Chapter 15: Murder In Harmony
Chapter 15:
Kay was slumped on a couch in the living room of the mansion flipping through a magazine when Pilar and Ivy came in discussing Julian’s latest antics.
"What’s wrong dear?" Ivy asked, noticing Kay’s sullen expression.
"I don’t know, I guess I’m just bored."
"How can you be bored? We have tennis courts, horses, every television channel, movie, and video game possible. And I bought you lots of books and magazines too."
"Well, maybe bored isn’t the right word. I’m lonely. I don’t have any of my old friends to hang out with anymore. Ethan is at a business meeting, Theresa is in class, and Sheridan’s not home either."
"I don’t have any plans this afternoon," Ivy said, "we can do anything you want."
"Really?" Kay thought for a moment. "Can we make chocolate chip cookies? Remember Pilar, like when I was a kid and came over to your house."
"That sounds nice dear. You and Pilar go on into the kitchen and make cookies."
"Aren’t you coming Ivy?"
"I don’t cook dear. You and Pilar go on ahead though."
"But Ivy, you said that you would do anything I wanted. Please come too."
"Oh alright, but I’ll just watch, and maybe taste too."
"Ivy why don’t you measure the chocolate chips," Kay suggested while she stirred the batter.
"Ok, I could do that. I guess I need one of those little things to put them in."
"You mean a measuring cup," Pilar said trying not to laugh.
"That makes sense," Ivy said seriously as she concentrated on pouring the little pieces of chocolate into the measuring cup without spilling any. "Here I did it." Ivy proudly poured the chips into Kay’s bowl of batter and Kay stirred it and put drops of the dough onto a baking sheet.
Pilar put the cookies into the oven and Kay picked up the bag of flour to but it away but it slipped from her hands. When the bag thudded back down onto the counter, flour puffed up into Kay’s face.
Ivy giggled, "Oh dear, you look so silly with flour all over your face."
"You think so." Kay pulled some flour out and threw it in Ivy’s face. "You look pretty silly too."
Ivy sputtered, looking shocked. "I can’t believe you did that."
"Oh Ivy, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to, I was just…"
Ivy erupted with laughter and reached into the bag and threw some flour at Kay and Kay dumped a handful of flour in Ivy’s hair.
"You two please stop all this silliness," Pilar said, "you’re making a terrible mess."
Just then Ivy heaved a handful of flour at Kay, but she ducked and it hit Pilar in the face. Kay and Ivy both stopped and stared silently at Pilar for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"What is going on in here," a voice boomed from the doorway to the kitchen.
"Daddy!"
Kay ran up to Sam but he put his hand out to stop her before she hugged him. "You are covered in flour. What are you doing in here."
"We were just making chocolate chip cookies."
"Aren’t you supposed to put the flour in the bowl?"
"I guess we got a little carried away Dad."
Ivy wiped the flour off her face with a dishtowel and tried to regain her composure. "So what brings you by Sam?"
Sam couldn’t help but smile at the sight of his past love with flour coating her hair.
"It’s my day off so I thought I’d take Kay to get her passport and we’d have lunch together."
"That sounds great Dad. I’d better go get cleaned up though. I’ll be back in a few minutes."
"I think I’ll go clean myself up as well." Pilar left leaving Sam and Ivy alone in the kitchen.
"So you bake huh?"
"No, not really. I was just helping. In fact, the last thing I cooked was hot dogs and marshmallows over the campfire with you on the beach. That was a long time ago."
"I remember. We were so happy then. We didn’t have a care in the world."
"I thought we would be together forever."
"So much has changed since I saw you last week Ivy. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about what happened, about you."
Feeling a little flustered, Ivy made another futile attempt to wipe the flour from her face with the towel.
"You missed some." Sam lifted his hand to her face, slowly wiping the flour from her cheek as their eyes were locked in a longing gaze. Sam’s fingers slipped from her cheek to tip her chin up and his lips captured hers in a tender embrace. Ivy moaned as he deepened the kiss.
"Oh Sam." He exhaled and leaned his forehead against hers.
"Ivy, there are so many things we need to talk about."
The buzzing of the oven timer interrupted Sam, and Pilar came in through the rear entrance to the kitchen. And Ivy and Sam separated instantly. "The cookies are done Mrs. Crane. I’ll just take them out of the oven."
Kay hesitated in the hallway outside the other entrance to the kitchen to make sure no one knew she had seen her father kissing Ivy. After a minute or two, Kay walked in. "Okay Dad, I’m ready."
"Oh sure. Bye Ivy, Pilar."
"Nice to see you Sam. Have a good time Kay darling."
"We will. See you at dinner Ivy."
After they left Pilar turned away from where she was stacking the cookies on a rack to cool to face Ivy. "Have you lost your mind Mrs. Crane?
You should not be kissing Sam in this house, especially with Mr. Crane home. If he found out about you and Sam he would destroy both of you. And what about Ethan? His life would be changed forever if anyone found out. And poor Kay, she’s been through enough. She trusts you. Can you imagine how hurt she would have been if she had walked in a minute earlier and seen you kissing her father."
"Okay, okay Pilar, I get your point. But I didn’t do anything this time. Sam just kissed me out of the blue and I didn’t do anything to cause it."
