by Tonya Kappes
“I don’t know.” I had no answers. Everything I thought I knew about why Florence would marry Zeke and why he would marry her would turn out all wrong. “Maybe they ended up really loving each other.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” She shook her head. “I’ll be right back. I have to throw this away outside.” I ended up following her into the kitchen because on her way out the kitchen door to where she kept her trash cans, she mentioned something about Mac and how he’d told her when she moved he might combine my house with this one and make it one big house when we got married.
The rental papers on the counter said her rental was due back in Minnesota tomorrow at nine a.m. central time.
“At least you’ll gain an hour tomorrow.” I couldn’t help but point to her rental agreement when she came back in.
An hour was an awfully long time to get some things accomplished. My mind was starting to do that sleuthing thing again.
Didn’t Angela mention how she’d talked to Courtney’s family and they provided documentation that they were on a call around the time of Florence’s murder? Courtney didn’t say anything about her being on a call.
If it was six p.m. here, which was around the time Florence was killed, it was five p.m. in Minnesota. When they were on their family call at five p.m., it was central time, giving Courtney a full hour after the call to have killed Florence.
“Did you see all the stuff I still have to get in that truck?” she joked. “I’m glad I didn’t unpack everything.” She had put her hand on the pantry door that Mac was so proud of adding to the old house. After he bought the house, he rehabbed it into what it was now.
“I guess you can get on with your life now that you aren’t beholden to your aunt.” I made a simple observation.
“Excuse me?” She jerked around. The pantry door flung open.
By looking over her shoulder, I could see inside. There was something that looked clearly like a shovel. I blinked a few times. My eyes were stinging. My mouth dried.
No. My mind went into overdrive. Could Courtney really be Florence’s killer?
“When I saw you at Leaf and Petal, you mentioned how you were about done with people walking all over you. It’s about time for you to take your life back and take what’s yours. I guess you’re going to get that opportunity, and now that you’ve got the painting and the title, I’m assuming you’re going to take what is yours.” I walked around her and opened the door.
There was another shovel with what looked to be dried blood.
“At first I thought you resembled your aunt. Florence Gaines might not have been the most popular citizen in Sugar Creek Gap, but she’d never kill for a position in life. You are nothing like Florence, and you’ll never hold a candle to her as the president of your family’s charity.”
“What are you saying, Bernadette?” Courtney grabbed the shovel before I could get it.
“I’m saying that once I tell Angela about the shovel—” I patted around my pockets and realized I’d left my phone in my mail carrier bag way out front on the sidewalk. “And how your aunt Florence came over here to make up, because Zeke told me. When Julia went to the bathroom, your aunt showed. I bet you ran outside in the rain, where you two continued to argue. You saw Grady put his shovel in the back of his truck after he helped you with your mulch. You grabbed the shovel and hit her over the head.”
I could tell by her swaying back and forth that I was on to something. Maybe not the full truth, but close enough.
“You then dragged her beside the house, which explains why she was there, because you knew Julia would come out and see what you’d done.” I sucked in a deep breath. “When Julia left, you noticed Florence was still moving. You had kept your shovel out in the side yard like you thought you had. Not the one lying up against the shed, because we both know that’s Mac’s. You took your shovel and hit her again, which explains the two head wounds. But you kept your shovel inside so it looked like Julia had lost her mind and grabbed Grady’s shovel to kill Florence.”
There was a smirk on her face.
“I’m right, and you know it.” I went to turn to go grab my phone. “I’m going to call the sheriff.”
“Not if I kill you and drive you back to Minnesota where they’ll never find you.” I jerked around, and in one swoop, she brought the shovel up over her head.
“What are you doing? You think you can just kill me? Everyone will be looking for you. Even Grady.” I took a few steps back and gripped the straps of my knitting bag, trying to come up with anything to get out of there.
A slow grin crept up on the corners of Courtney’s mouth. There was a sudden twinkle in her eye, as if she were toying with me.
