Crime in the Café

CHAPTER FOUR

“Oh, Percy, they’re wonderful!” Lacey gushed down the phone, looking at the opened box filled with silver forks she’d just received from her favorite Mayfair antiques dealer. She was in the cramped back office at the store, surrounded by binders full of checklists, sketches, mood boards, detail drawings, and a whole bunch of coffee-stained mugs.

“They’re all bundled into complete sets,” Percy explained. “Salad, soup, fish, dinner, dessert, and oyster.”

Lacey smiled broadly. “I don’t know if Suzy’s even planning to serve oysters, but if the Victorians had oyster forks on their tables, then we’d better have them on ours.”

She heard Percy’s grandfatherly chuckle through the speaker. “It does sound ever so exciting,” he said. “I must say it’s not often I receive an order for anything you own that’s Victorian.”

“Yes, well,” Lacey said. “I’m sure it’s not often that one of your buyers is tasked with turning a retirement home into a Victorian-themed B&B in a week!”

“Tell me, are you getting any sleep?”

“A solid four hours a night,” Lacey quipped.

Despite how hard she’d been working, she’d found the whole project thrilling so far. Exhilarating, even. It was like a mystery only she could solve, with a clock ticking away in the corner.

“Don’t run yourself into the ground,” Percy said, ever the gentle soul.

She ended the call, grabbed a marker pen, and put a large tick beside “utensils.” She was halfway through her list now, having pulled about a hundred favors, driven cross-country to Bristol and Bath to collect some particularly exceptional pieces, then out of country to Cardiff just for a gorgeous stone water feature that would look perfect in the foyer.

The foyer had proved the most difficult to design of all the rooms. Its architecture was basically a conservatory. Lacey had taken her inspiration from Victorian structures like Alexandra Palace in London and the greenhouses of Kew Gardens. Suzy had the decorators in there right now, ripping up that lino flooring, chucking out the dentist’s waiting-room blinds, and coating the white plastic frame with thin sheets of pliable metal, painted black to look like iron.

So far, the work had been fun, even with the sleep deprivation and long drives. But the dent to her bank balance was a little alarming. Lacey had collected thousands upon thousands of pounds’ worth of furniture, all perfect to fit with Suzy’s hunting lodge theme. And while she knew Suzy would settle the bill as soon as she’d made the money back, it still made her very uncomfortable to see the massive dip in her account. Especially considering the deal she’d made with Ivan over the mortgage at Crag Cottage. She’d hate to default on any payments to the sweet man who’d sold her her dream home, but if Suzy’s bill wasn’t settled by the end of June, she’d be forced to do just that.

The rifle alone was worth £5,000! Lacey had almost choked on her cappuccino when she’d researched its value in order to add it to Suzy’s bill, and had immediately messaged Xavier suggesting she wire him some money. But he responded with, it is a gift, which made her feel bad for having immediately sold it. But not too bad. Because what man innocently sends a valuable antique to a woman without having certain thoughts on his mind? Lacey was starting to accept that Gina might have been correct about Xavier’s intentions, and decided it was best to minimize her contact with him. Besides, she had a whole new lead to pursue in the search for her father now, with Penrose Manor’s former shooting club, so Xavier wasn’t the lifeline he’d once been.

In the main part of the store, Lacey could hear Gina bustling around. So far, the older woman had kept up with the demands of her new schedule pretty well. Her veto on heavy lifting had been temporarily suspended, and though Gina didn’t mind, Lacey worried about making a pensioner work so hard.

Just then, Lacey heard the bell go in the other room, and it was followed by the soft happy yips of Chester and Boudica. Lacey knew immediately that that meant Tom had arrived. She stopped what she was doing and hurried to the main shop floor.

Sure enough, her beau was there, feeding his special carob treats to the dogs. He looked up at the sound of her and flashed her one of his gorgeous smiles.

It felt like eons since Lacey had last seen or spoken to him. He’d been too busy making rainbow cupcakes, and she’d been elbow deep in Victorian antiques. Between the two of them, they’d not even had a spare moment to send a text, let alone be in the same place at the same time!

Lacey rushed toward him and gave him a peck on the lips.

“My dear,” she gushed. “It’s been so long. What are you doing here?”

“It’s Thursday,” he said simply. “Lunch date day.”

With their busy schedules, they’d agreed to pause their daily elevenses and scale back to a slightly more manageable weekly lunch on Thursdays. But that plan had been made before they’d both taken on their last-minute contracts, and Lacey had just assumed it would be off the cards for both of them. She’d promptly allowed it to be pushed out of her mind by the long laundry list of Victorian wares she had to source.