"What ever delusions you are creating in your head, just forget about it right now. You and Sam can never be together again. If you were many lives would be ruined."
"I know that okay," Ivy cried, "I don’t need to hear you say it again. It’s just hard to give up on the one thing you want the most. It’s the only thing that could ever make me feel alive again."
"I’m sorry Mrs. Crane."
"You are a mess Pilar. There’s still flour in your hair. And I must look horrible. This calls for an emergency trip to the salon. Come on Pilar."
"But I have work to do."
"Nonsense. We both need to get our hair done and get all this flour washed out. And while we’re there we’ll get a facial and a manicure too. Perhaps we can even squeeze in a massage. We deserve to be pampered."
"I really can’t Mrs. Crane. I’m supposed to be working."
"Yes, and you work for me so you have to do what I tell you and I say you’re coming with me to the salon to be pampered. Now let’s go."
Julian was sitting at his desk in the study working his way through a snifter of brandy when she walked through the door.
"What are you doing here? What if someone saw you here?"
"Relax Julian, I made sure no one saw me come in. I waited until Ivy and Pilar left," Beth answered. "But why haven’t I heard from you? You were supposed to contact me."
"Sorry, I’ve been busy."
"You’ve been busy! I don’t care if you’re busy. You are supposed to be helping me get Luis."
"Actually dear, I think it is you who is supposed to be helping me to get Luis away from my sister. After all, you are the one who works for us."
"Only because your family stole the Book Café right out from under me."
"It’s not our fault you couldn’t pay your mortgage. And at least the Crane National Bank was gracious enough to loan you that money in the first place."
"Cranes are never gracious about anything, especially money. And anyone who saw the interest rates on your loans would agree."
"That’s really beside the point Beth. At least we still let you run the place."
"And you pay me next to nothing."
"Well if you want to live your life with that cop you should get used to having nothing."
"How am I ever going to get Luis if you don’t start helping me like you promised? You’ve got to get Sheridan away from Luis. Every time I try to talk to him the bitch is always around and he hardly even notices that I’m there."
"I can’t help it if Officer Low-Life isn’t hot for your body the way I am my little latte."
Beth rolled her eyes. "Not now Julian. I came here to talk to you about Luis, not so you could drool all over me."
Julian cast her a look of fake disappointment. "I’m sorry Beth, I guess I thought you were serious about wanting my help in getting Luis.
After all you were the one who suggested we work together to split them up so you could have him for yourself. But I guess I was wrong. All this time I thought you and I had an understanding about things, but apparently you’ve changed your mind. Does this mean you don’t want to run the Book Café anymore either? Should I find someone to replace you Beth?"
"Of course not. I’m sorry, I’m just upset that Luis still hasn’t come back to me and you said you were going to help me get him."
"You still have me Beth. And you’ll get my help with Luis my little café queen and much much more." Julian reached around an unzipped Beth’s dress before pushing her back onto the couch and sprawling his body atop hers and giving her a naughty wink. "Now my dear, why don’t you give me a raise and maybe I’ll give you one too."
Sam handed the man some money and he and Kay walked over to a bench on the pier to sit and eat their ice cream cones."
"Thanks for spending your day off with me Dad. I’ve really missed you."
"I’ve missed you too Kay and there’s no where I’d rather be. But it looked like you were having fun when I picked you up."
"Yeah, Ivy’s great. I used to think she was just a stuck up rich person but she’s not. She really listens to me and understands how I feel. Ethan says she used to be different thought, that she was always sad and lonely. But since I moved in with them he thinks that she is happier."
"It’s good to see Ivy happy again," Sam said thoughtfully.
"Did you know Ivy before Dad?"
"Well, everyone in Harmony knows the Cranes sweetheart."
"Yeah, I guess so."
"I’m really glad that you’re happy staying with Ivy and Ethan. I’m just sorry that things were so bad for you at home that you left."
"It’s not your fault Dad."
"Yes it is my fault. I’m your father and I’m supposed to make sure that you are taken care of and have everything you need. But I was blind to what was happening in that house and you suffered because of it."
"It doesn’t matter anymore."
"Yes it does Kay. I need to talk to you about your mother."
Luis found himself smiling as he parked his car in front of Sheridan’s cottage. Just the thought of coming home to her after work made him happier than he had ever felt before he met her.
His thoughts kept wandering to her all day, and as his shift approached its end he found himself staring at the clock, wishing it would move faster, then racing to the car to leave as soon as the clock struck four.
"Hey baby, I’m home," he called out when he walked through the door and hung up his jacket.
Sheridan came out of the kitchen and gave him a welcoming kiss. "I missed you."
"Me too. What are you up to in the kitchen?"
"Just working on dinner." Luis looked at her funny. "Don’t worry, Pilar came over and helped me make a roast, but it still has to cook for another hour. So how was work?"
"It was ok. The hours seemed to drag by though. I guess crime has been kind of slow this week in Harmony. Not that I’m complaining, but there’s not much to do."
"Well, in that case, Detective Lopez-Fitzgerald, I have a very special assignment for you," Sheridan said as she pulled Luis toward the bedroom.
"What kind of assignment?"
"An undercover assignment."
"Oh really." Luis cocked his eyebrow and gave her a sexy grin.
"In fact detective, you’ll be going very deep undercover."
To Be Continued…