C HAPTER 25
At 10:30, Chief Richard Staples came to the terrace door. Norma let him in and buzzed Seth’s office and was told to send him upstairs. She decided she’d lead the way, even if her leg was stiff from the blows she’d had to endure when Ward came home in a drunken rage. She didn’t want a stranger trouncing through the house, even it was the police. She did take him up the winding stairs and not the stairs that went to the second floor from the kitchen area.
•♥ •
Seth looked over his glasses when the officer came through the door. “Hello, Richard. Come in and have a seat.”
“Hey, Seth.” He saw Julia uncurling herself from the big chair in the corner. “Hello again, Julia.”
She laid the book she was reading aside. “Hello, Chief Staples. Seth explained how you knew me and I’m sorry to say I’ve forgotten our meeting those many years ago.”
“That’s all right. I’m just glad you’re back in his life. He needs you. Hell, he’s needed you for over twenty years.”
“And I’ve needed him as long.”
Seth laid his glasses on the desk. “Did the dogs pick up anything this morning, Richard?”
“We may have. There’s a shack on the property line between you and the Hargrove Farm. It’s not far as the birds fly, but by the winding road it’s almost a mile away. Looks like somebody has stayed there, but we think they’ve moved locations. Doesn’t look like it’s been used for a couple of days.”
“How about last night’s phone call? Had any luck with the trace? Or checking the voice from the recording?”
Richard looked puzzled. “What phone call?”
“The one I got last night. One of your officers called and said they’d made a copy and was running a trace.”
“Seth, I don’t know anything about a phone call and there haven’t been any traces that I know of. There are definitely no recordings. In fact, that was one thing I was going to suggest. I want to put a recording device on your phones.”
“Sure, you can tap the phones, but why would that officer say we were already being recorded?”
“I have no idea, but I’m sure going to find out.”
“Chief Staples,” Julia said. “There’s a party I’d like you to check out. She’s been making threatening calls to me and most of them concern how she plans to kill Seth and harass his family.”
She had his attention. “I’d be happy to check her out, Julia, and feel free to call me Richard. I feel almost like we’re friends.”
“I hope we will be friends.”
He smiled. “Now, tell me about this woman.”
“She’s my deceased husband’s sister, Dorie. She hates my son and me with a passion, and she says she knows she’s punishing me by hurting the man I love. She keeps saying she’s doing it for her brother.”
“Is her last name Singleton, Julia?”
“No. She’s been married several times. The last time I heard her name was Crotts.”
“Okay, Dorie Crotts.”
“Actually, it’s Doreen. Woodrow always called her Dorie, and that’s the way she identifies herself to me when she calls.”
“Then I’ll change it to Doreen Crotts.”
“Wasn’t Doreen the name of the woman found in my barn, Richard?”
“Yeah, but her name wasn’t Crotts.” He began to flip backward in his little notebook. “Here it is. Weaver. That woman’s name was Doreen Weaver.”
Julia frowned.
“What is it, honey?” Seth looked at her. “Dorie was married to a Weaver at one time.”
A knock on the door interrupted them. “The boys are back with the luggage, Mr. Armstrong. I had them put it in the den until you could tell them what to do with it.”
Seth stood. “Why don’t you go ahead and tell Richard about your calls, honey. I’ll be back in a minute?”
“Sure.”
Seth and Norma went downstairs by way of the elevator. Entering the den, he couldn’t help laughing. “Boy, you and your mom have a lot of suitcases.”
“I hope it’s not too much. Mom has a lot of business stuff and I’ve got a couple of guitars…”
“It’s fine, Andrew. I was only teasing because I was surprised to see the floor covered.” He looked at his son and smiled. “You probably saw that Ashley and the kids have the upstairs master suite and Jessica’s room is the one across the hall.” He nodded toward Jimmy. “The one this big lug came out of this morning.”
Jimmy shook his head. “I’m sorry about that Seth.”
“No problem, Jimmy. I know how it is to want to protect the woman you care about.”
