by Leena Clover
“I’m not trying to impress anyone,” Molly protested.
“Do it for yourself, sweetie,” Star said, patting her back.
Jenny remembered what she had planned to do. It was nothing more than a hunch. She walked to the Pelican Cove High School later that day, armed with some questions. She went to the library and asked to look at old yearbooks.
“You didn’t go to school here, did ya?” the old, faded lady at the school said.
“No, I didn’t. But my friends Heather and Molly did. I am working on a surprise for them.”
“What do you need their yearbooks for?” the woman grumbled. “They are stored up there.” She pointed toward some shelves near the ceiling. “I will have to ask one of the kids to climb up a ladder and get them down for you.”
“Can we do that now?” Jenny asked.
“No,” the woman said flatly. “Come back next week. I need some advanced notice about these things.”
Jenny bumped into someone on her way out and waved when she recognized Kevin.
“What are you going to find in those yearbooks?” Star asked when Jenny grumbled about them later.
“I’m shooting in the dark,” Jenny admitted. “Maybe the past will give us the answers we are looking for.”
Chapter 23
The day of the Spring Fest arrived soon enough. Jenny was hopping with excitement. She had been working overtime to get everything ready for the festival. The Boardwalk Café was going to have a booth and all her friends had promised to take turns dishing up Jenny’s delicious food so she could have some free time to enjoy the festival herself.
Her phone rang as she was frosting the last of the cupcakes. It was her son Nick.
“Big day, Mom!” he said. “I know you’ll do great.”
“I wish you were here, Nicky,” she whined, calling him by his childhood name. “I’ve met some girls who are about your age.”
“Why didn’t you say that first?” he joked.
Nick hung up after a while, leaving Jenny with a wistful feeling. She was beginning to like Pelican Cove but she wasn’t too happy about being situated so far from her son.
“Let’s start loading the van,” Petunia said.
She had solicited the help of some high school kids to help them load everything. The fairgrounds where the festival was being held were barely a mile away from the Boardwalk Café.
“We couldn’t have just walked these over?” she asked Petunia.
“It gets old after the third or fourth trip,” Petunia said. “Trust me on that.”
The whole town of Pelican Cove seemed to have gathered for the festival. Betty Sue Morse cut the ribbon, holding Tootsie in her arms and implored everyone to have fun.
The goodies from the Boardwalk Café were flying off the shelves.
“I hope you saved one of those cupcakes for me,” a voice drawled.
Jenny looked up into the stormy blue eyes of Adam Hopkins.
“Aren’t you tired of eating these?” she teased.
“Why don’t you show her around, Adam?” Petunia said. “It’s time she took a break and let her hair down.”
“I thought I had dibs on showing you around,” Jason Stone said, appearing next to Jenny.
He put his arm through hers and whisked her away, making her laugh at something silly. She mouthed ‘sorry’ to Adam Hopkins who shrugged and began walking away.
“Adam’s going to be mad at you, Jason.”
“He’s mad at someone most of the time,” Jason laughed. “Forget about him.”
Jenny felt a twinge of discomfort at the thought of disappointing Adam. Then she forgot all about it. They ran into Chris and Heather at the cotton candy booth. Heather was leaning into Chris, her face lit up in smiles. Jenny figured things must be going well with them.
“Have you seen Molly?” she asked, tearing off a big piece of the pink floss.
She popped it into her mouth and let it melt on her tongue.
“Let’s get some real food,” Jason said, pointing to a barbecue truck. “Those ribs are calling my name.”
“Will you go get us some?” Jenny asked. “I need to sit down for a while.”
Jason nodded cheerfully and strode toward the food stalls. Jenny was sure he would get more than just ribs. She found it was easy being around Jason. She didn’t feel like she had to watch every word she said.
Jenny wandered around looking for a place to sit. She spotted a couple of plastic chairs stacked over one another behind a tent. Almost every table around her was taken. Jenny thought she had lucked out with the empty chairs. She walked around the tent to get them. Everything around her went black the next instant. She saw stars and felt herself sinking into an abyss.
