Second Chance at Love

by Joanna Campbell Slan

  “I'll consider what you've told me and decide what to do.” I got to my feet. As far as I was concerned, this visit was over.

  Jodi did not move. “I'd really like an answer before I go. Believe me, Philomena is not a woman you want on your bad side. She claims your grandfather quarreled with Hal the night that he was killed.”

  “Pardon?”

  “Philomena told me that she and Hal were leaving the Riverwalk just as your grandfather was locking up his shop. Your grandfather crossed the street to pick a fight with Hal. According to her, your grandfather threatened her husband.”

  I thought back to Lou’s black eye. Not only had I heard that blood sugar problems could make a person aggressive, I’d actually seen proof. “Poppy hasn't been himself lately.”

  Jodi sighed. “Philomena is convinced that your grandfather might be Hal's murderer.”

  “So this woman is threatening to tell the police? Is that what you are suggesting? That she'll make a statement against my grandfather if I don't hand over the building?”

  “I'm not sure what she'll do.” Jodi shook her head sorrowfully.

  “Did she send you here? To deliver her threat?”

  “Absolutely not, but she was rambling on and on about how you would be sorry. When I saw her, she talked about going to the police. I thought you should know. I came here to warn you as a favor. If Philomena has her way, this will all blow up in your face. You've always been like a little sister to Cooper. I don't want to see him pay the price for the bad mistakes you're making.”

  CHAPTER 50

  Cooper thought of me as a little sister? I was steaming mad as I escorted Jodi to the front door and locked it behind her. As she walked away, I stood there a minute to rein in my emotions. Finally, with a deep sigh, I turned back to the work at hand.

  “No more interruptions,” I told my crew in a falsely chipper voice. Skye and MJ nodded in agreement and went back to what they were doing.

  I desperately needed to keep moving so I continued taping off the woodwork. While my hands were busy, my mind raced along a million miles a minute.

  Was my grandfather responsible for Hal Humberger's murder? Could that even be possible?

  I didn't know exactly when Mr. Humberger had died, so I didn't know if Poppy had an alibi. Any number of things could have happened while I was sitting in Pumpernickel's, waiting for my meal, my tinfoil, and my check.

  Hal Humberger's death was a matter for the police, but protecting Poppy was my job. I didn't really believe my grandfather was capable of murder, but Mom had hinted of Poppy's dark past from his days in uniform. Had he been trained to kill? He certainly had a bad temper. Was it possible his mind was going? Or that his diabetes had made him unreasonable—even dangerous?

  There was so much I didn't know.

  How had Hal Humberger’s body wound up inside The Treasure Chest? Why would he have come back here? Had he been killed while trying to escape my grandfather?

  Then there was a new question: Was Philomena's threat credible?

  Jodi had suggested that I could keep Poppy safe by giving the building back to Cooper. But I didn't trust Jodi. Was that because I was jealous of her? Or were my instincts guiding me correctly?

  How on earth did Cooper manage to find and fall in love with a woman who looked so much like my mother? Scratch that: A woman who looked a lot like me? Did that reveal his true feelings toward me? Or was it like I'd always heard, that men tended to go for certain “types.” I had a friend back in St. Louis who would never date men with red hair. Another friend loved guys who were shorter than she. Was it possible that dark-haired petite women were Cooper's ideal?

  Go figure.

  Could it be that the same attraction that had initially caused Cooper to woo me had repeated itself when he met Jodi Wireka?

  Did I like her?

  No.

  Did it matter?

  No.

  Did I care?

  I shouldn't and I couldn't.

  Cooper Rivers was free to marry whomever he wanted. If I hadn't stopped here in Stuart, or if I'd stopped here one month later, he would have already done the deed and married Jodi. Their relationship wasn't any of my business.

  I repeated those words to myself, over and over, as if they were a mantra. None of my business. None of my business. None of my business.

  CHAPTER 51

  An hour later, I still hadn't decided what to do about Philomena's potential threat. I took a break from taping around outlets and phoned the hospital. The nurse on Poppy's floor told me his tests were over for the day.

