As the women seized their purses, Lester expressed pleasure at the prospect of escorting three lovely ladies. Shelby smiled, realizing the older gentleman could easily fill a grandfatherly role in her life.
When Shelby exited the pew, Scott approached down the aisle. An adorable toddler girl with bows in her curly blonde hair snuggled in his arms.
He stopped in front of them, smiling. “Hey, I’m so glad you made it. Did you like the service?”
“Very much.”
Ruby patted Shelby’s back. “And now she’s accompanying us to Sunday school.”
“That’s great!” Scott’s gaze swept Shelby’s outfit with something that might be admiration.
Really? She smoothed a hand down her skirt. Judging from Scott’s normal work attire and hardcore DIY attitude, she’d figured he liked her best in jeans and a casual shirt. But today, in a tan blazer, button down, and slacks, Scott looked quite different himself. He’d even shaved and lightly gelled his hair, bringing her attention to the clean-cut line of his jaw. She cleared her throat and directed her focus to the little girl gazing shyly at her from the level of Scott’s shoulder.
“And who is this adorable person?”
Scott shifted the toddler forward and responded with pride lacing his tone. “This is my niece, Lexie.”
The girl aimed a stubby finger at herself and announced in a grave manner, “Alexis.”
“Yeah, Uncle Scott, get it right.” Ruby laughed, taking the child’s plump hand in her own and giving it a kiss. “And where are your mommy and daddy today?”
“Out there.” Alexis pointed to the foyer area. “Talking.”
Scott laughed. “I’m afraid this is Kaleigh’s social time. I left them out there because I didn’t want to miss seeing y’all.”
“Thanks for introducing us.” Shelby touched the child’s tights-clad leg.
Lexie ducked her head into Scott’s shoulder, mumbling so that Shelby leaned forward to make out her words. “You’re pretty. You have princess hair.”
Shelby laughed. “Why, thank you! You are too.”
Did she imagine that Scott turned a little ruddy? As he said goodbye and headed to what Shelby guessed must be his family’s normal spot, she suppressed disappointment that she wouldn’t get to meet the mother and stepfather of whom he spoke so highly, or Lexie’s parents.
In the busy intersection of hallways outside the Wentworths’ classroom, a fancy coffee kiosk with stacking flavor trays caught Shelby’s interest.
When Shelby’s steps slowed, Ruby looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Go ahead, honey. We’ll save your seat.”
While fixing her coffee, a strong sense of belonging made Shelby pause in amazement. She’d loved her old church. A Scripture popped into her mind. To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Confirmation for moving on?
A cultured Southern voice interrupted her musing. “Why, Shelby Dodson, what a surprise. Are you visiting with the Wentworths?”
Shelby turned, and her stomach sank. Looking like a senior model in a classic ivory pant suit that set off her swirl of salt-and-pepper hair, Julien Etier’s mother, Lauren, stood beside her, clasping a steaming cup of coffee.
“Mrs. Etier! Yes, I came with the Wentworths. I didn’t realize you attended church here.”
“Why, yes, although I go to the second service. Welcome.” Lauren reached out to squeeze Shelby’s arm. Despite the friendly appearance of the gesture, little warmth accompanied the woman’s smile.
“Thank you. I’m enjoying it.”
“I’m so glad. I found this church when my Alton passed. I know you’ll be able to lean on similar support here.”
Nodding, Shelby decided to give Julian’s mother the benefit of the doubt.
Lauren’s penciled brow arched upward. “Julian has kept me apprised of how hard things have been for you. Of all the things, for good people like the Wentworths to be saddled with a house with that unsettling history. Can they not get out of it?”
“They don’t want to.” Tilting her chin up, Shelby smiled. “Miss Ruby says we’ll renovate the place, pray over it, and dedicate it to God.”
“Well. That’s admirable for them, but for you … I’m just sorry about how people are talking. I hate to see you end your wonderful renovating career with a debacle.”
Lauren did not appear ruffled as churchgoers surged around them, hurrying now to get to the next service. Shelby, however, swallowed a hard knot of anxiety. “People are talking?”
