Elementary in Teaberry

by R A Wallace

  “It smells really good,” Megan said. “My mom said it was amazing.”

  Rosie opened a cupboard and took out a plate. “I’ve been making it for as long as I can remember. My parents always grew eggplant. It was one of my dad’s favorite meals.”

  Megan watched Rosie transfer a small chunk of the eggplant parmigiana to the plate. After adding a fork, she passed it to Megan.

  “It’s okay if you don’t like it. Not everyone is a fan of eggplant.” Rosie clasped her hands together and waited for Megan to taste it.

  “Oh.” Megan used the fork to point to the food. “It tastes even better than it smells.”

  Rosie beamed. “Thanks.”

  “I imagine you’re going to make a lot of money with this. I saw the ads for it on the Waters Food website.”

  Rosie’s smile disappeared. “Rhonda Waters stole my recipe.”

  Megan had to be sure. “They’re not compensating you for it in any way?”

  Rosie pointed toward her neighbors. “They don’t even mention my name. They stole the recipe and now they’re going to make millions from it.”

  “That doesn’t seem fair.” Megan took another bite. It really was good. “How did she get the recipe?”

  Rosie crossed her arms. “I’m not sure. I only ever gave it out once. It was after a potluck dinner. It was a long time ago. I knew the recipe off the top of my head, of course. I just told it to someone and they wrote it down.”

  Megan watched Rosie frown. She wondered if the other woman was trying to remember who she told.

  “I’m sure your mom would never have given it to anyone else. I made her promise,” Rosie murmured.

  “I can assure you, she didn’t. I never even knew about it until today,” Megan said quickly.

  Rosie put her palm against her forehead. “Rhonda Waters was sitting next to your mom.”

  Megan winced. “Sorry.”

  “Rhonda must have written it down too.” Rosie’s lips thinned again.

  Megan set her empty plate on the counter. “Have you ever heard of Rhonda and Grady having marital problems?”

  “I don’t associate with them. I always believed they were producing unhealthy foods.” Rosie crossed her arms. “I wonder how many bad things they’ve put into my recipe to mass produce it.”

  Megan left Rosie a few minutes later. It didn’t take long to get to her next stop. If anyone would know about the marital issues of a prominent couple in Teaberry, it would be Irlene. The hairdresser probably even had Rhonda as a customer. Megan hoped not. She knew from experience that Irlene never gossiped about her customers.

  She found Irlene alone, for once. She was sitting at the front desk frowning at her computer.

  “Oh! You’re here!” Irlene stood quickly and grabbed Megan by the arm. After guiding her to the chair, she nudged Megan down into it. “My computer is acting up again.”

  “Again?” Megan reached for the mouse. “What’s it doing?”

  “I don’t know.” Irlene waved her hands in the air. “Sometimes it just seems to freeze up. Like it’s too busy to do what I want. Sometimes it can take hours before it’s behaving normal again.”

  Megan checked the notifications. “It’s updating your operating system.”

  “Why?” Irlene sounded more than a little panicked.

  “It’s normal. It does it on a regular basis to make sure you’re secure. Sometimes it even gives you new features.”

  “It’s annoying,” Irlene said with a scowl. “How am I supposed to get my work done if it’s acting all slow like that?”

  Megan nodded. “I can tell it not to bother you during normal business hours.”

  “You can do that?” Irlene was smiling again. She pressed her hands together. “You’re a peach.”

  Megan smiled. “It’s going to cost you.”

  Irlene’s shoulders slumped. “I knew you weren’t here for a haircut.”

  “Have you ever heard of Rhonda and Grady having marital problems?” Megan finished making the changes to Irlene’s computer then stood up from the chair.

  Irlene looked down at the floor.

  “Is Rhonda one of your customers?” Megan guessed.

  “No. She goes to her cousin over in Nodding Pine.” Irlene tilted her head to one side. “Can’t blame her for that. Not when it’s family.”

