by Tonya Kappes
“PM?” Iris whined.
“Yes. She’s very tense, and I think it’d do her a world of good to do some yoga over drinking.” I knew Iris couldn’t resist a lost soul like Peaches when I threw in the drinking part.
“Fine.” In the background, I heard Iris’s oven timer go off. “I’ve got to go. Jeans. Or pants. Just be comfortable.”
She hung up, and I rushed into the house, running around doing my normal nightly routine. Give Buster some love. Let Buster out the front door. Go find Rowena and entice her with her supper while I filled up Buster’s bowl with kibble. Give them both fresh water to drink, then let Buster in so he could eat while I went to get a shower and Rowena stood on the sink, watching me get ready.
After I’d held the dress and the jeans up side by side, I decided Iris wouldn’t tell me wrong and pulled the jeans on, sucking in to button them. I’d not worn the jeans since early spring, and it was too soon to wear shorts. My mail carrier pants were already a little big, so they fit fine.
“Knock, knock,” Mac called through the screen door on the front porch.
“Come on in!” I yelled out the bedroom door and took one last look in my mirror, running my fingers through my hair before I finally just knew there wasn’t much more I could do to myself. “Here goes nothing.” I gave Rowena a good scratch under her chin and headed down the hall.
Mac and Buster were sitting on the couch in the family room.
“I love you in that green color.” Mac wasn’t the first person who told me how much my auburn hair and skin tone went well with any shade of green. “And I’m glad you are in jeans.”
“Thanks.” I didn’t tell him how Iris had told me what to wear because he would assume she told me what we were doing. “Are you ready?”
“I’ve been waiting for this moment all day.” He grinned and sat on the couch like a big bump on a log.
“Let’s go.” I waved and gestured my head at the same time so we could leave just as I heard the front screen door open. “Grady.” The excitement to see Grady put a huge smile on my face.
He held the door for Julia to come in with baby Clara nestled in the pumpkin carrier.
“We are going to have to wait a few minutes to leave.” I turned and assured Mac so he wouldn’t get up to go on our secret date.
“Mom,” Grady said, looking down at me with his amazing big eyes, one of the many features I adored about him. “This is your big surprise.”
“I love having y’all here. Especially Maw-maw’s baby girl.” With a smoochy face, I gushed over baby Clara.
“I don’t think you understand.” Julia clicked the pumpkin seat handle into the back position and unsnapped Clara, taking her out and handing her to me. “Mac has arranged it for me and Grady to go out of town since it is our anniversary, and baby Clara is going to stay with you. Originally, she was going to stay the night with you, and your parents were going to keep her during the day at the diner until you got off work, but now that you’re on a leave of absence from the post office, you can spend all your free time cuddling.”
“Really?” I bounced like a little kid. I’d yet to keep Clara overnight. I’d babysat here and there for a couple hours at most.
“Yes, and when we get back from our trip, we need to discuss some sort of childcare arrangement because Doctor Hunter finally cleared me to go back to work after my blood work had come back all normal.” Julia was full of good news.
“Thank you.” I kissed Julia. “Thank you.” I made my way over to Grady. “Thank you.” I gave Mac the biggest kiss of all.
“I told you this would make her happy.” Mac was so pleased with himself.
“You make me happy.” I gulped back the tears.
“So, does this mean you two are an item again?” Grady asked cautiously.
“It means that your mom and I decided that we are much better together than apart. We love you and you and especially you.” He made baby gurgles at Clara, who was nestled in the crook of my arms, her big bright eyes staring at me.
She smiled.
“Did you see that?” I gushed. “Your maw-maw loves you.” I kept repeating that to her because she kept smiling at me. “She’s so smart. She already knows my voice.”
“Okay, Mom”—Grady had a sarcastic tone in his voice—“Don’t be like all grandmothers and think Clara will ever do no wrong, because she will at one point.”
“No, she won’t. She’s too much of a little angel for such nonsense.” I refused to believe my precious Clara would ever get into any sort of trouble.
“Don’t argue with the grandmother,” Mac warned with a grin. “You two get out of here and don’t you worry about a thing.”
Mac had gotten up and walked a very nervous-looking Julia to the door. Her head continued to be turned past her shoulder with her eyes on Clara.
“We’ve got this.” Mac continued to assure her.
“Are you sure?” Julia appeared to be changing her mind. “I mean, it’s been quite a long time since there’s been a baby in the family.”
“It’s been quite a long time since I’ve been alone with my wife.” Grady grabbed her hand. “Clara is fine. We need this time.”
“You’re right.” Julia nodded and looked back at me and Clara. “One more kiss.”
She hurried over, like a good mama, and gave me a warm hug and kissed Clara goodbye.
“Thank you, Maw-maw.” Julia’s face lit up clear into the depths of her eyes. “You’re the best.”
“You two go have fun,” I told them and laughed after they’d left and I heard them giggling on the way out to their truck.
Mac had followed them outside and waved them off from the front porch.
“Mac Tabor, you always know what I want,” I told him when he walked back in. “Get over here and give me a kiss.”