The older woman waved a dismissive hand, still weighted down with a large diamond wedding band. “Oh, nothing malicious. They’re people who care for you, old clients who pop into Julian’s store. We all know difficulty with your career is the last thing you need after suffering the devastating loss of your husband.”
“I don’t know if we’re behaving any better than Tasha.” Shelby lagged behind Angelina as they made their way to the entrance of Magnolia Hills Senior Home in North Augusta, South Carolina, the next week.
“What are you talking about? We’re going to visit our childhood neighbor, Veda Smith, who set up tea parties on her porch for us when we were little and gave out the best Halloween candy in the neighborhood.”
“Whom we haven’t seen in almost a year.” The guilt of only showing up now, when they needed something, made Shelby want to sink into one of the sidewalk cracks.
“In our defense, a lot has happened in that year.” As Angelina led the way into the building through an automatic door, the slightly overpowering scent of disinfectants and air fresheners whooshed out. “If you happen to see Charles Barnes while we’re here, it will be a nice coincidence. He may not even be here.”
Shelby shook her head. “This is the biggest and best nursing home in the region, so there’s a good chance David referred to Magnolia Hills when he said he took his dad ‘over’ to the home.”
A round little woman parked her walker right in front of Angelina to admire her red curls.
“Yes, it’s natural,” Angelina said to assure the smiling senior. To her credit, she didn’t even attempt to escape the blue-veined hands that purled through her tresses.
“I’ll sign us in.” Shelby skirted around them before the lady decided she liked blondes.
Stepping over to the desk, she greeted the nurse on duty and picked up the pen by the register book. She entered Veda’s name and then hers and Angelina’s, scanning the page. No entries for Charles Barnes. As the nurse swiveled in her chair to answer the phone, Shelby flipped one page back. Halfway up the column, David Barnes had signed in to visit his father. Heart pounding, she righted the register and rejoined her sister.
She lowered her voice to a whisper when Angelina escaped her admirer. “He’s here.”
Her sister’s eyes widened. “Did you get a room number?”
“On the men’s wing, opposite Veda.”
Angelina squeezed her hand. “Maybe we’ll run into him in the common area. Shelby, I know you feel bad about snooping, but I see this as a way to get answers that might give you some peace about this case.”
“Thanks, Ang. You’re right, this mystery’s stolen my joy. But I’m afraid Scott won’t see it that way.”
As they made their way down the hall, Angelina regarded her with a hint of a smirk. “As I recall, you didn’t used to care what your employees thought about you.”
“Scott isn’t an employee. More like a partner.”
“That’s interesting. When the job started, I thought you said you were in charge.”
Their arrival at Veda’s room removed the possibility of retort as the tiny woman inside greeted them with immediate recognition and joy. Veda still smelled like lavender and vanilla and still possessed full mental faculties, making for a sweet, nostalgic visit recalling childhood antics and holiday traditions.
“How’s your mother?” Veda wanted to know. “I miss her coming to see me.”
“She moved to Columbia, remember, Miss Veda?” Shelby sat
forward, smiling.
“Yes, to be a baby nurse.”
“She loves it,” Angelina said.
“Oh, I’m glad. I was so concerned for her after the divorce.” Veda reached out to squeeze Angelina’s hand. “And for you.”
Angelina blinked back moisture. “You helped us a lot, Miss Veda. You always seemed to know when Mom wasn’t up to cooking and would come knocking on our door with another hot casserole.”
“Well, I did what I could, and looks like the good Lord kept you in His hand.” Veda smiled. “I’m glad you’re staying close to each other. There’s no friend like a sister. I sure do miss mine. Say, I have an idea! In memory of old times, why don’t we get some fresh air in the courtyard and order a tea tray? It’s not my good loose-leaf, flavored variety, but at least they’ll bring a body some English breakfast here when we have visitors.”
“We’d love that.” Glancing at Angelina as she positioned Veda’s walker, Shelby asked, “Miss Veda, do you know Charles Barnes?”
