by Nancy Mehl
It was almost four thirty before Mother was ready to leave. She was putting on her cape when she suddenly got a strange look on her face. “My goodness. I almost forgot.” She reached inside her cloak and pulled out a package wrapped in brown paper and bound with twine. “The letters Clay sent. Father asked me to give them to you. He said you should do whatever you want with them.”
“Thanks, Mother. I’ll put them upstairs. Maybe I’ll read them someday, but right now I think they’d just make me sad.”
“I understand, Daughter. I am sorry they were late in reaching you.”
I took the package from her with a smile. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”
She said good-bye and left. I watched her climb into the buggy and signal to Blackie that it was time to start home.
A few minutes after she’d ridden away, Clay called to find out how late I was working tonight. The roads between Belleville and Kingdom were in pretty good shape, and no snow was forecast for tonight.
“Perfect timing,” I told him. “With everyone still digging out, I’ve decided to close. I’ll make us dinner, and the three of us will have the whole evening together.”
“That sounds wonderful. I’ve been stuck in this motel room too long. I’m getting cabin fever.”
“Well, not sure how much different being stuck in the restaurant will be, but we’d love to see you.”
He laughed. “Trust me. Spending time with you and Charity is what I want more than anything in the world. It might take me a little longer than usual to get there, though. How ’bout around seven?”
“Seven it is. See you soon.”
“Love you, Lizzie.”
“I . . . I love you . . . too.” As I hung the phone up, I struggled with the reason it had been so difficult to say that.
I hurried upstairs to change. Since the restaurant was closed, I decided to dress up a bit. Not being a “dress” person after having to wear long skirts most of my life, I made the ultimate sacrifice. I took off my usual jeans and put on a lovely long-sleeved Nicole Miller print dress I’d found at a garage sale. I’d worn it only once, to a Harbor House banquet. It had muted shades of turquoise, blue, and black and created a pattern that almost reminded me of butterflies. It seemed to set off my dark hair and eyes. The night of the banquet, I’d received quite a few compliments.
I pulled on my only pair of dress shoes, black pumps with small heels. Then I touched up my makeup and brushed my hair. I checked myself in the dresser mirror. Not bad.
“Oh, Mama. You’re beautiful,” Charity said. “Can I dress up too?”
“If you want to. What about your pink dress?”
She nodded happily. “Just like The Princess. Except she has blond hair and I don’t.”
I chuckled. “Yes, just like The Princess. Do you need help putting it on?”
She shook her head vigorously. “I’m getting to be a pretty big girl, you know. I can get dressed by myself.” She started to flounce out of my room but stopped at the door. “But maybe you better brush my hair for me. I don’t do it right sometimes.”
“I’ll be happy to do that.”
“Thank you, Mama.” With that she left.
I suddenly remembered a small bottle of cologne I’d bought on sale in Kansas City. Now, where was it? My purse. I’d stuck it in there because it was so small I didn’t want it to get lost in all the other junk I’d shoved into our suitcases as we were leaving town. I found my purse and scavenged around in it, trying to locate the bottle.
Before I uncovered the cologne, my fingers closed around my cell phone. I’d forgotten all about it. After finally finding the cologne and dabbing it on my neck and below my ears, I decided to plug in the phone. I had no idea if it would work in Kingdom, so far out in the country. But, since I’d paid for two months of service, it would be interesting to find out if I’d thrown my money away.
Finding the charger took several minutes, but I finally located it in a small bag I hadn’t unpacked yet. I unplugged the DVD player, stuck the charger into the receptacle, and turned on the phone. I started to walk away when the phone beeped out a signal that there was a message. I went back, pressed the button to retrieve my messages, and entered my voicemail code. There were six new messages. My stomach clenched. Did I really want to listen? At first I decided not to, but curiosity got the better of me, and I punched in the number that would play back the phone calls. Then I pressed the speaker button. Meghan’s voice came through the speaker.
“Lizzie,” she said excitedly, “you’ve been completely cleared! Sylvia found out you’d been let go and launched an investigation. A little research proved you were right. Reba doctored the books, trying to make you look guilty. She was fired. No one is sure why she did it, but everyone knows now that you were framed. Sylvia wants you back. After a few more weeks of rest, she’s returning to the director’s job.” There was a long pause. “I hope you get this, Lizzie. I miss you. Please call me and let me know you’re okay. I’m worried about you.” The rest of the messages were all the same, although Meghan’s plea to contact her became more insistent.
I slid down to the floor, staring at the phone with disbelief. It was over. The nightmare was over. No more running. Relief overtook me, and all I could do was sob. The pent-up fear and frustration of the last couple of weeks slowly drained from my body, leaving me feeling weak but exhilarated. I sat there for several minutes thinking, wondering what this meant for Charity and me.
Finally Charity called out, needing help with her hair. I turned off the phone, got up, and went to help her. After brushing her hair and wiping the mascara off my face, we went downstairs. Charity played with The Princess while I prepared dinner. Steak and potatoes. Salad. As I worked, a deep sense of awareness bubbled up from inside me, and I began to hum a familiar tune.
For the first time since coming to Kingdom, I knew exactly what I wanted.
