Raven Lake

by Rosemary McCracken

  “It was Vi’s?”

  “I’m not certain. It looked familiar, maybe because it was pale blue, Mom’s favorite color.” He paused for a few seconds and continued in a voice husky with emotion. “The staff at Highland Ridge said she was wearing a blue cardigan on the day trip. She didn’t have it on when she was…found.”

  Our eyes met, and silence stretched between us.

  I was the first to speak. “Have you moved to the cabin?”

  “Tomorrow. I took stuff over the past two nights.”

  “I take it the cardigan wasn’t there last night.”

  He shook his head.

  “Foster found it today?” I asked.

  “That’s right.” He had tensed right up.

  “Don’t let him rattle you. We’ll find out who put it on the porch. And when we do, we’ll know who killed your mother.”

  I took him over to the buffet table and handed him a plate. While he was helping himself to the food, the telephone rang.

  “Mom,” Laura called out, “it’s Jamie.”

  I picked up the extension in the study.

  “We just got in and heard your message,” Jamie said at the other end of the line.

  “I have another question for you. Do you know what pieces of furniture your mother gave Frank?”

  “I wasn’t with her when she took Frank and Crystal to Gran’s place, but I called her before I left work tonight. She gave him a slant-top desk, an old armoire, a table and four chairs, and a few other pieces. Gran had a lot of her parents’ things.” Jamie chuckled. “Lovely old furniture but, as you know, I’m not into antiques.”

  The girls’ condo was done up in minimalist style with sleek stainless steel and leather furniture.

  “Was your grandmother’s furniture valuable?”

  “Probably, if you knew where to go. But Mom wanted Frank to take whatever he liked. He was the only grandson.”

  Tracy got on the line. “Jamie and I were thinking of driving up there tomorrow. Is there room for us at the new place?”

  “There is, and we’d love to see you. I’ll put both of you to work, though.”

  I gave her directions to the cottage. She said they’d arrive after lunch the next day.

  In the living room, Bruce was talking to Laura who had returned to the party. “Bruce moves into his cabin tomorrow,” she said when I joined them.

  “I take it the inspection went well?” I said.

  He gave me a curt nod. “A few issues, but nothing I can’t deal with.”

  “This time tomorrow,” Laura said to him, “you’ll be in your own home.”

  He didn’t reply. I knew he was thinking about the cardigan, and Foster breathing down his neck.

  Laura threw me a worried look. Just then Nate and Zoe came over. Laura introduced them to Bruce, adding that he had bought a home on a nearby lake.

  “We’re looking for a place on a lake,” Nate said. “We should talk to your real estate agent.”

  “Ask for Amy at Rosso Realty,” Bruce told him. “I’ll be off now, Pat. Thanks for the food.”

  We watched as he slid the doors to the deck open.

  “That was Bruce’s mother who was found in the storage locker,” Nate said.

  “My God,” Zoe said. “His mother?”

  Nate patted her arm. “We should get going ourselves.”

  At eleven, the guests had all left, and Shirley was running a final load in the dishwasher.

  I was taking a breather on a sofa, with Maxie stretched out beside me. Laura sat down on my other side. “Mom, can you handle Yvonne? I’m not up to it.”

  I looked into her eyes and nodded.

  Yvonne crossed the room with her handbag slung over a shoulder. “We have to work on the guest list, Pat. You too, Laura. Would later tomorrow be good? After you settle in?”

  Russell stood behind her, jiggling a set of keys in his hand.

  Laura shot me a pleading look.

  “Yvonne and Russell, thank you for your help tonight,” I said. “I really appreciate it.”

  Yvonne beamed at me. “It was nothing. We’re family now.”

  “Sit down for a minute,” I said.

  I waited until they were seated across from us. “There won’t be a wedding at the Sandy Cove or anyplace else. Laura isn’t ready to get married, and I don’t think Kyle is either. It’s not happening.”

  Beside me, Laura shifted her weight on the sofa.

  “Pat—” Yvonne said.

