Charleston with a Clever Cougar: A Dance with Danger Mystery #6

by Barton, Sara M.

  Still upstairs, the sounds of Daisy sobbing cut through the night.

  “No, please!” she cried. “I’ll carry him! Don’t hurt him!””

  A moment later, I saw feet on the stairs. The teenager appeared with her younger brother enfolded in her arms.

  “What the hell?” Mimi came down the stairs behind her, her gun in Daisy’s back. “Why is that door open?”

  Reassured that Carole was still on the sofa and still restrained, Mimi dragged Dylan and Daisy into the front hall at gunpoint, so she could close the door. The last thing she expected was three cops pointing their weapons at the back of her head, especially when Dylan and Daisy, forewarned, dropped straight to the floor, leaving Mimi without her hostages.

  “Hands up!” bellowed one cop.

  “Show me your hands!” screamed another.

  I watched it all through the open doorway as I leaned against the patrol car, my knees weak, my heart pounding. The night exploded in a kaleidoscope of blue and red flashing lights as more police cars pulled up and cops rushed the house. The look of surprise on Mimi’s face was frozen in place, like some twisted death mask. With a howl of anguish, Mimi complied as uniformed officers moved in on her. The stepmother from hell gave up the fight. Just in time, too. As the local cops were cuffing her, a cavalcade of federal law enforcement vehicles converged on the condo complex. Agents poured out of their vehicles en masse. The next thing we knew, the Walchuk home was crowded with law enforcement people. For more than an hour, they came and went. Even the press showed up, wanting to interview Carole and Daisy, who declined. I was positioned at the front door as gatekeeper. When Doc arrived, he grabbed me and held me tight.

  “I’m glad you’re okay, babe,” he whispered in my ear.

  “Is it finally over?” I wondered. It still seemed unreal.

  Doc made his way through the law enforcement gauntlet surrounding the family and gave Daisy a big bear hug, telling her it was all going to be okay. The tearful teenager clung to him, as if she were a drowning swimmer washing up on the rocks. When she finally let go, Doc made his way over to the remaining Walchuks as they sat on the sofa. Mussing up Dylan’s hair with a friendly hand as the boy clung to his mother, Doc greeted Carole.

  “You okay?”

  “I think so. It’s been a hell of a night.”

  “It has,” he agreed. “It can only get better from this point on.”

  “I hope you’re right, Doc.” She gave him a weak little smile, pulling her children closer.

  Doug showed up, babies in tow, forty minutes later. He seemed stunned, not only because his current wife was under arrest for attempted murder, but because he nearly lost his ex-wife and children. He was a man out of his depth, overwhelmed by his bad choices and dumb decisions. One of these days, his selfish impulses were going to be called into account, but at the moment, he had his arms around Carole and he was profusely apologizing. Doc and I had taken the babies from him, so he could embrace his first family. Doc settled himself into the big recliner, a baby in each arm. The little creature wiggling in my embrace gurgled happily, feet kicking, as I leaned against the arm of the chair. It was a relief to know Mimi was in custody. Everyone was safe.

  By one o’clock, Doc had helped Doug set up a playpen on the floor of my spare bedroom, where one of the babies would sleep next to the experienced medic. A second baby would sleep in a pop-up travel crib. The third would sleep in another travel crib in my bedroom, with me as babysitter. We child-proofed the rooms quickly, making sure there were no hazards. Once Doug was certain the babies were safe, he was in a hurry to get back to Carole, Daisy and Dylan. Doc and I had all three babies in my bedroom as we got them ready for bed.

  “That man’s made a real mess of his life,” Doc commented, as he changed the third diaper, and then swaddled the youngster in a set of footed cotton pajamas. “He won’t be digging himself out of that hole any time soon.”

  Chapter Fourteen --

  It was true. I saw it first hand for myself. In the morning, Doug arrived to get Alana, Alexia, and Alicia ready for the day with Doc’s help. As they wrestled the twelve wriggling limbs that resisted yet another diaper change, I left the men to it and popped over to the Walchuck house. It was a relief to escape the chaos of three busy babies, but the silence that met me when I entered was unsettling. Dylan was sucking his thumb, reluctant to leave his mother’s embrace. Daisy, too, just wanted to cuddle with her mother on the sofa. The three faces looked up at me with great trepidation. They had had a terrible shock. The rug had been yanked out from under their emotional feet. I took a page from Doc’s handbook.

