The River Valley Series

by Tess Thompson

  And when she returned to Los Angeles she called the Eileen Fisher-draped Valerie and made another appointment.

  At their first session Valerie crossed her arms and smiled but had no expression in her bland and all-seeing eyes. “It’s been almost three years since I’ve seen you.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Are you ready to dig deep?”

  “Dig deep?

  “That’s right,” said Valerie. “It’s time.”

  Now, the deer startled and ran out of the yard and into the forest. Bella stood, glancing into the kitchen. Annie was there, making coffee. Perhaps the deer had seen the light shift. Bella knocked softly on the kitchen door. Annie, her back toward the door, jumped, but seeing it was Bella, waved and opened the door.

  One look at her face and Annie opened her arms. “What happened?”

  Bella told her everything.

  “You’re absolutely right he’s trying to push you away before you can push him away. The key is not allowing him to do that,” said Annie.

  “How?”

  “By remaining steadfast in your devotion.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means figuring out who murdered Tiffany Archer. Until his name is cleared the poor man isn’t going to be able to give in to his feelings for you. It’s all he can think of right now. Not to mention that guy has major trust issues. Who can blame him? His fiancée runs off with his cousin? I mean, Bella, it’s awful to think of.”

  “And I’m not trustworthy in his eyes because of Graham.”

  “You will be. Just give it time. Keep doing what you’re doing. Do you want some cake?”

  Bella shook her head. Even cake wouldn’t do tonight.

  “Come on then, I’m putting you to bed. You can sleep in Alder’s room tonight,” said Annie. “I’ll give you one of Drake’s sleeping pills.”

  In Alder’s room she put on her pajamas, which smelled like Ben. She brushed her teeth and climbed into the twin bed. Staring at the shadows on the wall, she fought against the hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. This was just an argument between them, not the death of their relationship, she told herself. Perhaps he would wake tomorrow and feel more rational? She had to hope for this. After a few moments Annie came in with a pill and a glass of water.

  “Where’s your phone?” asked Annie.

  “In my purse.” She’d left her purse in the kitchen. Ben wouldn’t call. He was too stubborn and insane.

  “Okay, good. Because Drake says people can do weird things on this drug and not remember doing it, like calling someone they really shouldn’t call.”

  Bella swallowed the pill. “Will you sit with me?”

  “Of course.” Annie perched on the side of the bed and stroked Bella’s hair.

  “Is this what it’s like to have an older sister?”

  Annie smiled. “I suppose. I wouldn’t know.” She tugged at the blanket, making it tighter about Bella’s shoulders. “I’m proud of you. I know it’s not easy to love someone when they’re not acting very lovable but that’s when you know it’s real. Ben will come to his senses, probably in the morning, and feel like an idiot. Until then, I’m impressed by how you’re handling this whole thing.”

  “You always make me feel like a better person than I really am.”

  “Nonsense. You’re better for real.”

  “Did I ever tell you that you remind me of my mother?”

  Annie smiled. A gentle smile. Just like her mother’s. “That’s just the drug talking”

  And then it went blessedly black.

  Chapter 13

  Bella woke the next morning feeling refreshed. She showered and dressed in slacks and a light sweater and followed the smell of blackberry syrup and pancakes into the kitchen. Annie was flipping pancakes. They were dark. This was a shame. It meant they were whole grain laced with wheat germ and other healthy ingredients. But Drake stirred dark purple syrup, the source of the delightful smell of blackberries, at the stove. Peter and Cleo were at the counter. Peter was eating pancakes between sips of coffee. But Cleo, looking a little green, was reading her script.

  “Morning, Bella,” said Annie. “You want some hotcakes?”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Sleep okay?” Drake asked, his light blue eyes actually soft and sympathetic.

  “Rock-like. That stuff’s powerful.”

  “It is. You shouldn’t take it much, though. Totally addictive.”

  “Yeah, big brother, I know,” she said, glancing at Annie and rolling her eyes.