“You were just talking a big talk.” She laughed and took a few steps toward me, the shovel still up in the air. “Now you seem like a little scared granny.”
I heard my phone ringing from outside as the ringtone floated through the open front door.
“I need to get my phone. I’m sure it’s Grady. He will be over here looking for me if I don’t answer it.” I let go of my bag and let the strap fall to my elbow. “Let me just go outside and get my phone. I need to answer it. I’ll give it to you once I tell him I’m busy.”
“No funny things, or I swear I will bring this shovel down on your head just like I did Aunt Florence.” Her words were just as mean as she was.
With an eye kept on her, I dug my hand down into my knitting bag instead of running out the door. My hand curled around a knitting needle
“No one is going to keep me from seeing my granddaughter!” I jerked the knitting needle out and swung it at Courtney with all my might. I jabbed the needle into her eye.
An awful screech come out of her. The shovel banged to the floor. She crouched down with her hand over her eye. Blood was gushing down her face. She looked up at me, and I swear the devil came out of her, but I didn’t stick around long enough to see exactly what she was going to do next.
I busted it out of her house and down her walk, through her gate.
“Harriette! Ruby! Gertrude!” I started yelling for the Front Porch Ladies because I knew they’d hear me and come running outside. “Millie! Help!” I stopped in the middle of Little Creek Road and faced Courtney’s house.
I reached in my mail carrier bag and grabbed my phone, dialing 9-1-1.
I jumped when Courtney stood in the doorway with the shovel in one hand, her other hand over her eye with the knitting needle still stuck in it.
“Bernie! What’s wrong?” I was never so happy to see Harriette Pearl running down the street in her robe and slippers with her broom in her grip like a sword.
Chapter 17
“I can’t believe she’s here.” Iris stood behind me as we looked at Clara Butler, my sweet granddaughter, who was in the neonatal care unit at the hospital.
“She shouldn’t be, but I’m glad she’s healthy.” It was hard to believe that a few short hours ago, I was in a standoff with a psychopathic killer and now I was standing in front of one of the sweetest things on earth. “She’s beautiful. She looks just like Julia.”
“She does, Granny.” Iris grabbed my hand, and we stood there, both of us glowing. “I knew I couldn’t drag you from this observation window, so I called Angela to see what happened after she let us leave the scene.”
After Harriette stood guard in front of Courtney’s gate while Sheriff Angela Hafley made it to the scene, the Front Porch Ladies made sure I was okay. Angela had asked me a few questions, and with all the documentation on the sewing table where the fax was located, Angela had taken Courtney into custody for the murder of Florence Gaines.
Courtney had all the documentation that made her the president of the family charity, just as she had planned. When it came down to it, Florence had gone over to Courtney’s to tell her that she was going to step back from all her board positions, which included the family charity, but was appointing Zeke to take her place.
Florence was even smart enough to have Tim Crouse,
the lawyer in Sugar Creek Gap, go over all the legal documents that stated if Florence got married, her husband could legally become the president if she appointed him.
That was what sent Courtney over the edge and made her kill Florence, even though Florence still kept Courtney in line after Zeke would pass. Poor Julia was in the wrong place at the right time for Courtney to blame it on her.
“And?” I couldn’t take my eyes off my beautiful granddaughter.
“Courtney ended up confessing, and they are going to make it a quick trial. She’ll end up spending twenty-five years to life since it wasn’t premeditated.” Iris leaned in toward the window, her eyes squinted. “What kind of blanket do they have on Clara?”
“It’s my half-finished washcloth. Grady stuck it in there with her.” I started to laugh. “Clara is going to grow up and think I’m some crazy old lady who was so proud of that darn half-knitted thing. A single crazy lady.”
I emphasized single, knowing Mac wasn’t going to be back in my life anytime soon.
“We can be just two old biddies together.” Iris winked at me.
“Promise?” I knew Iris and I would always be together no matter what. Through thick and thin.
“Pinky swear.” Iris held her pinky in the air.
We locked them and gave one hard shake, sealing the deal for life.
