by Jessica Beck
Gabby nodded. “Yes, that’s excellent advice. Thank you, Suzanne.”
“You’re welcome,” I answered. I couldn’t see Lester and Gabby together, not that I wanted to picture that particular pairing in my mind, and I didn’t think it was anybody’s business but hers. As I drove home, I marveled yet again at how anyone could keep a secret in April Springs. For such a small town, it was a very busy place, particularly behind the scenes and away from Springs Drive.
* * *
“Cam, what are you doing here?” I’d seen a strange car parked in our driveway, but I’d assumed it belonged to someone my mother knew. Our mayor was sitting on the steps, lying in wait for me.
“We need to talk,” he said. The jovial mayor was gone, replaced by a man who looked as though he meant business.
“What about? I’m expecting Jake Bishop any second. You’ve met the state police inspector, haven’t you?”
“Our paths have crossed,” he said as he stood. “I’ll make this quick, then. Sherry lied to you.”
“About the affair?”
“Her alibi. I was at my place waiting for her that night, and she’s the one who didn’t show up. I don’t know why you keep digging into this. You’re going to make a killer have reason to come after you if you don’t stop.”
“Is that a threat?”
“I told you before, I don’t make threats. You’re playing with something dangerous here, and you can’t count on your boyfriend to keep you safe.”
He started down the steps as I asked, “How did you know that I even talked to Sherry?”
“She told me,” Cam said. “I guess if she says it enough, she’ll start to believe that it’s true. The woman’s setting you up, Suzanne.”
“And I should believe you?” I asked.
“It’s the truth. You know what? On second thought, I don’t care what you do. Just quit butting into my life.”
“Watch your tone of voice, young man,” my mother said from behind me. I hadn’t even heard her open the door.
Cam turned and smiled at her. “Good evening, Dorothy.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Momma said.
“What’s that?”
“Trying that smooth line on me. I heard what you just said, and how you said it. You must be growing tired of being our mayor.”
He laughed at that. “Why do you say that?”
“By the way you’re acting, it might be time for a change.”
That brought out a snort. “Who’s going to beat me in the next election, you?”
“I have more friends than you might realize,” she said.
“Momma, it’s okay. I’ve got this.”
She gave me a quick look of dismissal, and then turned back to the mayor. “You may leave now.”
“I’m not afraid of you, Dorothy.”
“It’s ‘Mrs. Hart’ to you,” she said, icing him with her best glare.
He left then, but I could tell the Hart ladies were not his favorites in the world. Once his car was gone, Momma turned to me. “What did he say to you?”
“He keeps threatening me, telling me to butt out, but then he claims it wasn’t a threat at all.”
“The man’s got sharp teeth,” she said.
“Are you telling me I should stop nosing around?” Momma had expressed her unhappiness with my investigations in the past, and I was certain this wasn’t going to be any different. I understood her desire to protect me, no matter how old I was, but that didn’t mean I had to like it.
My mother shook her head as she said, “On the contrary. What can I do to help?”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Are you serious?”
“I don’t joke about things like this,” she said. “Cam Hamilton has won his last election if I have anything to say about it.”
“Just because of the way he treated me?”
Momma shook her head. “I’ve heard rumors about him in the past, but I’ve never given them much credence. Seeing how he just treated you has changed my mind. The man’s a bully at heart, and that’s something I will not tolerate.”
Suddenly I felt sorry for our mayor. My mother had locked him in her sights, and I knew there was no way she was going to give up until he was thrown out of office.
“I repeat,” she said. “What can I do?”
“I need to confirm Sherry Lance’s alibi. She claims she was at a restaurant waiting for Cam the night of the murder, but she won’t tell me where she was.”
“Give me a moment.”
I followed her inside, and Momma went straight to the telephone. I heard her say Sherry’s name, ask the question I had, and she waited for an answer. After a moment, she thanked her and hung up. “She was at the East Side Diner in Bonham’s Landing. An older woman named Betty waited on her all night.”
As Momma looked up the number for the restaurant, I asked, “Why would she tell you, when she wouldn’t say a word to me?”
“Unlike our mayor, Sherry understands the power structure around here. Hmm. Should we run her for mayor against Cam?”
“They were dating until just recently,” I said.
“That could certainly make for an interesting matchup,” she said as she dialed the number. “Hello,” she said when she got them on the line. “I need to speak with one of your waitstaff. Her name is Betty.” There was a pause, and then Momma said, “I need one minute of her time. If I have to come down there, it will be considerably more inconvenient for you.”
After a second, Momma asked, “Betty? I need to ask you about a woman named Sherry Lance. She was in there this week. Yes. Describe her, please. What night was this? Thank you for your time.”
Momma hung up and smiled at me. “She remembers Sherry, all right. It was the night of Lester’s murder, too.”
“That was brilliant getting her to describe Sherry. I wouldn’t have thought of doing that myself.”
“I’m willing to bet that you would,” Momma said. “After all, you got your skills from your mother.”
“So, I can cross Sherry’s name off my list of suspects.”
