Lane Dawson stood on his grandparents’ front porch, leaning against the door frame, peering through the mesh. From where he stood, he could see his grandmother flitting about the kitchen preparing supper and his grandfather sitting on the edge of his easy chair. As always, he had a hand cupped to his ear, trying to hear the television. Neither of them noticed Lane standing there.
A feeling of unease rolled about in his stomach. The feeling had nothing to do with standing on his grandparents’ front porch. He was used to that. Nana and Pop-Pop were like second parents to him, but in this moment, he felt more than slightly out of his element. He was pretty sure the unease stemmed from the woman standing behind him. Even with his back to her, he could feel her unnerving presence, and it weirded him out a little. He wondered if maybe it had been a mistake to invite her over for supper.
But before he could move from his spot to reconsider what he was doing, his grandmother spotted him. Doris Church bent slightly at the waist, cupped a hand over her eyes as if the sun was glaring, and squinted in Lane’s direction.
“Lane? Is that you? Well, come in, come in!” she hollered from the kitchen. “You don’t have to knock, you know that.” The short woman shuffled towards the door from the kitchen. “For heaven’s sake, Bill. Let the boy in!”
Lane opened the screen door and held a hand up, as if saluting his grandfather. “No need to get up, Pop-Pop.”
“Well, Lane, my boy! Whatcha doing hovering around on the porch?”
With both sets of eyes now focused on him, Lane took a step to the side, allowing Evanee to enter. “Nana, Pop-Pop, you know Evanee Woods, don’t you?”
Doris’s eyes widened as a slow smile spread across her face. She clasped her hands beneath her chin. “Why, yes! We just saw Evanee yesterday, as a matter of fact.”
Lane had to fight back an eye roll. The way his grandmother was smiling, he knew what she was thinking. He needed to be crystal clear with both of them. This wasn’t a romantic visit. It was purely business.
“I know you did, Nana. That’s why she’s here. She told me you gave her your blessing to investigate the fire.”
Doris’s smile dissolved. She glanced over at her husband nervously. “Oh. You don’t mind that we did that, do you, sweetheart?”
Lane tipped his head to the side slightly. “Well, at first I was a little perturbed, but I came around.”
“Eventually,” asserted Evanee with a smile. She stepped forward and gave Doris a hug like they were old friends. “I hope you don’t mind that Lane brought me to supper.”
Doris’s head shook. “No, not at all. We don’t mind, do we, Bill?”
Bill smiled fondly at the pair. “No, we don’t mind a bit. Doris makes enough food on Sundays to feed the entire UCC congregation. We eat leftovers all week long.” He waved his hand in the air. “Well, come on in. Sit down. Take a load off. The Giants seem to be edging out the Texans, but it’s close. They’ve had a problem moving the ball since the half. I’m not sure if they’ll hold ’em.”
Lane patted his grandfather on the shoulder before taking a seat on the sofa. He looked up at Evanee and wondered if he should offer her the spot next to him on the sofa. But before he could say anything to her, Doris linked arms with her and pulled her towards the kitchen.
“Evanee, dear, I won’t subject you to watching football,” said Doris. “You can come join me in the kitchen while I put the finishing touches on supper.”
With Evanee now occupied, Lane leaned forward onto his knees to watch a bit of football with his grandfather. They watched in earnest for a while, cheering when the Giants made an impressive first down, and Lane listened when his grandfather had commentary to make over the use of a jet sweep, then it went to commercial.
Bill leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms over his tubby waistline and turned to face his grandson. “So, you brought a woman home with you.” He didn’t even bother to hide his surprise. “That’s never happened before.”
Lane knew he’d be questioned; he just didn’t think it’d be so soon after arriving. “Yeah, well, it’s not like you think.”
“My grandson brings a beautiful woman home for Sunday dinner, and it’s not what I think?” asked Bill, his brows lifted. “Well, then, what is it?”
“I told you. She’s investigating the fire. Once I understood what she was doing, I thought it would be best if I helped her with her investigation. Two heads are better than one. You know?” Lane cracked his knuckles.
