Elementary in Teaberry

by R A Wallace

  “Hi, Rhonda.” Lauren mentally compared herself to the woman in front of her.

  Rhonda always looked like a professional. It wasn’t just the clothes, though Lauren knew it made a difference. It was also the style of Rhonda’s hair and the courteous way she treated other people. Lauren suddenly wished she had taken the time to add a little makeup to her face.

  “How is business?” Rhonda motioned toward the display at the front counter. “The twins said they sold out of your baked goods early today.”

  “That’s good to know.” Lauren hesitated for a moment. She hadn’t mentioned her plans to a lot of people yet, but she wanted to hear if Rhonda had any words of advice. “I’m thinking of maybe trying to find a real storefront.”

  “Here in town?” Rhonda was already nodding as she considered it. “I can understand that.”

  “Yeah?” Lauren shifted Grace in her arms.

  “I think you might find that your overall business increases when there is a recognizable storefront with consistent hours,” Rhonda said. “I know Grady and I started out much like you did. We were trying to run a business out of our kitchen.”

  Lauren nodded to prompt her.

  “We soon realized that it wasn’t ideal but it still took us awhile to position ourselves to do anything else,” Rhonda added.

  “Now you’re a major player in the frozen food business with a lot of employees,” Lauren said. “And you technically still operate from your farm.”

  “Yes, but only because we built the storefront and everything else we needed in one of our fields.” Rhonda held up one finger. “But we started out exactly like you did. In our kitchen. You have proven that you have what it takes to do something similar to Waters Food. I’m sure branching out with a storefront is the next step on your way. This is an exciting time for you. I hope you enjoy it.”

  Lauren took a deep breath. Rhonda was right. She was excited about her future.

  “If you don’t mind a word of advice from someone who has already gone through it.” Rhonda tucked a tea sampler box under her arm as she waited for Lauren’s nod. “Just don’t be so busy in the moment when you’re living your life that you never think about what each decision might look like later on. Have a long-range plan with both your business and your life to make sure you end up where you want to be. Otherwise, you could find yourself living half a lie.”

  Lauren murmured her thanks for the advice. Rhonda gave one last smile for Grace then crossed over to the front counter to pay for her tea. Lauren continued to think about Rhonda’s advice after paying for her own tea. As she drove through town on her way to the grocery store, she found herself looking around for any available spaces. Nothing looked like a good fit.

  She stopped at a light and watched several school buses turning toward the old elementary school. It took her a moment to remember that her kids would be going there with the school in the near future. She hoped the field trip was fun. Noah, in particular, seemed excited about it.

  ***

  As dozens of children noisily stepped down from the school buses in front of the old elementary school building, Ward Beecham told himself not to panic. When Renata Engels first approached him about school visits to see the scale model of Teaberry, he’d been excited at the thought. Now that the first group of students were here, he wondered what on earth he was going to say.

  He glanced at the kids trying to gauge their age. He guessed middle school. They all looked so young. He reminded himself it was simply because he was getting older. He tried to remember back to when he was in middle school. He was pretty sure he would have been interested in the scale model even then. Or was that something he’d acquired with age?

  “Mr. Beecham?”

  Ward didn’t recognize the young man in front of him. He didn’t look much older than the students.

  “I’m Declan Hagney.” Declan held out his hand.

  Ward told himself to smile as he reached for it. “Ward. Please call me Ward.”

  “Yes, sir.” Declan looked over the group of students. There were other teachers mixed in with the students trying to corral them into lines. “We have a pretty good bunch of kids here.”

  “Yeah, looks like it.” Ward rubbed his hand across his mouth.

  Declan glanced toward the front door of the building. “You ready for us?”

  “What’s that?” Ward was still watching the kids form lines. “Oh, yeah. Sure.”

  Ward turned to walk with Declan into the building. “I hope the kids aren’t too disappointed with what they see.”

  “I’m sure that won’t happen,” Declan said as he followed Ward into the hallway.

