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  Sage squeezed me as hard as I squeezed her. Then she laughed. “I am thrilled the plant makes you so happy. Your aura is glowing.”

  Sage and Hector talked a bit more about south Florida horticulture and what’s edible and what’s not. She promised to come back again before she left for Brooklyn. I felt a pang at the thought of her leaving.

  I opened the jeep’s tailgate. Judging by the pots and baskets, it seemed like Sage had overbought, but I didn’t care. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time I was this carefree. The moms were here. Everything would be okay.

  Chapter Thirty-one

  We dropped Skully back at Pastor John’s church. I got out and helped him unload some beautyberry plants that Hector had sent along as a gift to the church. As I was closing the tailgate I lowered my voice so Sage wouldn’t hear.

  “Thanks for the tip about Oscar’s boat. I found the Jersey Girl on Pine Island, just as you said, but before I could search it, a security guard chased me away. Do you have any idea how I could find out what’s on the boat?”

  “Little Miss, there is only one thing to be done . . .”

  I waited for Skully’s best idea.

  “Tell those young fellers in the sheriff’s office. Let them do the searching. Whatever they find will likely help get Bridgy out from under their watchful eyes. They are trained to find things. You’re not.”

  Disappointed though I was, I had to admit he was right.

  When Sage and I got back to the Read ’Em and Eat, Bridgy and Emelia had finished the dining room cleanup. I could hear them in the kitchen. Ophie was sitting at Emily Dickinson with her cell phone to her ear. She touched her index finger to her lips in the universal “shush” sign. We froze for a moment and then tiptoed past her. In the kitchen Bridgy and Emelia were unloading the dishwasher while Miguel was hanging a sparkling-clean apron on a hook for the next day.

  “How was your garden trip?”

  Sage was so enthusiastic that she didn’t realize Miguel was more polite than interested. She sprang into a long speech about elderberry wine and then moved on to ground nuts and potato beans, which may or may not have been the same thing. It was hard to tell, but it did sound like Sage was using the terms interchangeably.

  By the time Sage moved on to the healing properties of echinacea, Bridgy was rolling her eyes at me and touching her hands in a prayerful pose as if begging me to make Sage stop. But I was newly appreciative of my mother’s unswerving support and was perfectly content to let her babble along.

  Fortunately, Ophie burst into the room, just ending her phone call.

  “Thank y’all so kindly.” She clicked off the phone and did a little dance, scary to watch with those mile-high sandals on her feet. She waited, an expectant smile on her face. When no one asked why she was so excited, she caved.

  “Emy, darlin’, yesterday y’all asked me about the shrimping history of Fort Myers Beach. Told me Bridgy mentioned the Working Waterfront Tour run by our local chamber of commerce. I called the chamber office and, being an active member”—Ophie raised a hand and waved at us as though she were the Queen of England—“I have, this very minute, arranged for a private tour for the three of us, first thing tomorrow. Sage, y’all coming with?”

  Sage said, “Absolutely, I wouldn’t miss a chance to study the waterfront up close and personal. Ophie, you’re sweet as a hyacinth. Thanks ever so much for arranging the tour.”

  “Señoras, you will enjoy yourselves immensely. Did you know Lee County is one of the most important counties in Florida when it comes to harvesting seafood? And the shrimp that comes in on San Carlos Island is so fine, so fresh.

  “I have an idea. Before you leave, I will order pounds and pounds of shrimp and we will have our own shrimp festival. La fiesta will be at my house. And you can meet my sweet Bow. She will eat one boiled shrimp, chopped very fine. We’ll all eat dozens of shrimp cooked in a variety of ways.”

  We were all clapping and cheering when the kitchen door pushed open. “How many times do I have to tell you to lock the front door when everyone is in the kitchen?” Ryan Mantoni stood in the doorway. “And what’s this about a fiesta? Who’s having a party?”

  “You are invited, mi amigo, and bring the lieutenant. We need to pick a date and make a list of friends . . .” Miguel trailed off when he realized Ryan was wearing his well-pressed dark green uniform. “You’re here officially, aren’t you?”

