Teaberry for Two

by R A Wallace

  “I’ll leave you two to figure things out on your own,” Susan said as she continued to check out the kitchen. “Add paper towels to the list.”

  Ross nodded as he wrote. “I was surprised that Jax hadn’t mentioned his situation in Seattle.”

  “With the complaint from that woman?” Susan asked as she turned to Ross. “I was too. What else can you tell me about that?”

  Ross looked up from his shopping list and thought about it. “The company received a call from a potential client. She stated that she had initially contacted the company about some of our services. She got a return call from someone claiming to be Jackson. She stated that he used inappropriate language and made inappropriate suggestions.”

  Susan didn’t believe that sounded like her son. “Did the company believe her?”

  Ross nodded once. “At first. The person who took the complaint passed it along to someone above me. They, in turn, passed it to me directly since Jackson, er Jax, worked in my office below me in the chain of command.”

  “Did you speak with the woman?” Susan leaned against the kitchen counter as she waited for his response.

  “I did. She couldn’t give me a physical description of the person since she’d never met him. But based on the conversation she related to me, I didn’t believe she’d been conversing with Jax,” Ross said. “It just didn’t sound like him.”

  “Who then?”

  Ross had wondered the same thing many times. “I have no idea. The fact is, she refused to file any charges and didn’t want to actually move forward with her complaint. She said she just thought she should give the upper management a heads-up that they have a problem.”

  “She didn’t want to pursue it? And the company was happy about that?” Susan guessed.

  “Exactly. Everyone was happy to have it dropped. Jax told me of his plans to move back home not long after. He said he had been thinking about it for a long time. This just reinforced his decision.” Ross had been saddened to hear of that decision at first. It had prompted a reevaluation of his own plans for the future and his move to Teaberry. He was thinking now that it might have been the best decision he’d made in a long time.

  “You don’t think he was concerned about the blowback from the situation in terms of his career?” Susan asked.

  Ross shook his head. “That situation wasn’t known throughout the company. Other than the very few people initially involved, no one else ever knew. Nor did they ever have to.” Ross had made sure that the story had been contained as much as possible.

  Susan was about to ask another question when they heard a lot of noise in front of the house. “That will be the furniture.”

  Ross glanced at the time on his phone. “They’re early. Good thing we stayed or we would have missed them. This works out well though. We should still have time to do some shopping and be back for lunch.”

  ***

  Susan and Ross looked around the house at the end of the morning. The furniture was in place. The new sheets they’d bought during their shopping trip were in the washer. And Susan and Ross were hungry. The two turned toward each other.

  “I can’t thank you enough,” Ross said. “I never would have accomplished that on my own.” He looked down as his stomach growled.

  Susan laughed. “Mine is rumbling too. We can drag out some of the stuff we just bought and throw something together.”

  “Maybe we could order out?” Ross suggested just as the doorbell rang. He looked at Susan and raised his eyebrows. Susan shrugged.

  They found Bev and Vince at the door with takeout from the Station Pub & Grill. “We thought you would be hungry,” Bev said on the doorstep. She was holding a tray of drinks in to-go cups. Vince was holding the bags of food.

  “You two have perfect timing,” Ross said as he led them to the kitchen. Susan’s friends were fast becoming Ross’s friends too. They broke out the new dinnerware and dug into the bags. Yes, moving to Teaberry had been a very good idea.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Megan made it to the building on Main Street Monday afternoon just as others had begun gathering for the announcement. She made it a point to speak with some of the other tenants in the building. They were polite, but Megan got the impression that they had no idea why Phil was killed either. She had just finished speaking with the last person when she saw Ross enter the studio.

  “Megan. I wanted to thank you for having me as a guest this past weekend,” Ross said in greeting.

  “Are you getting settled in your new place?” Megan asked.

  Ross chuckled. “With a lot of help. I never would have been able to do it on my own. Are you here to take pictures for the web site you work on? Or are you sleuthing?” Susan had explained Megan’s past history with solving puzzles and Susan’s request for Megan’s help with the situation Ross now found himself in.

  “A little of both,” Megan acknowledged. “I do need to get some pictures of the new owner when the winning bid is announced.”

  “I’ve looked at some of your work,” Ross said. “I might want to tap you in the near future for another project.”

  “Let me know when you’re ready,” Megan said as she watched more people come into the studio.

  She knew the mayor would be making the announcement for the winning bidder, so she wasn’t surprised to see Barbara Reynolds. She also saw others that she didn’t know but recognized from when they’d placed their bids. Joseph Dayton was in one corner of the room. Megan recognized him as a local but understood that he had also placed a bid.

  “Tell me about your sleuthing. Do you think someone here may be able to help?” Ross asked as he looked across at the gathering of people.

  Megan explained that mysteries were like puzzles to her. She might not understand the whole puzzle at first, but she was sure that once she had more pieces to the puzzle it would start to make sense. Sometimes people had information and they didn’t even realize it or didn’t understand that it was pertinent. The tiny piece of information they held explained part of the larger puzzle.

