She should have been looking forward to seeing Ed, but instead she was thinking about Laurie.
‘How fickle am I,’ she thought, ‘that it only took one mysterious stranger to turn my head away from Ed?’
Suddenly she realized why this felt familiar. Hadn’t she just told Maggie and Hannah that what she had always been drawn to in a man was a mystery to solve? And there was Laurie, about whom she knew so little, other than his recent romantic woes and the loss of his parents. Of course she was attracted to him; she didn’t know practically everything about him like she did about Ed, who had grown up next door to her.
That excited, anxious feeling she’d had last night was the same one she’d felt when she met the handsome actor, the talented director, and the charming drama teacher, among others. Look how those romances had turned out. It was just a feeling, she reminded herself. It was just the moon. That damn super moon.
‘I just have to take myself firmly by the hand,’ she thought, ‘and lead myself away from making the same mistakes.’
When she got to the living room, she found Ed talking animatedly to her mother. Claire felt a rush of affection at seeing him, so energetic and happy on his big day. She hugged him and waited for him to mention how ragged she looked, maybe make a joke about it. But he didn’t seem to notice.
“Claire,” he said. “They arrested Anne Marie’s assistant for Courtenay’s murder.”
“Is that right?” she said.
As Ed told her as much information as he had, some of it wrong, Claire reflected that she hadn’t deliberated carefully and then decided not to tell him about her part in that adventure; rather, it had been her first instinct not to tell him. If she was later caught in this lie of omission, she’d just tell him it was because her mother was standing there. In the same moment she also seemed to have decided not to tell her, as well.
“I have to go,” he said. “I just wanted to stop by and tell you the latest.”
“Did you enjoy the party last night?” she asked him.
“Oh, sorry about that,” he said. “I had every intention of being there, but I had to get the issue out, and there was some late breaking news that had to go in.”
“The arrest?”
“No, I didn’t hear about that until this morning,” he said. “You remember the city council voted to give Scott a month off?”
“How is that big news?”
“That’s not the interesting part,” he said. “It’s who they got to cover for him while he’s away.”
“Who’s that?” Delia asked.
“Laurie Purcell,” Ed said. “He was the chief of police in Familysburg until last month. Just up and quit his job after 25 years. He’s going to replace the chief who’s retiring in Pendleton next month, so meanwhile, he’s going to cover for Scott.”
“He’s a policeman,” Claire said.
“Chief of police,” Ed said. “He’s a great guy; the town couldn’t be in better hands.”
“He had a lovely wife,” Delia said. “She died of cancer a few years ago. I heard he got remarried but I don’t know to whom.”
“Gotta go,” Ed said.
He gave Claire a quick kiss on the cheek and smiled at her.
“See you later?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Claire said. “Of course.”
Delia was talking but Claire was only half listening. All she could think about was the fact that Laurie was a policeman. Not just a policeman, a chief of police. Why hadn’t he mentioned that?
‘Well,’ Claire thought. ‘We did say we could keep our secrets.’
Scott was loading the back of the SUV with a mountain of his and Maggie’s hastily packed belongings when Ed came walking down the alley behind the book store.
“Congratulations on your blockbuster edition,” Scott said as he shook his hand.
“Thanks for the scoop on Jeremy getting arrested,” Ed said. “I guess you’re hoping he’ll turn on Anne Marie and Knox.”
“He already has,” Scott said. “There’s a warrant out for both of them.”
“And they, no doubt, will turn on each other.”
“No doubt,” Scott said.
“Mamie’s probably looking down on you and smiling,” Ed said.
“That would be a first,” Scott said. “She was an ornery, mean old woman, but I’m going to miss her.”
“And everybody thought she was broke,” Ed said. “I even felt sorry for her.”
“Knox was diverting her trust payments to a bank account he controlled. They also think he forged her name on the mortgage and had Courtenay notarize the signature. He was counting on the insurance paying off the bank when she died. I don’t know what he did with the money, but you can bet the feds are going to find out.”
“Why in the world did Mamie leave so much money to Phyllis Davis?”
“I almost forgot,” Scott said, and pulled an old photograph out of his breast pocket. “When you have time, do some research on the maid standing at the end there; the one with the smart-ass look on her face.”
Ed gave Scott a quizzical look.
“Okay,” he shrugged. “Although my plate’s kind of full at the moment.”
“I almost hate to leave just when the shit’s hitting the fan.”
“Almost,” Ed said.
“Yeah, I gotta tell ya, in my mind we’re half way to South Carolina already.”
“I looked at the weather,” Ed said. “You’re fine until you hit Florence; they may have thunderstorms today.”
“Won’t stop us,” Scott said. “The last time I had a vacation away from Rose Hill was more than ten years ago. I’m looking forward not only to not knowing what’s going on, but also not having to do anything about it.”
