Teaberry Invitational

by R A Wallace

  Chapter Sixteen

  By the time she returned to the golf course, it was afternoon. Megan parked in the first spot she could find and set off to look for anyone on her list of people to speak with. She saw a familiar face pushing a cart with cleaning supplies.

  “Dena, hey. How are you?” She joined Dena on the sidewalk to walk next to her.

  “I’m happy to say I found a job, even if it’s only part-time,” Dena said.

  “Will you be staying on after the tournament?” Megan stepped behind Dena to let another couple pass.

  “Yes, but my hours will decrease even more. I’ll try to pick up another job then.” Dena paused at a crossway.

  “Have you thought about applying at Maid in Teaberry?” Megan asked.

  “No. Do you think they’re hiring? That’s Ava Prescott, isn’t it?” Dena looked excited.

  “I would stop by when you have time. She has an office in town now. You can find the address on her web site.”

  “I will. Thanks for the idea. After this job, I think I’m qualified. I have to tell you, you learn a lot about people when you clean up after them. I never thought all of those stories about people staying in hotels were true.” Dena turned left toward some outbuildings. “I have to restock my supplies. Thanks again.”

  “Would it be possible to talk to you after your shift?” Megan called after her. “I’d like to ask some questions.”

  Dena called back the time. “I’ll meet you here.”

  Megan nodded agreement and turned to continue walking.

  “Oh! Excuse me.” She stepped back from the man she’d just shoulder bumped.

  “No problem, as long as you’re okay,” Avery said. He had one hand on her arm briefly to steady her, then removed it.

  “I am, thanks.” Megan looked down at his press pass and recognized the name. She’d spoken to him before. “Did I miss anything important when I was gone for lunch?”

  He laughed. “Not really. So far, it’s been a pretty tame tournament. Speaking of lunch, though, I’m headed that way. I tried to wait for the crowd to clear out.”

  He gave her a quick wave and took off toward the restaurant. Megan pulled up the schedule for the tournament to see who was playing. She saw that Susan and Ross were listed and tried to gauge where they might be on the course before heading in that direction. If nothing else, she wanted to watch them play for a bit.

  The crowd positioned near the course told her that she’d guessed correctly as she reached her destination. She wove her way through until she found a spot that allowed her to see. Given the smile she saw Susan flash to Ross, the two of them were still enjoying themselves.

  “They’re not supposed to be having that much fun.”

  Megan turned toward the voice. She recognized the speaker.

  “Mindy Hostetler, right?” Megan asked. “I recognize you from the television ads. You and your husband own a car lot here in Teaberry.” Megan introduced herself.

  “We do, yes. We’re also friends with Susan and Ross. They’ve mentioned you.” Mindy tapped her husband to get his attention and introduced him to Megan.

  “I know you two are competing also,” Megan said.

  “We’re up later. We just wanted to see how the others were doing,” Clive said. “We went to school with Susan so we’re actually cheering her on even though we’re playing against her.”

  Megan thought that sounded nice. “Did you know Jay Kerns?”

  “Of course,” Mindy said with a glance at her husband. “Not as well though. He was younger than us.”

  “By over a decade,” Clive agreed. “But we saw him here fairly often. Even had lunch with him a few times. He was pretty excited about getting the tournament here.”

  “It was a positive thing for our community,” Mindy added. “We were pretty impressed when he pulled it off.”

  “He talked about things like that a lot. He was an advocate for Teaberry,” Clive said.

  “Were you here the night he died?” Megan asked.

  “No. Since we live locally, we aren’t staying here like many of the others. We’re gone by dinner time.” Mindy turned back to the game when the crowd noise changed.

  “What was that?” Megan asked.

  “Looks like they’re reviewing something,” Clive said. “I wish we could hear the announcers.”

  Megan pulled her phone out. She’d included a link to the broadcast on the town web pages she created. When she heard the announcer’s voice, she held the phone up so Clive and Mindy could hear it.

  “I agree with Van,” Clive said.

  Megan knew that was the announcer’s name. Van Haskins had just explained his interpretation of the rules for the play in question. A moment later, he confirmed the ruling.

  “That’s pretty handy,” Clive said. “How did you get to that?”

  Megan explained where the link was.

  “They ruled in Susan’s favor?” Megan asked. She’d heard what Van had said. She just hadn’t understood it.

  “They did. Van nailed it with his explanation,” Clive said as he began to move with the crowd. “He’s been around a long time.”

  “I don’t know how he has time to announce during the tournament,” Mindy said. “I swear every time we’ve been in the restaurant, we’ve seen him there.”

  Megan waved as they continued to follow the crowd then went in the opposite direction.

  ***

  Justin shifted Grace over to one shoulder so he could reach for his coffee cup.

  “How has she been?” he asked. She was currently smiling at him.

  “She seems all better,” Lauren said. “She got sick that one time and then after that she was just fine.”

  “Remember the first time Mia did that?” he asked.