  “’Fraid so. I need to talk to Sassy for a minute. Don’t mind us. You go right on planning the party.” He waved me into the dining room.

  “I know the lieutenant called Owen to let him know that Tammy Rushing had turned up in South Carolina. I figured you’d be disappointed that we didn’t arrest her straightaway.”

  “I was at first, but then I realized if her reason for running had to do with money and her ex, she likely had nothing to do with Oscar’s murder.”

  “That’s why you shouldn’t run for sheriff in the next election. Never bet on the ‘likely.’ I’m here, off the record, to let you know that while South Carolina and Alabama are getting their paperwork done, we are sending Tina Wei and another deputy to interview Tammy one more time. Maybe there is something that connects her to Oscar. Something we missed the first time around.”

  My heart soared. “Thanks for telling me.” I head-butted toward the kitchen. “I won’t say anything. It wouldn’t do to get Bridgy’s hopes up that this mess will be over sooner rather than later.”

  The kitchen door opened, and Ophie came out with a piece of buttermilk pie and set it down in front of Ryan.

  He jumped up and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Miss Ophelia, you do know the way to a man’s heart. I will always bless the day that you brought your buttermilk pie recipe to the Read ’Em and Eat, and your lovely self along with it.”

  Ophie fluttered her eyelashes and gave Ryan a gentle pat. “Aren’t y’all a handsome, sweet-talking man, and couldn’t y’all charm the eagles right out of the sky?”

  When she offered coffee, I smiled and, hoping she’d take the hint, said, “Ryan is in a hurry and barely has time to eat your luscious pie.”

  “Well, okay, then. Holler if you need anything.” And she sashayed back into the kitchen.

  Before we were interrupted again I asked, “And Lolly? Any word about Lolly?”

  Ryan swallowed a huge chunk of pie before he answered. “Lolly’s name is Conrad Lolis. All anyone seems to know is that he went off to look for a job on the mainland. That could mean anywhere in Lee County or the entire state of Florida or all of North America, who knows?”

  I gave him a withering look, and he lost his flippant tone.

  “Unless we get lucky like we did with Tammy, it could take a good long while before we find Lolly and can question him. We’ve interviewed all his friends, called the one out-of-state relative that we know of, a sister out in west Texas, but all she could say is that he was looking to change jobs. He never told her he was fired from the Fisherman’s Dream, and she had never heard of Oscar.”

  The laughter and chatter in the kitchen sounded so normal, and yet here I sat with Ryan, talking about murder.

  I took a deep breath. “Have you searched Oscar’s boat, the Jersey Girl, yet?”

  Ryan gave me a sharp look. “Oscar’s boat? How do you know Oscar had a boat? No, don’t tell me.” For a second I thought he was going to cover his ears in “hear no evil” monkey style, but then he continued. “You better tell me. The lieutenant is going to want to know.”

  When I mentioned Skully and Tony, Ryan chuckled. “Should have known. Nothing floats on these waters that one or the other of those two don’t know all about, including the size of the engine or the manufacturer of the paddles.”

  “There is one other thing.”

  Ryan turned serious. “Go ahead.”

  “A security guard at the repair shop found me on the boat,
and I, ah, pretended to be Oscar’s niece.”

  “Good to know. This way when the security team gives us the information, we won’t go to wherever and back looking for a niece who doesn’t exist.” There was no chuckle left in his voice. “So, did you remove anything from the boat? Steal a clue or two?”

  I tried to muster up some indignation, but we both knew I was capable of being “helpful,” and if I’d seen anything that I considered suspicious, I’d have picked it up.

  “No. I wasn’t on the boat long enough. It’s a thirty-footer with a decent-sized cabin. I didn’t have enough time.”

  “Don’t look so disappointed. We’ll give it a good going-over. If there is anything there, we’ll find it.” He looked at the clock over the door, grabbed his napkin and ran it across his mouth. “Got to run. Thanks for the info, and tell Miss Ophelia the pie was lip-smackin’ good.”

