by R A Wallace
“Spelling. Now that name rings a bell.”
Barbara nodded. “You’ve met her sister, Linda Spelling. She’s the librarian.”
“Ah, yes. Very nice lady. She’s helped me with my e-book reader a time or two. Was it an auto accident? I don’t recall hearing anything like that recently.”
“Of a sort. He was working on his own car in his garage. Something happened with the jack.” Barbara shook her head. “His wife found him later.”
“Oh, my. It’s good that she has family to help her through this difficult time.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” Barbara glanced around the room again.
Matthias narrowed his eyes as he considered his wife’s mood. “Are you alright?”
Barbara looked over at her husband. “I’ve been thinking. How do you feel about large family gatherings?”
Matthias reached for Barbara’s hand and held hers gently. “We have the room for it. We could put up as many here as possible. Some of the others could stay with Megan and Dan.”
Barbara’s eyes widened at the thought. “Good idea.”
“Are you thinking about the holidays?”
Barbara considered her response for a moment. “Maybe something around Thanksgiving is safer? The weather usually isn’t that bad yet. It would still allow them to spend Christmas at their own homes.”
Matthias nodded. “I like the idea.”
“It isn’t that I’m unhappy with just the two of us,” Barbara said.
Mathias smiled gently at his wife. “Nor am I. But I wouldn’t mind having family a little closer either. Everyone is so scattered.”
The doorbell interrupted Barbara before she could respond. She glanced quickly at the antique clock on the fireplace mantel.
“Who could that be?”
Matthias rose from the sofa. “I’ll go check.”
Barbara watched Matthias leave the room, then stood when she heard voices at the door. A moment later, Matthias returned. Barbara was about to ask him who had been at the door when he stepped to the side and she saw the young woman who had followed him in. Her hair was longer than the last time Barbara had seen her, and the blue eyes she’d inherited from her father held a question.
“Kaylee! What on earth are you doing here?” Barbara asked in surprise.
“Hi, Grandma. I was hoping you would let me stay.”
Barbara was moving across the room before she even realized it. She enveloped her granddaughter in a warm hug. “Of course, you can. But Kaylee? What about college?”
Barbara could feel the tension emanating from the young girl. Even though Kaylee held herself still, the air around her nearly vibrated with it.
Matthias watched the young girl’s head come up and her spine straighten even more. He wondered if his wife recognized the pose. He had seen Barbara take the same one whenever faced with adversity.
“I left. It was a mutual decision.” Kaylee’s lower lip trembled for a fraction of a second before she got it under control.
Barbara took a slow breath. “Do your parents know you are here?”
Kaylee shook her head once. “Not yet. I was waiting to tell them until I knew if you’d let me stay. I wasn’t sure that you would once you knew why I was here.” Kaylee’s eyes darted quickly to Matthias, giving him an uncertain look, before turning back to her grandmother. She stood with her arms straight down at her sides, her hands clenched.
“Oh, Kaylee. Of course, you can stay.” Barbara reached out and took Kaylee’s hand. It felt cold. Barbara instinctively wrapped her other hand around it.
Kaylee looked questioningly at Matthias.
He smiled gently. “Have you eaten?”
Chapter Three
Linda left her sister’s house as quietly as she could and began walking to the Jammin’T. It was several blocks, but she didn’t mind. She’d been inactive all morning, staying with her sister until she’d finally fallen into a fitful sleep. Linda hoped it lasted more than an hour this time. She suspected that Hilary hadn’t slept much more than an hour at a time since she’d found her husband.
Linda wasn’t surprised. She knew how much Hilary had loved her husband. She couldn’t imagine the horror of finding him that way. She stopped at a corner and waited for traffic to go by before continuing. She’d taken the past two days off work to stay with her sister. And, although many neighbors had kindly dropped off food to help in Hilary’s time of need, Linda had needed the break and thought of the diner.
She’d only be gone for a little while. Hilary had told her that she understood and insisted that she would be fine on her own for the short time that Linda would be gone. She even promised to get some sleep. Or try, anyway. Linda arrived at the diner at precisely noon. She hadn’t seen it this busy in a long time. There wasn’t an empty table or booth anywhere in the place. Dismayed, she considered turning around and going back to her sister’s. At least she’d had a chance to get out for a little and get some fresh air. That had been what she really needed.
She paused a moment to consider. Just as she decided to leave, she saw someone waving to her from across the room, signaling her to take the seat across from them. That was nice, Linda thought. They were going to share their table. She began working her way across the diner and was almost at the table when she realized who had waved to her.
She stopped walking immediately. Once again, she considered turning around and leaving. She was about to do just that when Amos McClintock stood abruptly and scowled at her. It was a challenge really. She knew it immediately. Stiffening her spine, she walked over and sat down.
“Amos. So nice of you to share your table.”
Amos sighed loudly as he sat back down. “Seriously. You’re taking that tone with me?”
“Well, I didn’t think you’d want to eat lunch with someone like me.”
Amos rolled his eyes. “And what does that mean?”
Linda shrugged. He’d been the one to say it all those years ago. If he wanted to pretend now that he didn’t remember, that was on him.