CHAPTER / 24
“Well, that was about the best dinner I ever had,” Clay said, polishing off his last bite of steak. “Your mommy is a really good cook, Charity.”
She smiled. “You should try her grilled cheese sandwiches. They’re yummy!”
He laughed easily. He and Charity had developed a comfortable friendship, and I was glad to see it. “I’ll do that one of these days.”
“What about dessert, Mama?” she said coquettishly. Charity knew she had charmed Clay and was playing it for all she was worth.
“Yes, we’re having dessert,” I said, “and after that, you’re going to bed.”
Her bottom lip stuck out. “But I want to stay up and play with Clay.”
“Sorry, Cherry Bear,” I said, “but it’s very late. Clay can come another time. You can play with him then.”
“Okay, but we still hafta eat our dessert. What is it?”
I smiled. “How about hot fudge sundaes?”
“Oh, Mama. That would be just lovely.”
Clay grinned. “I think that would be just lovely too.”
I started to pick up our dinner dishes when he stopped me. “You’ve done enough. I’ll carry the dishes.”
“Thank you. If you’ll take them into the kitchen, I’ll start on those lovely hot fudge sundaes.”
“There will be nuts, right Mama?” Charity’s question was asked with all seriousness. One episode from an ice cream store in Kansas City when the woman making the sundaes forgot the nuts had caused Charity to become the guardian of hot fudge sundaes. She had no intention of allowing that kind of mistake to occur again.
“I promise you, Cherry Bear, there will be nuts.”
“Then it’s okay.” She settled back with a sigh, content to wait for the highly anticipated sundae to make its entrance.
Clay picked up our plates and carried them to the kitchen while I got the ice cream out of the freezer and began heating up the fudge topping. It was interesting to see how many trips it took him to carry everything when I could have done it in one. There was a way to stack dishes for maximum volume, an
d Clay obviously needed a lesson. But tonight wasn’t the time for instruction in the fine art of waitressing.
I served the sundaes, topped with whipped cream, nuts, and a cherry, to the delight of my daughter and a smile of appreciation from her father. By the time Charity finished her last bite, her eyes were heavy with sleep. It didn’t take much encouragement to get her to tell Clay good-night and give him a kiss, so I could carry her upstairs to bed. We prayed together, and then I tucked her in. She dozed off immediately.
On my way toward the stairs, I noticed the cell phone blinking in the living room. It was finally charged, so I decided to unplug it. As I did, something occurred to me. Something I’d missed the first time I checked the messages. I’d saved all of Meghan’s calls, and it just took a moment to find out what I wanted to know. Strange. I turned off the phone and plugged the DVD player back in. It didn’t make any sense. What did it mean?
I quickly retrieved the brown paper package Mother had given me and opened it. What I discovered caused me even more concern. Shoving the letters into a drawer, I tried to get myself together before joining Clay downstairs. As I came down the steps, he must have noticed the look on my face.
“Is something wrong?” he asked. “Is Charity okay?”
“Yes, it’s not that.” I frowned at him. “Clay, earlier this evening I found some calls on my cell phone from my friend Meghan in Kansas City. Seems my old boss raised the roof about the missing money. A little investigation uncovered the truth—that Reba took the money in an attempt to frame me. I’ve been completely cleared.”
His jaw dropped. “But . . . but that’s wonderful, Lizzie! I can hardly believe it. You must be so relieved.”
I sat down at the table across from him. “Oh, I am. But Meghan’s first call came a few days after I arrived in Kingdom. That’s over a week before you told me charges had been filed against me.”
He looked puzzled. “My information must have been wrong. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to say. My source is usually very reliable.”
“It’s a good thing I plugged my cell phone in. I’d have never known the truth.”
“I’ll certainly be calling my friend to find out what happened. I know his information frightened you, and I wouldn’t do that for the world.”
I drew an imaginary circle on the tabletop with my finger. “It certainly seems odd, though. Don’t you think? I thought you said your source knew James Webb.”
He frowned, his hazel eyes seeking mine. “Yes, that’s right. What are you trying to say?”
“It just seems a little convenient, doesn’t it? You want me to go with you to Seattle, and lo and behold your friend tells you that the authorities are after me.”
“Lizzie,” he said, looking at me strangely, “I would never try to manipulate you into marrying me. I only want your happiness. And Charity’s. I think you’re letting your imagination run away with you.”
“Maybe. Seems like I’ve been wrong about a lot of things. About several people in my life. Especially the men.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Men? I hoped I was the only one. How many men are you involved with?”
I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms. “Well, one of them is my father, if that makes you feel any better.”
“Your father? Not much to misunderstand about him. He’s certainly treated you horribly.”
“Yes, he has. You’re right about that.” I looked at him through narrowed eyes. The confusion I’d experienced since checking the dates of Meghan’s first phone call and the postmarks on Clay’s letters began to turn into anger. “But so have you.”
Clay shook his head. “Lizzie, I apologized. More than once. And I explained. There’s not much else I can do. Has something happened? You seem so . . . so different tonight.”
“My mother brought me your letters, Clay.”
He looked relieved. “Good. Have you read them?”