  I locked the door behind Ryan and brought his plate into the kitchen where the party-planning committee was in full swing.

  Sage said she would dress up as Madam Dora the Aura Reader and entertain the guests. Normally, I blanched when she volunteered to show her wacky side beyond family gatherings, but today I just beamed.

  Bridgy elbowed me in the ribs. “What is wrong with you? You are glowing as if we found a new kitten and your mother said you could keep it.”

  “That actually happened. Third grade, remember? Black-and-white little fuzz ball. I named her Oreo.” And I blew a kiss to Sage, who caught it with her left hand, pasted it to her lips and blew one back to me.

  Miguel was busy taking notes as Ophie and the moms were throwing suggestions at him.

  “We have to have pie.”

  “What about music? Is there room to dance?”

  “Oh, and lots of young men. We need young men to dance with our daughters.” That one certainly proved that Emelia was related to Ophie.

  Finally, Bridgy clapped her hands like a kindergarten teacher. “Enough party planning for today. If you ladies want to stop at Times Square to do more shopping, we better get to it. Let Miguel get out of here. Bow will be wondering where he is.”

  “Ay, sí, she will be looking for her treat. Each day after work I give her a tasty treat, to let her know I did not forget about her while I was gone. You will finish here?”

  I nodded. “Of course. Come, I’ll lock the door behind you.” At the door I said, “I think the party will cheer Bridgy no end. Thank you for thinking of it.”

  Miguel smiled. “Mañana,” he said, and he left, but not before clanging the ship’s bell in farewell.

  When I went back into the kitchen everyone was in such a festive mood that I made a mental note that we should have parties more often.

  “I wish I could go to Times Square with y’all, but I have a late appointment at the Treasure Trove. A decorator from Sanibel looking for special items for a fussy client. Ca-ching.” And Ophie was out the door.

  Sage wanted to go back to the Turret to stash her plants and seedlings. It took two trips on the elevator to get them all upstairs. With piles of palm fronds stashed on one end of the patio and the potted plants, flats of seedlings and baskets of herbs spread around on tables and the floor, there was barely room to move.

  Were it not for my newfound appreciation of her motherly love, I would have been counting the days until Sage flew home so I could get rid of all this greenery and make the patio livable again. But for now, patio or no patio, being with Sage gave me the warm fuzzies. We decided to walk along the beach to Times Square. Sage looped her arm through mine. “You know, my sweet hydrangea, Emelia and I are onto your tricks.”

  I did some mental gymnastics, trying to figure out where Sage was heading. Which of my tricks had she caught on to? I decided silence was my best option, although I knew I wouldn’t get away with it for long.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  For a while we were distracted by the beauty of strolling along the water’s edge. It was very late in the afternoon, and we watched a mellow sun move toward the horizon. The beachgoers were beginning to head home for dinner, and the seabirds were flapping around, looking for a snack.

  We were nearly at the pier when Sage broke the silence. “Emelia and I are not stupid, you know. We only had to be here for a few hours to see what’s really going on; to understand why we never get invited here together. Bridgy’s family and your family. We’re always forced to take turns visiting.”

  Okay, so I was mystified. Where was she going with this? I couldn’t think of a “trick” I’d ever pulled that would lead to this conversation. I decided to remain quiet until I could figure out where this was going.

  “The two of you are super busy all the time. Between the café and the book clubs, when do you take time for yourselves? Never, that’s when.”

  I was getting a glimmer of where she was headed, and it wasn’t anywhere I wanted to go. I tried to distract Sage by pointing out an exceptionally pretty seashell half hidden by seafoam, but it didn’t work.

  She refused to so much as look at the water’s edge. “There will be plenty of time for seashells. Right now I want you and Bridgy to commit to a vacation. Not just a few hours for one of you to do something while the other one does the work of two. That is no way for young girls to live. A few days off will put some sparkle in your aura, and it will dust off Bridgy’s, for sure.”

  “Sage . . . Mom . . .”

  “Don’t ‘Mom’ me. It’s already settled. Emelia and I are sending you and Bridgy for some definite R and R. Did you think we were kidding when we talked about Key West? We are perfectly capable of taking your place in the café. Done deal.”