  “I saw that.” Drake poured the syrup into a pitcher. Normally she’d be dumping as much as she could get away with over a giant stack of pancakes but this morning her stomach turned at the thought of eating. Was her appetite permanently suppressed? Damn you, Benjamin Fleck, she thought. You’ve messed with my stomach.

  As if she conjured him, Ben was suddenly there in the kitchen doorway with wet hair and dressed casually in a jeans and a t-shirt that matched his eyes. Sunday, she thought. He was off work. Why did he have to look so good in jeans? Everyone greeted him, except Bella. She avoided looking at him, her heart pounding in her chest. Don’t give him the satisfaction, she thought, of letting him know how much he’d hurt her. She poured some coffee, added a dab of half-and-half, and headed towards the door.

  “Bella, no breakfast?” called Annie.

  “I’m not hungry.” She didn’t turn around.

  “Just coffee for me too,” she heard Ben say.

  She was in the living room, pretending to read a magazine, reclined on one of the tan couches, when Cleo came through, still carrying her script. “Bella, I’m off to work with the coach Richard suggested. Wish me luck.”

  “You’ll do great. She’s the best coach around from what I hear.”

  Cleo came to the couch, kneeling on the floor and resting her forearms on the cushion next to Bella. “Don’t worry about this thing with Ben. He’ll come around. He’s just been hurt and is trying to push you away. I did that with Peter but he’ll figure it out. And Peter will figure out who did this.”

  “Promise?”

  “He’s relentless.” Cleo patted her knee. “I’m so glad you’ll be there tomorrow to make me look decent.”

  “This will not be hard.”

  A few minutes after Cleo left, she heard the front door open and shut and Alder shout out his standard greeting. “I’m home, peeps.”

  Alder. He would cheer her up. “In here,” she called out to him, tossing the magazine aside.

  “Auntie Bel, whatcha doing?”

  “Nothing.”

  He perched on the coffee table, scrutinizing her face. “You sad?”

  Behind him, Ellen White was coming in, carrying a pie. “Bella, I brought you a pie.”

  She sat up. Pie? “What kind?”

  “Apple.”

  She clapped her hands. “Pie’s good.” The room filled with the scent of cinnamon and cooked apples and butter. “Is that a butter crust?”

  “Is there any other kind?”

  “What’s for breakfast?” asked Alder.

  “Whole grain pancakes.”

  “What? Whole grain? Seriously, Bella, you’ve got to do something about Mom’s health kick. She’s ruining perfectly good pancakes by putting that awful stuff in them.”

  “I know,” said Bella. “But there’s nothing I can do. Plus, Peter’s here. You know what that means.”

  Ellen chuckled. “You two just come on over to my house if you get hungry. I’ll make you some real pancakes.”

  “Maybe tomorrow?” He grinned. “No school.”

  “No school on Monday?” Bella asked.

  “Parent/teacher conferences,” said Alder. “I get to stay with Momo and Goldie.” Momo was Alder’s pet name for Ellen, and Goldie was her dog. Alder was crazy for both of them.

  “Should we be worried?” asked Bella.

  “About my conference?” asked Alder, looking perplexed.

  “Right. Just thinkin
g of my own experiences,” said Bella, smiling. “I wasn’t the best student.”

  Ellen jumped in. “Of course not. Alder’s an excellent student.” She sniffed, somewhat judgmentally, and added, “He hardly studies because it’s all too easy for him.” She wagged her finger at him. “However, young man, it’s not a good idea to develop lazy habits just ‘cause things are easy. Someday you’ll be challenged and then you won’t have the proper study habits in place.”

  “But Momo, what am I supposed to study if I already have my homework done?”

  “Smart boy like you should be asking for extra credit. Matter of fact, I’m going to suggest that to your mother this morning.” She handed Alder the pie. “You take this into the kitchen. I need to talk to little miss here for a minute.”