Taking a firm hold on the handles, Veda blinked her dark eyes. “Yes. Why?”
“He owned the house the couple I told you about bought. During the renovation, I found something of his wife’s.”
“Oh dear. I remember the stir when she disappeared. Folks here still talk about it when Charles isn’t around. What was it you found?”
Shelby hesitated. “A picture.”
They followed Veda down the hallway. “He doesn’t speak of her. Doesn’t speak much at all, in fact. He’s a very sad man. But if you want to talk to him, he always sits under the pergola this time of day when it’s nice out. We could invite him to tea.”
Seeming pleased with this mission of kindness, Veda forged across an atrium and out another set of sliding glass doors into a shaded courtyard. Shelby followed, weighed down by an increasing sense of dread.
Chapter Sixteen
Due to his strong likeness to his son, Shelby recognized Charles Barnes before Veda pointed him out. The older lady wheeled her walker in front of the man sitting motionless in a sun-slanted rocker, his lap covered with an afghan. A yellow leaf rested on the afghan, which Veda bent down and snatched off.
“Charles Barnes, these girls are my old neighbors. Shelby is helping update the house you sold to that retired couple. She wants to talk to you.”
Immediate fear lit the balding man’s eyes as they shifted to Shelby. “I don’t want to talk.”
“It’s all right, Charles. Shelby’s brought you something.” As Veda settled into the chair next to Charles, Shelby cringed, thinking of what the photograph revealed. Veda waved at a passing nurse. “Can we get a tea tray for four, please? With some of those little sugar cookies?”
The woman bent to take Veda’s hand, her coffee-colored skin glowing against Veda’s paper-white fingers. She whispered back with an exaggerated wink. “Miss Veda, for you, I can make it happen.”
“You’re the best nurse here, JoJo.”
Shelby smiled at Charles. His barrel-chested frame seemed to cave into frailty, shoulders hunched under a thin, brown sweater. Age spots colored his hands and neck, while droopy skin under his eyes exaggerated an appearance of perpetual fatigue. As he stared at her with distrust, he appeared more victim than perpetrator. Just as David described.
Attempting to break the awkwardness, Shelby leaned forward. “I love your house. It has such beautiful historical features. I hope what we do with it would make your father proud.”
“What do you want?”
She didn’t blame him for being guarded. Shelby took a deep breath. “I want to lay to rest all the suspicions about you. It’s ridiculous that people can’t let your wife’s disappearance go, but until the truth comes out, I’m afraid they won’t.”
“That’s because the police didn’t do their job.” Charles shook his gnarled index finger at her. “They were so focused on me they didn’t look anywhere else.”
“You think someone took her?” Angelina asked.
As Charles turned to her, he squeezed both eyes shut in a brief but telling tic. “What else could have happened? She wouldn’t leave with nothing, and she wouldn’t leave me. Where would she go? And she knew I loved her, even though I didn’t approve of her job.”
“You didn’t want her to work?” Angelina settled onto a nearby wroughtiron chair.
He continued without looking at Angelina as if by staring straight ahead he hoped they’d all go away. “Not the fact that she was working, but that she would do anything for that boss of hers. He called her day and night. Even when she should have been with her family. A woman’s place is with her family.”
“The man should have respected proper boundaries.” Veda reached out to pat his arm. Her gentle spirit seemed to calm him.
Shelby fished in her purse, producing the Polaroid. “I don’t want to unsettle you, but this is what I found. I believe this is Sharon, but do you recognize the man?”
Charles took the picture with trembling hands. “Yes, that’s my Sharon.” He tapped the likeness of the dark-haired man with an emphatic, yellowed nail, his face twisting in another tic. “And that’s him!”
“Who?”
“Sharon’s boss, Jeff Wilson. I’ve never seen this photo before. Where did you find this?”
“Behind the baseboard in the back bedroom. Do you think Sharon’s boss could have had something to do with her disappearance?”