  “If you want to come and visit your grandfather, this is a good time,” she said.

  I grabbed my purse and keys. With each passing minute, I was more invested in The Treasure Chest. Emotionally I’d re-established a connection from my childhood. Economically I was spending the small amount of money I had. Psychologically the place had become the center of my universe. Already I’d come to associate the store with my new friends, Skye and MJ. I’d allowed myself the luxury of daydreaming about the place. Giving this building back to Cooper and Philomena would not be easy for me. Telling my new friends that I'd changed my mind would be gut wrenching. My stomach was already tied in knots, and my head had started to ache.

  Grabbing my purse, I told MJ, “I need to run an errand. Be right back,” and then I hot-footed it to my car and drove to the hospital.

  When I entered his room, Poppy was sitting in his bed watching TV. The smell of Lysol and rubbing alcohol filled me with anxiety, because these were the last smells I associated with my mother. But I couldn't let myself get all soppy. I was on a mission.

  “Hi,” I said. “How are you doing?”

  “I'm in a hospital. Does it look like I'm having a good time?”

  So he wasn't going to be cooperative. Big deal.

  “How's the foot?”

  “Hurts like holy what for, but at least they don't plan to amputate it.”

  “That's a relief.” I pulled over a chair. I wasn't going away until I had the information I needed. “I need to talk with you, please. I'd appreciate it if you would try not to lose your temper, but I want some information.”

  He hit the OFF button on the remote control. The color had returned to his cheeks; he looked better than he had in days.

  “Okay. What?”

  “First of all, what happened after you left Pumpernickel's the night that Hal Humberger died?”

  His eyes drilled hard into mine. “You taking over for the cops? Well, smarty-pants, I didn't kill him. I went back to the shop because I planned to clean it up a bit. Seeing it through your eyes shamed me. I knew I'd let things go, but I kinda overlooked it till you arrived. I was going through papers on my desk when I saw Hal and Philomena come out of the Riverwalk and head for the parking lot. I thought I'd give him a piece of my mind and I did.”

  “What did you do after you quarreled?”

  “I went home. Had a couple of beers. Fell asleep in front of the TV.”

  “That's not much of an alibi.” I waited.

  He blew out a big sigh. “I give you my word, Cara Mia, that I did not kill that man. All I did was yell at him.”

  “Okay,” I said, feeling better. Marginally. I took a deep breath. This was going to be hard. “Is it true that the gas tanks are leaking?”

  Turning his face from mine, he hesitated. I kept my mouth shut. Finally, he said, “That's what they tell me.”

  I struggled not to show how horrifying that was. Instead, I kept my voice level and asked, “What did you plan to do about them?”

  “Keep 'em empty. Can leak something that ain’t there.”

  “I'm not sure that's going to be enough.”

  “Probably not.”

  “So?”

  “So?” He raised his hairy eyebrows almost to his hairline. “Because your mom is gone, everything I own will go to you. Now or later, it don't matter much. So you tell me. What do you want to do with it? You’re welcome to sell t
he place. Let somebody else deal with that mess.”

  That wasn't the response I'd anticipated. I asked him, “If the business closes, what would you do with your time?”

  “I dunno.”

  “Any guesses?” I noticed the blanket was rumpled beneath his arm, so I reached over and smoothed it. My fingers sought his. The grip he returned was surprisingly strong.

  “Poppy,” I said, in a voice that had grown thick with emotion, “I want you to be happy. I don't want you to be miserable. I know you enjoy going to work. I do, too, and I wouldn't want to take that away from you. Please, be honest with me. What would you like to do?”

  “With my remaining time on earth?” He sounded snarky but his eyes were wet with unshed tears.

  “I guess.”

  “I'd like to spend some time with my granddaughter and my great-grandson. Maybe play a little checkers down at the senior center. Take a painting class.”

  “I don't hear anything about working on cars in there. Or having to get up in the morning to open a shop.”

