I agreed that she was. The kitten was a fluffy snow-white ball with a bright pink nose. While Peaches had amber-colored eyes, hers were a piercing green color that reminded me of Charlotte Weaver’s eyes. I sighed. I had promised Charlotte that I would think about a match for her. I owed her that too. She had warned me that something was going on at Swartz and Swartz Construction, and that’s where Lois and I had found Reuben. She had been right. My fear, though, was that her perfect match wasn’t Amish in the least.
After Ginny and Lois rejoined us, it was impossible to ask Edith anything more about Zeke because Enoch followed my grandniece and friend into the greenhouse.
I left my niece’s house feeling both relieved and heartsick. I was glad that she’d had her reasons for breaking her engagement with Zeke, but now knew if the police learned what those reasons were, she would look even more like a suspect.
I recalled how she’d touched the bloody rock—the murder weapon, Deputy Aiden had called it. Surely her fingerprints were all over it. How long would it take for the police to determine the match?
I walked with Lois to her car.
“You look depressed,” Lois said. Her large bag made a clack, clack, clack sound as she walked and the contents were jostled about. I tried not to think about what those contents included.
“I am depressed,” I said as I reached the car and opened the passenger-side door. “I am worried about Edith and her future.”
A few feet away from us Tucker climbed into his buggy and directed it down the long driveway. I watched him go. “I’m sure he knows something he’s not telling us.”
She looked over the roof of the car at me. “Then we need to find out what that is.”
“How?” I asked. “He won’t tell us any more.”
“There’s always a way,” Lois said with a twinkle in her eye. “Get in the car.”
Frowning, I did as she asked.
Lois buckled herself into her seat and started the car. She drove down the driveway and turned in the same direction that Tucker had gone. It was the opposite way from my farm.
“Are you following him?”
She glanced at me. “You want answers, don’t you? This is the best way to get them.”
“How are we going to follow him in a car?” I asked. “His buggy moves so much slower. He is bound to see you.”
“Let me worry about the driving, Amish Marple. It’s why I’m here. It’s time to give chase!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“This is a terrible idea,” I said. “I’m sure he knows you’re following him.”
“You don’t know that,” Lois argued. “He headed to the center of the village. We have every reason to be going to the village too. That’s where the Sunbeam Café is. That’s where my granddaughter is. That’s where I live!”
“So that’s our story. We are going to—”
The buggy in front of us stopped abruptly, cutting off my words. Lois hit the brakes hard, and the car’s tires squealed. The fluffy poodle hanging from the rearview mirror swung back and forth like a pendulum.
My hand gripped my seat belt with all my might so it didn’t pinch me in the throat as I was tossed forward in my seat.
Lois threw her arm out across me, hitting me in the chest.
“Ouch!” I cried.
“I’m saving you,” Lois said. “It’s called the mom arm.”
Lois said a few choice words about the buggy in front of us. I didn’t say any such words, but I was thinking a few.
“That nut could have killed us,” Lois cried.
I rubbed my chest where her forearm had hit me.
Tucker jumped out of the buggy and marched back to us.
“That nut is coming this way,” I said, dropping my hand and sitting up straighter.
Tucker stomped to Lois’s window and tapped on it. His face was a mask of anger.
She lowered it just a couple of inches. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Lois wanted to know. “I almost rear-ended you. You could have hurt us, yourself, and your horse.”
“If you ran into the back of my buggy, it would have been your fault. You would have caused the accident. If a car rear-ends another car or even a buggy, it’s the car behind that’s at fault.”
She wagged her finger at him. “Don’t you lecture me on traffic laws, young man. I’m the one with a driver’s license.”
“Lois,” I said under my breath.
“I stopped because you were following me, and you need to stop.” He shook with anger. “You have no right to harass me like this.”
Lois pulled her neck back. “Harass you? Listen here, you—”
“Lois,” I hissed.
Lois glared at Tucker through the window. “Following you? Don’t you be ridiculous. Millie, have you ever heard a more ridiculous idea?”
I didn’t move. I was staying out of the tale that Lois was about to tell.
“You could have gone around me at any time. You’re in a car.”
“I know very well that I’m in a car, young man. But there is no rule against driving slow. We were taking our time getting back to the village. We aren’t in a rush like so many of you young folks are. I thought Amish young people were supposed to be different in that way. I suppose I was wrong.” She sniffed.
His face flushed. “Oh, I—I’m so sorry. I should not have assumed that you were following me.”
“You know what assume means, don’t you?” Lois asked.
Tucker’s face was blank.
Lois glanced at me. “I’m not going to tell him.”
I leaned over the console between the seats. “Tucker, I’m sorry if we upset you. We would never want to do that. We’re off to see Lois’s granddaughter at the Sunbeam Café.”
He nodded. He looked like he wanted to say something, but just shook his head. “I’m sorry. I—I don’t know what came over me.” He spun on his heel and ran back to his buggy. He leaped onto the seat, and a moment later, the horse clomped away, pulling the buggy behind it double time.