“Thank you for understanding, sir.”
Andrew said, “I know the rooms you mean.”
“Other than those two rooms, you can bunk where you like. There are three more bedrooms up there. Take your pick, and we’ll get your stuff to it. You can have the one with the pink flowers, if you like.” Seth grinned at him.
He grinned back. “I don’t think I’ll be choosing that one, but maybe Mom would like it.”
There was a slight pause, then Seth said, “Your mother’s stuff will be going in the downstairs master suite.”
Andrew looked at him a second, then nodded, but said nothing.
“Okay, load yourself up and come on upstairs. Why don’t you use the elevator? It’ll be easier than running up and down the steps.”
When they got upstairs, Andrew looked in the two remaining bedrooms. He bypassed the pink flowered one. “I like this one,” he said when he went into the one on the back corner overlooking the swimming pool and terrace. It was more private than the others, and the door opened from a small side hall instead of the main walk area. The room had a walk-in closet, two large built in bookcases, and the decor was done in blue and brown. It was connected to a full bath with separate shower and a jetted tub. It had a masculine feel about it.
“Good choice, son. Feel free to change anything you like. This will be your room as long as you want or need it.”
“Thanks, Seth.”
“Jimmy, if you have to go home, I’ll be glad to help Andrew get everything up here after I finish with the police.”
“It’s fine, Seth. Doby assures me he has everything at the farm covered and Mama and Jude are coming back today. I do have to help take some things to Bed, Breakfast and More this afternoon. I don’t think Mama trusts the hands to take them because it’s some kind of decorating stuff, but I can’t do that until they get back.”
“Then, thanks for helping. I’ll be in my office if you two need me.”
When he rejoined Julia and Richard, they’d finished their conversation. Richard got ready to leave and said, “I think I’ve got some good information today. Maybe this is the break we’ve needed in this case. I’ll send a guy right over to put the taps on the phones, if that’s okay.”
“That’ll be fine. I hope we can get to the bottom of this soon so Julia and I can forget about it, then get married and settle down.”
“That’s music to my ears, man. I know the two of you will be as happy as you were those many years ago.”
“We plan on it, don’t we, honey?” He dropped his left arm around Julia’s shoulder.
“We sure do.” She smiled at him. “It was good to meet you again, Richard, and I do hope the information I gave you on Dorie helps.”
“I’m sure it will.”
“We’ll show you out, Richard. My elevator is this way.”
Jimmy and Andrew were getting the last of his luggage and equipment out of the elevator car.
“Hi, Mom. Want to see my room?”
“Sure.” She looked up at Seth. “I’ll be with Andrew.” He nodded and got in the car with Richard.
•♥ •
“Seth said I could have any room I wanted, and I took the one at the end of the hall.”
Julia followed them down the short side hall and into the room. “Oh, this is lovely. It looks like a guy’s room.” “Then you shouldn’t call it lov
ely, Mom. Call it handsome or manly.”
Jimmy laughed. “Seth offered him the pink room. For some reason, he decided this was more his style.”
“I don’t see a thing wrong with the pink room.” Julia raised her eyebrows at them. “The pretty little blue roses scattered among the pink ones on the walls and bedspread make Andrew’s eyes shine.”
“Mom!”
“Sorry, I couldn’t resist teasing you.”
“If that’s all you need my help with, Andrew, I’m going to slip out. I want to run that errand early if Jude and Mama are back and I want to see Jessica before I leave.” He looked at Julia. “Do you know if she’s still with Ashley and the kids in the playroom?”
“Yes. I think she is.” Julia smiled at him.
“By the way, thanks for holding Seth back this morning. I thought he was going to fight me right there and…”
Julia put a hand on his arm. “Thanks are not necessary and Seth was only reacting as any father would when they think their daughter is still their baby girl. He likes you, Jimmy, and he knows you care for Jessica. Please don’t let this color the way you feel about him.”
