Just Killing Time

by Julianne Holmes

  “Do I know everyone?” Flo said, joining him. “Of course I do. Or at least I’m going to soon enough. Nancy, it’s great to see you!”

  The two women hugged and walked to the side of the barn, pouring themselves glasses of wine. Caroline joined them and soon the three of them were laughing.

  Pat Reed came in from the storage room, where he’d been moving more inventory around.

  “Everything’s settled in,” he said to me. “Including Bezel.”

  “Where is she?”

  “I told her she needed to lay low since Caroline is here, so she’s settled into the guest room here at the barn. She’s fine. There’s a nice chair in there, and I gave her some extra food.”

  “You are going to spoil her. And me,” I said, putting my hand on his arm. Pat had been tireless these past few days. I couldn’t have even thought about working on the Cog & Sprocket without him, and was grateful that I didn’t have to.

  “I’m glad you’re letting me spoil you, a little bit. You need to take care of yourself.” He looked around the barn, now full of crates and clocks. It didn’t feel nearly as cramped as the Cog & Sprocket. “It was a good idea, moving things out here while the shop is getting worked on.”

  “You and Ben didn’t have to do it today,” I said.

  “Sure we did. We’re on a deadline. Need to get some of these clocks sold if we’re going to stay in business. Am I right?”

  “We’re going to have to get a lot of the clocks sold. But not today. Grab yourself a glass of wine,” I said.

  Pat walked over and gave Flo a hug, then he took the glass his wife offered him.

  Ben walked over. “Where’s Blue?” I asked.

  “Back in the guest room, keeping Bezel company. She pretends to hate Blue, but it’s all a façade.”

  I laughed, and just then Mac and Ada Clark walked through the door, carrying two brimming Corner Market bags. Beckett Green followed behind, carrying a covered tray.

  “Thank you for the invitation,” he said to me. “I know that Caroline is fond of figs, so I brought some over.”

  “She’s right over there, talking to Flo.” Beckett walked over, balancing his tray so that he could meet Flo.

  I walked over to the Clarks and shook their hands.

  “Thank you so much for coming out here,” I said.

  “Thank you for inviting us,” Mac said, and I could see he meant it. “We really appreciate it.”

  “Listen, our families have had some misunderstandings over the years, but they don’t make sense anymore. I’ve heard such great things about the way you’ve been running the Corner Market and the way you treat local vendors.”

  “We’ve been trying. I know now that Thom was trying to protect what we were trying to do, and to be. I’m so sorry that the last words we had were cross ones,” Mac said, looking down and adjusting his grip on his bag.

  “We can’t change the past, but we also can’t let it predict the future. How about if we all start again, as of today?”

  “Sounds wonderful,” Ada said. “I hope you don’t mind, but we brought over some wine, chocolate, and local cheeses.”

  “I don’t mind at all. Let’s pull out another card table. They’re over there, by the bathroom. Ben, can you help with that?”

  “For wine and chocolate? You bet!” he said. He winked at me and went to work setting up the new table.

  “Ruthie, you remind me of your grandmother,” Aunt Flo said, coming up behind me and giving me a side squeeze that was only a little painful. “Just set up another card table. Being a gracious host.”

  “Aunt Flo, that’s the nicest thing you could ever say to me. I’m so glad you’re back.”

  “Ben doesn’t really need me, but he pretends he does. And after the first few months of traveling, I got bored. I’m back, but only a couple of days a week.”

  “And, coincidentally, those two days are booked solid with appointments,” said Ben as he put his arm around his aunt’s shoulders and kissed her on top of her head.

  “We’ll get this business turned around. You just need to learn how to gossip, nephew.”

  Chief Paisley came in, and everyone stopped talking. He looked handsome out of uniform. Still formal, with creased chinos and a tucked-in blue checkered shirt. His jean jacket was the only thing that looked fairly worn, and it tipped him into handsome territory.

  “Here’s my hero,” I said, only half joking. “Without his quick thinking, I literally would not be here.”

  I tried to laugh it off, but I knew it was true. I walked up and gave him a big hug and a peck on the cheek.