Would you like to extend your visit in Sugar Creek Gap? Read on for a sneak peek of RETURN TO SENDER, book 4, in the Mail Carrier Cozy Mystery. It’s now available for preorder! Grab your copy here.
SNEAK PEEK OF RETURN TO SENDER BOOK 4
Chapter One
Benefits of yoga. Energy regulations, yeah, I was still waiting on that one. Strengthens bones. If that was the case, why did Doctor Hunter give me the supplements to take on my last well visit because my bone density test recorded early osteoporosis.
I groaned as my hands rotated up to warrior two pose. Helps you focus, right…the sarcasm was so loud in my head, I had to look around to see if anyone heard it.
“Bernie,” the soft whisper of Peaches Partin circled the space above everyone’s warrior pose in the beginning yoga class, that Iris Peabody had insisted we take. “Focus by looking down your arm and through your fingertips.”
Was that Peaches’ way of telling me to stop looking around? Mmhmmm…which brings me to another reason I was given to try yoga, brings you happiness. The only thing bringing me happiness was the fact I was going to be able to watch Clara, my granddaughter, this afternoon while Julia, my daughter in law, went to the doctor for her checkup.
Which brought me to the next point I was given about helping me sleep. That wasn’t working. I was always up at night worrying if my premature granddaughter was thriving or how her early birth was going to impact her growth. I loved her no matter what, but it was really the stress I’d seen on Julia and my son’s, Grady, face that always told me they only wanted the best for little Clara.
Apparently, my focusing down my arm made me a little wobbly, which sent Peaches right on over to steady me.
“I thought this was supposed to give me good balance?” I asked her.
Iris Peabody laughed. Peaches didn’t find it a bit funny.
“Focus,” Peaches whispered and gently let go like I was a kite about to take off in a gentle wind, only to me if felt like a tornado.
Which brought me to just another reason I was sold on the whole idea of yoga, improved muscle strength. I’d like to see it. Only muscle strength I’d gotten was sore, achy, and spasms, not to mention how much ibuprofen I’d purchased since I’d let Iris talk me into this crazy activity.
I was a walking mail carrier. I walked miles upon miles a day. By the end of the day my feet did ache, but nothing a good Epsom salt foot soak didn’t take care of. And I’d started to go over to Jenny Franklin’s since I’d heard she’d been doing hair and nails in her basement.
She sure did give a good foot rub along with a bang up toenail paint job. Plus, I like to help out with the small business owners in the area.
My stomach gurgled. A little belch drew up into esophagus reminding me what I’d eaten at midnight while worrying about my granddaughter which brought me to the two final reasons I’d decided to let Iris talk me into contorting my fifty year old body in ways that shouldn’t be twisted.
Yoga will help with your digestion. Now, keep in mind that Iris was the owner of Pie in the Face, the local bakery. Not only the proprietor, but the baker. And to beat the band, she suggested this yoga class over a freshly baked Maple Walnut Crumb Cake that just so happen to be surrounds in cinnamon, walnuts, and brown sugar with brown sugar crumbles on top. And I couldn’t forget to mention how it was also smothered inn a vanilla bean Vermont maple glaze that was to die for.
When I say over, I meant we were both gobbling up a much larger piece than we needed of the delicious sweet baked good and a big cup of ice cold milk to wash it down.
Yoga will help you lose weight. I slide my eyes down to my gut that had started to become a little rounder then it’d been in years past.
My eyes moved across the room as Peaches told us to move to Reverse Warrior. Lucy Drakes thin, streamlined body fit perfect in her fancy yoga pants and sleeveless form fitted top.
Her long hair flowed down her back making her a stark resemblance to the poster on the wall promoting a new yoga wear line Peaches sold in the Tranquility Wellness shop. I pushed back my stick straight auburn hair pretending it didn’t look like a big grease pit, though in the back of my head I knew from the long day of walking and sweating, I didn’t look as fresh as Lucy.
