by Kathi Daley
I was beginning to suspect that Pumpkin didn’t even have a stomachache. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find out that Gracie made the whole thing up just to score a home cooked meal for the Jensen family animals on this cold and snowy Saturday morning. The reality was that making up a story to score a treat for the animals was precisely the sort of thing I would have done when I was her age, so I really couldn’t be mad about it.
By the time Gracie and I arrived in the kitchen, Grandpa had chicken boiling in a pot and pancakes on the griddle. I guess he must have heard about Pumpkin’s rumbly tummy as well. I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down across from Ashley and Rosalie, who were talking about a sewing project.
“I understand there has been a change of plans and Kristi and Kari are coming over here today,” I said to Rosalie, who had the day off from the veterinary clinic she ran with her new partner.
Rosalie nodded. “I hope that is okay. I’ll be here, so you don’t need to change your plans.”
“It’s fine.” I took a sip of my coffee. “It was very nice of you to want to help Helen. Do you need help today?”
Rosalie shook her head. “I think we have it under control. Ashley and Kristi want to learn to make a jean purse like the one we saw in town. I thought I’d help them. Your dad is going to take Gracie and Kari to buy their costumes for the Thanksgiving play the school is producing and then to a movie since the resort is closed and he has the day off.”
“I wasn’t aware the school was asking the students to buy their costumes for the play.”
Rosalie nodded. “With the budget cuts, it seemed to be the best option. The staff purchased the costumes, and they will be on hand today for the students who have been cast to stop by with an adult to pay for the items ordered for them. Gracie is going to be a pilgrim girl.”
“Yes, she told me. And I am happy to take both her and Kari to buy their costumes. Dad doesn’t have to give up his day off.”
Rosalie put her hand over mine. “I think he wants to spend the day with the girls. These girls are growing up so fast that I know we both feel the need to get in as much grandparent time as we can before they are off to college, and we never see them anymore.”
Okay, that felt like a dagger to my heart. Hadn’t I just said the same thing to Kyle?
“By the way,” Rosalie changed the subject. “I ran into Frannie in town yesterday, and she mentioned Thanksgiving. I know that she is usually invited to the resort, so I assumed she was welcome at Kyle’s as well. I told her about the change this year, but you might want to follow up.”
“I will. Thanks. And yes, everyone who usually comes here will be welcome there.”
“I hoped you’d let me do the turkeys this year. I know you don’t like to cook, and Jenna seems to have her hands full.”
Okay, I experienced a flash of irritation that it seemed like Rosalie was trying to take the whole thing over, but she was right, I didn’t like to cook, nor was I particularly good at it, and Jenna did have her hands full. “Thank you. That would be very helpful. Kyle has double ovens, but we’ll need to use those for the sides. I guess a meal this size will be a bit more challenging since we won’t have the commercial ovens in The Grill that we normally use.”
Rosalie smiled. “I think we can manage if everyone pitches in. I am happy to help with pies and rolls as well. Really, if you need anything at all, you just need to ask.”
I forced a smile. “Jenna usually brings the dessert, so I’m sure she is planning on bringing the pies, but help with the rolls would be welcomed. Thank you.”
“I’m just happy to be part of things.”
I smiled and nodded. Shortly after, Rosalie excused herself to head upstairs and get dressed. Ashley followed, leaving just Gracie and me with Grandpa.
“Did you already mention the change in our Thanksgiving venue to Doc?” Grandpa asked as he slid two fluffy golden pancakes onto my plate.
“I did. Jenna let Bookman and her mom know about our plans. I think she planned to call Bree and Pastor Dan. If she hasn’t, I will. Please do let me know if anyone specific comes to mind. I don’t want to miss anyone.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Grandpa asked as he handed me the warm syrup. “You already seem to have a lot on your plate with the investigation into the bombing.”
I nodded as I poured syrup over the pancakes. I picked up a piece of bacon and took a bite. “I’m sure I want to do this. It will be a lot of work, and at first, I was less than certain that we should take it on, but it was Kyle’s idea, and it seems to be important to him.” I sliced off a piece of the pancake and took my first bite of the drippy sweet cake. “These are delicious.”
“Same as I make every week.”
I took another bite. “And they are always delicious.”
“Grandpa makes the best pancakes in the whole world,” Gracie agreed.
Grandpa smiled. “Thank you, darlin’.”
“Do you have plans with Doc today?” I asked after Grandpa refilled my coffee without my even having to ask.
“The two of us are going to talk to some folks we figure could have been in the area when the town hall blew up. We know that finding anyone who actually saw anything is a longshot, especially since Roy and Kate have already canvassed the area, but we don’t feel right about sitting around and doing nothing.”
“I get that.”
“Folks keep telling us that we should let the professionals handle things. They say there is nothing we can do, but all this waiting around is for the birds.”
“Kyle and I feel the same way. In fact, I am heading over to Kyle’s to work on it as soon as I can get ready. If you and Doc want to come by, or if you come up with anything and want to run it past us, just give me a ring. We’ll do the same if we come up with something.”