  Bella sat up, crossing her legs, readying herself for one of Ellen White’s life lessons. No idea what it would be about this time but Ellen White was always at the ready with advice, whether one asked for it or not.

  She lowered her voice to just above a whisper. “Annie told me on the phone that Ben’s acting like a real nincompoop. Men can be profoundly idiotic, unfortunately. But Ben’s a good one. Needs a little grace I suspect, given this ridiculous police business.”

  Bella remained quiet.

  Ellen went on, speaking louder now. “I was awake last night—Vern snores like a bear some nights—and I started thinking about this whole darn thing and something occurred to me.”

  Behind them, both Drake and Ben were coming out of the kitchen. “What occurred to you?” asked Ben.

  Ellen motioned for them to come sit by pointing to one of the couches. “Good, get on in here. Both of you.” If there was any doubt in anyone’s mind that Ellen White was a former high school English teacher, there certainly shouldn’t be. She eyed Ben as he sat on the opposite couch from Bella. “Where’s Peter Ball? I need him to hear this too.”

  “I’m here,” said Peter, carrying a coffee cup into the room. He sat in one of the easy chairs.

  “You need a chalkboard?” Ben asked Ellen, grinning. Bella looked at him in surprise. Was he teasing Ellen? When had she last seen him smile? Three days ago. Ben glanced her way. They locked eyes for a moment before she looked away. The doorbell chimed. Who could that be?

  “I’ll get it,” said Bella.

  Annie had beat Bella to the door. It was Linus. He was wearing one of his blue silk suits and a red tie. “Good morning, ladies.”

  “Linus, what’re you doing here?” Annie had a towel in her hand and was still wearing her apron, which was smeared with pancake batter and blackberry syrup.

  Linus slipped off his coat and placed it carefully on the bench near the door before turning to Annie with his hands on his hips. “Oh, sweetie, why are you wearing an apron at home? You should be running around here in that negligée I got you for your wedding. Do you girls never listen?”

  “Linus, your expectations for my sexiness are way too high. I have a house full of people, and, in case you don’t remember, a ten-year-old boy living here.”

  “That’s absolutely no excuse.” Linus turned to greet Bella, giving her air kisses on each cheek. “You look gorgeous.” He pursed his lips and cocked his head to the side. “Falling in love agrees with you.”

  Bella shook her head, trying not to let the tears flood her eyes. Linus being kind to her might send her over the crying precipice. And she was done crying over Benjamin Fleck. At least for the next hour. Damn you, she cursed him again silently. “He’s already dumped me,” she said in a whisper.

  “That isn’t true,” said Annie, matching Bella’s whisper. “He’s just acting crazy because of this whole thing with the police.”

  Linus glanced toward the front room. “Is he here now?”

  Annie nodded. “And Ellen.”

  “She says she has something she wanted to discuss about the police,” said Bella.

  “I have an idea I want to run by the gang too,” said Linus. “But we have to wait. Lee and Tommy are on their way over as well. And Mike and Sharon. Everyone’s concerned about Ben and we want to get on the same page on this thing. Make sure we’re all in this together to figure out the real killer.”

  Bella smiled, squeezing Annie’s hand. “Your gang of misfits always comes through when it counts.”

  “You know it,” she said as they went into the living room.

  Annie made more coffee while Drake found a white board. Bella took Peter into Drake’s office. “The whole gang’s on their way over. They all want to help.” She said it almost apologetically but there was no need.

  “Good. The more people we have on this thing the better.”

  She left Peter to set up the whiteboard on an easel and went to fetch another cup of coffee. Lee and Tommy must have arrived because Alder was in the kitchen holding their toddler, Ellie-Rose, on his lap and feeding her small bites of pancake. “She needs tiny bites so she doesn’t choke,” he said. Her heart twisted, remembering doing the same with her little niece. Don’t think of it now, she told herself. Just focus in the moment.

