Thanksgiving in Paradise

by Kathi Daley

  “I’m not sure,” Margie answered. “I could see them yelling at each other, and there was a lot of flailing of arms and sharp gestures, but I saw them through the window, so I wasn’t able to hear what was being said.”

  If Deputy DuPont had been in town the day before the explosion, Roy would have known about it. Wouldn’t he? He’d certainly never mentioned it. I supposed I would call him and ask him about it.

  A phone call to Roy revealed that Roy had no idea that DuPont had been in Serenity the day before the explosion, or that the man had met and apparently argued with Harriet. He assured me that he would look into the matter, so I decided to leave the task of dealing with the extremely arrogant and unlikable deputy up to him.

  Chapter 18

  I decided to talk to Grandpa as soon as I got home. Once I did, everyone in the family would know about Kyle and me, and the pressure to pretend nothing was going on would be off. I figured that once everyone was made aware of the situation, the next step would be to allow everyone to get used to the idea of the girls and me moving out at some point in the distant future. I just hoped that could be accomplished without hurt feelings or unnecessary drama.

  When I arrived at the resort, Rosalie told me that Grandpa was in the den watching an old western. That was as good a place as any to have our talk, so I headed in that direction.

  “Hey, Grandpa. I see you and the Duke have found a way to pass the time on this snowy afternoon.” I sat down next to him on the sofa.

  “I’ve seen this movie dozens of times, but it’s a good one.”

  “Since you’ve seen the movie before, I wondered if it was okay if I talked to you about something.”

  Grandpa picked up the remote and clicked off the television. “Of course, pumpkin. What’s on your mind?”

  “I have news to share. Good news, yet still news that has me a bit worried as well.”

  Grandpa narrowed his gaze. “Okay. Why don’t you just tell me what is on your mind, and I’ll see if I can help.”

  I decided to take the direct approach and jumped right in. “Kyle asked me to marry him. Actually, that’s not true. I accepted a proposal that Kyle never actually got around to presenting, but he agreed that was what we wanted, so what I guess I am trying to say, is that Kyle and I are engaged.”

  Grandpa leaned over and hugged me. “That’s wonderful. You know how fond I am of Kyle.”

  I nodded. “I do. Which is why I hope you will consider this next part.”

  “Next part?”

  “While I am thrilled with the idea of Kyle and me marrying, I am scared of what that will mean for the girls. While Kyle and I don’t plan to marry until next summer, or possibly even after that, I am aware that marrying Kyle will mean moving in with him, and I’m afraid that will upset the equilibrium the girls have finally settled into. I’ve really been stressing about how a move will affect them, which is why I am about to ask you a huge favor.”

  Grandpa raised a brow. “Favor?”

  “Kyle and I talked about it, and we wondered if you would be willing to move to Kyle’s place with the girls and me when the time comes? I know you are settled here, but we both feel that you are such an important part of their lives, and having you around to make them breakfast and help look after them really could make all the difference in their ability to adjust. Especially Gracie. You don’t have to decide now. Kyle and I aren’t getting married right away. Next summer would be the soonest and, like I said, it might not even be then. I love Kyle, but I am not willing to do anything that would destroy the fact that Ashley and Gracie both finally seem settled.”

  Grandpa didn’t answer right away.

  “Like I said,” I added. “I know what I am asking is a big ask, and you don’t have to decide now, but I do hope you will at least think about it.”

  Grandpa nodded slowly. “Okay, I’ll think about it. If you aren’t getting married until the summer, then I guess we have time to see how things develop. You know I love you and the girls more than anything, and if you all truly need me, then, of course, I want to be there for you. Having said that, a lot can happen in eight or nine months, which is why I think that waiting to see where we are when the time for the move comes around is the best option at this point.”

  I hugged Grandpa. “I totally understand. And thank you. You know how much you mean to me and Ashley and Gracie. You bring stability to our lives.”

  “Have you talked to your dad about this?” Grandpa asked.

  I nodded. “I couldn’t sleep and got up early this morning. As usual, he was up, so we talked. I told Ashley and Gracie yesterday. I will admit that Gracie didn’t take the news well, but Kyle and I talked, and we both agreed that things are fine as they are now for as long as they need to be. We plan to take things slow so that everyone has a chance to get used to the idea of our marrying before we actually set a date.”

  Grandpa nodded. “I think that is wise, and I admire you and Kyle for putting the needs of your sisters in front of your own needs.”

  “Honestly,” I said, “while I love Kyle and want to marry him, I think I need the time to adjust to the idea too. I don’t always do well with change.”

  Grandpa chuckled. “No, darlin’ you really do not.”

  After I’d spoken to Grandpa, I told Rosalie what was going on, and I had to admit she actually teared up. Of course, she hugged me and told me that she was happy for me, but I could see that the news that the girls and I would be moving out as soon as next summer had affected her deeply. I guess I really had misjudged her. If nothing else, her response made me feel closer to her. I supposed that part of me felt threatened by her presence before, but now that I knew she really did want to have the girls and me around and wasn’t just saying that for my dad’s benefit, I realized that leaving her might, in the end, be just as hard as leaving everyone and everything else.

