by R A Wallace
“Whatever they are, we’ll deal with it together,” Brad said. He hoped it sounded convincing.
Erica focused on her husband’s troubled face. She smiled reassuringly. “Women have been having babies for centuries. We’re going to be fine.” Maybe if she kept saying it, it will make it true.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The Teaberry Theatre was packed with spectators on Saturday. Sharon turned to Eric with her eyebrows raised. “Well? What did you think?”
Eric turned his head to one side as he considered. “They were good, but I think I liked the last group better.”
“Well, we’re on the elimination round now. We need to vote to narrow it down to the final three groups to compete for first place.”
Eric nodded and pulled out his phone. “This voting app really was a great idea. Everyone here is all excited about the fact that they can vote, and that it registers immediately.”
Sharon entered her own vote, then pocketed her phone. “We have a window of time while everyone can cast their votes and before the final three are announced. Do you want to walk around and talk to people?”
“I wouldn’t mind stretching my legs.” Eric stood and looked around. Apparently, a lot of other people had the same idea. He could see Megan across the room.
Megan saw Moira and Shawn McCallum down by the stage and began working her way toward them. As she did, she saw someone else that she recognized. He had been at the wake the previous day and was one of the people she had spoken to. Megan thought back. Peter. He’d said his name was Peter Lowrie. He was glaring at Moira, Shawn, and their new partner.
“Moira, Shawn, do you have a moment?” Megan asked as she reached the group.
Moira turned to face Megan and didn’t attempt to hide her irritation. “We’re waiting for the results.”
“Yes, I know. I wrote the app that allowed everyone to vote.”
The new member of the group smiled at Megan. “Really? That’s pretty innovative. I like that the audience can be involved like this. It really makes them a part of the experience.”
Megan smiled back at the man in front of her. She guessed his age to be in the late forties. He had dark hair sprinkled with gray and kind brown eyes with prominent laugh lines fanning out from the corners. “Hi, I’m Megan.”
“I’m Derrick, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Are you from around here?” Megan asked.
“No, I’m from Texas. I just got here yesterday.” Derrick looked around the room. “I haven’t had a chance to see much of your town yet, but I like what I have seen.”
Megan turned to Moira and Shawn. “Congratulations on finding a new member. You guys were great.”
Shawn clapped Derrick’s shoulder. “We were lucky to find someone at Derrick’s level that would meet our high standards on such short notice. It seems we always have to look far and wide for our third member.”
Derrick excused himself to use the restroom while they were waiting for the results. As Megan watched him walk away, a thought occurred to her.
“Well, Colin was from here, right?” Megan pointed out.
“Not technically, no.” Moira turned Shawn. “He said he was from Colorado originally, didn’t he?”
Shawn nodded his agreement. “Yes. That’s where he told us he lived before he moved here.”
Megan had never thought to ask anyone where Colin had come from. She looked across at Peter again, remembering that both Peter and the McCallums had mentioned high standards. Peter was still glaring at them. “Did you receive a submission from someone named Peter Lowrie?”
Moira scowled. “Don’t even mention that name. He was the screecher.”
“And a sore loser. He tried to argue with our decision,” Shawn said.
Megan wasn’t surprised. “He contacted you?”
“Oh, yes.” Moira’s lips pursed together. “He said he was in town and tried to convince us to meet with him.”
“You would have thought he’d have improved over time,” Shawn said to Moira.
“What do you mean?” Megan asked, looking from Moira to Shawn.
“He tried to join our group once before,” Shawn explained.
“That was when we selected Colin,” Moira added. She was getting bored with the conversation and began checking the time.
“Did you say that you received an odd letter after you selected Colin?” Megan asked.
Moira looked back at Shawn, the frown deepening the prominent lines between her eyes. “You don’t think there was any connection, do you?”
Shawn shrugged and waved to Derrick as he returned from the restroom. “We should get backstage. We want to be ready to go onstage when they call us for the next round.”
Megan watched them walk away. When she turned back to look at Peter, she couldn’t find him in the crowd. She began to work her way across the room back to Dan when she saw Hilary, Alaina, and Nicole. She changed course and met up with them.
“Did you all know that Colin was from Colorado?” Megan looked at the three women. They all nodded in unison.
“Did he ever mention Peter Lowrie? He was at the wake yesterday.” Megan looked around the room again and didn’t see him.
The three women looked at each other.
“It sounds familiar,” Nicole said. “Colin talked to him on the phone a couple of times. I remember because once he seemed a little tense afterwards. When I asked him about it, he said it was nothing. I’d forgotten about it because it happened about a year or so ago. I haven’t heard him talk to him lately.”
“I think I remember him talking to a Peter on the phone,” Hilary said slowly. “Colin was in another room, but his voice got a little louder. I could hear him say the name.”
“Me too,” Alaina said, wrinkling her forehead in thought. “It was only once, and it was a while back. I got the impression Colin didn’t care for him much. It wasn’t a long conversation and Colin seemed pretty short with him. I just assumed it had something to do with work.”
