The Best Is Yet to Be

by Eve Fisher

  Junius snapped his fingers, and Matt came over. “Help out a bit, Son.”

  “Oh, sure.” Matt picked up the box, and Amanda, Dot, and Junius followed him outside, calling out their farewells.

  “Well!” Renee declared, picking up her tote and slinging it over her shoulder so that Kisses’ head was almost under her chin. “Did you ever see such an obvious maneuver in all your life?”

  Joe Tucker was looking out the window bleakly. Kate had noticed at other times that Joe and Amanda didn’t seem to get along, and now Amanda had ignored Joe the whole time she had been in the kitchen. For the life of her, Kate couldn’t understand why. True, Joe was an old backwoodsman with all the polish of his hand-hewn log cabin, and Amanda was like a tiny bit of finished porcelain. But they had so much in common: They had both been born in Copper Mill, they both loved music, and they both attended Faith Briar Church. There had to be a reason, but Kate hadn’t lived in Copper Mill long enough to know all the townspeople and their histories. And since she wasn’t from Amanda and Joe’s generation, she might never understand even if she did find out the reason. But surely they could be friendly, if not friends.

  “Some women aren’t happy unless all the men are flocking around them all the time,” Renee was saying to Kisses. “Isn’t that right, Little Umpkins?”

  “Well, I promised to meet Morty Robertson down at the diner,” Joe said. “Want to join us, Eli?”

  “I can’t. I need to get back to the shop. I’ve got a couple of ladies coming over from Lenoir City at twelve thirty.”

  “Somebody’s got to clean up here,” Renee reminded them. “And I have my Friday-afternoon appointment at the beauty shop, so I can’t stay.”

  “Everybody just run along,” Kate said. “I’ll clean up. You’ve all done a great job.”

  “Thank you,” Renee said, walking toward the door. “Ta ta!”

  “Good-bye, Renee!” Kate called, feeling a twinge of relief.

  “Now, are you sure you can handle all this?” Joe asked.

  “Yes,” Kate said, smiling. “You need to go change your pants.”

  Kate washed the pots and pans, the fruit bowl, and the utensils and scrubbed the table and countertops. The sun poured in through the window over her sudsy hands, and she promised herself a walk downtown when she was all done. Maybe she’d stop by the library and see Livvy Jenner. That would cheer her up. She realized that she needed some cheering. The wonderful feelings she had had when the Faith Freezer Program started seemed very far away.

  But feelings aren’t facts, Kate reminded herself. The facts were that the Faith Freezer Program had delivered hundreds of meals since its inception, and the Bixby house had been home for at least a dozen people, giving them a start toward new lives. Both were important parts of Faith Briar’s ministry, and Kate’s personal ministry.

  So the morning hadn’t gone as well as she’d hoped. So Renee had been a bit irritating, but she was one of the program’s most dedicated volunteers and truly was far more important to its daily operation than Kate was. Kate took a deep breath and remembered the verse, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

  She smiled and turned to see that Emma Blount was back.

  “Emma! Was your mother’s meal okay?”

  “Oh, it was fine. But I’m so glad you’re still here,” Emma said, laying her purse on the table and slowly lowering herself into a chair. “I was afraid you might have gone.”

  “Not yet,” Kate said brightly, although she felt apprehensive. Emma looked worried. Something was wrong. “Would you like some coffee? I could put the pot on.”

  “That’s okay. I need to get back to the shop soon.”

  “I’m afraid we don’t have any leftovers to offer you, but there are a couple of rolls.”

  “Oh, I’m fine. I never eat lunch. I just nibble all day at the shop. They say that having lots of little meals is better for you than three big meals a day, and I believe it. I don’t ever get indigestion because I really don’t eat that much, just a broken cookie or a couple of nuts or a spoonful of the new flavor.”

  “What is the new flavor?” Kate asked.

  “Pistachio cream. It’s wonderful.”

  “I’ll have to try some.” She sat down across from Emma and said, “Now, what can I do for you?”

  “Kate, I don’t know how to say this, but...I’m afraid someone’s been stealing from Mama.”