  “We can’t burden Miguel that way . . .” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew a colossal blunder when I uttered one.

  “Burden?”

  If I believed in auras, at that moment I was sure Sage’s aura was thundercloud black. I braced myself.

  “Burden,” Sage repeated. “Is that what you and Bridgy think of your mothers? We are a burden to you? We would be a huge help. You don’t expect Miguel to cook and to serve, do you? The man only has two hands.”

  I was losing patience. “We appreciate the offer. We really do, but . . .”

  “Don’t ‘but’ me. You’re moving right into your favorite trick. You and Bridgy can’t possibly leave the Read ’Em and Eat at the same time. The sky will indeed fall in! Ha.”

  I hadn’t seen Sage so worked up since a family wedding about five years ago when my father’s aunt Cecily insisted that there was no such thing as auras. I decided to just let Sage ramble. Any interruption was sure to excite her further.

  “Everything has to be scheduled around you. When you were a child we used to take shared vacations with Bridgy’s family, but now Emelia and I can never plan a vacation for both families. Our daughters are too busy. Too busy, you call it. But that’s not it. The problem is that you treat the Read ’Em and Eat like a new puppy that can’t be left alone just yet.”

  Never was I so grateful to hear Ophie yoo-hooing at me. She was standing at the entrance to the pier and waving a paisley scarf with drops of lemon sprinkled on swaths of pink, blue and green.

  “Have you seen Bridgy and Emy? I thought every one of y’all was coming over here to Times Square, so I rushed my new client out the door and hurried down to join the fun, and here I stand all by my lonesome.”

  “We went home to drop off Sage’s plants,” I explained. “They know we’re meeting here. Perhaps they’re in one of the shops.”

  “No, there they are.” Sage pointed, and I saw Bridgy and Emelia walking across the plaza. They stopped to watch a busker juggling three colorfully striped beach balls. He spun the small and large balls one on each of his index fingers. The medium ball bobbled on his forehead. The busker wiggled slightly to the left, and suddenly, the balls changed places. The large ball landed on his nose, and he flipped it ba
ck and forth from his nose to the crown of his head, still spinning the other two on his fingers. Just one more reason to love hanging out in Times Square anytime of the day or night.

  Bridgy linked her arm through Emelia’s, and they strolled over to join us.

  Emelia said, “We just took a walk along . . . what is that street?”

  “Old San Carlos Boulevard,” Bridgy answered.

  “There are so many lovely shops. Sage, after we finish scouring the stores here on the square for every little treasure, we’ll have to spend some time over there.” Emelia waved across Estero Boulevard.

  “Wait until you hear which shop really caught Mom’s eye. I had to drag her away.”

  “I’ll bet she wanted to try on every single dress in the cute little boutique up by Second Street. Emy was always one to fall in love with chic dresses.”

  Bridgy laughed. “Not even close, Aunt Ophie.”

  I saw Emelia give Bridgy a small elbow nudge, which sent Bridgy’s laugh into a full-on giggle. Finally, she controlled herself enough to say, “The tattoo parlor. Mom loved the tattoo parlor. I had to drag her out.”

  Ophie’s eyes popped. “What on earth were you doing inside? Did you get a tattoo?”

  “Don’t look so alarmed. I was only looking around. They do tattooing and piercing. The store is immaculate and decorated with beautifully framed pictures of tattoo work. It’s art, pure and simple. And the jewelry they sell to go with the piercings, why some of the pieces were exceptional.” Emelia watched Ophie’s face change and continued on before her sister got miffed. “Not as exquisite as the items you have in the Treasure Trove, of course.”

  Ophie accepted the compliment with a shout. “Let the shopping begin.”

  I pointed to the tables in front of the ice cream store. “Let’s meet back here for cones and cups in an hour. Agreed?”

  Ophie and the moms nodded, waved and, anxious to browse every store imaginable, disappeared into the crowd.

  Bridgy looked at me. “Do you want to walk the pier or would you rather hit the beach and meditate?”