  “We were both pretty hysterical,” she said. “Funny how things change between baby number one and baby number three.”

  “I remember you being hysterical,” he said.

  “You called your mom and made her run right over here,” Lauren reminded him.

  “Yeah, I guess I did.” He kissed the top of Grace’s head then finished his coffee. “I should start getting ready for work pretty soon.”

  “How did your meeting go at work last night?” Lauren added flour to her mixing bowl.

  “We need to talk about that,” he said.

  She paused in her work. “What does that mean?”

  “Remember I told you my supervisor has been acting a little different lately?” he asked.

  “Yeah.” She was still watching him.

  “Turns out, she’s been testing me. I wondered why she kept asking me questions about how I’d handle things.”

  “Why was she testing you?”

  “They’ve offered me a promotion,” he said.

  “Are you kidding? That’s wonderful.” She frowned when she saw the look on his face. “Isn’t it?”

  “There are some stipulations,” he said. “On the one hand, it would mean a bump in pay.”

  “That sounds like a good thing.” She gave up trying to keep track of what she was doing and walked around her work island to take a seat next to him at the table.

  “It’s the afternoon shift supervisor position. I’d still be on afternoons,” he said.

  “Is that bad?”

  His eyes dropped to Grace.

  “I’d still be able to watch the kids in the morning before work. That frees you up a bit when my mom isn’t here to help,” he said.

  “You’re saying you’d rather stay on afternoons?” she asked.

  “For now. Don’t you think?”

  “What else?” she asked.

  “They want me to take some classes,” he said.

  Her eyes widened.

  “They would be online,” he added when he saw her response. “They would also be at the graduate level.”

  “You would still be on afternoons, you’d have more responsibility, and you would have to take classes. All for a bump in pay,” she summariz
ed.

  “Yeah. Another factor is that the current day shift supervisor will be ready to retire around the time Grace starts school.”

  “You would be considered for that position?” she asked.

  “Makes sense. I’d have the experience.” He watched her consider it. “What do you think?”

  “When do you have to decide?”

  “By Friday. When I go in for work I’m supposed to give my response.”

  ***

  Megan found Dena at the end of her shift.

  “I called Ava and asked if she was taking applications. She said she is,” Dena said. “I’m going to stop there next. Thanks so much for suggesting it.”

  “I hope it works out for you.” Megan motioned to a picnic bench near the outbuilding where Dena and the other cleaners kept their carts. “Mind if we sit?”

  “Not at all. I remember what it’s like,” Dena said.

  Megan explained that she was trying to help the police with their investigation.

  “They’re okay with you doing that?” Dena asked.

  “Not really, but we have an agreement that I tell them everything I hear. I know that you’ve already spoken to them.”

  “Yeah. I wasn’t the one who found Mr. Kerns, but it could have been me. I did come in to work Saturday morning.”

  “Did you talk to him at all before he died?” Megan asked.

  “No, but I did see him around when I was working. I can’t say the opposite was true. He was one of those people who didn’t really see me.”

  “What do you mean?” Megan asked.

  “Most people at least are aware of me. Some of the guests don’t even notice I’m around. I haven’t gotten used to that yet. It’s like I’m invisible. They talk about things that you wouldn’t normally discuss in front of someone, you know?”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, like the one couple. They got into a huge argument over something. I’m not really sure what. I just know it had to do with going to dinner.” Dena made a face. “Don’t get me wrong. No matter how hard I try, my ex and I still get into the same kinds of arguments over nothing.”

  “Do you know who it was?”

  “I think I heard her call him Iva.” Dena frowned.

  Megan pulled up their picture on her phone.

  “Yeah, that’s them. He was really mad because she’d agreed to have dinner with another couple.”

  “Another couple from the tournament?”

  “Yeah.” Dena looked at her watch. “I should go. I want to talk to Ava about a job.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Tia hung the sign on her door that she would return in ten minutes and locked it behind her before walking down the sidewalk to Tea & Thyme. Jill was at the front counter when she entered. She could see several people in the addition.

  “Do you have a minute to make an energy drink for me?” Tia asked as she checked out the baked goods on display.

  “I do. Are you going with the one you usually order?” Jill asked as she moved over to the other counter.

  “Please. I’ll take a couple of these too.” Tia pointed to some cookies. There wasn’t much left in the case to choose from.

  “I wonder how Lauren is holding up with her baking?” Tia said.

  “Between the golf tournament and her regular orders like ours, she has to be swamped but she hasn’t complained,” Jill turned around to pass the energy drink to Tia.

  “We aren’t complaining either,” Jill said with a nod of her head toward the addition.

  “I know what you mean. The sales have been great all during the tournament.” Tia took the bag of cookies from Jill and crossed over to the cash register as she dug out her plastic.

  “We hope the golf tournament becomes a yearly event,” Jill said as she passed the card back to Tia.

  ***

  During the week, Megan had noticed that the regular announcers took breaks periodically and guest announcers took their turn being on air. She positioned herself near them when she thought a break would take place and waylaid Van Haskins on his way out.

