Despite the unbecoming hairnet, Mattie blushed prettily.
“Mattie Miller, were you on a date?”
Her face deepened to a darker shade of red. “The Amish don’t date.”
“Courting then? Is someone courting you?” I was eager for all the details. If Sarah had been here, she would have wanted to know even more. Mattie had not had much luck in the love department. Her last beau had turned out to be a jerk. That was my word, not Mattie’s. I had called him other names too, but they didn’t bear repeating. “Who is it?”
Mattie fiddled with the edge of her apron. “I’d rather not say.”
I opened my mouth to question her more, but she shook her head. “Angie, please.”
I sighed. “I’ll let it go for now.”
She gave me a small smile. “Danki.”
“Do you think Faith will be at the candy shop when her father was murdered only two days ago?”
She nodded. “Her district is very strict about work. I wouldn’t be surprised if all of the bishop’s children are already back at work.”
It was the best chance I had to talk to the bishop’s daughter. “Where is it?”
Mattie rattled off the directions.
Taking a piece of paper and pen from my bag, I jotted them down.
“I had better head back onto the factory floor.” Mattie sighed. “I’ve been splattered with blueberry filling twice today. Working here today reminds me why I enjoy my job at the quilt shop so much.”
I smiled. “I’m glad to hear it. I would hate to lose you to the factory.”
Her face lit up. “There’s not a chance of that happening.”
Mattie and I parted ways and went opposite directions down the hallway. In the observation room, I peered through the window onto the factory floor. Finally, I spotted Rachel speaking to a group of tourists. She smiled prettily at them as she spoke. She appeared fine, but I knew she wasn’t fine, and I was partly to blame for that.
Sighing, I went back outside to the book sale.
Outside, I headed straight for the task my mother had assigned me earlier, organizing the children’s books. Oliver left his goat companion to join me. He whimpered at me. He could always sense when I was upset. I had disappointed Rachel.
I tried to forget about it for the moment and focus on the task at hand. Oliver curled up under the children’s book table as I set the books spine up on the very last table in the tent. As I worked, I discovered dozens of books I thought Zander would like. By the time I finished the table, I had a stack of books for Z that was over a foot high.
“Angie.” Amber joined me at the children’s book table. “Don’t you have a trustees’ meeting?”
My shoulders sagged. My subconscious must have repressed the meeting. “Yes,” I said, falling just short of a whine. I picked up the stack of books and frowned when I saw the long line at the cash register. It wrapped halfway around the tent. “Can you hold these for me until I get back?”
She shook her head. “I think a twenty will cover all of those. Pay me now and we will call it even.”
“Done,” I said, reaching into my wallet. After giving her the money, I said, “I had better find Willow.”
“She already left.” Amber dropped the twenty-dollar bill into the cash box on her table and snapped it closed. “She said she had to prep for battle.”
Great.
Chapter Thirty-three
By the time I reached my own quilt shop, all of the other township trustees were gathered there. Caroline Cramer stood by the display window with her arms folded, tapping her foot. Her silky hair was pulled back into an elaborate twist. Jason Rustle and Farley Jung sat in folding chairs on one half of a small circle, and Willow sat on the other side, looking cool and collected and much more at ease than Caroline.
Oliver took one look at them and headed for his dog bed. I wished that I could do the same.
Farley Jung gave me a slow smile as I hung my coat on the peg. From the looks of it, he had slicked back his hair with a generous helping of gel. I turned toward the wall so that he would not see the disgusted face I made.
Jason Rustle pulled back the sleeve of his business suit and glared at his watch. “I only have forty minutes left on my lunch break, so let’s get started.”
Caroline joined the circle, sitting next to Jason, which left me with the only empty seat next to Farley. Terrific.
Caroline removed a file from her briefcase. “Hopefully this won’t take more than forty minutes, but we have a lot to get to.”
Jason scowled at Caroline and glanced at his watch again. “I’m leaving in thirty-seven minutes whether this is over or not. Some of us have to work for a living. I’m sorry if that is inconvenient for your schedule.”
Caroline glared at him. “You should have more concern for the township.”
“Thirty-six minutes,” Jason said.
Caroline gritted her teeth so hard I was surprised she didn’t crack her jaw. “I call this meeting to order.”
Farley raised a finger at her. “Now, Caroline, there is no need to call the meeting to order since this is not an open session in front of the township.”
She gave him a withering glance. As the former head trustee, Farley was sort of a backseat driver at trustees’ meetings. It was one of the few things that I liked about him.
“Thank you, Farley,” Caroline said, but her tone had no gratitude in it. “As this is a closed meeting, Anna, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
Anna, quilting in the rocker by the window, froze. “Excuse me?”
“I’m sorry, but we will have to ask you to leave.”
Anna looked to me.
“I don’t think we have to worry about Anna saying anything about the meeting.”
“Rules are rules,” Caroline said.
“Thirty-one minutes,” Jason barked.