When he leaned a little too close, I put my hand up on his chest.
“Careful.” I warned him not to squish Clara.
“I see her.” His little grin stayed on his lips when he leaned in a little more to kiss me. “I’ve completely lost you for the entire weekend. What have I done?”
“You’ve made me the happiest person in the entire world.” I looked down at my grandbaby in awe and let the joy fill my heart.
I was very blessed before Clara, but Clara made me feel doubly blessed and grateful.
Mac had thought of everything. Down to the supper my parents had delivered from the diner.
“Now you know how it feels to just love something so unconditionally.” My mom barely ate because she held Clara the entire time and didn’t take an eye off of her.
It was so enduring seeing my mom holding my grandbaby. It was a moment that would be tattooed in my memory forever.
The night seemed to flow by so quickly. I feared the few days I had with Clara would do the same. These were hours I would cherish, and I knew how important my role was in her life.
“Do you think I should just quit instead of keeping the suspension?” I asked Mac after I’d fed and put Clara down for the night.
Dusk was starting to settle and a few fireflies batted around the air while we enjoyed the summer night breeze from the rocking chairs on the front porch. Buster was lying on the top step, and Rowena was sitting at the screen door.
“I think you need to do what you want. You don’t have to worry about your retirement because I’ll always take care of you.” He didn’t look at me when he said it. He simply stared ahead and rocked back and forth.
“I know you will.” I could’ve kept my mouth shut, but like any person, he needed to hear me say the words out loud. “I also know that you support me and Grady. Julia too.”
“Bernie, I consider Clara as much my granddaughter as you do.” He finally looked at me with tears in his eyes. “You have no idea the relief you’ve given me the last couple of days. Over the past few months, I’ve been a broken man. I’ve been trying to change who I’ve been over these last thirty-something years since I met you from Richard. I
didn’t ever get married because of my feelings for you. It was not right to do to another woman. I could never love another woman the way I loved you, and I never wanted to lie to anyone I would’ve married out of knowing I’d never have you.” His chest heaved up as he sucked in a breath, attempting to gather his feelings. “I’d rather be single my whole life if I can’t be right here like I am now. Seeing you this happy makes life worth living.”
He gently reached over across the rocking chairs and laid his hand on mine.
“No matter what the future holds. Friends. Companions. Or more than that. Simply being with you like this right now is enough for my entire lifetime.”
“Mac”—I had to say his name before I responded to him and get my dry mouth wet—“what you’ve done tonight means more to me than anything you could ever give me. I…”
“There you are!” Harriette Pearl yelled from the bridge across the street from my house. “Did you forget about us baking at Pie in the Face?”
“What time is it?” I jerked my head and looked at Mac.
“Almost nine-thirty. Why?” He moved his gaze back and forth between me and Harriette, who was now waving me over like a parent calling me to come in before dark.
“I had no idea what you were planning, but you told me I’d be home by nine. I made plans to bake with Iris and…” I swallowed down the lie. “Harriette.”
I had no idea why Harriette was there, and I knew I’d find out soon enough.
“Iris didn’t tell me anything, so I’m…”
“Off the hook. I only thought we were going to get to babysit for Grady and Julia so they could go to supper to celebrate their anniversary. It was after you got suspended that I came up with the idea to send them off for the weekend. I knew it would make you happy and give them some much needed time away.”
“So I can go? I mean, I’m just across the street, and I’ll be back by eleven.” I figured yoga with Peaches, which I didn’t tell him about, would be over way before eleven, so it was a good time to tell him I’d be back. “And Clara is asleep; Julia says she sleeps all night now.”
“Go. I’ve got Buster and Rowena to keep me company the next few hours.” He gave a quick nod of his chin.
“I’ll be right there, Harriette!” I yelled back to her after I noticed she was shuffling over the bridge toward the house.
I got up, walked in front of Mac, and leaned down.
“Are you giving me a kiss?” he asked.
“This time Harriette isn’t going to interrupt.” I kissed him gently on the lips.
Chapter 17
“Normally, I wouldn’t interrupt such an intimate moment, but we’ve got people’s lives at stake here.” Harriette scolded me all the way to the bakery. “According to Simon’s mother, he was deliberately murdered and by someone he knew.”
“What did she say?” I was curious to hear what Angela had been telling Simon’s family about his murder.
I swung the door of the bakery open and let Harriette go in before me. Harriette continued to babble on about how much they appreciated her bringing the casserole over and how wonderful and kind she was to remember them in their grief.
“What’s all this about?” I looked at Ruby, Gertrude, Millie, and Iris sitting around the prep station when we finally made it back to the kitchen.
“We are testing out this summer sausage casserole Iris threw together for us to munch on.” Ruby Dean was very excited over any food.
“How did y’all know we were coming to bake?” I gave Iris the stink eye.
“Is that code for decipherin’ all the clues you found today?” Millie Barnes looked up at me. “Because if this is how y’all do it, I’ll just be of no use because once my belly gets full, my eyes get heavy.”
“Then we better get to it.” Iris had already erased all the custom orders she kept up on the whiteboard and replaced customers’ names with Simon Little in a big circle in the middle. With all the offshoots, she made it look like a big sun with rays coming from it.