  Russell put an arm around her shoulder. “Listen to what Pat is saying, hon. The girl isn’t ready.”

  “Russ, they’re having a baby in December.”

  “There’s no hurry,” he said. “Kyle will go to university in the fall as planned.”

  “And Laura will go next year,” I said.

  “Maybe they’ll marry later on,” he said, “and maybe they won’t. But these days an unplanned pregnancy shouldn’t be a reason for a lifetime commitment.”

  Yvonne looked like she was about to burst into tears. “But the deposit we made at the Sandy Cove—”

  “We can afford to let it go, Yvonne.” Russell’s tone was sharp. “It’s not worth any unhappiness for the kids.”

  She gave him a sidelong look. “It was difficult for you, wasn’t it? Finishing your degree with a baby at home.”

  He stroked her cheek.

  “What will happen when the baby arrives in December?” she asked me.

  “Laura and the baby will live with me while she’s in school,” I said.

  “It’s Kyle’s child, too,” she said.

  “Of course,” I said. “The child will always be a part of Kyle’s life. And yours.”

  She didn’t look convinced.

  “As you said, we’re family.” I smiled at her. “Even without a wedding.”

  Laura reached over and grasped my hand.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  I locked the door behind us the next morning and said a silent goodbye to an era in my life. I’d spent four months in that house, and I wasn’t sorry to leave it. It was at the end of a long drive with dense woods separating it from its neighbors. On more than a few occasions, I’d felt extremely isolated there.

  A few miles down the highway, I made a left-hand turn onto a side road. The gray clapboard cottage was basking in the morning sunlight. Maxie barked her approval. She gamboled around the building, stopping to sniff at its corners.

  “You can take Tommy’s room tonight,” I said to Laura as we unloaded the car.

  She winked at me. “A double bed for the girls. Better treatment than Kyle and I get.”

  She was in high spirits, no doubt because the wedding had been called off, so I let her comment pass. I left her to put the food away and I drove into Braeloch for more groceries. Tracy and Jamie didn’t eat meat. I was thankful that they’d recently broadened their diet to include fish because I didn’t have many recipes for tofu and lentils.

  On the drive into town, my thoughts turned to my conversation with Jamie the night before. She’d said her mother…Veronica. I was sure Veronica would like to spend some time with her daughter that weekend. When I finished my shopping, I drove over to her house.

  She was perfectly turned out in a cotton skirt and a matching jacket. She looked as if she was expecting visitors, but by then I knew that she dressed up every day. She may have been expecting visitors who never came.

  “The girls are driving up this afternoon,” I told her, “and they’ll head back tomorrow afternoon. Come over for dinner.”

  She looked surprised, and I realized she’d had no idea that her daughter would be in the township that weekend.

  I gave her directions to the cottage. “Come around five,” I said.

  She was closing the door, when I said, “Jenny told me that Crystal King was the woman Frank brought to his grandmother’s funeral.”

  “I thought her name was Christine.”

  “Crystal bought the contents of Frank’s storage locker. She paid n
ine hundred dollars at the auction. Those pieces you gave Frank must have been valuable.”

  She put a hand up to her face. “I had no idea they were worth anything.”

  “Crystal runs an antique shop so she would have known their value. There’s big money in old furniture,” I said. “Well, we’ll see you this afternoon.”

  I passed the Dominion Hotel as I drove through Braeloch, and that made me think of Bruce. He would have already checked out of his hotel room, and he was probably settling into his new home. I hoped the police would let him enjoy it.

  At the cottage, I found Laura and Zoe drinking tea on the porch. Zoe had paddled over in her canoe.

  “The house is small,” Laura was saying as I joined them at the table, “but this is a terrific porch. A great view of the lake, and the bugs can’t get you.”

  “I told you we’d spend most of our time out here,” I said.

  Zoe stretched her arms over her head. “I could sit here for days. We’ve rented a great place, but it doesn’t have a screened porch. That’s something I want our new home to have.”

  “Come over here any time you like,” Laura said.