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
“I don’t understand. Why not? If you read them, you’ll see clearly how much I love you. How much I’ve always loved you.”
“I don’t doubt that they’re packed with declarations of love and commitment.”
“Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
I leaned forward. “No. Not anymore.”
He reached out and took my hand in his. “I have no idea what’s bothering you, but I don’t like it. We’ve planned a wonderful life together. With our child. And now . . . Is it Noah Housler? Has he been filling you with lies? Trying to destroy us? You can’t trust him, Lizzie. He’d do anything to break us up.”
I gazed down at his hand. Well manicured. Clean. Soft. Unlike Noah’s hands, which were rough from hard work and many times had dirt beneath the nails from working out in the fields. I pulled my hand from his. “No. The only lies have been coming from you.”
“What lies? I haven’t lied to you. I wouldn’t do that.”
“Those letters were sent in the last year, Clay. None of them were postmarked before last January. You didn’t try to reach me right after your father’s death.” I stared at him, feeling as though I was really seeing him for the first time. “You’ve been lying to me ever since you got to Kingdom. Do you know what you’ve put me through? If you think I’d leave with you after the way you’ve tried to manipulate me, you’re sadly mistaken.”
He didn’t say anything. Just sat there. I felt like he was thinking, trying to come up with an explanation that would mollify me. Finally, he stood up.
“I need some coffee. How about you?”
“I guess. However, I’d rather have an explanation.”
“And you’ll get it. After I get us both a cup of coffee.”
After he left, I took a deep cleansing breath. My hands were shaking, but not from fear. I was furious. Furious at being used. Furious at being lied to. As I sat there waiting, troubling ideas began to float through my brain. Bits and pieces that didn’t make sense. I was so entrenched in my thoughts, I didn’t hear Clay return. When he set a coffee cup down in front of me, I was startled.
“So you’ve made up your mind? You’re not coming to Seattle with me?” he asked.
“No. But I’d already decided not to go before I made the connection about the phone calls and the letters.”
“And why is that?”
I didn’t like the look on his face. His expression was void of emotion, and his tone of voice disturbed me.
“Because I realized the main reason I was going with you was to protect Charity and give her a father. I would do anything for my daughter. Unfortunately, it wasn’t because I loved you.”
“But you said you did.”
“I think I did . . . once, but I’ve realized I’m not the same person I was when I knew you before, Clay. I’ve grown up. I want something different in my life.”
“Like Noah Housler?”
“Yes, like Noah Housler. And Kingdom. The truth is, I don’t want to leave this town. I love this old restaurant, and I want to run it. Also, I want to bring Charity up around my parents and all the other wonderful people who live here.”
“What about me?”
“You have to do whatever’s best for you. It will take me a long time to trust you again.” I picked up my coffee cup. The pot must have been on way too long. It was bitter, but I drank it anyway. I needed a shot of caffeine to stay on my toes.
“What if the best thing for me is to take Charity to Seattle?”
The coffee cup almost slipped from my hands. “Take Charity? Away from me? Of course not. But you can see her, Clay. Even if I don’t like what you did, she is your daughter.”
He took a sip from his own cup and put it down. “I’m afraid that won’t work for me. My mother would never accept that.”
“What does your mother have to do with anything?” I finished the coffee in my cup and wished I had more.
Clay sighed and leaned forward, resting his head on his hands. “She has something to do with everything. You see, she has the mone
y. My father left her all of it. Every last dime. And unless I bring her granddaughter to her, I’ll have nothing. She’s threatened to write me out of her will.”
I shook my head slowly. “I don’t understand . . .” But that wasn’t true. I was beginning to understand. And if I was right, the truth was horrifying. “Clay, who was Dave Parsons?”
He raised his head, and I was shocked to see the wild look in his eyes. “Dave Parsons was a cheap detective hired to find you. He did a great job, letting me know you were in Kansas City. But then he became a problem.”
“A problem?” The room seemed to be spinning slightly. I guess I hadn’t realized how tired I was. I shook my head, trying to clear it. “Wh-what do you mean?”
Clay smiled oddly. The corners of his mouth turned up, but the eyes that studied me were cold and dead. Like a shark’s. “He found out about the notes I was sending to you, and he wanted out. Felt sorry for you. Poor old Dave just didn’t have the killer instinct, you see.”
“You sent those vile threats?” My tongue felt too thick for my mouth. “Why?”
He laughed. “I told you. My mother wants her granddaughter. I guess she’s given up on me. She thinks she can groom Charity to carry on the family name.” He shrugged. “I don’t care, as long as I get the bulk of her estate. She promised me a tidy sum as well as a place on the board of my father’s company if I succeed in bringing her long-lost seed home. I thought about how to accomplish the task for a long time. I’d heard you’d left Kingdom, so I sent your parents some letters vowing my unending love. When I didn’t hear from them, I hired good old Dave to locate you. After that, I started sending those notes to frighten you.”
“The threatening notes . . .”
He laughed. “Good move to start them up again, wasn’t it? I didn’t want you to think the threat was past after Dave died. So I stuck one under the door the other night.” He frowned. “Had another one, but I lost it somewhere.”
“In . . . in Noah’s truck . . .”