“I won’t. I like Seth, and I want to be friends with him.” He turned to leave.
“Thanks for your help, Jimmy.”
“No problem, Andrew. See you later, Mrs. Singleton.”
“Please call me Julia, Jimmy. I won’t be Mrs. Singleton much longer.”
“Thanks. I’ll do that. Later, Andrew.”
“Sure enough.” He opened the suitcase he had plopped on the bed. “Want to help me, Mom?”
“Of course.” She opened the closet and took out a hand full of hangers. She began putting his shirts on them. “Where are my things, honey?”
“Seth said to put them in his room.”
She bit her lip. “Does that bother you, Andrew?”
He half-smiled. “Things have moved so fast, I haven’t had time to be bothered about anything, Mom. But when we set your things in his room, I kind of felt it was the right thing to do. It was as if you belonged there.”
“I do know I am to be with him, Andrew. I’ve always belonged to him, but please don’t think I didn’t care for your dad. I did. But I’ve always loved Seth. He’s a part of me, almost like he’s attached to my soul, and I know he loves me as much as any man can love a woman. I can feel it from him, even after all these years.”
“I’ve learned in one long night that he is a special man. I wish things had been different for us, Mom. I would’ve liked to have known him when I was growing up.” He smiled. “And, as you said, don’t think I didn’t love Dad. I did. He was a wonderful father, but it would’ve been nice to know my real father and my brother and sisters.”
“I know, honey. Seth tried so hard to get his girls away from Eve. We looked forward to marriage and being a family. I wanted to raise them with him.” She moved to the closet and hung up the shirts. “But things are what they are. We still have a lot of time to enjoy being together, and I think we’ll become a happy family. Maybe a little strange, but happy, nonetheless.”
“I think we will, too, Mom.”
She turned from the closet. “When do you have another concert date, honey?”
“Not until March. I got in touch with the band while we were in Asheville today and told them I’d be staying here for a while.” He grinned at her. “I didn’t tell them I was getting settled with a new family. That’ll all come out soon enough.”
There was a tap on the door. They looked around to see Ashley. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but Norma says lunch is ready.”
Lilly stuck her head around her mother’s knees and gave Julia a shy grin. “I hungry.”
“I’m hungry, too. Do you want us to come down and eat lunch?”
She reached her little hand toward Julia. “Come.” The two went out the door and down the hall.
Ashley looked at Andrew. “She must have been an awesome mother.”
He nodded. “She still is. Now it looks like she’ll be a good grandmother, too.”
“I can see that.” She took Andrew’s hand. “Well, come on little brother. Norma likes for us to come when the food is ready. No matter who delays the meal, she rides Daddy about it. We try not to get her too riled up.”
“Far be it from me to hold things up.” He dropped the jeans on the bed and followed her. “Where’s that cute little rascal, Lance?”
“He went down with Jessica and Jimmy.”
“I thought Jimmy was going home to run an errand or something.”
“He called and his folks aren’t back. For some reason, they have to be there.”
“Well, where is everyone else?”
“I think you and I are the last.”
“Then we better step on it. I don’t want Norma to be too hard on Seth and it be our fault.”
Everyone else was at the table when they came into the family dining room. “About time you got here,” Norma said. “’Course, I guess somebody has to be the cow’s tail.”
She put a silver coffee pot on the sideboard with a pitcher of iced tea. Garden salads were at each plate and she left to bring in the main course of baked chicken strips, snap beans, red potatoes and pickled beets.
Lilly was sitting beside Julia and she reached down and took the little girl’s hand. Everyone joined hands, and Julia glanced at Seth. “Do you mind if Andrew says the blessing today?”
“I’d be happy for him to.”
Andrew said a prayer, and after that, Lance looked at his mother. “Why we do that?”
“Andrew was thanking Jesus for everything we have. You know who Jesus is. We talked about him.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Ashley looked embarrassed, but nobody said anything more about the prayer. Julia did decide, if Ashley had no objections, she was going to introduce these children to Sunday School. It had always been a fun learning time for Andrew, and it had given him a good foundation for life.