Lois smiled at me smugly. “See? Our cover story worked.”
I rolled my eyes and settled back into the seat. “Now what are you going to do? Are you going to stick with your story that you are going to the village and not follow him?” I asked.
Lois waited a few beats before she shifted her car into drive again. “Let’s see where he goes.”
“You still plan to follow him.”
“Of course I do. He would not have jumped out of the buggy like that, all high-and-mighty, if he didn’t have something to hide.”
She had a point.
We drove down the county road behind Tucker’s buggy, but this time we stayed well back. It helped that Tucker had urged his horse to such a fast pace.
Lois glanced at me. “Don’t you find his reaction odd?”
“It was surprising, I can say that. Tucker Leham never struck me as the type of person who would confront someone.”
“He has anger issues,” Lois said. “That much I know.”
I nodded and Tucker just went up a notch on my suspect list.
Lois followed Tucker’s buggy at the same distance and same pace as before. “This is working,” she said.
It stopped working when we were almost at the village and Tucker’s buggy turned off onto a side road. If we followed him, it would be obvious we weren’t on our way to the Sunbeam Café.
“Drat!” Lois cried and tapped her long nails on the steering wheel. “I can’t follow him now after we told him that we were going to the café!” She continued straight down the road. “It was a good idea though. I think we shook him up a little.”
The question was whether Tucker Leham was a man that we wanted to shake up.
Lois parked her car in one of the diagonal spots in front of Darcy’s café. There was a small red vehicle in the spot next to us.
“Uh-oh,” Lois said. “That car means trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?” I asked, looking around to see if th
ere was some threat. Apparently, I had been thinking about murder for too many days on end, and I was seeing danger everywhere.
She looked me straight in the eye. “Margot trouble.”
“That’s bad,” I agreed.
She nodded. “We’d best go in and face it.” Lois climbed out of the car, and I did the same. It was a warm May day, so I didn’t bring my bonnet. I touched the top of my head to make sure my prayer cap was secure. The last thing I wanted was for my prayer cap to fall off when facing off with Margot Rawlings.
I followed Lois into the café. The same men I had seen there the first time I’d come to the café were still in the same two seats, working on their two computers. I was starting to wonder if they slept there. Bryan looked up from his computer and smiled at me.
I smiled back and looked around the café. It was much busier than it had been the other times I had visited. Five of the tables were filled with Englischers eating a late lunch. Most of them were eating salad or soup. Everyone appeared to be enjoying the food.
At the counter, Darcy spoke with a short woman with cropped curly hair, which she continually patted as if to make sure it was in place. Perhaps she felt the same way about her hair as I did about my prayer cap. Margot’s brown curls were her most distinctive feature. Since she was so petite, you usually saw her curls before you saw her face. She hadn’t changed much since our younger days. Margot was another woman I’d known as a girl in the village.
Margot rested her hand on the counter. “I can see how this café could have potential in upcoming events at the square. You have done a wonderful job with the menu. Everything I’ve tasted has been absolutely splendid. Tell me your other plans for this place. There must always be new plans. You must always strive for more, bigger, and better.” Margot stopped just short of holding her fist in the air as a show of strength.
Darcy was far less confident and licked her lips. “The café just opened.”
“Don’t think small, girl; think big!” Margot cried.
The Englisch tourists at the table looked over to see what the yelling was about.
“I have thought of expanding to catering. That’s how I started cooking. I worked in catering. I can see how catering events on the square could benefit all of us,” Darcy said in a quiet voice.
“Yes, me too. I’ll bring it up with the committee. It would be nice to have a local business provide the main dishes at our events. Of course, Swissmen Sweets provides the desserts.”
“Oh, I know,” Darcy said. “That shop has been here for a long time, and I wouldn’t want to step on any toes. I would happily work on the savory menus if they want to continue to provide the sweet.”
Lois gave her granddaughter a thumbs-up sign behind Margot’s back.
Darcy’s eyes went wide.
Margot noticed—there was very little Margot missed—and spun around. Lois morphed her excited gesture into a yawn. “Goodness, I could use a nap. It’s funny; when you’re a child, you hate naps, but the older you get, the more enjoyable they are.”
“Lois, how long have you been standing behind me?” Margot asked.
Lois feigned an expression of surprise. “Standing behind you? Millie and I just arrived. We wanted to drop in and see if Darcy needed any extra help around the café. Clearly, she doesn’t and has everything well in hand. She has turned this business into one of the loveliest spots in Harvest.”
I thought Lois was laying it on a little thick, but I just nodded. Anything I added to the conversation would make it sound even more false.
Margot pressed her lips together. “It’s nice to see you too, Millie. I heard you were back in the village.”
“I’ve been back for a few months,” I said. “I’ve seen you around the square at different events, but you always seem to be surrounded by people who need your help.”
“Being in charge of all the activities in the village is a full-time job, but it’s one that I relish. It keeps me busy. Honestly, I don’t know what I would do without it.” She turned her attention back to Lois. “You will be happy to learn I think Darcy has done an exemplary job with the café. The place looks wonderful, and I can see much potential in using this space and Darcy’s skills for future events in the village.”
