by Eve Fisher
Another car door slammed. “Now who’s that?” Renee asked, sitting up straighter in the chair.
“It’s Betty Anderson,” Martha said. “And she’s got a pan of something.”
Betty, owner of Betty’s Beauty Parlor, walked in, and Kisses, who had gone to sleep in Renee’s arms, suddenly woke up and started barking.
“I can’t stay but a minute,” Betty said. “I’ve got Mabel Trout setting with a permanent, but I wanted to bring this by for Amanda.” She handed the dish to Kate as Kisses jumped down and came running up to Betty, barking furiously. “It’s a pineapple upside-down cake,” Betty said loudly.
“Oh, she’ll love it,” Kate assured her. “I’ll just pop it in the kitchen.”
“Well, I made it last night, thinking it would keep, and when Dot called, I was so glad I made it ahead of time.”
Kate noticed Sam edging toward the door.
“Thanks for coming by, Sam,” she said, smiling.
“Oh,” Sam exclaimed, “I almost forgot. I found these two cards lying under one of the hydrangeas outside.” He handed Kate the same cards she’d been carrying all morning.
“I swear I’ve been dropping cards all over town today,” she said, sighing. “Thank you.”
Sam waved and left.
“I really should go too,” Betty said, starting to move off.
Kate turned to the hall table, setting the two cards on top of the others she had brought. She squinted at the one on top. That handwriting looked familiar . . .
“Hey,” Betty said, turning back toward Renee. “Can I see that ring?”
Black, bold handwriting . . .
“Which one?” Renee asked.
“The one on the middle finger of your right hand.”
It had to be the same. Kate slipped the card into the poetry book and turned around to look at Renee and Betty.
Renee was looking at her hand, at a small silver ring set with turquoise. “Lovely, isn’t it?” Renee asked with satisfaction.
“Yes,” Betty said. “I think...Would you mind taking it off for a moment?”
“Why?” Renee asked sharply.
“Because I think it’s mine.”
PAUL DROVE BACK from Pine Ridge carefully. Beside him, Amanda was gazing out the window with that intense rapture he had seen so often on the faces of hospital patients who were finally allowed outside again. It was a beautiful sunny day, with white clouds floating lazily across a perfectly blue sky and flowers whose colors looked more brilliant against the green trees. He glanced at Amanda and smiled to himself. Someone in the hospital had plaited her hair into two braids, which gave her a piquant appearance, almost of a little girl playing grown-up.
Amanda must have felt his gaze, because she turned her face toward him and smiled, saying, “What a beautiful day! I’m so happy to be going home.”
“We’ve all missed you,” Paul said. “And we’re all glad you’re okay.”
They rode on in silence for a while, and then Amanda said, “You know, I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking. Of course, there’s not much else to do in a hospital besides think.”
Paul chuckled.
“Last night, I was thinking about how many mistakes you can make in life. And yet, somehow, it all turns out. I’ve always believed in the providence of God. Or rather, I’ve always thought I believed in it, but I can see now that I didn’t fully. There were things I couldn’t understand, so I thought that meant that somehow God wasn’t involved.”
“If we could understand everything, we wouldn’t need grace,” Paul said quietly.
Amanda nodded. “I’m such a slow learner,” she said with a delicate laugh. “I’m just now seeing for the first time that God really is involved in everything. He’ll work it all out. There’s always hope.” She stopped and laughed again. “But what am I telling you all this for? You’re the pastor.”
“But I can never hear it too often,” Paul said. “We all need to be reminded of how much God loves us.”
“Well,” Amanda said thoughtfully. “That makes me feel better.”
They drove through Copper Mill slowly and pulled up outside of Amanda’s house.
“My,” she said, “There are a lot of cars.”
“You’re popular,” Paul said cheerfully, although he was frustrated. What Amanda undoubtedly needed most was rest. He got out of the car and went around and opened the door for her, giving her his arm and helping her out. “Don’t worry about your things,” he said. “I’ll come back and get them in a minute.”
