by R A Wallace
Megan had wondered the same thing. Still. “The police seemed pretty convinced when they arrested him.”
“What about the missing cow?” Lotta asked.
Megan frowned. She’d forgotten about the cow.
Chapter Sixteen
Dan leaned back in his chair and laughed with everyone else at the story Lotta had just told. Megan was right, they all had quite the sense of humor.
“I don’t think I can eat one more bite,” Nellie said as she turned to Megan. “It was a wonderful Sunday brunch, thank you.”
“It’s a wonderful ending to our weekend,” May agreed. “I can’t believe it’s over all ready.”
“I’m almost finished with my packing. I only have one or two more things to put away,” Nellie said.
Lotta stood up. “Oh, look at me.” She held up her hand with the linen napkin clutched in it.
“You’re stealing her linen now, are you?” May asked with a chuckle.
Nellie stood also. “Don’t laugh. It happens to some people.”
“True,” May agreed as she pushed herself to her feet. “My neighbor is that way. She wants to keep everything she touches. She can’t help it, of course. Her doctor says it’s a condition.”
Lotta patted the napkin on the table. “You’re all my witnesses.”
Nellie nodded as she followed Lotta from the room. “We’ll keep you honest.”
“I’ll carry your luggage to your car whenever you’re ready,” Dan reminded them. “Just leave it in your rooms and I’ll take care of it.”
“That would be lovely, thank you,” May said as she followed Nellie.
He listened to them continue talking as they worked their way up the stairs.
“I’ll help you with the dishes before I leave.” He kissed Megan on the forehead before picking up some plates to carry to the kitchen.
Megan followed him carrying more dishes.
“Once I have them in the kitchen, I can deal with them. I know you want to get to LeAnn’s.” She set the dishes down on the counter next to the sink.
“Not really, but I do need to do it.” He glanced at the clock. “As soon as the ladies get on the road, I’ll go.”
***
Dan rang the bell. His father answered the door.
“Dan! What brings you by today?” Todd Parker stepped back to let his son enter the house. “Your mom didn’t tell me you were coming. Kelly!” Todd called to his wife.
A woman in her mid-fifties with dark hair and blue eyes stepped out of the kitchen. She was drying her hands in a towel. She flipped it over her shoulder when she saw her son.
“Dan!” The look in her eyes changed from pleasure to concern. “Megan?”
“She’s okay.” Dan held up both hands. “This is about Gabe.”
“Oh.” Kelly nodded once. The look on her face was now one of acceptance. “We can sit in the living room.”
Dan followed his parents and sat down. “Have you heard from Gabe lately?”
Kelly looked over at her husband. He was an older version of her sons. Todd shook his head.
“We haven’t, no. As you know, that isn’t unusual. Why do you ask?”
“You know he’s coming back to Teaberry, right?” Dan asked.
Kelly made a face. “He’s told us that before. I guess we’re at the point where we’ll believe it when we see it.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Dan let out a sigh. “LeAnn seems to think he’s coming back this time.”
“What makes you say that?” Todd asked.
Dan grimaced. “She wants me to move his stuff out of her house.”
“What?” Kelly said. She covered her mouth with her hand.
Todd shook his head. “You can’t blame her.”
Kelly nodded slowly, her hand still over her mouth. Finally, she lowered her hand.
“Yeah, but she’s forcing Dan to be the bad guy,” Kelly pointed out.
“I don’t know,” Dan said simply. “I don’t know if it will be harder or easier for him this way.”
“Maybe we should let him do it the hard way,” Todd suggested. “Maybe he’d take more responsibility for his marriage that way.”
Dan lifted both hands. “What do you want me to do?”
Kelly waved her hand. “I think you should do what LeAnn asks. That girl has put up with a lot. Her husband hasn’t been around more than five minutes since they’ve been married and that was years ago. She’s stuck with him a lot longer than most women would.”
“She knew he was into racing when she married him,” Todd said. It was a weak argument, but Gabe was his son.
Kelly shot him a look.
Todd nodded his agreement. “I know. You’re right.”
“There’s no happy ending to this story,” Kelly said.
“Okay. So, it’s agreed. I’m going to LeAnn’s now and moving all of Gabe’s stuff out of her house.” Dan looked between his parents.
Kelly and Todd turned to each other. Dan could tell they were having some sort of conversation, even though neither one said a word. Finally, Todd nodded his agreement. Kelly turned back to Dan.
“I’m sorry you’re the one who has to deal with this,” Kelly said.
“Do you think Gabe even knows?” Todd asked as Dan stood.
“I can’t see how. As far as I know, LeAnn hasn’t told him yet.”
“She’s going to wait until he gets here?” Todd asked.
Dan shrugged. “It’s better than telling him on the phone when he’s hundreds of miles away.”
***
LeAnn’s house was small and had only a tiny patch of lawn. As Dan stood on the front porch waiting for her to answer the doorbell, he could see that the paint was peeling on the porch. Part of the railing looked like it had needed fixed for years. He felt guilty when he realized that he’d never checked on her.
