The next morning Christine arose feeling just as tired as she had the night before. She hadn’t slept. She wasn’t used to the noise of vehicles driving by during the night, of people walking and talking at all hours. Plus, her mind kept her awake going over and over the decision she had made and remembering the fun times of the past twenty-five years: the excitement of Graham’s birth, the happiness of paying off the farm. They had worked hard to make their farm a success.
But over the years she had gone through some changes, done a lot of thinking. She had discovered that farming wasn’t what she wanted to do for the rest of her life and she had questioned her love for Wayne. She really was getting tired of his jealousy. She wanted to be able to talk normally with men without worrying about his reaction. She knew when she suggested he sell the farm and go away with her, his first reaction would be no.
The phone rang just as she was putting on her coat. The only one who knew her phone number was Graham.
“Hello?”
“Christine,” Wayne said. “I was just wondering if you wanted to have breakfast here when you get the rest of your things.”
Christine wasn’t sure how she should answer that. “No. I’ll stop and have some toast and coffee at a restaurant.”
“But you’re coming here anyway.”
“Okay.” It was easier to agree than start another fight. “I’m leaving now.”
“I’ll have it ready.”
Christine had to smile. The only other time Wayne had voluntarily cooked a meal for her was the supper he had made the night he had sprung his surprise on her.
At work on Monday, Christine gave her change of address to one of the secretaries.
“What happened?”
“Just a parting of the ways.” Christine shrugged. She really didn’t want to talk about it.
“I hear you’re now free to go out with me,” Tony, one of her bosses, said later, stepping up to her desk.
Christine looked up. “No, I’m not.”
“But you’re separated. There’s nothing stopping you.”
Christine knew she had to be careful. “I’m still married.”
“If you really thought that you would be living at home.”
“I’m not interested in jumping out of the pan into the fire.”
Tony leaned on her desk and looked down at her. “Well, this fire won’t be extinguished until you agree to go out with me.”
“Maybe later, when things have settled down with Wayne.”
“Okay, I’ll give you some time, but don’t take too long.”
What was it with men? Why did they think they could direct her life?
Chapter 22
As she drove away Elizabeth wondered if Christine thought Graham may have had something to do with Ben’s murder. That may explain why Graham had moved to Edmonton to be with her. They shared a terrible secret. Maybe it had played out as she had said, but instead of someone unknown, it was Graham who came back, saw what was happening, and stabbed Ben to protect his mother. They could have concocted the story about her stabbing him then passing out. Graham could even have hit her on the head to give her the bump.
Elizabeth shook her head. She must be tired to have come up with that wild scenario.
By the time she reached the B&B she was drained. But she didn’t think she could sleep. She wondered if Jared was awake. He’d said he’d been having a hard time sleeping since he’d received the photograph. But he’d also said he would be awake when she got back. She hated the idea of checking. What if he’d just managed to get to sleep, was having the first good sleep in days. She let Chevy visit a few bushes in the yard then picked him up and carried him quietly into the house. She went to Jared’s door and tapped lightly.
“Who’s there?” he called, softly.
Good, she hadn’t wakened him. “It’s Elizabeth,” she whispered.
“Come in.”
He smiled when he saw her and her heart melted. She went over and kissed him.
Jared patted the bed beside him. She lay down and placed her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her. Chevy jumped on the bed and settled at Jared’s feet.
Jared began stroking her hair. She snuggled closer. This felt good lying here with him.
“Do you want to come under the covers with me?” he asked.
Boy, did she ever! To heck with telling him about her visit to Christine. That could wait until tomorrow.
The next morning Elizabeth stretched luxuriously then looked over at Jared sleeping beside her. What a night they’d had. She looked at her watch. It was late. Chevy jumped off the bed and went to the door.
“Okay,” she whispered, getting dressed. She opened the door softly and peeked out. No one. Feeling like a naughty teenager she snuck down the hall and out the door. She knew she wasn’t going on her third trip today and she didn’t even mind. When she and Chevy got back to Jared’s room, Chevy immediately jumped up on the bed and walked up to Jared’s face.
“Well, do come and say Hi,” Jared laughed, as he reached out and scratched Chevy’s ears. “I’m glad you brought your owner back with you.” He smiled up at Elizabeth.
She bent over and kissed him. “That’s not all I am,” she purred.
Jared lifted the covers for the second time in the last few hours. “You left here so fast that you missed breakfast.”
“Do you serve brunch?” Elizabeth asked, sliding in beside him.
“I serve anything, anytime.”
* * * *
To save time they showered together. When Jared was dressed Elizabeth donned a clean pair of his shorts and a shirt and ran to her room.
“I’ll meet you for a real breakfast,” Jared said.
They just barely made it under the eleven o’clock cut off for the meal. “So tell me about what you learned yesterday from Christine,” Jared said, while they were eating.
