“Yes, it is a big deal. I’m sorry I got you involved in it. I just came from Mike’s office, and I told him about it, and that I used the equipment and your time for my own purposes. I’m sorry, Nate, and I want you to know I won’t put you in that position again.”
“Okay.”
“And, Nate, there’s one more thing. Mike wants me to give some advanced computer training for a few officers. Would you be interested in that? You’ve shown some capability, and it would help us in the unit. I thought I’d nominate you and Eddie for the training.”
“Sure, I’d do anything that will help me do a better job up here. I don’t exactly feel as though I’m carrying my own weight yet.”
“I think you are, but this would enhance your job performance.”
“Great. But I wish you’d read my report.” He smiled a little. “I worked hard on it.”
“Why don’t you brief me right now?” I said. “Has this guy been involved in any criminal activity?”
“I don’t think so. Clean as a whistle. His employers like him.”
“Then I tell you what I’m going to do. I’ll file this away, and if we ever need it, it will be there. I think right now that I should leave this thing alone.”
Nate still looked a little uncertain, but he said, “Okay, Captain.”
I talked to Eddie about the training, and he was willing to go through it, although he rightly pointed out that I’d taught him a lot of computer skills already. But I knew there was a lot more he could learn, and he was quick at picking up new things.
At noon, my desk phone rang.
“Captain Larson? This is Greg Prescott. I don’t know if you remember—”
“Of course I remember. You flew Jennifer and me to New York on our honeymoon. Good to hear from you!” Greg was the navigator on our plane in July, and he’d come out into first class and chatted with us for a few minutes. I’d given him my business card and told him to call when he was in Portland, but hadn’t heard from him since.
“Well, I’ll be in Portland this weekend. I thought maybe I could take you and your wife out to lunch on Sunday.”
“Come eat at our house,” I said. “We’ll be going to church in the morning, but we’ll be home by twelve-thirty. We’d love to have you come.”
I started giving him directions, but he cut me short, saying, “How about if I just meet you at your church?”
“Well, sure, if you want to, that would be great.”
When I’d told him how to find the church, I called Jennifer and told her about Greg’s call. She and Abby were enjoying the day together and had baked brownies and cleaned the refrigerator.
“Oh, good. I’ll cook a pot roast on Sunday,” she said.
“Don’t overdo things, gorgeous.”
“I won’t. And you’ll be happy to know I’m eating right now.”
“What are you eating?”
“Peaches and a muffin.”
“Want me to bring you anything tonight?”
“Just you.”
“I’ll be there. Take a nap this afternoon, okay?”
When I’d hung up, I sat for a minute savoring the joy of being married to Jennifer. It was so much better when I wasn’t keeping secrets from her.
I spent a quiet afternoon doing research on the art case and preparing an outline for the computer training.
Jennifer came bouncing into the garage as soon as I drove in. I barely got out of the Explorer before she was in my arms. I picked her up and swung her around so that her hair flew out behind her, and then I set her down and kissed her.
“Eddie called Abby a little while ago, and she invited him for supper.”
“Great. Man, it’s good to see you looking like yourself again!”
“Abby and I talked this afternoon.” She lowered her voice and glanced toward the house.
“And?”
“She was touched by your apology last night.”
“I was an idiot.”
“No. Well, maybe, but anyway, she said she couldn’t believe at first that you would be so sneaky, and especially that you lied to people. She thought you were above all that, I guess.”
“The impeccable Harvey Larson fell off his pedestal,” I said regretfully.
“Oh, honey.” She hugged me close. “I love you.”
“If I didn’t have you, I’d be pretty miserable right now. I don’t ever want to do anything like that again.”
I headed for the shower. Jennifer came into the bedroom as I was putting my shoes back on.
“I never did cut your hair. Let me do it now,” she said.
I got the barber scissors and a comb and sat on a stool in the kitchen for her. Abby watched in amazement as she ruthlessly attacked my hair. Before shearing the curls off the back, Jenny ran her fingers through them and sighed mournfully.
“Hate to do it,” she said, but off they came.