“But Cam Hamilton’s stays on.”
“Are you kidding? I’m ready to highlight it in yellow,” I answered.
“Who else is on your slate of suspects? Perhaps I can help with one of those, as well.”
I was about to take her up on it when I smelled something in the kitchen. “Is something burning?”
“The gravy,” she said as she rushed into the kitchen. I followed her, and the pan on the stovetop was smoking. Momma grabbed the pan and poured it into the sink. “I’m afraid that’s ruined.”
“We’ll just have to do without the gravy.”
“I’m so sorry that I forgot to tell you. Jake is coming by to take me out tonight.”
She smiled brightly. “Then we don’t need gravy, do we?”
I looked around and saw that she had just pulled her famous lemon chicken out of the oven. “You cooked for nothing.”
“Don’t believe that for a second. We can have chicken salad, chicken wraps, and chicken baked potatoes this week.”
“You know I love chicken,” I said with a grin.
“When is he picking you up?”
I glanced at my watch. “I’ve got ten minutes to make myself beautiful.”
“You’ll need considerably more than that,” she said.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I said as I started for the stairs.
“Don’t be that way. All I meant to say was that you have your work cut out for you. Can I help?”
“No, I think you’ve done enough.”
“Excellent,” she said, missing my sarcasm completely.
I had to laugh as I took the stairs two at time. It was a nice change of pace having Momma on my side. She had pull in April Springs that I would never have. If I were Cam Hamilton, I’d be scared stiff at the moment. He’d better not plan on redecorating his office; I doubted he’d be keeping it much longer. As I showered, I thought
about who was left on my list of suspects now that Sherry was out. Cam was at the head of it, followed by less likely suspects like Lacy, Cara, Nancy, and Frank Wheeler. Then again, it could be someone who hadn’t shown up on my radar yet. If Jake could solve this case, or even Chief Martin, I wouldn’t mind in the least. Whatever it took to get me out from under being suspected of murder was fine with me, and I’d gladly give someone else the credit.
* * *
I was ready a full thirty seconds before Jake was due to arrive, so I walked out on the porch to greet him when he drove up. When my cell phone rang two minutes later, I groaned a little when I saw who was calling. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to the man on the other end of the line, but I couldn’t afford to let it go to voice mail, either.
“It’s Ray Blake. Am I interrupting something?”
“Not at the moment,” I said. “What’s going on?”
“I just confirmed Nancy Patton’s alibi, and Frank Wheeler’s, too.”
“That was quick work,” I said.
“It’s a good skill for a newspaperman to have.”
“How did you do it?”
“I found Frank in a bar in Hudson Creek, and as long as I kept buying drinks, he was willing to keep talking. The man’s bitter. He thought he was in love with Nancy, and then he found out she was married. He told me he proposed, but when he found out about Lester, he didn’t want to marry a woman who was that good at keeping secrets.”
“He confirmed the timing of the proposal?”
“In great detail. He even showed me the empty ring box. He said it was his good-luck talisman now, and he wants it as a reminder of how close he came to marrying Nancy.”
“He sounds like a real prize,” I said.
“He just got caught up in the moment,” Ray said. “Anyway, I promised I’d let you know what I found out.”
“Thanks, Ray,” I said as I hung up. I’d marked them off my list in my mind with a pencil, but I changed that to ink now. I couldn’t wait to tell Jake. Only where could he be?
I was about to give up on him when he drove up.
As he got out of his car, he handed me a bouquet of daisies and said, “Suzanne, I’m sorry I’m late.”
I took the flowers from him. “You’re forgiven. It’s nice that you remembered daisies were my favorite.”
“Are they?” he asked with a grin. “I just saw these at the side of the road and dug them up.” His joke was obvious, since they were clean, pristine, and wrapped in green florist paper.
“Then you get points for being resourceful. Where are we going?”
“I thought we’d eat here,” he said.
“Sorry, you just lost all the points you got for bringing me flowers. You promised me a meal out.”
“Don’t be so quick to take my points away,” he said as he reached toward the backseat of his car. There was a blanket there, along with a picnic basket. “I thought we could eat in the park together. Is that okay?”
“It sounds great. I know just the spot.”
We walked over to my thinking tree, and I took the blanket from Jake and spread it out on the grass. Dusk was fast approaching, and there was the slightest chill in the air, something that I loved this time of year.
“What did you get?” I asked as I reached for the basket.
“Hang on a second. I’ll serve you,” he said.
I took a seat, and Jake opened the basket. He looked inside, then did a double take. “That’s not right,” he said.
“What is it?”
Jake started pulling things out of the basket. Once he had emptied it out, there were four containers of baked beans and a jug of lemonade. And that was all. The drink had a Shrewsberry label on it, which explained everything. Shrews, as we liked to call the restaurant in Union Square, had never gotten an order right in their life. We’d long ago stopped going there, but evidently Jake wasn’t aware of their tendency to get things wrong.
“Wow, you sure know all of my favorites,” I said with a grin.
“This is supposed to be fried chicken, potato salad, and sweet tea.”
