by Vikki Walton
Hope had returned with Faith, who she sat in a rocking chair. “What are you all planning?”
“I said we should get together for dinner. You in?”
“That sounds good. Is it okay if we swing by Bill and Lori’s afterward? I have some things to drop off to them.”
Stewart had come in while the group was talking. “Did you hear about that fire up close at the Bennett’s place?”
“Yes. It’s horrible. We offered to let them stay here but they decided to go into Denver.” Hope put a cup in the dishwasher.
Stewart leaned up against the counter. “Their greenhouse and barn are completely destroyed. The house has some damage, but it’s salvageable. They weren’t home when it happened.”
“Oh no. That’s horrible. How are they faring?”
Stewart ran his hands through his brown hair. He shoved the sleeves of his flannel shirt up.
“You know. It’s strange. But usually when a fire happens, people have all kinds of emotions, but it was different with Cam.”
“What do you mean? Was he angry or…?”
“No. Nothing like that. It was fear.”
Later the talk turned to food and they all decided to go out for dinner that evening.
Eliza sat in the front as Hope drove over to the restaurant, while Anne and Kandi sat in the back.
“I like your new car, Hope,” Eliza commented.
“Thanks. I figured I should get something better suited to our Colorado weather.”
Kandi joined in. “I still say you should have gotten a truck or an SUV instead of this Subaru but up to you.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Hope laughed. “This works for me. I don’t plan on going out into the backcountry.”
The group chatted amiably as they headed to the Connor’s house.
They arrived at the front door and rang the bell.
No answer.
“Hmmm, that’s strange. I called earlier and said we’d be dropping by. Lori said this would be a good time.”
Anne rang the bell again.
“Was Bill going out? Maybe it’s taking Lori some time to get to the door. She is really frail.” Hope answered back.
Kandi cocked her head. “Do you all hear something?”
“What do you mean?”
The group stopped and listened.
“I hear something.” Hope walked around toward the back of the house. The rest of the ladies followed.
They could hear a faint cry.
“I think it’s coming from, like, over there.” Kandi pointed.
Anne and Hope turned toward the greenhouse.
“Help. Please. Help me!” It was Lori.
Had she fallen?
Kandi rushed over to where Lori lay on the ground.
“Are you okay?”
Lori pointed toward the greenhouse. “Please. Go.”
Hope stayed with Lori while the others made their way to the greenhouse. Inside, it looked like a tornado had gone through it. Pots were broken on the flagstone path and plants pulled up, but what quickly caught Anne’s attention was Bill. He lay slumped on the floor, a big gash on his head.
“Kandi, call 911.” Kandi reached into her pocket and grabbed her cellphone. As she spoke, Anne rushed over to the man and knelt down beside him.
“Bill. Bill. Can you hear me?” Anne knew it was best not to move someone with a head injury.
“Is he dead?” Eliza grasped her long fingers around her neck.
“No. But it doesn’t look good. He’s got a nasty looking cut on his head.”
“Here.” Eliza pulled a clean monogramed handkerchief from her pocket. She handed it to Anne.
Anne wiped the blood from Bill’s face. It appeared that the cut to his head was his only injury. Had he fallen and hit his head? But what about all the damage?
Bill groaned. He moved to raise his hand to his head.
“Don’t move, Bill. You’ve been hurt. Help is on the way.” Anne looked up as Kandi came in the door.
“The ambulance is on the way. Like what happened in here?” Kandi face grimaced as she looked around. “Bill, like, loves this greenhouse.”
“Let’s talk about that later,” Anne admonished. “Sweetie, can you run up to the house and see if they have a blanket we can use?”
Bill groaned again. He gathered his breath, then whispered, “Attacked.”
Chapter Three
They were silent as the EMS team loaded Bill onto the gurney. After Bill went off in the ambulance, the women watched as Police Chief Bradley Everett spoke with Sam. He nodded his head and then strode over to meet the women. “Ladies. I hear that you were the ones to find Mr. Connor.”