  “I just need to figure out how to get all of those tiny pieces of information,” Megan finished.

  “And you think someone here may hold some of those puzzle pieces,” Ross said almost to himself as he looked around the room. He saw the mayor in one corner. She was speaking to a group of people. Some of them looked a little irate. Perhaps those are the ones who wanted stipulations placed on the sale of the building. He saw the other bidders scattered around the room. There were some he knew were renters of the other units within the building, and then additional people he didn’t recognize at all. Ross glanced at the time on his phone then looked up to see Stan enter the room. It was time to learn who the new owner of the building will be.

  Stan crossed over to Barbara and the two moved away from the others and spoke privately for a moment. Then Barbara, who already held all eyes, moved to the center of the room. Megan shifted position and began taking pictures.

  “Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for coming. I won’t take up your time, I know you have things to do. Stan has just relayed to me the decision of the sale made by the committee at the bank who currently holds the deed. They wanted me to thank all of the bidders on their behalf. The winning bidder and new owner of the building is Mr. Ross McMann.” Barbara turned to Ross.

  “Congratulations, Mr. McMann. And, again, thank you all for coming.” Barbara walked to each of the losing bidders and shook their hand thanking them for their interest in the town of Teaberry.

  Stan walked over to Ross and held out his hand first to shake with Ross and then to pass a business card to him. “Congratulations. Here is the contact information. They’d like to speak with you as soon as possible.”

  “Thanks,” Ross said tucking the card into his pocket as the mayor approached.

  “Congratulations,” Barbara said as she shook hands with Ross.

  They both turned toward Megan for the photo with Stan slightly behind the mayor. Once Megan che
cked the image on her camera and gave a thumbs-up, the mayor’s smile became less formal and more genuine.

  “Let me know if you have any questions about Teaberry, the zoning laws, or the town business council which I hope you’ll consider joining,” Barbara said.

  “I will do that, thank you,” Ross said before excusing himself. He wanted to speak to some of the others in the room before they left.

  Megan moved over to Barbara and Stan. “Well, it was a little delayed but there is a new owner of the building,” Stan said. “I won’t lie. I’m relieved that my part in it is over. I really didn’t enjoy being sandwiched between the townspeople who wanted stipulations and the bank.”

  “I know that you spoke with the police about Phil’s death. I didn’t know him all that well. Is there anything you can tell me about him?” Megan asked Stan.

  Stan shook his head. “He spoke to me about the group he’d been talking to.” Stan motioned to the group on the other side of the room with his head.

  Megan forced herself not to look at Teresa Wilton and the others. “What did Phil say?”

  “I got the impression that it was just a way for them to get attention. If it hadn’t been this, it would have been something else,” Stan said.

  “I tend to agree,” Barbara murmured.

  “They weren’t really interested in placing stipulations?” Megan asked.

  “Those laws are already in place across the board. It simply isn’t feasible to restrict only one building out of many,” Barbara explained. “Though, I must say that I believe Ken DeVille, and perhaps others, were genuinely concerned about the safety of the community given the history of the past owner. But that’s why we have a police force.”

  Megan nodded in agreement. She needed to touch base with Erica and let her know that she hadn’t learned much. “You can’t think of any reason anyone might have killed Phil Porter?” Megan asked Stan.

  Stan looked across the room at the other bidders. Ross had been speaking with each of them. Stan was impressed with his professional conduct. “I can’t imagine anyone was willing to kill for this building, no. All but one of the bidders was from out of town, though I guess Ross McMann now technically lives here also.”

  “Did you ask each of the bidders what they planned to do with the building?” Megan asked.

  Stan nodded. “I forwarded that information with the bids but, ultimately, the committee went with the highest bidder.”

  “Were any of the plans unusual?” Megan asked.

  Stan shook his head. “No, most were just planning to rent the space out. I’ll let Ross explain what his plans are.” Stan looked at the time. “I need to go, sorry. I have to show a house.”

  Megan turned to the mayor. “Do you know what Ross has planned?”

  Barbara smiled enigmatically. “Indeed, I do. But I agree with Stan. I’ll let Ross explain it. I’ll see you in a couple of days,” Barbara said as she turned to go.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Megan tried to put everything else from her mind as she returned home after the announcement of the winning bidder. Maybe some revelation would come to her as she worked on the produce from her garden. There were times when it wasn’t convenient to process all of the harvest from the garden or the fruit orchard, but Megan had learned long ago that life on a farm doesn’t work that way. When the produce was ready, it wouldn’t wait and had to be processed then. Whatever was going on in the rest of your life had to wait or you lose the food.

  Looking at the bags of peppers, onions, beets, cabbage, and zucchini, Megan thought about her plan of attack as she rubbed Emma’s ears. The onions were the easiest. Best to save those for last when she was most tired. She wanted to can some pickled hot peppers and zucchini pickles, as well as a jar or two of Angry Pickles mixing some hot peppers in with the zucchini pickles.