  “Have the police found out who killed your friend’s mother?” Zoe asked.

  “His name is Bruce Stohl,” Laura said, “and it’s a mystery what happened to his mother. A little old lady. Why would anyone want to hurt her?”

  Zoe shook her head.

  “Do you plan to look for work around here?” I asked Zoe.

  She appeared surprised by the question. “Maybe. I haven’t given it much thought. I’m too busy looking at properties.”

  “What kind of work do you do, Zoe?” Laura asked.

  “A bit of this and a bit of that, but I haven’t worked since we got married last year. I quit my job to focus on the wedding, and I never went back to it.”

  “Where did you meet Nate?” Laura asked.

  “We worked at the same company.”

  “You’re a financial planner?” I asked her.

  She shook her head. “Nate is, of course. I was the receptionist.”

  We were throwing out a lot of questions, but her answers told us very little about her. So I tried something else. “You looked familiar when Laura introduced us. Then I remembered that I saw you at Highland Ridge.”

  “My aunt lives there. I try to visit her every week.”

  “It’s nice that you have family in the area,” I said.

  “It certainly is,” she said with a smile. “If we could find a home on a lake, everything would be perfect. But winterized lakefront properties seem to be out of our price range.”

  “Bruce plans to spend the winter at his cabin,” Laura said.

  “I wouldn’t bet on that,” I told her. “He’ll be pretty cold unless he gets proper heating.”

  “He’s looking into that,” Laura said. “And he’ll start chinking the walls next week.”

  “Where is Bruce’s place?” Zoe asked.

  “Raven Lake,” Laura said.

  “You probably saw the listing,” I said. “He only bought it a few days ago.”

  “Raven is a beautiful lake,” Zoe said. “Another aunt has a home on it. But Bruce’s cabin sounds like a summer place, and we’re looking at fully winterized homes. We’re not as handy as your friend.”

  “My sister and her partner will be here soon,” Laura said. “Why don’t you and Nate come over for dinner?”

  I wondered how we’d all fit around the porch table.

  “That would be great,” Zoe said, “but we’ll be at my aunt’s place this evening.”

  “The aunt at Highland Ridge?” I asked.

  Zoe smiled. “No, her sister. She has the house on Raven Lake.”

  “Another time then,” Laura said. “We’re practically neighbors.”

  Chuck and Gracie Gibson also lived on Raven Lake. I thought about telling Zoe that they planned to sell their home the following year, but I decided against it. She and Nate needed a place for the coming winter. Besides, the Gibsons’ property had been targeted in a cottage rental scam. That would have to be cleared up before Chuck and Gracie could sell it.

  Tracy and Jamie arrived around two, and I greeted both of them with hugs. It had been weeks since I’d seen Jamie, and she had a fabulous new hairdo. The same burgundy color she favored but cut in an angled bob that accentuated her cheekbones and her almond-shaped green eyes.

  “What’s new in the city?” Laura asked behind me. “Two power women like you must be close to its pulse.”

  “We’re happy to get out of the city for a while.” Petite Tracy grinned up at her sister who towered over her. “It’s a steam bath down there.”

  Laura took them to their room. They came out wearing their bathing suits, and they went down to the lake.

  I followed them and took the kayak out of the shed. Maria Dawson had told me I was welcome to use it. Jamie came over to help as I dragged it over the grass. We lifted it over the rock that sloped down to the lake and set it in the water.

  “You got a kayak, Mom,” Tracy said from the inflatable mattress she was stretched out on.

  “It belongs to the owners of the cottage.”

  “I had a kayak when I was a teenager,” Jamie said.

  “Give me a lesson,” I told her. “I’ve never been in one.”

  “Ready to go out now?”

  I was wearing a pair of old shorts and a T-shirt, and I didn’t care whether they got wet. “Sure.” I returned to the shed for the paddle and a lifejacket.

  “How do I get in?” I asked as I kicked off my sandals at the edge of the water.

  “First, put on the life jacket.”

  I did what she told me.