“It wasn’t very productive,” Elizabeth said. “She didn’t know your mother very well and she doesn’t think Ben’s death and your mother’s death have anything in common.”
“So she couldn’t tell us any more than what we already know?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “Like everyone else, though, she was very willing to talk about Ben’s death. It must have been quite an event for people to still be talking about it.”
“I talked with Meredith about it yesterday and she said that the place was swarming with reporters after the killing and during the trail. They were making it out to be the romantic triangle of the century.”
“Christine told me that she broke it off with Ben and was leaving Wayne and the farm. Wayne would show up at her place drunk trying to get her to come home and Ben would be drunk trying to get her to patch their affair up.”
“Sounds like a fiasco.”
Elizabeth nodded. “And the night of the killing Meredith visited her then left before Graham arrived and he left before Ben showed up.”
“Busy evening.”
“Yes,” Elizabeth said, thoughtfully. “It’s strange that with all his visits before, the only one who didn’t go there that night was Wayne.”
“What if he did and she’s covering for him.”
“Or maybe Graham came back and she could be protecting him.”
“I wonder if Wayne knows more than he is saying,” Jared said.
“We could always go ask him.” She stopped. “We’re getting side tracked from why we are really here.”
“I know,” Jared grinned. “But I can understand how you can get caught up in trying to solve crimes. It’s like putting a puzzle together or trying to find the last word in a crossword. You just got to keep at it.”
He took the picture of his mother out of his pocket and looked at it. “It seems so hard to learn anything about Mom.”
“Not many people in the area really got to know her. She must have had a very lonely life,” Elizabeth said. “Do you know who any of her friends were in that grad photo?”
Jared shook his head. “I
’ll ask Dad today.”
“You didn’t go yesterday?”
“I tried. I even got as far as the road in front of the farm. Although the house and the out buildings and the yard look the same I didn’t feel as comfortable entering as I used to before receiving the photograph. The message on the back has raised too many questions, too many doubts about the people who live there, the people I call family.”
“So you left?”
“Yes. I thought I’d try again today. I’m not sure what more I can learn but I hope it’s something that will settle my mind, quiet the fears growing inside me. But I don’t want to go alone. Can you come with me?”
Elizabeth grinned. “I’ve already decided not to do any research today so, yes, I can.”
Jared breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
Elizabeth reached into her pocket and pulled out the small bag she’d been given yesterday at the mission. “I bought this for you.”
“For me?” Jared looked startled. “What is it?”
“Open it,” Elizabeth smiled.
Jared pulled the bag apart and held up the silver eagle on the silver chain. “It’s beautiful,” he breathed. He immediately hung it around his neck. “How does it look?”
Elizabeth felt a lump in her throat. It fit perfectly in the V of his shirt and stood out against his sun tan.
Chapter 23
When they got to the farm Paul, Willy, and Susie had just sat down at the table.
“Would you like a roast beef sandwich?” Susie asked, heading for the cupboard.
“No, thank you,” Jared said. “We just finished breakfast.”
Susie looked from one to the other and smiled. “Then have a seat Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth noted that it was Susie who was making them feel welcome. The two men continued to eat.
“How’s your little investigation going, Jared?” Paul finally addressed him.
“Not very well,” Jared admitted. “Not many people knew Mom.”
“Have you found that phantom link between her death and Ben’s?” Willy asked.
Elizabeth couldn’t tell if Willy was ridiculing him or not. She didn’t need to ask how he knew about that. Gossip travelled fast around here.
“No.” Jared turned to Paul. “Dad, what day did you and Mom get married?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Because I never knew when your wedding anniversary was. I don’t know how Mom was dressed. I don’t even know if you were married in a church.”
“We were married on May twenty-first 1976. Now, does that help you?”
Jared did a quick calculation on his head. “She was almost four months pregnant.”
“Yes,” Paul said gruffly.
“Did you know?”
“That’s why I married her.”
“What church were you married in?”
“We went to a local marriage commissioner.”
Elizabeth noticed that Paul was not adding any more information than was asked for.
“Who all was there?”
“Just Willy and my mother.”
“Why not Grandma and Grandpa Dombroski?”
“They wanted nothing to do with her once they found out she was pregnant. They moved away soon after because of it.”
“Why didn’t you put the dates of her birth and death on her gravestone like everyone else has on theirs?”
Paul didn’t answer.
“What do you want to know for?” Willy demanded.
“Because I’ve wondered about it for years but I’ve never had the guts to ask.”
“And today you do?”
Jared lifted his chin. “Today, I do.”
“It would have cost too much extra money,” Paul said abruptly.
“What?” Jared asked.
“It would have cost more for them.”
“Then why didn’t you put them on instead of that horrible inscription?”
Elizabeth admired Jared for keeping his voice calm. She’d have been yelling by now.
“Because I didn’t care if people knew when she was born or when she had died but I definitely wanted everyone to know how she had died.”
