by Carol Cox
Kate knew that abuse often made its victims feel worthless. Her indignation toward Roger White grew even stronger. “You can’t let this situation color your thinking about what God is like.”
Casey yanked her hand away. “I don’t want to think about him at all. Can’t we just drop all the God talk?”
A sad smile twisted Kate’s lips. “All right. I won’t push you. But I won’t stop praying for you, either.”
One corner of Casey’s mouth curved up, and she gave a little shrug. “Okay, I guess I can’t stop you from doing that.”
Chapter Twenty
On her way home, Kate stopped at the SuperMart to pick up some ingredients for dinner that evening. She planned to make baked rigatoni, one of Paul’s favorites. Let’s just hope that anything I bake is still on his list of favorites, she thought, remembering the brownies and the soda-laden snickerdoodles.
Inside the big store, Kate looked around to get her bearings, then headed toward the food section. After she had gathered the ingredients, she hurried down the broad center aisle toward the bank of cash registers at the front. On her way, she noticed a sign advertising a sale on garden equipment. Kate’s steps slowed. With spring in the air, she had been aching to do some planting, but she needed a new pad to cushion her arthritic knee while she worked the soil in her flower bed.
It wouldn’t take long to grab one on her way out, she reasoned, and turned in the direction the sign indicated. As soon as she rounded the corner, she spotted Millie Lovelace walking toward her.
Kate froze. Her first instinct was to duck back around the corner and pretend that she hadn’t seen Millie, but she knew that would be a coward’s way out. Chiding herself for even entertaining such a notion, she composed her features and waited for the other woman to notice her.
Millie glanced her way and came to an abrupt halt.
“Oh, hello,” she said in the kind of tone used to speak to a stranger. From her distant attitude, an observer would never guess that she saw Kate on a fairly regular basis. “Are you looking for anything in particular?”
Kate held up the basket of items she was carrying. “I’ve already found them, thanks.” On impulse, she added, “By the way, Paul and I went to see Nehemiah when we were in Chattanooga the other day. He said you’d stopped by several times lately and told us how much he enjoys your visits. I’m glad you’re able to get over there so often.”
Millie stiffened. “What did he say? Did he tell you why I was there?”
“W-why, no,” Kate stammered. “I just assumed it was a perfectly routine visit.”
Taken aback by the woman’s antagonistic response, she floundered for something else to say. “Don’t worry, Millie. Whatever your reason was, Nehemiah knows how to keep a confidence.”
Millie said nothing but leveled an icy glare at Kate that should have frozen her solid.
Forgetting all thoughts of gardens and kneeling pads, Kate murmured a quick good-bye and hurried toward the front of the store. Now she could understand why Paul’s third-grade teacher still lingered in his memory.
At least Millie was at work that afternoon and hadn’t called in sick, Kate mused while she waited in the checkout line. That must be a good sign. But Millie’s attitude toward her hadn’t changed in the least. She was still as stiff and unyielding as before.
Kate wondered if she might be overreacting to the other woman’s belligerence, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. What was going on in Millie’s life that she didn’t want anyone to know about?
WHEN SHE WAS HALFWAY BACK to Copper Mill, Kate called Livvy on her cell phone and asked if they could meet at the diner.
“Sure.” Livvy didn’t waste any time in answering. “I’m ready for a break. I’ll see you there in a few minutes.”
Kate hung up, feeling relieved. After the events of the past few days, she felt sorely in need of a dose of Livvy’s commonsense outlook on life.
LIVVY WAS WAITING in one of the rear booths when Kate arrived at the Country Diner. Kate slid into the seat opposite her friend and felt some of the day’s tension drain out of her.
“I got the feeling you wanted to talk,” Livvy said, “so I thought sitting back here would give us more privacy. I guess I could have picked a place that was nearer the front, though. There are only a few other customers here. We aren’t exactly fighting the crowds this afternoon.”
Kate scanned the nearly empty diner and nodded. “This booth is fine. And you never know; things could pick up, and the place could be swamped before we know it.”
