The Best Is Yet to Be

by Eve Fisher

  “Amen,” Joe said.

  “I’m always glad I’m alive,” Morty said. “Every morning I wake up, take a deep breath, pinch myself, and say, ‘Thank you, Lord, for another day.’ Then I get up and waste as much of it as I can.”

  Everybody laughed.

  “No, no, no,” Junius said. “You’ve got to have a system when you’re retired. Parcel out your day and live by a schedule.”

  “I had enough schedule when I was working,” Morty replied. “Now I get up early, do my chores, have lunch with any layabout I can find, and then go home to watch Oprah.”

  Kate almost choked on her sandwich.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I just never thought of you being an Oprah fan,” she admitted.

  “I have hidden depths,” Morty assured her.

  “I’m sure you do. Otherwise, you wouldn’t volunteer as much as you do,” Kate replied. She knew Morty volunteered at the library, with the Faith Freezer Program, and at a number of other places. “The same goes for all of you. I know everyone at Faith Freezer appreciates all your help.”

  “It’s our pleasure,” Junius said. “And I know I’m speaking for all of us when I say that we get much more out of it than we put in.”

  Morty and Joe nodded, and Morty added, “It’s a great program. I don’t know how some of the people we serve ever managed before.”

  “Oh, we’re changing lives,” Joe said. “I don’t think Mindy Corson lived on anything but peanut-butter sandwiches and Gatorade before this got started. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, and I’m sure it would have kept her alive for years. But...”—his tone became very serious—“I’m proud to be part of the program.”

  “So am I,” Kate said. She wiped her lips with her napkin, took a deep breath, and said, “Tell me, have any of you heard of anything, well, going missing?”

  When the three men looked puzzled, she went on. “I heard that some people have complained that things have disappeared. Vanished. Mysteriously.” Her heart thudded as she waited for a response.

  All three men continued looking puzzled.

  Joe was the first to speak. “Disappeared?”

  Kate nodded.

  “What, they thinking someone’s been stealing things?”

  “It’s been mentioned,” Kate admitted.

  “Pshaw,” Joe said. “I can’t believe that.”

  “Neither can I,” Morty said, shaking his head. “I haven’t heard anything like that at all.”

  “Neither have I,” Junius said, picking up his fork and spearing the last piece of pie. “I’m sure it’s nothing. It’s all too easy to lose things once you get to a certain age. And that describes most of the people I deliver to.” He chewed his pie and swallowed. “Shoot, it happens to me. I lost my watch two days ago, and I haven’t found it yet. Who knows? It could be anywhere. And if I set it down in the kitchen, I’ll never find it because I don’t cook,” he explained. “I’m sure whatever’s gone missing will turn up again, or if it doesn’t, it’s at the bottom of a huge pile of stuff that would take an act of Congress to shift.”

  “That’s true,” Joe said. “Now, take Mindy Corson. You ever been in her place?”

  Kate shook her head. Small as Copper Mill was, there were still a lot of people she hadn’t met.

  “She’s the world’s worst pack rat. I believe that’s why she gave up cooking. It’s not that she can’t cook; she just can’t find the stove.”

  Kate laughed, and Joe smiled at her.

  “Do you need to get going?” Kate asked Junius.

  “Unfortunately, yes,” he said.

  “I really should go too,” she said.

  “So should I,” Joe chimed in.

  “Everybody’s deserting me,” Morty complained as the three rose from the table.

  “I’ve got a schedule to keep,” Junius reminded him. “It’s time for me to go rest up. You don’t look as good as I do at my age without getting plenty of beauty sleep.” Then he leaned in toward Morty and said, “Try it sometime. Might even improve your looks.”

  Junius winked and walked away, leaving Morty roaring with laughter.

  “He’s got you there,” Joe said, leaving a tip on the table.

  “See you later,” Morty called.

  Kate said good-bye and followed Joe over to the counter where LuAnne was gazing out the window, watching Junius walk jauntily out the door and down the street.

  Joe pulled out his wallet and took out a couple of bills. He glanced at Kate as he dug around in his pocket for a handful of change. “Now don’t you be worrying yourself sick about this,” he said comfortingly. “Whatever’s happened, it’ll come right. I’ve seen a lot, and I know.”

