by Bobbi Holmes
“That seems like a lot to ask of your mother,” Chris said.
“There is one thing I remember about the funeral. I asked my grandparents about it once, but they just changed the subject.”
“What was that?” Danielle asked.
“At the funeral, my grandmother got upset when Teddy showed up. My grandfather asked him to leave. Which he did. I didn’t understand why my grandfather had asked Uncle Teddy to leave and why Grandmother was mad at him. I also asked why Uncle Bud wasn’t there. They had been like family, and I felt abandoned. During that time, it seemed as if those closest to me simply vanished—my parents—then Uncle Bud and Uncle Teddy.”
“She probably blamed him for their deaths. After all, if he had been home with his wife, your parents wouldn’t have been there that day,” Danielle suggested.
“When I was older, that’s the conclusion I came to,” Walt said.
“Is there anything else you remember about that time period?” Chris asked.
Walt let out a weary sigh. “I remember missing my mother before she died, because she had been spending so much time with Maddie. My last memory of her is of me throwing a horrible fit, not wanting her to leave. And then she died… and when I understood she was not coming back… I felt such guilt. I had behaved so ugly.”
“Walt,” Danielle whispered, “you never told me that.”
Walt shrugged. “I suppose it was easier to push the memory aside.”
“You were just a little boy,” Heather said. “Kids throw fits all the time.”
“I suppose. But looking back, for a while I believed one reason she wasn’t coming home was because I was a bad boy,” Walt said.
“Oh, Walt.” Danielle leaned over and gave him a quick hug.
“But none of this helps explain our mountain man,” Chris said.
“Sorry,” Walt said. “That’s about all that I remember about that time.”
“What did your father do for a living?” Chris asked.
“He worked for his father,” Walt said.
“Did he ever go up in the mountains?” Chris asked.
“The mountains? He would go fishing and camping up there,” Walt said. “Why?”
“I’m trying to work out the connection between Mountain Man and your father. If the mountain man died up in the mountains, and he believes your father had something to do with his death, we should figure out when and why your father went up there,” Chris said.
“You are assuming Mountain Man blames Walt’s dad for his death,” Danielle said.
“I know what you are going to say,” Chris began. “Just because the mountain man thinks that doesn’t mean Walt’s father had anything to do with it. Like Stoddard, he could be wrong.”
“No, I don’t mean that,” Danielle said. “It’s possible Mountain Man is angry with Walt’s father for another reason, something that has nothing to do with intentionally causing his death. Maybe Walt’s dad planned to meet Mountain Man up in the mountains to go fishing. And he never showed because he died in the house fire, and Mountain Man got stranded up there and died.”
Chris arched his brow at Danielle. “Wow, you really have a knack of coming up with plausible scenarios.”
“Only one problem with that one,” Walt said.
“Only one?” Chris snickered.
“What?” Heather and Danielle chorused.
“Mountain Man wasn’t carrying a fishing pole up in the mountains; he had a rifle. And my father didn’t hunt,” Walt said.
“My point being, his issue with your dad could be anything,” Danielle said.
Heather glanced at the time and stood up. “I would love to stick around and help brainstorm, but Bella has been in the house alone a long time, and I really need to check on her.”
“Doesn’t she have a litter box?” Chris asked.
“Yes, but that doesn’t prevent her from climbing the curtains in retaliation when I’m gone too long,” Heather said.
“When you leave, make sure you shut the gate all the way. Hunny’s in the side yard,” Chris told her.
“I wonder why Hunny hasn’t come in the house yet,” Danielle muttered, thinking of the pet door.
When Heather stepped out the kitchen door into the side yard a few minutes later, Hunny didn’t greet her. Instead of calling the dog, Heather glanced around, wondering what mischief the pit bull had gotten into. She spied Hunny’s wiggly butt at the fence separating Pearl’s yard from Walt and Danielle’s.
