The Women of Bayberry Cove

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Justin waved off the question. “No. The wax isn’t hot enough to cause blisters. Just smarts a little if it gets on the skin. Besides, we have all the required safety measures in place.” He frowned. “Got no choice in the matter. We have government inspectors from OSHA breathin’ down our necks every time we turn around.” He clarified in case she didn’t understand. “That’s the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.”

Louise nodded. “I see.” She gestured toward one of the wheel racks that had just begun lowering its candles into a vat. “What’s happening there?” she asked.

“That’s one of our dipping wheels,” Justin explained. “We have six of them operating sixteen hours a day. Each candle is dipped fifty times and cooled in between each lowering.”

Louise remembered that Bessie referred to herself as a dipper. She’d worked in that position for fifteen years. As if to validate that thought, the older woman walked out from behind a wheel and glanced at the trio of onlookers. Louise gave her a hint of a smile. A hairpin held between her teeth, Bessie nodded at her behind a pretense of rewinding her long gray mane into a knot at the crown of her head.

Justin next took them to where wax was molded into various shapes. Several women poured the thick substance from large tubes into metal forms, reminiscent of cake decorating on a grand scale. When Justin had explained the procedure, Louise asked how many people the candle company employed.

“We’re the largest employer in the county,” he said proudly. “Got one hundred and thirty-three on the payroll. We’re just one big happy family here at Bayberry Cove Candle Company,” he added. He poked Wesley in the ribs. “Even had Wes working for us at one time. Remember the summers after your junior and senior years of high school, boy?”

The question produced an involuntary flinch, as if Wes was trying to erase the memory from his mind. “How could I forget?” he said. “I left here every afternoon smelling like a bouquet of roses.”

Justin hooted before explaining to Louise, “Wes worked in the scent department. He was a good employee. We could have made a junior chemist out of him if he’d stuck around.”

Louise cast a sideways grin at Wes. “You mean instead of the junior plumber he’s become?”

Wes rolled his eyes. “Never mind, both of you.”

“How many positions are there in the candle factory?” Louise asked.

Justin stared at the ceiling. “Let me see, now. We’ve got dippers and packers, cutters and polishers, dyers, mixers, machine operators…too many to list. And then, of course, we’ve got our office, research and sales force in the main building, where you first came in.”

As they’d walked the hall earlier, Louise had glanced into each office. “I noticed mostly men behind the desks,” she said. “Don’t you have any women in management positions?”

“Not really,” Justin answered unabashedly. “We mostly hire women for the production jobs.” He walked ahead of her to a rear entrance and turned around before leading the way outside. “Women seem to take to the repetitious tasks better than men. Guess it comes from all that diaper changing.”

Gratified to hear Wes blow out a breath of air in a quiet whistle, Louise bit her lip before answering. “Well, of course, all that diaper training is good preparation for employment.”

Justin held the door as she stepped into the paved lot of the factory’s loading area, the apparent end of the tour. “You’re right there, Miss Duncan. You got any young ’uns yourself?”

“No, not yet. Got to find me a good man first,” she said with a flippant tone she figured Justin wouldn’t notice even though his narrowed eyes were giving her a close scrutiny.

“From where I’m standing,” he said, “there’s probably a few fellas in this town who wouldn’t mind applying for that job. You staying here long?”

“As long as it takes,” she answered. “Now, if I can just ask you a few more questions…”

TWENTY MINUTES and at least as many questions later, Wesley walked around from the passenger side of the Jeep, climbed behind the wheel and slammed his door. He was angry. He’d been had. Duped. Plain and simple. This woman who’d professed with a saccharine smile to love candles had taken him on a merry chase.

He stared across the space between them and scowled. Fiddling with the contents of her shoulder bag, Louise pretended not to notice his emotional state. Or maybe she really didn’t notice, and that was probably worse. One thing was certain. This lady, with her sexy dress, her high-heeled sandals and a body that practically made him drool, cared as much about seeing candles made as she would digging oysters out of the muck of Currituck Sound.

He started the engine, thrust the gear shift into reverse and backed out of the parking space, spitting gravel from his rear tires. And then, because that was childish and stupid, he reined in his anger and put the Jeep through its gears until they were retracing their tracks to town at a safe speed.

But he’d gotten her attention. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her arch her eyebrows in question. “Something wrong, Commander?” she said.

He clenched his teeth, tightening his jaw muscles. “What were you doing back there?”

She concentrated on her purse again. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that you grilled Beauclaire like he was in front of a congressional hearing.”

“I did no such thing,” she said. “I was merely trying to learn as much about candles—”

“Let’s cut through the scum and get to the clean water underneath,” he said. “What are you up to, Counselor? And why did you feel it was necessary to involve me?”

Her shoulders sagged as she sighed deeply. “You already are involved, Wesley,” she said. “You live here. You worked there. Nearly everyone in this town is involved to some degree.”

“In what, Louise? Do you see some sort of conspiracy that no one else has noticed in the last thirty years?”

“No, not a conspiracy.” She emitted a most unladylike snort. “That almost makes it worse. What’s happening at the candle factory is out in the open for all the world to see…and ignore!”