Rest in Peace (5 page)

I leaned back and watched Ben as he finished his dessert. We’d known each other since we were children, and sometimes I took his good looks and wonderful personality for granted. But not tonight. I gazed at his deep blue eyes and the sandy lock of hair that fell over his forehead.

He looked up and grinned, and then his face softened. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think the lady was in love with me,” he teased.

“You’d think right, sir.”

“Okay. I can see it in your eyes, right through that look of love. What’s on your mind? Besides me?”

“I’m sorry, Ben. I don’t want to spoil our evening, but there is something that concerns me.”

“Something about Clyde’s death, right?”

“I’m not sure.” And I wasn’t. “I met Clyde’s daughter today. And his granddaughter.”

“Oh, you met Laura and Christiana? Nice, aren’t they?”

I felt my mouth fall open and shut it firmly. I should have known Benjamin would have met them. After all, he did own the newspaper and lived and breathed reporting. He probably met them before I did.

“Nice? Laura seems nice. I’d hardly use that word to describe Christiana.”

“Why not? She was very nice to me.”

Yeah, I’ll just bet she was
. So that was her games.

I shot him a glare. “Christiana’s ‘niceness’ isn’t what I wanted to talk to you about. Laura suspected her father was murdered even before the sheriff declared the shop a crime scene.”

“You’re kidding. She didn’t hint at that to me.”

“Oh, really? I wonder why not, Benjamin.”

“Yeah, she probably thought I’d write it up in the
Gazette
.” He frowned. “Still…”

“It seems Laura’s mother had told her about some shady dealings Clyde was involved in. That’s why she left him. She was afraid.” I paused, gauging his reaction. “That’s why Laura has this feeling about her dad being murdered.”

“Hmm, it looks like she could be right. I doubt Turner would have declared it a crime scene without evidence.”

“I wonder if he’ll let them stay in Clyde’s apartment until after the funeral.” There were a lot of cabins for rent in the vicinity, but the closest decent hotel was at least ten miles away.

“I don’t know, but they’re not leaving right after the funeral.”

“They’re not? Why not?”

“I don’t know. But Christiana applied for the job at the
Gazette
.”

I shut my eyes and drew a deep breath. “The secretarial position, you mean?”

“Yeah. You know we’ve needed someone for a while.”

I waited.

The look he threw my way was definitely worried, if not downright guilty.

“You hired her,” I stated.

“Why not? She’s qualified.” He shrugged. “Oh, come on, Victoria. Don’t be jealous just because she’s pretty.”

“What? I’ll have you know I’m not jealous. I just don’t like her. She was very hostile toward me.” And he thought she was pretty.

“I’m sure it’s just your imagination, Vickie.”

“Excuse me. I know what I saw. And don’t call me Vickie.” How dare he call me jealous, and how dare he call me Vickie. He knew I hated it. That is, I used to hate it. Not so much this last year or two, but I hated it now.

“Come on, honey. I don’t know what the problem is here. If it bothers you that much, I’ll tell her I’ve changed my mind.” He reached across the table and took my hand.

I sighed. Was I just jealous? God had dealt with me aboutthat last year, and I thought I’d overcome it. But the thought of Benjamin spending time with that little vixen made me cringe. Still…I needed to grow up. And I trusted Ben.

“No, I’m sorry. I overreacted. I’m sure you’re right. I must have imagined her attitude to be worse than it was.” There. “I’m all right with it, Ben.”

“Sure?”

“Yes, sure.” In a pig’s eye. Oops.
Sorry, Lord
.

We talked about other things on the ride back to Cedar Chapel. After all, the little squabble was over. Only I didn’t feel like it was over. We kissed good night at my door, and I went inside.

I went to my office, took the notebook and pen out of the drawer, and scratched out the question mark by Christiana’s name. I then added three exclamation points, tossed the pen on the desk, and went up to bed.

CHAPTER
FOUR

A
fter breakfast the next morning, Miss Aggie asked me to watch out for Whatzit while she went to Pennington House to help. They were doing last-minute decorating at this point, and she couldn’t bear to stay away. The rest of the seniors stated their intentions of going to the senior center. I grabbed Miss Jane and Miss Georgina before they could take off.

“Could I talk to you two for a few minutes?”

The nervous glances they darted at one another caused a pang of guilt to run through me. I should probably stop using these two sweet ladies as my information highway.

“Why don’t we go in the parlor? It’s more comfy.”

I linked arms with them and escorted them in.

“Now Victoria, I don’t know what you’re up to, but we have to hurry. There’s bingo at the center this morning, and we don’t want to be late.”

“You won’t be. I promise.” I smiled and sat on the wing chair beside the fireplace.

With obvious reluctance, Miss Jane and Miss Georgina sat on one of the sofas.

“Okay, all I want to know is if either of you knew that Clyde had a wife and daughter.”

“We knew he had a wife, of course. But that was years ago,” Miss Jane said. “He met her in New York, married her, and brought her home with him.”

New York? That’s where Aggie’s brother, Forrest, lived and worked after college. His mother’s family owned a textile business there.

“Was Clyde there visiting Forrest?”

Miss Jane shrugged. “He never told me why he was there. And I wasn’t about to ask him.”

“Me either.” Miss Georgina shivered. “I stayed as far away from Clyde as I could.”

They’d told me before that Clyde had a cruel streak when they were young. Miss Aggie was the only one of the girls in their group he hadn’t terrorized, and that was because she was his hero’s little sister.