A moment later, LuAnne Matthews appeared beside their table, pen poised above her order pad. “Hey, there, you two. What can I get for y’all today?”
“I’ll have a cup of hot tea,” Kate said promptly. “Thanks, LuAnne.”
“Make that two.” Livvy added.
“What about somethin’ to eat?” LuAnne asked. “Some pie, maybe? Or you could branch out and try something new. Loretta’s runnin’ a special on her new strawberry cheesecake recipe. Out of this world, and guaranteed nonfattening.”
Livvy’s eyes lit up. “No way. Really?”
LuAnne straightened up and drawled, “Darlin’, if you believe that, I’ve got some oceanfront property in Arizona that you might be interested in.”
Livvy rolled her eyes, and Kate couldn’t help but snicker. The cheesecake did sound good, even though it wouldn’t score any high marks as a healthy choice.
“All right,” Kate said, “you’ve talked me into it.” The idea of comfort food held a lot of appeal after the emotional toll of her visit with Casey that afternoon and her uncomfortable encounter with Millie.
Both Livvy and LuAnne turned to gawk at her. Apparently deciding that Kate was serious, LuAnne raised her eyebrows and jotted a note on her order pad without further comment.
“Okay, I’ll join you,” Livvy said. “Purely in the interest of being a good friend, you understand.”
“Of course.” Kate had to work hard to maintain a serious expression. “And I want you to know how much I appreciate your noble sacrifice.”
LuAnne playfully rolled her eyes and headed off to the kitchen to fill their order.
Livvy folded her arms on the table and leaned forward. “So, how did things work out with the cuff link? Did you find out whether it belongs to that professor at Haywood?”
“Oh my!” Kate realized with a start that she’d been so busy over the past couple of days, she hadn’t had time to keep Livvy up to date on the latest developments. “Let me catch you up on that cuff link...and a whole lot more.”
She proceeded to fill Livvy in on her trip to Chattanooga and her conversation with Dr. White. “I’m sure he’s the owner, although he didn’t come right out and admit it. But that’s not all that happened.”
Livvy’s eyes grew round as Kate told her about finding Casey’s photo in the college yearbook. “That was sheer genius, Kate! Worthy of Sherlock Holmes himself.”
“Who’s a genius?” LuAnne asked, returning with a cup of tea for each of them.
“Why, Kate, of course.” Livvy’s eyes shone with excitement. “She’s solved the mystery of the girl we’ve been praying for.”
“Not completely,” Kate said. “In fact, the farther I dig into this one, the more mysterious it seems. Kind of like when you’re peeling an onion and you keep finding one layer after another.”
“Ooh, this sounds intriguing.” Livvy propped one elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand. “I can’t wait to hear all about it.”
“Hold on a minute.” LuAnne disappeared again and came back moments later carrying three dessert plates. “Mind if I join you?” she asked.
“Three heads are better than one,” Livvy quipped. She scooted over so LuAnne could join her in the booth.
LuAnne set plates bearing generous slices of cheesecake covered with a strawberry sauce in front of the other two women, then plunked down another with a smaller slice in front of her own spot.
&
nbsp; “Quality control,” she said with a grin as she slid in next to Livvy. “Gotta make sure our customers are getting the best.”
Kate wrinkled her nose at LuAnne’s joke. She hoped her friend’s venture into quality control proved more successful than her own had been lately.
Livvy forked a bite of the creamy dessert. “Mmm!” She closed her eyes in a show of pure delight. “Absolutely delectable. This makes it worth splurging a calorie or two.”
“A few hundred calories, you mean,” Kate reminded her. But after she’d sampled a bite of her own cheesecake, she had to agree with Livvy. If someone asked her to rank the dessert on a scale of one to ten, it would be worth a fifteen.
“What did I tell you?” LuAnne grinned smugly. “Comfort food at its best.”
Kate savored the taste of each creamy bite while she told her friends what she’d learned when she visited Casey that afternoon.