  “Just doing my job, ma’am,” he said, standing up even straighter, if that was possible.

  “Thank you for that,” Caroline said. “Though I still don’t know what would have made you go out to the Winters’.”

  “Thom had shared his concerns about the Chairman’s death with me, but I didn’t have enough evidence to get the body exhumed. And to be honest, I wasn’t sure that Thom wasn’t grasping at straws, trying to explain his friend’s death.”

  “Grover’s death did change Thom,” Caroline said. “We all thought he was making crazy decisions. But now we all know that he was right.”

  “We found Thom’s notebook at the Winters’ house. Aggie had taken that, and a box of clocks Thom was bringing back to the house, on the night he died. I read over the notebook,” the chief said. “I’ll get it back to you both as soon as I can. He lays out his concerns, but he really thought that Delia was responsible. I just wish he’d talked it through with me. Parts of his notebook are direct letters to Grover. He really missed his old friend.”

  “Okay, but that still doesn’t explain why you went looking for Ruth.”

  “I knew she wanted to honor Thom, and getting the deed settled was part of that. I was holding off talking to Kristen until she got there, and when she was late, I went by the Sleeping Latte, fully expecting to see Ruth sitting at the counter or behind it, helping out. But Ben told me she stopped by the Winters’ and was on her way. It didn’t sit right that she wasn’t there.”

  “Even though I’m late for everything?” I asked.

  “I didn’t think you’d be late for our meeting. Plus, I started to wonder if the Winters’ heirs would be happy about the deed being found, or if the town taking it over would benefit them in some way. As I said, it just didn’t sit right, so I thought I should make sure everything was all right. I drove up and heard her car alarm blasting. I looked through the front window. Well, the rest you know.”

  “Do they teach you how to throw lawn ornaments in the police academy?” I asked, poking him in the ribs.

  “If I’d taken a shot, I might have hit you or Jonah. It was a calculated risk,” he said, half smiling.

  “That paid off. Thank you, Chief.”

  “Call me Jeff. And you’re welcome, Ruth.”

  “Well, Ruth, I think everyone’s here now,” Caroline said, looking around.

  I walked over and stood next to the Town Hall model and cleared my throat.

  “Thank you all for coming this afternoon. I feel like this is a meeting of the Orchard historical district,” I said. Everyone laughed. “I wanted to let you all know that I’m going back to Boston tomorrow morning.” The long faces got to me, and I couldn’t hold back my smile. “I need to go by the museum and thank them for finding money to rehire me, but I need to turn them down.

  “Pat, Caroline, and I talked it over last night. The shop is going to be closed for a few more weeks. Pat’s going to oversee some renovations in the shop. Upstairs will take a little more work, but he tells me it won’t take too long. He did a wonderful job for Caroline at the cottage, and I need the apartment to be modernized if I am going to live there. Plus there are a few other changes we want to make to the shop, opening it up a little more. We’ll have a bit more of a
showroom, displaying some of the clocks on sale and some of my own work.”

  With that, I took the sheet off the piece that Pat had helped me install last night on the wall of the barn. It was a working clock, six feet wide and three feet tall. Oversized cogs and gears were made of different types of metal. I’d soldered some frames onto the cogs. They stood out from the clock about six inches. Each frame contained a small art piece I’d created, and they moved with the clock. A replica of the cottage. A clock tower. An apple. Last night I’d added a large bezel with a gray cat face peering through the lens. Toward the center of the piece there were three words made of sculpted metal. They spelled out COG & SPROCKET and lined up every hour. If I had been able to orchestrate the moment better, we all would have seen it, but for now, I just needed to explain it.

  “I call it the Cog & Sprocket. I designed it in memory of this place, of Orchard, and in honor of my grandparents. I finished it last year, during one of the most difficult times of my life. Even though I never got to say good-bye to G.T., I felt as if he was with me while I built this. And now I am so pleased that I can hang it where it belongs. Here, in Orchard.”

  “To the Cog & Sprocket and to Ruth Clagan.” Ben raised his glass. “Welcome home.”

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