by R A Wallace
There were a lot of people there. Not just the vendors but the number of shoppers was impressive as well. Once Ross had learned that Megan handled the web pages for the town of Teaberry and many other businesses, he had checked some of them out. She really did have solid digital marketing skills. He planned to speak with her more about it. He knew that she had designed the web pages for the farmers market. It wouldn’t surprise him to hear that those pages had helped to draw in the crowd he was seeing now.
Ross walked past the building that was for sale a couple of times. The web site advertising the sale of the building hadn’t lied. The building looked solid on the outside. He planned to examine it carefully on the inside also, but he’d wanted to get a feel for the town first. He’d been hearing about Teaberry for years. He thought it was about time he checked it out for himself.
If it was important enough for Jackson Anderson to leave his life in Seattle and a promising career in the corporate world, Ross wanted to know why. He’d taken an interest in the young man starting out and had taken Jackson under his wing. Ross had seen the potential in the young man and had groomed him for a quick elevation through the ranks. And Jackson had proved him right. He’d been good at his job. Better than good. Then one day, he’d chucked his suit and tie and beat a path back to his home town.
Ross wanted to see the town and the people that had lured his protégé away from him. Ross decided to take the plunge and go into the florist shop. He wanted to see what the inside was like and he wanted to meet the people that were in it. He was scheduled to meet with the realtor later in the afternoon but the appeal of seeing where Jackson had spent part of his youth was too great.
On his way back to the florist shop, Ross was walking by a place called the Teaberry Station Pub & Grill when he smelled the most amazing smell. They must have a smoker in the back, Ross thought. Wouldn’t hurt to have a little lunch first.
***
Susan Anderson set the phone down on the counter and finished entering the order that she’d just taken. She enjoyed spending a few hours in the shop when Caitlyn was out delivering. Susan was proud of the business she had created and run for decades before turning it over to her daughter. But she had to admit, she enjoyed the business more now that she didn’t have all of the responsibility that went with it.
Susan had first opened the shop when she was still pregnant with Caitlyn. Her husband had thought she would get bored playing with flowers quickly but that had never happened. Instead, Susan had embraced running a business and getting involved with the community. She’d been active in the town and had been a member of several committees over the years. She liked to think that she had given back to the community that had given her so much.
Now in her mid-fifties, she’d been a widow for over a decade. Jax had just been in his teens when his father had died. Susan had done her best to help both of her children through the loss of their father. Like most parents, she could only hope that her best had been good enough. They’d certainly turned out well. She’d been inwardly devasted when Jax had decided to move to Seattle and enter the corporate world. But she’d smiled and encouraged him to live his dream. She’d been so happy when he’d decided to move back to Teaberry.
Susan was jolted from her reverie by the sound of the bells on the door. She looked up from the computer to see an extremely handsome man smiling at her. He looked to be about her age and tall, around five eleven like Jax.
“Can I help you?” Susan said automatically.
“Susan Anderson? I’m Ross McMann. I contacted the realtor about this building. I hope you don’t mind, I wanted a look inside before the realtor got here.” Ross walked across the room and reached his hand out. He hadn’t expected her to be so attractive.
Susan placed her hand in his and gave him a firm shake. “Nice to meet you. So, you’re interested in the building?”
“I am. It looks like a good investment. I understand your shop has been a valued cornerstone for many years. The shop next to you is currently empty?” Ross asked as he took a step back to give the petite woman some space.
“Yes, an unexpected death,” Susan said smoothly.
Ross nodded. He’d researched the building and its occupants. He was familiar with the story. He appreciated her professional handling of the explanation. The bells on the door behind him rung again. Ross turned to see a man around his age walk in.
“Stan Jiblonski, I take it you’re here to meet with Mr. McMann?” Susan said.
“I am, indeed. Mr. McMann, good to meet you,” Stan said with a firm shake. “I can take you on the tour now.”
Ross turned and smiled at Susan. “Susan, please call me Ross. Thanks so much for your time. I hope to see you again soon.”
Susan could hear their voices as they continued walking through the florist shop into the back work room and then used the door in the rear of the building to exit. Well, wasn’t that interesting, Susan thought.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lauren Dempsey pulled the sheet of cookies from the oven and placed it on the cooling rack. She slid the tray of raw cookies into the oven and closed the door, setting the timer to help her keep track. She didn’t typically have to rely on a timer, but this particular Saturday morning had her dragging her feet. It had been hot at the farmers market yesterday. And she’d been up a little later than usual last night, waiting for her husband to get home from his afternoon shift at the hospital. They had both been working a lot lately. Lauren had wanted some quiet time with her husband.
It had been worth the loss of sleep, but that didn’t stop Lauren from looking at the coffee maker longingly. If only she could have a real cup of coffee, with real caffeine. Lauren sighed. Ah well, she’d enjoy it all the more once baby number three arrived. She turned her attention back to her baking. She needed to get everything done in time for the farmers market this morning. It was supposed to be another hot day, so she was being particular about the recipes she used. She was staying away from anything that would melt in the heat, such as a lot of chocolate.