“Well, sure. I suppose that’s true,” conceded Bill. “Have you had any luck?”
Lane nodded. “Actually, we have. We just got back from our first break in the case.”
Bill’s eyes widened. “There’s been a break in the case already?”
“Well, it’s a small break. Maybe it won’t amount to much, but I think we have someone who’s covering something up.” He shrugged. “Time’ll tell.”
“Well, you know we’ll help in any way we can.”
“I know you will. I appreciate that,” said Lane. He tipped his head towards the kitchen. “And actually, that’s why I brought her along. She and I need to put together a timeline of events. Something to work off to understand what really happened that day. I thought you and Nana might be able to fill in some gaps for us.”
“Oh, well, I’m really glad to hear you’re being logical about it. That’s a really good idea, I like that. And yeah, anything you need.”
“Thanks.” Lane looked over at his shoulder to see Evanee donning an apron with his grandmother. She looked completely in her element with her, and they seemed to be chatting easily. His grandmother laughed at something Evanee had said, and then pretty soon Evanee was laughing too. He tipped his head then, watching them interact. He’d never really looked at her like that before. Up until now, she’d only been an uppity pain-in-the-ass woman that he didn’t have time to deal with. But now he was starting to believe that she was actually trying to help his family. He swallowed hard as he realized he was starting to relax around her.
“Earth to Lane, earth to Lane.” Bill waved a hand in front of his grandson’s face.
Lane blinked and then turned his attention on his grandfather. “Oh, sorry, Pop-Pop! What’s up?”
“I asked you what the new clue was, but you were too preoccupied staring at your lady friend.”
“Oh, I wasn’t staring at…” Lane felt his cheeks heating up. He’d always been bad about hiding embarrassment because his cheeks always gave away how he was feeling. It was a trait that had been passed down from his mother. From everything his family had told him, she’d had the exact same attribute, and she’d hated it just as much as he did. And while he hated it, hearing that he and his mother had something in common always made him feel closer to her.
“No, I was just thinking about what Nana made for supper. I’m starving.”
Bill pushed the mute button and stood up. “Well, that makes two of us. I’ve been starving for the last hour. Doris!” shouted Bill. “Please tell me supper is ready. Your grandson and I are just about to pass out over here.”
Lane turned to see Evanee pulling a casserole dish out of the oven and putting it on a hot pad on the dining room table.
“Evanee is just taking it out of the oven for me now,” said Doris. “We can eat anytime you’re ready.”
After setting the hot dish down on the table, Evanee stood behind a chair. She shot a smile in Lane’s direction.
The sight of her in an apron and oven mitts made him smile back. He walked over to her and, putting a hand against the small of her back, whispered in her ear. “Aww, honey, you cooked.”
She smiled at him and whispered back, “I did, I slaved hard over this meal. I hope you like it.”
Before Lane could respond, Doris was pointing to the chairs. “Evanee, dear. You can sit there, next to Lane.”
Without even thinking, Lane reached over and pulled out her chair.
She looked up at him, surprised. “Oh, thank you.”
/> He grinned. “See? I can be polite.”
“I see that,” she said with a giggle.
As soon as the rest of the food was on the table and they’d had a chance to say grace, Bill began the discussion about the investigation. “Dori, Lane said they already have a break in the case.”
“Oh, do they?” Doris was in the middle of serving herself a scoop of green beans when she froze. “Already?”
Evanee glanced over at Lane in surprise. “We do?”
Lane chuckled and took the bowl of green beans from his grandmother. “Well, I definitely think we have a new piece of information.”
“What’s that?” asked Evanee sharply.
Her tone made Lane wonder if maybe he wasn’t supposed to have said anything about it to his grandparents. “Well, you know. We found out about Maddie Carlson.”
Evanee sighed. “But she didn’t tell us anything that’s helpful to the case.”
Lane lowered his brows. “I know she didn’t tell us anything. It was just the way she acted that was the clue. She seemed suspicious to me.”
Doris shook her head. “I don’t understand. What’s the situation with Maddie Carlson?”