“They’ll be back in a month,” I told her.
Eddie arrived as I swept up the pile of hair.
“Need a trim, Eddie?” Jennifer clacked the scissors at him.
“No, thanks.” Eddie handed her a carton of ice cream he’d brought along. “My mother says I eat here too much, so I thought I’d better contribute.”
Jennifer laughed. “You don’t, but thanks.”
His smile drooped. “I think it’s because I haven’t been home much lately.”
“Still avoiding your folks?” I asked.
He sighed. “Every time I go over, she nags me about confession. I tried to explain it the way you did, Harvey, but I don’t think she’s buying it.”
“Well I, for one, was shocked at Harvey’s behavior,” Abby said.
I winced. “I’m really sorry, Abby. I’ll never try to manipulate you again. I promise.”
She nodded. “I’m going to hold you to that. I’m sure God will, too.”
I wasn’t sure how to take that. Did Abby believe now that God was my master, or even that he was real? I tried to be extra nice to her that evening, and I wished I could read her thoughts as she watched me eat. She was solicitous of Jennifer and jumped up to get me coffee. Eddie and I talked a little shop, but Abby put a stop to that.
“This is family time, Captain. No discussing murders and robberies tonight.”
I smiled guiltily. “All right, sister, dear, bring on the familial camaraderie.”
After a protracted game of Risk, we had dessert. She honored Eddie, the winner, with an extra scoop of ice cream. Jennifer and Abby sat on the couch, giggling and making plans for decorating one of the spare rooms upstairs for a nursery.
Eddie watched them with amusement. He turned to me with a smile. “Aren’t they great? Look at them!”
“They are.” Jennifer was the great beauty, I thought, although she was still too thin. Her eyes were more sober and gray. Abby’s were bluer, and sparkling. Their hair was the same shade, Abby’s in a pony tail that night, and Jennifer’s in a braid.
“Do you think—”
“What?” I asked.
Eddie shook his head. “Nothing.”
After he left, Abby and Jennifer got on the telephone extensions and called their parents. Jennifer gave them a glowing report of her health and the baby’s. Her youngest sister, Leeanne, begged to come down for the weekend, and Jennifer told her to come.
“You’ll be too tired,” I said, when she filled me in.
“No, Abby will help me.” Abby backed her up, so I braced myself for the Wainthrop Sisters Pajama Party.
“I feel like eating a jelly doughnut,” Jennifer said at quarter to ten.
“Oh, boy, I guess that’s my cue,” I said and headed for the garage.
“Take me with you!”
“Me, too!”
I turned back with a smile. Jennifer was scrambling for her shoes, and Abby was pulling on a sweater.
*****
The seminar on management was my lot for Friday. Mike wouldn’t listen to my protests, and I drove early to Augusta and came home l
ate. Jennifer met me at the door when I went in, trailing my briefcase in my left hand. She was tired, and I was tired. I put on jeans and a sweatshirt and sat in the lawn swing with her, out in the back yard. The frost had killed the grass and bushes, but it was still nice to have our own bit of earth to enjoy in peace. Abby brought us hot tea and an afghan, which she tucked over Jennifer’s knees.
“Did you eat, Harvey?”
“No, I’m not hungry.”
“Feed him,” said Jennifer.
A few minutes later, Abby brought me a plate of warmed up leftovers, and I ate them.
Jennifer asked me all about the seminar and seemed to be interested in what I’d found extremely boring.
“Didn’t you learn anything new?” she asked.
“Yes, I learned I hate management.”
*****
Leeanne drove down before lunch on Saturday, and the three sisters were giddy with joy at being together. I was happy for them, but I needed to get out and find some masculine company. I called Eddie to see if he could play basketball. That afternoon, I spent a couple of hours in the old neighborhood with him and his cousins Dave and Rene and a couple of other guys.
Back on Van Cleeve Lane, the Wainthrop Girls’ Festival had toned down to ecstatic. They were cooking for the anticipated dinner with Greg Prescott the next day. I told them to make extra food because I’d invited Eddie, too. When he’d heard Leeanne was in town, he had been unable to keep from inviting himself. He hadn’t been with both sisters together since our wedding, and it promised to be an interesting day.