  “Thanks, Joe.” Kate smiled.

  “Nothing to thank me for...Just the truth.” Joe put some change on top of his ticket and the rest back in his pocket. Then he tapped the ticket and money and said, “It’s all there, LuAnne.”

  “Thanks, Joe,” LuAnne said, not taking her eyes off Junius.

  “See you later, Kate,” Joe said, and left.

  “You’d never dream he was in his seventies lookin’ at him walk, now would you?” LuAnne asked. “And he can dance too.”

  “Really?” Kate asked. “Joe?”

  “No, Junius,” LuAnne said, taking Kate’s ticket. “From what I hear. The morning after every senior-citizens’ dance, the women come in here for coffee, and all you hear is them goin’ on about Junius Lawson. Poor things. Most men their age can’t get up on a dance floor any more than once or twice. But Junius can dance all night long, and he dances with everybody. Makes him really popular.”

  “I’ll bet it does,” Kate chuckled, taking her change. “By the way, congratulations on your new truck. It’s beautiful.”

  “Thanks,” LuAnne said, blushing again, to Kate’s surprise. “I still can’t believe it’s mine.”

  “Well, I’ll see you later,” Kate said.

  “See you!” LuAnne called after her.

  Outside, Kate took a deep breath of fresh June air and felt much better. The food had helped, but the conversation had helped even more. There were so many innocent explanations for what might have happened to the missing items, and Ada’s money. Kate remembered a great-aunt of legend, who her mother had always said kept her money in the family Bible.

  “So, just remember,” her mother had concluded every time, “never, ever throw out an old book, no matter how worm-eaten it is, at least not without looking through it carefully. You never know what might be in it.”

  Kate laughed. Maybe Ada had cashed those checks herself and stashed the money in her house somewhere. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that was the solution to this mystery?

  Kate thought she’d head down to the library to see Livvy for a minute. Perhaps they could make arrangements for a walk the next day. As she walked down Smith Street, she saw Eli through the window of his antiques shop, talking to a couple of elderly ladies. The clock at the corner of the Town Green said two fifteen. She was just about to cross Main Street when she saw Renee Lambert, who had obviously just come from fresh ministrations at Betty’s Beauty Parlor.

  “Kate!” Renee called out. “I want to talk to you!”

  Kate’s heart sank. But she crossed the street and went over to Renee, who was standing in front of the Mercantile, Copper Mill’s general store. “Your hair looks lovely,” she said.

  “Yes, I think Betty did an especially nice job today.” Renee fluffed her hair.

  “Very nice,” Kate agreed. “I’m just on my way to the library.”

  “Well, before you go, what I want to know is what’s all this about thefts?”

  “Thefts?” Kate faltered.

  “Yes, thefts!” Renee said loudly.

  Kate looked around quickly, but nobody was nearby.

  Renee continued, “The other day Emma told us that Ada lost a rhinestone brooch. And today Dot Bagley said that Mabel Trout told her that her silver tea service is missing. Sugar
bowl and creamer both vanished into thin air. Somebody’s stolen them.”

  “Did somebody break into her place? Is anything else missing?” Kate asked. “Has she reported it to the police?”

  “Nobody’s broken into anything,” Renee said. “If they had, everybody in town would know about it. Now, we all agreed that it has to be somebody who’s—”

  “By we, you mean the beauty-shop ladies?” Kate interrupted, exasperated at the thought of the gossipy group.

  “Of course. Somebody who’s in and out of her place, looking like they’re above suspicion. And I was thinking, it’s about time we started doing those background thingamajiggers on our volunteers. Everybody would feel a lot safer.”

  “Renee,” Kate said, horrified, “you didn’t say that at the beauty shop, did you?”

  “I most certainly did not,” Renee sniffed. “I wouldn’t dream of dragging Faith Briar’s name through the mud. But you mark my words, something needs to be done. The Faith Freezer Program was your idea, and I’m not saying it wasn’t a good one, but now we’ve got everybody and their brother just marching through everybody’s house without a by your leave. It’s our responsibility to do something about it. I’ll be happy to help you look into it.”