“Did he say if Peter was from Colorado also?” Megan asked. Peter had mentioned at the wake that he’d just missed the snow when he came to Teaberry, Megan thought. Colorado had just been hit with snow. The three women looked at each other but shook their heads.
“It looks like the break is over and they’re about to announce the finalists,” Nicole said. “This competition is interesting. I would have liked to see Colin perform. Hilary told us which group he was with.”
“Their new member has a nice voice,” Tonya said as she walked over to join her sister.
Nicole shot a smile at Tonya. “He did have a dreamy voice, didn’t he?”
Tonya shook her head at her sister as Alaina and Hilary rolled their eyes. They had all agreed that Colin’s voice was the one thing that had attracted them to him. They knew Nicole was kidding.
Megan was happy to see that Nicole looked better today and that she was apparently able to joke with the others. She looked around for Peter again but couldn’t find him. She saw Jerry walking around in uniform and motioned to get his attention. Rhys joined them a moment later and Megan explained her theory to the two men.
“They’re all certain that Peter Lowrie called Colin?” Jerry asked. He looked over at Rhys.
“Yes, why?” Megan asked.
“We found a lot of calls from a burner phone but none from a Peter Lowrie,” Rhys said.
“We might want to talk to him about that,” Jerry said with a glance at Rhys.
Rhys nodded his agreement, then turned to Megan. “Now, if you could just figure out Cy Douglass’s problem. He’s still calling us about his animals.”
Megan smiled. Then she told them her theory on why the animals were getting spooked.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The house seemed so quiet without Mia and Noah. The children were spending a second night with Grandma Bev. Justin finished the dishes and returned to the bedroom to check on Lauren. She was repacking her bag.
“I thought you h
ad that all set?” Justin asked.
Lauren closed her suitcase but left it on the bed. “I do. I was just double checking it.”
“Why?” Justin’s eyes narrowed at his wife. “Are you okay?”
“I can feel a pressure. I remembered it as soon as I felt it.”
“Remembered it from when?”
“From the last two times.” Lauren turned and walked toward the bathroom. “I’m going to go to the bathroom.”
“Shouldn’t you lie down?” Justin asked.
“I’ll try that next.”
Justin took the suitcase off the bed and waited anxiously for Lauren to return. “Let me know if you need help,” he called in to her.
“Justin?”
“Yeah?”
“Call your mom to let her know. My water just broke.”
***
Erica glanced at the clock on the wall and breathed out slowly. Brad came running into the living room a moment later and stood watching Erica.
“Okay, I have the suitcase in the car. We just need to get you into the car.” Brad ran his hand over his short cropped hair then rubbed his head as he considered the best way to get Erica into the car. Moving over to the couch, he put one arm around her and held his other out in front of her to grab onto.
“Okay, easy now. That’s it.” It was a struggle but finally she was upright. Brad kissed her head once she was. “Good. We’re doing okay. We’re going to be fine.”
“Did you text Megan?” Erica asked. She was holding on to Brad with one hand and cradling her belly with the other.
“I will just as soon as we get you to the hospital. I already called the doctor, she’s on her way.” Brad gently guided her toward the door. “Okay, we can do this.”
***
Megan rinsed the pot and handed it to her mother to dry. “They’ve been outside for quite a while.”
Sharon smiled. “Don’t ask questions, it’s too close to Christmas.”
Megan shot her mom a sideways glance for quoting Dan whenever she asked him about his little projects. “What did you think of the competition today?”
“Vince, Daryl, and Emmet must be thrilled right now.”
Megan agreed. The audience had voted them the winners by a rather narrow margin. “It was a difficult choice. All three of the groups in the final round were really good.”
She rinsed the last pot and set it in the other sink, then pulled the drain. After reaching over to grab a towel, she dried her hands and absently looked out the window again. Then she threw the towel down and ran for her coat.
“What is it?” Sharon said as she watched Megan dash from the room.
“The sheep are out!” Megan yelled as she ran out the back door. She went to the barn first, calling for Dan as she did.
He ran out of the barn and met her in the barnyard with her father close behind him. Dan didn’t have to ask what was wrong. He could see the scattered sheep as far as the light on the corner of the barn allowed. Beyond the reach of the light was total blackness. They could hear the sheep, but they couldn’t see them.
Megan could hear the frightened bleating of the sheep as they called to each other. “We’re never going to get them in the dark,” she said in frustration.
Sharon joined them and went over to Eric. “What happened?”
Eric looked around dismayed. “I was the last one in the field. I must not have closed the gate correctly.”
Dan told them to spread out and try to herd the sheep back to the gate. The sheep scattered even farther, their bleating growing more dispersed and frantic.
“We can’t herd them,” Megan said, then stopped in her tracks. Pulling her phone out, she called Tom’s farm.
Marcy arrived a few minutes later with Ethan and Cooper. Ethan kept Cooper in the truck, but he and Marcy got out. Megan and Dan walked over to meet Ethan.
“Do you think you two can herd the sheep back into the field?” Dan asked.
