Author: R A Wallace
Date: 2019-03-22 04:00:00+00:00

Teaberry Blossom Time
A Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy Mystery

R. A. Wallace

2019

Author’s Note

This is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, dialogue, places, and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.  Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Material in this book is not intended as a substitute for legal or medical advice from qualified professionals. The author has no connection to any software or website mentioned.

© 2019 R. A. Wallace. All rights reserved.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Megan’s Recipe

Books by R. A. Wallace

Chapter One

He stood with his hand poised above the towering structure. In it he held the all-critical component. With this final block, his masterpiece would be complete. This single accomplishment would ensure his place among the best builders of all time. He was going to be famous.

Six-year-old Evan Brewster screwed his face up as he concentrated on lowering the piece into position without toppling the massive structure. He had to place the block on top of the others without accidentally compromising the precarious stability of the building already in place. He lowered it carefully and rested it on top of the two pieces below it that formed the bridge for this last block. Just as he began to release his fingers, disaster struck.

“I do!” Jasmine grabbed the top block with her stubby fingers.

Evan watched as the tower trembled momentarily before crashing to the floor.

“All gone!” Jasmine said proudly as she clapped her hands and smiled gleefully.

“Mom!” Evan yelled.

“Sorry, we’re still working on playing well with others.” Trina handed the pot she had just washed to Jessilyn.

Jessilyn laughed as she rinsed the pot. “It takes time.” She dried the pot as she walked toward the cupboard to put it away. “Evan, she wants to play with the blocks too. Remember what we talked about with sharing?”

“She still needs to practice how to share,” Trina told Evan. “She’s just learning. Maybe you can teach her.”

Evan looked at Trina with uncertainty in his eyes. “Why doesn’t she know how?”

“She’s just a baby,” Jessilyn said.

“She needs more practice with other kids like you. She doesn’t have anyone at home to play with,” Trina explained.

Evan eyed the tiny ball of energy with a mass of dark curls on her head. She held up a block toward him. As he reached out to take it, she snatched it back and laughed.

“How is school going?” Jessilyn asked.

Trina rinsed some serving spoons and set them in the sink.

“I’ll be glad when it is over. This is my final semester. I cannot wait. Between juggling work and classes and her.” Trina turned to check on Jasmine. Evan had created a second pile of blocks for her to play with. She was taking the rest of his blocks and adding them to her pile. “It’s been a tough year so far.”

“I can imagine.” Jessilyn carried the serving spoons over to the drawer.

She watched as Evan handed the rest of his blocks to Jasmine one at a time. Jasmine clapped her hands when her pile was complete. Evan tried to begin building another tower from the pile of blocks. Jasmine was having none of it.

“Mine!” She slapped at his hands. After turning her back on him, she crouched down and began toppling the blocks.

Evan was about to complain when he heard Seth and Jax laughing.

“Why don’t you go check in the living room and see what they’re up to?” Jessilyn suggested.

Evan took one glance at Jasmine’s back and shrugged before heading down the hall. He found Seth on the couch. Jax was sitting in a chair. There were papers spread out on the coffee table.

“Hey, Buddy. How are things in the kitchen?” Seth asked.

Evan slid onto the couch next to him. “Trina said that Jasmine needs more kids to practice sharing.”

Jax laughed. “Yeah, I’m hoping to start working on that.”

“Seriously?” Seth asked.

Jax waved at the paperwork. “Once we get this established, yeah.”

Seth looked down at Evan. “What would you think of having a little sister like Jasmine?”

Evan made a face. “She’s alright. I’d rather have someone bigger like Logan. He can play catch.”

Jax dropped the pile of papers he had in his hand to the coffee table.

“Well, what do you think?” Jax narrowed his eyes at Seth.

Seth gestured at the paperwork with both hands. “We did our best. It’s up to Sal Hobson to make the decision now.”

Jax leaned back in his seat. “I can’t believe we’re even this far with it.”

Seth rubbed Evan’s head. “We wouldn’t be if it weren’t for Ross. Having him as a silent partner is the only way we had any chance of affording this.”

“Agreed.” Jax stared at the business proposal he had just tossed on the table. “It has a nice ring to it. Anderson & Cramer Nursery & Landscaping.”

Evan ducked his head under Seth’s hand. “What does that mean?”

Seth stopped rubbing. “It means Jax and I are trying to buy a nursery.”

Evan made another face. “For babies?”

Seth laughed. “Yes, except this kind of nursery is for baby plants and trees.”

Evan sat up straighter. “Really?”

“Yep. The man that owns it now is selling it,” Seth explained.

“Why?” Evan asked.

“He said he wants to do some traveling,” Jax said as he began gathering the papers up.