Grandpa’s expression turned serious. “You have yourself a deal. One way or another, the person behind this is going to pay.”
After I was done eating, I finished cooking and assembling the chicken and rice Grandpa had started. Then I fed the two dogs and four cats before heading upstairs to shower and dress. While I did intend to head over to Kyle’s as I’d told Grandpa, I wanted to check in with Jenna first to see how she was doing. I guess I had been pretty wrapped up in my own stuff as of late, but it really should have been me who thought to check in with Helen and Jenna and not the step-witch who had taken over my house.
Chapter 7
“I’m the worst person ever,” I said to Jenna two hours later after we settled in at her kitchen table with cups of coffee.
“The worst person ever? Wow, that’s quite a claim. I imagine you have some sort of evidence to back up such a grandiose statement?”
I wrapped my hands around the coffee mug Jenna had set in front of me. “Not only have I totally neglected you this past week, even though you have been dealing with something huge, but I spent half the morning entertaining mean thoughts about Rosalie because she actually had the wherewithal to check in with you, which was a wonderful and thoughtful thing to do, but somehow her kind gesture made me angry.”
“Angry?”
“You are my best friend, and Ashley and Gracie are my sisters, and Rosalie is being a better friend to you, and sister to them, than I am.”
Jenna chuckled. “You really are a mess. Are you sure that beam that fell on you didn’t hit you on the head before it pinned your leg?”
I rolled my eyes. “I know. I’m still doing it. I don’t really understand why I am annoyed by everything this perfectly lovely person does.”
“If you ask me, I think there are too many queen bees in the hive.”
I lifted a brow. “Queen bees?”
“Even though you were the daughter and not the wife, you have been the woman of the house since your mom left when you were three. Your position has never once been challenged until Rosalie came along and assumed h
er role as your father’s future wife. She has now moved into the position of queen bee since he owns the house, which has left you feeling displaced.”
“You think?”
Jenna nodded. “I do. And it is natural that you might feel that way. I can see that you are trying to make it work, as is Rosalie, and for your father’s sake, I hope that you will continue to try even when you feel that your toes have been stomped on.”
I let out a breath. “I guess I can try to remember that Rosalie actually is the queen bee in my father’s house. I will admit that I have been having a hard time with the whole thing, but thankfully, I won’t have to deal with the situation for much longer.”
“Come again?” Jenna asked. “What do you mean you won’t have to deal with the situation for much longer? You aren’t planning to get rid of this perfectly lovely woman, are you?”
Now I had to chuckle. “No, I’m not getting rid of Rosalie. What I meant is that I won’t be living at the resort for much longer.”
“So you have decided to move in with Kyle?”
I nodded. “Actually, we are engaged.”
Jenna’s eyes doubled in size. “Engaged. Really?”
I nodded again.
She screamed and hugged me. “My god Tj, why didn’t you tell me?”
“It happened sort of fast, and we decided not to tell anyone until Thanksgiving. Still, I should have called you right away.”
Jenna hugged me again. “Yes, you should have. When did it happen?”
“A week ago yesterday. We were catching up, and somehow we got onto the subject of college and the cost of sending the girls to a good one, and the next thing I know we were talking about getting hitched.”
Jenna frowned. “Maybe you should walk me through this.”
“There is nothing to walk through. It was all pretty unspectacular. Kyle mentioned that Ashley wanted to go to Stanford, and I made a comment about how expensive that would be. He responded by pointing out that Stanford or any college Ashley might decide to go to was an expense that was quite a few years away. I guess I didn’t understand the significance of this statement and must have looked confused because then he pointed out that we’d be married by then and as a married couple, we would pay for Ashley’s college tuition together. When I didn’t answer right away, I could see that look of panic he gets when he realizes that maybe we aren’t at the same point in the relationship. I hate that look. I love Kyle, and I fully intend to marry him. I really don’t know why I have been making him take every aspect of our relationship so slow. I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but I found myself telling Kyle that yes, I would marry him even though he never actually asked.”
“And that’s it? He didn’t get down on one knee or present you with a fancy ring?”
I shook my head.
“And you are okay with that?”
I thought about Kyle’s sweet smile and the fact that I really wanted our transition from dating to engaged to be as easy as it could be. “Yes. I am more than okay with that.”
Jenna’s face softened as her long blond hair fell across one eye. She used a finger to tuck it behind her ear. “I can’t believe you are engaged.” She hugged me again, squeezing me even harder than she had before.
“I realize this is sort of off the cuff, but so far this whole wedding thing has been off the cuff. I have no idea when we will actually be married, but when we do get around to it, I would be honored if you would be my matron of honor.”
A tear ran down Jenna’s cheek. “Of course, I’ll be your matron of honor. You are like a sister to me, and Kyle is one of the best people I know. I love the fact that you finally found each other. I know he will make you as happy as you deserve to be.”
I realized I was happy. As happy as I’d ever been. Or at least I would be, once I’d tracked down the maniac who had killed two people.
“We have so much planning to do.” Jenna rubbed her hands together in a manner that communicated quite clearly that she was ready and able to get started.