Peaches Partin was written on one of the rays, Sarah Hodges on another, followed by Nick Kirby. Sadly, the rest were left empty.
“The facts are as follows,” I began to read while Iris wrote things down. “Simon Little was found dead with a bottle of bourbon sitting on his desk, an empty prescription bottle on the ground, and a written note on his computer to make it all appear as a self-inflicted death. But upon further investigation and a preliminary autopsy report, Simon Little only had a deep purple sports drink in his stomach along with a lethal amount of sleeping pills. Simon Little’s mouth had bourbon in it like someone had taken the bourbon and poured it into his mouth.
“So, we know that Peaches not only dated Simon for a long period of time, but he knew about her drinking problem. Her bottle of bourbon was found at the scene, along with a package she took to the post office. And somehow, she got it back after-hours. She’s on camera walking from Tranquility Spa to the post office then passing out.”
I gave the items for Iris to write down very clearly so none of the Front Porch Ladies could stop me by asking me to repeat myself.
“Peaches also knows that Simon is allergic to gluten, which can be found in some bourbons, and Simon stayed away from alcohol. Peaches told me that Nick and Sarah have both been to Tranquility Spa, where she kept her sleeping pills and had that bourbon bottle. Not only did she find Nick behind the shop counter, but she also noticed her pills were missing from the bottle.”
My words were met with shocked expressions.
“Sarah Hodges and Nick Little were arguing at the gas station when I showed up there to do a little questioning, and I heard them with my own ears, and I quote.” I looked at Iris to make sure she’d caught up with me while writing it all down. She gave me the go ahead. “They were talking about stealing the final plans of someone who was alive and is now dead.” The details were sketchy, but I got the gist of it. “They talked about how they could move on with their lives. And I can only think it was because of the patent Simon had gotten for the motorcycle part they’d designed.”
“That’s what Simon’s mom was talking about,” Harriette said, chiming in, “she said Simon had been very excited before he’d gone back to the garage that night because he had gotten the final 3D product and was going to meet up with Nick to get it on the bike to test it out. She also mentioned the patent he’d filed had come in, and he couldn’t wait until the morning to have the mail carrier deliver it.”
“Which brings me back to Nick. He was also seen on the post office security video camera with Peaches. Right?” Gertrude asked.
“Right. And Monica Reed told me that he’d shown up earlier than normal that morning and was with her the entire time she called the sheriff about the break-in, and he never mentioned once he’d been there already with Peaches.” It was like we all had the same idea.
“Do you think Nick set Peaches up? I mean, on paper, she does look like the killer.” Gertrude kept throwing out theories that all made sense and placed Nick at the scene.
“His mom did say he was meeting Nick at the station.” Gertrude reiterated what Mrs. Little had said.
“And Nick did have access to Peaches’s bourbon bottle and pills if he took her back, if not before, when she caught him behind the counter.” Millie nudged Ruby, who poked Gertrude, who smacked Harriette on the arm.
Iris finished writing everything we said or threw out on the board. The click of the top of the dry-erase marker made us all jump when she popped it on. Iris took a step back from the board and crossed her arms across her body.
All of us stared at the board as though we were rereading what we’d said. If they were anything like me, they were playing the scene over in their head.
“Ladies,” I said, addressing them. “I think we just solved Simon Little’s murder.”
All of us looked around. None of us had happy or proud faces. Sadness settled into each one of our matured faces.
After a bit of debate, we all decided we�
�d sleep on what we’d come up with and I’d take it all to Angela in the morning. It was already late and a Friday night. Another night wasn’t going to hurt. Though I did make a note about how we needed to find out what time the autopsy believed Simon was murdered.
“Are you sure y’all are going to be okay walking home?” I asked the Front Porch Ladies as the time inched closer to ten o’ clock.
It was well after dark, and I didn’t want them to be in danger, though I was confident they would be fine. It was only good manners to check with them to make sure. Of course, they pishposhed me when I even brought it up.
“Aren’t you going to walk with us?” Harriette gave me the side eye.
“I’m going to help Iris clean up and walk her to her car.” I shrugged, trying not to give away that we were actually going next door to do yoga. I was positive Peaches didn’t need the stress of four ladies in their eighties trying to downward dog when she had this fifty-year-old broad trying her best not to break a hip moving from warrior one to warrior two pose.
“I’ll drive her home.” Iris gestured with her fork before she took another huge bite of the casserole.
The Front Porch Ladies all looked between each other and nodded that they were going to walk on home. Before they even left, they were already gossiping about something else other than the murder we just solved.
“I think I’ll bring this to Sunday supper since Grady and Julia will be just getting home from their trip.” Iris moved around the kitchen, putting away the clean dishes. “Which you never said a word about your big surprise. How was seeing Clara?”
“Seeing her? She’s at my house right now. Mac had come up with the idea that Grady and Julia should go away for the weekend instead of just supper.” I tried to contain the joy I was feeling since I knew there was so much more pain by so many other families in Sugar Creek Gap.
