Death Waxed Over - Tim Myers [37]
“I’m still thinking about it. How long do I have?” April had a policy that with every ten pizzas purchased, the customer could pick one song for her jukebox. The only restrictions were that it had to be from the fifties or sixties, and if the customer didn’t renew it with another ten pizzas in two months, it was pulled from the rotation.
April said, “I’ll give you a few more days. Do you want to look at the catalog again?”
“No, I’ve got it down to two choices.”
She said, “Care to enlighten me?”
“Now what fun would that be?” I said.
She swatted at me with a bar towel, then said, “I’ll send your beer over in a minute.”
After she was gone, Heather said, “So how are things, Harrison?”
“We’re actually starting to get some of our customers back, if you can believe it.”
‘That’s wonderful news,” Heather said. “Has Morton finally decided to believe you?” Heather wasn’t our sheriff’s biggest fan, and while I didn’t agree with her low opinion of him, I knew she had reasons of her own.
“He’s still not sure, but at least he’s looking at other folks, too.”
“Enough about that,” Heather said. “Let’s talk about something not related to murder. I’ve been meaning to ask you, where’s Pearly off to? Don’t tell me he actually broke down and took a vacation.”
“He had to get away. Pearly’s pretty torn up about what happened. Did you know he’d been dating Gretel on the sly?”
Heather shook her head. “I thought that was just a casual thing.”
“Apparently it was more than that. It gets worse. They broke it off the night before she died.”
Heather said, “Poor Pearly. I can’t imagine how bad he must be feeling.”
“I know. I told him to take some time off, but I was still surprised when he took me up on it.” I noticed a familiar face as Erin Talbot walked in, and I waved to her.
“Do you mind if she joins us,” I asked. I was eager to find out how her rafting trip had gone.
“Not at all,” Heather said, a touch of frost in her voice.
“That’s okay, we don’t have to invite her.”
Heather said curtly, “Don’t be silly. There’s plenty of room for her.”
I shrugged, beckoned her toward us, and Erin walked over. Her face was sunburned from the trip, and her hair looked a shade lighter than it had the last time I’d seen her.
“Hi, guys,” Erin said as she stood beside our table. She noticed Heather’s dress and added, “Sorry, I don’t want to interrupt anything.”
“Don’t worry, this isn’t a date,” Heather said. “At least not for Harrison.”
“Some joker stood her up,” I explained.
Heather said, “Gee, thanks for spreading the news, Harrison. I was afraid there might be somebody in Micah’s Ridge who didn’t know about my disastrous love life.”
Erin said, “I won’t say a word, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Heather said, “Oh, I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just touchy, I guess.”
“You have every reason to be, if you ask me. Men can be so thoughtless sometimes.”
“Believe me, you’re preaching to the choir,” Heather said.
“Hey, I’m still here,” I said. “Remember?”
“So you’re taking up for this cretin?” Erin asked coolly.
“Me? You’ve got to be kidding. I’m one of the good guys, remember?”
Erin said, “That’s better.” She looked over at the bar as two men left their stools. “It was nice seeing you two. I need to go grab one of those spots.”
“Nonsense, you can join us,” Heather said.
“Are you sure? I don’t mean to butt in.”
“I’m positive. Harrison, are you going to scoot over and make room?”
“I’m scooting,” I said as Erin sat beside me.
April showed up with my beer, then did a double take when she saw Erin sitting with us. “Now I know you’re not him.”
‘Thank goodness for that,” Erin said. “And thank you for noticing.”
“Not much gets past me,” April said. “What can I get you?”
“I’ll have one of those,” she said, pointing to my beer, “and bring me a meatball sub when their food gets here.”
“I’m on it,” she said.
“So how was the rafting trip?” I asked after April left.
“It was amazing. We saw some incredible wildlife, and the rapids were really wild after all the rain they’ve been having. To be honest with you, we thought