  Megan watched Irlene’s gaze drop down and shift to the left. “You’ve heard something, though. Something about Rhonda having an affair?”

  Irlene’s eyes widened. She looked around even though they were the only two people at that end of the shop. Sean Mitchell was at the far end with a customer. Megan doubted Sean and his customer could hear them over the noise of the blow dryer Sean was using.

  “Not Rhonda. Grady.” Irlene nodded.

  That wasn’t what Megan was hoping to hear. “Grady cheats on his wife?”

  Irlene waved a hand. “Not now. This was years ago.”

  “You’ve never heard anything about Rhonda doing the same thing?”

  Irlene shook her head as the bells on the front door rang. Megan stayed long enough to greet Irlene’s customer then left the hairdresser to her appointment.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Megan leaned against the counter in Lauren’s work kitchen. “I thought I was starting to figure it out.”

  “You really think Rhonda Waters is having an affair?” Lauren cracked an egg open on the side of her mixing bowl. “Rhonda Waters.”

  “You don’t think it’s possible?” Megan crossed her arms.

  “And that she killed someone?” Lauren cracked open another egg. “I just don’t know.”

  “You think I’m off base?”

  “Way off base. Rhonda Waters.” Lauren shook her head.

  “She stole Rosie Godsey’s eggplant parmigiana recipe,” Megan said defensively. “That doesn’t seem very nice.”

  Lauren made a face of indecision. “You’re sure that’s what happened?”

  “My mom is right. The recipe is pretty detailed about how to prepare the eggplant and everything. You can’t accidentally have that many words the same in a recipe.”

  “I guess. Still. Until you hear what Rhonda says about it, you shouldn’t assume it’s true.”

  “Rosie said it was her recipe and that she isn’t being compensated.” Megan watched Lauren add liquid to her mixing bowl. “Has Rhonda ever asked you for any of your recipes?”

  Lauren’s hand froze over her mixing bowl. “You think she’s going to steal my recipes?”

  Megan pushed away from the counter. “She asked you for them?”

  “Well, I guess it’s come up in conversation. I didn’t think anything of it at the time.” Lauren set the glass measuring cup down. “I can’t believe that. You think Waters Food might use my recipes?”

  “Don’t look happy. They aren’t paying Rosie Godsey,” Megan reminded her.

  “Oh, yeah.” Lauren frowned. “Rhonda did say something odd to me not long ago.”

  “Odd? How odd? In what way?”

  Lauren set the mixing bowl into the mixer stand and turned it on. “I don’t know.”

  Megan waited until Lauren turned the mixer off. “What exactly did she say?”

  “Mostly it was surprising because it seemed deep.” Lauren took the bowl from the mixer stand. “I just happened to run into her. We were talking about being in business. She was really supportive.”

  “Yeah. She and I had a similar conversation recently. She mentioned how she started out selling vegetables from her farm.” Megan leaned against the counter again.

  “Yeah. This was something like that. But then she said something else.” Lauren looked up at the ceiling for a moment. “Something about being busy and making the wrong decisions. You can be so busy in the moment living your life that you don’t really think about what a decision might look like later on.”

  “I guess that’s deep.”

  “There was more. Rhonda said to have a long-range plan. Not just for your bu
siness, but for your life too, so you can end up where you want to be.” Lauren held up a floured finger. “Otherwise, you could find yourself living a lie.”

  Megan was quiet for a moment as she ran it through her head a few times. “What did you think she meant at the time?”

  Lauren shrugged. “I guess I just thought that meant Rhonda did everything right.”

  “And now?”

  Lauren began scooping batter into a baking pan. “Now I’m worried that she’s stealing my recipes.”

  “Seriously,” Megan said.

  “Well, I don’t know what she meant. Why else would you find yourself living a lie if you were telling the truth?”

  “Good question.” Megan rubbed her forehead as she thought it through. “Even if your life took a different path and you didn’t end up where you expected to when you first started out, that doesn’t mean you’d be living a lie.”

