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“You sure you got the right neighbor?”
“Lives in Mrs. Wollman’s place—the old hoarder.”
My brows pulled tight. “How did you know Mrs. Wollman was a hoarder?”
“Everyone in town knew that.” Opal’s eyes swept over my face. “Except you, apparently. Anyway, pretty girl’s a doctor—not the kind you go to when you’re not feeling well or break a bone, but one of those researcher types. Got a big job, develops new drugs for some pharmaceutical company.”
Well, I hoped she was better at making pills than she was managing a construction project. “Good for her.”
“And Frannie at the post office said her mail is forwarded for sixty days, not permanently.”
“Doesn’t the government have privacy rules Frannie should be following? Or does she open people’s bills and letters and spread gossip about that, too?”
“She also gets holiday cards from Josie—Frannie, not the post office. Though obviously it must come through that channel to get to Frannie.”
My brows drew together. “They know each other?”
“Nope. First time Frannie met her was when she came in to pick up her forwarded mail a few days ago.”
“Yet she gets Christmas cards from her?”
“Not just Christmas, but Easter and Thanksgiving, too. They exchange cards for every holiday.”
“What am I missing here? They don’t know each other yet they swap holiday cards?”
“Yep.”
“How does that work?”
“Don’t quite understand it myself. But Frannie said they started exchanging cards a decade ago. Apparently a few hundred come through the post office with the same return address a few times a year. Dr. Josie sends a lot of cards to the people of Laurel Lake.”
I figured Opal had to be missing a piece or two of the puzzle. The gossip chain had a chink in its links somewhere. Whatever, I had shit to do anyway. “What time is the tile delivery coming today?”
As usual, Opal ignored me. “Rachael at the supermarket said Josie stocked up on a lot of food. Apparently, she’s not gluten free and eats plenty of carbs.”
I tossed the papers in my hands into the air. “Seriously? What the fuck? Do you people all get together for a secret meeting to discuss the comings and goings in this town? Is there a camera you have hidden somewhere to tell you when someone enters?”
“Unlike you, some of us are friendly and like to get to know a bit about the new people who come around.”
“I think it’s more like you’re all discussing other people’s lives because you don’t have one of your own.” I moved my fingers to simulate walking. “Now, find out what time the tile is coming.”
***
It was almost seven thirty by the time I stopped on my way home to pick up some dinner. The Laurel Lake Inn was a fancy restaurant by this town’s standards; you didn’t eat there dressed in dusty jeans and dirty work boots like I had on. But they made a bacon-wrapped pesto pork tenderloin that had me salivating even thinking about it, so I stopped in for takeout once a week. Usually I called in my order, but I’d forgotten my cell in the office and come straight from a jobsite.
“Hey, Syl. Can I get an order of the pork and mashed potatoes, please?”
“You got it, Fox. We’re a little busy tonight. But I’ll see if anyone else ordered the pork recently, and I’ll pull their order for you. They can wait a few more minutes.” She winked.
“Thanks. Appreciate that.”
Sylvia disappeared into the kitchen, so I figured I’d step into the bar and have a cold beer. I made it three steps inside before I locked eyes with a certain blonde. Josie was a shit driver and couldn’t carry more than five pounds, but damn, she was hard to look away from. She frowned when she saw me, which made me smile.
The restaurant might have been busy, but there were only two other people in the bar besides Josie and me. She had a plate of food in front of her and what looked like a glass of wine. I moseyed up and ordered a beer, trying my best not to look over, but that didn’t last long. My eyes snagged on her hand on the glass, her left ring finger, in particular. It was bare. I’d noticed that the other day, too.
Josie spoke without looking up. “Heard a rumor you used to play in the NHL. Is that true?”
“Who’d you hear that from?”
