NOT What I Was Expecting (11 page)

“You’re not at all,”
he insisted.  “I appreciate both the breakfast and the distraction.  I’m not on
any schedule.  I just decided to get away for a while, since my second in
command at the library job can handle things without me for a few days.  Uncle
Barney wants, uh, wanted to be cremated.  He also left specific instructions
that he didn’t want a memorial service of any kind.  I’ll respect his wishes,
but I also feel I have to say goodbye to him.  I don’t think I can do that
here.  Fry’s family has a fishing camp on the Tickfaw River, and he graciously
offered to let me use it for a couple of days.”

“Oh, uh, I wanted
to offer my help with any details in making the arrangements,” I told him, “but
it sounds like Barney didn’t leave much undecided.”

“I think that’s
why Uncle Barney was such a successful business man.  He made smart decisions,
left nothing to chance, and did whatever needed to be done.  The problem with
his dementia was that he had brief moments of confusion with lots of moments of
clarity.  During the time his mind was clear, he knew he was becoming confused
for ‘spells’ as he called them, and he couldn’t do anything about it.  He
wasn’t used to having so little control over his life, and I think it
frightened him.”  Luke paused and swallowed hard.  “Sorry, but I’m hoping I can
make some kind of peace with Barney’s death with these few days to process
everything.”

I assumed he was
trying to force down a lump similar to the one I had in my throat at the
moment.  Poor Barney.  I felt my eyes begin to moisten and decided I should
leave before I started blubbering in front of Luke.  That would probably make
my visit to cheer him up a complete and total failure.

“I should let you
get on the road, and I hope everything — I hope you find — have a good trip.  
Also, I have to get to the shop, so I’d better get going,” I explained as I
walked the few steps to my car door, opened it, and slid in.  I really need to
get a self-help book or something to try to improve my comforting skills.  At
the moment, I think Sassy Cat, with her aloof little strut and nose in the air
would be considered more comforting than I am.

“Thanks for the
coffee and donuts, Maggie,” Luke said, all charming and showing off the fact
that he wasn’t flawed in the interpersonal communication department.  “And the
conversation.  I really appreciate your stopping by like this.” 

“See you when you
get back,” I said through my open driver’s side window, as I cranked my car and
put it in reverse.  I very carefully backed out, since I didn’t want to hit
anything, run over anybody, or be delayed in leaving for any reason.  This was
an emotionally exhausting visit, and I needed to go.

When I walked into
the Big and Blessed shop, Fry was sitting on the bar stool behind the register
reading,
Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Pregnant: An Expectant Mother’s Guide to
Dealing with Mood Swings
.

“Learning
anything?” I asked.

By the way he jumped,
I gathered he was so engrossed in the book that he didn’t hear the door bells
tinkle when I entered.

“I see by the
smile on your face that you are mocking me,” he responded.  “This is actually
riveting stuff.  If you and CeCe would just take the time to study . . . .”

“Speaking of CeCe,
where is she?”  I inquired, noticing I didn’t spot her anywhere in the shop. 
The added benefit was cutting off one of Fry’s lectures on our responsibility
to the pregnant masses before he got going.

“She’s still
gathering supplies for – well, speak of the devil.  Here she is now.”  As Fry
was speaking CeCe stumbled in through the door, both hands maxed out with
bags.  Fry and I rushed to her aid, each of us taking some of her purchases off
her hands.

“I got Halloween
decorations,” she declared beaming.  “I thought we could go ahead and decorate
the shop.  I love holiday decorations?  Don’t you?”

“Yeah, fun,”
mocked Fry.  “Where’s the coffee?”

Since he was busy
peering in bags, he didn’t notice CeCe wince at his question.

“Uh-oh,” CeCe
whispered, but not softly enough because Fry looked up from his rummaging.

“CeCe, the reason
you decided to go get supplies this morning was because we ran out of coffee
yesterday,” he pointed out.  “Please don’t tell me I have been waiting
patiently all this time for Halloween decorations, because they look, smell,
and taste NOTHING like coffee!”  Fry’s voice was increasing in volume as he
spoke, and I suspected our usually mellow assistant was suffering from a
caffeine deficiency.  Either that or the book he was reading when I came in was
inducing sympathy mood swings in honor of his pregnant clientele.