  “Stealing?” Kate was shocked. “What? How?”

  “Well, I’ve noticed a few things missing. Mama had a lovely brooch, just rhinestones, but it was really pretty, one of those big old-fashioned ones, like a starburst. And there was a book of poetry I used to read when I was a little girl. I can’t find them anywhere. And I’m sure a few other things have gone missing too.”

  Kate sighed. Everyone knew that Ada Blount was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, even if Emma could never bring herself to say the word or admit that her mother was failing mentally.

  “Emma,” she said gently, “don’t you think it’s possible that your mother simply misplaced them? Put the brooch in the bathroom cabinet, and the book in, well, her bedroom closet? Or a dresser? Or even in the trash? By accident? Not meaning to, of course.”

  Emma looked down at her lap. “Maybe.”

  “So maybe if you really searched...”

  “It’s more than that, though,” Emma said. “There’s money gone. All her bills are paid through automatic withdrawal, because, well, you know.”

  Kate nodded.

  “But she still has a checking account, for groceries and odds and ends. Well, I usually balance the checkbook every month, but the last couple of months I wasn’t able to because of my surgery. And you know, I’m still not feeling one hundred percent. How I get through the day, I don’t know. I’m simply exhausted by the end of it.”

  “I’m sure you are,” Kate said soothingly. “But what about Ada?”

  “Well, I finally sat down night before last to balance her accounts, and I found that she’d written six checks to cash. And all of them were for either two or three thousand dollars!”

  Kate gasped.

  “Frankly, and I’d only say this to you, because you and the pastor, well...that’s all the money Mama had. It wiped out all her savings.”

  “Oh no!” Kate said. “Did she have any explanation?”

  “First she said she couldn’t remember. Then this morning she said she’d invested it!” Emma’s chin was trembling. “And she won’t—or can’t—say anything else. All her savings gone!”

  “But who on earth took the checks? Who cashed them? Have they been cashed? She didn’t just write them and tear them up, did she?”

  “Oh no. They were cashed. I called the bank. She’s down to almost nothing.”

  Kate put her hands to her face. “Oh, Emma, I’m so sorry. But who on earth could have done this?”

  “That’s what I want to know! I’ve checked her telephone bills, and she hasn’t been making any long-distance phone calls. You know, to those scam artists you hear about all the time. And she hasn’t been sending anything by mail, except birthday cards, and I get those for her and get them ready for her to sign, and then I mail them. She doesn’t get any visitors other than the ladies from church, and I’ve known them all my life. The only other people who come into the house are the people who deliver her meals. So I think it’s got to be one of them. One of the volunteers from the Faith Freezer Program.”

  Chapter Two

  Kate sat back, winded. “One of our volunteers?” she finally gasped. “A thief?”

  “Who else could it be? It’s certainly not the postman,” Emma said indignantly.

  “No, it wouldn’t be Fish,” Kate agreed.

  “And I know it couldn’t be any of the ladies from the church. So it has to be one of the volunteers who delivers meals. I don’t know what to do except go to the police, and I don’t want t
o do that...”

  “Mmm,” Kate murmured noncommittally. “What name was on the back of the canceled checks?”

  “That’s just it. I don’t know,” Emma said. “Now that everything’s electronic, Mama just gets copies of her checks, and they only show the front side, not the endorsement. I’ve ordered copies of the checks from the bank, but who knows how long that will take. They have to come from Chattanooga. And that’s if they haven’t been destroyed already.”

  Kate nodded. “Have you told anyone else about this?”

  “No, not exactly...”

  Kate held her breath. Emma was one of the regulars at Betty’s Beauty Parlor, the hub of gossip in Copper Mill.

  “I asked the ladies at church if Mama had been acting a little funny lately, but they thought I meant, well, you know...And I did mention the brooch to Betty when I was having my hair done the other day, but that’s all. And the book. And do you know there are other people who’ve noticed things going missing? We talked about that a good while,” Emma said thoughtfully. “Renee Lambert said there was a lot of that going on a few years ago, and they traced it back to a couple of school kids.”

