The Last Chance Matinee

by Mariah Stewart

  Joe held the door for her, and she stepped inside the charming café. Pots of pachysandra and ivy hung in the windows, and photos depicting the town’s earlier days lined the walls. Cara noticed several large prints of the theater, crowds of people milling about outside. When the hostess greeted them and led them to a window table, Cara asked for one of the wall tables instead.

  “Do you mind?” she asked Joe. “I wanted to get a closer look at the photos without having to lurk over someone trying to enjoy their meal.”

  “Not at all.” He held her chair for her, then sat himself.

  Manners, she could almost hear her mother say. I love a thoughtful man with good manners. Her father always held chairs and doors for her mother—for just about everyone, come to think of it. She couldn’t recall him ever cutting someone else off in order for him to pass in front of them. Being first never seemed important to Fritz. That small memory made her smile.

  “I’ve eaten here so many times I guess I don’t see the décor anymore. I should’ve remembered all the old photos, especially those of the theater.” Joe opened the menu, gave it a quick glance, then closed it again.

  “I’d like to get a closer look at the one behind the table that’s two away from us, but I don’t think the couple sitting there would appreciate a stranger hanging over their table while they eat.”

  Joe turned and looked over his shoulder, then turned back to Cara. “Let me know when they leave and we’ll try to sneak a look before someone else is seated.”

  “They look very intense,” Cara noted, nodding in the direction of the couple. “Do you think one of them is dumping the other?”

  Joe looked at her blankly for a moment, then laughed. “You mean the whole goodbye thing?”

  Cara nodded.

  “Barney told you that.”

  She nodded again.

  “I personally don’t know of anyone who was ever dumped here, but that’s not to say it never happened. Seems to be more of a perception among the older folks in town, so maybe the reputation was earned before my time. You might ask Barney for more clarification.”

  “I think my sisters will be jealous that I got to see the place first. It sounded almost mystical the way Barney described it.” She scanned the menu.

  “Everything’s pretty good here.”

  Cara felt his eyes on her, but she wouldn’t let herself look up to meet his gaze. Business lunch, she reminded herself.

  “By the way, Cara, before I forget, thanks for giving my sister a pep talk last night. I’m not sure exactly what you said to her, but it seemed to have straightened her out real fast.”

  “I’m not sure anything I said made any difference. But I was sorry she was having such a rough time. The ex-boyfriend doesn’t deserve her.”

  “He never did. He was a jerk when he was in high school and he still is.”

  “Some guys never grow up.”

  “True enough.” He smiled at the approaching waitress. “Some women don’t, either.”

  “Hi, Joe.” The waitress flashed a fancy smile that went all the way to her eyes as she edged closer to him.

  “Jessica. This is my friend Cara.” Joe tipped his water glass in Cara’s direction before taking a sip.

  “Hello.” Jessica gave Cara the once-over.

  “Cara is Barney Hudson’s niece,” Joe told her.

  “Oh. We all know Barney.” Her attitude softened a little, but she still stood closer to Joe than might’ve been necessary to take his order.

  “Cara, have you decided?” Joe asked.

  “The roasted veggie wrap looks good. I’ll have that and an iced tea.” Cara folded her menu and handed it to Jessica.

  “You having the usual, Joe?” Jessica posed, her pencil held just so over the order pad.

  “No, I’ll have a cheeseburger. Medium rare.” After the waitress took the menus and walked away, Joe said, “Roasted veggies in a wrap?”

  Cara smiled and nodded.

  “I don’t believe I’ve ever met anyone who actually ate one of those things. I thought they only put it on the menu because they thought it made them look cool.”

  “Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.”

  “Fat chance of that happening.”

  “Fat is exactly what you’re going to get with that big old burger.”

  “You may have noticed I’m lean and mean. No fat on this boy.”

  “Maybe not on the outside.” She raised her eyebrows. “What are your cholesterol levels?”

  “I have no idea.” Joe stared at her. “So I’m guessing you’re a vegetarian?”

  Cara nodded.

  “Because you have high cholesterol?”

  “My cholesterol is fine. I just can’t bring myself to eat anything that could’ve been someone’s pet at one time.”

  “They don’t make burgers out of pet cows.”

  “How do you know?” she asked. “Do you know where that meat came from?”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Didn’t you notice that the menu stated that all beef came from the Thompson farm right here in Hidden Falls?”

  “A local farm?”

  “About as local as you can get. It’s less than a mile from here.”

  They debated the merits of a plant-based diet versus that of an omnivore until the waitress appeared with their meals. “Anything else?”

  “Just our iced teas,” Cara said. After the waitress walked away, she looked pointedly at Joe’s burger. “Are you sure the Thompson kids didn’t used to play with—”

  “Uncle,” he conceded. “This conversation is over.”

  They ate in silence for a moment before Cara asked about the waitress. “An old friend?”

  “Sort of.” Joe looked slightly uncomfortable, then admitted, “She dumped me for Ben once.”

  “Ben the police chief?”

  “Right.”

  “He’s dating her?”

  “No, no. That was a long time ago. By the way, what was all that about last night, between Ben and Allie? She say anything to you?”