Sure enough, when we arrived early for Sunday school the next morning, he was on watch by the church doors, and we sent Abby and Leeanne to his class with him.
“This won’t ruin your status in the singles class, will it, Ed?” I asked.
“No, all the guys in there will be after me to introduce them, though.”
“Share the wealth,” I advised.
Jennifer and I went to our usual group in the auditorium. After the class, I went into the foyer to watch for Greg. I saw Eddie and the girls coming up the hallway from their classroom. As Eddie had predicted, two or three other young men were trailing along after them.
Beth’s brother, Rick Bradley, came and stood by me for a minute. “Got a houseful of women this weekend, Harvey?”
“Yup.”
“Guess you’re hoping you get a boy in there soon.”
I smiled. “Were you disappointed your first one was a girl?”
“No. I thought I would be, but when I saw her, I wasn’t.” He grinned. “But I sure was happy that the second one was a boy!”
Greg came in wearing his airline uniform, and I went over and shook his hand.
“Great to see you, Greg.”
“Harvey! I came straight from the airport,” he said. “I thought I’d have time to change, but we were a few minutes behind schedule.”
“That’s okay.” I took him into the auditorium, and Jennifer moved over to make room for Greg. Past her, Eddie was sitting between Leeanne and Abby.
Jennifer greeted Greg warmly, but that was as far as we got before the pianist began to play. After the service, we corralled our dinner guests and introduced them to Greg and made sure everyone had a ride to the house. Once we got there, we men took off our jackets and ties, and I gave Greg a quick tour of the house.
We all sat down to pot roast, potatoes, green beans, biscuits, and squash. Pies followed, and I learned that Leeanne had inherited her mother’s touch for excellence there. Greg gave abundant praise for the meal, and Eddie did it en français.
It was a warm day, so we went into the back yard. The three sisters sat in a row on one side of the lawn swing. Eddie sat on the other side with Greg, and I pulled up a lawn chair.
“Do you have to fly out today, Greg?” Jennifer asked.
“No, we’re stuck here until tomorrow morning early. I’m staying at a hotel by the airport.”
“Can you stay and go to church with us again tonight?”
“That wouldn’t be too much for you folks?”
“No,” I assured him. “We love company. Jennifer might need a nap, though. For the baby.”
Greg did a double take. “You guys have a baby coming?”
Jennifer blushed. “Not until next April.”
“Hey, congratulations!”
“Thanks.” I couldn’t help smiling. “It’s something I’ve waited a long time for.”
Abby started to get up. “I was going to bring the lemonade out.”
“I’ll get it.” I stood up, and Greg did, too.
“Need some help?”
“Sure,” I said. “You can get the glasses.”
We went inside, and I found the tray laid out on the counter, and the pitcher of lemonade in the refrigerator.
Greg said, “Captain Larson, would it be too forward of me to ask which of your sisters-in-law your friend Eddie is here for?”
I grinned. “I don’t think Eddie knows. And call me Harvey.”
We took the lemonade out, but it was clouding over and getting chilly, so we soon moved inside. Greg, Eddie, and I sat down in the sunroom and started talking baseball, and Jennifer, Abby, and Leeanne went to the kitchen to do dishes.
Greg watched them go with an awed expression.
“Their parents must be gorgeous. Three beauties in one family.”
I laughed. “They’ve got three boys, too, and not one of them is ugly.”
Eddie was watching Greg with a calculating look.
Chapter 8
The sunroom was light and pleasant, but the breeze had become sharp, and I closed the patio door. I had come to love the room, with the white wicker furniture, bright cushions, shelves full of books, a small oak table and chairs, Jennifer’s print of Van Gogh’s Starry Night, and the sampler Beth had stitched as our wedding gift.
Eddie and I pumped Greg for a few minutes about the aircraft he flew. I could tell Eddie liked Greg, but he didn’t seem sure that he wanted to. Definitely a potential rival.
