Coup de Glace

by P. D. Workman

  Terry studied her. “What did you think I was talking about?”

  “Nothing. I just didn’t connect that you were talking about the freezer.”

  “What else would I be talking about?” His eyes narrowed as he thought about it. “Don’t tell me you’ve gotten yourself mixed up in another investigation!”

  “Well… no… not really. I mean, I don’t know that it was a murder. No one is sure what happened. It’s probably nothing at all. It’s not like I can go back and interview people from twenty years ago.”

  “Bella’s grandmother? I thought you told her no.”

  “I did, at first, but then… I came across it in Clementine’s journal. I was curious when Bella had just been talking about her…”

  “Your Aunt Clementine must have been just as big a busybody as you are! What did she write in her journal?”

  “I haven’t read all of it yet. I might have to pull out the next volume or two, depending on how long things went on before everyone forgot about it.”

  “You really should just mind your own business.”

  “I wasn’t reading the journal because of Bella’s grandma, I was reading it to see what Clementine had to say about my parents and about me. Family history.”

  “You should just leave it alone.”

  “Bella wants me to look into it. It isn’t like I’m digging around in something that’s going to upset people.” Erin remembered Bella’s concern about her mother not knowing anything about Reg going to the barn to talk to Grandma’s ghost and felt a twinge of guilt. Bella wanted Erin to investigate, but Erin had a feeling Bella’s mom wouldn’t want her to have anything to do with it.

  “Erin, no good can come of poking around in old murders. I thought you would have figured that out by now.”

  “We don’t even know it’s murder; she just disappeared. She might have left town. Maybe she had a fight with her husband. Maybe she’s living the good life in California. It could give the family closure.”

  His brows drew down. “You know she’s not living in California. She would have had some kind of communication with her family by now.”

  Erin hesitated. “Clementine’s journal did kind of assume that she was dead. Either she had passed naturally, or her husband had had something to do with it. But there wasn’t enough evidence for the sheriff to get in and have a look around.”

  “And you think there will be now, twenty years later?”

  “No. We’re not looking for the police to go in there and tear everything apart. I don’t know. I’ll talk to Bella. Maybe talk to some people who were around at the time and might know something about what was going on between Grandma and Grandpa. Talk to Bella’s mom, if she’ll see me. And probably… I won’t find anything. Maybe there’s nothing to find. But Bella did ask me for help. She’s old enough to make her own decision.”

  “Is she paying you?”

  “No, this is just a favor. Doing something for a friend. I don’t want anything for it. I’m not a private investigator. I’m just going to have a look. That’s all.”

  K9 was finished his water and his biscuit and sat on his haunches, watching them. Terry signaled K9 to go with him. “I really wish you wouldn’t, Erin. I don’t think you should be poking your nose into this.”

  “Don’t look now,” Vic said, watching a couple of figures approaching the door. “This looks like trouble.”

  Erin looked to see who it was. Melissa stepped in the door, her dark curls bouncing around her face, smile bright and cheerful. She was followed close behind by Charley.

  Charley had the same petite build and pleasant, small facial features as Erin. She had the same dark brown hair and her eyes were the same shape and slant. Beyond that, they could have been strangers. Charley didn’t carry herself the same way as Erin, she didn’t talk the same way or have the same mannerisms. They weren’t cookie cutter copies of each other. Just enough features to be familiar to each other.

  Erin had longed for a blood sister when she was a little girl. Maybe she had known that her mother was expecting when she’d had her accident, or maybe it was just a natural fantasy for a lonely child shuttled from one family to another. It was normal for her to want someone like her, someone she had a bond with. Something to anchor her.

  But Charley was trouble. She walked in with Melissa, looking like normal and natural friends, maybe a mother-daughter pair, considering the difference in their ages. There was nothing to suggest that Charley had been in an organized crime syndicate. Where Erin had stayed soft, raw from her experiences, Charley had been hardened. She had, as far as Erin could tell, been raised by loving, doting, law-abiding parents, but had rebelled and gone badly off the rails.