Amanda nodded, and they made their way slowly up the walk. When they reached the door, Paul’s vague disappointment changed into appalled consternation as angry voices reached them.
“Yes, it is!”
“No, it isn’t!”
Paul and Amanda glanced at each other, and he saw Amanda straighten her shoulders and reach for the doorknob.
They walked inside to see Betty and Renee faced off furiously under streamers of crepe paper.
“Yes, it is!”
“Enough!” Paul boomed, surprising everyone into silence. “What’s going on here?”
Kate came running forward. “Amanda. Here, come and sit down.” She took Amanda’s arm and helped her over to the sofa.
Betty took a deep breath and said, “Renee is wearing a ring I lost.”
“It’s not the—” Renee began, but Paul interrupted her.
“This is not the time or place—” Paul began, but Renee interrupted him.
“It’s not the same one,” Renee snapped. “It can’t be. It was a present. I received it as a present,” she insisted, her eyes filling with tears. “None of you may believe me, but I did!” She snatched her shoulder bag, swept Kisses into her arms, and marched out the front door.
“Well,” Betty said, looking around uncomfortably. Her cheeks were flushed. “I’d better get going too. I’m so glad you’re home, Amanda. I’m sorry...”
“Nonsense,” Amanda said with quiet dignity. “And thank you for coming by.”
“What on earth was going on?” Paul asked Kate quietly as Martha and Dot both welcomed Amanda home.
“I’ll tell you later,” Kate replied.
“It was so kind of you to bring all this food,” Amanda said, smiling gallantly, but her voice was heavy with exhaustion.
“You’re quite welcome,” Dot said. “We’ll be on our way now.”
“Yes, you look worn out,” Martha said, then she flushed as she always did when she realized she’d spoken a bit too frankly. “I mean, what with being in the hospital and all.”
“Well, thank you for all your trouble,” Amanda replied graciously.
“No trouble at all,” Dot said.
As Dot and Martha left, Paul came back in with Amanda’s things. “Where would you like these?”
“Oh, in my bedroom,” Amanda said.
“Would you like me to help you unpack them?” Kate asked.
“That would be lovely, dear,” Amanda replied. “But first, how about a nice cup of tea?”
“I’ll put the kettle on,” Kate said. “You sit still and rest.”
“I need to get going,” Paul said. “I’ve got to look in at the church and see if there are any messages for me.”
“You go right ahead,” Amanda told him. “I appreciate your bringing me home.”
In the bedroom Kate helped Amanda change into a fresh nightgown. By the time Amanda had opened all of her mail and read the get-well cards she had received, the kettle was boiling, and Kate poured a pot of tea.
“The tea is steeping,” Kate said, coming back into the bedroom. “Where shall I put your things?”
“Don’t worry about them,” Amanda said wearily. “Just set my purse down by the side of the bureau. And if you’d get out my wallet and checkbook from the bureau drawer and put them in my purse, that would be nice.”
Kate opened the bureau drawer and pulled out the wallet and checkbook. She glanced back at Amanda, whose eyes were half shut.
“Oh,” Amanda said, rousing herself. “Would you dig out a twenty from the stack there for the boy who mows my lawn? He’s bound to stop by sooner or later. I see he’s kept my grass cut while I was gone.”
“You mean from your wallet?” Kate asked. She hadn’t seen any money in the drawer, neither this time nor the time she’d looked before.
“No, the money in drawer,” Amanda said. Her voice was sounding fainter and fainter. “My secret stash. It might be under the gray gloves.”
Kate’s heart skipped a beat as she quickly rifled through the gloves and scarves. No money was there. Kate opened Amanda’s wallet. There was no cash in it either. Kate glanced in the mirror at Amanda lying in bed with her eyes closed.
Kate thought swiftly. Junius had advised Amanda to take her wallet and checkbook out of her purse and put them in her bureau drawer. Kate could see it clearly: Junius seeing the stash of money. The gleam of greed in his eyes. Taking Amanda to her car and telling her that he needed to run back into the house for some reason, maybe to make sure everything was turned off. It would only take a moment.