“The police questioned him and searched Sharon’s desk at work, but they should’ve put half the pressure to him they did to me. She thought I was controlling, but he was so sly, she didn’t even realize how he manipulated her. I saw through that snake.”
Angelina ventured a guess. “Could Sharon have run away with him?”
“No.” Shaking his head, Charles lowered the picture to his lap. “Wilson didn’t leave the area. At least not for another two years. He finally moved back to where his family came from—definitely not around here. Somewhere up north, I think.”
“What kind of work did he do?” Shelby asked.
“He owned an accounting firm. Thought he was better than a used car salesman. Bah. He had something over her. This false charm. I tried to tell her she needed to quit. I know now that pressuring her made things worse. That’s why I feel like in a way, whatever happened to her was my fault.”
Even though she didn’t want to ask her next question, something told Shelby she had to. “She never talked about leaving you, Mr. Barnes?”
Charles sat back and shook his head. The firmness in his answer left no room for argument, providing a glimpse of the old, authoritative husband. “No. We didn’t believe in divorce. We would have worked it out.”
“Could it be possible,” Angelina asked, “that Jeff wanted Sharon for himself and that led to trouble of some sort?”
“That’s what I asked the police forty years ago. They said I was trying to shift suspicion.”
“Then do you want me to take this to them as evidence now? It might cause them to reconsider.” Shelby pointed to the photograph lying face-down on the afghan.
“No!” The force of Charles Barnes’ exclamation made them all—including two gentlemen playing checkers nearby—jump. “I already told you what incompetent fools they were.”
“But it would be a whole different staff now.” When Angelina looked up after speaking, Shelby followed her gaze. Pushing a cart with their afternoon tea, the nurse, JoJo, had paused just on the other side of the door to speak to another employee. They’d better hurry and come to some sort of understanding with Mr. Barnes.
Charles shook his head. “They’d just put it in the file with everything else.”
“Should I … share this with David?” Shelby hesitated. “I don’t want to upset him.”
“Well, you will. I can’t talk to David about Sharon. Anything to do with his mother still makes him angry. It was terrible on the boy, her leaving that way. Whatever happened after she left, she chose to walk out alone, upset, unprotected, late at night. She still made a
stupid choice and left us.”
Stirred by sympathy, Veda reached out to pat his arm. “Now, Charles, you don’t know—”
“No.” Charles turned to fix Shelby with watery eyes. “If anyone’s going to find out what happened to her, it would have to be you.”
Finally, a few days later, she impressed Scott Matthews. He admitted he had no idea how Shelby maintained a vision for each room of the Wentworth bungalow in the midst of the clutter around them. Shelby’s favorite antique mall on Broad boasted over a hundred vendor booths on two floors of an old department store with pressed tin ceilings, a skylight, an elevator shaft complete with old ropes, and the still-functioning 1906 cash register.
So far, she’d picked out a black antique fan for Lester’s den, a couple of Oriental vases, two large copper lanterns, a Tiffany lamp, and three tall island chairs with torn upholstery. And now she jumped up and down in front of a hideous yellow dresser, causing the uneven wooden boards beneath her feet to screech in protest.
Scott covered his face. “I’m afraid you’re going to fall through the floor.”
“But do you like it? Of course, you have to picture it the same gray as the kitchen island.”
“You’re wanting bowl-style sinks?” “Yes, in white.”
Scott shifted, tilting his head in consideration, and nodded. “Yeah, against the white beadboard and the tile we picked, I think that will look great.”
Shelby clasped her hands together. “Yea! Let’s get it out of here.”
Scott quirked his brow at her but smiled in an amused manner as if he was enjoying her joyful mood. Seeing a new side of her as she worked in her element.
Little did he realize, part of her enthusiasm stemmed from how attentive he was being, despite the fact that he’d openly admitted antique shopping was not his thing. Just as he had on the scout-out at Julian Etier’s, Scott made it clear that he prioritized helping her above his own personal preferences. He’d been so helpful, she was getting the shopping done faster than expected. She was also having a lot more fun doing it than she had in the past.
Fall Flip Page 13