Love Can Be Murder

seemed to have nothing but disdain for the man who looked as if he'd been scrubbed with a brush and spit-shined. Steve waved, and Penny smiled hello. Voices buzzed, and the smoothie machine whirred busily in the background.
    "Um, Miss Penny, I was wondering..."
    She looked up. "Yes, Jimmy?"
    "Want to go out with me sometime?"
    Suddenly the room fell dead quiet—conversation halted, the smoothie machine stopped, and in a moment of what could only be described as unfortunate timing, the sounds of the nature CD on the overhead speakers played crickets chirping. Penny glanced around, and everyone stared at her, wide-eyed, mouths twitching. Heat scalded her neck as she cast around for a polite way to turn down the man's pass.
    "I'm very flattered, Jimmy, but I'd rather keep our relationship professional."
    "Oh." His shoulders fell.
    She gave him a cajoling smile. "What would I do if I lost one of my best suppliers?"
    He seemed unconvinced of her sincerity, but he didn't argue.
    "Um, Guy," she said quickly, tearing the sheet of paper from the notebook, "would you cut a check for Jimmy, please?"
    "Sure thing," Guy said, although he and Jimmy moved around each other like repelling magnets as they made their way toward Guy's cubicle inside the stockroom.
    Penny carried the bag of truffles to her office and glanced around for a secure place to store them. Her gaze dropped to the locked bottom desk drawer, but she quickly dismissed it as a temporary stash. The drawer, after all, was her survival kit behind glass—to be breached only in an emergency.
    Instead she located a lockable file cabinet drawer that was half empty. Penny opened the bag in her hand and stared at the dozens of valuable little lumps of fungus that sent chefs around the world into fits of orgasmic pleasure. She tucked the bag into the drawer, then slid it back into place and locked it.
    When she emerged, she saw that Jimmy and Guy were still in his office. She waited on a mousy woman dressed in running clothes who was a regular customer, but whose name always slipped Penny's mind. After the woman purchased a box of energy bars and left, Penny turned to Marie, who was studiously ignoring Steve Chasen while he finished his smoothie. "Why can't I remember that woman's name?"
    "It's Diane," Steve offered. "Diane Davidson."
    Penny nodded. "Oh, right. She's a teacher at the high school."
    Marie leaned on the counter. " Was a teacher—I heard she was fired."
    "Yeah," Steve said thickly, then swallowed. "For being a witch."
    Marie rolled her eyes. "She's Wiccan—that doesn't mean she's a practicing witch. And even if she is, that's religious discrimination."
    "She wanted Deke to file a lawsuit against the school system for wrongful dismissal," Steve said, "but he didn't take the case."
    Penny straightened, loath to discuss anything having to do with Deke.
    But Marie had no such qualms. "Why not?"
    "I don't think—" Penny began.
    "Deke said he was afraid of her," Steve said, his voice low and expressive.
    Penny frowned. Deke was the least superstitious person she knew.
    Marie put her hand to her mouth. "I asked her to stop by the party tonight—I hope that's alright."
    Penny shrugged. "I don't mind, although I don't know her very well."
    Marie looked embarrassed. "There weren't a lot of people to invite."
    Penny's skin tingled with humiliation. Deke had gotten most of their friends. Deke and Sheena. The more she said their names together, the more it sounded like the title of a redneck Tarzan movie.
    "Kirk was going to fly in for the festival and the party," Marie said, "but he was called to Canada on business at the last minute."
    Of course he was, Penny thought wryly.
    "Who's Kirk?" Steve asked.
    "My rich, older boyfriend," Marie said emphatically.
    Steve's mouth turned down. "Oh. What party?"
    "We're having a divorce party for Penny tonight at Caskey's," Marie said, then picked a piece of lint off her apron. "You can come if you want."
    Steve straightened. "Really? Okay."
    "Bring a gag gift," Marie said.
    "That's not necessary," Penny said with a frown. She considered calling her friend Liz in New Orleans and inviting her, but something stopped her...embarrassment maybe. Despite their proximity, she hadn't seen her friend in ages—Liz didn't even know that Penny had used her divorce attorney. Liz had gone to school with her and Deke and had never approved of Penny's being with Deke. Since the breakup, Penny had wondered if Deke had cheated on her in college