by Tim Myers
“Don’t say that in front of Sara Lynn,” Lillian said.
“I’m not about to,” Savannah said. She looked at Lillian, then said, “I hate to admit it, but you clean up pretty good.”
Lillian laughed. “I was just about to say the same thing about you.” She turned to Pete and said, “You look rather handsome yourself.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Pete said. “I think you look nice, too.”
Lillian clapped her hands. “Why you sly old dog, you. Pete Jones, are you turning into a talker on us?”
Pete shook his head, but I could see that he was smiling, caught up in the excitement of getting out of his kitchen, if only for one evening.
They were just starting to serve when Sara Lynn rejoined us, without her husband in tow.
“Are you all right?” I asked her. My sister looked more shaken than I’d ever seen her.
She didn’t answer, but it was clear that further conversation wouldn’t be welcome. We all managed to talk around her as the servers delivered our food. All I knew was that it must have been some kind of a confrontation to leave my sister shaking like she was.
After a pleasant meal of roast beef, asparagus tips in cheese sauce, and garlic mashed potatoes, our servers whisked our plates away and replaced them with chocolate mousses adorned with raspberries.
Lillian studied hers and said, “I’m so full, I don’t think I can eat this.”
I started to reach for her dessert plate before she could finish her sentence. “I’ll be glad to help you out with it.”
She swatted my hand, and the entire table laughed. “If I can’t handle it, you’ll be the first to know,” Lillian said.
I dug into mine, regretting the richness of the dessert for just a second before I gave in to it. Jack had outdone himself, and I knew everyone at that dinner would be talking about the meal for weeks. I was just finishing my dessert when I felt someone approaching me from behind.
“Jennifer, may I have a word with you?”
It was Greg Langston, and he was wearing a tuxedo that made him look like a movie star. His tie perfectly matched his deep blue eyes, and his normally wild blond hair was tamed in place. I felt my heart skip despite the current state of our relationship, and I tried my best to keep my voice level as I answered. “I’ll try to find time for you later. I’d offer you a seat, but we don’t have any extras.”
His hand brushed my shoulder, and I felt a tingle at his touch. “This is important.”
I started to ask him what his definition of important was when Savannah nudged my elbow. “Girl, go talk to him. Don’t worry, we’ll save your seat.”
I rolled my eyes at her, then stood up and faced him. “What is it, Greg?”
“Can we step away from the tables and talk about it?” he asked in that soft voice he’d always used to get to me.
Be strong, I told myself as I nodded my acceptance. Greg and I might have looked like a perfect match on paper, but we were constantly out of sync, and I couldn’t imagine things getting any better between us. I was fully prepared to tell him no again, because I could see in his eyes that he was going to ask me out. My speech was all ready to deliver when he blurted out, “I’m seeing someone new—someone important to me—and I didn’t want you to hear it from somebody else first.”
“You don’t have to keep me informed about the details of your love life,” I said, just a little harsher than I’d intended.
He started to frown, then said, “Jennifer, I just thought you should know. I waited for you as long as I could, but I never seemed to get anywhere with you.”
“Greg, I’m sorry, but there was just no way it was ever going to work out for us.” There, at least I’d been able to deliver part of the speech I’d been ready to give. While I had been sincere when I’d said that Greg and I didn’t have a future together, I still wasn’t all that sure I wanted him dating other people. My own skewed sense of logic didn’t have to make sense to anybody else. It was just the way I felt.
I saw an attractive blonde staring at us, tall and slim and rather elegant in a dress that perfectly matched Greg’s tie. “You brought her here, didn’t you?” I asked.
Greg looked over his shoulder, then waved to the young woman in question. “Jen, you intimidate the daylights out of her. It was all I could do to convince her to let me come over here and talk to you.”
I studied her again, then offered her a friendly smile I didn’t feel. I intimidated her; I sincerely doubted that. I knew I was cute enough, but no one would ever mistake me for the beauty he was with.