It had been hard to remember that his brother was even married, really. LeAnn didn’t attend any of the family functions. Gabe hadn’t either, of course. He’d never been around when there was a family function. For the past several years, Gabe had followed his dream of working on the racing circuit. He moved from town to town on a regular basis, living in a small camper wherever he went. It wasn’t a life that Dan would ever want. He never understood why Gabe would want it either.
LeAnn looked sad when she saw Dan. She didn’t try to hug him or even offer a greeting. She just turned and led him through the small house.
“I packed everything up. I’m not saying it’s the best job ever, but it’s done.” LeAnn pointed to a stack of boxes.
It surprised Dan to see that there were precious few of them. Then it occurred to him. What could there be? His brother had never been around long enough to accumulate anything. He kept his tools with him in his camper. Other than some clothes that he hadn’t worn in years and maybe a few photos from when he was a kid, there wasn’t much else to prove that Gabe Parker had ever lived in the small house.
“LeAnn…” Dan began.
“No.” LeAnn held up both hands. “I don’t want to take the blame for this.”
“I wasn’t going to suggest that,” Dan said gently. “I was going to say, if you ever need to talk about this…”
LeAnn brushed away some moisture from her eyes. “It’s too late for talking.”
“Not if it helps you to heal from this,” Dan said.
LeAnn pushed the hair away from her face. “Your family probably hates me.”
Dan shook his head. “I just spoke with my parents. They wanted me to send their love and tell you that they’re sorry.”
LeAnn shook her head and more tears spilled over. “I’m not sure that makes it easier.”
“Yeah, I know. But I’m sorry too.” Dan pointed to the boxes with his chin. “That’s it?”
“Yeah.” LeAnn looked over at the boxes.
“Do you know when he’s coming back to town?” Dan asked.
LeAnn shook her head sadly. “Who knows with him?”
&nbs
p; “Yeah. I guess not.”
LeAnn took in a ragged breath. “Anyway, thanks for this.”
“You know how to get in touch with me if you need me. You know, if he does show up and you want some help, just call me. He might not take the news very well that his marriage is over.”
LeAnn nodded slowly. She was pretty sure he wouldn’t.
***
Ethan opened the back door and let Cooper into the house first. Cooper stopped on the floor rug by the door and waited patiently for Ethan to take off his coat and boots. Ethan then bent and wiped Cooper’s paws on the floor rug. Copper trotted off toward the kitchen and went straight for his bowls.
Ethan followed him into the kitchen but spun around as soon as he got there.
“You two need to warn me,” he said.
Casey laughed. “I was just kissing your mother. We’re married, we’re allowed to do that.”
“You have an impressionable teen in the house,” Ethan joked as he turned back around.
“You should be taking notes so that you know what two happily married people are supposed to look like,” Casey pointed out.
Marcy shook her head at their banter and returned to her work at the sink. She loved listening to the two of them.
Chapter Seventeen
Lauren pulled into her garage and pushed the button to close the garage door behind her. After grabbing her bag, she slipped out of the van and began taking out the trays she had used to transport her baked goods. It was a typical Monday morning event and it didn’t take her long to put everything away so it would be ready to go for the next time.
She let herself into the house, still carrying some of the things from the van. She stopped first in her work kitchen to leave everything there. That was when she realized that her husband’s car hadn’t been in the driveway. Frowning, she glanced at the baby monitor. Had he taken Grace somewhere? He hadn’t mentioned that he planned to do that.
Lauren looked around for a note or something. Finding none, she pulled her phone and checked for text messages. Again, she found nothing. Usually, if there was a change of plans, they let each other know. Growing even more concerned, she turned to leave the kitchen. That was when she heard the song. She stopped, wondering why it sounded so familiar.
She smiled as she looked at the baby monitor. She could hear Megan quietly singing a lullaby. She must be with Grace. Lauren left the kitchen and walked through the house. When she neared the baby’s room, she paused in the hallway and peeked inside. Megan was standing and holding Grace. As she sang the lullaby, she slowly swayed to the music.
Megan must have sensed her presence. She turned to look at her cousin. Lauren could see that Grace’s eyes were closed. Megan carefully placed Grace in the crib then stole quietly from the room. She followed her cousin down the hall.
“Where’s Justin?” Lauren asked when they reached Lauren’s work kitchen.
“He left after I got here. He said he needed to pick up some oil for your van.” Megan took the kettle from the stove and filled it with water before returning it to the stove.
“That’s right. He said something about that at breakfast. I didn’t realize he meant he was going to do it today.” Lauren went over to a cupboard and began pulling out ingredients.
Megan opened the tea tin and pulled out a bag.
“I saw LeAnn when I was driving through town. How is she doing?” Lauren placed the ingredients on the large island in the middle of the room.
Megan frowned. She and Dan hadn’t discussed what to say if anyone asked about Gabe and LeAnn.
Lauren noticed the silence. She stopped what she was doing and looked at Megan.
“Oh,” Lauren said.
“Oh, what?” Megan asked.
“Nothing.” Lauren busied herself with the mixing bowls.
“Well, there must be something.” Megan poured the hot water into a mug over the tea bag.