Kate glanced back at Amanda and noticed that her eyes were still closed. She closed the drawer quietly and went over to Amanda. She was sound asleep.
Kate looked over at the bedside table where Amanda had placed the stack of cards that had come in the mail, and she noticed another card with the familiar handwriting. She picked up the card and envelope, walked out of the bedroom into the living room, and pulled the other card out of the volume of Wordsworth. The same bold black handwriting...Kate hesitated for a moment.
She fingered the get-well card, then flipped it open. Under the printed get-well message was a short note:
Wishing you the best, now and always.
Love,
Junius
Chapter Fifteen
Kate looked at the card and pulled out the other evidence: The big black J in “Junius” matched the J of the name “John” on the check copy, and the handwriting of all of the cards—the poetry-book note included—was identical. She sighed with satisfaction as well as sadness. Junius, that wonderful dancer, that polished gentleman, that delightful social butterfly had been transformed into a thief. Her mouth hardened. It was time to come to a reckoning with Mr. Lawson.
Gathering up all her evidence, she headed impulsively toward the door, only to stop short. Amanda was asleep; did she dare leave her alone? Should she call someone? Then she heard a car door outside and, looking out the window, saw Patricia Harris coming up the walk, with Joe Tucker behind her.
Thanking God with all her heart, Kate ran outside. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re here!”
“Why, what is it?” Patricia asked. “Is Amanda all right?”
“She’s fine,” Kate said breathlessly. “But she’s taking a nap, and I really need to go somewhere. Could you sit with her for a while, Patricia?”
“Of course,” Patricia replied. “I’d be happy to.”
After Patricia had gone inside, Joe turned to Kate and asked, “All right, what’s happened?”
Kate didn’t hesitate. Joe was a man she could trust absolutely, and besides, he loved Amanda and would do anything he could to help her. “Amanda’s been robbed.”
Joe started to speak, but Kate put a hand on his arm. “She doesn’t know it yet. But I’ve got to find Junius. Do you know where he lives?”
“Sure do,” Joe said, walking toward Kate’s car. “You can fill me in as we go.”
JUNIUS LIVED IN A SET of apartments at the junction of Smoky Mountain Road and Smith Street, south of town. In the few minutes it took to drive there, Kate talked as fast as she could, cramming in as much information in as little time as possible: Ada Blount, the checks, the petty thefts, the lawsuit, the cards. As they pulled into the apartment complex, Kate was still talking.
“And when I saw that Amanda’s money was gone, I knew that the only person who could have stolen it was Junius. He was the only one who saw her secret stash. I compared the handwriting on the card and the canceled check, and they’re the same. We’ve got to find him.”
Joe looked around the parking lot. “His car isn’t here. You stay in the car, and I’ll go knock on his door.”
He got out of the car, walked up to apartment 1B, and knocked loudly. Kate sat watching him, her fingers crossed. What if Junius had left town? She watched as Joe peered into the windows, then shook his head. He came back to the car and got in.
“He’s not there.”
Kate let out an exasperated sigh.
“I’ll tell you what. He wasn’t at the diner this morning either. And he didn’t show up for deliveries at the Bixby house. I thought he might be sick. I was going to check on him later, but now...I think he’s run off.”
“Matt,” Kate said firmly. “Matt will know where he is.”
She looked at her watch. A quarter to four. “He’ll still be at the bank,” she said, backing out of the parking space. “Oh, Joe,”—she pulled onto Smith Street—“what am I going to tell him?”
“The truth,” Joe said. “That whole lawsuit thing sounds like he already knows. Just doesn’t want to admit it. How did that end up, anyway?”
Kate sighed. “Matt wrote a settlement check. Restitution. That’s what had me confused for a while. I wasn’t sure whether Matt was the guilty one.”
“Meanwhile, there’s Emma thinking it was LuAnne’s husband.”
Kate glanced quickly at Joe, who gave her a rueful look.
She parked outside the bank, and the two went inside, passing the perking coffee pot and the hovering Mr. McKinney, and only waving at the Cline sisters as they headed straight for Matt’s cubicle. Matt looked up from his laptop as they walked in.