  Ellie-Rose, a smaller version of her pretty redheaded mother, grinned at Bella. “’Pakes.” She raised her arms in the air. “Yay.”

  “Pakes are yay.” Bella poured more coffee into her cup and added cream that Annie had placed out for the guests.

  “They banished us to the kitchen. I’m too young to hear all the grizzly details, which totally sucks because I’m a great detective,” said Alder.

  “I’ll fill you in later,” she promised, with her hand on his sweet head. “Just without the R-rated parts.”

  “But Bella, those are all the badass parts.”

  “I know. But you’re too young for badass parts yet. Give it a couple more years.”

  She was almost to the door when he called out to her. “Bella?”

  “Yep?”

  “Ben’s not going to jail, is he?”

  “Absolutely not. He didn’t do anything.”

  “Yeah, but sometimes innocent people go to jail. Look at what happened in To Kill a Mockingbird.”

  “No way this gang will let that happen.”

  “More ‘pakes,” said Ellie-Rose, tugging on Adler’s arm.

  He fed the baby another piece and kissed her forehead. “Bella, I know Ben’s acting like a jerk but that’s just what men do when they’re afraid.”

  She chuckled. “I know, honey.” She paused. “But thanks for saying that.”

  “Badass,” said Ellie-Rose, crystal clear. Bella couldn’t help but laugh. She couldn’t say pancake but badass came out as though spoken by a classically trained actress.

  “Oh no,” said Alder, grimacing. “I’m in so much trouble.”

  Bella continued to laugh. “You better teach her a new word before her parents come back in here. Seriously.”

  Alder made a clicking noise with his tongue and shook his head sadly. “Why are people so worried over conventions?”

  “You better start worrying about them or your mother’s going to have you banished to your room until Thanksgiving.”

  “Oh, Bella, I’m not made for this world.”

  “Badass,” said Ellie-Rose, grinning.

  In the living room, Mike and Sharon had arrived and were sitting together on one of the couches next to Tommy, Lee, and Ellen. Ben was talking quietly with Drake and Linus near the fireplace. Annie was pouring coffee for everyone and had somehow produced pastries. There was a never-ending supply of food in this house, thought Bella. Such a shame she felt like road kill. She hated to waste good pastries.

  Ben and Linus took seats as Annie settled next to Drake on the loveseat closest to the stone fireplace. Bella stood in the corner of the room, feeling awkward. Why couldn’t her place be by Ben? Why did he have to act like such a fool and ruin everything between them? Finally, she opted for the chair nearest Peter.

  Ben cleared his throat and looked around the room. “Listen, I just wanted to say thanks for rallying behind me. You all have no reason to
believe I’m innocent but I’m grateful you do. I hope this all blows over but, I don’t know, I have a bad feeling. The way those cops interrogated me the other day I feel like they want to pin this on me just to meet the demands of the public. Anyway, thank you.”

  “We take care of our own here,” said Mike. “Always have, always will.”

  “That’s right,” said Tommy.

  “And all this because you did the right thing for that poor girl. Just shameful,” said Ellen.

  Peter, using the whiteboard, charted out what they knew thus far. “Ben arrived with a drunk Tiffany at eleven and left at midnight. The clerk at the front desk substantiated this. We also were able to see him arrive and leave from the security cameras.”

  Ellen, looking up from her pad, raised her hand. “Were there any other people in or out of the lobby on the security cameras?”

  “No,” said Peter. “Which tells me one thing.”

  “That it was done by someone staying in the lodge?” asked Lee, sitting forward on the couch, her intelligent eyes snapping.

  “Exactly,” said Peter. He twirled the pen between his fingers like a baton and gazed at the white board. “The problem with this case is there are too many suspects.” He went on to tell them about Graham Rouse admitting to an affair with Tiffany and the two men in suits who had followed Tiffany that night, along with the blackmail scheme.

  “So this Jocelyn Zinn—she could have hired someone to do it, right, Peter?” asked Tommy. “Those two men could be working for her?”