  “It’s probably not what they’re expecting, you know. There’s nothing high tech like kids are used to nowadays.” Ward led the way to the double set of doors then stopped.

  Ward turned back to look at the long lines of kids behind him. They were laughing with each other and jostling in line.

  Declan held his hands up. “Okay, everyone. Listen up. You want to be able to hear what Mr. Beecham has to say.”

  Ward felt his stomach twist into even more knots as he reached for the door handles. He pushed open both doors. After propping them open with the door stops at the bottom of each, he stepped out of the way.

  Declan moved inside first. “Wow. This is awesome.”

  The buzz from the kids increased as they continued to file into the room. Declan waved to get their attention. “Let’s stay in line. Mr. Beecham, which end should we start at?”

  Ward crossed over to one end of Main Street. He heard the kids talking about what they saw as he positioned himself. The knot in his stomach began to loosen as he realized they weren’t bored with what they saw.

  “How many people do you have working on this?” Declan asked.

  “People?” Ward’s brows pulled together as he looked down Main Street.

  He had meticulously repaired each of the buildings then added new components to bring everything to life as it would have been back in the early days of the town. In addition to the scale models of each building that he’d inherited from Sal Hobson, Ward had added tree-lined roads, horses pulling wagons, small figurines in period costumes, and additional buildings on roads branching out from the town. There were now several blocks going in all directions from Main Street.

  Ward realized Declan was still waiting for an answer. “Oh, it’s just been me, so far.”

  A young voice called out. “Is that a train?”

  The kids surged forward to look.

  “It is,” Ward said happily. “I just got that. I don’t have it fully functional yet.”

  He heard moans of disappointment from the kids. He held up one finger and turned to push a button. The train moved from one end of the town to the other. The kids began to follow it.

  “I managed to get a little done, but eventually I hope to have a lot more track down.” Ward pointed to boxes underneath one table. “I found a good deal on some old track, but it’s not enough to complete the project.” He motioned toward the train. “And so far, it’s just the engine and a couple cars. It needs more. It’s just going to take a lot of time.”

  Ward breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the kids break into small groups and begin to point at everything they saw.

  Declan turned to a young kid standing next to them. “What do you think, Garrett?”

  “I’d love to help.” Garrett was eyeing the train track in the boxes under the table. He got a self-conscious look on his face when he realized he’d spoken out loud. He turned to Ward. “If you ever needed anyone.” It came out like a mumble.

  Declan squeezed Garrett’s shoulder. “I know exactly what you mean. There’s just something about it that draws you to it.”

  ***

  Megan waited at the red light as school buses pulled out of the old elementary school building parking lot and drove past her headed back to the current school campus. When the light turned, she accelerated. A few moments later, she slowe
d when she saw her brother-in-law’s truck parked in front of a house. The house had a for sale sign out front.

  She wondered what Gabe was doing there. She started picking up speed again but then immediately began to slow when she heard the first sound of sirens. It took her a moment to figure out that they were coming from pretty much all directions. She pulled off to the side of the street as much as possible and waited.

  Just as Gabe and LeAnn stepped out of the house onto the front porch, police cars from all directions converged on the location. Sirens continued blaring as new vehicles arrived. Other officers were already jumping out of their vehicles and rushing toward the house.

  As Megan shut off her car and pushed the door open, she watched Gabe pull LeAnn into a hug. She moved quickly, weaving around police officers as she rushed to the front of the house.

  “Gabe?” Megan checked LeAnn to make sure she was okay. Although neither Gabe nor LeAnn appeared injured, LeAnn’s face was white. “I think you’d better sit down.”

  Megan nodded toward a porch swing and took LeAnn’s other arm. Between Megan and Gabe, they got LeAnn to the swing. “What happened?”

  “There’s someone in there.” LeAnn’s words could barely be heard over the chaos around them.

  Megan looked up at Gabe. He was focused on LeAnn. His lips were flattened in a straight line as he reached out to gently push a strand of hair from LeAnn’s face.

