He shoved the familiar-looking tin box into her hands along with a red envelope. “I think the letter will explain why she waited. At least, I hope it does.”
Gemma moved her hand lovingly over the top of the box. “I’ve been looking everywhere for these. Paloma was certain they were upstairs.”
“Here? No. Not secure enough for Marissa. It was a condition of her will that she trusted me to safeguard them.” The old man chuckled before adding, “With my life if necessary. I’ve had them in my possession for probably a decade or more. She certainly had them memorized long ago. She didn’t want anyone to get their hands on them but you. So, I locked them away in my office vault.”
“Why do you suppose she had you wait so long?”
Kedderson’s eyes misted over. “I think you know the answer to that. She wanted to make sure you were staying put before she allowed me to walk through that door with these and hand them over to the next generation of chocolate maker.”
Gemma swallowed hard as she ran a hand across the top again and hugged the tin to her chest. “Do you know where her journals are? I’ve looked everywhere for those, too.”
He smiled. “Those are in a safe place as well. When you’re ready, they’ll be available for you to read.”
Gemma put the tin box down and walked around the counter to face Kedderson. “Look, this is no laughing matter to me. I need to know if you were working with Montalvo all this time to undermine my grandmother.”
“What? No, of course not.”
“So you didn’t have a stake in whether or not I sold out to Montalvo? Are you sure that’s your story? You didn’t put pressure on Lianne to accept Montalvo’s offer? Before you answer that, you should know I’ve already been in touch with Marnie’s family. They say you showed up there too and made sure they understood that the old pizza parlor was in such a state of disrepair that they’d be better off selling that asset for the money. So is that still your story that you were just looking out for everyone’s best interest when it benefited Montalvo the most? Or was it something more sinister, Mr. Kedderson?”
“It’s true I’ve known Marshall Montalvo for years. I’ve done work for him. But I draw the line at the accusation he had me in his pocket.”
“Might that be considered a conflict of interest, giving advice to the victims’ families that would benefit Montalvo more than say, the families of his victims? Were you aware that he’d murdered his wife Sandy? Did you know about that?”
“I’ve certainly been keeping up with current events. I listen to the news. But I did not conspire with Montalvo to make sure you and the others sold your properties to him. I merely made a suggestion. It was up to you whether or not to take it or leave it.”
“And maybe end up dead along the way. I sincerely hope you’re telling the truth, Mr. Kedderson. Because my grandmother must’ve trusted you for many years to do the right thing. I’ll come by your place this afternoon to pick up those journals.”
After he’d gone, Gemma opened the envelope and took out the letter. She recognized the handwriting as Marissa’s.
My dear Gemma, if you’re reading this I’ve likely gone to be with my beloved Jean-Luc. After all these years we’ll be together again just as I’ve dreamed about since the cancer took him far too soon.
If you’re also reading this you must have decided to stick around town. Coyote Wells isn’t perfect, no, far from it. But it’s been the only home I’ve known since I left Zaragoza where I felt comfortable and loved by my family. But Spain is a distant memory for me now. That’s why I hope you’ll settle in here again, in the town where you grew up, and learn to get along with everyone just as I did. (That includes Lando, who I happen to know never got over your leaving him. But that’s for you to figure out.)
By now you must have questions about a great many things. But you’ll have to learn many of them in your own good time. You’ll have to figure out how to deal with your own feelings, walk your own path, just as I had to learn to walk mine. The journey will be curvy and sometimes not at all what you expect. But, that my dear, is the wonder of life. I have no intentions of directing you toward your gift or telling you how to use it. Yes, I’ve known since you were a child that you had that quality inside you. Many times, when you were young, you failed to listen to your instincts and many times that failure brought you to the brink of much sadness and unhappiness. The one thing you must always do is listen to your own heart, learn to pay attention to those gut instincts.
If you haven’t already discovered this by now, you’ll soon realize living in my house, which is now yours, that I have a special place where I put everything. You’ll find reading my ramblings that span over forty years either helps or hinders you. Mr. Kedderson thinks he has in his possession my real journals, but he does not. I left those for you in the cairn I built with my own hands in the middle of the courtyard. I started the project days after Jean-Luc died as a way of dealing with my abject grief. It has become over the years my most favorite hiding spot, which is why I put my most treasured recipes in there just in case Mr. Kedderson let me down and couldn’t be trusted. The ones in the tin box are fakes. The real ones lie inside a tomb-like tiny room within the pillar of stones. Please take care removing each one, and then, when you’ve retrieved what’s inside, build them back again the way that best suits you.
You are my daughter in every sense of the word, my child. I’ve wanted you to take up my charge since you were little, but I could not and would not put that kind of pressure on you.
Now that you have made the decision yourself to stay and make a go of it, I wish you all the love and peace that Coyote Wells has brought me.
Your beloved mother, Marissa Sarrazin
From the doorway, Lando saw Gemma’s tears streaming down her face and closed the distance. He spun her around in his arms. “What’s wrong? I came over here to take you to lunch and instead I find you crying your eyes out. Why?”
