by Thea Cambert
They stopped walking, and Owen pulled both women in for a group hug.
“We’re safe. It’s all over,” he said.
“How are you feeling?” Alice asked, wiping a tear from Franny’s cheek.
Franny smiled. “Your costume is making me hungry.”
Chapter 16
The sun was just beginning to get low in the sky over Blue Lake when Ben and Luke finally rolled into the drive.
Alice, Owen, and Franny were relaxing on the dock, drinking mugs of tea with a platter of turkey legs on the table, along with cheeses, chocolates, Scotch eggs, and a crusty loaf of bread they’d bought at the faire.
Finn’s ears perked up and his tail wagged furiously as car doors could be heard slamming shut on the other side of the house. Even Poppy, who’d been lounging lazily in the grass, stood and stretched.
Franny flew to Ben’s side as he walked down the hill from the house.
“You’re finally home!” she said.
“Finally,” said Ben, smiling at his wife and giving her a kiss.
Luke walked over and took Alice’s hand and pulled her out of her seat and into his arms.
“I missed you,” he said into her ear.
Alice looked into his eyes, took in the beard stubble and messy hair, and thought him more handsome than ever. “I missed you, too.”
“This is quite a feast,” said Ben, looking over the spread.
“I thought you’d all be at the faire when we got home,” said Luke.
“We thought we would be, too,” said Owen. “But somehow, after the last few days, it sounded more appealing to sit out here, watch the sunset, and stuff ourselves.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” said Ben. “I love the faire, but we’re exhausted.”
“And hungry,” added Luke, looking at the goodies on the table.
“Besides, the faire will be going on until Sunday afternoon,” said Alice. “We’ve still got two more days to enjoy it.” Ben and Luke happily filled their plates and took their seats on the dock.
“So, tell us about the part of the day when you were all tied up and a criminal was holding a hypodermic needle to your arm,” Luke said, raising a brow at Alice and taking a big bite of his turkey leg.
“Or the part of the day where you two were tied to a tree,” Ben said, giving Franny and Owen a wry smile.
“You heard about that?” Franny asked.
“Dewey filled us in,” said Ben, reaching for Franny’s hand.
“Then you know we helped Dewey catch two jewel thieves,” said Owen. “I figure we’re in line to receive some kind of award for assisting the police.”
“You do deserve an award,” Luke said. “But I don’t like the part where you were in danger.” His eyes landed on Alice.
“That wasn’t our favorite part, either,” she said.
Just then, Little John and Gabby walked down the hill, still in full costume.
“Hello!” Little John bellowed. “Thought we’d walk over from the clearing to thank you again for your help. You broke the curse!”
“You’re heroes,” added Gabby. “The Clarks have confessed to every single one of the robberies in the towns we’ve visited—including a clinic, where they got the valium.”
“And the murder?” Alice asked.
“That, too,” said Gabby. “But, it sounds like it truly was an accident. They’d done the routine many times. The high dose of valium would put the security guard to sleep. Then, they’d swipe the jewels or whatever they were stealing, and by the time the guard woke up, they’d be long gone.”
“They didn’t count on Damon showing up drunk,” said Little John.
“That’s right,” said Luke. “It seems that Damon had planned to steal the Scarlet Lady himself. But when he passed the museum on his way home from the Smiling Hound that night, he caught sight of the Clarks inside, and the open window, too.”
“He went in through the window, angry that someone had beat him to the punch,” said Ben.
“Since there was no security guard to deal with at the Heritage Museum, the Clarks had hatched a slightly new scheme,” Luke said. “They planned to remove the red diamonds from the necklace and replace them with fakes like the ones they used in the props for the faire. Then, they’d return the necklace to its case in the museum, in the hopes that the robbery would go unnoticed for at least a few days. But when Damon confronted them and grabbed the Grand Ole Gal, they did what they always did: gave him a shot of valium to settle him down. Unfortunately, he reacted badly, ran out the door, and died.”
“When he set off the alarm, the Clarks escaped out the same window they’d come in through,” said Ben.
“Wow,” said Owen. “If Damon hadn’t gone after the necklace, the Scarlet Lady would still be in the museum, but with fake gems, and who knows when anyone would’ve noticed it.”
“Exactly true,” said Little John. “One more good thing has come of this as well. Our own Wamba is in love!”
“With Taya?” asked Franny.
“Yep. They’re planning to keep in touch when the faire moves on. No idea what the future holds, but let’s just say Blue Valley may gain an accountant, who can juggle, one day in the future.”
“Wamba suspected the Clarks all along but was afraid to say anything, since he had no proof,” said Gabby.
“That explains the riddled clues he gave us,” said Alice. “He told us right from the beginning that if we found the jewels, we’d find the killer.”