A beeping sound woke Jenny up. She had a massive headache. Her son Nick’s face swam in front of her eyes.
“Nicky,” she croaked. “Where am I?”
“That was some stunt you pulled, Mom,” her son smiled. “If I had known how badly you wanted me here…”
Jenny shifted her gaze and spotted a host of familiar faces. Star, Molly, Heather, Petunia and Betty Sue were all crowded around her. She felt another hand in hers and realized Jason was sitting by her bed holding her hand. Jenny’s heart sped up as she sensed another presence. Adam leaned on his stick in the doorway, standing away from the others.
“Clear the room, please,” he ordered gruffly. “I need to talk to Jenny.”
Nicky and Star both kissed her and filed out of the room. Jason didn’t budge from his position.
“I’m staying right here,” he informed Adam. “Someone has to keep an eye on her.”
“I’m not here to hurt her, Jason,” Adam said in an incensed voice. “Anything but.”
His voice went down an octave as he spoke to Jenny.
“Do you think you can answer a few questions?”
“I have some questions of my own,” Jenny muttered. “What am I doing here, for starters?”
“You were attacked,” Adam told her. “Someone knocked you out and left you behind a tent.”
“How did I get here?”
“We spent an hour looking for you,” Jason said in an anguished voice. “Tootsie found you behind a tent. You were unconscious. The paramedics revived you and brought you here.”
“What time is it?” Jenny asked.
“Eight in the evening,” Adam said grimly. “Do you remember what hit you?”
“Are you sure I didn’t just trip over something and fall down?” she asked.
“There was a Post-It note taped to your forehead, warning you to stay away,” Jason told her.
“I want to know what you have been doing for the past few days, Jenny,” Adam interrupted. “Someone out there is feeling threatened by your actions.”
Jenny told Adam about Molly. Adam’s eyebrows shot up when he heard about the queer happenings in Molly’s house.
“She should have reported that,” he sighed. “Who else have you talked to?”
“I don’t think the school librarian is going to bash your head in,” Adam said after he heard about her visit to the high school. “Did anyone else hear you talking to her?”
Jenny shook her head.
“The library was empty, as far as I remember.”
“Think harder, Jenny,” Adam urged. “This is important.”
“Do the police suspect anyone of John Mendoza’s murder?” Jenny asked.
She didn’t expect Adam to give her an answer.
“We don’t have any suspects at this time,” Adam admitted. “We are beginning to think it was some unknown person from out of town. He was the type of person plenty of folk had a grudge against.”
“That’s a stupid theory,” Jason lashed out. “The attack on Jenny proves the killer is someone we know. He or she has been a step ahead of us all along.”
“What about Jimmy Parsons?” Jenny asked. “He might have done it in a drunken daze and forgotten all about it.”
“Jimmy has an alibi,” Adam s
aid. “He was helping Captain Charlie unload the catch. He was hanging out at Ethan’s after that.”
Jenny winced as a piercing pain ripped through her head. She rubbed her forehead and asked Jason for a drink of water.
“She needs to rest,” Jason told Adam.
Adam turned to leave.
“Molly,” Jenny whispered.
She wasn’t sure if Adam heard her.
Star stayed in Jenny’s room all night, sleeping by her bed in a chair. She had convinced Nick, Jason and all the girls to go home.
Molly was back the next morning, lugging a stack of yearbooks.
“These are the books you wanted,” she told Jenny. “Old Mrs. Birch at the high school called me about them.”
Jenny didn’t have to voice her question. Molly held up a hand and explained.
“She said you mentioned us when you wanted to see the yearbooks. She called me when you didn’t turn up to get them. Small town, you see. Everyone knows everyone.”
Jenny smiled weakly. She had completely forgotten what she was going to look for in the yearbooks.