Careful not to make a sound, she made her way toward Hunny to have a closer look. Hunny, so focused on the attention being given her, failed to hear Heather’s approach. When Heather reached the fence, she stifled a laugh. There was her grouchy neighbor on her knees, alternating between letting the dog kiss her nose and hand-feeding the dog treats.
“Well, what do we have here?” Heather snarked, sending a startled Pearl to her feet while Hunny turned and greeted her with a wiggling butt. “Imagine my surprise to find you kissing a ferocious pit bull.”
Pearl returned Heather’s snarky glare and replied, “And imagine my surprise at finding you kissing Officer Brian Henderson earlier today.”
Heather’s eyes widened in surprise. Speechless, she stared at the older woman.
“I suppose we all have our secrets,” Pearl huffed indignantly. She tossed the remaining dog treat to Hunny and then turned, flouncing back to her house without another word.
“Damn,” Heather grumbled as she turned toward the gate leading to the alley, Hunny trailing along her side. She glanced down at Hunny and said, “Now I can’t very well tell Chris what I saw you and Pearl doing, can I?”
Six
After pulling into Ian’s driveway, Kelly Bartley parked and turned off the ignition, but she didn’t immediately get out of her car. Instead, she rested her hands on the steering wheel and studied the diamond on her left ring finger. Wiggling her fingers slightly, she watched as the diamond glittered from the afternoon sunshine streaming in the car windows.
It wasn’t that she hated the ring; she found it endearing that Joe had proposed with his grandmother’s engagement ring. He had told her she could change the setting if she wanted, but she could tell by his expression he didn’t want her to take him up on the offer. Plus, his beloved grandmother—now a widow—was very much alive. She doubted the woman would appreciate the grandson’s fiancée remaking the ring given to her by her dead husband.
Unfortunately, it was not her style. Yet strangely, the damn thing fit perfectly. According to Joe, he had not had the ring sized. Apparently, Joe’s grandmother and she shared the same ring size.
She had always imagined that when Joe finally proposed, they would pick out the ring together. Letting out a sigh, she looked from the ring to her brother’s front door. If honest with herself, Kelly understood that on Joe’s salary, he really couldn’t afford to be buying engagement rings. Lily didn’t have that problem when Ian had proposed to her, considering his annual income. Heck, Lily had her own fortune after her settlement with the Gusarov estate.
With another sigh, Kelly looked back to the ring. She and Joe had been together for over three years now. In the beginning she worried Joe still had feelings for Danielle, but then she moved in with him, and things seemed to get better. But every once in a while, she had that nagging feeling Danielle could have snatched him away from her if she had been so inclined. Recently, she began wondering if Joe was ever going to propose, and even her mother had made cracks about what she called her daughter’s “uncertain future with Joe Morelli.”
But now that she was officially engaged, she vowed not to let an ugly engagement ring spoil her moment. Kelly cringed when the word “ugly” popped into her head. She had been avoiding that word. She looked down at the ring.
“It’s a nice diamond,” Kelly muttered.
Marie sat in the rocking chair, watching Evan and Connor play on the nursery floor. She smiled at the patience Evan displayed with young Connor as the pair arranged blocks and
pushed around toy trucks and cars. Marie had arrived minutes earlier and intended to have Evan tell Lily and Ian she was here, but that could wait. She rather enjoyed watching the boys play and didn’t want to interrupt them.
In the living room, Ian and Lily were just about to turn on the television when Sadie jumped up from her place by the sofa and raced to the front door, her tail wagging. Ian got up from the sofa to see who was at the door, and a few minutes later he returned to the living room with his sister, Kelly, by his side.
“Hi, Kelly,” Lily greeted her.
“My sister says she has some big news,” Ian announced.
Lily looked curiously at Kelly, who stood next to her brother with her hands behind her back while she danced from leg to leg, reminding Lily of one of her students who needed to use the bathroom.
Ian stared at his sister, waiting for her to say something. She flashed him a grin and then abruptly shoved her left hand in his face and said, “Joe and I got engaged!”