  “Your life took a different path.” Lauren pointed at Megan with her spatula. “You started out with Josh. Now you’re with Dan and you have Aaron.”

  “Some parts of it, and some of the decisions I made, were hard at the time.” A smile pulled at Megan’s lips. “But I’m very happy now.”

  “And you aren’t living a lie,” Lauren added.

  ***

  Barbara Reynolds followed a line of school children into the old elementary school. Though it was no longer used as a school building, a fairly recent renovation allowed it to once again be of service to the town of Teaberry. Of course, Megan’s success at convincing the townspeople that the building wasn’t haunted had a lot to do with that.

  She could hear the sound of excited voices even before she reached the large room taken over by Ward Beecham and his scale model of the town. When she stepped inside, she was astonished to see the new sections that had been added since she’d last seen the project. She waited while Ward introduced the children to the town.

  The stories he told them of the olden days sounded familiar. She knew they were from the book he had written though the versions he told now were a little embellished to keep the attention of the children. He certainly had hers. She followed along with the kids as Ward discussed different features of the scale model. When he was done, he put a conductor’s hat on and lifted a control box. A train began moving a moment later.

  The children were thrilled at the steam and the sound of the train whistle. The visitation lasted several more minutes as the children asked questions. Ward patiently answered each one. Once the teacher told the children it was time to return to the school bus, Barbara joined Ward.

  “Very nice,” she said with a warm smile. “I’ll bet the children remember this for the rest of their lives.”

  Ward’s face lit up. “You think? That would be so nice.”

  “The train is new since the last time I was here,” Barbara said with a wave of her hand. “And this part of the town didn’t exist.”

  “It seems to grow every time I see it too,” Ward said with a smile.

  “And the drilling rigs.” She took a step closer to inspect one. “The detail on everything is amazing.”

  “I’m hoping to expand the train layout.” Ward pointed to boxes underneath some of the tables. “I found some used train track but a lot of it isn’t usable.” He shrugged. “I guess you get what you pay for. I’ll use whatever I can though.”

  “That’s actually why I’m here.” Barbara opened her purse and took out a check. “There’s been an endowment, of sorts. I included the paperwork explaining the criteria for the use of the money.”

  Ward’s frown of confusion deepened when he saw the numbers on the check. “This is a lot of money.”

  “Yes, it is. I’m hoping you’ll expand what you have started. We need to have more activities to help our children learn about our past. We want them to understand how we got where we are today. They are the ones who will take us into the future.” She motioned around the room. “Your work here is a good start.”

  He was skimming the document that came with the check. “It says the money has to be spent on something toy related.”

  Barbara was already on her way to the door. She paused and turned around. “I know this may come as a surprise, but to a lot of people model trains are toys. So are miniature buildings and tiny Victorian lights that actually work. Have at it.” She waved as she turned again. “Just remember to follow the requirements of the endowment.”

  ***

  “I don’t know which is worse. We when don’t have any suspects,” Erica said.

  “Or when we have too many,” Jerry finished. He looked up from the on-board computer. “I think this is it. Yeah. Turn right.”

  Erica signaled a turn. “We know the guy played around a lot.”

  “In his defense, he was single,” Jerry pointed out. He lifted both hands when Erica looked at him. “Just saying. According to Gregg Eastman’s brother, the guy was single, he was enjoying life, and he had no reason to marry.”

  “Yeah, I get it.” Erica stopped in front of the upscale condominium. “These are the split kinds.”

  “Side by side condos, yeah.” Jerry climbed out of the car. “No worries about maintenance here. Someone handles everything for you.”

  Erica reached the front door first and rang the bell. It was answered by a thirty-something woman wearing running pants and a matching top. She didn’t look surprised to see them.

  “Dee Sirota?” Erica asked.

  “You’re here about Gregg?” Dee looked to her left where Gregg Eastman used to live.