  Kate nodded. “But you didn’t tell them about the money.”

  “No. I didn’t even know about it then, and I’d never mention something like that down there. To be honest, my first thought was to keep it quiet. I don’t want anyone laughing at Mama.”

  “No one would laugh, Emma,” Kate said, horrified.

  “Oh yes, they would,” she said glumly. “They’d be all pity and shock, but they’d be snickering about Mama being taken in by some con man. You should have heard them back when Mabel Trout got taken by those guys who pour fake asphalt. Oh, Sheriff Roberts investigated and all that, but you could tell he thought she was just plain stupid to have fallen for it.”

  “I’m sure he didn’t,” Kate said.

  Emma rolled her eyes. “Oh yes, he did. I’ve never felt the same about him ever since. So I thought that since you’ve looked into a few mysteries around town, maybe...Well, you’ve always found out some things nobody else could. And if you’d look into it, we could keep things quiet for a little while. After all, it is your program.”

  Kate winced. “I’ll be happy to look into it.”

  “Thanks, Kate. And you’ll let me know what you find out?”

  Kate nodded. “And you’ll let me know as soon as you get those canceled checks?”

  “I will. Oh my, look at the time. I’ve got to get back to the shop,” Emma said, gathering her things. “You know, I feel a little better already. Though when I...I mean when we find out who did this...”

  “I know. And we will find out. Don’t worry.” Kate managed a smile as she watched Emma get into her car and drive off. Her mind was whirling, and she was torn between going home or going to the church: it was the same distance either way, since the Bixby house, the parsonage, and the church formed an L, with the Bixby house in the middle. Now the white walls and steeple of Faith Briar seemed to invite her to spend a few minutes in quiet prayer before tackling the problem.

  Just as she was stepping out the kitchen door, a black Lincoln pulled up, and Junius Lawson stuck his head out the window.

  “Just heading back from Old Man Parsons’, and I saw Emma pulling out. Everything okay with Ada?”

  “She’s fine,” Kate called back.

  “Good. Well, I’m all done and off to the diner for a piece of pie. You had any lunch yet?”

  “No, I haven’t,” Kate said. “I haven’t had time.”

  “Well, it’s too late to cook anything. Come on with me. I’ll give you a lift.”

  “That sounds great,” Kate said, thinking this was a good way to kill two birds with one stone. She could start by talking to Junius, and maybe Joe Tucker was still there as well. He rarely made deliveries, but he might have heard something about things mysteriously disappearing. “Give me a second to get my things.”

  “Need any help?”

  “No, thanks!” she called out.

  Dashing back inside, Kate got her light sweater and her handbag, then stepped outside and locked the door. Junius was standing by the car and opened the door for her.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “My pleasure.”

  “This must be brand new,” Kate commented. “It still has that wonderful new-car smell.”

  Junius beamed, and as he pulled out onto Mountain Laurel Road, he told her in such depth all about why, where, and how he’d gotten it that Kate amusedly pegged Junius as one of those grown-up boys who loves his toys. Especially if the toys were big, sleek, and powerful. Her conclusion was confirmed when they parked outside the Country Diner next to a huge black Chevy Silverado pickup, obviously brand new.

  “Well, will you look at that!” Junius said, getting out of his car, his eyes glued to the truck. “I wonder whose that is?”

  “I don’t know,” Kate commented, heading toward the diner entrance.

  Junius pulled himself together and ran ahead to open the door for her.

  “It sure is quite a vehicle,” he said, glancing back.

  Kate smiled and walked inside. It was after one o’clock, and only a few people were left at the diner, leisurely finishing their pie and coffee. She saw Joe Tucker and Morty Robertson, sitting in a back booth. They had definitely lingered over their meal.

  “Kate, Junius!” Joe called out. “Come and join us.”

  “We’d love to,” Kate said. She slid in next to Joe, and Junius sat next to Morty.

  “You should never bid four no trumps,” Junius said solemnly, and Morty roared.

  Kate looked at Joe, who shrugged and said, “Some old joke between them. Don’t even try to figure it out.”