  After dinner, the girls headed upstairs to work on their homework, and I headed to my bedroom to grade papers and work on my lesson plan. It had started to snow. Not a lot, but the air was filled with flurries. My cat, Cuervo, was curled up on the bed, and Echo was snoring softly from his bed next to mine. I loved evenings like this when I knew that the people I cared most about were here tucked inside the house that my grandpa built all those years ago.

  “Can I come in?” Gracie asked from the doorway.

  I smiled. “Absolutely.” I pulled the comforter that was laid across the bed up so Gracie could snuggle under it. “Why don’t you have slippers on?”

  Gracie shrugged.

  “Is there something on your mind?” I asked as Gracie settled into the pillows I’d stacked up against the headboard.

  “The wind is making the tree hit the house near my window. I couldn’t get to sleep, so I decided to come into your room. Are you working on school stuff?”

  I nodded. “Lesson plans. They aren’t my favorite thing to have to do, but Principal Remington likes them to be turned in each month. I watched part of your rehearsal today. You did a very good job.”

  “Thanks.” Gracie snuggled up closer to me. “Did you tell Grandpa about Kyle?” Gracie asked, which I realized was the real reason she had joined me.

  “I did.”

  “Was he sad?”

  I paused. “No. I don’t think so. Kyle and I aren’t getting married until summer at the earliest, so nothing is going to change for a very long time. Grandpa and I both agreed to work together to make everything as easy for everyone as is possible. He has some things to think over, and Kyle and I have some things to think over, but I promise you, that the last thing we want to do is to remove any of the people you love and who love you from your life.”

  “Maybe Kyle can just move here.”

  I paused. “That is a suggestion. And one I will definitely talk to Kyle about. We are working on some other options as well.” I turned so that I was looking directly at
Gracie. “Do you know that I love you?”

  Gracie nodded. “Yes, I know.”

  “And do you know that Kyle loves you?”

  She nodded again.

  “And do you trust that we would never do anything to hurt you?”

  She hesitated but eventually nodded.

  “Okay, then. I don’t want you to worry about any of this. I want you to trust Kyle and me to figure things out so that everyone is happy.”

  “Jenna says that sometimes you can’t make everyone happy.”

  “Well, I guess that is true. But Kyle and I aren’t going to do anything until we figure everything out. Okay?”

  Gracie reached forward and hugged me. “Okay.”

  Chapter 19

  Tuesday, November 14

  It snowed two feet overnight, so school was closed, and I was gifted an extra day off. The girls were ecstatic, although I wasn’t sure my dad was quite as giddy since he’d let the staff take vacation time until after Thanksgiving when ski season began, which meant he had no one to help him with the snow removal. Once I’d checked in with Grandpa and let him know that there was no school so the girls could sleep in, I grabbed my heavy boots and heavy jacket and headed out into the now sunny day to help out where I could.

  “Wow, I can’t believe it snowed two feet overnight,” I said to Dad, who was gassing up his snow blower. “It was sort of flurrying last night, but it didn’t look like things were going to get all that serious.”

  “Storms blow in that way sometimes,” Dad said. “I called the plow service, and they are going to come out and take care of all the roads and driveways. I’ll use the big blower to clear the main paths from the house to the road and between the cabins, and if you want to, you can use the small blower to take care of the narrower paths.”

  It took the two of us the entire morning to clear the main arteries that allowed us to get around the resort. If the resort had been open, we would have had staff on hand to help out with snow removal, but when the resort was closed, it was up to the family to get the job done. Rosalie had headed over to her veterinary clinic, which was housed on the resort property, but well away from the main house. As soon as we were done, Dad headed over there to make sure she didn’t need help digging out, and I packed up the dogs and headed to Kyle’s house to clear the walkways and decks since I knew that snow shoveling wasn’t on his approved activity list. Ashley and Gracie seemed happy watching television with Grandpa, which I supposed did support the idea that he really was needed.

  “I’m not going to need to go to the gym for a week,” I said to Kyle as I worked on his back deck with the snow shovel he’d provided. He’d called a service to clear the drive and walkways, so I wouldn’t need to deal with that.

  “I hate that I have to watch you doing all the work. I think the deck is fine for now. Why don’t you take a break?”

  I was all for that. Not only was I starving, but I was also exhausted. After we’d taken off our wet boots, hats, gloves, and jackets, and stored them in the mudroom, I put on a pot of coffee while Kyle grabbed a couple of pieces of wood and went into the living room to stoke up the fire. I decided to make sandwiches while the coffee was brewing. Settling on grilled cheese, I plugged in the griddle and then buttered slices of bread while I waited for it to heat up. Kyle didn’t have any potato chips, which would have been my side of choice, but he did have canned chicken noodle soup, so I opened a can, divided it between two bowls, and put it in the microwave. Once the soup, sandwiches, and coffee were done, I went into the living room to let Kyle know I had lunch, or I guess by this point, an early dinner, on the table.

  “What’s all of this?” I asked, after noticing that the coffee table, as well as the sofa cushions, were covered with files.

  “I worked on Harriet’s computer yesterday and dug out all the information I could.”