Anne spoke first. “We were on our way over as Hope had a few items she wanted to give Lori.”
“Poor Lori. First, her cancer and now this.” Everett pulled his hat off and stuck it under his arm. His hair was an indeterminate color because of the closely shaved buzz cut. He wiped his head and then put the hat back on. Pulling out a notepad, he clicked his pen. “Now then, you were here when the event happened?”
“Oh, no,” Hope responded. “We were at the front door. We rang the doorbell, but no one answered.”
“What happened then?”
We heard someone calling for help. He looked up from his notes. “Was that Bill?”
“No, it was Lori Connor,” Hope replied. “We went around the back and there she was on the ground. I think she’d tried to go to the greenhouse, but it’s too far from the house for her. She had collapsed.”
“She saw nothing?” Everett spoke to Hope.
“Like what?” Anne clasped her hands together.
“From the preliminary review, it looks like Bill may have caught some vandals in his greenhouse.”
“So, he was, like, attacked?” Kandi shivered. “Oh, how awful.”
Why would someone destroy a greenhouse? It made no sense. Plus, Bill and Lori’s house isn’t on the main road or anything.
Anne started to say her questions out loud then decided against it.
“Did you all notice any teenagers or anyone leaving the area?”
“No,” the group replied in unison.
“Why?” Anne rubbed her arms and looked toward the greenhouse. Something just didn’t add up. Why attack Bill so savagely?
Another police officer had joined the group. The officer spoke. His eyes were shielded from view by his large, dark aviator sunglasses. He nodded toward the greenhouse. “We’ve been having a lot of vandalism around town lately. Even quite a few fires being set.”
“Oh, that’s horrible,” Eliza spoke up. “You believe that it is a bunch of hoodlums?”
Anne pursed her lips together. Only Eliza would choose the word hoodlums.
“We believe so.” He nodded toward the greenhouse. “So, just to confirm.” He looked at his notes. “You arrived, and Lori Connor was on the ground. Was she able to tell you anything she saw or heard? It could be helpful.”
Hope answered. “No. I stayed with her. She said she’d been in the house, waiting on us when she heard some noise. She wasn’t sure what it was, so she went to the window. She couldn’t see Bill, so she became worried. When she tried to walk out to the greenhouse, it was too much for her. That’s when we found her.”
“She didn’t see a person or hear a car?”
Hope shook her head. “No, she was just worried about Bill, as she had called him on his cell, and he hadn’t answered.”
Chief Everett nodded. “Then you all went to the greenhouse. Can you tell me your steps?”
Anne replied, “When we reached the door, I saw that Bill was injured so I told Kandi to call 911. She went outside the greenhouse. Eliza and I saw that Bill had been hurt.”
“Did he say anything to you?” He cocked his head.
“He only said one word, ‘attacked’ but he wasn’t fully conscious.” Anne rubbed her upper arms.
“It certainly looks like someone attacked him. But we must do more investigation.” He
pointed toward a broken area of the greenhouse. “I’m guessing whoever did this entered and exited that way and then ran into the cover of the woods.”
But why? That was the question that kept coming up in Anne’s mind.
Chapter Four
The EMS team had taken Lori to the hospital as well. As soon as Everett had finished his questions, the group returned to their vehicle.
“I feel so sorry for Bill and Lori. Like they just keep having bad things happen to them,” Kandi noted.
“Unfortunately, that’s life sometimes.” Hope steered the car back to town. Eliza bid the group a good evening and headed home to pack for her trip.
Kandi shook her head and spoke aloud. “Why would someone want to destroy the greenhouse though? It makes no sense.”
“Maybe just because they can. Vandals don’t care.” Anne interjected.
The trio drove over to the Inn. “I’ll check on the guests and then I will call it a night,” Hope replied. She gave Kandi a hug as the young woman turned toward her house.
Kandi screamed.
