“Anyway, Meadow told me that you were both home when I asked her,” said Colleen carelessly. “I just couldn’t help myself.”
Nor, guessed Beatrice, had she wanted to.
Wyatt handed her the coffee. “What is it that we can help you with?”
Colleen opened her notebook and said, “The wedding preparations, of course. But not just that. I heard from Meadow that you both had a very disturbing morning.”
Wyatt grew solemn. “It was.”
Colleen gave him a considering look. “I’m actually a friend of Gerald’s. I was terribly shocked to hear about his death. And Meadow seemed to think that it wasn’t an accident at all? That he was murdered?”
Beatrice said, “The police are definitely investigating his death.”
Colleen blew out a breath. “That is just so hard to believe. Why, I only saw Gerald recently. There I was, having a quiet morning at home in Lenoir, and all the while poor Gerald was lying dead in his office. What a horrible thing.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” said Wyatt kindly. “You said that you and Gerald were friends?”
Colleen opened her mouth as if to say something and then apparently had second thoughts and revised it. “We were. Like I say, I can’t believe it.” She paused. “Although I know Gerald and his daughter didn’t get along all that well.” Her eyes grew wide. “You don’t think that Joan could have anything to do with his death? I mean, they really didn’t get along. Gerald was always complaining about her. He said that she was always asking him for money for one thing or another.”
Wyatt said, “We don’t know anything else about it, I’m afraid. I’m sorry, I’ve got some business I need to attend to later. Was there something regarding the wedding plans that you wanted to go over?”
Beatrice hid a smile. Wyatt was able to finesse everything in a non-offensive way.
Colleen gave a simpering smile. “Yes. Dear Elena’s wedding. I want everything to be perfect!”
The only problem was that Colleen’s idea of perfect and the rules that the church had established for weddings were not aligned. Colleen wanted candles everywhere (and there was a maximum for those, per the fire code). Colleen wanted to attach bows to the pew ends with tacks. Colleen wanted aisle runners in the sanctuary, which were safety hazards for both young and old. Colleen wanted the flower girls to drop real flower petals instead of silk ones (which would stain the carpet).
Wyatt listened very carefully to everything that Colleen said. Then he said, “I can promise you that your daughter will have a beautiful wedding at our church.”
Beatrice added quickly, “All of the brides talk about the natural setting and the church’s history as adding so much to the ceremony.”
Colleen kept quiet, but her face was a little pinched as if she expected to hear some bad news coming her way regarding her careful plans.
“Unfortunately, church policy dictates that some of the added decorations you want for the service aren’t going to be possible,” said Wyatt in a polite, but firm voice.
This clearly didn’t sit very well with Colleen. “I’m sure that we can come to some sort of agreement,” she said smoothly. “Perhaps a sizable donation to one of the church’s favorite charities?”
Wyatt said, “That’s very generous of you, but it isn’t possible for the church to make exceptions for a single wedding.”
Colleen narrowed her eyes and seemed about to argue the point further. Instead, she bared her teeth at them in a smile and said, “I see. Well, we can talk more about this at a future date. I can promise you, this wedding will be very helpful for your church in terms of publicity. I’m inviting all kinds of really fabulous people and I know quite a few celebrities that are planning on attending. You’ll end up with great press and photographs. Anyway, as I said, we’ll talk about this again soon. Good to meet both of you.”
Once Colleen had left and Wyatt had politely closed the door behind her, he leaned back against it and gave Beatrice a look.
“I know,” she said with a chuckle. “That must have been completely exhausting for you.”
“Every single thing that she wanted to do was against church policy,” he said in wonder. “Every single thing. That must be a record.”
“You said the magic words, though: church policy. It’s not Wyatt Thompson’s policy. The church deacons and elders came up with these rules, and for good reason. Otherwise, the church would have either a fire on its hands or expensive cleanups,” said Beatrice.
“So you do think she was being unreasonable?” said Wyatt.
“Most definitely. But you were able to stand your ground and appear sympathetic at the same time. I don’t know how you did it.”