  His eyes went to Megan. “Something very bad happened here.”

  Chapter Seven

  Rhys glanced at Ian as soon as dispatch stopped speaking. Ian responded to dispatch that they were on their way then reached for the in-car computer.

  “What’ve you got?” Rhys checked his mirrors before changing lanes.

  “I’m not familiar with the exact house.” Ian opened another window. “Looks like it’s up for sale.”

  “Yeah?” Rhys slowed in anticipation of his next turn.

  “Yeah. Actually, it looks familiar now that I look at it.” Ian rubbed at his chin. “I was looking through some of the listings.”

  “For real?” Rhys stopped at a corner and glanced at Ian as he checked for oncoming traffic. “This sounds serious. Is it?”

  Ian shifted in his seat. “No. Not really. I mean, I don’t think so. I haven’t said anything to Giselle yet. I was just looking. Figured it couldn’t hurt to at least check the listings out. See what neighborhoods we’re talking about.”

  “See what the price ranges might be,” Rhys added.

  “Exactly.” Ian looked through the passenger side window.

  “Been a while since either one of you looked at houses. Hard to say what the market is like unless you look,” Rhys continued. “Does this mean you’re considering selling your houses? You and Giselle?”

  “I don’t know. I mentioned it to Giselle. Kind of like in a joking sort of way.”

  “And?” Rhys prompted.

  “She didn’t say no immediately.” Ian sounded like he found Giselle’s response frustrating.

  “Then the idea was stuck in your head,” Rhys guessed.

  “Like a worm,” Ian agreed with a sigh. “Just keeps crawling around in there when I least expect it.”

  Rhys thought about it for a moment. “What could it hurt?”

  Ian’s head swiveled toward his partner. “What?”

  “To check out some of the houses. What could it hurt? Worst case scenario, it takes up some of your time. If you find something you both like, that’s a good thing. If not, you can say you looked.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, I guess.” Ian watched in the side mirror as another patrol car moved into position behind them.

  “Sounds like you and Giselle are getting serious,” Rhys said as he pulled over and cut off the engine.

  Ian reached for the door latch. “Getting?”

  They both stepped out of the car. The main activity was up at the house with the for sale sign in front.

  “Is that Gabe on the front porch?” Rhys asked as they walked toward another officer.

  “Looks like it.” Ian stopped when they reached the other officer. They were assigned to stop traffic from the street. Before splitting up to move into the position, Ian tapped Rhys’s arm. “Isn’t that Megan?”

  Rhys pulled his sunglasses from his pocket and slid them on. “Yeah. At the moment, Erica doesn’t look very happy that she’s here.”

  ***

  Megan sat on the porch swing next to LeAnn. The commotion around them was chaotic. They could see Gabe out in the yard. He was being interviewed by Erica. Periodically, Erica shot Megan a scowl.

  Megan put her hand on LeAnn’s arm. “You okay?”

  “Hm, what?” LeAnn seemed confused by the question as she stared at Gabe. Her hands were clasped together in her lap.

  “LeAnn. The police will be speaking with you next. They’ll want to talk to you alone,” Megan said.

  “Yeah?” LeAnn’s knuckles whitened as she tightened her grip on her hands.

  “Can you tell me what happened?” Megan shifted her gaze from LeAnn to Gabe as she waited for an answer. It didn’t come. She squeezed LeAnn’s arm. “LeAnn. Why were you here?”

  “Um.” LeAnn’s brows pulled together. “I’d rather not say.”

  “LeAnn, the police aren’t going to accept that as an answer,” Megan said gently.

  LeAnn’s shoulders slumped. “My family doesn’t know.”

  Megan’s eyes were drawn to the for sale sign in the front of the house. “You two are looking at houses?” She watched LeAnn nod. “Why? You have an apartment.”

  “It’s too small.” LeAnn’s voice sounded defensive.