  “How about I make us all some breakfast?” I offered. “It’s nearly eight. Daisy, we’ll have to leave for the shop by eight-thirty.”

  “I can’t go,” she told me. “I’m too upset.”

  Carole’s eyes pleaded with me silently. Do something. Say something. Make sense of all this madness.

  “Look, I know what Mimi did was horrible, Daisy. I won’t deny that. But if we let her intimidate us, she wins. She tried to ruin your lives. She failed. You saved your little brother last night. I saw you drop to the floor at just the right moment. You did a good thing. You’re stronger than you think you are. You’re smarter, too,” I insisted. “And now it’s time for you to help me make some French toast. Come on.”

  With my hand outstretched, I reached for the reluctant teenager as Carole gave me a faint smile.

  “What about him?” She pointed to her little brother.

  “The difference between you and Dylan is that he’s still a little kid, Daze. He isn’t capable of understanding just how crazy and dumb some adults can be,” I told her as we headed for the kitchen. “You, on the other hand, are almost a college student. You can see how things get out of hand when adults make bad decisions.”

  “Cady?” Daisy stopped me as I took a carton of eggs and a jug of milk from the refrigerator. “Why did Mimi hate me that much?”

  “Hate you?”

  “She hired those guys to kill me. And then she tried to kill me herself last night. She was going to shoot me.”

  “I don’t think she hated you at all, Cady. I think she wanted your money.”

  “I have money?”

  “Your parents have put aside money for your college tuition and expenses. Mimi wasn’t thinking clearly. It was all about her, about her desires. I think she told herself that if she could get her hands on your money, she could get herself out of trouble. She gave herself permission to kill you so as to solve her problems. That’s never the right way to do things.”

  “I never saw my dad cry before,” she confided, pulling down plates from the cabinet shelf as I heated up the fry pan. “It was kind of weird.”

  “He seems overwhelmed with all his responsibilities, Daze.”

  “Those babies are a handful.”

  “Yes, even more so now that Mimi’s going to jail.”

  “What’s he going to do?”

  “I assume he’ll do the right thing, for those babies, for you, Dylan, and your mom, and for himself. It’s a royal mess and he needs to get it solved.”

  “Do you think he and Mom will get back together again?”

  “At the moment, Daze, things are too complicated. Your mom needs to figure out what she needs. And you can’t wish away the fact that your dad made some really bad decisions that hurt the people he loves. It’s going to take some time to get it all sorted out. It won’t happen overnight. Life isn’t a romantic fairy tale, with a magic wand to wave away the pain. It takes hard work to fix things. It takes real effort. But it’s worth it in the end. When everything is put right and people have what they truly need, they’re stronger for it, better for it.”

  “In other words, I shouldn’t wish that Dad could move in here with us, even if it means putting up with the babies?”

  “It means that you have to be patient and be willing to respect what both your parents need. Your dad is still your dad, and he’s going to need hel
p with those babies. It’s his job to figure that out. Your mom has to do what is right for her. Those aren’t her babies, Daze. She may not want the responsibility of helping your dad.”

  “Mimi really was a terrible person, wasn’t she?”

  “She was, but it always takes two to tango, as they say. I think when your mom got cancer, it scared your dad so much, he just abandoned his good sense. He got busy making a new life, instead of living the one he had with your mom. The trouble is he didn’t look hard enough at the real Mimi, because he wanted in that make-believe fairy tale.”

  “He just wanted the fun, without the hard work.” Out of the mouth of babes. I stacked the pieces of French toast on a piece of aluminum foil, wrapped them up, and put them in the warm oven before starting the next batch.

  “Sometimes people don’t want to believe the truth about someone they care for, Daze, because it means they’ll have to deal with the problem, whether it’s cancer or utter selfishness.”