  Cara shook her head. “She didn’t say one word in the car on the way home. Of course, with Barney singing the entire way, no one was saying much of anything.”

  “What was she singing?”

  “Some song about a girl who caught her guy cheating and slashed his tires and knocked out his headlights with a baseball bat.” Cara paused. “At least, that’s what I think she said.”

  “ ‘Before He Cheats,’ ” Joe told her.

  “What?”

  “The song. Carrie Underwood. You’d like it if you heard it. Especially after what you told me about your ex.” He leaned slightly toward her. “Does he have a car he’s particular about?”

  Cara thought about the old MG convertible that Drew kept locked up.

  “He does.”

  “Are you going to tell me it wouldn’t give you just a little bit of satisfaction to work it over?”

  “It would.” No need to think twice.

  “There you go, then. Another universal message brought to you by country music.”

  “It seems that’s all the radio stations play around here.”

  “This is country, Cara. Bluegrass, blues, some classic rock. I do realize that by some standards, this isn’t a very sophisticated part of the country. We fish, we hunt, we boat, we farm. I can’t remember anyone ever having a cocktail party. There are no wine bars but there is a vineyard. A couple of new farm-to-table restaurants opened up between here and Wilkes-Barre, but the locals are the farm and the table in that equation. Might be different where you’re from.”

  “Not really. I’m from a small bay town. We fish but not the way you do around here. We have farms and vineyards. Our one farm-to-table restaurant is owned by the sister of the guy who does the farming. The vineyard is owned and run by a couple who grew up in town.”

  “What did you do there?”

  “I own a yoga studio.” She could tell by his face that he hadn’t seen that coming.
“What’s that look for? What were you expecting?”

  “I don’t know. Teacher, maybe, something more . . . traditional.”

  “My mother was far from traditional and she raised me that way.” Cara told him about growing up with Susa.

  “A real free-spirited flower child, eh?”

  Cara could’ve said so much more but she let the moment pass. Suddenly, thinking about Susa brought a lump to her throat, so she simply said, “She was that.”

  Cara watched Joe take a bite of his burger and was tempted to whisper, “Moo,” but thought maybe she’d pulled that chain enough for one day.

  “Is Barney excited about the theater renovation?” Joe asked.

  “Oh yes. And I know she’s happy you’re going to be our project manager.”

  “I can’t think of anything I wouldn’t do for her.”

  “You’ve said something like that before. I understand she and your grandmother are good friends, and that you’re close to her.”

  “It goes beyond friendship,” he said simply.

  When he didn’t elaborate, she didn’t push, even though she really wanted to.

  Joe must’ve read her mind. “You want to ask but you’re too polite.”

  “I’m curious. It’s not just you, though. Everyone seems to sort of revere her. I’m just getting to know her, and I really like her. But I just met her, so I don’t know her. Which is odd, since she’s my aunt.” Cara thought for a moment. “Of course, that’s probably not as odd as just meeting my sisters for the first time.”

  “So you want to know why everyone in Hidden Falls has Bonnie Hudson on a pedestal.”

  “Yes. I’d like to see her through your eyes.”

  He munched on a potato chip, then ate a few more before asking, “How much do you know about your family?”

  “Only what I’ve learned since my dad died. I know they’ve been in these parts for a long time. I know that my great- or great-great-grandfather owned a coal mine and gave land for a hospital and a school.”

  “He owned more than one mine, and at one time, almost everyone who lived around here worked for him.” Joe reiterated almost verbatim the same story Pete had told them when they’d met at Pete’s office to discuss Fritz’s will. He ended by saying, “The college over in the next county, Althea College, was funded with profits from the Hudson mines. It was named after your great-great-grandmother.”

  “I’ve never heard of her. How do you know so much about the Hudsons?”

  “Cub Scouts. I earned my badge for local history by writing a little book about them.”

  “I’d love to see it. You know so much more than I do.”

  “I have no idea where it is now, but I do know the library has several books about the area that are heavy on Hudson lore. I referred to them when I was working on that badge. I also interviewed some of the older folks around here. People who remembered old Reynolds Hudson. He was well liked, respected.”

  “So he named this college after his wife?”

  “His wife or his mother, I don’t recall which. Barney would know. And I only remember her name because there’s a portrait of her in the bank lobby with her name on a plaque beneath it.”

  “Barney said she worked in the bank.” Cara corrected herself. “Ran the bank.”

  “She did. Barney had worked in the bank for several years before their father died suddenly of a heart attack. The board of directors went into a panic at first, but they were sure it was only a matter of time before Fritz would come to his senses and return and take over. Barney went to the board and convinced them to let her run the bank until Fritz came back. Of course, she was pretty sure he was gone for good, but none of them even guessed.”

  “Foxy Barney.” Cara smiled. She could see Barney pulling it off.

  Joe nodded. “Masterfully outfoxed them all. And you talk to anyone in Hidden Falls, and they’ll tell you the bank was never in better hands.”

  “So all this would’ve been before your time. How do you know all that? It wouldn’t have been common knowledge.”