Seth cleared his throat, and all eyes turned to him. “Norma said Hunter called and he couldn’t make lunch, but he’ll try to be here for dinner. He’s going to spend the night here again instead of going to his apartment.” He looked around the table. “Jimmy, since Andrew, Hunter and I will be here, you don’t have to come unless you want to. Of course, I want you to know you’re welcome if you do want to come.”
“Even if he sleeps in my room, Daddy?” Jessica bit her lip after she said it.
“Now wait a minute…”
They saw Julia reach over and take his hand. “That’s your decision, Jessica,” he mumbled.
“No, sir. It’s not her decision alone,” Jimmy said. He stood. “In fact, will you excuse us for one minute?” He took Jessica’s hand. “Will you come with me?”
Without a word, she got up and followed him out of the room.
“I wonder what that was about,” Seth said.
“I have no idea, honey. I guess they’ll let us know.”
Norma came in and began pouring tea. “Now we’ve lost two. Where did they run off to?”
“I don’t know, Norma.”
“Well, Mr. Armstrong, you should know. This is your herd. You shouldn’t let them scatter at meal time.” She frowned. “Wonder what they want to drink.”
“Since they left, they don’t get a choice. Give them tea, Norma.”
“Since Big Daddy has spoken, that’s what I’m going to do.” She noticed Andrew’s glass was almost empty. She moved beside him and refilled his glass. “Lord have mercy, here’s another one who can drink faster than I can pour.”
Andrew looked up at her. “It’s because your tea is like nectar for the gods.”
“Oh, my heavens. No wonder you’re a troubadour. You got the fancy words in you.” She looked at him and smiled. “See if you can get the head honcho over there to learn some manners. I know he’s old, but I believe in miracles.”
“I believe in miracles, too, Norma.” Julia smiled at her. “A miracle brought us all together, and for
that, I’m thankful.”
“I hope it works out. If anybody can straighten the old fellow, there, out, you look like you might be the one to do it.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Julia smiled up at Seth.
C HAPTER 26
“Look everybody,” Jessica came through the door excited. She was holding out her left hand. “Jimmy asked me to marry him.”
“And she said yes.” Jimmy was grinning.
Seth stood and Jessica ran to throw her arms around his neck. “I love him, Daddy. I hope you’re pleased.”
“I couldn’t have picked a better man to be my son-in- law.” Seth reached out his free hand to Jimmy.
“Thank you, Seth.”
Jessica turned to Julia. Without hesitation, she threw her arms around her and said, “You will help me plan the wedding won’t you? Jimmy says he doesn’t want to have a long engagement.”
“I’d be delighted to help you, Jessica.”
Jessica turned to Andrew who stood. She hugged him. “Will you sing at my wedding, Andrew? I think that would be awesome.”
“Since you’re one of my big sisters, I’d be insulted if you asked anyone else to sing at your wedding.”
She kissed his cheek and ran to Ashley. “You know you have to be my maid of honor. You will, won’t you?”
“Of course, little sister. I’d be broken-hearted if you asked anyone else.”
“Listen to them, guys,” Seth said. “All you have to do is give them a ring, and the next thing you know, you’re deep in wedding plans.” He sat and started eating.
“I hope it’s a while for me.” Andrew followed his example, and began eating, too. “I don’t have time for a serious woman at this point in my life.”
Finally, everyone settled down and the meal continued. Of course, the talk was about the engagement.
“I planned to wait until all this mess was resolved and take Jessica to some fancy romantic spot to propose, but I decided I couldn’t spend the night here tonight without letting it slip I was planning to ask her to marry me.”
“Well, since you’re sleeping in my daughter’s room, I think it’s appropriate you propose whether it’s a fancy place or not.” Seth was grinning, and everyone knew he was kidding.
Her Forever Dreams (A Coverton Mills Romance Book 3) Page 18
