Foods, Fools and a Dead Psychic, Maria Swan [reading list TXT] 📗

and hit the street. Brenda’s Pilot was still parked in the same spot where she left it when she got home. Such an odd sight. Across the street the neighborhood widow was busy watering something with her hose. She waved with her free hand. Probably dying to find out what was going on. Cars coming and going, especially Officer Clarke, whom she must remember from the break-in back in November. I quickened my steps, not in a chatting mood. Apparently neither was Dior and soon he was ahead, dragging me along. We turned North on 36th street. With such a mild winter, I didn’t even need a jacket until the sun went down. I’d bet Phoenix, in particular, and Arizona in general, were the envy of 90% of the United States.

The fast pace felt like a soothing balm to my soul. Instead of anger, my thoughts shifted to Tristan’s last words.

“Hey, Fiat, please make sure to add me to the Christmas card list. I can’t wait.”

In retrospect, he sounded so sweet... and looked just... yummy. Stop it Monica. That’s when I realized I’d left my cell at home. I’d no clue how long we had been walking, but Dior decided to drink from someone’s sprinklers. Two doors down, he serendipitously lifted his leg on someone’s rose bushes. Yep. Time to take a different route home, pronto.

The widow was still outside, minus the hose. She crossed the road, and there was no avoiding her. “You just missed Tommy, your ex,” she said.

“Oh.” I pulled back on Dior. The big goof loved to go hopping around the poor woman, I blamed her heavy perfume, but honestly had no idea why Dior acted so naughty at times.

“He was disappointed that no one was home and I suppose a little puzzled that your aunt Brenda would leave her car at the curb.” She waited for my response.

“Yep, no clue why she would do that.” I shrugged. “We’ll find out when she gets back, I guess.” And with that I hastily walked up the driveway before she had a chance to ask more questions, especially since I had no real answers. I unlocked my door just as my cell stopped chiming. Damn. Dior didn’t give me a chance to see whose call I missed. He headed back out the door, and I barely caught his leash just as Brenda’s Honda inched up the driveway.

Talk about timing. How did she get there so fast without me seeing her? The answer came walking up right behind the SUV. Hello Officer Bob Clarke. We smiled at each other while I waited for Brenda to get out of the garage, handed her Dior’s leash, and said, “Hello and good bye. I’m going to settle in for the evening. I’m sure anything new can wait.”

I may have been wrong, but I swear, both sighed in relief as they disappeared into the house through the back entrance. I locked my front door behind me, kicked off my shoes and went to check the phone.

I had a voicemail from Max; it could wait. An angry, “Where the f**k is everybody?” from Tommy, and a missed call from Kassandra. I poured myself a glass of sparkling Prosecco, stretched out on my unmade bed and dialed her number.

“Hey, about time, where were you?” she asked.

“Took Dior for a walk. I had to. Needed some fresh air. I’m drowning in lies and deception. I still can’t get over it. Brenda went to the fair. Unbelievable. What else is she hiding and lying about and ...”

“Oh, zip it, Ms. Drama Queen. It’s not what you think. I’m spent. I came straight home, well, picked up a pizza to go, and I’m sitting comfortably eating greasy pepperoni and drinking a cold brew. Yeah. I suggest you make yourself comfy, too, because if you think what your aunt did is strange, well, you haven’t heard the rest. Guess who else went to the fair?”

She must have swallowed her cold brew down the wrong pipe because she started to cough and spit. In between all that she chuckled. Damn. I was dying to know... and couldn’t stop my one-track mind from spelling Tristan’s name in flashing lights and bright colors. Mercy me. Kassandra finally calmed down.

“By the way, it’s better than a movie, the way they have this stuff set up at the police place. Except for the popcorn. We all sat and watched the security footage on big screens with a tech standing by and ready to magnify rewind. Whatever it is they do. It pretty much showed that neither your aunt nor I are involved. And the detectives believe us now. Anyway, that’s the way I see it. What do you think?”

“You’re older, you know better. How about you tell me what you saw? Details and all.” I couldn’t choke back the edge in my voice.

“Calm down. You’ve been a pain ever since Pretty Boy Dumont showed up to photobomb your Christmas cards. Anyway, you ought to be proud of Brenda. Guess why she went to the Psychic Fair? To consult with that celebrity I wanted to meet. Remember? The Energy Therapist? It did take spunk at her age and never, ever, having done anything like that before. Anyway, she signed up for his six-month program to help with her anxiety, emotional issues and to rebalance her energy to resolve her weight issues. I wish I could afford that.”

“Why? You have weight issues?” Make snarky my middle name. “Sorry, Kassandra. I’m mad at myself and taking it out on you.”

She chuckled, “I’ll forgive you because I’m in a good mood. I shouldn’t be, but I am. Listen, Miss Fortune was in the security camera footage. She stopped at the booth that sells stones and crystals. We all know the owner, Jill. She’s missed a few fairs because of her health so it was good seeing her smile. Brenda was at the same booth, checking out some of the crystals when Miss Fortune stopped to say hello to