“Hey Fry, why
don’t you take some money out of petty cash, and go down to the coffee shop? 
Take a little time, sit down, and read the paper while you enjoy your coffee. 
Then when you’re finished, maybe you could bring back some coffee for all three
of us?” I asked hoping that suggestion would soothe the savage beast he was
contemplating turning into while craving his java fix.

“Sure, I can do
that,” Fry agreed, his easygoing manner reinstated, along with his smile, just
as God intended.

I smiled back,
relieved that it took so little to keep Fry happy.  I wasn’t sure if his
attitude adjustment was due to the expected coffee indulgence or the
anticipation of gathering the latest gossip while hanging out at the coffee
shop, but I suspected it was a combination of both.

“I’m really sorry,
guys,” CeCe apologized.  “I did get the tape and staples and stuff, but then I
saw the Halloween section and coffee went out of my mind completely.  You know,
I blame that Stock and Save Warehouse.  Sure it’s cheaper, but it’s not natural
to have one place where you can get your nails and taxes done, then purchase
tires, groceries, and appliances.  It’s too much sensory overload for mere
mortals!”

If there’s one
skill CeCe and I share it’s the ability to rationalize away our guilt in any
given situation.  We learned that from our mothers.  CeCe executed this
maneuver like a pro, and I should know.  It takes a master, to know a master.

Fry shoved the
petty cash bills he’d scored from under the counter into his pocket and headed
for the door.  On his way out, he generously allowed, “It’s okay CeCe.  I
understand the lure of so much shopping, yet so little time.  Anybody needs me
I’ll be at Coffee Lovers Lane until I return with coffee and a receipt.” 

There was no time
to wish him Godspeed or even respond, for that matter.  His last words were
spoken just as the tinkle bells on the door jangled.  CeCe started pulling
Halloween stuff out of her bags to show me her decorating plans, and I tried to
think of a subtle way to steer the conversation to my visit with Luke without
making it obvious that I wanted to talk about him.  Let’s see – how should I
finesse this?

“Don’t you want to
hear what happened with Luke?” I whined.  Sometimes finesse takes too much time
and energy.

“Oh, I completely
forgot.”  CeCe stopped plowing through the bags and gave me her undivided
attention, adding, “Tell me everything.”

I went into great
detail about Luke’s demeanor, Luke’s trip preparation, and Luke’s reckless-scooter-driving
neighbor who drove that thing around as if she might pop a wheelie at any
time.  I was helping CeCe collect her bags that had been hastily dropped when
she was in decoration search mode, when the tinkle bells on the door jangled
again.

To my surprise and
CeCe’s delight, it was Deputy Ben removing his hat as he entered the maternity
shop.  Since I heard CeCe’s soft little gasp when she saw him, I suspected I
would find my words before she did.

“Morning, Deputy,”
I greeted him.  “We don’t get a lot of your kind in here, but we’ll be happy to
help you find something,” I joked.

The deputy didn’t
look all that relaxed when he came in, and I noticed he tensed slightly at my
greeting.

“By my kind, do
you mean law enforcement personnel?” he asked with no indication that he was
kidding.

“No,” I replied
with what I hoped was a welcoming smile.  “I meant men.”  He appeared to
release a breath I hadn’t noticed he was holding and with it, some of the tense
manner he brought in with him.  I thought this odd for a second and then
realized his chosen profession was probably pretty unpopular in some circles
they were required to frequent.

We weren’t in the
business of running numbers, making book, or dealing drugs.  Nobody had ever
accused Big and Blessed of being a chop shop, so it hadn’t occurred to me the
deputy could be visiting for anything other than a social call. 

“Just because we
don’t see many men in here doesn’t mean they aren’t welcome,” I continued.

Since CeCe still
hadn’t joined in the greeting process, I wondered if she was still feeling the
sting of Ben’s name blunder from last night.

“I’m hoping you
ladies can help me with something,” he explained.  “I just came from Barney
Becnel’s place.  Stopped by to see his nephew, but he wasn’t home.  One of his
neighbors mentioned Luke was loading his car earlier this morning.  Either of
you ladies have any idea where I might find him?”