  “Well...” Kate began, her heart sinking.

  “No problem at all,” Renee assured her. “You know I’m always happy to help out. I know everybody in town, and I can ask around. You do the same, and let’s just see what we can turn up between us.”

  Renee marched off, trailing a cloud of Estée Lauder’s Youth-Dew behind her, Kisses’ tail wagging under her shoulder blade.

  Kate took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Renee was right about one thing: She needed to do something. Instead of going to see Livvy, she walked past the Mercantile and into Emma’s Ice Cream Shop.

  “Kate!” Emma exclaimed. In her yellow blouse and apron, she almost blended into the bright yellow walls of her shop. She lowered her voice, even though there was no one else in the shop. “Have you heard anything?”

  “No, but I was wondering if maybe you could take a few minutes off so we can go see your mother. I’d like to talk to her myself, and it would be good if...” Kate’s voice trailed off.

  “If I reintroduced you?” Emma asked.

  Kate nodded.

  “You’re probably right,” Emma said, taking off her apron. “Mama just doesn’t remember people as well as she used to. I’ll put the sign on the door.”

  A few minutes later, they were walking down Ashland Street, past Livvy’s house, to the corner at Quarry Road. Ada Blount’s small house was painted bright yellow—undoubtedly Emma’s choice—with white gingerbread trim and white spindle-work posts. An iron lawn chair, painted white, sat on the minuscule porch. The narrow walkway from porch to street was flanked by manicured green grass, and the whole property was bordered with bridal wreath, which had obviously never been trimmed, its white blossoms foaming up and out like fountains.

  “How beautiful!” Kate said as they walked by the bridal wreath.

  “Thank you,” Emma said proudly.

  “You must put in a lot of work here.”

  “Oh, I try to make things nice for Mama.” Emma opened the door. “Of course, I can’t do as much as I used to before my operation. But I try...Mama! You awake?”

  Kate could hear the television even on the porch, and as they walked into the living room, the sound became deafening. The air was a little stuffy, as if the windows hadn’t been opened since the previous year, but the room was light and airy, with flocked beige wallpaper and white trim. Ada was sitting in a plush, gold, overstuffed armchair between two tables piled high with magazines, papers, and miscellaneous objects.

  “Mama,” Emma said cheerfully, “I brought someone to see you.”

  Ada smiled happily at them and started to rise with difficulty because of her hugely swollen legs. Heart problems, Kate thought.

  “No, don’t get up,” she urged. Kate looked around for a place to sit, but most of the furniture was stacked to overflowing. She wondered if Mindy Corson’s place was worse than this.

  “Here, let me clear off the settee,” Emma said, moving a pile of magazines.

  “Now be careful! I haven’t finished with those!” Ada called out.

  “Mama,” Emma said, “I’ll put them right here where you can get to them.” She whispered to Kate, “She never does read them all, but she likes to have them around.”

  Kate nodded. She was beginning to feel more hopeful that perhaps theft wasn’t the problem, at least as far as the small things. Emma might keep the outside perfect, but the inside was obviously more than she could keep up with.

  “Now, Mama, do you need anything?” Emma asked.

  “No, I’m fine. Now who are you?” Ada asked, turning to Kate.

  “This is Kate Hanlon, our pastor’s wife. Remember? Pastor Hanlon, at Faith Briar?”

  “But what happened to Pastor Jacobs?” Ada asked.

  “He retired, Mama. A while back. Remember? Before the fire?”

  “Fire? What fire?”

  “The one at the church.”

  “Oh.” Ada shook her head. “I don’t remember any fire. I remember when Cousin Eddie set fire to Uncle Martin’s barn and burned it to the ground.” She turned to Kate and shook her head again. “Smoking. I warned Uncle Martin, but she doted on that boy. Now you look like Aunt Icey. She had strawberry-blonde hair that she wore all piled up on her head like a movie star. You must be Marybeth. You remember Marybeth, Emma. She married the blacksmith...No, that was Lucy. Or was it—”

  “Mama, this is Kate Hanlon. She’s married to our new pastor, Paul Hanlon.”