“Congratulations,” Lily said as she stood up, waiting for her turn to check out the ring.
“When’s the big day?” Ian asked, giving the ring a cursory look before Lily took his sister’s left hand.
“We haven’t set the date yet,” Kelly said, snatching back her hand from Lily, allowing her only a quick look.
“When did he ask you?” Lily asked.
“Last night. We had dinner at Pearl Cove; he asked me there. I wanted to tell you in person, and I had so much to do today, so I figured I’d stop by before I have to pick Joe up at work. I didn’t want my big brother to hear about my engagement from someone else.” Kelly leaned up and kissed her brother’s cheek.
“Did you tell your parents yet?” Lily asked.
“Yes, I called Mom this morning. I told her not to say anything to you or Ian yet, that I wanted to tell you myself in person.” Kelly grinned.
“Well, congratulations. You guys planning a big wedding?” Lily asked.
“We haven’t gotten that far yet. Everything happened so fast,” Kelly said.
“Fast? You guys have been together almost four years,” Ian grumbled.
Kelly playfully smacked her brother’s arm. “Oh, stop. You sound like Mom.”
“Let me get a look at the ring again. I barely saw it,” Lily said, snatching her sister-in-law’s left hand.
Lily stared at the ring for a moment, and before she could comment, Kelly blurted, “It was Joe’s grandmother’s. It’s a family heirloom.”
“That’s really sweet,” Lily said. “So sentimental.”
Kelly took back her hand, rubbing her right palm over the ring, and muttered, “Yes, yes, it is.”
“Are you having an engagement party?” Lily asked.
“Engagement party? I’m not sure. But I really need to pick up Joe from work. Is Connor awake? I’d love to pop in and see him.”
“Yes. He’s in his bedroom playing with Evan,” Lily said.
“Evan? I heard he was over at Walt and Danielle’s?”
“He came over to play with Connor,” Ian said.
When Kelly reached Connor’s open bedroom door, she looked in and smiled at the two boys so engrossed with the trucks and blocks spread along the floor that they didn’t notice her standing in the doorway. Before she called out to Connor, motion from behind him caught her eye. The empty rocking chair rocked back and forth in a steady rhythm. Dumbfounded, Kelly stared at the chair as it continued to rock. She didn’t notice when Evan looked up a few minutes later and spied her standing in the doorway. But when he called out, “Hi, Kelly,” the chair abruptly stopped rocking.
“Oh dear,” Marie muttered after Kelly made a hasty departure after saying hello to Evan and her nephew.
“What’s wrong?” Evan asked Marie.
“Nothing, dear. But I think I’ll be going now. You boys have fun.” Marie vanished.
Ian and Lily stood on their front porch and waved to Kelly as she pulled out of the driveway.
“What do you think happened in Connor’s room?” Ian asked. “She sure left in a hurry. Seemed rather frazzled.”
“I can’t imagine why. We should ask Evan if something happened.” Lily stepped back into the house.
Ian followed Lily inside. “Perhaps she’s just in a hurry to pick up Joe. And excited over the engagement. To be honest, considering how long they’ve been together, I was beginning to wonder if Joe ever intended to ask her to get married.”
“Ian, don’t hate me for saying this, but that is the most gawd-awful engagement ring I have ever seen.”
Ian chuckled. “It wasn’t just me?”
Lily turned to Ian and smiled. “You noticed too?”
“Well, yeah. Hard not to. Rather ornate. Not Kelly’s style at all.”
“She said it belonged to Joe’s grandmother. It has a nice diamond, but the setting…” Lily cringed.
When Kelly entered the Frederickport Police Department fifteen minutes later, she found Brian Henderson standing in the front office, talking to Joe.
“I understand congratulations are in order.” Brian gave Kelly a quick hug.
“Thanks,” Kelly muttered.
“Gee, you don’t seem too thrilled about your recent engagement,” Brian teased.