  “I know you’ve already given a statement,” Jerry said. “We just have some follow-up questions.”

  “Uh, yeah. Sure.” Dee watched as a car drove slowly past them then motioned them in.

  She led the way to a living room that looked like it should be on the front cover of a magazine. Dee slid into a leather chair that seemed to swallow her up into its plushy comfort. Erica wondered where she got it.

  “The neighbors been curious?” Jerry asked as he took another leather chair.

  Erica watched as he melded into it. She perched on the edge of a leather sofa. She willed herself not to make a noise of contentment as the chair enveloped her anyway. She felt herself sliding back into the depths of the sofa.

  “It’s been like that ever since we heard about his death. Everyone that lives in this community drives past his place slowly. I have no clue what they’re hoping to see.” Dee gave a shrug then waited for the next question.

  “We know that Gregg Eastman was single. We understand that he was in the habit of dating a lot.” Erica paused then waved a hand between Dee and the other half of the condo. “Did you two ever?”

  “Me and Gregg?” Dee laughed then stopped abruptly as though suddenly remembering the man had just died. “No. No, he wasn’t my type.”

  “But he was someone’s type,” Erica said.

  “Oh, yes. I often thought he needed a revolving door over there.” Dee winced at her choice of words then gave a half shrug.

  “They never lasted long?” Jerry said as he wrote in his notepad.

  “No. Usually only one night. I can’t say that I ever really saw the same one twice.” Dee wiped her hands against her legs. “Not that I paid that much attention.”

  “But he was right next door,” Erica said.

  “Exactly,” Dee said quickly. “Hard to miss when our places were so close together.”

  “Think you could name any of them?” Jerry watched her shake her head. “Describe any?”

  Dee continued to shake her head. “Sorry. I didn’t pay that much attention. And there haven’t actually been any lately, now that you mention it.”

  “What do you mean? His pattern changed?” Erica asked.

  Dee hesitated then nodded her head slowly. “Yeah. I guess. I mean, he went from needing a revolving door to no visitors at all. I guess I didn’t think about it. It was just nice not having to share an awkward smile with another stranger when I left for work in the morni
ng, you know?”

  “How long would you say that’s been happening?” Jerry asked. “The lack of visitors.”

  Dee rubbed a finger down the bridge of her nose. “Uh, it’s been a few weeks, at least. Maybe a little longer. Since before that last big snowstorm, I think. That’s been a while.”

  “Any idea why he might have changed his habits?” Erica asked.

  “I have no idea. He was like that the whole time I’ve lived here. Women pretty much every night. That’s been six years. Then suddenly, nothing.” Dee’s expression indicated she didn’t plan to give it much thought. “I really have no idea. Other than a quick hello, I never really talked to the guy.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  There was a delivery truck in front of Vintage Teaberry when Megan drove past. She managed to find a parking spot about a block down. As she walked the short distance up the street, she soaked in the view. She wasn’t the only one strolling along the sidewalk. The warm weather was already bringing out more people.

  Though she recognized some of them as residents of Teaberry, other faces were unfamiliar. License plates of some of the cars lining the streets were from out of state. Not as many as she hoped to see throughout the upcoming season. But it was a start. With any luck, Caitlyn’s idea for marketing Teaberry as a destination place would bring in larger profits for the businesses. Including hers.

  Her steps slowed as the thought came to her. One of the things visitors to her farm enjoyed was the country atmosphere. She needed to ensure that visitors to the town learned about both her produce stand and her bed and breakfast. Once they were in the area, she needed a way to direct them to her place.

  Yes, her business would also be marketed along with everyone else’s on the town website. But what could she use as a hook to let Teaberry visitors know about her place on the edge of town? Advertising. The never-ending challenge.

  Megan peered into the delivery truck in front of Vintage before stepping into the shop. She found Leah at the front of the store with a clipboard. She was checking off items from her list as they were brought in.