“So, tell me about Clyde’s wife.”

“I didn’t know her except to say hello in passing. You didn’t either, did you, Georgina?”

“No, but I always felt sorry for her. I wasn’t much surprised when she left him.”

“What about their daughter?”

Miss Jane shrugged. “His wife left him a few months after they married. Maybe she was expecting when she left.”

I nodded and told them about my meeting with Laura and Christiana the day before.

“You don’t say.” Miss Jane’s eyes were wide. “A granddaughter, too.”

“Clyde never mentioned it, that I know of.” Miss Georgina’s silver curls bounced when she shook her head.

“He probably didn’t know.” Miss Jane’s eyes glinted. “If I’d been in his wife’s place, I sure wouldn’t have told him. In fact, I don’t know how he ever got anyone to marry him in the first place.”

It was obvious the two friends had exhausted their supply of information on the subject, so I stood. “Thank you so much. And I hope you both win at bingo.”

Georgina giggled. “We’re playing for a pie from Samson’s Bakery. Maybe we can furnish tonight’s dessert.”

I hoped not. I’d much rather have Mabel’s freshly made cobbler than the day-old pastries Mr. Samson donated to the senior center.

I stepped into the kitchen and was met by a beaming Mabel.

“Bobby will bring Sarah next weekend. He’s going to stay until Monday to get her enrolled in school. Thank you so much, Victoria, for making a way for me to keep my job here.”

“We couldn’t do without you, Mabel. And I’m sure it’ll be nice to have a child around.” I wasn’t exactly sure, but I was sure praying the little girl wouldn’t be anything like the Hansen kids across the street. Even Buster shied away from them since they’d thrown over-ripe tomatoes from their father’s garden at him.

I went to my suite on the third floor. I’d remodeled Grandfather’s library and Grandmother’s sitting room last year, and for the first few months, every time I walked through the door I seemed to sense their presence. But gradually the rooms had become my own. A haven for rest and to gather my thoughts together.

I got cleaning supplies from the small utility closet at the end of the hall and polished all the furniture in both rooms, then cleaned my bathroom. The carpet had been freshly vacuumed the day before. The outside windows could use a cleaning, but they’d have to wait until a warmer day. Maybe I’d call someone and have them done. Finances were getting better, and the two remodeled bedrooms on this floor were ready for occupancy. I’d had to turn down boarders several times in the last few months. There were several on the waiting list, so I decided to make some calls and let them know I had rooms available. The first two I called were no longer interested, but the third almost screeched in my ear with excitement. She promised to call back and let me know when she could come look at the room.

The fourth was an elderly man who was tired of living with his daughter.

“I love those grandkids, but sometimes they drive me crazy.” A bellowing laugh followed to show he was joking. He said he’d be in Cedar Chapel the following week to meet me and view the room.

Seating myself in Grandma’s rocker by the front window, I browsed through the mail I’d ignored the day before.

A letter from my mother lay on top where I’d deposited it. I ripped it open, and a photo fell out. Mom and Dad in beach clothes with wide-brimmed hats atop their heads. Mom was grinning, and Dad looked pained. As though he’d rather be somewhere else. Which I had no doubt he did.

I pulled out the single sheet of paper and read the two paragraphs. Nothing new. Same old, same old.

Mom loved the Bahamas and planned to stay for a while, but Dad was leaving for Rome on a business trip. Familiar loneliness clutched at my stomach, and I swiped a hand across my eyes. I would not cry. After all these years you’d think I wouldn’t care anymore. And I’d had Grandma and Grandpa. And the lodge. I’d always loved the lodge. Once a real lodge, it had been the Storm family’s private home for many years. I’d spent all my summers and most holidays here when I was growing up. The rest of the time I was away at boarding school, while Dad did business around the world and Mom did whatever she did in her social whirl of a life. After Grandpa died, Grandma had turned her home into a boardinghouse for seniors—mostly lifelong friends. But it came as a complete surprise when Grandma had left Cedar Lodge to me in her will.

I went through the rest of my mail then went down to take care of the seniors’ rooms. Most of them were already spotless, but I checked for bed linens that might need to be changed early.

I laughed silently when I entered Martin’s room. Comics were stacked up in three piles. His collection. Those, I wouldn’t dare touch.

When I went into Miss Aggie’s room, Whatzit glared at me as though he’d like to peck out my eyes. He liked me about as well as Clyde had.

When I finally made it down to the first floor, wonderful smells drew me to the kitchen.

“What’s for lunch, Mabel? It smells delish.”

“Mexican meat loaf. I found the recipe online the other day. Sounded like something you’d like, so I thought I’dmake it for lunch when the seniors weren’t here.”

Everyone knew I loved Mexican food. Most of the seniors liked it too, but I’d pretty much burned them out on it when I was doing some of the cooking before Mabel came.

The meat loaf was as good as it smelled, and I asked Mabel to keep the recipe on file.

After lunch I went to my office and pulled out the list again.

Beside Laura’s name, I put a notation.
Seeking revenge for her mother?

I frowned at Christiana’s name and wondered if she’d started working for Ben yet. I reached for the phone and began to punch-in his office number, then slammed the phone down. How pathetic was I? Besides, if she answered she’d probably figure out why I called. I wasn’t about to give her the satisfaction.

Maybe I’d call his cell instead, just to hear his voice and ask him if his new secretary was working out. As I reached for the phone again, the front door opened.

“Victoria?” Phoebe’s voice rang out. “Where are you?”