  “Did you find anything?”

  Kyle nodded. “I’m starving. I’ll fill you in while we eat.”

  I was starving as well, and the food was getting cold, so I agreed. I was surprised Kyle hadn’t brought the case up earlier if he’d found something, although I had been pretty busy with the snow removal since the minute I’d climbed out of bed.

  “So what did you find?” I asked the minute we had both sat down at the kitchen table.

  “First of all, now that we are focusing on Harriet as the intended victim, I decided to call Roy so we could coordinate an effort to look into all the normal things one would look into if any other murder had occurred. He’d already pulled her phone and banking records, and there was nothing that jumped out. We don’t have her actual cell phone, work phone, or her work computer since they were destroyed in the explosion, but I did find a copy of her calendar saved to an online account that was linked to her work computer.”

  “And?”

  “And several things. First of all, Harriet had left a reminder on her calendar that she had a lunch date with JM on the day she died.”

  “Who’s JM?”

  “I have no idea. Roy didn’t either, but he is looking into it.”

  “I suppose that if she kept her meeting with JM, then this person could be the one to give her the bomb.”

  “Roy and I thought so as well. He is taking the lead very seriously. He also spent a good amount of time on Sunday canvassing Harriet’s neighborhood and talking to her neighbors. He hoped to find someone who had noticed something.”

  “Something like what?”

  “A new person in her life. Unusual patterns in behavior or perhaps unusual travel patterns. Anything at all that would provide information as to what was going on in her life prior to the explosion.”

  I took a bite of my sandwich. “And did he find anything?”

  “Not really. At least not as of yesterday, which was the last time I spoke to him, but I could tell that he has no intention of giving up until he figures this out.”

  I frowned and sat back in my chair. “So what has Kate been doing all this time? I haven’t heard her name mentioned since the beginning.”

  Kyle looked surprised at my question. “I’m sorry. I thought I told you. Kate took an emergency leave from work. I don’t have all the details, but apparently, she had a family emergency and left town on Saturday morning. Roy isn’t sure when she will be back.”

  I was sorry to hear that Kate had a family emergency, but not all the bummed to find out that I didn’t have to worry about tripping over her as we continued with our investigation. Of course, now Roy was on his own again, which was not going to make things any easier on him. I supposed that Kyle and I would have to pick up the slack and pitch in even more than we had been. Of course, I had sisters to parent and a job to do, so I couldn’t commit all my time to the investigation, and Kyle had a town council to put back together, so his time was limited as well.

  “Okay, so between you and Roy, you managed to establish that there was nothing odd in her phone or banking records and that she was scheduled to have lunch with JM on the day she died. Do we know where they had lunch?”

  Kyle shook his head. “The note just said ‘lunch JM’ on that date. The time and location were not noted, but as I said, Roy is looking into it.”

  “Okay, so what else?”

  “I’m close to getting into an online storage account I found a link to amongst Harriet’s things. I’m hoping the account contains her blogs and the notes for her blog. I haven’t forgotten that her home office was trashed leaving me to believe that someone thought she had something they didn’t want to be revealed.”

  “How long will it take you to complete the hack?” I asked.

  “I’m hoping to be in by the end of the day; tomorrow morning at the latest. If we don’t find an obvious reason for someone to have killed Harriet in the file, I’m afraid we’ll be back to square one. Roy has been working long hours, but so far, none of his leads have pann
ed out.”

  I did feel sorry for Roy. This was not an easy case. “I noticed you had a bunch of files on the coffee table.”

  “They are all the files I took from Harriet’s home office. Given the fact that her office was tossed, I have a feeling the file with the actual motive for her murder, if there even was a file, is long gone, but I decided to wouldn’t hurt to take a look at what else she was up to. Roy had one of his temps gather up all the files and loose paperwork that he’d found in her home and bring them to me. There is a lot. Most of it is probably totally irrelevant to whatever is going on, but it needs to be looked through and eliminated just in case.”

  I had to smile. “You’re a good guy, Kyle. It sounds like the town should put you on the payroll.”

  Kyle chuckled. “You aren’t wrong; however, I don’t need the money so I’ll just consider this my civic duty.”

  I got up, grabbed the coffee pot, and refreshed both our mugs. “I spoke to Greg yesterday. He told me that you offered him one of the open council seats.”

  Kyle nodded. “Jeff and I spoke to Bookman. We decided to start by offering the open seats to Greg, Rita, and Doc. I did talk to your dad, but as you suspected, he wasn’t interested. To be honest, I pretty much expected Greg, Rita, and Doc to turn down the offer as well, but Rita accepted right off the bat, and Greg and Doc said they’d think about it.”

  “So what made you decide to ask Rita instead of Brandon?”

  “You made a very good point when you suggested her. She is just as qualified as Brandon is, and it would be nice to have at least one female town council member. I was happy she accepted, and hope the other two will as well. I know Greg is busy, so it might not work for him, although he does have a certain amount of flexibility in his schedule. Still, Bookman said he’d worked with him on a grant for the high school arts program, and it was his impression that the man was not only very intelligent but organized and proactive as well.”