“Sharp as a tack, that Ralph,” said Little John. He turned to Gabby and took her hand. “Well, my lady, I guess we’d better return to the faire. We’ll see you all tomorrow.”
As the two walked up the hill and through the trees toward the clearing, they passed Dewey, who was heading toward Ben and Franny’s.
“Dewey, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you out of uniform,” said Franny, motioning for Dewey to sit in the empty chair next to Owen. “You look very handsome.”
Dewey looked down and blushed a little. “I’m here to thank you for your help these past few days. And to welcome you two home,” he said to Ben and Luke. “And to make a small request.”
“Sure,” said Ben. “What is it, Dewey?”
“Please never go up into the mountains again.”
Everyone laughed and enjoyed a wonderful dinner. The music from the ball could be heard in the distance, mixed with the peaceful lapping of the water and chirping of the crickets. The sun had almost slipped behind the mountains, and the water had turned a lovely mix of pink and lavender when Owen stood up.
“Let’s take an after-dinner walk,” he said. “Good for the digestion.”
“Good idea,” said Luke. “I’ll go up and get Finn’s leash.”
A few minutes later, they were walking along the winding trail that ran between Ben and Luke’s houses. Once they reached Luke’s cabin, they started to turn and head back to Franny and Ben’s, but Owen stopped them.
“Let’s walk a little further,” he suggested.
“Good idea,” said Alice. “It’s so nice out.”
The whole group meandered past Luke’s cabin along the trail around the edge of the lake a bit further.
“Stop,” said Owen suddenly.
“Why?” asked Alice, looking around.
They were standing next to an old stone cottage, its little porch overlooking the water, its ends both capped with chimneys. It was set in a semicircle of flowering dogwood, and though the place clearly needed work, there was something enchanting about it in the fading light.
“Owen, what is this place?” asked Alice.
“Isn’t this the old Callahan cottage?” asked Ben.
“It is,” said Owen. “Or, it used to be. Now it’s the James cottage.”
“Owen, what’s this about?” asked Alice.
“I wanted you, my best friends—my family—to be the first to see my new house. Or, my old house, depending on how you look at it.”
“Owen! You bought this pla
ce?” said Alice, feeling a wave of happiness bubbling up in her chest. “It’s charming!”
“You’ve talked about getting a house on the lake for forever!” said Franny. “Now, we’re going to be neighbors!”
Owen was patted on the back, congratulated, and hugged for some minutes after that. They all toured the cottage and Alice could see that it held great potential, and that Owen’s sense of style would bring it back to life beautifully.
There was even a little stone path that led down to a dock from which both Ben’s and Luke’s houses could be seen.
“We’ll be able to send each other messages with our flashlights at night,” said Franny, taking Owen’s arm.
“Ooh, we’ll have to devise a secret code,” said Owen.
As they began the walk back to Ben and Franny’s, Luke took Alice’s hand and they walked along in comfortable silence for a while.
“I’m so happy for Owen,” Alice finally said. “I can’t wait to see what he does with the place.”
“How great is it that we’ll all be out here at the lake together?” Luke said.
Alice took a few more steps, then stopped.
“What?” asked Luke, turning to face her.
“So that’s how you imagine the future? All of us, out here together?”
Luke caught her up in his arms and kissed her until she felt like she was melting.
“Yes, Alice Maguire,” he said softly. “I see us all here, as neighbors. I see children running back and forth between our houses. I see dinners on the lake and coffee on the rooftop. But when I think of my future, the only thing that really matters . . . is that you’re in it.”
Alice felt a great wave of something between joy and peace washing over her.
And then Luke was down on one knee.
“I was going to ask you on New Year’s Eve. I was going to ask you at the faire—at the ball. I was going to ask you like a thousand different times, but I wanted to wait for the right moment.” He smiled. “And I think this is it. Alice, I want to marry you. I want to share . . .” He thought for a moment. “I want to share life with you.”
He kissed her hand, and Alice felt tears stinging her eyes.
“Will you marry me?”
Up ahead, Alice saw her friends. In the distance, she could see the lights of the faire glowing merrily from the clearing. She knew already that the night would hold a snuggle on the couch and a movie at Franny and Ben’s. The next day, they’d all go to the faire together. The next summer, there would be a new baby in the family—this family they were building. Wonderful things—unthinkably wonderful things—were in store.
“Yes!” Alice said.
Luke jumped up and swept her off her feet—literally. Then he set her back down, kissed her warmly, and they began walking again.
“I don’t have the ring here,” Luke apologized with a chuckle. “Didn’t know this was going to finally be the right moment.”
They both laughed and Alice smiled up at the sky. Overhead, a million stars twinkled.
“Making a wish?” Luke asked, noticing Alice’s gaze.
Alice laughed, knowing that she already had everything she could ever want, right here.
She smiled and shook her head slowly. “Nope.”
Author’s Note
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