“I can’t believe how dorky I was in high school,” Molly laughed as she helped Jenny sit up in bed. “Don’t laugh too hard, okay?”
Jenny looked at the six feet tall scrawny figure of Molly Henderson. Had she always worn those soda bottle glasses, Jenny wondered. The yearbooks would tell her that.
Nick came in to meet Jenny. He was followed by the Magnolias. Heather handed her a bunch of pink and white roses. Jenny looked surprised as she breathed in a familiar fragrance.
“I picked this bouquet from Seaview’s garden,” Heather told her. “I know how much you love the place.”
“When can I go home?” Jenny asked Star. “I confess I’m enjoying all the attention. But I’d rather enjoy it from the comfort of home.”
“Just a day more,” Star told her. “They want to keep you under observation.”
Jenny looked at her son. “You never told me how you got here so fast, Nicky.”
Nick and Star looked at each other and started laughing.
“I was in Norfolk when I called you that morning,” Nick told her. “I was going to surprise you at the Spring Fest. But you trumped me, Mom.”
“I’m glad you are here,” Jenny said tearfully, “but I’m sorry I can’t show you around.”
“Adam’s twins are taking care of that,” Betty Sue told her. “Your boy’s going to be breaking hearts up and down the coast, Jenny.”
“Don’t cry, Mom,” Nick said, handing her a tissue. “You’re going to be fine.”
“She’s just emotional,” Star said. “Why don’t we all go get some coffee? We’ll let her rest a bit.”
Jenny closed her eyes and dozed off for a while. Nick was sitting in the chair next to her bed when she woke up. He was listening to some music on his headphones. Jenny’s eyes fell upon the yearbooks Molly had placed by her bed. She started flipping through them. She spotted Heather and Chris and another red headed boy who looked familiar. He was standing next to Molly and another girl in a lot of the pictures. Judging by the photos, Chris had been the quarterback of the school team and quite a jock. Heather wore braces but Molly didn’t have glasses.
The door opened and Molly walked in with another bunch of flowers.
“I forgot to bring these earlier,” she apologized. “Jason got them for you. I ran into him this morning. There’s a card with them.”
Jason had scrawled a brief note telling her he had to be in court.
Jenny thanked Molly for the flowers and the message.
“These are interesting,” Jenny said, pointing to the yearbooks in her lap. “You didn’t wear glasses in school?”
Molly blushed.
“I wore contacts,” she admitted. “I wanted to look cool for my boyfriend, you know. I didn’t want to be the girl with the Coke-bottle glasses.”
“You were seeing someone in high school?” Jenny asked.
“You’ll never guess who. I kind of dumped him when I went away to college. We just wanted different things from life.”
“Who?” Jenny whispered hoarsely.
“Kevin! The mailman. Can you imagine?” Molly laughed. “There’s a reason why people shouldn’t get hitched in high school.”
“Kevin,” Jenny repeated. “Is he that red haired kid in your yearbook?”
“Sure is,” Molly bobbed her head. “He took the first job he got after graduation. Been a mailman ever since.”
Jenny’s heart began beating wildly. There was a knock on the door and Adam limped in. He wasn’t looking too happy. He seemed relieved to see Molly.
“I’m glad I found you here, Molly,” he said. “I was coming to you next.”
“More questions for me?” Molly asked.
“Jenny told me about the stuff you misplaced. I sent a few men to your block to make inquiries. We may have found something.”
“I’m all ears,” Molly said, sitting down.
“Are you up for this, Mom?” Nick asked.
He had taken off his headphones a while ago and was listening to what was going on.
“I’m okay!” Jenny assured everyone. “Get on with it, Adam.”
“One of your neighbors sits in her sun room all day,” Adam told them. “I guess she stares at the street and spies on people.”
“You mean old Mrs. Daft?” Molly snorted. “She’s a voyeur alright.”
“This voyeur may help us crack our case,” Adam told them. “She has seen someone peering through your windows in the afternoon. This person goes in sometimes and spends some time in your house.”
