Teaberry Class Reunion

by R A Wallace

  She brought her hands up and wiped at her face. She was driving herself crazy. She needed to talk to someone about her fears. She definitely couldn’t call her soon-to-be ex-husband. She didn’t want to tell her mother something that would upset her. Certainly not until she had more information and maybe not until she didn’t have any other options. That left only one person. Her mind made up, Claire went to grab her purse and her coat.

  ***

  Linda was surprised when the doorbell rang. Her mind immediately flew to the hours she had spent in the police station answering their questions. What if they were here to arrest her? More scared than she had ever been in her life, Linda slowly made her way to the front door. She nearly cried with joy when she saw Amos standing on the either side. Before she knew what she was doing, she threw herself into his arms.

  “Hey, there now.” Amos glanced around and tried to check if any of the neighbors were out. As gently as he could, he pushed Linda back into her house.

  She pulled away from him in mortification. “Amos! I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have…”

  “Yes, you should have. I heard what happened. You must be going out of your mind with worry.”

  Amos directed Linda to her living room and pulled his coat off when they got there. After throwing it onto a chair, he grabbed Linda’s hand and tugged her to the couch.

  “Sit down before you fall down.”

  Linda fell heavily onto the couch and dropped her head into her hands.

  “Tell me what happened.”

  She looked up and took a breath. Then she explained all about being with Claire at the tree farm, being interviewed by police officers afterward, and her conversation with Megan.

  Amos rubbed at his chin when she was done. “Megan asked some good questions.”

  “I know that. And I know that it looks bad for Claire. For that matter, it looks bad for both of us. But, Amos… I don’t think she did it either.” Linda looked him directly in the eye and held her chin up.

  Amos nodded slowly as he looked at the stubborn set of her jaw. “Okay. Then that’s what we’ll go with.”

  Linda felt herself relax. “Thanks. Thanks for coming here and thanks for listening to me. I didn’t know who to turn to.”

  Amos didn’t have a chance to respond. The doorbell rang. He watched the fear return to Linda’s face. He motioned to her to stay where she was and got up to answer the door. He found another frightened looking woman on the other side.

  Claire followed Amos into the living room. She stood in the center of the room and looked at Linda.

  “I didn’t know where else to go.”

  Linda smiled and patted the couch next to her. “You came to the right place.”

  Claire sat down and then swiveled her head from Amos to Linda.

  “Do you think we should get a lawyer?” Claire asked.

  “Yes,” Amos said quickly before Linda could answer. “I think you should call Jennifer Parker now. It’s the end of the work day, so she might not be able to see you tonight or maybe she’ll stay late to meet with you, I don’t know. But she can definitely give you the advice that you need. If she thinks you don’t need a lawyer, she’ll tell you.”

  Claire looked at Linda and raised her eyebrows in question. Linda took a breath and nodded her agreement.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tyler clipped another order up on the line in front of Holly and shook his head at the goofy grin on her face. Not that he really minded. He just couldn’t ever remember seeing her this excited before. She hadn’t stopped smiling since Cy Douglass had handed over the keys to his farm. After picking up a completed order, he turned to deliver it to the customer that had ordered it.

  “There you go,” Tyler said to the man at the counter. He looked to be around Tyler’s age, which put him in his late twenties. He’d kept the knit cap on his head but had taken off his heavy coat inside the diner.

  “Thanks.” The man reached for the salt shaker and immediately began shaking it vigorously over all of his breakfast.

  “More coffee?” Tyler asked.

  The other man looked up. He had more stubble than beard. “Yeah, thanks.”

  “I don’t remember seeing you in here before,” Tyler said as he returned with a coffee pot.

  “It’s been awhile. Last time I was in here, the old man was still working the grill. Looks like they traded up.” The customer eyed Holly with an appreciative grin.

  Tyler frowned. “My sister took over for Bert.”

  The other man looked back at Tyler and held up a hand. “No offense.”

  Tyler nodded once. “So, you swing through town sometimes?”

  “I drive a truck. I brought a load of stuff from the Christmas tree farm for the florist shop in town.”

  “I heard there was some excitement out there,” Tyler said. He hadn’t been to the tree farm yet, but he’d driven past it.

  “Yeah, owner’s brother got himself killed. Not too surprising really.”

  Tyler caught a movement across the room as another customer tried to get his attention. He held up one finger.

  “Why do you say that?” Tyler asked.

  “Every time that guy showed up, the owners got all stressed out. Everyone started fighting.”

  “I’m sure the police will figure it all out.” Tyler topped off the man’s coffee and crossed the room to the other table. As he continued serving customers throughout the morning, he heard snatched pieces of conversations about the recent death and speculation on who may have done it.

  Casey Adams arrived just before lunchtime with a blast of cold air. He took a seat at the counter and waved to Tyler across the room when he caught his eye. Tyler finished with another table then went over to take Casey’s order.

  “I’ve found a home for all but one of the kittens,” Casey said after asking for the daily special.

  Tyler glanced over at Holly. He hoped she wouldn’t be too upset when he told her. He didn’t want to ruin the good mood she was in. Squaring his shoulders, he went over to pin Casey’s order up on the line.