  “Okay. You and Gabe were looking at a house.” Megan’s eyes went back to the for sale sign. The real estate agent listed was Stan Jiblonski. Megan’s eyes closed for a moment. “Stan?”

  “What?” LeAnn pulled her focus away from Megan. “What about Stan?”

  “Is he the person you found?”

  LeAnn began shaking her head. “Stan? No! Oh, no. It wasn’t Stan.”

  “Then who?”

  LeAnn’s brows pulled together. “The electrician. He was working in the attic.”

  Megan checked in front of the house. “There’s no truck or anything.”

  LeAnn pointed toward the other end of the porch. “He parked in the driveway up by the garage. He was using the side door to get in and out.”

  “You found him in the attic?” Megan asked.

  LeAnn’s lips pressed together as she nodded. She wrapped her arms around herself. “That’s why it took us so long to find him. We started at the bottom of the house and worked our way up.”

  “Why was he working in the attic?” Megan said more to herself than LeAnn.

  “It’s a finished space but old. I guess there’s knob and tube wiring still up there.” LeAnn was watching Gabe again.

  “You went upstairs,” Megan prompted.

  LeAnn nodded absently. “Stan knew the electrician would be here, so he told us to just stop in and look around.”

  LeAnn’s body straightened beside her as Gabe turned and began walking toward them. Erica was now staring at LeAnn. Megan heard LeAnn make a small sound of distress as Erica lifted her hand to wave LeAnn over.

  ***

  Megan stirred the soup and began cleaning up the mess she made while making it. As she was throwing away empty zipper bags from the frozen vegetables she’d used, Dan came through the kitchen door carrying his lunch cooler.

  He kissed the top of Aaron’s head as he set his lunch cooler on the kitchen table. After sliding his coat off, he added another cracker to the high chair tray for Aaron. Then he moved over to Megan and wrapped his arms around her.

  “Gabe said thanks.”

  She leaned back against her husband for a moment. “LeAnn was pretty shaken up.”

  He released her so she could focus on the food in front of her.

  Megan stirred the soup again then lowered the flame under it. “This shouldn’t take long.
I thought we’d have some grilled cheese sandwiches with it.”

  “Sounds good. Smells even better.” He crossed over to the fridge to get a pitcher of tea out. “Tell me what you know so far.”

  Megan reached into the cupboard for two glasses. “Gregg Eastman was murdered.”

  “Gregg. I can’t believe that. He was just in the store.” Dan shook his head as he raised the pitcher over the first glass. Then he froze in place and stared at Megan.

  “What?”

  The pitcher was still poised over the first glass. “Gregg was just in the store. He got into an argument with someone.”

  Megan crossed over to her phone. “We need to tell Erica. She’s going to want to know.”

  Dan filled the glasses while Megan spoke the message into her phone. After she pressed send, she crossed back over to get her glass of tea.

  “Did Gabe explain why he was there?” Dan leaned against the counter.

  Megan tilted her head. “Not really, but I think it’s pretty obvious that he and LeAnn are looking at houses.”

  “Maybe it’s just wishful thinking?” Dan said mostly to himself. “They were just here for dinner and he sounded like that was a big step. How do you go from dinner with us to buying a house in nothing flat?”

  “I have no idea. I can tell you that LeAnn is worried about her family finding out.” Megan checked the soup.

  “Which seems like more proof that Gabe and LeAnn are rushing into something,” he murmured.

  “Even if that’s true, I’m not sure it’s something we should comment on.” She moved over to lean against him as the two of them watched Aaron. “They’re both adults. It’s not up to us to tell them whatever they’re doing is right or wrong. We’re just supposed to support whatever decision they make. We celebrate the good times with them and try to help them through the bad times.”

  Dan shifted to put his arm around her and pull her closer. “I wish someone had mentioned that the first time they were married. Maybe I would have been a better brother-in-law to LeAnn.”

  ***

  “How is it every time there’s a murder in a tri-state area, Megan seems to be involved?” Erica said for the third time.