Vintage Teaberry Malice

by R A Wallace

  “She’s very responsible. I’m sure she’ll take this task seriously and get right on it.” Victor waved at another couple walking nearby.

  “Think she’ll stop and see us?” Silas asked.

  Victor considered it. “She might. Makes sense. We knew Alice both when she was young, before she moved away, and then when she lived here.”

  “What are you going to tell her?” Silas asked.

  Victor shrugged. “The truth.”

  ***

  Megan parked her truck at the main office when she got to the retirement community Monday morning. She found Leslie at the desk.

  “Have you learned anything yet?” Leslie asked.

  Megan smiled. She was beginning to understand how Erica felt. She stopped herself from quoting Erica and replying that mysteries aren’t like what you see on television. It takes longer than thirty minutes to discover the answers.

  “I wanted to touch base with some of the people who were close with Alice,” Megan responded instead.

  “Oh, well.” Leslie hesitated. She seemed to think about her answer for a long time. Finally, she brightened. “There’s the people who helped to clear her villa out.”

  Megan nodded. “Okay, sounds good. I know where some of them live. Do you think it’s okay if I just drop in?”

  Leslie glanced at the time. “Actually, they should all be at the restaurant. They usually stop in for coffee and conversation around this time.”

  Megan drove her truck the short distance to the restaurant in front of the retirement community. From what she could see through the front windows, the restaurant was pretty full. Someone here should have been close to Alice.

  Megan walked in the front door and looked around. She spotted some familiar faces across the room and headed for the area. Victor Muncie saw her approach and stood to pull a chair over from a nearby table.

  “Megan. We wondered if you’d stop by today.” He waited until Megan had taken her seat before retaking his own.

  “I was hoping I could ask a few questions,” Megan said as she looked around the group. “I thought Alice’s friends might be able to fill in some of the gaps.”

  Megan watched several around the table share glances. Some looked down at their hands. She wondered if she was being insensitive. Alice had just been murdered recently. Perhaps her friends hadn’t come to terms with it yet.

  “I’m sorry. I could come back another time if that would work better,” Megan suggested.

  “Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Victor said as he looked around the group. Some nodded in agreement.

  Megan hesitated. “Well, if you’re sure?”

  “What did you want to ask?” Josie asked.

  “Did all of you know Alice when she was a young girl?” Megan asked. As she looked around the table, she saw most were nodding to indicate that they had.

  “Kevin didn’t,” Josie said as she turned to the gentleman to her left.

  Kevin was wearing a track suit with a zippered jacket. He looked over at Josie and nodded his agreement with her comment. “I moved to Teaberry after she was gone. I didn’t meet her until I moved in here.”

  “Were you close with Alice?” Megan asked.

  “Uh.” Kevin looked around the table. “No, I wasn’t. We didn’t have a lot in common.”

  Megan frowned for a moment wondering what that meant. She focused on Josie next. “What about you? Did you spend much time with her?”

  “No. We didn’t have a lot in common either,” Josie said with a look around the table.

  Megan watched as the others nodded their heads. “Surely some of you must have spent time with her?”

  They all began talking at once. Megan couldn’t make much of it out. Their voices kept getting louder as they tried talking over the others.

  Megan waited patiently until they sounded like they were winding down, then she raised her hand. They all turned to look at her.

  “Let’s try again. It looks like Alice lived here when she was young. She met her husband when she was sixteen. After they were married, they moved away to Oregon because he got a job there. Alice was in her early twenties when she moved away. After her husband passed away, Alice moved back here. She was gone for about fifty years, so she was around sixty three when she moved back. She lived here for ten years. Who were her friends when she lived here?”

  Everyone looked around the table again. Finally, Laura spoke up.

  “That’s just it. Alice didn’t have any friends,” Laura said simply.

  Megan drew her brows together in confusion. “How is that possible?”

  “To put it bluntly, Alice was mean,” Victor said.

  “What?” Megan tried to understand how anyone could believe that the kind and funny woman who wrote the journal was mean.

  “She didn’t have any friends here at all?” Megan asked. She couldn’t believe it.

  “No one could stand to be around her,” Laura said.

  “She was a bully,” Josie said. “I don’t know how the employees put up with her.”

  Megan listened as the others chimed in with their agreement. She was still having trouble wrapping her brain around what they were telling her. It simply didn’t match up with the Alice she had come to admire.

  “What about the key?” Victor asked.

  Megan looked up at him. “Did you have any thoughts about what the key might be for?”

  Victor shook his head. “We’re hoping you’ll figure it out.”

  Megan left soon after. As she drove her truck away from the retirement community, she wondered what had happened after the entries in the journal stopped to turn the warm and funny woman in the journal into a bully.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The line at the Teaberry Dairy Isle Monday at dinnertime wasn’t long. The after school crowd had already gone home. The after dinner crowd hadn’t come out yet for their ice cream. Rhys stood in line with Ava and Bella and contemplated what he should order for dinner. He’d let Bella pick the restaurant. He’d been surprised when she’d asked for the Dairy Isle. But now that he was here, some of the options looked so interesting, he was having trouble deciding.

  “What do you recommend?” Rhys asked Bella.