  “The vet says he’s found a home for all of the kittens except one,” Tyler said as quietly as he could.

  Holly’s eyes flew to his and she grinned. “That’s awesome. Do you think Mr. Douglass will let us bring the kitten into the house?”

  Leave it to Holly to look on the bright side. Tyler turned when the front door opened again. “Looks like he’s here for lunch. Maybe I can ask him.”

  Cy took a seat next to Casey and motioned to Tyler that he’ll have what Casey is having. Tyler nodded and quickly pinned up the order before grabbing another coffee pot to make the rounds.

  When he delivered the specials to Casey and Cy, he noticed that the plates were piled much higher with food than usual.

  Casey looked down at the plate when Tyler set it in front of him, then looked up at Tyler with narrowed eyes. “This is a lot of food.”

  “I think it’s Holly’s way of thanking you,” Tyler told him. Then he looked over at Cy. “She might be buttering you up before she asks if she can have a kitten in the house.”

  Cy laughed. “Wouldn’t be the first time there were pets in the house.”

  Tyler turned toward Holly and gave her a thumbs-up. They could hear her squeal of happiness over the rest of the noise in the diner.

  “Any word on the death out at the tree farm?” Cy asked as he tackled his food.

  “That’s all everyone’s been talking about,” Tyler said before taking off for another group of customers.

  “I feel bad for Toni and Mack,” Casey said.

  Cy nodded his agreement. “It can’t be easy for them. Thanksgiving to Christmas is the busiest time of the year for the tree farm.”

  ***

  Toni finished the sale and thanked the customers for their kind words about her brother. After they left the small office, she walked around to the other side of the counter and stared unseeing through the front window. Her mind kept returning to another
morning, the morning of Clay’s death. Mack had gotten up so early that day, he’d already been out on the lot by the time she’d gotten to the office. She hadn’t seen him until after Clay’s body had been found. She didn’t turn around when she heard the rear door of the building open or when she heard the footsteps behind her.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Mack asked gently.

  Toni turned around. “We need the business. If we stay closed now, we might as well give up for the whole season. People will have to go somewhere else for their trees. What if they decide not to ever come back?”

  “People will understand if you close for a few days to grieve for your brother,” Mack pointed out.

  Toni stiffened her spine. “My dad would understand if we remained open. It’s what he would want.”

  The bells on the front door rang as it opened. Toni could tell by the look on Mack’s face that it wasn’t good news. She turned to face her sister-in-law.

  “I’m all packed. I’ll get a room at a hotel.” Yolanda looked directly at Toni.

  “Yolanda, we’ve already told you that you are welcome to stay here. You don’t know anyone else in town. Family should be together at times like this,” Mack said.

  Yolanda’s gaze never left Toni’s. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. Besides, it’s not like I’d see you if I stayed. You’re both working, right?”

  “Yolanda,” Toni said to her sister-in-law’s back as she walked out of the office. Toni sighed and turned back to Mack.

  He held out his arms and she walked into them. “You understand, right?”

  “That you need to work? Yes. It’s what you’ve always done and what you understand.” Mack took a step back and looked at Toni. “But if you change your mind, I’ll back you with that too. Whatever you want to do.”

  Toni smiled her thanks. “Leave it to my brother to get murdered at the busiest time of the year. He never did know anything about running a tree farm.”

  “It never stopped him from wanting to own it,” Mack pointed out.

  “It was the money he wanted. He never cared about the farm.” Toni returned to the other side of the counter when the door opened and more customers came in.

  Mack watched his wife speculatively for a moment before leaving the office. Not for the first time, he wondered why she’d hadn’t been in the office the morning of Clay’s death when he’d stopped in to check on an order.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Claire heard the doorbell and peered through the window before opening the door. Linda had told Claire that Megan would be stopping by to speak with her. Claire had no idea how Megan was going to help them out of their current predicament, but both Linda and Amos had had seemed certain of Megan’s abilities.

  “Claire, I’m Megan Parker. Linda gave me your address.”

  Claire motioned for Megan to enter. “She told me you were coming when I talked with her yesterday. I’m not really sure how you can help.”

  Megan smiled. “Neither am I, but I promised I would try.”

  Megan unzipped her coat as she took a seat across from Claire. “Can you tell me about Clay Freemont?”

  Claire leaned forward in her seat. “What do you want to know?”

  “I know that you were dating him first. And then Linda got involved with him.”

  Claire huffed out a small laugh. “Small towns. I’d forgotten what it’s like.”

  Megan shrugged. “Actually, in this case, Linda told me about all of that previously.”

  Claire made a face as she considered it, then sat back in her chair. “Okay, then you know what kind of a man he was.”

  “He cheated on the two of you,” Megan said. It was a statement, not a question.

  Claire laughed again. “Oh, not just us. Everyone. Didn’t Linda tell you that part too? Clay dated nearly every girl in school. He cheated on all of them too.”

  Interesting. “Can you name some of them?”

  Claire thought about it. “Well, looking at the class reunion, I can tell you that he dated the class president, Libby Danes.”