It had reminded Lauren of a recipe that their grandmother used to make with them, Oatmeal Pudding Cookies. It had been one of Megan’s favorites when they were young. They were drop cookies and it was an easy recipe, so Lauren was able to get ten dozen made in no time. She nearly had the rest of her baked goods packaged up when she heard footsteps in the quiet house.
She didn’t think Justin was awake yet. It was too early in the morning for him to be moving around, though he did have the day off. She expected him to sleep in until the time she had to leave for the farmers market. By then, the kids should be up and Justin would spend his day off with them.
Lauren looked up to see Justin standing in the doorway, his coffee cup in his hand. “Hey, why aren’t you still in bed?”
Justin came into the work kitchen with a sleepy smile. “Am I allowed in here with real coffee?”
“Ha! I might fight you for it.” Lauren grinned at her husband as she wrapped more cookies.
“I figured if you could stay up late to spend time with me, I could get up early to spend time with you.” Justin moved behind his wife and nuzzled her neck while she worked.
She leaned back into him and paused her work with the cookies. “An excellent idea. But the kids will probably wear you out for sure today.”
“I have a plan for that,” Justin moved to the other side of the island that Lauren was working on and leaned against the edge of the counter, sipping his coffee. He tried not to let his enjoyment of it show too much.
Lauren returned to her work. “You have a plan?”
“I bought one of those blow up water slides for the back yard. You plug in a fan unit and it keeps the whole thing inflated. I’m planning on sitting on a chaise lounge and watching the kids burn off their energy.”
Lauren looked up at her husband with admiration. “That is an excellent plan.”
“I thought so too. Did you have a chance to talk with my mom when you got back yest
erday?”
Lauren nodded as she began to pack bagged cookies into a box. “I did. She’ll be here Monday afternoon and she’s looking forward to her weekend off. She has plans with Vince tonight and tomorrow but she said she’d probably be at the farmers market for a bit today.”
“They sound pretty serious, Vince and my mom.”
Lauren started walking toward the oven just as the timer went off. “Are you saying you don’t want Vince for a step-dad?”
Justin scratched at the growth on his face. “I don’t know what I’m saying. I think it’s best to just stay out of it and be supportive of whatever she decides. What do you think?”
“I think Bev is a very smart woman who can make her own decisions.” Lauren set the tray on a cooling rack and turned the oven off. “Besides, they’ve been seeing each other for years. Just because she’s spending time with him this weekend doesn’t mean anything. She’s comfortable in her retirement and she has an active social life and a lot of friends. We’re just lucky that over thirty years as an elementary teacher didn’t turn her off kids.”
Justin chuckled. “At the rate we’re going, that’s for sure. Hey, what if we had twins?”
Lauren looked up in horror. “That isn’t funny.”
Justin set his cup down and walked back to his wife. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in. “We’d deal with it together. With my mom’s help.”
“Yeah, but it’s still going to be stuck in my brain,” Lauren said into Justin’s chest.
He smiled, his chin on her head. “C’mon, I’ll carry all of this to your van. You get the door. Megan will be there to unload, right?”
Lauren sighed. “Yes. I think you two are in cahoots. I’m not an invalid.”
“We’re just practicing for when you can’t see your feet. You’ll be grateful for our help then.” Justin grinned at her.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Megan finished unloading Lauren’s van and stood behind their table. “Why don’t you have a seat while you have a chance. I know you were up baking this morning and we were here for several hours yesterday. It’s supposed to be hot again today.”
Lauren smiled at her cousin. “I promise I’ll do that when I can’t see my feet. I can handle everything here if you want to talk to people about Cybil.”
Megan looked at her cousin. “Are you sure? Because if you are, I can take some pictures for the town web site too. I’ll focus on the vendor’s products so that I don’t have to worry about getting signatures to publish people’s pictures.”
“That would be a good opening line to talk to the vendors about Cybil.”
Megan grinned. “I thought so too. I haven’t had a chance to speak with them yet and I have a hunch they may know something.”
“Go, I’ll be fine.” Lauren focused on the couple that approached their table.
Megan grabbed her camera and took off. She really did want to get some pictures for the web site. She went from table to table, speaking with the vendors as she went. She introduced herself and explained why she was taking pictures. She also asked them a lot of questions. Many of the vendors seemed more than happy to speak with her when they weren’t selling their wares. Once she had them talking freely, she brought up the death.
She was speaking to a man named Dexter Spaulding who sold lawn art. Most of the art was in the form of large birds, but there were some other animals as well. “Did you know the woman that was killed?” Megan asked.
“Not really, but I did meet her that first day. She tried to talk me into a haircut.” Dexter looked like the idea didn’t go over well with him.
Megan knew the feeling. “Yeah, me too.” She didn’t think she’d learn much from Dexter if he didn’t know Cybil.