“Did you order the beans?”
Jake nodded. “Yes, but not this much.”
“Hold on. I’ll be right back.”
I walked over to the house and found that Momma had just taken the foil off her chicken. “Any chance I could hijack that?” I asked.
“What happened to Jake?”
“He brought over a picnic basket full of baked beans.”
“They weren’t even in a container?” My mother looked suitably horrified.
“Oh, yes, but that’s all the restaurant packed for him.”
“He must have gotten them from Shrewsberry’s.”
I laughed. “You should have seen his face. Care to join us? There’s plenty of baked beans, and it’s only fair, since you’re contributing the chicken.”
“No, you two have fun. Don’t let it spoil the moment for you.”
I grinned at her. “Are you kidding? Just think what a great story this will make later.”
I grabbed a sweater, and then returned with the chicken to find that Jake had one of the baked beans containers open and was eating them with a spoon. “You know what? These are pretty good.”
“I’m glad you like them. You certainly got enough of them.” I presented the chicken to him, and we had a good laugh about it all. That was one of the things I cherished about Jake. We could make the best of just about any situation, while life with Max had always been a little work.
After we ate and cleaned up our trash, Jake said, “You were pretty specific about where we should put the blanket. Why this spot in particular?”
“Look up,” I said, and pointed to the sky.
Jake whistled softly under his breath. “The stars are beautiful.”
“And there’s not a light in view to break up the sight,” I said. We lay back on the blanket looking up at the sky and holding hands. At some point I must have fallen asleep, because I felt Jake gently rocking my shoulder.
“Hey,” he said. “I know I’m not Mr. Excitement, but I’ve never had a woman fall asleep on a date with me before.”
“You should take that as a compliment. Think how comfortable I must be with you to nod off like that.” I glanced at my watch and saw that, at least for me, it was late. I stood, shook the blanket, and then gathered it together. Jake walked me back to the house, kissed me good night, and then left.
When I walked in, Momma was reading Carolyn Hart’s latest. She loved the author for more reasons than her wonderful books. Even though we weren’t related, we both still felt a kinship to her, a link through our last names. It was my dream to meet her one day, but I doubted life would ever bring her to April Springs.
“Have fun?” she asked as she put her finger on the page.
“It was glorious.”
“Baked beans and all?” Momma asked with a definite twinkle in her eye.
“Yes, even then.”
I fell asleep quickly, with Jake’s last kiss still lingering on my lips.
CHAPTER 19
“You’re not going now, are you?” Emma asked me as I collected the last of the extra glazed donuts from the tray and moved them into a waiting box. It was just around four-thirty the next morning, and the day outside was still cloaked in darkness.
“I won’t be long,” I said. “You can handle the last few batches on your own.” We’d made a double batch of yeast donuts, as I’d promised, and it was time to deliver the first run to the hospital. While I was there, I could check on George, too.
“Just don’t stay past five-thirty, and we’re fine,” Emma said. She really didn’t like it when I left Donut Hearts, especially when we were still preparing our offerings for the day, and I tried not to make a habit of it, but this just couldn’t be helped.
“You can call your mother if you’d like.” It was a safety net she didn’t need, but if it made Emma happy, I wasn’t about to say no.
“She’s sleeping
in,” Emma said. “Go on, I’ll be fine.”
I was getting ready to grab the last box when my cell phone rang. “Hello?”
“Suzanne, it’s Penny.”
“Is something wrong? I was just on my way.”
“Good. There’s someone here who wants to talk to you.”
I couldn’t believe it. “George is awake?”
“He is, and cranky as can be. Any chance you have any old-fashioned donuts? He won’t stop demanding one.”
I laughed in relief. “Those are his favorites. I can bring them right now.”
“I’m not sure he can have them yet, but go ahead and bring him one.”
“I’ve got glazed for your crew, too,” I said.
“Suzanne, I keep telling you, it’s not necessary.”
“But you won’t turn them down, will you? I’m not even waiting for an answer. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
I hung up, put my phone down on the counter, and collected a dozen of our old-fashioned donuts from the tray. Emma could see the broad smile on my face as she asked, “He’s awake?”
“And causing trouble,” I said. “He’s demanding some of my donuts, so he must be getting better.”
“Give him a kiss from me,” she said.
“Will do.”
I put the last box on top, and Emma got the door for me as I walked out to my Jeep. There was a little traffic on the Springs Drive, but it was easy driving all the way to the hospital. One nitwit behind me followed with their brights on, and from the look of it, the headlights hadn’t been aligned in years. It was annoying, but I wasn’t going to let it spoil my mood. George was awake, and better yet, alert.
When I got to the front desk, the guard must have been off somewhere else. I put a few glazed donuts on a napkin and left them for him, though. As far as I was concerned, the whole world could eat free today.
Penny met me at the ICU door. “I checked with his doctor. He can’t have any donuts just yet.”
“Save them for him, then,” I said as I pulled the top box off. “The rest are for your lounge.”
“You should have heard the doctors. They want in on these, too.”
“Split them in half if you want,” I said.