“I was surprised it lasted as long as it did,” Lauren said with a half shrug.
Megan turned around with the tea mug in her hands.
“Yeah, me too. I don’t think it’s common knowledge yet.”
“I won’t say anything, you know that.” Lauren began adding ingredients to a mixing bowl.
“It’s so sad.” Megan blew on her tea.
“You don’t think they can work it out?”
Megan shrugged. “With Gabe? Who knows what he’s going to do?”
“Hopefully, whatever it is, it’s the right thing.”
“I’m not really sure either one of them knows what that is yet.”
***
Giselle looked over at the police officer.
“Are you sure we’re doing the right thing?” she asked him again.
Ian thought about counting to ten.
“If you would rather let the thief, or thieves, continue to steal from you…” Ian began.
“No, no. I know we have to do something.” Giselle looked at the officer. He was handsome, if you liked the chiseled movie star look. She’d been surprised when he’d showed up at Togs with a plan to catch the thief in the act. She wouldn’t have thought one store would warrant so much attention from a police officer. She was glad that he was taking her problems seriously. She was. She was just feeling a little guilty about what they were planning.
“What if we’re wrong?” she asked.
“We won’t do anything if they aren’t stealing,” Ian said patiently.
“What if we can’t tell and we embarrass them or something?” Giselle wrung her hands together. She couldn’t help it.
“We’ll apologize.” Ian turned and looked at her. She really seemed concerned about her customers. Ian glanced at the clock. “It’s time. Are you sure you’re up for this?”
Giselle took a deep breath, then she nodded quickly. She watched as Ian moved into the back room of the shop. He had checked out the entire shop space and determined where she needed to stand in conjunction with where he was standing so that, between them, they were able to see everywhere in the shop.
She had asked him if she should go into the back room also. That way, a would-be thief would think they could take whatever they wanted. He had explained that the thief would probably avoid being within her range of site and would, instead, probably try taking something from the angle where he could see because they didn’t know he was back there.
Giselle had nodded numbly. Whatever he thought was best. She just wanted to get this all over with. She couldn’t afford to continue losing stock. She just didn’t want to have to confront whoever was taking it. When the bells on the front door rang, she nearly jumped. She forced herself to smile at the young girl who had entered.
“Let me know if you need any help,” Giselle called.
Julia nodded to acknowledge that she’d heard the older woman, then began to browse around the store.
Giselle fussed with some of the clothes on one of the racks for several minutes. She watched the girl from under her lashes as she worked. She was beginning to think that Ian’s idea wasn’t going to work when she heard a small noise from the girl. A silky top had slid from a hanger when the girl had lifted it up to look at it. The top was now on the floor in a pool of fabric.
The girl ducked down out of Giselle’s sight, ostensibly to retrieve the silky top. Giselle crossed the room quickly.
“I’ll take that,” Giselle said.
“Hey!” Julia said as her large purse was pulled from her grasp. “What are you doing? That’s my purse!”
“Are you sure something didn’t accidentally slip into it?” Giselle asked.
“What are you talking about?” Julia looked around the shop for help. There was no one else around. “I’m going to call the police if you don’t give that back.”
Giselle held up the purse. “Then you won’t mind if I look inside.”
“What? Why?” Julia demanded.
“Hold it, hang on.” Ian stepped from the back room.
Julia swung her head from one to t
he other in confusion.
“What are you doing? What is going on here?” Julia asked, her voice rising with each word. She began backing toward the door.
“Hold on,” Ian said loudly. “This is all just a big misunderstanding.”
Julia pointed to Giselle. “Arrest her. She stole my purse.”
“I did not steal it,” Giselle said. “You stole something from me.”
“That isn’t funny,” Julia said. She waved her arm around the store. “You couldn’t pay me to steal this stuff. All of your clothes are for old ladies. You hardly ever have anything in here that someone my age would want.”
Giselle realized that her mouth was hanging open with her surprise.
“Then why do you come in here?” Giselle sputtered.
Julia crossed her arms. “I keep hoping you’ll come to your senses.” She took a step back and looked at a rack of clothes. Grabbing a pair of slacks, she held it up.
“Look at this. No one my age is going to wear this waistline. I wouldn’t be caught dead in this fabric. And the color!” Julia made a face at the item in her hand. “This color hasn’t been in fashion since I’ve been alive.”
Giselle looked down at the purse in her hand. Her stomach dropped. She held the purse out for the girl to take.
Julia grabbed the bag, opened it, then thrust it back toward Giselle.
“Go ahead, look inside.” Julia said as she crossed her arms.
“Julia,” Ian said. “I’m really sorry about this.”
Giselle turned to Ian. “You know her?”
“She helped us catch a group of high school kids that were breaking into houses recently,” Ian explained. “I didn’t realize this was the high school student you thought was stealing from you.”
Giselle shook her head and handed the purse back to Julia.
“I am so sorry. It’s just that someone keeps taking things from my shop. I can’t afford to keep losing things like this.”
Julia glanced over at Ian. He gave her an apologetic smile.
“It’s okay.” Julia pulled her purse back onto her shoulder. “Like he said, it’s just a misunderstanding.”