  The serious twelve year old turned thoughtful eyes from Rhys to the menu board. She chewed on her lip as she considered.

  “The spicy fried chicken sandwich might be good for you. They also have a jalapeno triple cheeseburger with bacon. I know you like spicy foods. They even have a sriracha seasoning that you can put on the fries.” Bella turned back to Rhys to see if he liked either of the suggestions.

  Rhys put one arm across his stomach and rested his elbow on top of it as he rubbed his chin. Bella was right. Both sandwiches sounded very tempting and he definitely wanted the seasoning on the fries.

  “How did you know I liked spicy food?” Rhys asked. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ava grin.

  “When you took us to dinner the first time, you asked the waiter about the specific spices they used in the house made sausage. You knew all of the names of the spices and even asked him about the heat level of the peppers they used with your dinner. Most people aren’t familiar with the Scoville level of individual peppers.” Bella stepped out of the way to let the people in front of them leave with their food.

  It was their turn at the window. Rhys looked down at Bella as he guided Ava to the window with his hand so that she could order first.

  Bella looked back up at him. “I’d go with the jalapeno triple cheeseburger with bacon.”

  Rhys waited until Bella placed her own order then he stepped up to the window, placed his order, and paid for the three of them. They ate at a picnic table next to the Dairy Isle.

  Bella watched nervously as Rhys took his first bite. After watching the look on his face, she smiled at Ava. “He likes it.”

  “This is the best burger I’ve ever had,” Rhys said honestly. He’d never thought to eat at a Dairy Isle before. He wondered what he’d been
missing all his life. The crispy fries with the sriracha seasoning were awesome too.

  “How was school today?” Ava asked her daughter.

  Bella thought for a moment. She loved school. It was always good, but they’d had to miss a class today. “We had an assembly on bullying.”

  Rhys looked up at Bella. “Is there a problem with that in your school?” He watched her carefully as she answered. Bella was a genius. He could imagine there might be other students who tease her in school because she was different.

  “It’s a common issue in most schools. I know they were just trying to be proactive about it. But I had to miss my math class.” Bella frowned.

  Rhys shared a smile with Ava. Not many kids would be upset about missing a math class.

  ***

  “Mom! Can I go over to Logan’s?” Evan asked. He pleaded with his eyes.

  Jessilyn knew that the boys didn’t see as much of each other during the day now that they were back in school. Jessilyn was just glad that her son was acting more like his normal self. Maybe the bullying he’d been experiencing hadn’t been as bad lately. She could only hope.

  “Did you finish your homework?” Jessilyn asked.

  “Yeah, Seth checked it. Please, Mom?” Evan asked.

  “Okay, but make sure you ask Cindy if it’s okay with her. Logan may not have finished his homework yet. And, don’t stay long either way. You have school again tomorrow.” Jessilyn watched as her son ran out the kitchen door, across the new deck Seth had built, across their yard, and through the fence. She could hear Evan calling for Logan as soon as he hit their yard.

  Sighing, Jessilyn walked over to the fridge and took out a bottle of wine. She heard Seth come into the kitchen behind her.

  “Good idea. I’ll grab a beer and meet you on the deck,” Seth said as Jessilyn poured herself a glass of wine.

  They settled on the deck furniture. Jessilyn rested her head back and closed her eyes. She still couldn’t believe what they had learned when speaking with the principal earlier in the day.

  “Why didn’t you ever mention her before?” Seth asked curiously.

  Jessilyn opened her eyes and turned her head to look at Seth. “Brianna? It never occurred to me to mention that I was bullied in school. I thought it was in the past.”

  Seth took a long drink of his beer. “I still can’t believe it.”

  Jessilyn nodded in agreement. Those very words kept repeating themselves in her head. “What would make Brianna do that?”

  Seth shook his head. “Why do you think she bullied you? I mean, were there certain things that she’d focus on?”

  Jessilyn tried to think back and shrugged. “It was a long time ago. I don’t know. I mean, I guess she focused on my looks a lot.”

  Seth thought about it. Jessilyn was very attractive. He could understand why another girl could be jealous when they’d been in their teens. But to hold on to that hatred and teach her own son to bully Jessilyn’s son years later? That was too much.

  “What did the school do at the time?” Seth asked.

  Jessilyn shrugged. “That was before anyone knew as much about bullying. The school didn’t have any sort of system in place. Back then, it was pretty much ignored.”

  “I still can’t believe the look on your face when she walked into the principal’s office today,” Seth said.

  Jessilyn snorted. “I’ll bet. I know I couldn’t believe it when she walked in.”

  “You looked like a warrior. I expected you to pull out a sword or something and defend your son,” Seth said. He hadn’t understood Jessilyn’s response at the time. It wasn’t until the meeting between the parents continued that he began to figure out the history between the two women.

  “That’s a pretty good analogy. I put up with her harassment for years when I was in school. There’s no way I’m letting my son live through that.” Jessilyn looked over at Seth. “You were pretty awesome today, thanks.”

  Seth grinned. “I had your back, but I don’t think you really needed me there. You could have taken on the world. By the time you were done talking, she was looking pretty sorry for herself.”

