Free At Wick's End (Book 1 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) by Tim Myers Page A

truck on its last legs, and followed Eve outside, the
zippered deposit bag tucked under my arm. There was a two-tone
brown Ford pickup with a brown camper top over the long bed parked
in back of the store. “Wow, she’s a beauty,” I said the second I
saw it.
    “ It’s nearly ten years old,
but Belle babied it,” Eve said as she handed me the keys. “Don’t
forget, we bank with Micah’s Ridge Community Bank. None of those
big corporate conglomerates for Belle. She believed in doing
business with local folks whenever she could manage it.”
    I nodded absently and unlocked the truck.
There were running boards on the side, no doubt to help Belle step
up into the cab. This was a luxury addition, with carpeting,
automatic transmission, cruise control and even four-wheel drive.
“Unbelievable. Belle was just full of surprises, wasn’t she?”
    “ More than you’ll ever
know,” Eve said.
    I started the engine, then said, “Can I drop
you off anywhere?”
    “ No thank you. I walk
whenever I can, and ride when I have to. Have a good evening,
Harrison. I’ll see you in the morning.” As she started away, she
stopped and turned back. “You did a fine job today.”
    Before I could reply, she was gone.
    I dropped the deposit off at the bank
without any problems, and thought about taking the truck out for a
spin, but ultimately decided I needed to get back to River’s Edge.
I was discovering that having property involved more than just
collecting the rent. It was more like being the mayor of a small
town. Owning River’s Edge must have been perfect for Belle. Never
the type to complain about being lonely, nonetheless I was sure
that the varied group of tenants occupying space there was all the
immediate family she really needed around her.
    The one thing that kept recurring as I
talked with the folks who knew my great-aunt best, day in and day
out, was her warm heart.
    I’d really missed out by not making her more
of a part of my life than I did. And now the opportunity was gone
forever.
    I’d do the next best thing though. I’d do my
best to carry on the legacy she’d given me. And if I could manage
it, I’d find the person who’d taken her from us all too soon.
     
     

Chapter 6

    I found a note from Gary Cragg taped to my
apartment door when I got back from the bank. In hastily written
cursive, ‘Don’t forget our appointment’, was scrawled on the back
of his business card. So much for my plans to take a long hot
shower and read a little to unwind from a full day at the shop. I
looked longingly at my apartment door, then walked to the
attorney’s office down the hall.
    Cragg was at his desk working through a
stack of papers when I knocked on the doorjamb.
    “ If you’re tied up, we can
talk another time,” I said, hoping for a reprieve from our
meeting.
    “ Nonsense, I’ll just be a
moment,” he said as he finished proofreading a document, clearly a
letter, before signing it in a flourish of script that was fancier
than I would have ever expected from him.
    He started to pick up another letter and I
stood up. “Listen, I don’t have all night. We can talk some other
time.”
    Cragg reluctantly put the letter down and
said, “Stay. This can wait.” He leaned back in his leather chair
and said, “Harrison, I know inheriting this white elephant from
your aunt was more than you bargained for.”
    “ She was my great-aunt, and
yes, I was surprised when I found out she’d left all of River’s
Edge to me.”
    Cragg nodded. “Exactly. Now this
establishment was a fine match for Mrs. Black, but you’re a
relatively young man with his life still ahead of him. You surely
don’t want to be burdened by the arduous task of running this
building. The tenants are, as kindly as I can put it, all rather
eccentric. Therefore,” he said as he leaned forward and held up a
document from his desktop, “I’m willing to offer you a considerable
sum to alleviate all of your problems immediately. Sign this,