“But I’m at work all day,” Molly said, shocked at this information.
“The woman, Mrs. Daft, wasn’t sure of that. She thinks you might have an arrangement. She has seen you coming home for lunch sometimes.”
“That’s only if I forget to carry my lunch,” Molly objected. “Is this woman sure I’m home when the man goes in?”
“She wasn’t,” Adam said. “She started noting down the days the man peeked in or went inside your house.”
“Why would he do that?” Molly asked, sounding puzzled.
“Forget the why,” Jenny cried. “Think of the who.” She stared at Adam, trying to read his expression.
“Who is this man, Adam?”
Chapter 24
Adam was worried about Jenny. She was getting worked up.
“Calm down, Jenny,” he said. “You too, Molly. At this time, we just have a description from Mrs. Daft. But I think it is enough to identify the person.”
“Who is it?” Molly asked impatiently.
“It’s the mailman,” Adam told them.
“Kevin?” Molly and Jenny burst out together.
“The uniform and the red hair both point to only one person. We are bringing him in for questioning as we speak.”
“Nothing was taken from my house,” Molly said. “What’s the crime here, Adam?”
“Trespassing at the least and murder at the most,” Adam shot back.
“You think Kevin killed John?” Molly asked incredulously. “Why would he do that?”
“We are going to find that out,” Adam told them. “Why don’t you come with me, Molly?”
Nick’s mouth was hanging open in shock.
“What have you been up to here, Mom?” he gushed. “I thought you were moving to a remote island where nothing interesting happened.”
“So did I, son,” Jenny said, pulling Nick into a hug.
Star and Petunia brought lunch from the Boardwalk Café.
“I made chicken noodle soup for you,” Star said. “And Petunia made her special three cheese sandwich.”
“Has anyone heard back from Molly?” Jenny asked, sipping the delicious thyme flavored soup. “I’m dying to know what’s happening there.”
Molly didn’t come back until 4 PM. She looked drained.
“Have you had lunch?” Jenny asked with concern.
“Adam ordered some Chinese foo
d for lunch,” she said. “But I wasn’t really hungry.”
“Tell me what happened, Molls,” Jenny urged. “Did he do it?”
“He did,” Molly said, nodding her head. “He denied everything at first. Said Mrs. Daft must be mistaken. But he sang like a canary when he saw me.”
Jenny would never have guessed what Molly told her next.
“He never stopped loving me,” Molly said in wonder. “He never went out with any other woman. When I came back to Pelican Cove after my divorce, Kevin felt a surge of hope.”
“Did he ever ask you out?”
Molly shook her head.
“He was giving me time to recover. He had finally decided to ask me out when he saw John arguing with me at my doorstep.”
“Did he know John was your husband?”
“He did. He actually remembered his face from back when John had come here for that summer festival.”
“Did he feel threatened?”
“No,” Molly shook her head. “He was sure I wouldn’t go back to John.”
“It’s rare to have that kind of faith,” Jenny mused. “Why would he think that?”
“Deep down, he believed I loved him too.”
“What did you do to make him feel that, Molly?”
“Nothing,” Molly said, shrugging her shoulders. “I hardly ever noticed him. I mean, I ran into him all the time on the street or at the café, but I didn’t spare a thought for him.”
“You must have talked to him though.”
“I said Hello, Jenny, asked him how he was – just the usual polite talk you engage in with anyone you know.”
“Did you go on a date with him? Share a cup of coffee or something?”
“Nothing like that,” Molly said.
“Okay, go on.”
“Kevin heard part of our conversation. He followed John to the beach. He waited until they got away from town and came to a deserted stretch. Then he confronted him and asked him to leave me alone.”
“Was this the day of the party? Why didn’t he run into any picnickers?”
“This was earlier that morning, much before any of Ada’s guests or the other people thronged the beach.”
“John must have argued with him,” Jenny said, considering how it had ended.