“Tell her she doesn’t have anything to worry about from me,” I said, then to my surprise, I saw her start toward us. Suddenly my friendly smile wasn’t all that friendly any more.
Before I could make my retreat, she approached and offered a slender hand to me. “Hi. You must be Jennifer. It’s such a pleasure to meet you.”
“You, too,” I said, barely managing not to mumble.
Greg said, “Jen, this is Stephanie Staunton.”
I managed to nod as I heard a tapping on the microphone on the stage. My friend Grady Farrar—who ran the best hardware store in seven counties—was trying to get everyone’s attention. “If you don’t mind, could everyone take their seats?”
Greg and Stephanie returned to their prime position while I rejoined my table in the back of the room.
Savannah said, “That did not look good, Jennifer.”
“If it’s any consolation, it was worse than it appeared.”
Lillian patted my hand, but I couldn’t meet anyone’s gaze. As I pretended to study the place settings, I noticed that though there were five of us sitting there, there were only four letter openers on the table. Funny, I was certain there had been five there when we’d first sat down.
My attention returned to Grady as he asked the audience, “Has anyone seen Eliza Glade? Eliza, are you out there?”
There were a few mutters from the crowd, but no Eliza. That was extremely odd, since I knew Eliza lived for her annual time in the spotlight.
Grady tugged on the lapels of his suit, whose fashion had last been stylish in the fifties, then said, “I guess that leaves it to me to do the honors.”
He held up a small golden anvil, then said, “It’s my pleasure to announce the winner of this year’s award. Now I know Eliza’s probably going to skin me alive for skipping her thirty-minute windup, but it’s getting late and we all have businesses to run in the morning.” That brought a chuckle from the crowd, and I could see that Grady was enjoying the attention. He’d been vice president forever, but from what he’d told me in the past, this was most likely the first time he’d ever been called on to speak.
“I’m going to read the name in this envelope, then we’ll hear from the winner and that will wrap up our evening.”
He tore the envelope open, and the look of surprise on his face was undeniable. It appeared that he wasn’t quite able to believe it, but finally he held open the letter inside the envelope and read it aloud. “This year’s winner has proven that youth does not necessarily mean unproven ability. Our recipient took a sound idea, and despite heavy opposition from her employer—a woman who should have known better, I might add—she made a success out of something her sister proclaimed publicly would never work. This year’s winner of the Rebel Forge Businessperson of the Year award is Jennifer Shane.”
I couldn’t believe I’d just heard my name called, even as Savannah tried to propel me out of my seat. I whispered to my sister, “Sara Lynn, it’s a mistake. It should be you.”
Sara Lynn shook her head. “Nonsense. I can’t stand the witch, but she’s right. You made something work that I thought would fail from the start. Go get your award.”
Lillian said, “Go on, Jennifer. You deserve it. No one else in the world knows how hard you’ve worked for it.”
I stood, then started walking toward the front of the room. When I looked over at Greg, I saw that he was deep in conversation with Stephanie. I
would have liked to see his smile, if just for a second, but he was otherwise engaged.
I was three steps from the raised platform, finally believing that it was indeed true that I’d won, when I heard a scream coming from the kitchen.
“She’s dead!” the woman’s voice shouted. “Someone stabbed her in the heart.”
And that’s when all hell broke loose.
Chapter 2
I stood there in shock, not sure what to do, and then, for some irrational reason, I turned and searched the crowd for the women at my table. Even though I knew I’d just left them, I had to be sure that Sara Lynn, Lillian and Savannah were all right. There was bedlam throughout the room—everyone was out of their seats and trying to all talk at once—but I managed to catch sight of Lillian holding onto Sara Lynn. That left Savannah, and in a moment of panic I couldn’t see her. Then the crowd parted for just a moment and I found her sitting with her husband, Pete’s arms around her. Ten seconds ago we’d been a calm group of adults sharing a lovely meal, and suddenly we were a mob.