  Having been kicked out by the Dyson clan after the murder of their heir apparent and their discovery that Charley was blood related to the Jackson clan, Charley had lost her place and position in the Tennessee underworld and was suddenly on her own with no real prospects, except for her half share in The Bake Shoppe, inherited from Trenton Plaint, her brother. She was determined to turn that into a successful venture. Preferably by taking over Davis Plaint’s half share as well.

  The friendship with Melissa was something new, but it was obvious that they were together and hadn’t just shown up at Auntie Clem’s at the same time. Erin agreed with Vic that it likely meant trouble.

  Pushing all negative thoughts aside, Erin gave the two of them a welcoming smile. “Melissa, Charley! Good to see you again. What can we help you with today?”

  “Melissa has been telling me all about her job with the police department,” Charley commented. “She’s been telling me all about the interesting cases that they’ve been handling over the last year or so. So many interesting twists and turns!”

  Melissa liked to make it sound like she was a police officer herself. In fact, she just helped part time with some of the administrative tasks Clara Jones couldn’t keep up with or didn’t want to do. Filing, transcription, photocopying. A police department ran on paper. Unfortunately, Erin had been involved in several of those interesting cases over the past year. She didn’t exactly want Charley to know all of the details or to think that Erin was some kind of criminal herself.

  “Yes, it’s been an interesting time in Bald Eagle Falls,” Erin agreed, keeping the smile pasted to her face. “I already told you about most of that…”

  “I think you might have left a few things out,” Charley returned. She had the look of a mean cheerleader saying something nasty while pretending to be the all-American girl.

  Erin looked at the display case. “We’ve got fresh brownies,” she told Melissa. “I know you’re always partial to the ones with white chocolate chips.”

  “Oh, the dominos,” Melissa said, zooming in to look at them. “Have you seen these, Charley? They’re so good, and they look so classy! Like brownies, that got all dressed up.”

  Erin nodded, smiling.

  Charley looked at Erin for a moment longer, and then joined Melissa in looking over the day’s baking and deciding what they wanted. They didn’t seem to be there for any take-home baking, just a treat to eat while they visited. Erin rang up their purchases, exchanging a dubious look with Vic. Just what was Charley up to now? She wasn’t the type to hang out with a more mature woman just for kicks. She might go out for margaritas with her pals back in Moose River, but hanging out with Melissa was something different.

  After making their purchases, Melissa and Charley sat down at one of the little tables at the front of the shop to eat and gossip. They weren’t loud enough for Erin to make out much of the conversation, but they seemed very chummy and comfortable with each other.

  Chapter Nine

  W

  hen Bella was next covering an afternoon shift, Erin made use of the quieter time between customers to get Bella talking about her family.

  “I don’t know your mom at all, just to wave and say ‘hi’ to. What’s she like?”

  “I don’t know. She’s pretty strict, I guess
. But we get along okay. I know teenage girls and their moms usually have a lot of tensions and arguments, but that’s never been us.”

  “I don’t get the feeling that you’re particularly rebellious.”

  Bella grinned. “No. I’m home with her most nights, not out with friends drinking or tipping cows. I have to push sometimes to get her to trust me to handle myself, but I can usually get through to her.”

  “And no dad in the picture?”

  “No. She’s never said much about my biological father. She said it was a mistake, that they were never really together. I don’t know if that means he was a one night stand, but I kind of get that feeling.”

  “There are so many kids being raised by single parents, it’s not really such a big deal anymore, is it?”

  “No. I think if you’ve got one good parent, you’re in pretty good shape. It’s the people who don’t have anyone they can rely on that I feel sorry for.”

  “Yeah.” Erin nodded, thinking back to the long list of foster parents she had lived with. Some better, some worse, but no one permanent. No one who would be there for her once she turned eighteen.

  “Sorry,” Bella said. “I didn’t mean you. I just meant… people.”