  ”I’m still mad that Dad left us,” Daisy admitted. I could see it bothered her that she could have such mixed emotions about someone she loved. “He should have thought more about us, instead of that witch.”

  “He should have. That was a big part of the problem. He didn’t think.”

  “Mimi tried to kill me,” Daisy said again. I knew it would take time for the horror of all that to fade enough for Daisy to grasp its reality and process it. “That wasn’t fair.”

  “I don’t think it was even about you. You weren’t a person to her, with feelings, hopes, dreams. You stood in the way of her having the lifestyle she wanted. She told herself that if you weren’t around, she’d have a better life, so she went ahead and made plans to get rid of you.”

  “That was mean.”

  “It was self-absorbed. Mimi saw herself as more important than everyone else, more entitled. No one ever said no to her or stood up to her bullying.”

  “That’s why she bossed Dad around all the time and told him what to do.”

  “Maybe the cancer scared him so much, he didn’t want to think for himself, and since Mimi was willing to do his thinking for him, he surrendered control. He didn’t want to be responsible for doing the right thing, so he picked a woman who didn’t have a conscience. What she didn’t realize, Daisy, is how much you matter to us. Your mom, your dad, Dylan -- they need you. I need you. And even Doc needs you. We’re not willing to stand around and let someone like Mimi take you away from us. You know what really made Mimi the maddest?”

  I looked over at the young girl standing with me in Carole’s kitchen. I saw the almost adult intellect trying to win out over the little girl emotions.

  “Your dad tried to stop her. He told Mimi not to hurt you. He drove up here to be here for you as soon as he found out what she was doing.” Even as I said those words, I realized they were true. Doug really had finally taken a stand against the devious Mimi. Almost too little too late.

  “Dad really does love us?”

  “Daisy, your dad never stopped loving you. I’m not even sure he ever stopped loving your mom. He wanted the happy times without the sad times. That’s not how life works.”

  “Dad broke up the family. He left us.” Doug walked out on them, whatever the reason. She was beginning to accept that reality as something she didn’t cause to happen, and that was part of the healing process.

  “I think he regrets it deeply. But it’s not always that easy to fix a broken heart, Daisy, or to learn to trust again after your life’s been turned upside down. You can’t pretend everything is okay. It has to be made right again, and that’s a process that happens over time.”

  The next thing I knew, Daisy was leaning against me, her head on my bad shoulder. Even as I winced, I gave her a reassuring pat.

  “Thanks, Cady. For being there.”

  “My pleasure. Go call folks to the table. It’s time to eat.”

  We had a pleasant enough breakfast, under the circumstances. Dylan started to cheer up when his father arrived with Doc and some very hungry babies. Again, Doc and I took the triplets, to give Doug a chance to comfort his son. Carole watched her ex-husband carefully, as if she was trying to figure out what she wanted to do. I didn’t envy her the decision. As much as I knew Doug was hurting, I also knew he couldn’t just walk away from his second family. They were his responsibility now. And there was still the uncertainty of Carole’s cancer. She seemed to realize that Doug was not the man she married so long ago. Life wasn’t simple or clear cut. There were more complications standing in their way now than had been at the divorce. It really was going to take a much greater effort to sort it all out. Maybe Carole just wasn’t up to it. Maybe she just didn’t want to have to deal with all that stuff. Life was too short to waste, time too precious to waste.

  After Daisy and I got the kitchen all cleaned up, Doc brought the van around. Carole bid us farewell from the door, Baby Alexia in her arms, as we headed off to the shop to finish decorating the cake and pack it for its final journey.

  Two and a half hours later, we arrived at Saybrook Point Inn. The wedding reception would soon begin. Doc waited in the van while Daisy and I made our way into the hotel. His buddy, Rick, was going to help him carry in the cake, but first we needed to know the location of the cake table. The wedding coordinator met us in the Soundview Ballroom to show us.

