Death Waxed Over (Book 3 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) Read Free

in a real fight since the fifth grade. I couldn’t imagine
being anyone’s guardian.
    “ Come now, Harrison, it’s
obvious the woman has faith in your ability to protect
her.”
    “ I don’t know why she’d
think that.”
    “ Perhaps you’re all she
has,” Eve said simply.
    “ If that’s true, then she’s
got more problems than someone stalking her.” I was worried about
Becka, but there was nothing I could do about her situation. She’d
call if she needed me—there was no doubt in my mind about that—so I
tried to put her out of my mind and get back to the business of
running my candleshop. Still, I was uneasy every time I heard the
telephone ring, wondering if it might be her, in some kind of
trouble I might not be able to fix.

Chapter 2

    The anointed day for the festival came soon
enough. I’d spoken with Becka a few times since the sheriff had
checked on her, but she’d had no more encounters with the stranger
since that day at River’s Edge. Maybe he’d followed her home and
had seen her talking to the police, or maybe seeing me armed with a
candle stand had been enough to scare him off. Whatever the reason,
Becka appeared to be safe.
    The late-fall weather for the Founder’s Day
Celebration in New Conover was perfect as an unseasonably warm
breeze brushed away the touches of winter’s impending cold. Far too
late in the season to be called Indian summer, the warmth was no
less welcome, especially to those of us who were slated to be out
in it all day. Our part of North Carolina could have six inches of
snow one week, then temperatures could soar into the seventies the
next, and by sheer luck, the event organizers had scheduled the
celebration during a day more fit for spring than winter.
    Even at 7 a.m ., I found myself
sweating as I unloaded my truck in the early dawn. I’d come to
think of the Ford that way, though I’d inherited it, along with
nearly all the rest of my worldly goods, from Belle. I just wished
she could be there with me right now, the two of us working side by
side.
    I was setting up near the old County
Courthouse, now operated as a museum dedicated to the area’s past.
The two-hundred-year-old granite building was draped in bunting and
decorated with dozens of flags for the festivities. New Conover was
the county seat, located twenty minutes from Micah’s Ridge.
    “ Hey, are you going to
daydream all morning, or are you going to help me with my stuff?” I
was glad that Heather Bane and I had decided to set up together. I
didn’t feel quite so vulnerable with a friendly face nearby.
Heather’s long blonde hair was pulled back in its standard pony
tail, and she wore a tie-dyed T-shirt with her jeans.
    I slid her table off the truck bed and said,
“I was just thinking about Belle.”
    “ She would have loved this,
Harrison,” Heather said as we set her table on its folding
legs.
    “ Eve wasn’t sure my presence
here would be worth the effort and cost,” I said. “I’m starting to
wonder if she was right. Are you worried about making anything more
than what you paid for the display fee?”
    Heather laughed. “Don’t get cold feet now.
We’ll both do fine. I’ve got Mrs. Quimby and Esmeralda watching the
store and Eve’s keeping your candleshop open, so we’ll make out all
right.” Mrs. Quimby was Heather’s lone part-time employee, while
Esmeralda was her cat and erstwhile queen of The New Age.
    I finished transferring the boxes in the
truck bed to our tables, then said, “Watch our stuff, would you?
I’ve got to go park in the vendor lot.”
    I had to walk three blocks
back to our tables after I moved the truck, but it was a glorious
morning, and I didn’t mind the stroll. I love early morning; it’s
my favorite time of day, before the whole world’s awake and
bustling around. As I passed table after table, I watched the crews
set up, most of them obviously seasoned in preparing their
displays. I still didn’t know exactly how I was going to arrange