Page 22 of Shephard

I was the most fucked up of all.

CHAPTER 7

Denise

Food.

I had to eat to survive. I preferred eating alone, but that would require actually stepping foot inside the grocery store.

Shopping wasn’t one of the activities I enjoyed. I never had. I wasn’t a girlie girl and my work prevented me from developing friendships or finding a reason to dress up. At least when I’d lived in Charlotte, a half dozen grocery stores had been open all night. That accommodated my bizarre schedule.

Not in quaint Danger Falls where everyone went home at a decent time, pretending they were living in a Hallmark movie.

Except for the bars.

Those I could at least relate to.

The lack of human food in the house was the reason I was sitting at the counter at Poppy’s Diner. Perhaps the second reason I found myself at the popular destination was all the gossip.

I’d learned a long time ago if you were stumped on a crime or whereabouts of a lost tourist, heading to a popular hangout in the area could provide clues that broke the case wide open. While I couldn’t even put a name to the victim yet and still hadn’t received the coroner’s report, my gut feeling remained.

It was also dog friendly and Pepper came with me everywhere I went.

“Do you want some more coffee, Denise?” Poppy asked. As owner and operator, she made certain her customers were well taken care of, treating tourists like family.

“Sure. Why not?” I hadn’t managed to sleep more than an hour before the alarm had gone off. I wish I could say I’d been thinking about the murder, but that would be a lie. I’d also allowed fantasies to interfere, unable to get the mystery man off my mind. It was ridiculous and I’d chastised myself a thousand times.

“Here you go, sugar,” Poppy said as she refilled my cup. She could pour coffee, serve two plates, and have an engaging conversation with someone on the other end of the diner without losing a beat.

I nodded in thanks, daring to take a quick look over my shoulder at the four women who were having breakfast together. When the town gossips convened together, they had something to chat about.

Perhaps new blood in town, which could lead to a suspect.

Poppy joined them seconds later, leaning against one of the booths. “Where did you hear this?” she asked. “Dexter Fox has been a staple in this town. I don’t see him retiring.”

“If you ask me, good riddance if he’s really leaving town,” one of the women said. A second hit her on the arm.

“Jenny. Stop being a bitch. He was busy, so that made him grumpy. Look what he’s brought to this town.”

“Which is why I have a tough time thinking he’d sell it, Lois,” Peggy countered.

“He’s not selling,” another piped in. “He’s giving it to his three boys.”

Peggy snorted. “I didn’t even know he had kids, Camilla. I never saw a picture.”

“And they never came around,” Camilla said.

I turned my head toward the back wall. This wasn’t the kind of news I was looking for.

“So why give his children the place to run?” Lois was quite disturbed at the news.

“Something must be wrong with the man. How sad.”

It was tough not to laugh hearing Jenny’s fake concern.

“Has anyone confirmed this?” Peggy threw out. She’d always been a voice of reason.

“They’re here. All three of them.” My God, Camilla was squealing like she was a teenager, not a woman in her late fifties.