Anna gathered up her quilting supplies and stood. “I will be across the street at the bakery. You can find me there when you’re done, Angie.”
“Thank you.” I sighed.
She nodded.
After the shop door closed behind Anna, Caroline said, “I have called this meeting because of the unauthorized farmers’ market, which is happening at the end of this street at this very moment.”
Willow straightened in her seat. “Who said it was unauthorized? I told the Millers that it was fine.”
Caroline sniffed. “This is not a dictatorship, Willow. You cannot make unilateral decisions. We need to vote on such things.”
“All right then. Whoever is in favor of the farmers’ market, raise your hand.” Willow lifted her hand into the air.
Willow, Jason, and I threw our hands up as well. After a moment’s hesitation, Farley’s hand joined ours.
Caroline glared at us. “Don’t any of you care about the disregard that Willow gave the rules of the township?”
“Caroline,” Jason said, “the farmers’ market is a great success. It’s on private property too. There is no reason we should even be disputing it.”
“B-but—” she stammered.
Willow stood. “I, for one, am glad we had this meeting. It will be nice to go back to the Millers and tell them that the farmers’ market can be a regular event.” She tapped her finger to her cheek. “In fact, I’m seeing possibilities for expansion. I’ll go talk to them now while I’m thinking about it.” She stood up and headed for the door.
Caroline jumped to her feet. “Wait! This meeting isn’t over.”
Jason stood and put on his coat. “As far as I’m concerned it is. I have to get back to the office.”
“I haven’t adjourned the meeting,” Caroline complained.
“Actually, Caroline,” Farley said from his seat, “it’s not necessary for you to adjourn since this is not an official trustees’ meeting in front of th
e entire township.”
“You be quiet!” the head trustee snapped.
I stood, wondering how to break up the fight, when my cell phone rang. I really needed to change my ringtone. I set the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Angie, I need to talk to you,” Austina said. Her voice was hoarse, as if she had been crying for half the night.
I watched as Caroline and Jason argued in front of my display window. I would be lucky if the two of them didn’t come to blows. At the very least, their behavior was bound to chase away customers. “Do you want me to come to your house?” I asked Austina. Leaving Running Stitch would give me an excuse to kick the trustees out of the shop and force them to deal with their differences somewhere else.
“No, I need to get out of this house.” Her voice sounded a bit stronger, as if she was forcing herself to be firm. “I’ve locked myself in my home for the last two days. It’s time I faced the world. I have learned that hiding from it does not make me look any less guilty.”
“We can meet at the Double Dime Diner.” I looked at the clock on the wall behind the cash register. “It’s almost one now. I could be there within the hour.”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
“Great. Just let me finish up with a few things here.” Those few things were four irate township trustees.
Willow squared off in front of Caroline. “You aren’t being reasonable.”
“Reasonable? I’m trying to follow the rules and regulations this township set up.”
“We are the trustees,” Willow scoffed. “We can change those.”
“Not without a unanimous vote,” Caroline countered.
“Angie?” Austina asked in my ear. “Is everything all right? I can hear arguing.”
“Everything’s fine,” I told the librarian. “I’ll see you at the Double Dime later.” Before she could ask any more questions, I hung up.
Jason had slipped out of the shop during my conversation with Austina. Caroline and Willow were still arguing, and Farley seemed to be enjoying the show.
“I hate to break this up,” I said, hating nothing of the kind. “But I’m going to have to ask you to leave because I have to run an important errand.”
Caroline turned from Willow and gaped at me. “Is this some sort of mutiny?”
Farley stood. “Caroline, don’t be so dramatic. Why don’t you and I go walk down to the farmers’ market? Perhaps we can find some other township violations.”
She scowled. “Very well.” She pointed at Willow. “I won’t forget your cavalier behavior, Willow.”
After the trustees left, I went across the street and told Anna my plans.
“Gut,” she said. “Austina needs a friend right now. We are having the quilting circle meeting at Sarah’s house this evening. I will tell the others where you are, and if you’re not back in time, I will close up the shop for the night.”
I thanked her and left.
By the time I reached the diner, I could already see Austina sitting at one of the tables by the window. I waved to her as Oliver and I walked to the diner’s front door.
Linda, the head and only waitress, patted her beehive hair. It had so much hair spray in it, I suspected nothing less than an erupting volcano would make it move. She and Farley should compare notes on their hairstyling products. “There’s my friend,” Linda crowed as we entered the store.
She wasn’t talking to me but to Oliver. On the day they met, the two bonded over their mutual love of bacon.
“I was hoping you would come in this week,” she said to me after cooing over my Frenchie. “I have a nice slab of bacon just for you.” She turned around and yelled into the pass-through to the kitchen. “Whip up that special bacon I bought for Oliver.”
The cook, who rarely ventured out into the dining area, grumbled.
Linda wagged her finger at the hole in the wall. “You get it done. Poor Oliver is completely famished.” She turned her critical gaze on me. “Have you been feeding him?”
