THANKSGIVING IN PARADISE

by Daley, Kathi

  “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 her 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 of 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.”

  Denise tossed the can of tuna she’d had in her hand when I’d walked up into her cart. “I guess a first step would be to appoint new council members. There is a rumor going around that James Kingston is circulating a petition which would require the town council to be elected by popular vote rather than appointed. To be honest, I’m not even sure he can do that, but apparently, he is trying.”

  I paused to think about Kingston’s plan. “Currently and in the past, the sitting council has voted amongst themselves to fill any open seats. I know Kyle is working on doing that. I don’t know for certain what the bylaws say, but I assume there is some sort of a provision which allows residents to add measures to the local ballot. I’ll have to ask Kyle about it,”

  “My first thought was that Kingston wasn’t even a resident, so he shouldn’t be able to add items to our ballot. But then a friend pointed out that he does own property within the town limits. A lot of it. My friend seemed to think that owning property entitles him to vote, but I’m really not sure if she is right or wrong about that.”

  “I think that voting is based on residency and you can only be a resident of one state, county, and town, but I might be wrong. I’ve never looked into it.”

  “Kingston seems like a smart guy, so I imagine he must have looked into the legalities of circulating a petition to have a measure added to the ballot,” Denise pointed out. “Of course, the next election isn’t until June, but I suppose he saw an opening and decided to jump on it.”

  “I guess he might have.”

  “I support the idea that anyone who has enough support can ask that an issue is put out to the voters, but you know Kingston is doing what he is because he thinks he can fill the council with men who will vote the way he wants them to vote. Having said that, I do think an elected council is a good idea. In the past, the council has always been a governing board made up of longtime residents who want things done a certain way, but, if you ask me, it’s time for a change. If the measure does make it to the June ballot, I will vote for elected seats on the council with term limits, but I can guarantee you that I won’t be voting for anyone who supports turning our little town into a tourist mecca.”

  I could see that the idea of electing town council members was going to be an emotional one on both sides, and while I didn’t disagree with Denise, I really didn’t want to get into a political debate right here in the middle of a crowded grocery store. I was about to suggest a topic change when Denise announced that she had to run. After Denise scurried off, I finished picking up the items I needed and then got into the long line at the checkout counter. I wondered if Kyle knew about the petition Kingston was circulating. I wondered what he thought about the idea if he did know. Kyle was a pretty open-minded guy. I actually thought he might support the idea of an elected town council.

  After I finished my errands, I headed toward Kyle’s home, where I found him chatting with Jeff. I was thrilled to see that Jeff was doing better. During those first few days when everyone was in the hospital, I wondered if any of the council members other than Kyle would be able to return to active duty with the town.

  “You look a lot better than the last time I saw you,” I teased.

  Jeff put a hand to his face, which still bore evidence of the cuts and abrasions he’d suffered. “Hunter has assured me that while I may have a few scars to serve as a reminder of the horrific night, I should make
a full recovery.”

  I gave Jeff a careful hug. “I’m happy to hear that.”

  “Jeff and I are trying to figure out what needs to be done to keep the town open,” Kyle said.

  “Which is going to be harder than it might seem,” Jeff added. “Harriet, who has been the mayor’s secretary and town clerk for decades, is gone, the mayor in charge is barely out of the hospital and in no shape to be bothered with town business, and the other two senior town council members are either dead or unconscious. I’ve only been on the council for two months and Kyle for two years, but at this point, we are all the town has.”

  I sat down across from the men who were sitting at the dining table. “Can I help?”

  “Maybe,” Kyle answered. “At this point, not only do we need to figure out what needs to be done, but we also need to come up with a plan to do it. If you stop and think about it, the town is completely crippled. There are independent contractors to pay, proposals before the town council to be voted on, and day-to-day decisions to make. It will be months and months before the council is able to follow through with any of the projects we were in the middle of implementing or vote on any of the issues we’d been discussing.”

  “Which, if you stop to think about it, has benefited James Kingston quite nicely,” I added.

  “It does seem that the timing of everything that is going on has worked out for the guy,” Jeff agreed.

  “I ran into a friend at the market who told me that James Kingston is circulating a petition to change the town’s bylaws so that the seats on the town council will be elected positions with term limits. Had you heard about that?” I asked Kyle.

  “After the dust settled following the explosion, Kingston came to me with a list of names of men he wanted to see added to the council to fill the three open seats,” Kyle informed us. “The men on the list were all on his payroll, and it seemed apparent to me that none of the men he supported would care about town business beyond the vacation rental issue. The town really needs council members who will care about the town as a whole, so I thanked him and told him that I was going in another direction. He told me that he had read the town’s bylaws which allowed for any resident to add a measure to the local ballot if they were able to gather enough signatures. He threatened to support a change to the bylaws which would require an elected council with term limits if I didn’t play his game.”