“Things must be
kind of slow down at the sheriff’s office,” CeCe suggested, hiding her
bitterness fairly well.  “You stopped by Luke’s last night, and now you’re
looking to speak with him again.  That’s a lot of condolences for one murder
victim’s bereaved family member.  Or do you have news?  Did you guys arrest
Barney’s murderer?”

“There haven’t
been any arrests,” Ben replied, obviously choosing his words carefully, “But we
are checking into a person of interest.”

“Humph – it sure
doesn’t look that way, since you’re spending so much time – wait a minute,”
CeCe paused, with an aggravated expression on her face.  “You aren’t seriously
considering Luke as your ‘person of interest’ are you?”

Uh-oh.  CeCe
wasn’t controlling her anger about Deputy Ben’s name flub as well as I
thought.  Now she was jumping to some ridiculous conspiracy theory, imagining
Luke as a suspect when we all knew Deputy Ben was too smart to think anything
of the kind.  It’s true he was kind of lacking in the clue department where
women were concerned, but everything I’d heard about him around town for the
last few years indicated he was level-headed, well respected, and more than
competent when it came to police work.

I was about to
come to poor Ben’s rescue when he stood a little straighter, put his hands on
his gun belt, and said, “With all due respect, ma’am, how well do you know this
Luke Becnel?  It’s my understanding he just came back after being gone for the
past 10 years.  He’s back in town only a few months when his uncle’s friend and
then his uncle are brutally murdered.  We would be remiss in our duty if we
weren’t looking into his alibi and whereabouts, since he’s inheriting his
uncle’s sizeable estate.” 

Idiot!  What kind
of a moron did they put on this case?  Now I was the one standing with my mouth
agape while CeCe took over the conversational requirements.

“You’re right,”
CeCe agreed.  “We don’t really know him at all.  We haven’t seen him since high
school, until a few days ago.  So to answer your earlier question, no we have
no idea where you might find him,” she concluded.

She had me worried
for a minute there.  I was afraid she was falling for her love interest’s
(a.k.a. the idiot’s) assessment of Luke.  Since I just finished telling her, in
great detail that Luke was packing for a few days stay at Fry’s family cabin, I
knew she was just going along with Deputy Ben to get rid of him, and I
appreciated her solidarity.

Ben had been
looking at CeCe while she was speaking, but now turned his attention in my
direction.

“Does that go for
you as well?  Before you answer, let me tell you something else Becnel’s
neighbor shared.  Apparently, this morning while loading the car Luke had a
visit from a woman matching your description in a little Honda remarkably
similar to the one parked in front of your shop right now.  Since I saw you
there giving your condolences last night, I was wondering if you could clarify
your relationship with him?”

I took a deep
breath before I began, to help maintain my composure and buy me a second to
decide what I wanted to say.  “Luke just lost his uncle.  As you pointed out,
he hasn’t been back in town long and hasn’t been in touch with a lot of
people.  I was sorry for his loss and knowing he didn’t have lots of support,
decided to drop off coffee this morning and let him know he could call on us or
our mothers if he needed anything,” I explained, gesturing to CeCe and myself. 
“He told me he was going away for a few days, because he found it difficult to
be in that house without his Uncle Barney.  He didn’t indicate where he was going
and I didn’t ask, since we don’t have any type of
relationship
,” I said
emphasizing the last word with air quotes.

Deputy Ben stood
and stared at me for a few seconds before he asked, “What about Fry Everhaas? 
He was there last night with you two and Luke?  Doesn’t he work here?  What is
his relationship with Becnel?”

CeCe jumped in,
much to my relief, since I was still attempting to look unfazed by the deputy’s
suspicions about Luke.  “Yes, he does work for us.  Last night he was assisting
us with our condolence call and offering his sympathies as well.  See, we all
went to high school together, but none of us have seen him for the last decade
or so, as you just pointed out.  At least we hadn’t until several days ago when
we ran into him.  I was going to go with Maggie to Luke’s this morning, but I
had to run some errands so she took care of making sure he knew we would be
happy to help him with arrangements or anything he needed done during this
difficult time.”

I was proud of
CeCe.  Here she was talking to her fantasy future hubby with not so much as a
stutter.  I guess I should have been concerned that she was so obviously in her
element while lying so completely, but at the moment I was simply grateful.