“When do I get to see it?” Evan asked.

“We still don’t know if we’re buying it.” Seth looked down at Evan. Although they both had blue eyes, while Seth’s short hair was black, Evan’s hair was so blond it was nearly white.

Evan frowned up at him. “Why not?”

“Several people put in bids. The owner has to pick which of us he’s going to sell it to.”

“When is he going to do that?” Evan started scratching at a scab on his elbow.

Seth reached down and captured his hand. “We’ll know early next week sometime.”

“Will you still get to plow snow in the winter?” Evan squirmed his hand free from Seth’s grasp.

Seth laughed. “You like driving in the truck with me, don’t you?”

Evan nodded.

“Yeah, we’ll still get to plow snow,” Seth assured him.

“And mow grass,” Jax said as Trina and Jessilyn entered the room.

Seth’s eyes shot to Jessilyn. She was carrying Jasmine.

“I can’t wait to find out who has the winning bid,” Trina said as she took a seat near Jax.

“Have you thought any more about working at the nursery if we get it?” Jax asked her.

Jasmine held her arms out to Trina. Jessilyn passed the child over to her mother before taking a seat next to Evan on the couch.

“I have. I think it’s perfect, actually.” Trina settled Jasmine in her lap.

“We were just talking about that in the kitchen,” Jessilyn said. “She’ll be able to keep Jasmine with her sometimes.”

“That’s what I was thinking too.” Jax pulled a tissue from the box next to him and wiped at Jasmine’s nose.

“Mr. Hobson had a nice setup there with the small house attached to the storefront,” Trina agreed. “My mom said she could help out too.”

“Everyone cross their fingers.” Seth reached down and helped Evan contort his fingers. “With any luck, we’ll be expanding our business next week.”

***

Megan bent over and picked up another dead branch. She stood and tossed it in the back bed of the four wheeler.

“Looks like we lost a pear tree too.” She looked over at Dan. He was inspecting the other trees in the orchard.

“I think this one is good.” Dan walked over to Megan to help her pick up the rest of the dead branches from the pear tree.

“I’ll have to call Mr. Hobson and tell him that I need to pick up a pear tree when we get the peach tree,” Megan said.

“Are you telling me that you aren’t going to go over there and pick it out yourself?” He was only half joking.

“Don’t make fun of me. I’m very attached to my fruit trees,” she said with a grin.

“I know that,” Dan agreed as he bent to retrieve more twigs. “Anyone who personally picks out their fruit trees in the middle of winter so they have exactly the one they want in the spring would have to be.”

“Okay, you’re right. I’m actually going to ask him if I can drive over and pick out the pear tree too,” she confessed. “But that way I’ll know for sure that I have the best one.”

Dan laughed as he picked up more branches. “There is a method to your madness.”

“You won’t laugh when you eat your dessert in a few minutes.”

Dan raised his hands. “I’m not arguing that. I love your fruit pies.”

Megan smiled as she looked around the orchard. She loved seeing the growth on the trees emerging when spring arrived.

“Was that your parents I heard you talking to a few minutes ago?” he asked.

“It was. They were telling me about the spring training games they’ve been going to.” Megan tossed the last of the branches into the four wheeler.

“That must be nice, but I can’t complain. We had an unusually nice day here today.” Dan surveyed the rest of the orchard.

“Feels like spring,” Megan agreed. “I can’t wait for the warm weather to stay.”

“You’re excited about the addition we’re going to put on.” He was pretty excited about it too.

Megan turned to look at the house. “I am.” Her hand dropped to her stomach.

Dan closed the distance between them and stood next to her. His hand covered hers. Megan leaned back against him and stared at the house.

“It’s a good thing the warm weather is here,” he murmured into her ear.

She snuggled back against him. “Why?”

“This jacket isn’t going to fit you for much longer.”

She laughed. He was right. “I figured I’d just borrow one of yours if I had to.”

He grinned as she turned around to look at him. He pointed toward the four wheeler.

“I’ll go dump this,” he said.

“I’ll go in and call Mr. Hobson about the trees.”

“Speaking of pie…” he said.

“It’ll be waiting for you in the house when you come in.” Megan pulled her phone from her pocket as she walked toward the house. She found Mr. Hobson in her contacts and called him. The phone rang several times and then went to message. She explained why she was calling and asked him to return her call. She wanted to set up a time when she could stop out to see him.

Chapter Two

He thin sliced the cucumber and slid them into the salad bowl before taking a sip of his wine. He turned his head to smile at his wife when she entered the room.

“It is officially the weekend now that you are home,” Matthias said.

Barbara joined him at the counter and picked up her own glass of wine.