  Erin gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s okay. Things could have been worse.”

  “So… yeah. Mom’s okay. She can be hard-nosed about things, but she’s just trying to protect me.”

  Erin nodded. “And you don’t remember your grandparents at all?”

  “No. Grandma was gone before I was born. I guess Grandpa died when I was still a baby. Maybe a year old? I have a picture of him holding me, but I don’t actually remember him.”

  “What did he die of?”

  “Just old age, I guess.” Bella gave a shrug.

  Erin frowned, thinking about it. “Old age? How old is your mom?”

  “Uh… not quite fifty.”

  “Then your grandparents, if they were thirty-something when your mom was born, would be eighty now. But they died when you were a baby; they would have been in their sixties. People don’t die of old age in their sixties. Not in this century.”

  “Oh.” Bella thought about that while she moved baked goods around in the display case to fill the empty spaces. “Well, I always thought of them as old. The picture of my grandpa holding me, he looks ancient.”

  “Your mom never said what he died from?”

  “I don’t think so. It’s not exactly something that comes up in conversation.”

  “Maybe you could ask her about it. Say your doctor wants to know your family history.”

  “Yeah, maybe. But Doc has been around here longer than I have. He’s probably the one who declared Grandpa dead, if they actually do that in real life.”

  “Maybe develop an interest in family history? I could show you some of the books my Aunt Clementine pulled together. Naomi at The Book Nook has some genealogy starter sets. You start putting in the names, dates of birth and death, start prompting your mom to tell you what she remembers about them, so you can record it for posterity…”

  “I could do that,” Bella agreed, brightening. “That would actually be pretty cool. I’d like to have some kind of record. With it just being me and Mom at the farm, I feel sometimes like I don’t have any other family. But I know our family has been in Bald Eagle Falls for a long time. I think the farm has been in the family since before the Civil War.”

  “That’s quite a history. Looking through all of the records that Clementine kept has made me view myself and my family differently. I never had any family before I came here, and now… I can look through those books and see generations and generations.”

  “Maybe you even have some Prosts in your line!”

  Erin grinned. “I wouldn’t doubt it. You and I could be fifth cousins.”

  “That would be so cool. I’d love to be related to you.”

  The bells over the door jangled, and Erin looked over to see Mary Lou coming in.

  Mary Lou had always been prim and pressed and presentable. Everything she wore looked like it had been tailored just for her. When Roger’s behavior had grown more erratic, Erin had seen Mary Lou looking tired and worn for the first time. Her clothes had not been as neat and carefully presented and Mary Lou had been flustered and irritable.

  Now that Roger was under state care so she could get a good night’s sleep again and didn’t have to be worrying about what he was doing all the time, Mary Lou once more looked calm and collected; but Erin felt that something about her had changed. It wasn’t obvious. Maybe a little more gray in her roots or deeper wrinkles around her mouth. Or maybe it was just the way she held herself, a little more tentative, eyes a little lost or sad.

  “Hi, Mary Lou,” Erin greeted, putting as much genuine warmth into her voice as she could. She wanted Mary Lou to know that she harbored no bad feelings toward her or Roger. What had happened hadn’t been Mary Lou’s fault; it hadn’t really even been Roger’s. It was Joelle’s meddling and threats that had triggered Roger’s reaction. He would have done just fine living a peaceful life and making the Jam Lady jams and would not have been a threat to any of them if she hadn’t gone messing around and making threats. “How are you today? How are your boys?”

  “We’re all doing better than could be expected,” Mary Lou assured her. Her return smile wavered only slightly. “Everything is just fine.”

  “I’m glad. What can I help you with today? Something for supper, or a treat for your menfolk?”

  Mary Lou gazed at the display case. “I should do both. Some of that harvest loaf for lunchboxes. A couple of pizza shells. Maybe some dinner buns? Just plain white?”

  Bella went to work packaging it all for Mary Lou.

  “And something sweet?” Erin suggested.