“She was pretty pushy about it,” Dexter confided. “I watched her going up and down the aisle, trying to talk people into it. You could tell it turned some people off.”
That gave Megan an idea. “Did anyone look particularly put off?”
Dexter turned his attention to a group of people that looked interested in his art. Megan took some pictures while he tried to talk them into a sale. The group said they might come back when they were done looking around. Dexter turned back to Megan and shrugged. “Not that I can remember. I mean, she tried dragging some of the vendors away from their tables. That was pretty stupid. Some of the vendors in the middle of the row looked agitated about it.”
“Really?” Megan looked down the row in the direction Dexter was gesturing.
“Well, I can’t blame them. We come here to sell stuff. We can’t do that if we’re away from our table, you know?”
Megan nodded her understanding. She hoped Lauren was doing okay manning their table by herself. She thanked Dexter for his time then she texted Lauren to check on her. She received a reply immediately. “I’m fine.”
Megan replied back telling Lauren to text her if she needed her. Then she worked her way down the aisle, toward the vendors Dexter had gestured to. She continued to ask questions along the way as she took pictures. Although some of the vendors were from other towns, many were from Teaberry and had either known Cybil or had known about her shop.
Joyce Fletcher was a forty something woman with pale blonde hair. Today, because of the heat, she wore it up in a bun. Her reading glasses hung from her neck on a beaded chain when she wasn’t wearing them. Megan checked out her products and took several pictures while she did. Joyce had her own beehives. In addition to honey, she also had homemade soaps and candles for sale.
“Oh, these are interesting,” Megan said, looking at the soaps and candles. She used to make candles when she was younger, but she hadn’t done it in years. “How difficult is it to make the soap? Do you have to use lye?”
“You do not. You can make it with or without. You can also add your own oils, colors, and scents to it.” Joyce took a small cachet from the end of her table. “You can also make salts, like this.”
“Interesting.” Megan would have to think about that. It might be nice to have her own line of soaps in her guest baths. “Did you know Cybil Lacey?”
Joyce frowned, and she set the salts back down on the table. “I did, yes.”
Megan could see the reservation on Joyce’s face. “Did she do your hair?”
“Once. That was enough.” Joyce looked over Megan’s shoulder, hoping for another customer.
Megan was persistent. “You didn’t like the way she did your hair?”
Joyce sighed, realizing that Megan was planning to continue the conversation. “No, I didn’t. I also didn’t like her questions. It was like she was probing for information.”
“About what?”
Joyce shrugged. “About me. About people that I knew. I didn’t care for it. I think people are entitled to their privacy, you know?”
Megan smiled and thanked Joyce for the information. Then she continued working her way down the aisle, taking more pictures and asking more questions.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Susan Anderson wrapped the small bouquet of flowers and smiled at the young man as she returned his credit card. Some lucky lady was getting flowers on her Saturday date night Susan thought. A few minutes later, Caitlyn returned from her deliveries.
“Thanks for coming in this morning. I’m all done with deliveries. What do you have planned for the rest of the day?” Caitlyn took a bottle of cold water from the fridge in the back room.
“I’m going to wander through the farmers market and see what they have, maybe pick a few things up. I’ll be back Monday afternoon but call me if you need me in between.” Susan grabbed her small purse and slipped the cross-body strap over her head.
“I should be good, thanks. I’m looking forward to a quiet weekend. I have a date with Doug tonight and we’re closed tomorrow.” Caitlyn smiled at her mother. She knew that Susan liked Doug. “What are you doing tonight? Do you have any plans?”
Susan thought about it. She hadn’t had plans on a weekend for a long time. “Not t
onight. Maybe I’ll call some friends and make plans to get together later next week.” She waved goodbye to her daughter and walked to the town square. No sense trying to move the car a block or so and find another parking space. Especially not on farmers market day.
Susan started on the first aisle and began walking slowly along, looking at both sides for anything that might catch her eye. She’d enjoyed having Jax at home. It had given her someone else to cook for. Now that he had rented his own place, she was back to cooking meals for one. Most times, she didn’t even bother. It just didn’t seem worth the effort. If she could get away with some yogurt and fruit or a frozen dinner, she went with that.
But maybe a nice salad or something would be good. She could get some fresh vegetables now that they were coming in season locally. If nothing else, looking for something new was giving her something to do outdoors. And she was around people. She had a lot of friends and she worked at the florist shop a few times a week as needed. That got her out of the house and around people too.
Susan was rounding a corner when something caught her eye and she turned her head while she was walking. She ran into something large and solid. “Oh my!” Susan said, as she turned her head to face the direction she had been walking. Someone grabbed her arms to steady her.
“Are you okay?” Ross McMann asked. His eyes held concern.
Susan looked up at him. “I’m sorry. It was my fault. I should have been following my nose.”
Ross chuckled. “I haven’t heard that phrase in years. My father used to say it.”
Susan smiled. “Mine too.”
“Are you here shopping?” Ross asked, then he shook his head. “Sorry, stupid question. Of course you are.”