by Kathi Daley
I leaned my head on Kyle’s shoulder and looked out toward the water. It was a beautiful night, and the moon shone off the surface of the lake. “Speaking of the Fourth, were you planning to go to the parade tomorrow? I think the pancake breakfast ended up being canceled, but I did tell the girls we’d go to the parade. I thought about stopping by to ask Martha Wilson if I can take a look at Sam’s photos, but that might need to wait until another day.”
Kyle put his arm around my shoulder as we continued walking slowly down the beach. “Do you think Sam actually knows anything about Jennifer Reinhold’s death?”
“I don’t know. Before I talked to Wade I thought it was a possibility, but now that I really know how strange Sam was back then, I can’t help but wonder if he wasn’t somehow involved.”
“I thought we decided Sam didn’t kill Judge Harper.”
“We have. Mostly. But we don’t definitively know that the person who killed Jennifer Reinhold, assuming it wasn’t her husband, killed Judge Harper.”
“Having an obsession with dead animals doesn’t necessarily make you a killer,” Kyle pointed out.
“I know, but I’d still like to look into it further. I know Jennifer Reinhold’s sister had access to their house. She might have brought Sam along when she visited. But I have no idea how often Kendra visited or whether Sam paid much attention to her relationship with her sister.”
“And the others?”
“I definitely want to follow up with Striker Bristow. After hearing the message he left on Judge Harper’s phone I can’t help but wonder what he wanted and whether or not he tracked him down. In my mind, he’s still our number one suspect in Judge Harper’s death.”
“We still haven’t gone through the entire book Frannie lent us,” Kyle reminded me.
“I guess that’s as good a place as any to get back to work. Tomorrow. It’s late now.”
We walked in silence for a few moments before Kyle spoke. “Are there any events at the resort you need to help out with tomorrow?”
“No. Everything’s happening in town. There’s the kiddie carnival and community picnic in the park after the parade, followed by the fireworks display over the lake after dark. We should probably plan to meet up with everyone for dinner and the fireworks, but we’ll have four or five hours between the parade and dinner. Jenna told me she’s closing the restaurant tomorrow so she can take her girls to the kiddie carnival. She already offered to take Ashley and Gracie along, so I guess I’ll let her.”
“I think maybe we should take a break and pick this up on Wednesday,” Kyle suggested. “I’d hate for you to miss spending the day with your sisters.”
I hesitated. Maybe we should take a break from the investigation and enjoy the holiday. After all, how much difference could one day make?
I stopped walking and turned to face Kyle. “You know, you’re right. I’ve let this whole thing get to me more than I should’ve. I’m sure one day won’t make a bit of difference. Tomorrow is a special day that should be spent with family and friends.”
Kyle leaned forward and kissed me. “I’ll pick you and the girls up for the parade?”
“Yeah. That sounds perfect.”
I could tell Kyle wanted to linger, and, to be honest, I found that I wanted him to as well, but we did have a busy day tomorrow, and with all that had been happening, I really should spend some time with my sisters. So I kissed Kyle goodbye and promised to see him the next day.
After Kyle left, I headed into the house. I found Gracie in Ashley’s room, which rarely happened these days, since Ashley had become so possessive of her territory.
“Hey, girls,” I greeted them. “What’s going on?”
“We need to talk,” Gracie informed me, a serious expression on her face.
“Okay.” I sat down on the side of Ashley’s bed. It was not at all like Gracie to be so authoritative. “Let’s talk.”
“Are you going to marry Uncle Kyle?” Gracie demanded after crossing her arms across her chest.
I paused. I could sense my answer to this question was going to set the tone for the remainder of the conversation. Ashley didn’t seem all that upset. In fact, if the little smile she was trying to suppress was any indication, she was rather enjoying my discomfort. But Gracie was obviously very concerned about the subject, and evading her question wouldn’t go over very well.
“I have no immediate plans to marry Uncle Kyle,” I answered honestly. “Uncle Kyle and I have been friends for a long time, and you know how very important he is to me—to all of us—but we just started dating. It’s much too soon to be discussing marriage.”
I noticed Gracie’s bravado begin to fade. “Do you love him?”
I nodded. “I do.”
“Does he love you?” Gracie’s voice was little more than a whisper.
“Yes,” I answered honestly. “I think he does.”
Gracie paused, but I could see that she had serious thoughts on her mind. I hesitated as the emotions she was feeling played out on her face.
“Is something wrong?” I answered.
Gracie shrugged.
I sat down on the corner of the bed. “You can talk to me,” I encouraged.
Gracie looked at me with tears in her eyes. “If you date Uncle Kyle but don’t marry him, is he going to stop coming over?”
“No,” I assured her. “Of course not. Why would you think that?”
Gracie hesitated and then spoke. “Because you dated Deputy Dylan and then you stopped dating him and he went away, and then you dated Uncle Hunter and then stopped dating him and now we hardly ever see him.”
Gracie had a legitimate point. If Kyle and I did continue to date, if we did take things to the next level and it didn’t work out, would we lose him altogether? I knew Gracie thought of Kyle almost as a surrogate father. I owed it to her to be sure that, whatever happened, Kyle would never feel he could no longer be part of our lives.