Wyatt walked over to drop onto the sofa. “Well, at least we won’t have to worry about that wedding now. I think we got it all straightened out between us in terms of expectations.”
Beatrice said, “I hate to say this, but she’s exactly the person you should worry about. She’s the kind of person who smiles and nods when you’re carefully explaining the rules and then goes off and does exactly what she wants to.”
Wyatt frowned. “You think she might show up on her daughter’s wedding day with candles, real flowers, and aisle runners?”
“I absolutely do. And then I’d expect her to blink and look completely innocent and say that it wasn’t explained to her,” said Beatrice.
“But I did send her out with a wedding guidelines document,” said Wyatt slowly.
“I’d follow back up soon with a digital version and tell her that there was a new church policy in place that families must sign the guidelines and send them back in. Then keep the document on record in case there’s any trouble,” said Beatrice.
Wyatt said, “That’s an excellent idea. I’ll follow up with her soon.”
Beatrice said, “What did you think about everything else that she said?”
Wyatt said, “She certainly seemed curious about Gerald’s death. And eager to implicate his daughter.”
“I think there’s a lot more to her friendship with Gerald than she let on. That’s what Salome was saying, too.” Beatrice stopped talking as there was a rap at the door. Noo-noo perked her ears up and trotted to the door. “Maybe that’s Len, here to save us from a destroyed kitchen.”
“Let’s hope,” said Wyatt heavily.
Wyatt opened the door to see a large, bearded man in overalls. The man bobbed his head in greeting and said, “Thanks for taking me on.” He reached down and scratched Noo-noo behind her ears.
Wyatt said, “Good to meet you, Len. Let me show you the project and we can talk about costs and how much time it might take.”
Len nodded and said, “If we can come to an agreement, I can start this afternoon because the materials I needed for another job haven’t arrived yet.”
Wyatt glanced over at Beatrice and she smiled. “I’ll take Noo-noo back over to the Patchwork Cottage. And this time I think I may take something to work on with me.”
A few minutes later, Beatrice was driving a grinning Noo-noo back over to the Patchwork Cottage.
Posy greeted her as soon as she came in through the door. “Beatrice! I’m glad that you came back. Does this mean that you’re actually getting some work done at home?”
Beatrice said, “We are. At least, it looks like we are, as long as Wyatt and Len agree on the terms of the work. At any rate, I think Noo-noo and I need a break from it all! Since everything went so well this morning, I figured that she and I could maybe spend a little time here? I know I need to get some quilting done.”
“Of course you can! And Maisie will be happy to have you here, too.”
Sure enough, as if on cue, Maisie the shop cat came trotting over to Noo-noo and bumped her head against Noo-noo’s.
Posy said, “It’s pretty quiet at the shop now, so you should be able to make some progress. Is this one of your projects for Piper?”
Beatrice sat down on the sofa in the shop’s sitting area. “I’m afraid
so,” she said wryly. “Although I’m definitely under a deadline at this point, obviously. It’s a diaper bag and it’s been a little trickier than I thought it would be. I’ve finished with the burp cloths, thankfully. And Meadow has made a slew of bibs and other things.”
Beatrice pulled the diaper bag out of the tote she was carrying and showed it to Posy.
“You’ve done a great job so far, even if you did think it was tricky. Have you gotten stuck with it or have you just run out of time?” asked Posy.
“Oh, it’s definitely a time issue, for sure. I did run into a couple of places where I wasn’t sure how to move forward with it, but Meadow gave me a few tips. At this point, I think it’s just a race against the clock,” said Beatrice.
The bell on the door rang and Posy walked toward the door to greet the customer. She paused as she saw that it was Joan Carpenter, Gerald’s daughter, looking pale and stressed.
Chapter Seven
POSY DIDN’T HESITATE at all, but quickly gave her a wordless hug. Joan gave her a tight squeeze back and then pulled away to swab her face with a tissue that she was already holding in her hand for such an eventuality.