  Jessilyn sighed. “I know. I feel a little guilty about that. I was just so worried about Evan. I don’t want him growing up like that.”

  Seth reached over and took her hand. “He seems pretty okay now. We’ll do what the principal said. We’ll keep a close eye on him. If he has any personality changes, we’ll deal with it and make sure it hasn’t started all over again. We have to trust that she’ll monitor things on her end like she promised.”

  They both turned their heads toward the other yard when they heard Evan and Logan laughing about something.

  Jessilyn squeezed his hand. “You’re right.” Then she narrowed her eyes. “But maybe I’ll ask Cindy to keep an eye on him too. Just to be safe.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  It was a cool, but sunny, Tuesday morning when Megan finished her chores outside. After collecting as many apples as she could, she stored most of them in the refrigerator in the barn and was bringing the rest of them to the house to process later when Tom Jenkins arrived. He parked his truck and headed for the back porch at the same time Megan reached it in her four wheeler to offload the apples. He grabbed a box and carried it up the porch. Megan grabbed her own box and followed.

  “I have a rhubarb apple pie and some coffee if you’re interested,” Megan said as she set her box down on a counter near the sink.

  Tom set his box next to Megan’s. “Sounds good to me.”

  He took a seat and watched Megan as she cut two pieces of pie and poured some coffee.

  “How is your puzzle with Alice Durant coming along?” Tom asked.

  Megan thought for a moment before answering. “I’m not really sure.”

  She took a seat across from Tom and looked at him, a small frown on her face.

  “Not finding enough pieces to the puzzle?” Tom asked as he forked up some pie.

  Megan cradled her coffee cup in her hands. “I read her journal. She started writing it when she was sixteen. It ends abruptly when she was in her fifties, but the book is full at that point.”

  “You think there’s a volume two somewhere?” Tom asked.

  Megan nodded slowly. “That would be my guess.”

  “That’s a lot of years in one book,” Tom commented as he forked up another piece of pie.

  “She didn’t write every day,” Megan agreed. “It was mostly major points in her life or when she needed to think things through.”

  “What’s bothering you about this puzzle?” Tom pushed his empty plate away and wrapped his hands around his coffee mug.

  “The journal paints a picture of a kind, gentle, sweet, caring person.” Megan looked up at Tom.

  “That’s how I remember her.” Tom took a sip of his coffee.

  “You knew her?” Megan asked. With the age difference, she hadn’t really considered it. Tom was about a decade younger than Alice.

  He nodded as he set his coffee mug down. “She was a volunteer at the hospital when I had my tonsils out.”

  “Oh.” Megan bit her lower lip as she thought about her conversation at the retirement community.

  “What?” Tom asked. He knew that look.

  “She moved to the retirement community about ten years ago. The people there said they didn’t have anything to do with her because she was so mean.”

  Tom’s hand stopped halfway up to his mouth with the coffee cup. “I don’t believe that.”

  Megan shook her head slowly. “It definitely didn’t match up with the woman in the journal.”

  “What are you going to do now?” Tom asked.

  “I was thinking I would talk to some people in town who may have known her.” Megan told Tom some of the people she had considered speaking with. He suggested a couple more.

  ***

  Megan found Philip and Sunny Barclay at home. She had recently visited them when working on the puzzle with the Swindell twins.
Both of the Barclays were in their early seventies and retired. They were in their driveway, looking inside their garage. There were piles of boxes in front of them.

  “Planning to sell some things at the community sale?” Megan asked after greeting them.

  “We’re hoping,” Sunny said as she led the way around to their deck in the rear. “We’ve been at it for a while now though. A break sounds great.”

  Megan took an empty seat after waiting for the Barclays to sit. Sunny Barclay wore a work smock over her shirt. Her short, snow-white hair showed signs of an encounter with a cobweb.

  Philip looked over at his wife and brushed some of the cobweb away. “I think we waited too long to clean the garage out.”

  Sunny smiled at her husband’s attempts. “This community sale was a good idea. It forced a lot of us to finally tackle something we’ve been putting off for years.”

  Sunny turned toward Megan. “What brings you by?”

  Megan explained the situation with Alice Durant.

  Sunny and Philip shared a look. “That is so sad that she died without friends,” Sunny murmured.

  “What do you remember about her? You both did know her, right?” Megan asked.

  “Oh, yes. We were of an age, you know,” Sunny said, the smile returning to her face as she reminisced.

  “How would you describe her?” Megan asked.

  “She was a sweet girl,” Philip said.

  “She loved to sing,” Sunny added. “Everywhere she went, you could hear her. She was in the choir at school, of course, but there were times when she would just spontaneously break into some song.”

  Philip nodded and turned to Megan. “That’s right. But not loud, you know. She would sing to herself, softly. If you were lucky, you might be close enough to hear her.”

  “She had a beautiful voice,” Sunny said.

  ***

  Megan parked her truck on the street in front of Liz Hamilton’s small house. She could tell that Liz was planning to participate in the community sale also. Her garage was wide open, and Liz was in the middle of it. She was wearing a gardening smock over her shirt. Her head was covered with a matching kerchief, keeping her bobbed gray hair from her face.