“We love Uncle Kyle,” Gracie added before I could answer. “We would miss him if he stopped coming to see us.”
“I love Uncle Kyle too, and I would miss him just as much if he wasn’t part of our lives.” I put my hands on Gracie’s crossed legs, which were in front of me as she faced me on the bed. “Please understand that neither of us wants to create a situation where Uncle Kyle stopped spending time with us.”
Gracie looked at me with an expression that clearly conveyed her doubt. “You said you loved Uncle Hunter.”
“I did. I do.”
“But he hasn’t come over one time since we’ve been back. He used to come over all the time.”
I paused to consider my answer. I could sense how important it would be. “Uncle Hunter has been busy. We all have. I’m sure he’ll visit when things slow down a bit.” Actually, I wasn’t sure of that at all, but I hoped that was what would happen. “And I bet you’d still see Deputy Dylan if he hadn’t moved away. Kyle loves us—all of us—and while I don’t know for sure how things will turn out, I know neither of us would want anything to stop him from being part of our lives.”
“Just because you don’t want something to happen doesn’t mean it won’t,” Gracie reasoned.
I took a slow breath. “That’s true. All I can do is promise you that Uncle Kyle and I love each other and we love you, and there’s nothing that could happen that would stop us from loving you girls. You asked me if I was going to marry Kyle and I told you it was too soon to know for sure, but I can see a future where that could happen. Someday, after we have a chance to get used to being a couple.”
“Would we still live with you?” Gracie asked. I remembered she’d asked a similar question on Gull Island, but that was when my having a boyfriend was only theoretical.
“Yes. Absolutely. You and me and Ashley are a family. Nothing can change that.”
“If you married Uncle Kyle, would he
move in here with us?”
Probably not, but I didn’t want Gracie to worry about things that may never happen. I glanced at Ashley, who was now sitting quietly with a look of contemplation on her face. I was sort of surprised she wasn’t making comments she knew would make the situation worse. Egging her sister on was a very Ashley thing to do.
“How about if we wait and talk about this if Kyle and I make the decision to get married. I do promise that, whatever happens, the three of us will live together until you get older and move out on your own.”
“I’m never moving away from you,” Gracie insisted.
I hugged her. “As much as I wish that were true, I think your opinion of living with your older sister will change over time. But until it does, I promise I’ll always be here for you, and I have a feeling Uncle Kyle will be as well.”
Gracie wiped a tear from her cheek. “Okay.”
I glanced at Ashley. “Are you okay too?”
She shrugged. “Whatever.”
I wasn’t sure I’d convinced either Ashley or Gracie that Kyle would be in our lives no matter what. I wasn’t even sure I’d convinced myself. But I did realize I had more lives than just my own to consider as Kyle and I moved forward. Maybe slowing things down would be a good idea. Maybe I needed to give the girls time to adjust to all the changes in our lives. At the very least, perhaps I should sit down with Kyle to fill him in so he knew what Gracie, and possibly Ashley, were thinking.
Chapter 18
Tuesday, July 4
“Here come the dancing bears,” Gracie screeched from atop Kyle’s shoulders, where she’d managed to finagle an elevated view of the Fourth of July parade. “I like the one with the ballerina dress the best.”
“My favorite is the bear with the honeypot on his head,” Kyle said. “I think it’s funny the way he stumbles around and acts like he can’t see where he’s going.”
“Personally, I like the mama bear with the wagon full of baby bears wearing nothing but diapers,” Jenna informed us. “Makes me think of my own baby bears running around in diapers.”
“Mom,” Kristi whined.
“Tj says stuff like that all the time and we aren’t even her babies,” Ashley consoled her friend. “If she’s this mushy now, I can’t imagine how bad she’s going to be when she has her own babies to fuss over.”
I couldn’t help but glance at Kyle, who simply winked. The middle of a parade surrounded by family wasn’t the time to start having thoughts about babies or, even worse, the making of babies, but minds tended to go where they chose and I found myself blushing. Jenna glanced at me with a little smile on her face that let me know she knew exactly what I was thinking.
“Oh, look, here comes the high school band,” I quickly changed the subject.
“Can I join the band when I get to high school?” Ashley asked.
“I suppose, if you want to learn to play an instrument.”
“Can I get one?”
“Absolutely. I think learning a musical instrument is a wonderful idea. Maybe the flute?”
“I want to play the drums.”
It figured she’d want to play the noisiest of all the instruments. I smiled despite the fact I was already getting a headache in anticipation of the hours of practice time she was likely to put in. When I was about Ashley’s age I’d wanted to play the drums as well, but somehow my dad had convinced me it would be a better idea to learn to play the piano. He’d made a good argument, but I never did get into the piano and quit after only a few lessons. I didn’t want to use my power as an adult to sway Ashley from her interests, so I supposed if she really wanted to play the drums I’d have to buy earplugs for everyone.
While I was enjoying spending the day with my sisters and friends, my mind was still partially on our investigation. When I spotted Martha Wilson across the street chatting with Harriet Kramer, I made my excuses and walked in that direction. Even if I didn’t plan to ask her to allow me to take a look at her son’s room until another day, it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. I could at least make an appointment with her now.