“Is something wrong, Kelly?” Joe asked.
“I just stopped by Ian and Lily’s to tell them about the engagement,” Kelly began.
“Are you saying your brother isn’t happy we’re getting married?” Joe asked.
“Of course not. It’s just that it happened again,” Kelly said.
“What happened?” Joe asked.
“The weird stuff that’s always happening at their house,” Kelly said.
“Like what?” Brian asked.
“You’re going to think I’m crazy,” Kelly said, lowering her voice at the end of the sentence and glancing around to see if anyone else was around.
“What happened?” Joe asked.
“I walked in Connor’s room to see him. Evan was there. The two boys were playing on the floor. And you know the rocking chair in Connor’s room?”
“Yes, what about it?” Joe asked.
“It was rocking,” Kelly said in a whisper.
“It is a rocking chair. That’s what they do,” Joe reminded her.
“No one was in it. And it was rocking,” Kelly said.
“Isn’t that the rocking chair that used to belong to Marie?” Brian asked.
Kelly looked to Brian with a frown.
“Marie Nichols,” Brian explained. “Adam’s grandmother.”
“Yes, I know who you mean. What about it?”
“Maybe Marie’s haunting the chair.” Brian grinned.
“Not funny, Brian,” Joe said.
“He might be right,” Kelly muttered. “That would make as much sense as anything.”
“I’m sure one of the boys probably sent the chair rocking before you got to the room,” Brian suggested.
“You think?” Kelly asked.
“Sure,” Brian lied. I bet it was Marie, he thought.
Kelly laughed nervously and then said, “I guess I was being silly. But there always seems to be something going on over at that house. Weird stuff that makes little sense. But I’m sure you’re right, Evan was probably making the chair rock before I got there.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s it,” Brian said.
Kelly smiled at Brian. “I’m surprised to see you working today. I thought the chief told you to take some time off.”
“I wanted to get back to work,” Brian said.
“Are you working tonight?” Kelly asked.
Brian glanced briefly at his watch and then looked back to Kelly. “I get off in thirty minutes.”
“Do you have any big plans tonight?” Kelly asked.
“Just me and my remote,” Brian said with a chuckle.
“Oh good! Then you don’t have any plans,” Kelly began.
“Kelly,” Joe said in a warning tone.
“Oh, come on,
Joe, Brian doesn’t want to stay home alone tonight,” Kelly said.
“Actually, I do,” Brian said.
“No, you don’t. I have this friend who would be perfect for you,” Kelly began. “And I’ve told her about you, and she’s dying to meet you. I talked to her earlier today, and she’s not doing anything tonight.”
“Are you talking about setting me up on a blind date?” Brian asked.
“Think of it more as a double date with me and Joe. She’s one of the new docents at the museum. I interviewed her for my podcast.”
“Thanks, but no thanks,” Brian said. “I’m not really interested.”
“But, Brian…”
“Kelly, he’s not interested,” Joe said.
Kelly let out a sigh. “Come on, Brian, if not tonight, at least consider another night. She really is nice and perfect for you. She’s just a couple of years younger than you are.”
Brian grinned and patted Kelly’s arm. “Thanks for the thought, but I’m not really interested in dating anyone right now.”
“Why didn’t you try talking Brian into going out with us tonight,” Kelly asked Joe as the two got into Kelly’s car.
“He said he wasn’t interested.” Joe slammed the car door shut and hooked his seatbelt.
“It’s sad the way Brian is all alone. He needs a nice woman in his life.”
“Considering Brian’s track record, he’s probably better off this way.” Joe snorted.
“Oh, please, that’s why he needs someone like me to help him. Ginny would be perfect for him. She’s only been married once. She’s a widow, not divorced.”
“She’s a widow? Did she kill her husband?” Joe teased.
“Why would you ask that?” Kelly shoved the key in the ignition.
“The last woman Brian dated killed her husband,” he reminded her.