  “This shallow water is perfect for launching,” she continued. “Lay the paddle across the front of the cockpit and hold it there to steady yourself. Step in, crouch down…sit.”

  When I was seated, she pushed the boat out a few feet. “Stretch out your legs and put your feet on the footrests…good. Relax your shoulders. Keep your weight balanced in the center of the boat.”

  She showed me where to grip the two-bladed paddle. “No need to hold on too tightly. Each stroke is a downward pull while your upward arm pushes the shaft away from you. There! You’re making a figure eight.”

  Tracy hand-paddled her mattress over to us.

  “You turn the kayak by paddling on one side,” Jamie said.

  “Mom, put this on. And this hat.” Tracy handed me a tube of sunscreen and her baseball cap.

  I spread sunscreen over my face and arms and handed the tube back to her. “You have another hat?”

  “Two more in the house.”

  “Put one on,” I told her.

  “Wait here a moment.” Jamie ran over to the shed and returned with a whistle on a nylon string and a small plastic pail. “Blow the whistle if you need help. The pail is for bailing out water.”

  She pushed me out farther. “You’ll find your own rhythm. Bon voyage.”

  It didn’t take me long to get the hang of the paddle, and soon I was skimming over the water. I kept close to the shore where I wouldn’t come face-to-face with a speedboat, although the lake was quiet for a Saturday afternoon.

  I paddled by a stretch of undeveloped lakefront. Cedars grew close to the water, providing cooling shade. A family of ducks saw me and changed their direction. Beside a stand of bulrushes, a man was fishing from a small outboard. He raised a hand and I waved back at him.

  The rhythm of the paddle helped my mind unwind. My thoughts drifted to the blue cardigan that had been left on Bruce’s porch. Who would want to frame him?

  I’d been on the water about ten minutes when I came to an Alpine-style chalet. A yellow canoe was tied to the dock. I remembered that Zoe had visited Laura in a yellow canoe.

  I rested my arms on the paddle, and a door opened onto the second-story veranda. “Is that you, Pat?” I recognized Nate’s voice.

  I waved at him.

  “I’ll be right
down.” What seemed like moments later, he appeared around the side of the house, and walked down the path to the lake.

  I paddled closer to the shore.

  “Come in for a drink,” he said. “Zoe’s gone to Braeloch but she’ll be back soon.”

  “Thanks, but I have to get back and start dinner. Maybe we’ll see you with Zoe the next time she paddles over.”

  He chuckled. “You’ll never get me in a canoe. I can’t swim. Zoe’s the adventurous one. She’s been exploring far and wide in that canoe of hers.”

  “So it’s Zoe who wants a home on a lake,” I said.

  “You got it.” He gave me a smile. “A house in town would suit me fine.”

  Back at our waterfront, I forgot what Jamie had said about keeping the kayak balanced. I leaned to the right as I tried to get out and toppled the boat and myself into the water. I climbed out, thankful that no one was watching, and pulled the pail out of the cockpit. Now I understood what it was for.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  We were sipping sangria on the porch an hour later, when a car drove up the lane. “That must be your mother,” I said to Jamie. “I invited her for dinner.”

  Jamie sucked in a breath and squared her shoulders. I’d never been clear about her relationship with Veronica. I knew they didn’t see much of each other, but I’d put that down to Jamie’s job in the city. Now she looked like she was girding herself for battle.

  Veronica gave Jamie a peck on the cheek and turned to my daughter. “You must be Tracy.”

  It wasn’t much of a leap for her to take because Jamie had an arm around Tracy. I was still puzzled why Jamie hadn’t introduced her sweetheart to her mother. She’d been living with Tracy for some time.

  “Good to meet you in person, Mrs. Collins.” Tracy turned to me. “We’ve talked on the phone.”

  “My name’s Veronica, dear, but call me Ronnie.” She turned to me. “You too, Pat. I suppose we’re family now.”

  How much more family could I handle?

  Jamie offered to barbecue the salmon steaks. Ronnie followed her onto the deck outside the porch. Tracy and I went into the kitchen.