  “Yep, well, I'd probably tinker around. Help my old customers now and again. But sleeping late, that sounds pretty appealing. You know, if Coop opens that there Fill Up and Go Gas Station, he said I could work for him. “

  “Did he now?”

  “Yup. Like I told you, he's a good man. Maybe he’d like to buy my old place. That way you can keep that old building of Essie’s that you’re so attached to, and he can move ahead with that franchise.”

  “That might be the best solution all around.”

  “Yup.”

  A nurse appeared in the doorway, tapping on her wrist watch. I leaned over and kissed my grandfather. “I love you, Poppy,” I said. “We'll find you plenty to do, but you don't have to keep working so hard. Not anymore. I want to spend time with you. I know that Tommy wants that, too.”

  “Promise?”

  I could see the silver crescent of tears in his eyes.

  “Promise,” and I hugged him as best I could despite the IVs. His shoulders were thin beneath the cotton gown.

  “I'm sort of tired of the rat race, Cara,” he said, “but I don't want to be put out to pasture. Not yet.”

  “That's all I needed to hear.”

  I walked out of the room feeling better about Poppy, but by the time I got to my car, I began thinking about how I had spoken to Cooper. I'd jumped to conclusions. I hadn't given him a chance. I'd accused him of trying to run my grandfather out of business because that's what Hal Humberger had told me. But he hadn't been trying to hurt Poppy. He'd been giving Poppy a graceful way out. In fact, he'd been better attuned to my grandfather's needs than I was.

  A deep sense of shame came over me. As I climbed into my car, I felt about two inches high.

  How was I going to make this right?

  CHAPTER 52

  I needed to focus on moving forward. I had to concentrate on taking one step after another. Cranking down the windows on Black Beauty, I sat there in my car in the hospital parking lot and allowed myself to think for a spell. I needed to plan my next move.

  My conversation with Poppy had solved the problem of the leaking gas tanks. Now I had my grandfather's permission to close down the Gas E Bait and sell the property. The EPA would know how best to handle the details. My visit had also cleared the air between Poppy and me. Somehow, our conversation had given him the freedom to ease his foot off life's gas pedal. He'd earned a retirement, but if he wanted to work part-time, that would be fine, too.

  Best of all, I had Poppy's word that he hadn't killed Hal Humberger. I had never seriously believed that my grandfather was a murderer, but I had needed to hear it from his lips. Whatever his faults, Poppy wasn't a liar. He couldn't stand dishonesty, which was one of the reasons that he too often spoke his mind without concern for people's feelings. I based my conclusion on years of overhearing my parents talk about Poppy. My father had called my grandfather, “Honest to a fault. He doesn’t even know when to sugarcoat bad news.” My mother had said, “My father hates lying and liars. He couldn’t tell a lie if his life depended on it. He might clam up, refuse to talk, and run away, but he wouldn’t lie.”

  I didn't have concrete proof that he was innocent, but I felt a weight lifted from my shoulders. My grandfather might be an old coot, a curmudgeon, and a grump, but I didn’t think he wasn't a murderer.

  Things were looking up.

  Sort of.

  I owed Cooper Rivers a big apology for accusing him of trying to deceive my grandfather. I dreaded facing him and asking his forgiveness. Only then could I bring up the idea of selling him Poppy’s old spot.

  Once again, my life was turned upside down. At least, I didn’t have to sell The Treasure Chest. Seemed to me like Jodi Wireka had been stirring up trouble just to be mean.

  Sure, it would take a while to wind down Poppy's business, but that was okay. Meanwhile, I would have the joy of building a business. That streak of entrepreneurship ran deep in me. Even though we hadn't gotten far, I could see how Skye and MJ enjoyed their efforts. We were part of something. Something worthwhile.

  If I pulled the plug right now, Skye would have nowhere to live. MJ's particular talent of linking a buyer with an item would be wasted.

  I opened my phone, and called Kiki. With the windows rolled down, there was a light breeze blowing in the car, enough that my makeshift office was comfortable.