Being able to go over the details of the case point by point with them boosted her sense of well-being even more than the cheesecake did. When she finished talking, expressions of deep concern shadowed both their faces.
LuAnne narrowed her eyes ominously. “That professor ought to be strung up.”
Kate nodded. “If he did it.”
Across the table, Livvy and LuAnne snapped to attention.
“What do you mean?” Livvy asked. “Are you saying you don’t think he did?”
Kate paused, feeling as surprised by her statement as the other two looked. “To be perfectly honest, I didn’t realize there was any question in my mind until the words popped out of my mouth.
“I’m not quite sure what’s going on,” she admitted. “I’ve spoken to him twice, once in person and once on the phone. He doesn’t seem like a caring sort of person, that’s for sure. On the other hand, that doesn’t make him a predator either.” Recalling the direction she’d received during her quiet time, she added, “I can’t put my finger on it, but something just doesn’t ring true. I need to find out the truth.”
Livvy pushed her empty plate to one side and frowned. “But why would Casey tell you that Dr. White did that if it wasn’t true?”
“I’m asking myself the same question,” Kate told her. “Maybe I’m getting too suspicious of everyone, and I’m trying to make something out of nothing here.”
“No, that isn’t like you.” Livvy spoke with conviction. “You have a real talent for ferreting out the truth, so if the facts seem to point in one direction but your instincts tell you otherwise, I think you should go with your instincts.”
LuAnne appeared to be deep in thought, tracing a series of circles on her plate with her fork. “Maybe she’s scared to tell the truth. What if she’s coverin’ up for somebody?”
Kate started at the suggestion, then she grew thoughtful. “I suppose that’s a possibility.”
“I think you just lost me,” Livvy said. “Who could she be covering up for?”
“Her boyfriend...,” Kate suggested. “He was so angry when I saw him in the hospital hallway. Maybe he did it and threatened to hurt her again if she told anyone what really happened.”
The more Kate considered her new theory, the more plausible it seemed. “He seemed like a very intelligent young man. He might have thought he could cover his tracks that way.”
“Maybe he told her who to blame instead,” LuAnne offered.
“On the other hand,” Livvy put in, “you hear a lot these days about people in positions of trust who take advantage of young girls. It’s terrible to even think about it, but it could have happened just the way Casey said it did.”
“It could have,” Kate agreed, feeling suddenly weary. She closed her eyes and pressed her fingertips against her eyelids. Either one of those scenarios could be true, but only one. Which was it?
“It all seemed pretty clear-cut to me a few minutes ago, but now I’m not sure what to believe.” Kate looked over her shoulder and lowered her voice. “I honestly don’t want to believe that the professor or the boyfriend did it, but it has to be one of them, right?” She glanced over her shoulder again.
Livvy’s forehead puckered. “Is something wrong?”
“I just wanted to make sure no one is near enough to overhear any of this,” Kate said. “It’s one thing to try to work out a puzzle, but it’s a whole different ball game when we start discussing individuals and assuming they’ve done something criminal.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is that I don’t want this to look like we’re just having some kind of gossip fest.”
Livvy looked slightly abashed, but LuAnne shook her head as if rejecting the notion. “Darlin’, it ain’t gossip if you’re tryin’ to find out who hurt that poor little thing. You know Livvy and I aren’t about to go spreadin’ any rumors.”
“I know you aren’t.” Kate smiled at her friends. “Thanks. I feel better. I guess I just needed to say that and get it out of my system. It’s more a reminder to myself not to speak out of turn.”
“That’s an easy trap to fall into,” Livvy agreed, then she glanced at her watch and gave a soft gasp. “Goodness, I didn’t realize what time it is. My break was over a few minutes ago, and I need to get back to work.”
LuAnne levered herself out of the booth so that Livvy could get out. “I guess that means I have to find some way to look busy again until the dinner rush starts. Maybe I’ll start fillin’ the saltshakers.”
