Read Online The Double Cross by Clare O'Donohue - Free Book Online

goods?”
    Bernie laughed. “Okay. Maybe I’m a little sensitive. I came down early this morning. Didn’t feel like breakfast. I saw Pete walking, and we took a little stroll together.”
    “That’s nice.”
    “It’s not what you think. I wanted to grill him about Rita and George.”
    “It could be both,” I suggested.
    “Well, it isn’t.”
    “So what did you learn?”
    Bernie shifted in her seat so she could face me. “Pete said he and his wife, Siobhan, just moved into their house about six months ago. Rita and George owned the place already, but it was just sitting there empty. He didn’t know anything about Rita’s dad, but if he did own it, he must have bought it after I knew Rita, because I’m certain they didn’t have this place when we were kids.” She took a breath. “Pete said they tried to sell it once but they must not have been able to get a decent offer, because they pulled it off the market. He said there are a lot of old places for sale in this area.”
    “So maybe they need money,” I said.
    “They have to, considering the way that place looks.”
    “But they must have had money at one point,” I pointed out. “Look at the way they dress.”
    “Pete didn’t know what they’d been doing before or where they’d been living. He said they were always fuzzy about the details of their earlier lives. He said they kept to themselves until recently. Pete hadn’t even been inside the house until last night. One day last week, Rita showed up on Pete’s doorstep and suggested he take the class.”
    “They have a daughter,” I said. “Does she ever come up to visit?”
    Bernie seemed upset by that news. “He didn’t mention her.”
    “There’s some rift there, so he may not have known she existed.”
    “Pete said Rita and George aren’t getting along, but they seem okay to me.”
    “They barely speak to each other,” I pointed out. “Have you ever seen them talking or eating together?”
    “I didn’t want them to be happy,” Bernie said, turning back to face the windshield.
    “Then you seem to have gotten your wish.”
    “I guess,” she said. Then she just stared ahead.
    There was a pay phone just outside the bakery. Bernie went in to get us coffee while I made some calls: first to Natalie, for news of the shop and Jeremy, then Carrie, to see if she could get info on Rita and George’s financial situation.
    I filled Natalie in on the class, the Olnhausens, and the condition of the bed-and-breakfast. I asked her to do an Internet search on George and Rita and she asked me to pass her good wishes on to Bernie and Susanne. Everything at the shop was fine, she told me, though Jeremy missed his grandmother. Then she hesitated.
    “I have something to tell you,” she said, sounding as though the world had fallen apart.
    “Then tell me.”
    “It’s about Jesse. He went on a date last night. Carrie saw them.”
    It took a moment to process. “I don’t know how to respond,” I admitted.
    “Well, it’s lousy of him.”
    “Yeah,” I said. “It is.” The great thing about girlfriends is that you don’t have to pretend to be okay when you’re not. “I guess he’s moving on.”
    “Maybe not. I can find out details if you want. All I know is that they were at DeNallo’s for dinner. She’s got red hair, and Carrie had never seen her before, so she must not be from town. We figured you had a right to know.”
    “Thanks. I actually have to call Carrie,” I said, and after a few more reassurances from Natalie that Jesse’s date probably meant nothing, I hung up.
    Bernie was beside me, holding two paper cups of coffee. “Everything okay?”
    “No,” I admitted. “Nothing too serious, but Jesse has a girlfriend.”
    “That can’t be.” Bernie handed me one of the cups.
    “Carrie saw him on a date with someone.”
    “A date isn’t a relationship.”
    “Maybe not,” I admitted, “but it’s usually how things start.”
    “If Jesse doesn’t realize what a