"I can't tel you the details now. You need to be surprised with the information and not just pretending. Just play along with me when I'm talking to Nicole. You're always good at that."

"Does this have anything to do with the farm?"

"Tina, you know me too wel ." Kitty smiled at her best friend knowing she could always count on her to help her through anything. "By the way.

How's Aaron? I get the feeling he has been seeing more of you than I do." Tina fluttered her eyelashes. "Seeing more of me in more ways than one!"

"You are bad Tina." They were both doubled over laughing as the door opened.

"What are you two laughing at?" Aaron looked from Kitty to Tina.

They looked at each other and just laughed harder. Aaron shook his head and grabbed a beer from the fridge. "I could never understand the secrets you two shared."

Sam arrived and Max jumped off the couch to greet him. "Max. Glad you haven't forgotten me. Hi Aaron. What are those two laughing about?"

"Beats me. Who else is coming?"

Kitty pul ed herself together. "Hi Sam. Corey and Alex should be coming soon and Frank and Maddie. Mia is bringing June and Dottie in about a half hour, their normal card playing time. We'l have to keep an eye out for Mia's car so we can surprise Dottie when she walks in."

"I hope it's not too big a shock for her system." Sam warned.

"Too big a shock for who?" Frank asked, having arrived with Maddie just as Sam was talking.

"For Dottie, that's who."

Corey and Alex opened the kitchen door and Cleo charged through ful of her crazy puppy energy.

"Time for the four legged friends to go outside." Kitty announced.

Mia's s.h.i.+ny blue car was just arriving as Kitty let the dogs out. She shushed everyone and motioned for them to stand out of the line of vision.

"Hi girls. Right on time like always. Come on in. I've got the card table al set up." Kitty opened the door wide for the three ladies to enter. Nicole was tagging along behind.

"Thanks for including me Kitty. You've had a change of heart?" Nicole softly chuckled as she went past.

"Surprise. Surprise. Surprise." Erupted from the living room as Dottie crossed the threshold.

Her mouth dropped open. Her hand covered her heart. She was speechless. For three seconds.

"I told you I don't celebrate birthdays anymore. That way I won't get any older." She beamed with happiness as she pretended to scold her friends.

Mia put a s.h.i.+ny plastic tiara on Dottie's head. Everyone hugged her and wished her many many more happy birthdays. Dottie had tears in her eyes.

"Are we stil going to play cards?" Dottie wondered.

Everyone laughed. "Not today unless you have your heart set on it."

Kitty's house bustled with activity. The pizza and salad were on the table. Drinks were poured for everyone.

"Help yourself and find a seat. This isn't going to be a formal meal." Mia, June, Dottie, Nicole and Sam sat at the table in the kitchen. The others grabbed plates and found seats in the living room. A loud buzz of different conversations blended together.

Alex tapped his wine gla.s.s for silence. "I'd like to make a toast to my wonderful sweet grandmother. My book is ready to be published and I'm dedicating it to you grandma. You've always encouraged me and kept me writing. Thank you." He gave Dottie a huge hug and a kiss while everyone sipped their drinks in honor of Dottie's birthday.

With tears in her eyes, Dottie barely managed to reply. "Thank you. You are al such dear sweet friends. I couldn't be happier." Kitty motioned for Maddie to fol ow her and help with the candles for the cake.

"Ready Maddie?" Kitty whispered.

"Ready. Happy birthday Dottie. Do you need help blowing out your candles?"

"I'd love that Maddie."

Maddie whispered to Mia. "Can I decorate the cupcakes now?"

"Of course you can. I'l get you set up at the counter." Mia put a plate of cupcakes and two containers of frosting, one pink and one purple, in front of Maddie. "Here you go. Have fun sweetheart. Who wants some cake?"

Kitty glanced at Tina and gave a slight nod. "Nicole. Come sit over here with us. I think I got off on the wrong foot the other day. It was such a shock. I'm sure you want to know more about the farm."

"Uh, yeah, thanks Kitty." Nicole sat down with her cake.

"Wow, this is the best carrot cake I've ever had. Did you make it?" Nicole mumbled with her mouth ful of cake.

"No. Mia made it. It is good, isn't it? It's the recipe everyone in town uses. So, what are your plans?"

"I like it here in Wil ow Fal s. I'm hoping to find out more about my grandmother."

"And what about the farm?" Kitty met her gaze straight on.

"Wel , I'm not much of a farmer so I hope you wouldn't mind, but I'd probably sel my share of the farm. Of course, I'd give you first consideration." Nicole was feeling smug thinking she had Kitty in a corner.

Tina blurted out. "Oh, I guess you didn't know."

"Know what?" Nicole fidgeted on the couch between Kitty and Tina.

"The farm can't be divided." Kitty explained.

"What do you mean?"

"Wel , my grandmother sold the development rights after grandpa died and it has to remain as farmland. Al in one piece."

"And what about al the taxes Kitty?" Tina added.

"Yeah, the taxes are pretty high. I'm hoping that I can grow and produce enough to cover the taxes at least."

"So, this farm is worthless?" Nicole sounded disgusted.

"Not at al . It's a great farm. It's worth the world to me. I grew up here after my parents died." Kitty patted Nicole's arm. "But if you don't like to get your hands dirty, I guess it's not worth much. That's a lot for you to digest, isn't it?" Kitty sounded sympathetic.

"I'm not working on a dirty farm. That wasn't part of the plan." Nicole realized she said more than she should have.

Tina wasn't going to let her get away with that mistake. "Plan? What was your plan Nicole?"

"Nothing. I didn't mean it that way. I think I'l head home now." Nicole got up without a thanks or good bye and walked out the door.