“Mrs. Hanlon, Mr. Tucker,” he said. “What can I do for you?”
“You can tell us where your dad might be,” Joe said. “We need to talk to him.”
“What about?” Matt asked.
“This,” Kate said. With shaking hands, she pulled out the pieces of evidence from her purse and laid them on the desk in front of Matt. “This is the copy of the endorsement on the back of one of the checks Ada Blount wrote to cash.”
“John Matthews,” Matt read in a voice that sounded like an echo.
“And I just left Amanda’s,” Kate continued. “She’s been robbed of a significant amount of cash, and I think...no, I know that your father is the only one who could have done it.”
Kate waited for a reaction and then chided herself for doing so. Matt wasn’t going to react normally, if at all. She had to quit expecting that of him. “Matt, where is your father?”
“I don’t know,” he said. His eyes were still riveted on the check. “John Matthews.”
“Yes,” Kate said. “You recognize that name, don’t you? He used it in Asheville, didn’t he?”
Matt’s eyes flickered toward her, then away. He nodded slowly but didn’t say a word. “Matt, where is he?”
“The checks, the money, the card.” Matt sounded like he was making a list. “Yesterday was payday. Was she missing any credit cards?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Kate said, incredulously.
“She probably is,” Matt said, still looking at the papers. “At least one.”
“Matt, where is he?” Joe asked. “Where do you think he went?”
Matt looked up toward Joe and said, “Probably back to North Carolina. Cherokee. He cashed his pension check yesterday. He usually goes to the casino in Cherokee and gambles until it’s gone. If he’s got a credit card, it’ll take longer.”
“Cherokee?” Joe asked.
Matt nodded.
Joe turned to Kate. “Let’s go.”
Kate began to gather up the papers on Matt’s desk.
“You’re going after him?” Matt asked.
“Yep,” Joe said curtly.
Matt turned off his laptop and stood up. “I’ll come with you.”
Kate glanced at Joe. “It’s quite a drive.”
“He
’s my dad.”
Joe looked at him for a moment, then nodded. “Okay.”
“I’ll be the navigator,” Matt offered as they walked toward Kate’s car. “I’m good with maps.”
“I’ll bet you are, Son,” Joe said, clapping Matt on the back.
Kate was buckling her seat belt when suddenly the back door opened and a rush of Estee Lauder’s Youth-Dew filled the car. Kate gasped and turned around as Renee slid across the backseat and shut the door before anyone could say a word.
“Renee!” Kate exclaimed. “What are you doing?”
“Going with you,” Renee snapped, clicking her seat belt. “Don’t crush Kisses,” she told Joe, who had recoiled against the door.
“Renee, you can’t...Where do you think we’re going?” Kate asked.
“To find Junius, of course,” Renee said. “Well, I want to find him too. I have a few questions for that man.” She flung back her head defiantly and crossed her arms.
Kate and Joe exchanged helpless glances.
“We can’t take the dog,” Joe said, looking at the little Chihuahua, who was already settling himself down to sleep with the asthmatic snorts that Kate knew from experience would soon be loud snoring.
“Nonsense,” Renee said. “Kisses will be no trouble at all.”
“It’s a two-hour trip,” Joe said.
“Actually, three,” Matt corrected. “If you keep to the posted speed limit.”
“Three,” Joe agreed. “And that’s without stops.”
“Then I suggest we get going,” Renee replied firmly.
Kate hastily started the car and backed out of the parking space in front of the bank. She knew when she was beaten.
“Turn on Smith Street for zero point one miles to Main Street, then turn left and go east one point two miles to I-40 east,” Matt advised.
“I know how to get to I-40, Matt,” Kate said. “But thank you.”
Kate glanced down at the slightly stubby cell-phonelike device in Matt’s hands. “What on earth is that?”
“My BlackBerry,” he said. “It has wireless e-mail, Internet, Bluetooth technology, speaker phone, personal organizer, text and instant messaging, and GPS.”