“Martha, Harriet,” I greeted. “I’m so happy to have run into you.”
“You needed something?” Harriet asked.
“Actually, I wanted to ask Martha if she’d mind if I stopped by tomorrow or the next day. I have a few more questions, if you have the time.”
“I’m afraid I’m leaving early in the morning to visit my sister. I’m still having a hard time dealing with Harold’s death, and I thought some time away would be good for me. I’m on my way to the hairdresser now, but I’ll be home later this afternoon if you’d like to stop by then.”
“I would like that very much. Say around three?”
“Three is fine.”
After chatting with the women a few more minutes, I jogged back across the street to where Kyle and the others were waiting.
“Was she willing to speak with us?” Kyle asked.
“Yes, but it has to be today. She’s leaving early tomorrow morning to visit her sister. I told her we’d be by at three.”
Kyle grimaced.
“That’s a bad time?”
“I was going to wait to tell you this, but I made an appointment for three.”
I shrugged. “That’s okay. I can go alone.” I turned to Jenna. “As long as Jenna doesn’t mind watching the girls for an hour or so.”
“I don’t mind at all,” Jenna confirmed.
Jenna was a wonderful friend who was always willing to help when I needed her. I owed her at least a thousand hours of babysitting in kind, although she’d never once brought it up.
“There’ll be a food court over in the park if you want to come and have lunch with us before your meetings,” Jenna offered.
“I’m starving. A good old-fashioned chili dog sounds perfect,” I said. “Kyle will need to run me out to the resort to pick up Grandpa’s truck, but we should have plenty of time to eat first.”
“We really do need to see about getting you a new car,” Kyle commented.
I wanted to remind him that I could take care of getting my own car, but instead I just smiled and said I would welcome his help with the task as soon as we could find a day to head down to Reno to visit the car lots. I fully intended to both select and pay for my own car, but it wouldn’t kill me to be nice to the man who’d watched the entire parade with an eight-year-old sitting on his shoulders. Gracie was eating up his extra attention, her somber mood of the previous evening completely gone.
“Who are you meeting?” I asked him after we’d arrived at the park and the four girls had gone off to play on the swings while we waited for our food.
“Bristow’s administrative assistant. I knew Bristow was out of town until after the holiday, but I used my town council connections to get in touch with his assistant. I figure if Bristow is our man he’s not going to tell us anything anyway, but the assistant might be willing to talk for a price. I called him and it turned out he was open to a conversation, especially when I let him know I was willing to pay for information. I was going to tell you about the meeting when I had the chance. I agreed, at his insistence, to go alone.”
“That’s fine; it turned out just as well. Maybe the assistant will have the information we need to put this mystery to bed.”
Martha had made lemonade again, which she served on the patio as soon as I arrived. I felt bad that I had to question the poor woman again; she was taking Judge Harper’s death really hard. I could understand that. Not only had she lost a man she’d cared enough about to become intimate with, she’d lost a friend she shared her evenings playing cards and dining with as well.
“How can I help you?” Martha asked when we’d both taken our seats.
“I’ve come across some interesting files that Judge Harper was looking into when he died.”
“Recent file
s?”
“More like recent notes on older cases. One of the ones he was working on related to a murder that occurred eight years ago in this very neighborhood.”
A look of recognition crossed Martha’s face. “You must mean Jennifer Reinhold. Such a tragedy. Jennifer’s own husband killed her and buried her behind the house. I remember thinking at the time that there could be no bigger betrayal than to be murdered by the man you vowed to love for eternity.”
“Yes, it really was a tragedy. The reason I’m here now is because I ran into Sam at the resort yesterday, and he told me about his photography hobby. He mentioned he kept most of his old photos here at your house, and I was hoping you’d let me look at them.”
Surprise showed on Martha’s face. “Why ever would you want to look at Sam’s photos? I thought you believed me when I told you he wouldn’t have killed Harold.”
“I do believe you,” I assured her. “The thing is, reading the judge’s file piqued my curiosity. I knew a woman died in this neighborhood, and I knew Sam recorded all sorts of ordinary moments in photographs. I was hoping he might have photographs of the neighborhood at the time of the murder that could contain clues.”
Martha took a moment before answering. “Have you asked Sam about looking at his photos?”
“No,” I admitted. “We did chat about them yesterday, but it didn’t occur to me that his photos could provide new insight and evidence until later. I was going to call to ask his permission, but because you’re going away in the morning…”
Martha hesitated again. “I can call him to ask if it would be all right. Do you think that woman’s murder had anything to do with what happened to Harold?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “It might. I figured there was no harm in following up on an idea.”
Martha got up. “Let me just call Sam. If it’s all right with him, it’s all right with me.”
I knew there was a huge risk Sam would say it definitely wasn’t okay for me to look through his boxes, but I didn’t have a choice. When Mrs. Wilson returned to the patio she informed me that Sam hadn’t answered his phone, but she’d thought it over and realized he most likely wouldn’t mind if it would help us track down Harold’s killer.
