residents in St. Marin’s.

By the time I was done with my second glass of wine, had decided anchovies weren’t totally terrible, and gobbled down a vanilla cupcake that Lucas had picked up from the bakery in town, I was completely relaxed and felt right at home. I couldn’t wait to introduce Mart to Cate and Lucas.

I looked at my phone and saw it was after ten. “Oh my. I better get home and feed this girl.” I looked down at Mayhem, who was asleep on her side at my feet, and gave her a nudge.

“Actually, I think she and Sas shared dinner. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Are you kidding? Anyone who will feed me and my dog is a friend for life.”

Cate stood with me and grabbed my peacoat off the chair. “Thank you for coming. I’m so glad you’re part of our town, Harvey.” Her face grew more serious. “I know the shop got off to a rough start.”

I had almost forgotten about the murder, which I felt kind of bad about. “Did you know Ms. Stevensmith?”

“I did,” Lucas said as they walked me to the door. “She was an acquired taste, let’s say.”

“That’s how most everybody describes her. My experience was similar.”

“Still, it’s a tragedy,” Cate said quietly.

“It is. The sheriff says they’re making progress on the investigation.” I didn’t know how much I could share of what the sheriff had told me, so I kept it simple.

“Good. I don’t like the idea of having a murderer in our little town.” Cate shuddered.

“And on that note, let me run you home, Harvey. It’s late, and I would feel better if you weren’t walking alone.” Lucas was already grabbing his coat.

I smiled gratefully. “What? You don’t think this girl can protect me?” I gave the sleepy dog a nudge with my ankle.

“Oh, I’m sure she would. But what if she hurts someone else? Best to just keep all our citizens, even the canine ones, safe.”

* * * *

As Lucas and I drove the few blocks to my house, he caught me up on all the quirky people in town. There was the guy who pretended to be homeless when the tourists were around and made a good enough living to afford his Bentley in the off-season. And the woman who wore only purple ever. “Rumor has it that everything she wears is purple.”

I guffawed. “Hey, maybe you can tell me about someone I met briefly the other day. Black kid, late teens or early twenties, a really impressive flat top?”

“Oh, you met Marcus.” Lucas’s voice had lost all the humor. “Marcus Dawson. He went to Salisbury U for a few years. Rumor has it that he was uber-smart, too smart for his own good, maybe. For whatever reason, he flunked out and moved to St. Marin’s. He does odd jobs for folks – hard worker for sure – but kind of angry.”

“Hmmm. He was pleasant enough for me, but he did use up at least two whole rolls of paper towels in the bathroom at the shop.”

“Hmph. Maybe he doesn’t have great aim?”

I laughed hard as Lucas pulled up to my house. I loved this town.