Death Waxed Over - Tim Myers [71]
By 10 p.m., I had the lion’s share of the work wrapped up. All that was left was what was in his storeroom. “Jubal, do you have a second?”
He marked his place in the document he was studying and said, “Certainly, Harrison, what can I do for you?”
“I just have the storeroom to do, but I was wondering if you might have a Coke or something around.”
He said, “My goodness, here you’re working late doing me a favor and I’ve completely ignored my duties as a host. Let me run down to the convenience store and get you something to drink. Are you hungry, too? I could order takeout and bring it back here.”
My stomach rumbled, but I said, “No, I’m fine. Something to drink would be great.”
“Nonsense, I insist. Do you know anything about this place called Slice of Heaven? I confess I’ve been meaning to try it, but I never seem to have the time. I’m starving myself.”
I finally admitted, “A pizza would be great. I’ll go pick it up, though.”
“No, you keep working. You call it in and I’ll go pick it up.”
I grabbed his telephone and dialed April May’s number. One of her waitresses answered, and I placed my order.
After I hung up the telephone, I said, “It’ll be ready in twenty minutes.”
“My, that’s fast service.”
“The owner prides herself on it. Be sure to tell them it’s for me, I want credit for the order.”
“I’m paying cash, Harrison. There’s no need to use your credit account with them.”
I smiled. “No, that’s not it. I appreciate you buying, but the owner has a policy that for every ten pizzas you order, you get to request an old song for the jukebox.”
“I’d heard about that, but I thought it was some kind of joke. What’s this proprietress named?”
“April May, if you can believe it. You need to meet her before you leave Micah’s Ridge. She’s worth the trip herself.”
“I’ll be sure to ask for her by name,” Jubal said. “Lock up after me, if you will. I’d hate to have a customer barge in on you while you’re working.”
“That’s a good idea. Thanks for doing this.”
“No sir, you’re the one who deserves my thanks. You’ve helped a great deal. By this time tomorrow, Micah’s Ridge will be a fading memory. No offense,” he added hastily.
“None taken,” I said. “I’m sure this hasn’t been easy on you.”
“Let’s just say it will be a chapter I’m ready to close and leave it at that, shall we?”
After he was gone, I went back to my inventory, but my neck was stiff from bending over and peering at the shelves. I decided to walk around and stretch until Jubal came back with our late dinner. Maybe after I ate, I’d be in a better position to finish up and go home. As I walked around the shop, I wondered if Markum had managed to get more out of Runion than I had. I didn’t want to admit it, but the big man could be persuasive when he put his mind to it. I still thought he was going after the wrong man, but I could be mistaken. If Hans were somewhere in town, surely he’d show up at the candleshop before Jubal left for good. How could he stay away? I glanced at the papers Jubal had been reading and saw that he’d been going over sale documents for the building. So Hans had him doing the preliminary work for selling the candleshop. The man had no end of nerve, and I didn’t blame Jubal a bit for wanting to get out of there.
There was a tap on the door that startled me, and I saw Jubal outside, a pizza box in one hand and a six-pack of Cokes in the other. I let him in and he put it all down on the sales counter. “Thank you, Harrison. It was too awkward fishing for my keys. Did you finish yet?” he asked, glancing down at the papers he’d left.
“No, I just thought I’d take a break.” I pointed to the papers and said, “I didn’t mean to be nosy. I was just stretching. I can’t believe Hans has the gall to have you handle the sale of the building, too.”
Jubal laughed. “He wanted me to do more than that. He actually expected me to stay here for the next month