“Thanks for this,” she said before taking a sip. She watched as he expertly diced the tomato.

“What smells so good?” She knew it involved tomato sauce.

“I put a lasagna in earlier.” He slid the tomato cubes into the bowl before rinsing his hand.

“Sounds wonderful.” She reached over and stole a black olive from the salad bowl.

“I’m looking forward to when I can get out with the grill again,” he confessed as he dried his hands. “I like the flexibility it adds to our menu.”

“Speaking of which, I can’t wait for the seafood on our trip.” Barbara set her wine glass down and reached into a cupboard to take out the dinner plates.

“I can’t wait to catch the seafood on our trip.” Matthias placed the salad bowl in the middle of the table. “I believe we have most of the schedule set for our trip during spring break.”

“Not too set, I hope. The fun of vacation is having some wiggle room to enjoy yourself.” She put out three settings for dinner.

“I agree completely and I think you’ll approve when you see the schedule. It’s a list to choose from.” Matthias leaned back against the counter.

“I can’t believe we’re actually going to get everyone together in Florida for a whole week.” Barbara pulled one of the chairs out from the table and sat with her wine glass.

“It was a wonderful idea, even if I do say so myself.” Matthias grinned.

“What do we have to choose from?” Barbara asked curiously.

“Well, we took a poll. Some wanted to try a little snorkeling. There’s the boat trip that includes fishing for those who are interested. That’s definitely me.” Matthias looked up at the ceiling as he mentally went down the list. “We have the spa treatments.”

“The hot pebble message is calling me,” Barbara murmured before taking another sip.

“I can understand and that’s exactly why we came up with a list. Everyone should find something that sounds interesting and be able to enjoy it with someone else in both of our families.” Matthias picked up the hot pads and turned toward the oven.

“An excellent plan. You’re correct, I do approve.”

“There are even shopping excursions on some of the days. I believe there’s also an airboat ride planned.” Matthias lifted the lasagna from the oven and set it on the trivet on the table. “And you could even go swimming with the dolphins, if you want.”

Her hand froze half way to her mouth with the wine glass. “Really? I might have to sign up for that one.”

“I just wish Kaylee could make the trip with us,” Matthias said as he reached for his wine glass.

Barbara nodded her agreement.

“I told you that I don’t mind,” Kaylee said as she entered the kitchen. She went to the fridge and took out a pitcher of tea. “Besides, I’ll be there at the end of the week so I’m not missing the whole thing.”

“There is that,” Matthias agreed.

“We’ll just have to plan something for summer to get everyone here again,” Kaylee suggested as she took a seat at the table.

Barbara perked up. “That does sound like a good idea.”

“We don’t have any dolphins here to swim with though,” Matthias said jokingly as he transferred salad to his plate.

“We were just talking about adding some new form of entertainment to the area this week.” Barbara took the salad bowl from Matthias.

“What kind of entertainment?” Kaylee picked up the knife and began cutting the lasagna.

“A new trail, except this one would be for all terrain vehicles instead of hiking.” Barbara pushed her plate over so Kaylee could add some lasagna to it.

“That does sound like fun.” Kaylee transferred a large hunk of lasagna to Matthias’s plate.

“Where will it be located?” Matthias asked.

“Right now we’re looking at a large tract of land outside of town,” Barbara said.

“Sounds like fun. I can see how it would pull in visitors.” Matthias liberally sprinkled dressing on his salad then set the bottle on the table close to Kaylee.

“How was your day?” he asked Kaylee.

“Not bad. The babies might be starting to teeth. They’re a little fussy.”

“Do you have to babysit this weekend?” Barbara asked.

“Erica has the weekend off. She and Brad are hoping for a quiet weekend home with the babies which works for me. I have a lot of homework to do this weekend. It’s due before spring break.”

“I can understand that. Best to get it out of the way so you can enjoy the week off,” Matthias said.

“Hopefully, it will be a relatively quiet week,” Kaylee agreed.

***

Brad held Mason with one arm and reached for a handful of French fries from the takeout bag with the other.

“I now understand how people get addicted to eating takeout,” Brad said. “It’s because they don’t have time to do anything else when they’re juggling kids and work.”

Erica swayed back and forth while holding Maddie as she stood next to the kitchen table.

“Yeah, I’m hoping we’ll eventually get back to eating things like vegetables some time in the future.” She held Maddie in front of her face. “Maybe when you’re eating vegetables with us.”

Maddie smiled at the faces Erica made at her when she spoke.

“I’m hoping that you’ll still be smiling when you have to eat the vegetables,” Erica said to her daughter.

“Seriously, maybe it’s a time management thing.” Brad felt Mason begin to squirm. He gave up trying to eat and began rubbing Mason’s back.