Livvy gave Kate a sympathetic smile. “Sorry we didn’t help more. We came up with some new questions and theories, but no answers.”
Kate stood up to join them and gave each of her friends a quick hug. “Don’t sell yourselves short. I appreciate you both. Talking it over helped me more than you know.”
LuAnne gave her a warm smile and a wink. “Anytime, darlin’. Anytime.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Back at home, Kate went to her studio and started working on the window-panel design that she had in mind, but she found she couldn’t keep her mind on the project. Too many thoughts, too many possibilities whirled in her head. She needed to do something that would help her think things through.
Her mind turned at once to baking, but then she remembered what happened earlier that day.
Come on, Kate, she admonished herself. It isn’t as if you’ve lost your touch. You aren’t going to let a little setback like that stop you, are you?
Before she could change her mind, she marched to the kitchen. Now the question was, what to bake? The snickerdoodles she had ruined earlier sprang to mind, but she shied away from that idea when she thought about that morning’s disaster. On the other hand . . .
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Keeping that thought in mind, she started assembling the ingredients and baking utensils one more time. After a moment’s hesitation, she pulled out her recipe box as well. It wouldn’t hurt to keep it close at hand in case she needed to refer to it.
Just having the box within reach gave her the confidence she needed to start out with renewed enthusiasm. It wasn’t as if this was a new recipe, after all. What had happened to her that morning had been some strange sort of fluke, nothing more.
Kate’s hands moved into the familiar rhythm of measuring, sifting, and mixing, leaving her mind free to sort through all the confusing bits of information that had come her way that day. She still couldn’t believe the unfeeling attitude of Casey’s cousins. If they didn’t live in faraway Washington State, she might wonder if one of them could be responsible for what had happened to Casey.
Then there had been that odd meeting with Martin Chandler down the hallway from Casey’s room. Kate carefully spooned one teaspoonful of baking soda into the mixture and went back over everything she could remember about the angry young man and the way he’d acted.
Angry, yes. But at the situation or at Casey? Kate had considered him as a potential suspect at the time. Since LuAnne had raised the possibility, she couldn’t help but wonder if there was something to the idea of a cover-up.
And
then there was Casey herself. Kate had believed her implicitly while standing beside her bed in the hospital room. When had that shadow of doubt entered her mind?
Kate blended in the last of the dry ingredients, then started forming the cookies. She used a spoon to scoop out a walnut-sized chunk of dough, then shaped it into a smooth ball. Next, she rolled the ball in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.
Did the consistency feel a little odd? Kate took a closer look at the blob of dough in her hands. It looked all right, nothing unusual that she could see. She poked it with her forefinger. Something did seem a bit different than usual, but she couldn’t decide what it might be.
Maybe she was just a little gun-shy about trying the recipe again after what had happened to the last batch. Dismissing her concerns, she continued shaping the cookies until she had used up all the dough and two baking sheets sat ready to pop into the oven.
Kate pulled open the oven door and slipped the pans inside, then set the timer. She bustled about the kitchen, cleaning up after her second snickerdoodle project of the day and feeling more like her old self. She hadn’t come to any earthshaking conclusions during her baking stint, but at least she was back in her usual groove.
The timer buzzed. Kate tested the golden-brown cookies for doneness, then pulled the baking sheets from the oven and placed the snickerdoodles on the cooling rack, one by one.
There now. That wasn’t so bad, was it? Kate smiled to herself as she poured a glass of milk and set it on the counter, ready for the taste testing to follow.
She leaned against the kitchen counter while she waited for the treats to cool. Dr. White or Martin—which one was to blame for Casey being in the hospital? She didn’t want it to be either of them, but in the end, one of them had to have been the attacker.
Casey had sounded emphatic about Dr. White being to blame, but Kate couldn’t get the idea of a cover-up out of her head. She needed to find out more about Martin.
But who could she ask? If LuAnne’s theory was right, and Martin had coerced Casey into pointing an accusing finger at the professor, Casey would be the last person to give Kate information about him. Who else might know?