“Did you forget?” Tom asked.

“I wouldn’t say forget exactly,” Lacey said. “It’s just we’re both so busy…”

“Oh,” Tom said, the disappointment in his voice quite evident. “You’re canceling.”

Lacey felt awful. She’d not even realized she had anything to cancel in the first place. But she shouldn’t have assumed Tom would just shove their plans entirely away. Apparently, only she was callous enough to do that.

“I’m really sorry,” Lacey said, taking his hand and giving it a playful tug. “You know we’re having the grand opening of the Lodge tomorrow. I’m literally working flat out for the next twenty-four hours to get it all done. I probably won’t even have time to go to sleep tonight, so I can hardly spare an hour for lunch.” She chewed her lip, filled with guilt.

Tom seemed to be averting his eyes. She’d obviously really hurt his feelings.

“It’s one lunch,” Lacey promised him. “I just have this final hurdle. Then after the party tomorrow evening, I’ll be back to a normal schedule. And you’ll have finished with the cupcake bonanza, or whatever it’s called…”

“…Extravaganza,” Tom mumbled.

“Right. That.” Lacey swung his hands back and forth, trying to keep her tone light and breezy. “Then we’ll be back to normal. Okay?”

At last, Tom nodded. She had not seen him look this dejected before. In a way, it was kind of heartening, especially considering how worried she’d let herself get over Lucia. Turned out a very good antidote for jealousy was being so sleep deprived she was practically an automaton.

“Hey, you know what? You should come to the party,” Lacey said. She felt bad she hadn’t thought to invite him before. It was supposed to be a grand opening after all, with fireworks and food, and distinguished guests and all.

“Me?” Tom said. “I don’t think a pastry chef is highbrow enough for the Lodge.”

“Nonsense,” Lacey said. “Besides, I’ve never seen you in a tux, and I bet you look fabulous.”

She saw a mischievous glint return to Tom’s eye, reminding her of the Tom she knew and loved, rather than this sullen, disgruntled one.

“Well, as long as Suzy doesn’t mind,” he said. “But I can’t have a late night. Me and Luce need to start baking at six a.m. tomorrow.”

“Luce?” Lacey repeated. Then it dawned on her he meant Lucia.

He’d given her a pet name? One that sounded remarkably similar to the nickname Lacey herself had asked him not to call her, since it had been the same one her ex-husband used: Lace.

All at once, Lacey’s unsettled feeling over the young woman returned to her with the force of a gale. So much for her theory of being too tired to be jealous.

“Hey, that’s an idea. I should take Luce out for lunch today!” Tom said, apparently oblivious to the slightly incredulous tone Lacey had failed to hide. “You know, as a thank you for all her hard work. We’ve been literally flat out since I hired her, and I’ve had to really throw her in at the deep end. It’s been quite the learning curve and she’s taken it all in her stride. She’s a pretty remarkable young woman, really.”

Lacey felt her hands tightening into fists as she listened to Tom gush about the woman he’d just decided to take to lunch in her place. A myriad of emotions swirled around in her gut. Disappointment, of course, because she was missing out on spending time with her favorite person. Jealousy, too, that some other person would be getting his attention instead. But it was more than that, and deeper. Her jealousy wasn’t just because another person was getting Tom’s attention, but because another woman was. A “pretty remarkable young woman” nonetheless, with her wrinkle-free skin, ever-optimistic personality, and glistening white, perfectly aligned teeth. Then adding on top of the jealousy came embarrassment—because what would the locals think? If they saw Tom out to lunch with a pretty young woman, how long would it take for the rumor mill to start churning? Taryn for one would have a field day!

“Who will mind the patisserie?” Lacey asked, clutching desperately at any excuse to stop it from happening. “If you and Luce are both out at lunch… together.”

“Paul, obviously,” Tom replied, a confused frown appearing between his eyebrows.

For a moment, Lacey wondered if his frown was a sign that the ever-oblivious Tom had actually picked up on the undercurrent.

“Although he was being particularly klutzy today,” Tom continued. “He mixed up the whisk and the spatula. There really is something not quite wired right with that boy.”

So his frown had been about Paul’s lack of common sense rather than their relationship. Of course it had. Knowing the type of character Tom was, he probably had no idea that Lacey was jealous of Lucia, nor had any inkling as to why she might be. But from Lacey’s perspective, she found it maddening that such thoughts didn’t cross Tom’s mind, because it made her look like a crazy woman pointing it out.

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