Cameron smiled, his eyes growing indulgent.“Of course not.”
He squeezed my fingers again, then pulled in a deep breath.“I guess I better get back to running interference with the guests.I think I can salvage some of the day.”
I nodded and watched as he strode back to the other side of the lawn where the remaining attendees and the entertainment still huddled in groups.
Cameron might not believe Jack was guilty, but he was totally fine with him being the fall guy if necessary.
I stared after my boyfriend until he greeted a few of the carolers, waving his hands to indicate they should still be entertaining the remaining festival-goers.Like they were the musicians on the Titanic.
I rolled my eyes, even as I knew I was being a little petty, then I turned back to my booth to help Brandy and Jimmy pack up.But not before I noticed that Ashley and Brad were both back at their booth.From their tense body language and testy expressions, I could see things were not going well between them.I wondered if it was a lover’s quarrel or just irritation with how badly the event had gone today.Either way, they did not look like a happy couple.
I glanced back toward Cameron, who had now urged the actors into a rousing rendition of “Deck the Halls.”I could understand frustration with your partner a lot more than I wanted to admit.
SIX
“Well,I think the inn is marvelous,” my mother said for the third time.“And I know real estate.”
Normally, her bragging made me cringe a little, but I was too preoccupied by Peanut’s demise to think much about it.At least my parents and Cameron were enjoying themselves as Cameron gave us a guided tour of the Inn’s restoration, pointing out every corbel and antique.Cameron had been so upset earlier, it was nice to see he was putting the failed festival behind him.
“Sophie did tell me you’re theitagent to the stars,” Cameron said, giving my mother a winning white smile.
“She exaggerates.”My mother pretended to demure, but she ruined it by adding, “I don’t know if Sophie told you, but I was invited to be on a reality show as a one hundred million dollar seller in Los Angeles County, but I turned it down.TV cheapens a brand.”
Oliver frowned next to me.“Cheap?”
Considering he and I had both been actors on television shows, it sounded like a jab, but if she intended it to be or not, we would never know because my father gave another cry of admiration as he stroked a newel post.
“More white pine!It’s incredible, Cameron.”
“The inlay is hemlock,” Cameron said, rocking on his feet proudly.
“Marvelous,” my mother said.
“Incredible,” my father repeated.“Isn’t it, Soph?”
I started at being singled out.I had only been half-listening.
“Hmm, yes,” I said, nodding.While I appreciate good wood as much as the average person, I was more concerned about the many fingers pointing at my llama as a murderer than what was undeniably an impressive renovation.
Besides, we had strolled through every inch of the house, examining every historic detail as we were regaled with tales of furniture sourced by Paris, England, and oddly enough, a German castle.
For whimsy, Cameron had said.
I wasn’t sure how whimsical a hefty carved fireplace mantle was, but who was I to argue?I had lived in a cinder block box apartment in L.A.after moving out of my eighties built childhood home in the valley.
For all my mom liked to claim she was hot-to-trot in the real estate market, it didn’t mean she could afford a Malibu beach house or a West Hollywood glass marvel.She would send me over the cliff after Peanut if I told anyone she actually still had mauve carpet in her primary bedroom suite because she’d never gotten around to renovating it.
“And Brandy was mad she wasn’t invited to this dinner,” Oliver mumbled to me under his breath.“Jokes on us.”
Frankly, I was surprised Brandy didn’t invite herself.She’d been dying to see inside the guest rooms at the inn.But all of them were currently occupied anyway, so she would have only gotten the wood tour so she wasn’t missing much.
“She had to pick up her son from her mom’s anyway.Do you think Justin is treating Peanut’s death as suspicious?It really didn’t seem like it.”
Cameron was shepherding everyone into the dining room, which was massive for a residential home, but small for a restaurant.It only had six tables and was fine dining so I felt less threatened by it as competition for my pub.This was more of a dining room designed for the guests than to bring in a crowd from town for dinner.
“I don’t think Justin treats anything as suspicious.For being a sheriff, he’s very trusting.”
That was not an inaccurate description of Justin.
