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“Thanks for saying that,” Wendy replied, giving her a weak smile. “Yeah, we were pretty close. Still, he had lived pretty frugally, so when he passed, I didn’t expect much of an inheritance. But with bonds, insurance policies, and some of the antiques he’d had in his house, he left me about four million.”
Cynthia sputtered on her coffee and let out an expletive in alarm.
“Sorry,” she apologized, dabbing the coffee away from the front of her blouse. “It’s just− wow! Wendy, that’s a lot of money!”
“It is!” Wendy replied, letting out a dry laugh. She’d kept the information to herself all month long, and it felt good to finally tell someone about it. “And it’s more than what I needed to retire early. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love what I do. But after nearly thirty years of being a nurse, I really do want to just kick up my feet and start enjoying my life.”
“Of course, you do!” Cynthia agreed. “But why would that be bad?”
Wendy grinned sheepishly. “Well, it’s just−I don’t want Birgit to think that this is going to be a permanent thing. I mean, I know I just retired yesterday, but Ireallywant to retire, you know? I want to be that grumpy old lady who sits on her porch all day long watching the world. Not get consumed by volunteer work or side jobs.”
“Oh, honey, don’t worry about that,” Cynthia replied. “I know Birgit takes her work seriously, but in the short time I’ve known her, she seems to take her friendships even more so. She’s going to understand. And now that I work here and am getting to know the ins and outs, I can safely say that she isn’t going to try to turn this into a regular thing. Her main goal is to get the pools up and running again. This is just so that we can remain in the Christmas contests.”
“Really?” Wendy asked, relieved.
“Absolutely,” Cynthia assured her. “You should tell her your news. She’ll be happy for you, I promise.”
“Whew.” Wendy laughed, wiping imaginary sweat from her brow. “Thanks, Cynthia. I guess I really did need to get that out.”
“No problem!” Cynthia replied enthusiastically. “Personally, I’m happy to hear it. That means you and I have more time to get to know each other.”
“Yes, that will be nice,” Wendy said with a smile. “So how are you? Aside from healing from your injuries. How’s the uhh…” she paused, and looked around to make sure no one was coming in, “how’s the mystery coming along.”
Cynthia sighed and took a sip of her coffee before she leaned back.
“Well, the plot has definitely thickened,” she admitted.
“Interesting,” Wendy replied, leaning forward. “How so?”
“We found Lorrie’s phone,” Cynthia replied, “the one that went missing for a few days.”
“Well, that’s good, right?” Wendy asked. “Where did you find it?”
Cynthia explained that she had found the cell phone in her computer bag and, in response to that, all Wendy could do was give her a puzzled look.
“I know.” Cynthia sighed. “It doesn’t make sense. It went missing before I got there and I hadn’t taken my laptop bag with me except that one day Lorrie and I were running the booth at the Christmas Market. Someone must have dropped it in there when I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Anita?” Wendy asked, recalling the drama that had unfolded between her and the Strauss sisters.
“We only saw her at our booth the first day and I didn’t have my bag with me then,” Cynthia replied with a shrug. “Whoever it was, it was someone we didn’t recognize or pay attention to.”
ChapterTwo
“Well, how did it go?” Birgit asked, approaching Wendy as she was cleaning up her wellness station.
“Let’s see, I had about forty percent of people come in and use the station for what it was for, and about sixty percent came in trying to use it as an urgent care station,” Wendy explained, then sighed. “I hate letting people down like that.”
Birgit’s smile slipped a little and she nodded. “I know what you mean. This place is all gloss and glam in the brochures, but no one talks about the poorer side of the community. We really could use a free clinic.”
“Yeah, we do,” Wendy murmured, a seed of an idea planting in her head.
“But this was a great idea,” she continued, choosing to take a more optimistic turn. “I saw a lot of smiling faces milling around. I think it was a hit.”
Birgit’s smile returned brightly and she nodded.
“Yeah, I thought so, too. I’m obeying the rules by the skin of my teeth. I’m expecting Anita to show up with the rule book and a magnifying glass, demanding I be kicked out.”
“She truly does sound like a sweet lady,” Wendy replied sarcastically.