“Last rose of summer,” I moaned as I tried to sink deeper into the pose Peaches was telling everyone to do.
“What?” Iris asked, staring forward.
“Nothing.” I looked down at my wobbling thighs, begging them not to collapse under me. Then I made the mistake of using my peripheral vision to see Lucy Drake stiff and holding her pose as though she was a goddess statue.
I bet a big old juicy hamburger and large fry from supper last night wasn’t sitting in her gut like a big brick like it was mine. Her stomach was nice and flat. Everything about her wanted me to snarl and gnash my teeth. Her good looks, her popularity of hosting her own morning radio show on WSCG, our local station, and now that she’s snagged Mac Tabor, the most eligible bachelor in Sugar Creek Gap, it was hard not to be envious of her.
Which made me wonder what Mac Table had seen in me since we did date for about a year before I had some sort of brain fart thinking I wasn’t in love with him after he did ask me to marry him. Well, sort of. He’d sprung it on me like a big surprise. I didn’t like surprises.
We were moving right along. Doing just fine as we enjoyed each other’s company and wham! He wanted more. More than I could give.
I’d just moved into the new house I’d inherited from one of my mail route clients, gotten a new dog to add to my already ornery cat. I’d left the only house I’d ever known and loved by giving it to Grady and Julia so they could raise Clara and give me a whole bunch more grand-babies. That was stress.
Also I’d found a couple of dead bodies in the past couple of years that didn’t add to the stress in my life. Sweet Clara’s early arrival into the world was the biggest worry I had, so Mac had decided it was a perfect time to pile on me this whole notion of moving in and getting hitched when I was just fine with the companionship we’d been sharing.
To make matters even worse, Mac had been my deceased husband’s best friend and around me all my life. Not that dating Mac made me worry about what Richard would’ve thought because truth be told, Richard had cheated on me our entire marriage to which I didn’t find out until ten years after he was killed in a car wreck and this woman had showed up in Sugar Creek Gap.
Talk about a life changer.
Still.
Here I was trying to hold a Reverse Warrior pose while Lucy Drake looked like a Zen queen.
Too bad she wasn’t next to me, I might’ve lost my balance and knocked h
er over.
“You know you’re not so subtle.” Iris eyeballed me from underneath her long curly brown and somewhat grey hair.
“You look like you were in a windstorm.” I couldn’t help but point out how her fancy bun she’d so desperately tried to create on top of her head and fallen with each pose.
“Ha. Ha.” She smiled and went back to Reverse Warrior.
“Back to Warrior II.” Peaches began to guide up back to standing where we finally made it to the floor flat on her backs. “Close your eyes and place one hand on your heart while the other will rest on your stomach.”
Now, this was a pose I could get into.
“Inhale a long deep breath through the nose, gently in one long steady stream release it out of the mouth while letting your eyes gently close.” This was the part where Peaches walked around and placed a blanket over us. “Let your mind wonder. Let your thoughts come and go without putting any sort of detail into them.”
“Bernadette!”
I jerked up.
“What?” My eyes darted around the room.
“You fell asleep again.” Iris nudged me with her big toe. “And you were snoring so loud.”
“This class is killing me.” I curled my legs up under me and let the blanket fall off of me. “Why didn’t you just let me sleep? I swear I feel more rested now then I have all day.”
“Ladies,” Lucy Drake slinked over. “Isn’t this a fabulous class?” She bent over at her waist and touched her toes. “I’ve gotten so limber and my muscles are hugging all my bones.”
I hugged the blanket to me, trying to cover up the baggy sweatpants and old Sugar Creek Gap High School Grizzly Bear sweatshirt that was Grady’s when he was in high school.
“Off I go. My people have all their ears on what I’ve got to say in Coffee Chat. Hope you join.” She wiggled her fingers and her fanny as she walked on by.
“I would ask what on earth does Mac see in her, but I won’t. I can see it myself.” Iris bent down and grabbed my yoga mat for me while I hobbled out of the big open room. “Did you hear me?”