  She answered quickly. Without asking if she was busy, I blurted out all that had happened, all that might happen, and then sputtered to a stop.

  “Look,” she said. “You were misled by that real estate agent. You had a reason for talking to Cooper the way you did. You didn't mean to ruin someone else's plans. Quit blaming yourself. It's a case of good intentions and bad results. You were just trying to protect your grandfather.”

  “He told me he's tired of owning the Gas E Bait. He says it was going to be mine someday, so the decision is mine. Philomena and Cooper can buy Poppy's place and use it for the convenience store if they want.”

  “Go on, Cara,” Kiki urged me. “Keep talking.”

  “Poppy would be free to work part-time for Cooper. The problem with the Fill Up and Go would be solved—of course that depends on whether the franchise people will accept Poppy's location. But I'd think they would. The two businesses are practically side by side. There will be less of a hassle, too. Since the ground needs to be dug up to remove the old gas tanks, why not replace them with new ones while they're at it? That would kill two birds with one stone. Of course, there's bound going to be a cost involved for the cleaning up the leakage, but that's got to happen one way or another.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me,” said Kiki.

  “But if I don't need to save Poppy's business, should I continue with The Treasure Chest? I mean, I started this project because I was worried about Poppy and didn't want him run out of business. Now that's not a problem.”

  “What would you like to do?”

  “I don't know,” I said.

  “If you had only yourself to consider, what would you do?”

  I couldn't answer that.

  She waited.

  “I'm not sure,” I said. “See, there are all these other people—”

  Kiki cut me off. “I'm not asking those other people. I'm talking to you. There'll be time to consider them. What about you? If I could wave a magic wand, if all your dreams could come true, what would that look like?”

  I ran my hand over the steering wheel, feeling the bumps along under my palms. The truth was that I'd spent my entire life making other people happy.

  The one time I'd followed my instincts, I'd married Dom. After that, I'd stuffed down my feelings. Some part of me had pledged itself to making up for my mistake. If I were to be honest, I would admit that I'd continued work-ing at the restaurant because I had felt it was my responsibility to make it up to my parents for nearly bankrupting them.

  But if you could pray someone out of purgatory, why was I stuck here for the re
st of my life? When would I be released?

  A tear ran down my face. I wiped it off with the back of my hand. “I-I-I…”

  “Cara,” Kiki said softly. “You have the right to be happy. Or at least to try for happiness. Where is it written that everyone else should be happy but you? You devoted your life to the restaurant. You've raised your son. You took care of your mother when she was sick. You took care of your dad. This is your time! Your chance! Yours! Make a wish!”

  “I want to run this store,” I blurted out. “I have this concept, a-a-and I think it would be cool, and there's nothing like it in Stuart. I think I could make a go of it. I like being in charge. I like doing things my way. I like seeing how excited Skye and MJ are. And I think I'll like living in Stuart! I love being close to the ocean. I always have.”

  This tumbled out of me in a hurry, the sounds coming so fast that they almost didn't make sense. Except they did. They really did, and once I said my piece, I felt this fabulous sense of excitement. For the first time in decades, I was thrilled about my future.

  “But what if I fail?” Just like that I came back to reality.

  “Then you try something else,” Kiki said. “But there's no reason for you to fail. You're a smart woman. You know how to run a business. If things don't go the way you want, make the necessary changes. That's the beauty of it. You're in charge! You can do this, Cara. I know you can!”

  And there it was. “I can do this,” I said.

  Yes, I can!

  CHAPTER 53

  At last, I’d gotten “real” about what I wanted to do. I’d actually confessed out loud to wanting to start my own business. Although Kiki had been the only other person on the line, I’d made a public confession about my plans.

  Now there was no way around it. I needed to talk with Cooper. I owed him an apology. In fact, I sort of admired him for not tattling on my grandfather and telling me about the leaking gas tanks. Tapping his name into my smart phone, I learned that he had an office three blocks away. Slowly, I pulled out of my parking space at the hospital. I didn't want to face my old boyfriend, because of the wild, out-of-control feelings he kindled in me.