by Joyce Lavene
The restaurant was still busy when they left. Ron took her by the river, pointing out the Blue Way Trail that would follow it.
“I don’t know what Leland’s son will do now that his old man is gone. He might not be interested in your property or even doing the Blue Way on his own. I think that was all Leland’s idea. He was always interested in trying to grow the town. He’s a big loss to us all. Jack has a lot to answer for.”
“You know, we still consider people innocent until proven guilty,” she snapped. “Jack will have his day in court, but I don’t think they’ll convict him of anything. I know he didn’t kill George Burris. I was there when it happened.”
“No offense, but things aren’t always what they seem. You trust Jack because your grandparents did, even though that may have cost them their lives.”
Sarah didn’t argue with him as they wandered along the river path. The mist that the river was famous for was rising. Legends said the mist meant all kinds of things. Her grandfather had told her that the mist meant the river had healing properties. Her grandmother said it meant that it was good for fishing.
“You could keep the property,” Ron said. “You could hire a manager to set things up so it could still connect to the Blue Way. That way it would stay in your family, and you’d get the money too.”
“I don’t think the rest of my family would go along with that. They just want to get rid of it.”
But she wasn’t sure of that anymore. Her mother had briefly faltered in her decision to sell. Dusty probably didn’t care either way—he didn’t need the money. As long as he didn’t have to do anything with the property, he’d probably be fine with keeping it.
They got back to her house later than she’d expected. Despite their disagreements on a few subjects, she’d had a good time. Ron was a little too hands-on for her, but he’d been an interesting companion.
“Well, this is me,” she said with a smile. “I had a good time. Thanks for taking me out.”
He got out of the car and wrapped his arms around her. “Come on. Let’s go inside for a while. Kids call it the ghost house since no one has lived here for so long. Everyone sneaks into the patch to grab a pumpkin, but they’re careful not to get too close to the house.”
“I would’ve thought you’d seen enough of it while you were investigating the shooting.”
“I haven’t been upstairs.” He grinned. “I wouldn’t mind seeing that part.”
Sarah got cold feet. “Maybe that’s not such a great idea right now. The house is a mess after sitting empty for so long. There’s no running water. Maybe some other time.”
“I understand. That’s okay. Maybe you’d like to take a look at my place instead.”
“Thanks, but I’m really tired. I don’t think I’ve ever worked as hard as I did yesterday. But thanks again for dinner.”
He pulled her tightly to him and pushed his mouth against hers, scrubbing it back and forth over her lips. Sarah politely waited for him to finish before she thanked him again and hurried around the back of the house. She took a deep breath as she stood beside the old rosebush.
“That bad, huh?”
She jumped back and realized that her dress was caught in the thorns.
“Or that good?”
Sarah tried to reach around and untangle the back of her dress from the large thorns. “I can’t believe you were spying on us.”
“Not much else to do.”
“I knew you should’ve taken the job that Kathy and Ben offered.” A second vine got caught on her dress. She huffed loudly in frustration. So much for being an adult and not getting caught in the roses.
Jack moved closer to her. “Stand still. You’re only making it worse.”
She stood still while he reached his hand around her waist to free her dress from the thorns. It was embarrassing, but it worked. If I do stay here, I’m cutting this thing down to the ground!
“There you go.”
Sarah took a quick step forward before he moved out of the way and ended up very close to him. She could smell the soap he used and heard his quick intake of breath.
“As much fun as it looks like you two are having,” Sheriff Morgan said, “I need to have a few words with Jack in private.”
Jack moved, and Sarah got away from the roses.
She realized that the sheriff must have sneaked in after her. “Whatever you have to say to him, you can say to me too. I represent him.”
“It’s okay,” Jack said. “We’ll be right back.”
“I can’t help if you exclude me and talk to him on your own,” she yelled after them as they walked toward the barn.
Neither one of them turned back. Sarah decided Jack was on his own after he’d ignored her warning. She went inside and found a pencil and paper. She was going to need some supplies and the rest of her things from the hotel. She made a list of basic foods that would be easy to eat without a microwave. There were also necessities like toilet paper and dish soap. She quickly added other cleaning products to her list.
She was finishing her list, after taking down some of her grandmother’s china, when Sheriff Morgan came in. She’d left the door open to catch the cool breezes. It was warm and there was no air conditioning in the house. There never had been—her grandmother had hated it.
“Ms. Tucker.” He nodded as he sat at the table with her. “Looks like you’re staying longer than you planned.”
“I’m sure you know that things have come up,” she said.
“Just a bit of friendly advice.”
Sarah looked up from her list and noticed the twenty-dollar bill still on the table.
“About Jack—this might not be a good time to get involved with him.”
Her face got hot as she realized what he’d thought was going on by the rose bush. She didn’t enlighten him. It was none of his business.
“Sometimes people, like yourself, get out of their natural element and can’t figure how to get back.”
“Thanks, Sheriff. But I think I know my way home.”