What had happened? A knot formed in Anne’s throat.
Kandi jumped up and down and ran toward her house. On the front steps were two young men. While taller than Kandi, their appearance made it clear that these were Kandi’s twin brothers that Anne had never met. They moved toward Kandi, who ran into their arms.
Anne and Hope walked over to the group. The boys had pulled Kandi up into a hug, three red heads pushed together. They were all smiling and laughing. Finally, they set her down on the ground.
Kandi pulled Anne over toward them. “This is Anne. Mom. I’ve told you all about her.”
Anne shook one hand and then the other. “Nice to meet you in person.”
“Likewise. I’m Karl.” He grinned widely beneath a tuft of a mustache.
“I’m Kevin.” Unlike Karl, Kevin had a full beard.
Both looked like they had spent plenty of time outdoors. Their faces were weathered, and they wore their hair long. Kevin had pulled his hair back in a ponytail while Karl’s just hung limply around his face.
“Why didn’t you call me?” Kandi playfully punched at the pair. “When did you get in?”
“How about we go inside?” Anne replied as Hope waved but headed back toward the Inn.
Karl crouched down and grabbed a grungy duffel bag while Kevin hiked a khaki backpack over his shoulder.
Kandi opened the door and led them back toward the kitchen. “I can take you up to your rooms in a minute, unless you need or want to go up now.”
“I’m good.” Karl stretched and bent over into a yoga pose. “That plane ride was the worst.”
Anne said, “I think Kandi had told me you all were hiking in—Nepal, was it?”
“Yes, that was the last place we visited. We would have come home sooner when things happened with Kandi—”
“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Kandi looked at Anne who recalled when Kandi had been accused of a horrible crime.
“Kandi, I’m going to see if Hope needs help to prepare for when the guests come back to the Inn. That way, you all can catch up a bit more.” She smiled at them. “How about coming over for dinner this evening?”
“Sounds good to me,” Kevin replied. “I’m a vegan and Karl is vegetarian so not sure if that makes a difference.”
Anne hugged Kandi. “Okay, see you later.” Anne took the shortcut between Kandi’s and the Brandywine Inn’s backyard. The guests hadn’t returned yet, so Anne and Hope set up a tray of brownies and popcorn in the living area. They restocked the little fridge with waters, juices, and sodas.
“I think we’re good for when they return. Now, an important question.” Anne looked intently at Hope.
“What’s that? You look awfully serious.”
“What can I cook that a vegan and a vegetarian would eat?”
Hope laughed. “Not to worry. I can handle it.”
The guests returned to the Inn and were settled into the living room with snacks and drinks.
“I’m off.” Anne closed the file she’d been working on and shut down the computer.
Hope looked up from a book she’d been reading about bees. “I think I’ll head out too. Kandi was going to take the next shift. Should I come back?”
“No need. I can do that. I’ll just pop home for a bit and then come back.”
The back door banged open. Stewart saw the women and hurried over to them.
“What is it, Stewart? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Hope motioned to a chair, but Stewart shook his head to the negative.
“I just… I can’t believe it.” He ran his hand over his face.
Anne reached over and took hold of his arm. “Stewart. Please. We can tell you’re shook up. Sit down and you can tell us what happened.”
He slumped into the chair that Hope had just abandoned. His elbows on his knees, he covered his face with his hands and took in deep breaths.
Anne and Hope made eyes at each other. They’d never known Stewart to lose his composure. He finally looked up.
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. But it’s always a shock. No matter what.”
The women waited.
“It’s Ray. We went to high school together. We were friends. Really good friends. Then he got in with the wrong crowd.”
He looked at Anne and Hope’s questioning faces.
“Drugs.”
They nodded.
“His dad had been hurt in a serious car accident and was on lots of painkillers. Ray got access to them and then started selling them.” He shook his head. “Not surprisingly, he got caught. They sent him to ‘juvey’ and we lost touch. I’d seen him a few months back. He’d come back to town, but he was so different. I guess that’s what drugs do to you. Hardens you.”