Ethan glanced toward the truck. Cooper was dancing around, eager to get out. “I don’t know. I tried to follow what Casey told me to do, but we only had the cows to practice on and they were already in the field where they belonged.”
“Are you willing to try?” Megan asked.
Ethan took a breath, then nodded once and went to the truck. As soon as he opened the door, Cooper went to work.
Eric and Sharon had collected as many flashlights as they could find while they’d waited for Ethan and Cooper. Megan and Dan each grabbed one and they all fanned out. The plan was to shine the lights so that Ethan would be able to see Cooper whenever they were out of the range of the light on the corner of the barn.
Megan could hear Ethan calling to Cooper. It sounded like he had commands already worked out with the border collie. It wasn’t long before Cooper had gotten the first of the sheep back into the field. He then dashed out into the darkness and went back for more while Eric stayed near the gate to open it at the right time. Before long, all of the sheep were back in the field.
“That was amazing!” Sharon said. The others all agreed enthusiastically.
“We couldn’t have done it without you,” Dan said to Ethan.
Ethan was glad of the dark. He knew he was blushing. He bent down to rub Cooper’s ears.
His mom looked over at him and smiled. “Good job, Ethan.”
Ethan shrugged, but kept smiling. “Cooper does all the hard stuff.” He slapped at his hip and called to Cooper to follow him back to the truck.
Marcy watched him walk away and turned to Megan and Dan. “That dog has made a huge difference. He’s almost back to normal. I just hope it lasts.”
Megan heard her phone buzz and began digging in her coat pockets for her phone. She found two texts. She’d received one while Cooper had been herding the sheep and she hadn’t noticed. After reading them both, she looked at the others and grinned. “The babies are coming!”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The drive into town was picture perfect. There was enough snow on the ground to make everything look beautiful but not enough to hinder travel. The snowplows had been through to make the roads easily passable. Megan pulled into the driveway and parked. After grabbing some bags from the passenger seat of the truck, she walked to the front door and rang the bell. A frazzled-looking Brad answered the door holding one baby.
“Can you put those in the kitchen?” Brad said before turning to head back to Erica.
She was carrying another baby and pacing the living room. “Was that Megan?”
Brad nodded then looked down at the baby in his arms. She had stopped fussing and was now staring back at her father intently. This was the serious one, Brad thought. Just like her Mama. He was so mesmerized by the sight, he didn’t notice when Megan joined them in the living room.
“I put the groceries away,” Megan said.
Erica turned to face her. “Thanks. We just finished feeding them. They’ll probably nod off soon. Do you want to hold one while he’s still awake?”
Megan reached out eagerly to take the small bundle. She gently adjusted the blanket to better see the baby’s face. He was yawning adorably. She looked up and flashed Erica a grin.
“Sure, he’ll sleep for you. He likes to stay awake for me to make sure I don’t get any sleep.” Erica stretched, enjoying the rare moment when she could. Then she walked over to Brad and checked on her daughter.
“Everyone at Lauren’s is doing well,” Megan said.
“How are the kids adapting to their new baby sister?” Brad asked.
“Mia was a lot happier when she found out that there really was a princess named Grace,” Megan said.
Brad stifled a yawn.
“If you want to take a break, like a nap or a shower, I can stay for a while and watch the babies for you.” Megan gently began swaying with the baby to help lull him into sleep.
“I wouldn’t mind a cup of coffee,” Brad said looking down at the bundle in his arms. “I’ll take this one into the kitchen and we’ll make a ne
w pot together.”
Erica sat down on the couch with a sigh.
“Have your parents been by?” Megan asked.
Erica’s smile turned to a frown. “I told them they needed an attitude adjustment before they got near my children.”
“How did they take that?”
“Time will tell. What did you learn about Colin Boswell? How did the story end?”
Megan continued swaying though she was fairly certain the baby had fallen asleep. “I spoke with Jerry. He said that they’ve arrested Peter Lowrie.”
Erica had assumed as much based on what she did know. “Did he confess?”
“In a manner of speaking. He said that Colin had it coming to him.”
Erica shook her head. “Did he explain how he figured out Colin had more than one wife?”
“He was mad at Colin because he was a better singer than Peter was. Peter tried out for the spot Colin won with his group.”
“Moira and Shawn McCallum?”
“Yes. Peter had traveled to some of the harmony competitions over the years to watch the singers and that’s how he found out about the former group with the McCallums. This would be before Colin joined them. They lost their third member at that time. Peter tried convincing the McCallums to let him join them and it didn’t work. That’s when they ended up with Colin. For whatever reason, Peter decided to speak with Colin and followed him.”
“And discovered him with another life.”
“Exactly. After that, it was a matter of following him some more and then blackmailing him just for the fun of it.”
“He wanted to get back at him?” Erica guessed.
“Yes. Not only did Colin have the coveted spot in the harmony group, he also had three different lives with three different women. Apparently, Peter was also jealous of that.”
“If he was getting blackmail money why did he kill Colin? Or did Colin threaten to stop paying?”