  “Would it be possible to ask you some questions?” Megan asked after introducing herself. “I handle the web pages for Teaberry. Everyone here is pretty excited about having the tournament. The web pages are getting a lot of traffic.”

  “Sure. I was going to stop in at the restaurant and grab something real quick,” Van said as he began walking in that direction again.

  “I’ll tag along, if that’s okay?” Megan asked. “They have a nice restaurant here.”

  Van smiled. “That they do.”

  “Pat, the manager, is really nice too,” Megan said.

  Van turned to look at her more closely. “I take it my secret is out.”

  “That I don’t know. I figured it out based on some of the comments people have made,” she said.

  “Such as?” He seemed genuinely curious and not at all offended.

  “Well, someone mentioned that they’ve seen you at the restaurant every time they’ve been in there. But they also said they’re only here during the day.”

  “Okay. Doesn’t seem like enough of a clue,” Van said.

  “I also spoke with the assistant manager that handles evenings and weekends. She says she rarely sees you,” Megan added.

  “Ah. That might do it.” He stopped and turned toward her.

  “In addition to web pages, what do you really do?” he asked.

  Megan saw the corners of his mouth twitch, as though he would chuckle at any moment.

  “I sometimes work on puzzles involving murder investigations,” she said.

  “Hmm. Jay Kerns. I still haven’t figured that one out. How are you doing with it?” he asked as he began to walk again. This time, his pace was slower.

  “Did you know him well?” she asked.

  “I’ve certainly run into him over the years. When you’ve been around the business as long as I have, you get to know the players.” Van nodded toward the Golf Shop when they passed it. “I remember when Wes Lowry was one of the biggest names in the business.”

  “The golf instructor?”

  “Oh, yes. He was the phenom of his day though I think one reason he was in the headlines so much was because of his temper.”

  “He has a temper?” Megan asked. It was the first she’d heard of it.

  “He did back then. I believe he may have mellowed with age. Happens to the best of us.” Van opened the door to the restaurant and allowed Megan to pass inside first.

  “Were you here the night Jay died?” Megan asked.

  “I was, for a while. He was still here when I left,” Van said.

  “When was that?”

  Van stopped and looked at Pat as she led a group of people to a table.

  “I left when Pat did.”

  ***

  Dan got out of his truck and walked toward the open door of the garage where his brother Gabe worked. He could hear music blaring from an old beaten up radio that sat on a shelf. He was surprised it got any reception at all. One of the antennas was snapped off half way down. The other was bent. He walked up to where his brother’s feet stuck out from the underside of an oversized truck.

  “Looks like something you’d see on an off-road trail,” Dan said over the music.

  He heard a loud clang as something metal was dropped under the car followed by Gabe’s voice as he rolled out from under the truck.

  “You could give a guy some warning,” Gabe said as he sat up on the creeper and reached for a rag.

  “That’s one reason why I’m here, actually.”

  “What, to give me a warning?” Gabe stood up as he wiped his hands.

  “In a good way. Megan thought it might be helpful to have a web presence for the garage. She does that kind of work for a lot of different businesses, including mine.”

  “I can’t really afford to pay for something like that right now,” Gabe said.

  “Now you’re just trying to make me mad,” Dan said with
a smile to remove some of the bite. “She’s not expecting you to pay her.”

  Gabe didn’t hesitate. “Okay. It sounds like a great idea to me.”

  “She was thinking you might promote work like this,” Dan motioned toward the oversized truck. “To establish yourself as the place in the area who handles this kind of work.”

  Gabe looked interested. “That sounds great.”

  “We might need some input from you though. She’s not real familiar with that kind of content.”

  “I would be happy to help with that. It would be great advertising. Dena keeps telling me I need to do that,” Gabe said.

  “Dena?”

  “She’s been helping me get my books in order to pay off the work I did on her car. She can’t afford to pay me any more than I can afford to pay Megan,” Gabe said.

  “She’s working it off on your ledger? That’s smart,” Dan said.

  “She’s smart. She has a lot of experience with all that,” Gabe said.

  “From running her husband’s trucking business all those years.” Dan looked around the garage. “Too bad you two couldn’t figure out a way to merge your talents into one business.”

  “She might have the smarts for that,” Gabe said. “All I can do is work on the vehicles.”

  ***

  Megan approached Iva and Dee Kaptur at the outdoor table behind the restaurant where they had just finished their meal. She introduced herself and asked if she could interview them for the Teaberry web site. She pulled a small notepad and a pen from her purse when she sat down.

  “I have some information about you on the web pages already,” Megan said. “It’s the general information about your standings in other tournaments that you’ve played in the past.”

  “What else would you like to know?” Iva asked.

  “Have you ever played at this course before?” Megan asked them.

  “First time,” Dee said. “We really like it.”

  “It probably won’t be our last time here,” Iva said. “We’ve only bought out half the town on our shopping excursions. There’s still the other half to look forward to in the future.”