  “New pastor? Oh yes! He’s a lovely man. He comes to see me every week. And you’ve come once or twice too, haven’t you?”

  “Yes, I have,” Kate said.

  “Now I remember.” Ada turned to Emma. “Why didn’t you say who she was?”

  Emma grimaced slightly.

  Ada turned back to Kate. “Would you like some iced tea? I know Emma’s got a pitcher in the fridge...”

  Ada started to get up again, but Kate stopped her. “No, please, I’m fine. How about you?”

  “Oh, I’ve got some right here.” Ada looked up at Emma. “Are you going to sit down or just flutter around like a bird?”

  “No, Mama. I’ve got to get back to the shop. But you and Kate have a nice visit.”

  “We certainly will,” Ada said. “You get on out of here.”

  Emma kissed her mother on the cheek and waved good-bye to Kate. Ada watched her go, then she sank back in her chair and smiled. “She’s the sweetest little thing a mother could hope for.”

  “I’m sure she is,” Kate replied. “You know, she’s a bit worried about you.”

  “She is? Why?”

  “Well, she told me about some things that are missing.”

  “Oh, those.” Ada waved her hand as if it was insignificant. “Emma fusses too much. She was worrying me half to death about a brooch that I never really liked to begin with. Horace gave it to me when we were first engaged, and I was so disappointed. I never liked rhinestones. Too gaudy. Not that I told him. It would have hurt his feelings. And now it’s gone, and I say good riddance. The only reason I worried about it was because I knew Emma liked it. But after all, it’s not like it’s worth much of anything.” Ada leaned toward Kate and whispered, “She makes such a fuss.”

  “I think she’s more worried about the checks,” Kate said carefully.

  “Checks? What checks?”

  “She said you wrote some checks to cash? Large checks?”

  “Oh yes!” Ada remembered. “I did. I had a little nest egg. Not a lot, but something, just in case anything ever happened. Not that anything ever does. And not that I depended on it, because I do have Horace’s pension, and I get Social Security, and Emma is just the sweetest girl. She takes such good care of me.”

  “And the nest egg?” Kate asked.

  “Huh? Oh
yes. Well, it was just laying there, doing nothing, and when I saw a chance to invest it, why, that’s what I did.”

  “Invest it? In what?”

  “Investments. You know.”

  “Who invested it for you?” Kate asked gently.

  “Oh, now what is that fellow’s name? He keeps coming around. Bringing things. Talks about investments all the time. That’s his business, you know.”

  Matt Lawson’s impassive face flashed across Kate’s mind. Oh no, she thought. Please, not him.

  “And he told me how I could double my money. So I did.”

  “Can you remember his name?” Kate asked and held her breath as Ada sat there and thought.

  “I’m sorry, honey. I’m just no good with names anymore. Unless it’s someone I knew as a child. It’s funny how you get. I can remember every one of my cousins from when I was a little girl, and I couldn’t stand half of them.”

  Kate was tempted to list the men of the Faith Freezer Program for Ada but stopped herself. The last thing she wanted to do was plant a name in Ada’s failing memory. “But when this man comes, doesn’t he introduce himself?”

  “Well, I’m sure he did, but I don’t always pay attention.” Ada leaned over and confessed, “I know I’m going to forget, so I just don’t bother remembering.” She sat back and sighed. “Oh, but he was so nice. He said he’d double my money for me.” She smiled at Kate. “Isn’t it wonderful? I can hardly wait!”

  Chapter Three

  Kate walked home slowly from Ada’s, both because she felt too tired to walk at her usual quick pace and because she needed time to think about what to do next. It was quite a long walk, so she had plenty of time to think. Investments...The only person in Copper Mill who handled investments was Matt Lawson. Of course, there were investment advisers over in Pine Ridge, Kate was sure, but they didn’t volunteer with the Faith Freezer Program.

  Matt Lawson. The only thing she could think of was to go talk to him. But what was she going to say? “Did you steal money from Ada Blount? Did you con a sick old woman into writing checks that can’t be traced?” It was ridiculous, and she couldn’t see it eliciting a confession of guilt. But she was going to have to start somewhere...