He continued staring at her, as though waiting for an answer. She lifted one eyebrow and stared back.
Finally, unable to stand the silence, he broke it. “What?”
Linda ignored him. A young man came to take her order. She didn’t recognize him and wondered who he might be. As the town librarian, she was familiar with many of the Teaberry inhabitants.
Amos noticed the question in her eyes after the waiter had left. “That’s Tyler. His sister took over the cooking in the kitchen. Betty doesn’t want to leave Bert alone, so Tyler is filling in for her.”
Linda looked across the diner and saw the attractive young girl behind the counter. “She must be good, the place is packed. I mean, everyone liked Bert too, but if they’re still coming when he isn’t here.” Linda left her sentence trail off when she realized Amos was staring at her.
“What?” she demanded.
“That’s the most you’ve spoken to me since the tenth grade.” Amos frowned at Linda. He had never understood why she had such an attitude toward him.
“Well, I see you haven’t really forgotten then.”
Hazel eyes narrowed at the woman across the table. “What are you talking about?”
Linda leaned back in her seat. “You’re telling me that you honestly don’t remember?” Did he seriously want to discuss this now?
Amos threw his hands up in frustration. “I would like to know…”
“Shh.”
Amos looked around. For a brief moment, he felt guilty. In his frustration, he had raised his voice. However, in his defense, he’d never understood why the woman in front of him had such an attitude. Leave it to a librarian to shush him in public.
Amos lowered his voice and leaned forward. “I would like to know what your problem is.”
Linda had leaned forward to hear him. Now she sat back, her lips pressed together firmly. He did want to talk about this now.
“You made fun of me. As if you didn
’t know.”
“I did what? When?”
“In school. You made fun of me.” Close in age, the two had taken classes together in high school.
Amos wiped his palm across his mouth as he tried to remember what Linda was talking about. He came up with nothing.
“About what?”
Linda sputtered. “Jane Austen. What else?”
A tiny flicker of a memory sparked in Amos’s mind. It wasn’t enough. “I didn’t like her in high school. I took the F so I wouldn’t have to read it.”
Now Linda rolled her eyes. “Yes, I remember. That’s why you never knew the answer when the teacher called on you. And you made fun of me each time I answered correctly.”
Amos moved back from the table when Tyler delivered their food. Then he leaned back in. “I would have been what, sixteen? I was a stupid sixteen year old boy. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. I swear to you, I don’t remember doing it.”
Linda opened her mouth to speak. She was so flabbergasted that nothing came out. She realized her mouth was still open and closed it quickly. Amos was now enjoying his lunch. Linda sighed loudly.
Amos looked up from his fries. “What? I apologized for being an idiot, didn’t I?”
If you could call that an apology, Linda thought. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes briefly. It was an apology. She knew that. She just hadn’t slept much more than her sister had these past two days.
“You’re right. It was an apology. I accept.”
Amos nodded as he bit into his burger. As he chewed, he realized that Linda was still motionless, staring at her plate of food. He swallowed and set his burger back on his plate.
“I was sorry to hear about Colin. Is Hilary okay?”
Linda looked up. “Thanks. She’s… doing as you might expect at the moment. She’ll be better sometime in the future. Not yet, though. It will take a while.”
Linda absently looked at Amos’s plate. He wasn’t eating. She looked up at him. Warm hazel eyes filled with kindness looked back.
“You need to eat,” Amos said gently.
Linda nodded and picked up her fork. Amos waited until she took a bite before he picked up his burger again. They ate in silence for a few minutes.
“Do you know when the funeral is yet?” Amos poured ketchup onto his plate.
“Yes, Friday.” She offered him half a smile. She never would have imagined how easy it was to talk with him. “It’s going to be such a difficult day for Hilary.”
Amos nodded. “I’ll be there.” He watched Linda closely for a moment. “Are you okay?”
She shrugged. “Everyone has been so kind.”
“Yeah.” Amos remembered the feeling. His own wife had died three years ago. “It can be pretty overwhelming.”
“Exactly.” The smile was bigger this time. She appreciated his understanding.
“I have an idea. If anyone tries to offer you too much kindness tomorrow, just mention Jane Austen. They’ll run faster than anything you’ve ever seen.” Amos grinned at her.
Linda struggled not to grin back. “You’re still an idiot.”
“Yes, ma’am. When it comes to Jane Austen, I’d still take the F.”
***
Amos left the diner and walked the short distance to Vintage Teaberry. He’d hoped to catch Daryl and have a private word with him. He was surprised to find that Emmet and Vince were already there with Daryl.
“Hey, what brings you two in?” Amos leaned against the counter.
The other three men shared a look.
“We were just talking about Colin.” Daryl was behind the counter but now walked around to join the other three men.
Amos had hoped to discuss Colin also. “What about him?”
“Had you noticed anything odd with him lately?” Vince asked. He looked quickly at Daryl and Emmet, then focused on Amos.
Wondering if they were all on the same page, Amos decided to play it safe and let them talk first. “Odd? How?”