Beatrice didn’t know Joan quite as well. Joan was a quilter in another guild, the Cut-Ups and had spotty attendance at church, where Beatrice would only have the chance to speak briefly with her. Posy knew her as a customer at the shop.
Posy said to Joan, “I’m just so sorry. Of course I heard the bad news this morning.”
Joan said, “Thanks. Dad was always such a huge presence in my life that it’s hard to believe he’s gone.” She paused. “I don’t think I can stand to be at home any longer, so I decided to come here and spend a little time. I was hoping to talk to Salome while I was here, too.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Salome has gone home for the day. Can I call her for you to see if she might be able to come back?” asked Posy.
Joan gave a quick shake of her head. “No, no. She’ll be spending time with that sweet daughter of hers and I don’t want to intrude on that. Will she be here tomorrow?”
“She sure would. From nine to two tomorrow, I think.”
Joan said, “Then I’ll try to catch up with her then. Is it all right if I sit here and quilt and chat for a bit? I think it will help me to calm down some. I brought one of my projects, just in case.”
“Absolutely! And you might know Beatrice Thompson? She’s here quilting and brought her corgi, Noo-noo. She’s very cuddly,” said Posy in a persuasive tone.
Noo-noo grinned at Joan and wagged her nubbin of a tail.
Joan smiled. “I think I could use a cuddly corgi right about now. You’ve convinced me. And I do know Beatrice.” She turned around to face the sitting area and raised her hand in greeting before heading in Beatrice’s direction. The bell on the door rang again and Posy was off to help a new quilter find supplies for her home.
Beatrice stood up in greeting as Joan approached. Joan quickly said, “Oh, please sit down, Beatrice. You’re in the middle of a project, I see.” She looked closer at what Beatrice was working on and said, “For Piper? It’s adorable. I love that you have Piper’s monogram on there and the multi-colored owls are precious. Piper must be so excited. Isn’t it getting very close to time for the baby to arrive?”
Beatrice sat back down and watched as Noo-noo plopped down on top of Joan’s feet as Joan sat across from Beatrice. Joan ran her hand through the soft fur around Noo-noo’s neck and seemed to relax a little.
“She is and Meadow and I are practically apoplectic, we’re so thrilled,” said Beatrice dryly. “I’m not sure how much Piper is going to even be able to hold her own baby in the first few days.” She paused and said, “Joan, I’m so terribly sorry about your father. It must have been such an awful shock.”
Joan’s face was hidden by her hair as she bent over to stroke Noo-noo around her ears. Then a few seconds later, she raised her head and said, “It was, it really was. But Mark said that he felt so much better with Wyatt there and that Wyatt had found Dad. It must have been a terrible morning for him, though.”
Beatrice nodded. “But he was glad to be there to help, however he could. He thought a lot of Gerald and Gerald was a big part of the church.”
Joan said, “Like I was telling Posy, I just never believed that anything could happen to Dad. He was always stalwart. So strong, so strong-minded. He seemed completely indestructible to me.” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” she added, her voice breaking.
“Oh goodness, don’t apologize! Of course you’re going to be upset. We can talk about other things.” She gave a rueful laugh. “I could talk about upcoming baby preparations until you’re ready to run away, believe me. Or there’s always my horrific tale of kitchen renovation, if we’re really desperate.”
She was pleased to see a small smile on Joan’s face. “Thanks, Beatrice. Honestly, I think it will help me to sort it all out in my head if I talk it over. Is that all right?”
“Absolutely. Or you know that Wyatt would love to speak with you, too.” Wyatt was trained to handle all of these tough conversations that Beatrice seemed to be having today.
But Joan shook her head. “Nope. Minister’s wife is close enough. Besides, we’ll be keeping Wyatt busy enough with the funeral plans. I think my problem with Dad’s death is guilt.”
Beatrice said, “Guilt is a hard one to handle, for sure.”