  She planned to freeze the cabbage and the beets but that would require cooking them in hot water first. She decided to cook the cabbage entirely, rather than just blanching it, before freezing it. She still had several heads of late cabbage growing in the garden. She’d use those on some future day to make stuffed cabbages and freeze them. That way, she’d have ready-made meals that just needed to be thawed and reheated.

  She had experimented with cooking the beets for fifteen minutes before freezing them to test the texture. When she wanted to use them throughout the year, she took as many of them out as needed and finished cooking them.

  She’d also tried cooking them completely before freezing but hadn’t yet decided which she preferred. Either way, the beet was still edible and just as tasty. Once frozen, the taste was still good, but a true beet enthusiast would know the difference between one just picked from the garden and immediately cooked or one that had been cooked and then frozen. For today, she decided to cook them completely before freezing them, just to get them done.

  Obviously, she couldn’t do everything at once. Megan decided to can the peppers and pickles first. Then she would cook and freeze the beets and cabbage. Lastly, she’d slice and dice the jumbo-sized sweet onions using the food processor to help with some of it and freeze them. By then, it should be past dinner, Megan thought as she glanced at the clock. Maybe she should take out some sausage links. Dan could grill those when he got home while Megan was finishing up with her work. They could have some of Tom’s sweet corn with it, a salad, and some coleslaw.

  But, first things first. She needed to strip the beds in the guest rooms and wash sheets. Megan grabbed a laundry basket from the laundry room on her way upstairs. She took some clean sheet sets from the linen closet and then first stripped the bed in the room Ross had used. She next went into the room that Parker had used. She hadn’t spent much time with Parker during his visit. When she had been with him, she hadn’t cared for him.

  He’d said that he was visiting Teaberry because Ross and Jax were here. Megan had been busy during the weekend and there had been a lot of confusion when Phil Porter had been killed. She wondered how much time Parker had managed to spend with either Ross or Jax. She didn’t think he’d spent much time with Ross. She wondered if Parker had managed to hook up with Jax. Then she remembered Trina’s comments. Parker had called Trina princess also. Megan grinned, remembering Trina’s description of herself at the time.

  Megan got the first load of laundry in the washer and was on her way back to the kitchen when she heard the doorbell. She found a package on the front porch and brought it inside. She recognized the return address and set the package on a table in the living to open later.

  She knew it was the yarn from the sheep. She’d had them sheared and the wool was sent for processing. Once complete, they sent the yarn back to Megan. She was looking forward to catching up with the knitters who came to spend their weekend with her in the winter. But for now, she thought as she turned on all the fans in the kitchen, it was time to can some pickled peppers.

  When Dan walked into the kitchen later in the day, the heat hit him first. It was being blown around by a bunch of fans. He saw jars of pickles and hot peppers on the kitchen table. Then he looked at Megan and panicked.

  Taking two quick strides across the room, he grabbed both of her arms. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Dan frantically began searching for some wound to cause her obvious distress.

  “Onions,” Megan said with tears streaming down her face.

  Dan stared at Megan for a moment before comprehension seeped through his concern. He’d noticed the smell, but it hadn’t registered. His eyes began to water. He saw that Megan had a small window fan in the window over her kitchen sink. He opened the window a little and turned the fan around so that it blew the hot air out. He pulled the window closed again to secure the fan in place. “Let’s try this and see if it helps.”

  He looked over at the jars again. He knew they had already been processed and were now cooling. “Do you need me to tighten the lids?”

  “Thanks, that would be great,” Megan said as she returned to the task of putting the diced on
ions into zippered freezer bags. “How was your day?”

  “Good.” Dan tightened each lid. Megan had texted him about Ross having the winning bid. “How about you? Did you learn anything new today?”

  “About Phil Porter?” Megan shook her head. “I’ve spoken with several people. No one seems to know why anyone would have killed him.” Megan dumped the last of the diced onions from the food processor onto the cutting board. She picked up the thin plastic cutting board and rolled it a little to fit into the neck of the plastic freezer zipper bag. The diced onions slid into the bag easily. She sealed it happily. “Done.”

  “Good. I hate to ask, but what do you want to do for dinner?” Dan asked.

  “We have some Italian sausage links from Tom’s farm and his sweet corn. I was going to steal a couple of potatoes from the garden and partially cook them in the microwave. We can put them on the grill to finish cooking when you grill the sausage and corn. The coleslaw and salad are already made.” Megan started cleaning up her mess from the onions.

  “How do you steal potatoes?” Dan asked.

  She flashed him a smile. “Go get changed, then you can watch. I’ll have this cleaned up and ready to go out to the compost pile.”

  Dan changed quickly and was back out in the kitchen in no time, holding the door for Megan as she carried out the onion debris. After adding them to the compost pile, she headed for the area of the garden with the potatoes. Dan watched with interest as she began rubbing the dirt away gently near the stem of the potato plant.

  “I know this is technically cheating,” Megan said as she exposed part of a potato then dug around it to get the rest. “But I can steal some without digging up the whole plant. The rest of the plant will be fine, and we’ll have two potatoes to go with dinner.”

  Dan laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone do that before.”

  Chapter Nineteen