Suddenly everything was becoming very real. “I’m super excited to be marrying Kyle, and I want to share everything about this with you, but honestly with everything that is going on, bridesmaid dresses and flower arrangements are the last things on my mind. Besides, at this point, no one other than you knows that Kyle and I are engaged, so let’s put a pin in the whole planning thing.”
“I get that. And you have plenty of time. I promise I won’t crowd you. Has any progress been made in regard to the investigation into the explosion?”
“Not a lot,” I admitted. “Kyle has Lloyd’s computer. It took him a few days to get past the password, but he finally got in. While there were five council members present on the night of the explosion, Lloyd was the most controversial of the five, so we figured that the blast might have been related to something he was working on.”
“And did you find anything?”
I shrugged. “Not really. Kyle is still going through all the files. Apparently, there are a lot of files to sort through, and some of the files have additional security. He did find plans for a condominium development along Snowshoe Beach that he seems to be working on with James Kingston. I’m sure that if such a project was ever made public, it would cause a lot of controversy. I mean really, aren’t there enough condos in the area, and even if it was determined that additional housing was warranted, why on earth would you destroy such a lovely lakefront property?”
Jenna frowned. “Had Kyle heard about the project prior to accessing Lloyd’s computer?”
“No. He said it appeared that the plans for the project were in the early stages.”
“I thought the Boatman family owned all that land. Surely, they wouldn’t sell.”
Jenna had a point. The land in the area of Snowshoe Beach had been owned by the Boatman family for generations. It was odd that Lloyd and Kingston had plans to build there. I suppose it was possible the land might have been sold, but something about the whole thing felt wrong. “Now that you mention it, a new development on that property does seem odd. Although I suppose it is unlikely that the condo project was behind the blast since it seems unlikely Lloyd shared his plans with anyone beyond his inner circle.”
“I agree. It’s probably not related.” Jenna got up and refilled my coffee. I was going to be floating by the end of the morning, but there were days when massive amounts of coffee seemed called for, and this was one of those days. “I heard that Lloyd had been pushing the council hard to approach a man he had worked with in the past about the position of mayor. Maybe the whole controversy relating to the position is behind the blast.”
I considered this. “Kyle didn’t mention anything about a prospective candidate for mayor, so my sense is that Lloyd was just trying to make a power play that never went anywhere.” I blew out a breath of frustration. “It is so hard to know what might have caused someone to do what they did. I know Bookman has only been out of his coma for five days, but I wonder if he has said whether or not he remembers anything about the events of the night of the explosion.”
“I haven’t spoken to him about the explosion, but I do know that Roy went to the hospital and spoke to him shortly after he regained consciousness.” Jenna poured coffee grounds into the coffee maker and started another pot. “Based on what Dennis told me after he spoke to Roy, Bookman didn’t remember a thing after he arrived at the town hall before the meeting began. I suppose that is natural. He did receive a severe blow to the head. It is actually amazing his memory wasn’t affected more than it was.”
“Have you heard if he knew why Harriet called the meeting in the first place?”
Jenna knit her brow. “I’m not sure. You should talk to Roy. He knows more about it than I do.”
“It seems odd to me that an emergency meeting was even called on Halloween night. People had plans. It seems to me that unless there was some sort o
f a life and death situation to deal with, Harriet and whichever council member asked for the meeting, would have waited until the next day.”
“The timing does seem odd. Maybe if you can figure out who called the meeting, you can figure out who placed the bomb in the town hall.”
“I hope so. I think that at this point, everyone is getting pretty frustrated with our lack of progress.”
Jenna glanced at the clock. “I really do want to help out with the bombing investigation, and I’m ecstatic about your news, but I need to head over to mom’s place. If she is late for her hair appointment, she isn’t going to be easy to live with. But I do want to talk to you some more about everything. Maybe we can get a drink later.”
“I’d like that. Text me when you get home from your mom’s.”
Chapter 8
After leaving Jenna’s, I decided to stop at the store. Kyle’s food supplies were at an all-time low, and it didn’t make sense for us to go out for every meal. I was heading toward the produce aisle when I ran into a woman who used to work at The Antiquery with Jenna.
“Denise. How are you?” I asked the petite blond with bright green eyes.
“I’m good. Busy. The diner is slammed this week with so many tourists being in town for the holiday and with the kids out of school, it has been total chaos. I heard about the explosion. Are you and Kyle okay?”
“I came out of it with a few bumps and bruises, and while Kyle had to spend a couple of days in the hospital, he is doing fine now as well.”
Denise’s smile faded. “I was so sorry to hear about Harriet and Lloyd.”
“Losing those we cared about has been difficult,” I agreed.
“And as bad as the loss of human life is, the aftershock of the total destruction of the town offices has everyone on edge. I tried to renew my business license and pay my local tax when it was due, but the town is basically closed for business, so at this point, I’m just hanging onto the check. I know other business owners are feeling as lost as I am.”
“Kyle is trying to get things back on track, but it will take a while. In the meantime, he will need everyone’s patience.”