Lois grinned from ear to ear. “I’m glad to hear it. You couldn’t find a prouder grandmother in the entire county than I am.”
Margot patted the curls on the top of her head. “I must say that what you have here, Darcy, is quite impressive. I will leave you to it now. You will be hearing from me soon, and we will have the schedule for possible events we’d like you to partner with the village on.”
“I would love that,” Darcy said with a little bit of awe in her voice, as if she couldn’t believe that this was actually happening.
“Good,” Margot said, and turned toward the door. She stopped halfway there. “Millie, I was wondering if you had a moment to chat outside the café.”
Lois and I shared a look.
“Want me to go with you?” Lois whispered. “I can be pretty tough.”
“I don’t need toughness to talk to Margot, just my wits,” I whispered back.
She nodded. “Suit yourself, but dollars to donuts you come back in here having volunteered for fourteen if not twenty programs to be held on this square throughout the year.”
I knew that was possible with Margot involved. I would have to keep my head to make sure it didn’t happen.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Margot was already outside when I crossed the threshold and inhaled the sweet scent of hyacinths blooming in a planter just outside the front door of the café. Beyond the hyacinth planter and the sidewalk, on the other side of the street was the square.
The white gazebo had been freshly painted just before Easter. The needles on the pine trees around the square shone, and every blade of grass seemed to be pointed in the same direction. Not even the grass would have the nerve to do something other than Margot’s bidding. If I looked hard enough, I could almost see the sign on the front window of Swissmen Sweets on the opposite side of the square.
A white-bearded figure moved around the square, picking up bits of litter from the grass. I realized that it was Uriah Schrock. I looked away, but not before he spotted me, and his face broke into a wide smile.
I guessed that Lois was right and I was going to end up volunteering for fourteen different activities on the square.
However, Margot surprised me by saying, “I have heard what happened at the greenhouse and wanted to know how Edith is getting on.”
“Edith?” I asked dumbly. I didn’t know why I was surprised by the question. It’s one I should have anticipated since Margot was just as nosy as Raellen. “She is as well as can be expected.”
“Is she closing the greenhouse?” She cocked her head as if in concern.
I started. “Closing the greenhouse? Why?”
“I heard it wasn’t doing well financially.” She lowered voice. “There have been rumors.”
“She’s not closing.” I cleared my throat. “In fact, she has decided to bring back the Edy’s Greenhouse bonfire that her father used to host every year.”
Margot raised her eyebrows. “Really? I’m surprised, considering . . .” She waited as if she wanted me to fill in the blank. I stared back at her because I wasn’t going to do that. I wasn’t going to say anything that might reveal too much to Margot Rawlings about Edith’s life.
“Well, I’m happy, for one, to hear that Edith is making a comeback of sorts. We have missed her flowers at the farmers’ market. I was quite surprised when I heard she no longer wanted to participate.”
“She said that?” I asked.
“Zeke Miller did. I suppose now that he’s gone, she might want to do it again. Please tell her we would love to have her back. Her flowers were one of the best booths we had, and I haven’t been able to find another nursery to replace her that I like as much.”
My pulse quickened. “I will be sure to tell her.
She’ll be happy to hear the news too, and I think you are right that she will want to come back.”
“Good.” She paused. “You know I could help Edith plan for the bonfire. I do have some experience planning big events.”
I smiled because I had been expecting this suggestion, and I knew it would be the last thing Edith would want. “That’s so very kind of you, but Edith would like to do this on her own. It’s important to her and she needs a project right now.”
Margot nodded. “I can understand the need of a project, probably more than most.”
“But we would love it if you could come. All the Amish and Englisch in Harvest are invited.”
“I will do that then.” She looked at the square. “I’m happy to see how much the village has grown in the last year. I promise you there will many more wonderful things to come. Not to mention Bailey’s Amish Sweets will be filming here in the summer, and the minister’s wedding is coming up too. It will be quite a summer for us all. I have so much to do.” She said good-bye and left.
I let out a giant sigh as she disappeared around the corner of the church. When I couldn’t see her any longer, I turned around to go back into the café and ran into Uriah Schrock’s chest with my nose.
“Oh, so sorry,” Uriah said, holding me at arm’s length. “I didn’t know you were going to turn that quickly. You are certainly still light on your feet.”
I rubbed my nose and felt relieved when he let go of my arms.
He smiled kindly at me. “I saw you standing there with Margot and thought you would like to see a friendly face after your conversation. She has a lot of energy.”
“She does,” I said. For some reason, I didn’t know what to do with my hands. I folded them, put them in my apron pockets, and then just dropped them to my sides as if they were useless things.
“Actually, I wasn’t telling the whole truth. For the most part, I came over just to say hello.” He blushed.
I found myself blushing too and wanted to pinch myself to make me stop.
Beyond me, Uriah looked into the window of the café and frowned.
Matchmaking Can Be Murder Page 21