“Yes.” I gave her a look.
Oliver whimpered, contradicting my statement.
Linda squatted down to be at eye level with my dog. “You poor, deprived creature. Bacon will make it better.” She stood up and her knees cracked. “While I’m tending to Oliver, why don’t you take a seat at your regular table?”
“I’m here to have lunch with Austina,” I said.
Linda tucked her pencil behind her ear. “Ahh,” she said knowingly. “She said that she was meeting someone here. I should have known it was you.”
“Bacon’s up!” the cook called, and Oliver did a happy dance.
I sighed. “Don’t give him more than two pieces. I don’t want him getting sick.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Linda said, but I thought I saw her crossing her fingers behind her back. There was no point in fighting it. It was two against one. Or three against one if I counted the cook.
Austina waved to me as I walked over to the table.
“You go sit down,” Linda said. “Oliver and I will be just fine.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I said before heading to the booth.
The sound of Linda’s throaty laugh followed me all the way to where Austina was sitting.
I took the booth seat across from Austina. There were bags under her eyes and deep lines etched around her mouth I had never noticed before. She looked positively awful.
“Thanks for meeting me here, Angie.” Her voice cracked. “I don’t think I could stand one more day cooped up inside of my house. I know people out here are talking about me.” She straightened her shoulders and flattened her hand on the tabletop between us. “But I won’t cower at home any longer. It’s time to face this head-on.”
“That’s the spirit,” I said. “You wanted to talk to me about something.”
Austina’s shoulders drooped. “Let’s order first. I think it will be easier to talk about with food in front of us.”
Linda was at our table within seconds. I didn’t even have a chance to look at the menu, but it didn’t matter. I already knew what I was having. Linda pointed her pencil at me. “Chicken and dumpling soup.”
“How do you know?”
“Because your cute little nose is red from being out in the cold. Looks to me that you’ve been outside for a long while, and you always order soup when you’re cold.”
I handed her my menu. “You got me.”
Linda tapped her pencil against her cheek and stared at Austina.
Austina opened her mouth as if to order.
“Nope,” Linda said. “Give me a second.”
Austina snapped her mouth shut.
“Looks to me that you need a decent meal. I see how your cheeks are all sunken in. What have you been eating lately?”
“Lots of canned soup,” Austina said, wincing as if in fear of Linda’s judgment.
Linda wrinkled her nose. “Soup should not come from a can. What you need is roast beef with two sides—green beans and mashed potatoes and gravy.” She wrote this on her order pad. “And hot rolls. You need hot rolls after what you’ve been through.” Linda nodded to herself. “I’ll bring out water and hot tea for you both.” She marched away.
“Wow,” Austina said. “She knew exactly what I wanted. It’ll be nice to have a real meal after living on peanut butter and canned soup for the last few days.”
Linda was back a second later and placed a steaming teapot, a little basket with tea bags, two white mugs, and two waters on our table.
I selected one of the tea bags. “How’s Oliver? Recovered from his lack of bacon?”
Linda smiled. “He’s making up for lost time.” She moved on to the next table.
I poured hot water into my mug and dunked a tea bag into it. I offered some to Austina.
She shook her head. “The w
ater is fine for now.” She took a big gulp from the glass.
“What did you want to tell me?” I asked.
“I’ve asked you to help me, and I haven’t been completely honest with you.” She stared into her water glass.
“You mean you didn’t tell me that you went to the bookmobile the night before the bishop’s body was found.” I spooned sugar into my tea and waited.
Her glass stopped halfway to her mouth. “How did you know that?”
“A reliable witness saw you and told me,” I said. That was sort of true. Nahum wasn’t reliable per se, but I couldn’t think of why he would have lied about it. He had nothing to gain, other than perhaps upsetting me. In any case, her reaction confirmed that Nahum was telling the truth. “Why were you there?”
She sipped her water and set it back onto the table. “I was there to leave the key.”
That explained why there was no forced entry at the crime scene.
“And then I left,” she added.
“Why were you leaving the key? Who was it for?”
She swallowed. “I was helping someone.”
I sat back in my seat and folded my arms on the tabletop. “By leaving the key? How?”
She wrapped both hands around her water glass as if to brace herself as she told the story. “You have to remember, this was before the bishop died, and I was still determined to provide the readers in his districts the books they wanted to read. I realize now how foolish I had been. I felt I was in the right, so I didn’t care. I felt I was justified in leaving the key, so that the person could access the bookmobile.”
I frowned. “You weren’t going to be there when they were in the bookmobile? I can’t see the library being happy with that.”
She plucked an unopened tea bag from the basket and fidgeted with it. “The library didn’t know.”
“Who is it?” I asked. “Who wanted to get into the bookmobile at such an early hour?”
She lowered her voice. “I don’t want to get anyone in trouble.”
I leaned across the table. “Do you understand you might end up going to prison?”
She nodded.
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