I heard the sharp blast of a whistle cut through the chaos, and then another, and yet another. Bradford must have been close by to respond as quickly as he did. He cut through the crowd—coming from the kitchen where the scream had emanated—handsome and imposing in his sheriff’s uniform, and as he took the stage, he said in a loud voice, “I need everyone to be quiet and sit back down.”
There were a few people muttering in conversation before everyone finally did as they were told. My brother was well respected in Rebel Forge, and he wielded his influence in that room like a club.
After everyone was seated, Bradford said, “Now I need you all to cooperate. We’re going to find out what’s going on, but it’s going to take a little time, so I’m asking for your patience.”
“Who was stabbed?” a voice asked from the audience.
“Is she dead?” someone else asked.
Bradford held up his hands, then said, “When it’s time to answer your questions, I will. For the moment, I need you all to cooperate and let me and my people do our jobs.”
He went back into the kitchen, but I noticed not every cop followed him. There was a new man in uniform I didn’t recognize guarding the door. Bradford had been forced to fire one of the men on his force. I’d been lobbying him to hire a woman to replace him, but my brother had told me he’d hire the best available candidate, and then he’d made a crack about me sticking to greeting cards and leaving the law enforcement to him. My brother wasn’t a chauvinist, not by any means, but I still thought he could use a nudge in the right direction now and then. He’d thought otherwise.
I started back to my seat when the new deputy called out, “Ma’am, you need to sit down.”
“I’m trying to,” I said. “My table is back there.”
“Just find an empty chair,” he snapped.
I ignored him and headed back to my group anyway. If he thought that snarling tone of voice was going to work on me, he was mistaken. I couldn’t believe it when he started toward me, and without meaning to, I scampered back to my original seat and sat down, as if we were playing musical chairs and it was the last one available.
He kept coming, and loomed over me. “Am I going to have trouble from you?”
Lillian butted in, as was her nature. “If you don’t, you’ll be the first man in her life to make that claim.” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Lillian. You must be new.”
He wanted to scold me more, I could see it in his eyes, but Lillian had defused the tension. “I’m Hank,” he admitted as he took her hand.
“How delightful to meet you. These are my nieces Jennifer and Sara Lynn, and these are my dear friends, Savannah and Peter Jones.”
He tipped his chin down for a moment. “Nice to meet you folks. Now I’d better get back to the door.” Hank stared at me a second longer before he left, as if challenging me to say anything or move an inch off my chair, and for a moment I was tempted to do both. Then I remembered that Bradford was back in the kitchen investigating a murder, and it was no time to have a tantrum.
When he saw that I was going to behave myself, Hank turned his back to me and walked to his former station by the door.
He was barely out of earshot when Lillian said, “My, he’s awfully cute, isn’t he?”
I stared openly at my aunt. “You’re kidding, right? I thought he was going to handcuff me for a minute there. What a jerk.”
“Jennifer, you’ve got to be a little more relaxed with your standards if you’re ever going to meet anyone new.”
I couldn’t believe Lillian was trying to discuss my love life after what had just happened. “Can we put my personal life on hold for the moment? I wonder who was stabbed. What an awful scream.”
Savannah nodded. “It was terrible, all right. Who would do such a thing right here with everyone around?”
Sara Lynn was strangely quiet.
I looked at her a second, then asked, “Are you all right?”
“No, but I will be.”
I was still trying to figure out exactly what she meant by that when Bradford came back out of the kitchen. He was pelted with questions as he made his way to the stage, but he didn’t answer any of them until he was at the microphone.
My brother said, “I’m going to ask you all a few questions, then I need you to file out one at a time and give my deputies your names, addresses and telephone numbers. Please cooperate with us and do as I ask.”
“So who was stabbed?” the same voice from before called out, and there were several mutters from the crowd.