Anne leaned on the desk. “Sorry to hear that you and Ray are no longer friends. It does happen.”
Stewart shook his head vehemently. “No. No. That’s not it.” He rubbed his hands together. “The Bennett’s place. It was Ray. They found Ray.”
“I’m sorry.” Hope responded. “I think we’re missing something. I know the Bennetts had a fire at their place.”
Stewart looked at them. “That’s just it. The body they found in the greenhouse rubble when they were searching after the fire. It was Ray’s.”
Chapter Five
Anne left Hope in charge of figuring out the menu for the evening. She returned to her house to check on Mouser and to set up the food and treat trays for when she’d be next door at the Inn.
Hope had finally persuaded Stewart to go over to Kandi’s. Anne had waved to the pair as they walked over to Kandi’s.
Got to hand it to her. She’s a shrewd woman. Hope knows that Kandi will be the balm for Stewart’s sorrow.
As Anne pulled back the tab on the can of salmon, a meow caught her attention. Mouser, ever aloof when it suited him, rubbed up against her legs. She picked him up and he purred loudly.
“Don’t even think about it. I know you’re just trying to get me to give you a treat early.”
He meowed.
“Okay. Fine. Just a couple.” Anne picked up a couple of the treats from the open box and Mouser ate them. After he had licked her fingers, she set him down.
She closed the boxes and set the timers. “Okay, then I’m off.” She pointed to Mouser. “No wild parties while I’m gone.” His black fuzzy tail swished back and forth.
Anne wondered what he was thinking. Probably something along the lines of “You are my servant.”
Anne turned the light on over the kitchen sink and the light in the hallway, so that later on she wouldn’t come home to a dark house. Even as an adult, she preferred coming into a home with lights on which chased away any scary shadows.
The sun was still shining brightly in the sky even though it was late in the afternoon. Hope had called and said that Autumn, who was also a vegan, had decided to cook up a lentil curry for the evening meal. With a large salad and some naan bread
, they were set, so Anne was off the hook for preparing any dinner tonight.
Anne opened the door and heard laughter coming from the dining room. She smiled. This was so much better than all the arguing that had been part and parcel of the Inn’s first set of guests. She walked into the dining room where four ladies sat playing Apples to Apples.
“All well here?”
“Yes,” replied Mrs. Adams. She and her husband had been guests at the Inn for the last few days and had attended the lecture on bees and hives. “We’ve really enjoyed our stay here. I’ve already told Mike I want to reserve our room now for the homesteading fair this fall, before you get booked up.”
“That’s wonderful.” Anne picked up empty cups on the sideboard. “Let me know tomorrow when you leave, and I’ll get the room reserved.”
“Will you have the upstairs suite done by then?” Another guest raised her head. “My husband couldn’t come this time as he was working, and I’d like to bring the kids too. I think that could work for us.”
Anne, Hope, and Kandi had decided to turn the attic into a large suite with a bathroom that could serve as a room for four friends or a small family. Two beds were easily converted into a king-size bed and two other daybeds provided seating and sleeping arrangements. In addition, a small kitchenette with an apartment-size refrigerator, a microwave, and hot pot had already seen a lot of inquiries for reservations on their website.
After they’d cleared out the attic, they were amazed at how much more space they had. They’d included a table and four chairs for playing games. Like the other rooms in the Inn, it held no television only an area packed with various games and books for kids and adults. If people wanted to bring their own online entertainment, that was up to them, but the message of the Brandywine Inn was clear. Spend time off-line, outdoors, and with your family.
Anne realized she’d not answered but had been distracted by her thoughts. “Oh, I apologize. Yes, the room should be completed before the fair. I’d be happy to see if we have space for your family on the dates you want.”
She nodded to the two other women and took the gathered cups to the kitchen for washing. She was humming to herself when the back door opened, and Spencer popped in. “