Joan looked relieved at this affirmation and quickly continued, “It’s true. And I’ll be honest . . . I haven’t historically had the best relationship with Dad. He’s always been so interested in the family business. I know he wanted me to be interested in it, but I just wasn’t. I couldn’t summon the enthusiasm that he thought I should have. I mean, I was proud of him for developing such a well-known and respected business. Of course I was. But it wasn’t what I wanted to spend my life doing.”
Beatrice was having a tough time remembering exactly what it was that Joan did.
Fortunately, Joan filled her in. “I’m a nurse. So being in the pimento cheese business wasn’t exactly what I wanted to choose to fulfill me, as you can imagine. Although I think the pimento cheese is very tasty!” The last was tacked on with a roll of her eyes.
“I’m sure your father didn’t want to force you into the family business,” said Beatrice. “Do you just feel badly about it because you know it’s what he wanted?”
“He was so disappointed. But I didn’t want my whole life to be sucked in by that company the way he was. Mark is different—he’s business-minded anyway and enjoyed being in an office, doing paperwork, and managing people. He’s much more like Dad. But I didn’t have warm fuzzy feelings for the family business. It took Dad away for my entire childhood. He was never there at the school play or field day or parent night at school.” Joan made a face.
“I’m so sorry,” said Beatrice. “That must have been very tough not having him around.”
“It was. I mean, my mother tried. But there was only so much that she could really keep up with at one time. She didn’t have any help with the house then. And she was trying to get us to our activities and cook meals and do laundry. She was run ragged.” Her lips tightened. “I know you’re relatively new to town and might not know how Mom died. Mark and I were teenagers. Mom was actually running an errand the night she died. She’d finally asked Dad to do one thing. And that was because I pleaded with her to give him something. She asked him to pick up a carton of milk on his way home from work.”
Beatrice winced. “And he forgot?”
“He did. Or simply didn’t care at all. He wasn’t the one who drank it or who put it in his cereal in the morning. By then, the weather had gotten pretty bad outside and Mom was never a wonderful driver. Anyway, she lost control on the mountain roads.” Joan’s voice broke again and she paused for a few moments. “I’m sorry. It’s been such a long time that you’d think I’d be over it by now.”
Beatrice leaned forward and squeezed her hand. “But you’ve had the kind of upsetting
day that would bring it all back to anyone.”
Joan smiled at her. “You’re right. Anyway, things have been weird at home since then. Dad still spent a ton of time at the office, so Mark and I basically raised ourselves. He did finally think about getting a housekeeper to help out at the house and Mark and I took turns cooking some basic meals. We got by.” She sighed. “And then Dad met Laura.”
Beatrice said, “I don’t really know her very well, I’m afraid.”
“Who does? She’s always been something of a mystery to me. I don’t think Laura is at all shaken up by my father’s death. They had very separate lives in many ways. She was always happy to go to events with him and be the eye candy on his arm, but the day-to-day life here in Dappled Hills didn’t seem to interest her very much. She never really made any friends here.” She paused again. “I think she was only with Dad because he gave her a very comfortable life. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she marries again, and quickly.”
Beatrice watched as Maisie walked over to curl up against Noo-noo. Noo-noo opened one eye and then shut it again. She felt as if Joan needed to talk herself out—she was happy to just be a sounding board and listen for a while.
But Joan quickly said, “Hey, I’m sorry, Beatrice. Here you are trying to relax for a while and work on your grandbaby’s diaper bag and I’m dumping all my troubles on you.”
“You’re not doing anything of the sort, Joan. I’m happy to listen to you—I can only imagine that your head must be spinning after the day you’ve had. If it helps you at all to tell me some of what’s going on, I’m very happy to be an ear. And I’ve worked myself up to the place where I can quilt as well as listen.” She laughed. “Although it did take a little while. Meadow could tell you stories about some of my first quilts.”
Joan said, “Thanks, Beatrice. You don’t know how much I appreciate it. And you’re absolutely right about my head spinning. I think I need to talk it all out. I don’t really have anything against Laura. It’s just that I don’t think she’s ever really cared to be a big part of this family. Plus, there was some extra tension because of the potential sale of the business.”
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