“Mom used to work for her mother, is that right?” asked Lane.
Doris nodded. “Yes, Rachel worked full-time for Irma and part-time for Priscilla. Plus she took care of you and your father. She was Wonder Woman, your mother. I just don’t know how she did it all.”
Bill’s brows knitted together. “Everyone in town knew that Rachel worked for Irma Cromwell. How is that news?”
“It’s really not news,” said Evanee, waving a hand.
Lane didn’t understand why she was being so unexcited about the new details they’d unearthed. That information had to be significant in some way. “Maddie had Mom’s festival dress, but she never gave it to her.”
“Is that right?” breathed Doris. She glanced over at Evanee as if to clarify the details.
Evanee sighed. “Yes, he’s right. But she said the reason she never gave Rachel the dress was because when she got to the fire hall, the fire had already started. I mean, that makes sense.”
“Oh,” said Doris, her face crumpling slightly, like that wasn’t as big of a deal as Lane had made it out to be.
Evanee went on to explain to Doris and Bill how Maddie had been in possession of the dress in the first place.
Lane shook his head. “Something about that whole situation just doesn’t sit right with me.”
“Maddie did seem a little uneasy when we were questioning her,” agreed Evanee as she took a bite of the fried chicken in front of her. “Mmm, Doris, this fried chicken is amazing. What’s your secret?”
“Buttermilk,” she said through a bite of chicken.
“Dinner’s delicious, Nana, just like it always is,” Lane agreed, shooting his grandmother a wink and a smile.
“So, now you think that Maddie was acting funny?” said Doris, pulling the conversation back around.
Lane shrugged. “I feel like she was hiding something. That’s for sure. But we need to know if her story adds up. We need to map out Mom’s movements that day. Do you know what time she went to the fire hall to start getting ready?”
Doris nodded. “Oh, I should have that information. I took impeccable notes. Anytime they’d report back to us with new information about the case, I wrote it down in a notebook. I kept everything I could get my hands on over the years.”
Lane’s eyes brightened. “Oh, that’s great news. Can we see your notes?”
“Of course. I’ll just go grab my notebook.”
Doris got up and returned a minute later with a notebook. She flipped open the pages and pointed to a timeline of events she herself had created. She slid it over to Lane.
“See? Right there. She left Priscilla’s around five. She ran home, picked you up from the house, grabbed her things, switched vehicles, and she was here with you by five twenty.”
“Why’d she switch vehicles?” asked Evanee.
“Steve said she was complaining that her car was overheating. She didn’t want to be driving with the baby if it broke down,” explained Bill. “So Steve had her take the truck.”
Evanee shook her head. “Then that explains why people reported seeing Steve’s vehicle at the fire hall that day!”
Bill sighed. “And as much as we’ve told people that she was the one driving the truck, it still didn’t change their opinion that Steve was involved somehow.”
Lane’s eyes scanned the page hungrily. “It says here the parade started at seven.”
Doris nodded. “Yes. Your father was supposed to pick her up there around six thirty.”
Evanee shook her head. “I don’t know if I really understand why she decided to get ready over at the fire hall.”
“Well,” began Doris. “You see, it was her twenty-fifth birthday and she’d just had a baby. Rachel was feeling a little down because Steve had been working so much. She wanted a little romance, so she’d thought it would be fun if Steve had to pick her up, like a real date. She hadn’t wanted him to see her all dressed up until he came to pick her up. So she decided she’d go over there.”
“Well, why didn’t she just get ready here?”
Doris grinned. “I think she wanted a little time alone with her husband before the parade.”
“Ahh, I get it,” said Evanee.
Lane could feel hovering over his shoulder to read the notebook with him. He pointed at another piece of the puzzle. “It says here that the fire chief thinks the fire started sometime between six twenty and six thirty. Nana, you thought Dad was supposed to pick up Mom at six thirty?”
Doris’s head bobbed. “Yes, that was the plan. Of course, according to him, when he got there it was too late. The whole place was engulfed in flames.”