  Mary Lou let out a breath, her eyes glistening. She stared into the display as if she were facing the most important decision of her life and wasn’t quite ready for it. “Erin…”

  Erin hurried around the end of the counter to join Mary Lou on the other side. She grasped Mary Lou’s arm and gave it a squeeze. “There… it’s okay. Everything is going to be fine.” She hugged Mary Lou around the shoulders, pulling her close.

  “Oh, this is silly.” A couple of tears raced down Mary Lou’s cheeks, and she rummaged in her handbag for a tissue. “Why can’t I make a simple decision?” She found a tissue and dabbed delicately at her eyes, trying not to smear her makeup. “I just feel like… I can’t possibly be expected to make one more decision.”

  “No. No, you shouldn’t have to. It can’t be easy for you, having to take responsibility for everybody else. How can I help you? Do you want me to just put together a variety box? You know those boys will eat anything, they’re not picky about it.”

  Mary Lou sniffled. She nodded and wiped her nose. “Yes, of course. That would be just fine. Only make sure you put two of each thing—” Mary Lou cut herself off. She frowned and shook her head. “No, don’t. The boys are old enough that they can work it out between them who gets what. I don’t have to make sure they both have exactly the same thing, do I? That’s just silly. What a mother hen I am.”

  “You’re just trying to take care of them and raise them right. You want to be fair to them. They know that.”

  “Life isn’t fair. Maybe that’s why I felt like it was so important. Maybe I was trying to make up for life not being fair, us losing everything like we did. But you know what? They’re stronger than that. They can certainly navigate through the treacherous waters of choosing their own desserts.”

  Erin nodded and gave Mary Lou’s shoulders another squeeze. She wasn’t sure how long she should stay there and comfort Mary Lou, or if she should go back around the counter and package up the treats for the boys. Mary Lou patted Erin’s hand.

  “You’re so sweet, Erin. It must be all the sugar you use. I’m okay now. I don’t want to hold you up.”

  Erin nodded and let go of Mary Lou. She went back around the counter to put together a
box of cookies and desserts for Mary Lou’s teenagers. “They sure are getting big,” she told Mary Lou. “Every time I see them, I marvel at how grown up they look.”

  Mary Lou nodded. “Oh, yes. They’re a big help to me. A comfort to have them around. There are some days when I just can’t do anything. I get home from work, and I just want to crawl into bed and pull the blanket up over my head. I freeze up and I just can’t function. But they’re always there, to help take over and look after their poor mother.”

  Erin counted out the items in the box.

  “Go ahead and make it a baker’s dozen,” Mary Lou said. “Let them figure out what to do with the last one.” Then she hesitated, reconsidering. “Oh, maybe not, maybe just twelve.” Then her resolution hardened. “Thirteen. They can figure out whether to share the last one, or negotiate, or just toss it in the garbage. They’re almost grown men.”

  Erin smiled and put the last cookie into the box. “Thirteen, there you go,” she announced, before Mary Lou could change her mind again.

  Bella looked shyly at Mary Lou. “I’ve always liked Josh and Campbell,” she offered. “They’re nice boys, always smiling and friendly. Lots of boys…” Bella looked down at her generous figure, “lots of them can be real jerks. But Campbell and Josh have never been that way. You’d be proud of them.”

  Mary Lou gave Bella a grateful smile. “Thank you! It’s always good to know that they’re behaving properly when they’re not under mother’s watchful eye. You never know what kids are going to behave like when they’re not being supervised. You hope they’ll do you proud, but you can never be sure!”

  Bella blushed slightly. “My mom probably thinks the same thing. But I try to behave like she would want me to.” She looked over at Erin, maybe thinking about trying to find out what had happened to her grandmother when her mother so clearly did not want her to. “Mostly, anyway. I try. I wouldn’t want her to be ashamed of me.”

  “I’ve never seen you do anything that should embarrass your mother,” Mary Lou assured her. “I’ve always thought you were a responsible, mature girl.”