I could see Bradford considering the possibilities, but he knew Rebel Forge better than anybody else in town, and I had to believe he realized it would be impossible to keep the lid on the name of the murder victim past midnight.
Bradford stared at the crowd, then finally said, “The victim was Eliza Glade, but I’d appreciate it if you’d wait to spread the word until we can get in touch with her mother over in Louisa.”
That started another wave of discussion, but Bradford managed to kill it pretty fast. “The only reason I told you this right now is that I need to see everyone who talked with her or saw her this evening to come forward to the stage so I can interview you.”
Everybody started to get up when Bradford added, “Okay, let’s try this a different way. Keep standing until I eliminate you. Was there anybody who saw Eliza after the meal?”
Nobody admitted as much, and Bradford went on. “Okay, did anyone actually talk to her this evening?”
In a loud, clear voice, Lillian said, “I did.”
Bradford bit his lip, no doubt expecting something just like that from our aunt. The two of them hadn’t gotten along for twenty years, and I could tell my brother wasn’t surprised by her admission. “Come on up and I’ll talk to you in a minute. Is there anyone else?”
A few people raised their hands, and Bradford motioned for them to join him. I was waiting for him to dismiss us when Beth Anderson, a waitress at Hurley’s who sported multi-tinted hair, pointed at Sara Lynn and said, “You talked to her. I saw it.”
“She did not,” I said. “I was standing right beside her, and Lillian cut Eliza off before she could get to us.”
Beth shook her head. “I’m not talking about that. I saw her arguing with that woman in the kitchen.”
There were shocked murmurs throughout the crowd, and Sara Lynn said, “We had a few words, but it was nothing.”
It was pretty obvious Bradford didn’t want to call Sara Lynn to the front, but he had no choice. I started forward, when he added, “Don’t tell me you talked to her, too, Jennifer.”
“I didn’t, but I’m coming anyway.”
Bradford shook his head. “If I need you, you’ll be the first to know. Does anyone else have anything to say?”
Nobody volunteered anything, so Bradford said, “Then I’ll ask you all to leave. Be patient with us, folks, we’re doing the best we can. And thanks for cooperating.”
As everyone else started to get in line at the rear door, I followed Sara Lynn up to the front. Hank stepped in and said, “You heard the sheriff. You need to go.”
I gave him my hardest look, then said, “If you think you can stop me, you’d better get your gun, because you’ll have to shoot me to get me to leave my sister’s side.”
Sara Lynn said numbly, “It’s all right, Jennifer. I’ll be fine.”
“I know you will. I’m going to be right by your side,” I said.
We were at a stalemate when Bradford approached. “What’s the problem here?”
Hank turned to him and said, “She won’t leave.”
“Why am I not surprised? Hank, have you met my family?”
He nodded, but didn’t say a word.
Bradford shook his head as he looked at me, then finally said, “Come on, I don’t have the energy to fight with you tonight.” He turned to his deputy. “Help Jody at the door, will you?”
Hank nodded, then said, “Listen, I’m sorry if I stepped over the line, but you said—”
Bradford patted his shoulder. “You did exactly the right thing.”
After he was gone, Bradford looked at Sara Lynn and me and said, “You might as well come up front. Let’s get this over with.”
As we followed Bradford, I whispered to my sister, “Did you really see her in the kitchen? What happened?” I couldn’t imagine Sara Lynn and Eliza together in the close confines of the kitchen. An unwelcome thought came as I fought not to add, without blood being shed.
Bradford stopped and looked at me before Sara Lynn could answer. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to interview the witnesses myself without your assistance.”
“Fine,” I said. “I was just asking.”
There were seven people standing in front of the room, including Beth. She approached Sara Lynn before Bradford could say anything. “I’m so sorry I told on you.”
She looked like she was going to start crying, and my sister patted her hand. “You did the right thing, dear. I have nothing to hide.”
That obviously made Beth feel better, and she started back toward the kitchen.
