by Teresa Trent
“I called a lawyer. Is there anything else I can do to help her?” she asked.
My father’s words were gentle, but it was not what Karen wanted to hear. “Do you know the number of a good rehab? She’s going to need it. She doesn’t look too good to me right now.”
“I tried so hard. I tried my whole life, but she was like her father. There was never enough for him. Not enough money. Not enough joy. Not enough of me. I feel like I failed.”
I walked over to Karen and squeezed her shoulder. “How could you fail when you never stopped trying to help her? I think you are an incredible mother, but sometimes there’s only so much you can do. You’re here now, and that’s what matters.”
Michelle’s eyes were downcast, too ashamed to look at Karen. Eddie displayed the opposite emotion; he looked defiant. Even though he was cuffed, he pulled his shoulders back and jerked his head slightly to push back a strand of blue hair. From what I had heard of their phone conversation, not only would he be in trouble with the law, but he could be a valuable lead to the many people he had used like Michelle. He specialized in people who were down and out and not afraid to steal from friends and neighbors. Like a band of Gypsies moving from town to town, they had been slowly cleaning out the tiny communities of Texas. From the anger in Eddie’s eyes, it didn’t look like he would be talking anytime soon.
As my father began to speak to Eddie in slow, even tones about the murder of Joe Nelson, I heard “Auld Lang Syne” in the background and the high-pitched sounds of noisemakers. It was a new year, a time of new hopes and expectations. For Eddie and Michelle, it would be just the opposite.
“I have to get home.”
I rushed to Aunt Maggie’s house, where my family had stayed late, waiting for me. When I walked in, Maggie and Leo were sitting at the table, a game of gin rummy between them. Danny was no longer in the den and had probably gone upstairs to bed. The kids were cuddled up together, asleep on the couch.
“It’s all over,” I said in a soft voice, not wanting to wake the children.
Maggie yawned. “We heard. Thank God you’re okay.”
Leo didn’t comment. Instead, we exchanged a glance. He was not a happy man. I tried to explain, “I didn’t expect to get in as much trouble as I did. It’s just that the light was on in the Crazy Eddie store, and I went to make sure they weren’t being robbed, too. I know that sounds silly now, but that’s how it all happened.”
Aunt Maggie’s hand went to her mouth. “I heard that part. They killed Joe?”
“It was the junk mail. Joe was taking all the junk mail out of the boxes. That’s why you saw him standing in the street. I guess he’d been doing it as your mailman for years. You know, senior citizens are often the target of junk mail scams. Joe was just trying to protect everybody from themselves.”
“And it cost him his life,” Leo finally said.
“That’s a first. Junk mail killed him.” Maggie yawned again. “If you’ll get your children together. I’m ready for my long winter’s nap.” She rose and gave me a hug. “Happy New Year, darlin’. Thank God you’re all right. When I see all the grief that Karen Baldwin’s daughter has put her mother through it makes me so thankful that you are so wonderful.” I didn’t inform her I was her niece and not her daughter. We both knew that to each other, we were mother and daughter. Maggie started toward her bedroom. “Lock the door when you leave.”
I turned to Leo.
“Hey, Betsy,” Tyler came out of the living room looking half asleep. “Everyone’s sacked out on the couch. Did you catch the bad guy?”
“Yes, but he almost got me.”
“Seriously? What happened?”
“If Danny hadn’t given me that whistle, I might have ended up in the hospital, or worse.”
“You used that whistle? I can’t believe it.”
“You almost got killed?” Leo said. “I can’t believe that either.”
“Settle down. I’m fine.”
“Betsy,” Tyler said, “I know I’ve been mad at you lately, but, well ... I wouldn’t ever want to lose you. You’re my ... mom.”
I gulped. He had never called me his mom.
Leo’s arm went around my shoulder. “Yes, she is.”
I sniffed and said, “I know you’re angry at Danny, but if it hadn’t been for the whistle ...”
“I’ll wake him up and thank him right now.” Tyler headed for Danny’s room.
“No. It can wait.”
Tyler turned back. “I guess I owe him an apology. I actually thought I was in love.”
“Love is fleeting,” Zach said from the door. “Glad you’re all right, Mom.”
“Me too. I’ve got a lot to be thankful for. Let’s go home.”
As Tyler picked up Coco from the couch, and Zach walked out to the car, I slipped my arms around Leo’s waist, looked up at him, and touched my lips to his. We shared a long, tender kiss. There were no noisemakers. There was no champagne. But it was still our kiss.
“Happy New Year,” I whispered to him.
He held me close as if he never wanted to let me go. He had been frightened for me. It was obvious my sleuthing was tearing him up. At the end of another kiss, we pulled away, and he ran his thumb along my cheekbone. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too.”
“Please don’t ever get yourself shot. You know, if a guy’s name starts with ‘Crazy,’ it’s a clue, Nancy Drew.”
“You’re right. You’ve been right all along. I promise to be more careful from here on out.”
“Sounds like a New Year’s resolution to me,” he said, leaning down for one more kiss.
As I relaxed in his arms, enjoying the moment, a little thought bounced around in the back of my mind. Was it a resolution? Could I keep it? I wasn’t sure. I just wanted to stand here in this man’s arms and feel the warmth of his love.