Evanee leaned back in her seat. “Maddie also said that the fire had already started when she went to drop off the dress. But if the fire started between six twenty and six thirty, that means she was dropping off the dress really late. I mean, if Steve was supposed to pick her up at six thirty, Rachel should’ve already been dressed by then. And I don’t know much about sewing, but if the only thing Priscilla had to fix on the dress was the hem, you wouldn’t think it would’ve taken her an hour and a half to fix.”
Doris sucked in her breath. “Oh, heavens, no. A little hem fix for a woman like Priscilla Pankhurst? She’d have that fixed in a few minutes. There’s no way it would’ve taken her that long to fix a hem.”
“So let’s say she fixed it within the first half hour after Rachel left. The dress should’ve been ready for Maddie to take it to Rachel by five thirty. It only takes a few minutes to drive from Priscilla’s house into town. Even after adding all of that up, the fire still wouldn’t have started for another hour.”
Lane shoved the heel of his hands against the table. “I knew it! I knew that woman wasn’t telling the truth. I could just tell!” His jaw tightened. He rolled his head around on his shoulders, trying to let some of the tension out of his neck. “We’re gonna have to go back and talk to her again.” Lane started to stand up.
Evanee looked at him like he was crazy. “And say what, Lane? If we accuse her of lying, that’ll only make her clam up worse. I think we just back off. We need to find out more about their relationship. Why would Maddie have lied today?”
“Well, I don’t know why she lied,” began Doris, “but I do know that Maddie and Rachel didn’t exactly get along.”
Lane looked at his grandmother in surprise. “What? You never told me that. I thought everyone in town loved Mom.”
“Oh, yes. They did! I think Madelyn Cromwell might’ve been the only one who didn’t back then.”
“Why’s that?” asked Evanee.
“Well, Rachel and Maddie’s mother were very close. You know Rachel was Irma’s assistant. She did everything for that woman. They were like two peas in a pod, and Rachel aspired to be like Irma. She wanted to get involved in things and make a differ
ence in the community. It was a very good pairing, those two.”
Lane shook his head. “I don’t understand. Then why wouldn’t Maddie like her?”
“Well, you have to understand, Lane. Maddie was Irma’s daughter. She was a few years younger than your mother, but ultimately, Irma treated Rachel like her own, and I think it bothered Maddie. But they were very different, Maddie and Irma.”
“How so?” asked Evanee.
“Well, Maddie liked flaunting money—showing off her new cars or whatnot. Irma wasn’t like that. She was very philanthropic. She liked to give to charities and to watch Stoney Brook grow. Rachel was much more like Irma in that way. She was a very giving person.”
Lane nodded. He’d heard that his whole life.
Doris smiled softly at Lane. “And once Rachel had you, it was like you had a third grandmother in Irma. She gave Rachel so many little gifts for you. She just loved the idea of having a new baby in the family. I think Maddie might have been a little jealous.”
“Jealous enough to have started that fire?” asked Evanee.
Doris’s face went thoughtful then. “You know, the thought’s occurred to me over the years. I’m not going to lie. Because when you lie awake at night, wondering who would have wanted to hurt your baby girl, your mind goes to some pretty dark and dreary places. So I considered Maddie as the culprit.”
“I can’t believe you’ve never told me any of this, Gran. Did you ever tell your suspicions to the police?”
“Oh, heavens, no! Irma Cromwell practically owned that police station. She funded them at every turn. There’s no way they would’ve taken that suggestion seriously. It would have pitted Irma against me. And without any proof, it would’ve just been speculation. Even now, all you know is that the dress didn’t make its way to Rachel. That doesn’t prove that Maddie did it.”
“No, but it does make me wonder why she didn’t give it to my mother.”
“So do you still think Maddie did it?” asked Evanee.
Doris crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. “Oh, I suppose there’s a part of me that can’t rule her out. Not until the police have arrested the real culprit.”
“Is there anyone else that you have suspicions of?” she asked.
Snow Way Out: A Mystic Snow Globe Romantic Mystery (The Mystic Snow Globe Mystery Series Book 2) Page 15