“You were that angry?”
“Yes.” Paul’s voice was becoming curt.
Elizabeth figured that he wouldn’t take much more of this.
Jared pulled the photograph of his mother’s graduation from his pocket. “Do you know any of these people with Mom?”
Paul glanced at it then threw it on the table. “No.”
“But you hardly even looked at it,” Jared protested. He picked it up and handed it back. “Please.”
Paul grabbed it from his hand. He held it in front of his face, then again tossed it in his direction. “There, you satisfied?”
“Paul, that wasn’t very nice,” Susie said.
“Well, how would you like it if someone came around insinuating that you are a killer?” Paul demanded.
Elizabeth noticed that Paul said ‘someone’ not ‘son’.
“Dad, I remember you hollering at Mom,” Jared said, his voice steady. “I remember you slapping her across the face and her backing away with her hand on her cheek.”
Paul slammed both hands on the table and stood angrily. “I didn’t kill her,” he yelled.
Jared ducked reflexively and held up his hands in a defensive gesture, fear plain on his. Elizabeth stood to defend him.
Paul opened his mouth to say something but instead he turned and headed towards the door.
“Dad, I was hiding behind a chair when you hit her and just thinking about it now, I can feel the same panic in my stomach.”
Paul hesitate then pushed open the door and left.
“I keep telling you to leave it alone,” Willy said.
Jared quickly wheeled himself out of the house and followed Paul to the barn. Elizabeth hurried along with him. For some reason she didn’t want to leave him alone with his father. Paul had just grabbed a fork to clean out the stalls when they entered.
“Dad, did you have a girlfriend?” Jared demanded.
Paul turned to him, fork in hand. Elizabeth stepped forward. Jared put his hand on her arm. Paul looked at her and threw the fork away.
“Did you?” Jared asked again.
“Where did you hear that?” he asked, his voice low and controlled.
“It seems to be common knowledge,” Jared said.
Elizabeth restrained a smile. He’d learned a few things from her about questioning.
“She had nothing to do with your mother’s death,” Paul said.
Elizabeth’s heart sank for Jared. So it was true.
“Why?” Jared asked, his voice croaking. “Why did you need a girlfriend?”
Paul shrugged. “It’s not as if we had a marriage. “
“She was pregnant. You had something.”
“She had something.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Paul waved his hand. “Nothing.”
“No. You wouldn’t have said it if it meant nothing.”
Paul put his hands on Jared’s arm rests and leaned over until they were face to face. He looked Jared straight in the eye. “Your mother was not murdered. She took her own life.”
“Was that because you were seeing another woman?”
Paul threw his hands up in exasperation. “I give up. Okay, I had a girlfriend. We saw each other for about a year then we broke it off. She moved away. That’s all there was to it.”
“Did Mom know about it?”
“I really don’t know and I really don’t care. That was a long time ago. Nothing that happened then can be changed no matter how many questions you ask.” Paul’s voice dropped to a tight whisper. “And if you are not careful, you might learn some things that you wished you hadn’t.” With that he turned and left the barn.
* * * *
Christine’s Story
She had been working on her course one evening when there was a knock at the door. Ch
ristine went to the kitchen window and looked out. Wayne was standing on the porch. It had been a week since her move and this was the first time he’d come to see her. He knocked again, louder. She opened the door.
“Hi,” she said, standing back and letting him in.
Wayne stood just inside the door. “Have a seat,” Christine said. “I’ve just made some coffee.”
Wayne sat at the kitchen table and accepted a cup. He still hadn’t spoken.
“How’s Graham?” Christine finally asked.
“He’s okay, I guess,” he said.
“Good.”
“Is this still what you want?” Wayne asked.
“Yes,” she said, wishing she could explain everything to him. Then he would truly understand that their marriage was over. But since she couldn’t she had to continue her ruse.
“Why?”
Christine looked away. What could she say that she hadn’t said before? She had grown to dislike the confines of the farm. She did want to travel and see more of the world. She did want to move to Vancouver. She did have to get away from here and from Ben and from him.
“I just have to,” Christine said, knowing the words were too inadequate to explain the upheaval she had caused in his life.
“No,” Wayne said, emphatically. “You don’t have to.”
Yes, Christine said silently, I do.
“Can’t all this wait until we retire?” he asked. “I promise I’ll travel all over the world with you.”
“When will that be? In thirty years?”
“Won’t you change your mind?” Wayne asked.
“Won’t you?” She knew he wouldn’t. She was counting on the fact that he wouldn’t. As much as he loved her he wouldn’t choose her over the farm.
“How can you throw away twenty-five years so easily?”
“Believe me, it isn’t easy. It’s been the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life. I thought about it for a long time before I moved out.”
“Do you know what everyone in Redwater is saying? They’re saying you left me for another man.”
The Travelling Detective: Boxed Set Page 42