Frank had observed the interaction and was curious what was going on. He watched Nicole walk to her car and motioned Kitty to come look out the window. "That looks like the car we saw the day my tire got slashed." He stared at Kitty. "What was she doing there that day?"

"I don't know yet but I'l figure this out."

"What did you say to her to get her to bolt out of here like that?"

"I cal ed her bluff about the farm but put my spin on it. Once she heard about the taxes and that the farm can't be divided, she saw her little scheme start to crumble. I'l bet she's on her way right now to confront Sheila about this. I wonder if that detective Harry knows more than he told me.

Do you think he's mixed up in this too Frank?"

"That's an interesting question. It certainly is odd that he had that information on Nicole right at his fingertips. It's almost like he wanted you to find the connection between Sheila and Nicole. Maybe we should pay him another visit?"

"My thoughts exactly. Tomorrow?"

"I'l have to see if Sheila is around to watch Maddie."

"She could stay here with Corey."

Tina pushed in between Kitty and Frank. "Did you forget there's a party going on? At your house?" Tina turned Kitty away from the window and her thoughts of Nicole. For the moment.

Chapter 8.

"Ready Kitty?" Frank asked after he arrived with Maddie.

"I'm ready. Come on Maddie. Let's find Corey. You get to help her with Henry and Poco this morning." Maddie ran ahead into the barn. "Henry. I'm here."

Frank looked amazed at Maddie's enthusiasm. "I can't get over the thril she gets seeing that pony. What's the excitement?"

"Don't worry about understanding it Frank. Just enjoy it. Maddie loves animals and has a special bond with Henry. Don't forget, they talk to each other. Henry is her friend. Everyone needs a friend they can trust and count on." Kitty tugged Frank's arm. "Let's get going."

"I want to stop at my old house first and see if we can find any more information that Blake may have stored there."

"Did you talk to Sheila about watching Maddie?"

"She said she was busy today. She's up to something."

Frank slowed down. "Here we are." Instead of stopping in front of his house, he accelerated. "That was Sheila's car. I don't want to go in now.

We'l wait down the street and watch until she leaves."

"The front door is opening. It's not Sheila coming out. It's Nicole." Kitty turned and looked at Frank.

"Sheila is coming out too. It looks like they're arguing. I wish we could hear them."

"It doesn't look like they're carrying anything. They must not have found whatever they were after." Kitty whispered. "Let's fol ow them. We can come back to the house later."

Frank stayed at a safe distance behind Sheila hoping she didn't recognize his Jeep.

Sheila's car took a few turns then pul ed to a stop at B & H Investigations.

Frank looked at Kitty with a shocked expression. "This is certainly interesting. Are they al working together? Where did Blake fit into this group?

Let's go back to the house. We can stop back here later to talk to Harry."

"I'm going to park down the street a little in case they come back. We can scoot out the back door if we hear anything." Frank parked and led Kitty back to his house.

"Frank. Let's look in your office again. Blake hid papers in your mother's recipe box. Did you have anything else that he might think would be a safe hiding place?"

"We took al my boxes of files the last time. Let's check the computer."

"I'l do that. You look through the file cabinet again." Kitty sat at the desk and waited for the computer to boot up. "Frank, I remember Harry tel ing me that Blake was working on some investigations that Harry didn't know about. Is that normal? They were partners."

"It depends on how they set up the client list. I would a.s.sume there would be an overal understanding of who the agency was working for but the details might not be shared unless there was a need for that. It does sound unusual if Harry didn't even know about the clients. Maybe Blake was working on something independent of the agency."

"Take a look at this." Kitty excitedly pointed to the screen. "Here's a folder labeled recipes." She clicked to open it holding her breath. "Darn.

Looks like real recipes. Was Blake interested in cooking? Or could these be Sheila's?" Kitty leaned back in the chair so Frank could get a better look at the screen.

"Sheila had her own laptop. Let's look at a few."

"Soups, Salads, Veggie, Meat, Dessert, Miscel aneous. Open the miscel aneous file." Kitty clicked to open it. What is this? Some kind of code?" Kitty slid over so Frank could pul up another chair and get a closer look.

"Mystery Stew. Pinch of H, pinch of N, pinch of S. Dangerously hot. Serve with caution." They stared at each other. It looks like Blake knew something and he was trying to hide from his partner, Harry, and maybe Sheila too. Let's go back to Harry's office." Kitty turned off the computer and put everything back exactly the way it had been when they came in. She didn't want Sheila to know someone had been snooping around.

They double checked the room and headed down the stairs just as they saw Sheila and Nicole heading toward the front door.

"Quick. We'l go out the back door." Frank pul ed Kitty's arm and they snuck out of the house and ran through backyards before turning to the street where Frank's car was parked. They slid into the Jeep letting out a big gasp. "That was close."

"Frank? I can't find my phone. I must have dropped it." She looked at Frank. "Or left it on Blake's desk." Kitty panicked. "We have to wait til they leave and take a look for it."

Frank started the Jeep and drove away. "Calm down. There's nothing we can do now. We'l make a visit to Harry first, then come back."

"Wel , wel , wel . I was wondering how long it would take you to stop by again." Harry motioned for Kitty and Frank to have a seat in his crowded office. "What can I do for you? It certainly has been a busy morning." Harry sat back with a smug look on his face.

"I won't beat around the bush. We have some interesting papers from Blake. One is on you Harry." Kitty watched Harry's grin leave his face.

"I want to know what Sheila and Nicole are up to. You've been helping them." Kitty didn't take her eyes off Harry's face. He blinked.

"They're after money from you. To buy out that share of the farm your grandfather left Nicole's grandmother."