“Like I said, just some friendly advice. I know you’re recently divorced.”
Really? His investigation into her background was thorough.
“I’m recently divorced, and you know what they say about once bitten. I’m not in the market for a romance.”
“I’ve said what I have to say.” He got up, hat in hand. “Keep an eye out. This thing might not be over, whatever it is. I’d hate to see you get caught in the crossfire.”
“I thought you had it all figured out? Isn’t Jack guilty of killing both men?”
“I didn’t say that I was done poking around. We know from ballistics that the 357 rifle we found in the barn is guilty of killing George and Leland. Jack makes the best suspect right now. That doesn’t mean it’s over. But you take care, Ms. Tucker.”
He nodded again and left the way he’d come. She sighed and finished her list listening to the birds calling outside from the oak tree behind the house. Her grandfather had been an avid bird watcher, identifying the different bird calls for her.
Finally rousing herself enough to go shopping and check out of the hotel, Sarah took a peek in the living room. While she was gone with Ron, Jack had moved the furniture back and even added a small vase of daisies to the old coffee table.
“What do you think?” he asked from behind her.
“I think I should tie a bell around your neck. And the living room looks great. I can’t quite envision George’s dead body there anymore. Thanks.”
“My pleasure.” He turned to leave.
“Wait a minute. I’m going to check out at the hotel and pick up some supplies for the next few days. Can I get something for you since you wouldn’t take money for helping me?”
“I owe you a lot more than twenty dollars for getting me out of jail.”
“But you can’t go on living this way. You aren’t going to be able to stay here much longer. You turned down Kathy’s job. You won’t take my money. How are you go
ing to survive?”
He smiled. “You know, it’s been a long time since someone worried about me. But you don’t have to. I’ll be fine. And I don’t particularly need anything.”
“Ron said you’ve been here the last sixteen years searching for the gold. He said you’ll do anything to keep me from selling the land so you can keep looking.”
“You believe that?”
“It makes sense. I guess that’s why Sheriff Morgan arrested you and charged you with murder. You need a better story. You need an alibi.”
“Well, first if I’d been out here digging holes for the last sixteen years, I think you’d have noticed. And I don’t have a better story. This is it. Maybe you should call Ron and tell him so he doesn’t have to worry about me either.”
“Okay. Maybe I put that the wrong way.” Sarah tried to amend her words. Maybe she wouldn’t have noticed before, but now she recognized that she’d hurt his feelings—or his pride. She wasn’t sure which. “I don’t believe you killed anyone. I don’t think you’ve been looking for gold, or you probably would’ve found it.”
“Thanks.” He hadn’t turned back to face her, perched in the doorway as though he was ready to run.
“But I don’t know if a jury is going to believe it.”
“It won’t come to that.”
“Please think about your future. It’s coming faster than you realize.”
He left without another word. She’d meant to ask him if he wanted to spend the night in the house since he couldn’t go in the barn, but there hadn’t been time for it.
Her phone rang. It was Mace. “I have another interested buyer for the property. He’d like to meet with you tomorrow. What time is good for you?”
Chapter Eighteen
Sarah agreed to meet with Mace’s buyer at noon. She had to go to the courthouse first and pick up a copy of the deed. Her mother had faxed her grandparents’ death certificate to her at the real estate office. That made it easier for her to get everything together for the sale.
There was one problem that she couldn’t think of a way around—she’d put up the property for Jack’s bond. She couldn’t sell it until he appeared in court. She thought she could meet with the buyer and explain the situation. If he was still interested, they could talk further, and she could set up a later date for sale.
Jack wasn’t going to run, but she couldn’t convince a judge or Ben’s bail-bondsman brother of it. She didn’t even try. If she had an agreement from the buyer, she could sign the papers before the trial, and when the bond was vacated, the buyer would be notified.
With all of that working in her head, Sarah packed up her things at the hotel and checked out. She went to a grocery store and filled a cart with her purchases, some that were not the necessities she’d promised herself she was going to buy. She spoke to her mother about the process and what had been happening. Her mother seemed distracted and agreed with everything she said.
It felt like they were both ready to forget the land when they weren’t there. It made her feel bad for her grandparents’ legacy—though they’d both known how Sandra felt about the property. Had they thought Sarah might inherit it since she loved the place so much as a child?
She was determined not to feel guilty about the life she’d worked so hard to achieve, even if it wasn’t what her grandparents might have hoped would happen. She drove back to the house, wondering what Jack would make of a new buyer popping up so quickly after Leland’s death. She looked for him to suddenly appear as she made a few trips in and out of the house with her belongings, but he seemed to be off somewhere else.
Sarah had an idea about a way to say thank you to him by making him dinner. She was good at making one impressive dish—a chicken pot pie that everyone had always raved about. She’d never tried making it in a real oven before, just a microwave. But she thought it would still be good.
She was surprised, and a little worried at first, when Jack wasn’t at the house. But she finally convinced herself not to search for him and unpacked everything so she could start making the pot pie. He was bound to turn up at some point.