She held up the letter, wiping away tears. “Kedderson brought me this from Gram. Her final words. It answers a lot of questions. Turns out, Marissa had a keen sense of knowing who she could trust and who she couldn’t.”
She ran a hand down his cheek. “Make no mistake, I’m my grandmother’s daughter. I know that now. I know who to trust.”
He pressed his lips to hers. “I’m crazy about you, Gemma.”
“I can do you one better than that. I love you, Lando. I always have, probably always will. But please don’t take this the wrong way, I don’t think we should run out and get remarried just yet, not until I sort through some things.”
He grinned. “Why would I take that the wrong way? I’m fine with the way things are now. Maybe I don’t want to fool around with anyone else though. That says something.”
“I don’t want to fool around with anyone but you. That’s a promise. I’m not ruling out marriage. It’s just that I don’t want to give up my house and you don’t want to give up yours. I know that about you. We have some things yet to work out between us.”
“In the meantime, we’ll take turns sleeping at each other’s place until we figure it all out. How’s that sound?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
He swatted her fanny. “Stop the presses. Did we just agree on something?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I think we did. At least, for now.”
He held up a key ring. “You remember that green Chevy pickup?”
“The one in storage, the one that hasn’t seen the streets in ten years?”
“Yeah. That one. I’ve been working on it, getting it to run. How about I take you for a spin out to that old drive-in?”
“In broad daylight?” She cracked a grin. “Now you’re talking.”
Cast of Characters
Gemma Channing – Granddaughter of Marissa and Jean-Luc Sarrazin, now owner of Coyote Chocolate Company, also the daughter of Genevieve Wentworth
Lando Bonner – Coyote Wells police chief, ex-husband of Gemma
/> Leia Bonner – Daughter of Lydia, sister to Lando and Luke, chef at the family-owned restaurant, Captain Jack’s Grill
Dr. Luke Bonner – Doctor on at the reservation clinic, brother to Lando and Leia
Marissa Sarrazin – Gemma’s grandmother, Gram who owned Coyote Chocolate Company for forty years.
Jean-Luc Sarrazin – Gemma’s grandfather, she calls Poppy
Lydia Bonner – owner of Captain Jack’s Grill and mother to triplets, Lando, Luke, and Leia
Zebediah Longhorn – Police chief on the reservation
Vincent Ballard – Owner of Wind River Vineyard, ladies’ man
Collette Whittaker – Longtime administrative assistant to Vince Ballard
Lianne Whittaker – Sister of Collette, down from Portland to look for her sister
Marnie Hightower – Eight grade school teacher at Harbor View Middle School
Daryl Simmons – Former boyfriend of Marnie Hightower, basketball coach at Harbor View Middle School
Paloma Coyote – Her great-grandfather founded the town. Former mayor.
Van Coyote – Paloma’s grandson, son of Michael
Michael Coyote – Deceased, son of Paloma
Coyote Wells Police Department:
Louise Rawlins – Desk sergeant, mother to Mallory
Payce Davis – Coyote Wells PD
Jimmy Fox – Coyote Wells PD and guitar player for the band Fortitude
Dale Hooper – Coyote Wells PD and keyboard player for the band Fortitude
Mallory Rawlins – Adopted daughter of Louise and a member of the Happy Bookers
Holly Dowell – Sister to Louise, birth mother to Mallory and a member of the Happy Bookers
Elnora Kidman – The town librarian and member of the Happy Bookers
Adam Greendeer – Owner of Duck & Rum, a bar at the edge of town
Fleet Barkley – Mayor
Reiner Caulfield – Former chief of police
Marshall Montalvo – Real estate developer, wealthiest man in the county
Buddy Swinton – Son of Roland Swinton who owned a pizza parlor in town, now closed
Suzanne Swinton – Buddy’s wife, who often calls police on Buddy
Roland Swinton – Owned the pizza parlor next door to the Chocolate Company. Marissa’s and Jean-Luc’s friend
Genevieve Channing Wentworth – Gemma’s estranged mother
Alex Kedderson – Attorney
Duff Northcutt – Friend of Marissa
Billy Gafford – Anti-social man living on the edge of town near Duff Northcutt
Natalie Henwick – Real estate agent and member of the Happy Bookers
Lucinda Fenton – Marissa’s next door neighbor and a member of the Happy Bookers
Ginny Sue Maples – Luke’s nurse and a member of the Happy Bookers
Radley Fisk – Drummer in the band Fortitude, schoolteacher
Bosco Reynolds – Guitar player for the band Fortitude, bartender at Duck & Rum
Callie Lightfeather – Ninety-year-old town historian
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mystic Falls is Vickie McKeehan’s twenty-second novel and is the first book in her new Coyote Wells Mystery Series. Vickie's novels have consistently appeared on Amazon’s Top 100 lists in Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense and Mystery / Thriller. She writes what she loves to read—heartwarming romance laced with suspense, heart-pounding thrillers, and riveting mysteries. Vickie loves to write about compelling and down-to-earth characters in settings that stay with her readers long after they've finished her books. She makes her home in Southern California.
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