“Come on, you guys. It’s cold out there,” Zach said as he stood rubbing his hands together at the door.
“Sorry.” I pulled away from Leo.
“Your mother was just telling me her resolutions.”
“Don’t tell me—let me guess. She’s giving up crime-solving? Yeah, right,” was all Zach said.
Helpful Hints from the Happy Hinter
Christmas Morning Casserole
1 lb bulk sausage
1 can (8 oz) crescent rolls
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 eggs, beaten
¾ c milk
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
Crumble sausage in a skillet and brown; drain grease. Line the bottom of a buttered 9x13 baking dish with crescent rolls still in the dough sheet that comes out of the can. Firmly press the perforations out to seal and create a dough base to the casserole. Sprinkle with sausage and cheese. Combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper, beat well and pour over sausage and cheese mixture. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until set. Let stand 5 minutes. Serve hot. This casserole may be made the night before and baked in the morning.
Benny's Pecan Pie
3 eggs slightly beaten
½ cup brown or white sugar
1 cup white Karo syrup
½ tsp vanilla
1 cup whole pecans 1/3 tsp salt
Add ingredients to eggs; pour into an unbaked pie crust. Bake 10 minutes at 450 and then 35 minutes at 350. Chill and serve.
Christmas Apple Dumplings from Wilhelm's Bed and Breakfast
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ cup butter
6 apples
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
¾ cup shortening
½ cup milk
Combine sugar, water, cinnamon, nutmeg. Cook 5 minutes and then add butter. Peel apples, core and cut into small pieces. Cut shortening into dry ingredients and add milk. Stir just until the flour is moistened. Roll to a ¼ inch thickness and cut into 6 inch squ
ares. Place apple pieces on each square and sprinkle generously with additional sugar and spices. Dot with butter. Fold corners of dough and pinch edges together. Place in a greased baking dish 1 inch apart and pour sauce over the dumplings. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Serve hot with cream if desired.
Helpful Hints at Christmas
Always forgetting to shut off the Christmas lights? Put them on a holiday timer, available everywhere.
To protect your cords outdoors put the plug-in sections in a plastic container with a hole cut in each side. This way when it rains, your connections stay dry.
To find the hole in your holiday inflatable, turn the fan on and inflate. Run a piece of thin paper along where you think the hole might be. It should go to the hole. Mark the hole with a piece of masking tape and then repair it with a vinyl repair kit.
In order for preschoolers to be a part of the unwrapping, print out pictures of the gift recipients beforehand and attach them to the gifts. You can frame the pictures with festive paper or recycled Christmas card fronts from last year!
Have a real tree? Test your smoke alarm weekly during the Christmas season.
If you are obsessing over the perfect gift, just remember that Christmas is a season of love—not perfection.
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Did you love Oh Holy Fright? Then you should read A Dash of Murder by Teresa Trent!
A Mystery for Ghost Hunters!When Betsy's Aunt Maggie wants to drag her along on a ghost hunting excursion at the local abandoned tuberculosis hospital she isn't sure if she quite believes in ghosts. When she comes upon a fresh spirit in the form of a body, she starts to rethink about what really is haunting the hospital.Betsy must solve the murder in spite of her father, who is a lieutenant on the Pecan Bayou Police Force, town citizens worried about the effect of the occult on their children, and handsome stranger from Dallas. How do you get blood out of a silk blouse? Betsy Livingston can tell you in her newspaper column, "The Happy Hinter". When she's not writing, or taking care of her young son, she's busy solving mysteries in the tiny Texas town of Pecan Bayou.
A Mystery for Ghost Hunters!When Betsy's Aunt Maggie wants to drag her along on a ghost hunting excursion at the local abandoned tuberculosis hospital she isn't sure if she quite believes in ghosts. When she comes upon a fresh spirit in the form of a body, she starts to rethink about what really is haunting the hospital.Betsy must solve the murder in spite of her father, who is a lieutenant on the Pecan Bayou Police Force, town citizens worried about the effect of the occult on their children, and handsome stranger from Dallas. How do you get blood out of a silk blouse? Betsy Livingston can tell you in her newspaper column, "The Happy Hinter". When she's not writing, or taking care of her young son, she's busy solving mysteries in the tiny Texas town of Pecan Bayou.
Read more at Teresa Trent’s site.
Also by Teresa Trent
Henry Park
Color Me Dead
Pecan Bayou
A Dash of Murder
Overdue for Murder
Doggone Dead
Buzzkill
Burnout
Murder for a Rainy Day
Till Dirt Do Us Part
Oh Holy Fright
Watch for more at Teresa Trent’s site.
About the Author
Teresa Trent lives in Houston, Texas and is an award-winning mystery writer. She writes the Pecan Bayou Mystery Series, is a regular contributor to the Happy Homicides Anthologies. Teresa is happy to add her Henry Park Mystery Series to her publishing credits with Color Me Dead, the first book in the series. Teresa has also won awards for her work in short stories where she loves to dabble in tales that are closer to the Twilight Zone than small town cozies. When Teresa isn’t writing, she is a full-time caregiver for her son and teaches preschoolers music part-time. She also enjoys spending time with her family, waiting for brownies to come out of the oven, and of course, a good mystery.
Read more at Teresa Trent’s site.