  “Ooh!” Daisy’s eyes lit up when she saw the decorated room. There were roses in mirror-finish silver vases on all the tables and twinkling fairy lights tucked into floral swags around the doorways. The sweetheart table for the bride and groom was set up in front of the long display table, festooned with more romantic bunting. The staff was just beginning to light the wicks on the candles, moving from the tiny tea lights on each table to the taller, elegant candelabras. This looked like it was going to be a lovely reception. Daisy’s face was a study in longing.

  “Okay, kid,” I poked her in the side gently. “Time for us to go get your wedding cookies and the cake.”

  “Wow, Cady,” she said with awe in her voice, reluctant to leave, even temporarily, “is every wedding this beautiful?”

  “It’s nice, isn’t it? Just don’t get carried away with the magic of one day, Daze. A marriage is hard work. There are always ups and downs. This moment is the icing on the cake of life, but you still have to make dinner.”

  “If you marry Doc, Cady, can I be a bridesmaid?”

  “You think I should marry Doc?” I found myself laughing as I pointed her out the door.

  “Yes. You guys would make a good couple.”

  “We would?”

  “I think so. Then you could come here for your wedding.”

  “First we have to fall in love. Then we have to go out for a while. And then he has to ask me. Maybe Doc doesn’t want to get married.”

  “Trust me,” said Daisy. “He’s already got that planned.”

  “And how would you know that?” I asked, suddenly curious. There was something in Daisy’s tone that alerted me. But she just fobbed me off with a sly smile and a wave of her hand.

  Once we got outside, we found Doc waiting behind his van with a tall, good-looking guy with a ready smile.

  “Cady, Daze, this is my buddy, Rick Rollins.” We greeted him and exchanged pleasantries. I was grateful for the assistance because there was no way I could perform my normal cake baker duty of carrying in the wedding cake. I stepped back as each of them grabbed a side of the cake box and held my breath until the men made it safely into the ballroom, marched the cake across the floor, and gingerly eased it onto its table. Daisy’s face lit up as she saw it in its place of honor, under the spotlight. The shimmering little bees buzzed around the artful gumpaste flowers as if performing some magical dance in a garden.

  “Beautiful,” Rick announced. “You do nice work. We’ll have to hire you when Jen and I get married in June.”

  “A summer wedding,” I smiled. “I’ll do something special for the pair of you.”

  “Great. I’ll tell
Jen. Doc, stop by the house tomorrow for dinner before you head to Springfield. Feel free to bring a date.” Rick glanced quickly at me before looking away. Doc caught the movement and smirked.

  “We’ll be there.”

  “Cookies,” I reminded Daisy. I showed her where we were to put them on the display table. “Let’s go get them and set them up.”

  Three trips later, Doc and Daisy had brought in all of the beribboned bags, safely ensconced in their protective travel boxes, and we unpacked them. As soon as the last bag was on the table, Doc picked up the boxes to go back into the van. Daisy lingered until she heard Doc beckoned us.

  “Come see this! Hurry up!”

  “What is it, Doc?”

  “Don’t want to spoil the magic. Take a look for yourselves. I have to move the van.”

  Chapter Fifteen --

  Daisy and I stepped outside, moving past the excited guests just as Doc drove down the way about a hundred yards and pulled over to wait for us. The clop-clop of horse hooves on the pavement signaled the arrival of the bride and groom by white carriage.

  “Oh, how lovely,” I sighed.

  “Can we watch? Please?” Daisy begged me. “I just want to see her dress.”

  “Another five minutes won’t kill us,” I told her. And then I thought about how close she had come to death last night. For this moment, she wasn’t thinking about the despicable thing Mimi tried to do to her last night. The hopes and dreams of a teenage girl hadn’t been completely stomped out of her. She would have those moments of remembering the terror she felt at the hands of her assailant at the shop and the feel of Mimi’s gun at the back of her head. But for now, there was a little joy in the air and Daisy drank it all in.

  If I was honest with you, I would admit that I took heart from the sight of Tara Henslacker and her new husband. They were a nice young couple. I knew that the first time I met them at the shop. Today, they looked at each other with such trust, I wanted to believe it would all work out. I knew they would be tested throughout their marriage and they would have to make decisions that would either strengthen that bond or tear it apart. I wished them the wisdom to do the right thing.