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it.”
    “Me, too, Mimi,” Pete said. “I’ll check into what’s available.”
    “I’ll help you folks pay for it, too,” Burt added. “No arguments—”
    “Absolutely, not,” Mimi interrupted.
    “Not necessary, Burt. I’ve been saving for it,” Pete said.
    Kelly waited for Mimi and Pete to silence all Burt’s repeated offers to help before she spoke up. “Well, I’m definitely going to contribute to the security system. It’s my fault those guys trashed the place. If they hadn’t been coming to my place to cause trouble, they never would have discovered the shop.”
    Both Mimi and Pete countered with refusals, but Kelly ignored them both. Then Burt looked at her sternly. “This was not your fault, Kelly.”
    Mimi and Pete both nodded, offering vigorous denials. Kelly wished she could believe them. But no matter what anyone said or how much they tried to reassure her, deep inside she wasn’t. She still felt guilty.
    “Okay, okay,” she acquiesced. “At least I can help you clean up the shop and café, can’t I? I’ll show up with a bucket and sponge, anyway. So you might as well put me to work. I won’t be able to sleep at night unless I can do something. ”
    Pete laughed, his round face softening for the first time this morning. “That’s a deal, Kelly.”
    “And after you finish at Pete’s you can help us,” Mimi added. “I’m sure the Lambspun network will spread the word, and we’ll have plenty of worker bees to help clean. You could help Rosa go through the office. I certainly hope they didn’t trash the files—” Suddenly a look of horror crossed her face. “ Oh, no! My new laptop computer. I left it in the office!”
    Kelly flinched. That laptop was probably in Denver by now. Stolen for sure. “I’m sorry, Mimi. I’ll help you find another one online.” She reached over to give her friend a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
    “Why didn’t I bring it home last night?” Mimi berated herself, shaking her head. “I just bought it three months ago.”
    Burt reached over and gave Mimi a hug, which she returned. “I’ll call Dan and ask him to check your office again, Mimi. I only glanced in there. I was so relieved it wasn’t trashed like the yarn rooms, I didn’t even notice a laptop.”
    “Don’t worry, Mimi,” Kelly reassured her. “Megan knows great computer websites. She’ll find you a deal.”
    “Meanwhile, let me take all of you to lunch,” Burt offered. “You’ve been here the entire morning. Morrison is finished with you. No need to hang around anymore. The police will probably be here the rest of the day.”
    Pete drained the last of his coffee. “Good idea, Burt. I’d like to try someone else’s food for a change.”
    Kelly stared at her computer screen as she tabbed through the spreadsheet, entering figures, calculating numbers, column after column, row after row. There was something soothing about working with numbers. When they added up, that is. When the amounts at the bottom of the spreadsheet columns didn’t make sense, it was annoying, but it was still easily solved. Not like working with people. People did things that didn’t make sense all the time.
    Her cell phone jangled, and she flipped it open. “Kelly here.”
    “No, I’m here. You’re there.” Jayleen’s familiar laughter came over the phone.
    “Hey, Jayleen, how’re you doing?” Kelly asked, glancing at her watch as she pushed away from the sunny corner desk. Had she really been working for three hours straight? Checking the angle of the late afternoon sun confirmed it.
    “I’m fine. Gettin’ tired of shoveling snow, that’s for sure. I declare, I’ll be ready for spring whenever it wants to mosey along. What’re you up to? Slaving over those damn accounts, I bet.”
    “Well, I wouldn’t say slaving exactly, but I am trying to work ahead so I can take a day or two off to help Pete and Mimi clean up when the police say it’s okay.” She leaned against the kitchen