The chicken and vegetables smelled good while they were cooking but she didn’t try to make her own crust as she usually did. She’d bought two crusts from the store and used them. She hoped it would be as good as she put it in the oven to bake.
Sarah took out her laptop while the pot pie was baking, and looked up what she could find about the Blue Way project. It was a huge venture that was linking many trails and other natural sites from the Virginia mountains to the coast. Misty River was a tiny speck on the map for it, but from what she read, Ron was right. It was a big deal for the community. She hoped the next buyer would still want to designate a portion of land on the river for it.
“I guess Nash called with a new buyer.” Jack looked over her shoulder.
She didn’t jump—she was finally getting used to him popping in and out when she least expected it. “I was looking at the new buyer and the Blue Way. I can’t tell from his online profile if he’s interested in being part of the project or not.”
“You could ask before you sell him the land.”
“I will, although I wouldn’t refuse to sell it to him if he doesn’t want to be part of it.”
He squinted at the text she was reading. “Davis Hudson. He’s a land developer.”
“Probably not interested in the pumpkin patch or the swing by the river.” She closed the laptop. “But I knew that was possible.”
“You don’t have to sell to him either.”
“But I have to sell to someone.” Sarah got to her feet. “I made dinner if you’d like to eat with me.”
He looked surprised. “You cook?”
“You mean a woman can’t be a lawyer and a good cook?”
“The thought never crossed my mind.” He grinned. “Sure. I’d love to have some of whatever it is that smells so good. Thanks.”
“I promise not to talk about what you should do with your life.”
“And I promise not to try to influence you to stay.”
That made her look up sharply. “I don’t know why you’d even think about it. I’ve never said anything about staying.”
“It’s not what you’ve said,” he replied quietly. “It’s the way you look when you stare out at the fields and the pumpkin patch. Some of that little girl who loved to be here is still inside you.”
She laughed as she put on new oven mitts to remove the pot pie. “I’m sure she is, but grown-up me has a job she loves in Richmond where her very nice apartment is and her friends and family live.”
Jack took two of the freshly washed china plates out of the dish drainer and put them on the table. “Richmond isn’t that far away for family, and you can make new friends.”
“I thought you weren’t going to try to influence me to stay.” She put the hot casserole dish on the pot rest. “Why the sudden hard sell?”
“I didn’t know anything about you. Not as an adult. Now I do.”
“You’ve only known me a few days. Just because I love this place doesn’t mean I won’t sell it.”
He put out forks and spoons. “Did you just hear yourself? That’s why I think you should stay.”
“Not because if I stay you can stay too?”
“Not at all.” He held her chair for her. “I’ll leave tonight if that will make you stay.”
She stared at him over the fragrant chicken pot pie in the center of the table. “You’re the strangest man I’ve ever met. I don’t understand why you care so much about this land.”
“Everyone needs something they’re passionate about. Shall I serve?”
Sarah gave them both a spoonful of pot pie on their plates. Jack poured glasses of sweet tea. They sat opposite each other as they ate.
“Well since you broke your promise not to convince me to stay, I’m going to break mine about not convincing you to think about your future.”
“The pot pie is delicious. Your grandmother’s
recipe?”
“Yes. My mother never cooked anything this difficult in her life.”
She spent the next few minutes trying to convince him that he should think about what he’d do next and prepare for the future. He seemed more immune to that than she was to selling the farm.
But after his suggestive words, her mind was buzzing with all sorts of farm activities and reopening the pumpkin patch. She thought about chickens and going out to help her grandmother find the eggs. The farm was beautiful in the spring with the pink dogwoods blooming and new life returning.
“So you’ll stay?” he finally asked.
“No, I won’t stay. I don’t know anything about running a farm.”
“I’ll teach you.” He glanced across at her, his eyes sincere. “Or you can hire someone to work with you.”
“You don’t know me as well as you think,” she debated. “I’m a city girl. The only things I know about keeping this place going are from my memories as a child. That’s not much help. I wouldn’t even know what to tell someone to do.”
“Not a problem then. I’ll stay as long as you need me.”
“Why?” Sarah pushed her mostly empty plate out of the way.
“Because you care about this place as much as Bess and Tommy did. Because I promised them I’d look after it. They saved my life. I wouldn’t have made it through my childhood without them. I think that’s worth some time and effort, don’t you?”
Chapter Nineteen
She thought about it and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not staying. I appreciate all you’ve done, but this isn’t my life. I’m sorry.”
“I have something to show you.” He got up and put their plates in the sink. “Wait five minutes and then come out to the pumpkin patch. Thanks for dinner.”
“There’s nothing you can show me in the pumpkin patch that will change my mind.” She looked back but was talking to an empty kitchen. “Really. I’m not staying.”
Sarah ran her gaze over the cabinets and the familiar wall plaques. It felt like her childhood was here instead of in the home her parents had left behind in Suffolk. Jack was right that she loved this place.