“That’s just it. I can’t say I can put my finger on it,” Emmet said. “I mean, he did tell me that someone was following him.”
Amos nodded. “He mentioned the same thing to me.”
Daryl shot a look to the other two men then turned back to Amos. “He did? Did he say anything else?”
Amos shook his head.
“I saw him not long before he died. He was acting funny,” Vince said slowly. “I mean, it was probably nothing, but it seemed out of character for him.”
“Funny? Like, how?” Emmet asked.
Vince shrugged. “He was talking on his phone. Really animated, you know? Then he hung up and stormed off, right past me. Didn’t even say anything to me.”
“That does seem odd,” Amos murmured.
“He stopped in here one day and said he wanted to talk. He seemed pretty stressed about something.” Daryl looked at the other men.
“What did he say to you?” Vince asked.
“He didn’t. I got really busy and he said he’d stop back. He never did. It wasn’t long before the accident happened. I wish now that I had insisted. Maybe I’d know what was going on. Know what it was that had him so upset, you know?” Daryl shook his head. “All he really said was that he didn’t want Hilary to be hurt.”
“Hurt? How would she be hurt?” Amos asked.
Daryl shrugged again and held up his hands, indicating that he didn’t know.
“Well, something was definitely up with him. I mean, he was acting strange, he was making strange comments, and he just seemed really nervous, or worried, or something.” Emmet looked around at the others to see if they agreed. They all nodded their heads.
“What should we do about it now?” Daryl asked.
There was silence for a moment.
Amos was the one to break it. “What can we do? He’s gone now. It was a terrible accident, but it was an accident, right?”
Chapter Four
A cold blast of air came into the kitchen with Dan when he returned from his morning chores. He set the basket of eggs down on the counter and took off his coat. After hanging it on the back of a chair, he stood behind Megan and nuzzled her neck as she worked.
“Something smells good. What is that?”
“I have some rice pudding baking. Don’t get your hopes up though, this batch is for Erica. I’ll make one for you another time.”
“Rice pudding? You made pudding from the leftover rice we had?” Dan had never heard of such a thing. It smelled really good though.
“My mom used to make it for me when I was little. She said Grandma always made it for her too, so I guess it’s a family thing on my mom’s side. Your mom never made it?”
Dan sniffed again. He was pretty sure he would have remembered that. “Nope. So, what is for breakfast then?”
“The ladies asked for huckleberry pancakes, fried potatoes, fresh eggs, and bacon.”
Sounded like a good breakfast to him. Dan lifted his head and listened for a moment but didn’t hear anything. “Doesn’t sound like they’re up yet.”
“No, they said they’d be late risers while they were here and that it’s part of the fun of getting away for a couple of days.”
He moved over to the coffee pot and poured another cup. “What do you have planned for today?”
Megan continued working. “The ladies want one more knitting lesson after breakfast. They’ll leave after that. Then I’m going into town to drop the food off.”
Dan looked over at the counter where Megan was working. “Is that a pie?”
“Yes, it’s for Hilary. After I drop the pie off for her, I’ll go to see Erica.”
“You always pre-cook the fruit?”
Megan spooned the pie filling into the shell. “Yes. In most cases it’s because I’ve taken it from the freezer and it’s just easier that way. Whenever the fruit on the farm ripens, I freeze it so that I can use it throughout the rest of the year. I bring some to Lauren to use too.”
Dan took a sip of his cof
fee. “I still can’t believe that about Colin. He was so good with cars, you know?”
“Well, accidents happen.” Megan lifted the dough and lined the pie pan with it.
“Yeah, I guess. It’s just such a shame though. He was one of the good guys. Whenever he was in town, he was always stopping by the feed store to pick things up and he’d talk your ear off if you’d let him. He always had funny stories to tell though. A lot of times, they were about his travels.”
“He travelled a lot because of his work, right?”
Dan leaned against the counter and watched Megan. “Yeah, he was gone a lot.”
“Were you able to get someone to cover for you so you can go to the funeral with me tomorrow?” Megan glanced up from her pie to look at Dan.
“Yeah, do you want to pick me up?”
“Sure. That seems easier.” She finished crimping the edges of the pie and placed the pie pan on a pie drip catcher.
Dan finished his coffee. “I’ll get my shower. I should be done in time to help you with breakfast before I have to leave for work.”
“Thanks,” Megan said as she put the pie into the oven. After that, she began working on breakfast.
***
“Do you think this is fixable?” Nancy asked.
Three of Megan’s four guests were fairly accomplished knitters. All four women were related. Two were sisters. The others were their cousins. They’d grown up together but had ended up living in different areas of the country after marriage. Now that they were in their sixties, they gathered once a year to reconnect. This year, they had chosen to stay with Megan and work on presents for a young relative due to have a baby soon.
Everyone looked up from their knitting to look at Nancy’s project. Though she’d said more than once that she was having a wonderful time, she hadn’t been very successful with her knitting. It hadn’t seemed to dampen her spirits. She had happily started and torn apart her attempts multiple times. In contrast, the other women had made great strides and would be returning home with finished or near finished projects.