  “Dr. Danes?” Megan asked, surprised.

  “Yes, that’s right, it’s doctor now. She made something of herself.” Claire made it sound as though she envied Libby for that.

  “Did you speak with Clay at the class reunion?” Megan watched Claire closely and saw a look that resembled disgust cross her face.

  “No, I had no reason to. I did almost meet his current wife, though.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I was speaking with another group of people when Yolanda joined us. I didn’t actually speak with her directly.” Claire frowned at the memory. “Not that I really could have. Yolanda did most of the talking.”

  “What did she say?”

  Claire looked up at the ceiling as she tried to remember. “I don’t know. What do most strangers say in that situation. The only thing I really remember is Yolanda repeating how happy she and Clay were.”

  “Do you think she knew who you were or about your past with Clay?”

  Claire narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t get that impression.” She shrugged. “Who knows.”

  “Did you believe her?” Megan asked.

  “What? That they were happy?” Claire shook her head slowly. “I have no idea. I can’t believe Clay stopped cheating on women but maybe Yolanda was okay with him doing that. Who knows what goes on inside any marriage, really?” Claire frowned, thinking of her own.

  “Did they seem happy together?”

  “Actually, I don’t really remember seeing the two of them together except when dinner was served, and I suppose they didn’t really have a choice then. Everyone was sitting down to eat and listen to the speeches that were planned.”

  ***

  Bev slid into the seat next to Vince at the Jammin’T. “I love being retired. It means I can eat late lunches and not have to worry about the time.”

  Vince glanced at the time on his phone. “Megan should be here any minute. Do you want to wait to order?”

  Bev shook her head. “Megan said not to. She’s working on a puzzle and has people to talk to. We’re just two of the people on her list. Besides, I do want to get back to Lauren.”

  “Does she need more help? I really enjoyed helping with her baking business before baby Grace was born.” Vince picked up the menu and studied it.

  “I’ll text her and ask,” Bev said as she pulled out her phone. After clicking send, she picked up her own menu.

  Tyler approached the table a few minutes later. “Are you ready to order or do you want to wait for your friend?”

  Bev set down her menu. “Megan is joining us, but she won’t be eating.”

  Tyler took their order then looked at Bev. “Is Megan working on a puzzle?”

  Bev nodded.

  “I’ll bring some hot decaf tea, that’s usually what she orders. Tell her not to leave until she talks to me. I may have a piece or two to help with her puzzle.”

  Megan slid into the seat across from them a few minutes later. She smiled when she saw the pot of hot water and the tea bag. She flipped her mug over and fixed her tea.

  “Thanks, I needed this.”

  “Thank Tyler. He said he might be able to help with your puzzle, too.”

  Megan looked from Vince to Bev. “Tell me about the class reunion. Did you talk to Clay at all?”

  Bev shook her head. “I didn’t talk to him directly, but I did overhear a conversation he had. At least, his side of it. He was on the phone with someone.”

  Megan sipped at her tea and raised her brows.

  “I didn’t hear everything he said, but I do know that he was upset, and he said something about the tree farm.” Bev folded her arms together. It was chilly in the diner without her coat.

  “I didn’t actually hear anything, but I did see Clay having a conversation in an odd place with someone who looked like she didn’t want to be there.” Vince noticed Bev’s movements and reached behind her to pull her coa
t up around her shoulders. Bev flashed him a smile.

  “Who was that?” Megan asked.

  “Wendy. Wendy Pope. They were by the restrooms. She looked like she was trapped, so I’m guessing she didn’t want to talk to him about whatever it was, but Clay was really animated about it.”

  “She’s in real estate, right?”

  Bev and Vince nodded as Tyler returned with their food.

  “Practically everyone that’s been in here today has been talking about the death at the tree farm,” Tyler said as he served the food. “But there was one guy in particular. He said he did deliveries for the farm. He told me that every time Clay visited the family, it set off a lot of arguments there.”

  Tyler nodded to someone across the room who was trying to get his attention. He turned to Bev and Vince. “Can I get you anything else right now?”

  Vince looked over at Bev’s plate. “I think we’re good, thanks.”

  Tyler looked back at Megan. “I’ll be back. I have one more thing to tell you.”

  Megan picked her tea mug up again and thought about what Claire had said. “Did you see Clay spend any time with his wife, Yolanda, at the class reunion?”

  Bev and Vince shared a look as they thought back. They both shook their heads.

  “Can you think of anything else that happened at the class reunion that I might need to know about?”

  “No, but good luck with your puzzle,” Bev said. “We’re going to Lauren’s when we leave here.”

  “Tell her that I said hello and I’ll be by soon to visit.” Megan looked up as Tyler returned.

  “I saw the guy in Jammin’T before the class reunion.”

  “You mean, Clay Freemont, the man that was murdered?” Megan asked.

  Tyler nodded. “He was by himself, but a lady came in. It didn’t look like he was expecting her. She kept trying to talk to him and it looked like she wanted to join him. He pretty much blew her off. He threw some money on the table and left without finishing his food.”