  “I heard it all from my grandma. She was Reynolds’s secretary for years; then, when he passed away, she became the first female teller the bank had.”

  “Women have been bank tellers for years,” Cara noted.

  “Not in Hidden Falls. The bank had two tellers, and they’d always been men. The guy my grandmother replaced was in his mid-seventies and had gone to grade school with old Reynolds.”

  “So I guess over time, people got past the fact that Barney was a woman and began to accept her and respect her because of her position with the bank. Interesting.”

  “No, it was the way she used her position that people came to respect. She started the student loan program, offered really low interest rates, reduced the rates if you came back to Hidden Falls and taught here or joined the police force. She gave low-rate mortgages, business loans, car loans, personal loans, you name it. She was very generous and always fought for the little guy. If it was at all innovative for the time—or for the area—and it benefited people in Hidden Falls, Barney made it happen.” Joe crunched another chip. “There’d be no Domanski Construction without Barney.”

  “She gave your dad a loan?”

  He smiled wryly. “I said she was generous, I didn’t say she was stupid. She gave me the loan. When she couldn’t get the board to okay it—because of the circumstances under which I took over the business—Barney gave me the money from her personal funds. She saved my business, a business that my grandfather started over fifty years ago. She saved my family. And mine wasn’t the only ass she’s saved in this town.”

  “I had no idea,” Cara said softly. That certainly explained his devotion to her.

  “So when someone in Hidden Falls says they’d do anything for Barney, they mean it.”

  “Wow. That’s some legacy. I guess that’s why she never married.”

  “What? You mean because of her position with the bank?”

  She nodded and he shook his head no.

  “Barney never married because the man she was in love with died.”

  “Wait—you mean Pete Wheeler’s brother?”

  Joe nodded. “Right. Gil Wheeler.”

  “Barney was in love with . . .” Cara paused. “How did he die?”

  “He fell from the rocks above the falls.”

  “The Hidden Falls? The ones way up the hill behind the house?” The ones she and Des had visited that very morning?

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s why she hates the mural,” Cara murmured.

  “What mural?”

  “There’s a mural depicting the falls in the dining room. Barney obviously hates the thing, but she won’t have it painted over because it was done by a famous artist who has a connection to the family. I guess the banker in her can’t bring herself to destroy something that adds so much value to the house, but at the same time, she never uses the dining room because that mural reminds her of what happened to Gil.”

  “As many times as I’ve been in that house, I’ve never been in the dining room. I guess that’s why.”

  “Do you know how the accident happened? Des and I were up there just this morning. You can go right up to the edge of the rocks, but the drop-off is obvious. Gil would’ve known that, right?” A horrible thought occurred to her. “Please tell me Barney wasn’t with him.”

  “No. But his brother was, and so was Fritz.”

  “My dad and Uncle Pete . . .” It was almost too much information for Cara to absorb so quickly. “Uncle Pete’s brother was in love with Barney?”

  “Uncle Pete?” Joe questioned.

  “He was my dad’s best friend. I’ve known him all my life. I had no idea he’d had a brother who died.”

  “Maybe it’s something he doesn’t like to talk about.”

  “What did they say happened?”

  “Nothing.”

  “But you said they were there.”

  “They were. They both said they didn’
t see the actual fall, that the last they saw, he was standing on the edge of the rock. They figured he got too close to the edge and lost his balance.”

  “If he knew the family that well, he must’ve been up there before. He’d have known . . .” Something wasn’t adding up. “There must have been more to it than that.”

  “If there was, we’ll never know. Two of the three are gone and Pete doesn’t come back all that often, and when he does, it’s mostly just to check in with Barney. Right after Gil’s funeral, Pete left for law school and Fritz took off with Nora for Hollywood.”

  “He didn’t even stick around to be there for his sister?” Cara was horrified. “She must have been devastated after Gil died.”

  “I’m sure she was. A few years later, when their dad passed away, Fritz came back for the funeral. He and Nora stayed a few days at the house with Barney before heading back to L.A.”

  “Poor Barney. Lost her love, lost her father, left alone in that big house all these years.”

  “Well, her mother was alive up until about fifteen years ago. She was in the early stages of dementia when your grandfather passed away, and that progressed as the years went on. Barney had live-in help for her, though.”

  “No wonder Barney was happy to see us. Even three strangers must be a welcome change after living alone for so many years.”

  “Don’t feel too sorry for her. She has a full life. She has a finger in every pie in town.”

  “I can tell. Barney has something to do almost every day.”

  Cara ate slowly, barely tasting her food. Finally, Joe asked, “Cara, are you all right?”

  “Sorry. I’m having a hard time reconciling the loving, caring man who was my father, with a man who would leave his grieving sister to elope with his girlfriend and who didn’t look back.”

  “Maybe Barney can shed some light on the situation.”

  So Barney, tell me about the time the love of your life fell off the rocks up at the falls and died and your brother took off with Nora.

  “She did say that something had happened up there once but that no one talked about it anymore.” She tapped the side of her glass with her fingertips, trying to remember exactly what Barney had said. Maybe Des or Allie would remember.