  Junius looked around the diner, then he sighed and said, “Well, I don’t see anyone else in here, though I can’t believe that either of you two dug into your wallets deep enough to buy a beauty like that truck sitting outside.”

  Joe laughed. “’Tain’t neither one of us,” he said as LuAnne Matthews bustled over with fresh silverware rolled in napkins.

  “Hello, Kate, Junius,” she said.

  “Junius is admiring your new vehicle,” Joe teased.

  LuAnne blushed and smiled. She patted her rich red hair—obviously freshly done—and said, “It’s somethin’ else, isn’t it? Eat your hearts out, boys.” Then she asked Kate, “You want coffee or iced tea, Kate?”

  “Iced tea, please, LuAnne.”

  “Sweet?”

  Kate nodded.

  “Today’s special is ham and biscuits and gravy.”

  “I think I’ll go a little lighter than that,” Kate said. “A chicken-salad sandwich on white toast, please.”

  “Fries?” LuAnne asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Kate said, shaking her head. “Just chips.”

  “Don’t tell me you’re watchin’ your weight,” LuAnne protested. Heavyset herself, the only thing that daunted LuAnne’s cheerfulness was dieters. Her attitude was that food was for eating, and if it put weight on you, well, that was just something you had to accept.

  “No, just my cholesterol,” Kate reassured her.

  “How about you, Junius?” LuAnne asked.

  Junius spread his hands and said dramatically, “LuAnne, honey, I would love a piece of apple pie à la mode and a cup of coffee deeply, deeply leaded. With extra cream.” He smiled at Kate. “My reward for a hard morning’s work.”

  LuAnne grinned and went over to the pass-through window that opened into the kitchen, placed the tickets there, and whirled the carousel around. Loretta Sweet’s hand came out, and the tickets vanished.

  “So, what are you two gentlemen chatting about?” Junius asked.

  “Life, the universe, and everything,” Joe said expansively.

  LuAnne set a tall glass of iced tea in front of Kate, and passed Junius his coffee.

  “Specifically, the summer concert series in the park,” Morty added. “Joe’s trying to talk the Elks in
to doing root-beer floats—”

  “As a fund-raiser,” Joe interrupted. “You know, a dollar a float, all the money to go to charity.”

  “They’d have to be awfully small floats to make a profit,” Kate pointed out.

  “I said that too.” Morty nodded.

  “Okay, so they’re small. It’s for charity.”

  “Why not just charge two dollars, or even two fifty?” Junius asked.

  “I asked that too,” Morty said.

  “Because,” Joe explained, “there are an awful lot of cheapskates in this town who wouldn’t pay two dollars for Häagen-Dazs, much less the kind of ice cream we’d be serving. And we want to get into their wallets. And pocketbooks. And savings accounts.”

  Kate twitched.

  “Did I bump you?” Joe asked.

  “No,” Kate replied.

  LuAnne slid Kate’s lunch plate in front of her and Junius’ pie in front of him. “Here you go. You let me know if you want anything else.”

  “The keys to your truck?” Junius asked.

  “In your dreams.” LuAnne laughed.

  “Thanks, LuAnne.” Kate’s stomach growled, and she said a quick silent prayer. Picking up one sandwich half, she took a bite. It was delicious. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was.

  “So, how did the deliveries go?” she asked Junius in between bites.

  “Just fine,” he said, spearing the point of his pie. “I beat Old Man Parsons at checkers.”

  “You never did!” Joe exclaimed.

  “Ask him,” Junius said proudly. “And I made my other deliveries. You ask me, I think some of these folks are malingering. They’re over the flu; they just want the food and the company. When the sun comes out like today, they want to be out and about, and since they can’t, company’s the next best thing. Happy to give it to them, though. Mmm. This pie is heaven. LuAnne!” he called out, “you tell Loretta that’s the best pie yet.”

  LuAnne laughed. “I will.”

  “I heard that.” Loretta stuck her head out the window. “Try the rhubarb.”

  “Another day,” Junius called back. “I’ll tell you what, a day like this, a pie like this, just makes you glad to be alive, doesn’t it?”