“I’m going to miss you, don’t get me wrong,” Ed said. “But Laurie’s going to make a great pub quiz team member in your absence. The guy’s a genius; went to Yale on a Fulbright Scholarship. He could have done anything after that.”
“His dad was a career cop,” Scott said. “That’s a pretty compelling legacy.”
“Well, there’s no one who can replace you, of course.”
“Of course.”
“But I’m looking forward to getting to know him better.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that,” Scott said. “Laurie’s a great guy but he’s kind of at loose ends at the moment. His mother died not long before his wife. His father was a pretty bad alcoholic, and he died earlier this year.”
“Any one of those things would be hard enough to deal with,” Ed said. “Horrible luck.”
“Yeah, and it gets worse,” Scott said. “He married some girl, young enough to be his daughter, and she started fooling around with his best friend, who also worked for him.”
“Oh, man,” Ed said. “That must be why he quit.”
“I helped him get on the short list to be interviewed for Bud Shifflet’s position,” Scott said. “I put in a good word for him and made sure some other people did, too. He’s a good man, and he’ll be an excellent chief, but it might be a rough transition.”
“Is he drinking?”
“He drank a little too much after his wife died, but pulled it together before it affected his work. I have every reason to believe he’ll do the same this time.”
“I’ll certainly do my best to make him feel welcome,” Ed said. “Maybe Claire and I can have him over for dinner at my place.”
“That would be great,” Scott said. “I think Rose Hill’s a good place for him to regroup before he starts in Pendleton. He needs to stay busy.”
“That was a nice celebration yesterday,” Ed said. “Claire and Hannah did a hell of a job.”
“Sorry you missed the party last night,” Scott said. “I guess Claire had an exciting evening.”
Ed looked confused.
“I was working with the publisher all night,” he said. “Wasn’t Claire at the party?”
“You don’t know about that?” Scott said. “Have you seen Claire toda
y?”
“Just a little bit ago,” Ed said. “Why? What happened?”
“Oh, man, I should have kept my mouth shut,” Scott said. “Sean told us about it this morning; they were probably not supposed to tell anyone. I’m sure that’s why she didn’t tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“She’s the reason Anne Marie’s assistant got arrested,” Scott said. “She met with him up at the State Park last night, wearing a wire, with the feds listening in. He took a shot at her. She’s lucky to be alive.”
Ed’s face turned pale.
“How did Sean know about it?”
“He was up there in the fed’s van, listening to it go down.” Scott said. “Listen, Sean probably wasn’t supposed to tell me, and you probably can’t write about it or they’ll both be in big trouble. This is strictly off the record.”
“My first concern is that Claire’s okay, not the friggin’ story,” Ed said.
“Of course,” Scott said. “I know that. Just don’t be mad she didn’t say anything.”
“Her mom was standing right there,” Ed said. “That’s probably why.”
“Sure,” Scott said. “She’ll tell you later.”
“The feds, huh?” Ed said. “Does that mean Jamie Brown’s back in town?”
“Yeah,” Scott said. “He was helpful to Ava when Brian came back, and that’s all Sean knows about him. I should have warned him. Then he would’ve known better than to let Claire get involved in anything that man is in charge of.”
“Did you tell Laurie about him?”
“If you don’t mind, I’ll leave that to you,” Scott said. “I’m off duty; I promised Maggie.”
“Can I help you with anything?”
“You can help me with the heavier stuff,” Scott said. “Sean’s going to feed Duke. I gave Laurie the keys to my house so he could stay there, and he also has the keys to Mom’s house, just in case.”
Ed helped Scott load the cooler and various bags full of stuff.
“I’m going to miss you, buddy,” Ed said. “You all have a safe trip.”
“You know,” Scott said, “if you had told me a year ago this is what I’d be doing today, taking Maggie on our honeymoon, I would have thought you were out of your mind.”
“Well, you know what Anne Marie says,” Ed said. “In a loving universe everything’s possible.”
“Well, in the real universe,” Scott said, “where bad shit happens to everyone, whether or not they deserve it, this feels like a miracle.”
Ed helped Scott hoist the last duffel bag into the back of his SUV, and Scott shut the tailgate.
“Bon voyage,” Ed said. “I’ll hold down the fort.”
“And good luck to you,” Scott said to Ed. “Now that you’re involved with a Fitzpatrick, you’re going to need it.”
Acknowledgments
I give thanks to Betsy Grandstaff, Terry Hutchison, Ella McComas, and Joan Turner for being wonderful first readers, and a very special thank you to John Gillispie for his meticulous proofreading. I appreciate you all so much.
Books by Pamela Grandstaff:
Rose Hill Mystery Series:
Rose Hill
Morning Glory Circle
Iris Avenue
Peony Street
Daisy Lane
Lilac Avenue
Books for children:
June Bug Days and Firefly Nights
Ella’s New Hat and Her Terrible Cat
Lilac Avenue Page 35