Page 11 of The Familiar Stranger

First things first.

Knowing Maddie wanted to take a nap, I told her I wanted to meander around the property until she woke up.

As soon as I said it, she plopped her hands on her hips. “You’re notmeanderinganywhere. I know you better than to believe that. You’re going to ask questions about Harmony, aren’t you?”

Her eyes narrowed as she glared at me.

“It’s true, but here’s why.” I told her about Almond’s behavior yesterday at the winery and how odd I thought it was that Harmony was attacked the same night. “I just want to poke around, see what some of the staffers have to say.”

“I can’t believe Almond would think my friendship with Harmony was anything more than that. What a jealous jerk! Go on, find out everything you can. Maybe you’re right and there is something there. You sure you’re okay about me not coming with you? A nap is calling my name,hard.”

“Go on, get some rest.”

She gave me a slight nod and said, “Will do. See you in an hour or so.”

With that, she went her way, and I went mine.

I meandered for a time, looking for anyone at the inn who knew Almond and Harmony. When I found someone willing to talk, I kept my questions low-key and finagled the facts about my interest in whatever way I thought might get them to tell me more.

I was a private investigator.

I was Harmony and Almond’s friend.

Whatever it took to get information.

I’d always found it amazing how many people were willing to share what they knew when they thought something they said might help. From the random tidbits I gathered, I was able to create a reasonable picture of the ladies’ time together. It might not have been perfect, but it was enough to get my wheels rolling ...

Years ago, Harmony had struggled with opioid addiction, and Almond had been a key factor in turning Harmony’s life around toward a healthier, more holistic existence. On the flip side, the cheery, vibrant Harmony was a balancing influence for Almond, who tended to work too hard, preferring to focus on her business instead of dealing with what sounded like a bit of social awkwardness. They were a solid team, a yin and yang.

That was one story.

And then another story came to light, thanks to Maddie, who’d decided not to sleep, after all.

We met at the lobby bar, where I found her chatting up the bartender.

“Yeah, so while you were talking to the porter, I decided to talk with Mikey here,” Maddie said with a flip of her high ponytail, “about our friends, Almond and Harmony.”

Bartender Mikey grinned and waved at me. “How you doin’?”

“Good, thanks,” I said, then turned back to Maddie. “And …?”

“Seems Almond and Harmony’s relationship has been a rocky one from the start. They fight often, the crux of it being Almond’s fanatical desire to protect her girlfriend from bad influences, which includes other interested parties, both male and female. In other words, she’s a jealous lover, Sloane.”

Just as I’d suspected.

The bartender punctuated Maddie’s comments with one final tidbit. He said Harmony loved Almond—and only Almond. It was Almond’s own insecurities that hurt the relationship. Harmony was content, which pointed to Almond as the problem.

Was Almond’s jealousy bad enough to hurt the woman she loved?

Had an argument between the two women devolved into a terrible vortex?

Had the note and the head injury been planned … by Almond to look like the attack was by the hand of someone else?

It wouldn’t be the first time a jealous rage had changed the course of people’s lives.

In truth, all my theories were based on nothing more than what I’d seen and heard—and little was fact-oriented.

But after those curious revelations, everything sort of flickered out, nothing more than a wisp of an extinguished candle flame. We didn’t see Harmony again, and we couldn’t reach Almond, though we’d called her several times. Anything more than what we’d already done would have been out of line—farther out than I preferred to go, at least.

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