“Well, I suppose that’s possible,” she said, “and that neighborhood wouldn’t be very far away from here either,” she said, looking toward the river. “He’s really only a few houses down.”
“Well, it’s more than a few houses,” she said, “but maybe somebody like that is just upset and causing a ruckus. For all I know, Richard put it there, hoping I would stop all this noise and commotion in the neighborhood.”
Nan started to laugh. “That’s far too much effort for Richard,” she said. “But I can see your point. You have stirred things up.”
“I have, indeed, but not in a mean-spirited way.”
“Putting people behind bars would definitely be seen as mean, if you or yours ended up on the wrong side of the bars,” Nan said.
“Maybe, but I’m just trying to be helpful to the families of all these people who have gone missing,” she said in defiance. “What am I supposed to do, ignore the clues?”
“No, not necessarily.” Nan looked at her and said, “By the way, did you ever hear back about that gardening contract you applied for?”
Doreen thought about it for a moment and then said, “You know what? I didn’t. I submitted a diagram of my landscaping idea and was thinking that I might have a chance but apparently not.”
“Maybe next year,” Nan said.
“Well, it actually was a garden design for next year,” Doreen said. “Maybe they just take a long time.”
“It’s the city’s project, so it could take more time,” Nan said, with a wave of her hand. “It would be nice if you heard sooner than later though.”
“I’ll have to check online and see if the submission period is closed. It was one of those things that you bid on, and then—I don’t know—honestly, I’ve just been so busy that I forgot all about it,” she said, staring at Nan. “Thank you for reminding me.”
“Well, it was the cemetery and that whole kiwi thing that got me thinking about it,” she said, “because of the big garden fair. I’m surprised they haven’t asked you to be involved.”
Mack grinned. “I don’t think they want her anywhere close to the fair. Who knows what else she might unearth.”
“Oh, that was just terrible, wasn’t it?” Doreen muttered. “All those women, dead.” She shook her head. “Actually I’m okay to avoid gardening for a while, now that I think about it.”
“This is a city garden though, isn’t it?” Mack asked.
Doreen nodded. “For one of those big Welcome to Kelowna signs,” she said. “It’s normally something that the city does themselves, but they put out a bid, looking for ideas and for somebody to design something special this time. So I did some designs and turned it in.”
He looked at her with respect. “I’m really glad to hear you did that,” he said. “I’m proud of you.”
“Well, not that it did any good,” she said, “but it did feel good to put it in.”
“Sure it did.” He tossed back the last of his coffee, put his cup down, and said, “Now I’m leaving.”
“Oh, wait.” She jumped to her feet. “You have to tell me about this Randy guy.”
“No, I don’t,” he said, with a big smile. “You stay here and stay out of trouble, and I mean that,” he said. “And don’t you dare go back looking for Isaac.” She gave him a quick frown, and he shook his head. “No, I’m serious. Let me go talk to them and see what’s going on.”
“As long as you do it,” she said, raising a finger at him.
He immediately grabbed the finger and said, “Don’t shake that thing at me,” and, with that, he quickly disappeared.
She stared down at her nails, then looked at Nan. “Do you know how long it’s been since I had a manicure?”
Nan laughed and laughed. “It’s a different world for you, honey,” she said. “They definitely look like working hands now, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing.”
“Before, I don’t think I ever did a day’s work in my life,” she said. “I don’t have to even think about it. I know I didn’t.”
“No, that’s not true,” Nan said. “You have to realize that the work you did then was very different, and you were trying to stay calm, to make sure everything appeared to be perfect, and that you yourself were flawless,” she said. “That was a major job in itself. How many times a day did you touch up your makeup?”
Doreen wrinkled her face. “Constantly,” she said. “He would look at me a certain way, and I would know something wasn’t quite right, and I’d have to go freshen up.”
“And yet it wasn’t that anything wasn’t right. It was his way of criticizing you constantly,” Nan said.
“Did I ever tell you about all that?” she asked, puzzled.
“No, of course not. It was something I’d seen for myself on a visit.”
“He’s not a very nice man.” Just then her phone rang. She pulled out her phone and said, “Oh, it’s Nick.”
“Mack’s brother?” Nan asked, as she leaned forward.
“Yes, Nan. Hello?” she said into the phone.
“Hey, this is Nick, Mack’s brother.”
“Yep, I can see that on my phone,” she said humorously. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, you haven’t hung up, so that’s good.”
She laughed. “No, but honestly, I’ve forgotten everything that we were supposed to do.”
“I just wanted to let you know that I did file the paperwork today.”
“Wow, it’s a Monday night, after normal working hours,” she said.
“It’s all filed online,” he said, “so that isn’t necessarily an issue.”
“Okay, do I start worrying about the boogeyman jumping out behind me from now on then?”
“From what I understand from Mack, that’s been an ongoing problem for you already.”
“Okay now, that’s not fair,” she said, “but you could be right. I definitely have some issues with people in town here.”
“Well, now you have to keep an eye out for a few who might not be townies.”
“I know. Mack was trying to track a couple guys, one who may have worked for my ex already.” There was a no surprised exclamation on the phone.
“Is he?”
“Have you talked to your brother today?” she asked in dry tone.
“No, actually I haven’t.”
“Well, maybe you should. Particularly now that you filed the paperwork.”
Not long afterward, Nan excused herself and walked back to Rosemoor.
Later that evening, Doreen went upstairs and sat on her bed, staring out the window. She still had just a mattress on the floor, waiting for that hopeful pot of gold at the end of the auction rainbow. It still hadn’t come in yet. She checked her laptop, but she found no email response from any of the auction people. Sad, and yet wondering how long she could keep going, she checked the calendar on the consignment store, but again it wasn’t quite time for a check from them either. Although it wasn’t that far off, so she dashed off a quick email, wondering when she might get a check. She didn’t expect an answer right away, but Wendy was apparently working on the books or something because she emailed right back.