I suggested the old standby, table games. We got the girls to come in and vote for their favorite games. Greg claimed to have an I.Q. of 97, which I strongly doubted.
“I could probably handle Monopoly if someone else will count my money for me,” he said.
“I thought pilots had to study math and physics and all sorts of things like that,” Leeanne said, wide-eyed.
“That’s why I’m a navigator, not a pilot.” Greg didn’t crack a smile.
Abby elbowed Leeanne. “He’s kidding. The navigators do all the math.”
Leeanne blushed.
We let the women choose their tokens first. Our set was an old one Jennifer had bought at a thrift shop, with the older tokens. Abby took the dog, Leeanne the wheelbarrow, and Jennifer the thimble. Eddie chose the cannon, and Greg the car. I took the hat. I wondered if the tokens said anything about personalities, and why nobody wanted the shoe or the iron.
The game progressed until Mike called me about four o’clock. “There was an attempted break-in last night in Deering, Harv. The alarm went off, and nothing was taken, but the owners did have a couple of nice paintings inside. One of the detectives got their statement. Take a look at it in the morning.”
“Okay. Do you think they’re safe now?”
“Well, the owners are certainly more alert. If it was your art thieves, those people were lucky last night.”
Jennifer lost all her cash in the game and turned down the offer of a loan from Abby. She went into the kitchen to start supper. I was losing anyway, so I sold out and followed her. She was getting out a frying pan.
“Moms-to-be don’t have to fix food for six people, seven counting the baby,” I said.
“They’re having so much fun. Don’t interrupt the game.”
“Oh, it’ll be over soon, anyway. Greg’s piling up cash, and Eddie and Leeanne owe him bigtime. You’re not supposed to be able to borrow in Monopoly, you know.”
“We always did,�
� she said.
“So I gathered. They’re playing by the Wainthrop Rules.”
She was getting out eggs and milk.
“What are you doing?”
“I thought we’d have breakfast for supper. French toast.”
“Let me or Abby cook it. You sit down.”
“Harvey, I’m not an invalid. I’m fine.”
“A week ago you had me scared silly. Just sit.” She relented, but gave me some coaching on French toast, and while the first batch was cooking I started some microwave bacon. About ten minutes later, Abby and Leeanne came into the kitchen, complaining loudly about how Greg had trounced them all, and I was flipping the toast onto a platter like a pro. The girls set the table and arranged the leftovers and syrup and drinks, and then we got the guys in there to eat. Greg seemed to be right at home by this time.
When the meal was over, Leeanne shooed Jennifer and me out of the kitchen. “You two haven’t had a minute alone together all day.”
“Leeanne warms my heart,” I told Jennifer, settling on the couch in the living room beside her. “She always puts herself last.” We could hear laughter and bantering from the kitchen.
“What do you think of Greg?” Jennifer asked.
“What about him?”
“He’s eyeing my sisters very carefully.”
I shrugged. “Can you blame him?”
“He’s awfully good looking to be thirty-something and single,” she said with a little frown.
“He seems like a great guy.”
“I suppose we’ll never see him again after today, so it doesn’t matter.”
I leaned away from her so I could see her face. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, Abby…”
“What, Abby’s attracted to him?”
“Well, I thought it was pretty obvious.”
I considered. Maybe I was dense. “It seemed to me like he was impartial with the girls.”
“But she was partial to him,” said Jennifer. “Besides, she’s closer to his age.”
I gave up thinking about it and put my arms around her. “Still love me?” I just wanted to hear it.
“Of course.”
I smiled.
Greg left about six-thirty, saying he would meet us at the church. Eddie hung around and took Abby and Leeanne in his truck, and the old married folks followed sedately in Jennifer’s Escort. It was quiet. Jenny leaned on my shoulder. When we got to the church, they were all standing in the foyer talking to Ruthann, Rick, and Beth. Jeff was on duty that night. Jeff and I were getting to be good friends, and I missed him. Several people going in stopped to inquire about Jennifer’s health.
Found Art (Maine Justice Book 3) Page 9