Snuffed Out - Tim Myers [55]
As I drove home, I wondered who I’d ask. At one time I would have said Heather might be a nice dinner companion, but lately, with her erratic actions and vanishing acts, I wasn’t sure. The fact that she’d dated Aaron had nothing to do with it. Well, not a lot, at any rate. She’d reacted so strongly to his demise that I wondered how close they’d really been. It would most likely take her some time to get over him, especially since her chance at closure was now gone forever.
Erin? She intrigued me, there was no doubt about that, but I’d already asked her out once, and her reaction had been tepid, at best. Wow, I was certainly quite the ladies’ man, wasn’t I? Of one thing there was no doubt; I wouldn’t go back to any of the women I’d dated casually before. It was time to meet someone new.
Saying it and doing it were two different things, though. I was past hanging out in bars, while I felt Laundromats and grocery stores were unacceptable singles’ scenes, so that left customers at the shop and other tenants. Should I ask Sanora out? She was certainly lovely, and I did enjoy her personality. But she was also a suspect in her ex-husband’s death, in my mind if not the police’s. And if I was being, honest with myself, Heather was, too, though I still had a hard time believing that, Tick was twenty years too old for me, Eve thirty years and too tempestuous to boot. Millie was married, so that brought me back to square one.
That was the way things seemed to go. Whenever I was looking, there was no one around, but the second I found myself starting a new relationship, the opportunities suddenly appeared boundless. I usually did fine on my own; I’d grown comfortable enough with my own company, but there were times when it would have been nice to have someone to call. It would happen again for me, but in the meantime, I did have plenty on my plate, certainly enough to keep me busy and occupied.
I was debating about what to make myself for dinner as I climbed the stairs to my apartment.
I couldn’t have been more surprised to find Heather waiting for me by my front door.
Chapter 14
I said, “Where have you been? What’s going on with you?
Do have any idea what’s been happening around here?” My questions tumbled out in a rush.
“Slow down. Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
“Of course I am.” I stepped past her and unlocked the door to my apartment. “Come on in.”
She followed me in, and I locked the door behind us. “Can I get you something to drink? How about a bite to eat?”
“No, I’m fine.” She averted her gaze from me as she said solemnly, “Harrison, I didn’t mean to run out on you like I did.”
“You didn’t run out on me, well, not just me. What happened?”
“I guess everything around here was just too much foe me. First Aaron died, and then you sprang Sanora on me, it was more than I could take. So I left. That was a mistake.”
The second she mentioned Sanora’s name, a burning question came to mind. “Have you rented a truck lately for your move? A Wee Haul van, in particular?”
“What kind of a question is that?” she asked.
“One I need answered,” I said.
She met my gaze and said solemnly, “No, I haven’t rented a van, a Wee Haul or otherwise. I wouldn’t leave without talking to you first.”
So that cleared Heather of the attempted hit and run, at least if she was telling me the truth. Of course what would a little white lie count against trying to kill someone? On the face of it, her assurance shouldn’t have meant a thing to me, but it did. I believed her, whether it was the right thing to do or not regardless of what Millie’s husband George had heard about Heather renting a van.
I asked, “So what’s going on in your life?”
She said, “It’s been too crazy to tell. How are things at River’s Edge?”
“Never a dull moment. Some genius tried to burn me out, somebody tried to run Sanora down with a van, and Pearly and Eve have been secretly dating.”
She took it all in, then said, “So that