“What do you mean?” Erica reached over and picked up a shredded pork sandwich. She took a large bite before setting it back down to continue her swaying.

“Maybe we just have to figure out how to do it.” He glanced over at his phone. “Maybe Lauren has ideas. I doubt they’re eating takeout right now.”

Erica considered it. “Good idea. We should ask.”

“I’ll text her the next time the kids are sleeping.” Brad looked over at Erica. He couldn’t remember the last time they had a conversation that didn’t center around the twins.

“How was work?” he asked.

“What?” Erica looked over Maddie’s head at him.

“I’m trying for normalcy. You know, having a conversation.” He felt Mason begin to relax in his arms.

“Oh, okay. Yeah. Let’s see.” Erica looked down at Maddie. Her eyes were closing. “We’re having a problem with school buses.”

“What do you mean?” Brad stood up.

“People aren’t always stopping for them,” Erica said as she began to follow him out of the kitchen. “You know, when the kids are getting on and off the buses.”

Brad turned back to look at her as he continued walking down the hall.

“Seriously? Why?”

Erica made a face. “I’m being told that people are just confused with the law.”

Brad reached the nursery first. He laid Mason down in his crib. Erica followed with Maddie. They backed out of the nursery and returned to the kitchen.

“What are the police going to do about it?” Brad asked as he picked up his phone.

“They are talking about starting an education initiative.”

Brad finished texting his question to Lauren and realized Erica had stopped talking.

He narrowed his eyes at her across the room. She had taken a seat at the table.

“What aren’t you telling me?” he asked.

Erica reached for a cold French fry and began pulling it apart between her fingers.

“They want to maybe use the media to get the word out. You know, in the paper, do some television segments on the news. That sort of thing.” Erica’s eyes remained on the mashed fry in front of her.

He continued to stare at her. The smile on his face formed slowly.

“They want to put you on television?” he asked.

Erica dropped the fry. She stood and went to the sink to wipe her hands before moving to the fridge.

She still hadn’t answered him. “I’m right, aren’t I? That’s awesome,” he said enthusiastically.

She shot him a look before closing the fridge and crossing the room with a juice bottle in her hand.

“I’m glad you think so,” she mumbled.

“Seriously. You’re going to be great at this.” He waited until she set the juice on the counter before reaching out for her. After turning her around, he pulled her in for a hug.

“You think so?” she said into his chest.

“I know so. All you have to do is picture our kids being the ones who are getting on and off the bus with a car whizzing past them.”

Erica lifted her head quickly and looked at him. “Good point.”

Brad’s phone buzzed.

“What did Lauren say?” she asked as she turned to pour a glass of juice.

“She said we should try a slow cooker.” Brad continued reading then chuckled.

“What?” Erica asked.

“She said we don’t have to worry about gaining weight.” Brad looked up. “Once the twins start crawling, we’ll never sit down again.”

Erica didn’t doubt it. She looked around the room at the cupboards.

“Do we have a slow cooker?” she asked.

“I have no idea. If not, we’ll ask your parents to find one for us.” Brad went over to the table and began cleaning up the remains of their dinner.

Erica nodded as she opened the dishwasher. “Good idea. They like being able to help.”

Chapter Three

Giselle woke early Saturday morning and wondered what the day would bring. Most of the Saturdays between the Christmas holiday and now had been slow at Togs. She wondered if that would begin to change given that the weather was finally beginning to show a promise of spring. In fact, today there appeared to be more than just a promise.

Giselle stood at the picture window in her living room with her coffee mug in her hand and looked out to her front yard. She could feel the warmth of the sun shining through. Okay, maybe it was just wishful thinking. She leaned forward and looked out, trying to spot the new arrivals in her flower bed. A figure jogged past her house on the sidewalk. She smiled as she recognized him.

It was one of the many things she loved about her neighborhood and about Teaberry in general. It was the place where she had grown up. Her parents still lived here, her friends were all here. So was her business. The one she had been struggling to make a success of for years. She turned her back to the window then slowly walked to the kitchen.

Some years were better than others, of course. Giselle thought back with a slight frown. Actually, that wasn’t entirely true. If she looked at her earnings, there was a decided downward slant. She’d started out great with Togs. It was only recently that things had begun to change. It hadn’t happened over night. It had been a slow, but steady, decline over time.

She thought again about what Julia had said to her. In a moment of mistaken identity not long ago, Giselle had accused the young teen of stealing from Togs. She’d been wrong, of course. In the process of proving her innocence to Giselle, the young girl had stiffened her spine and critiqued the merchandise with an experienced eye. To her mortification, Giselle knew immediately that the young girl had been right.

Giselle had responded with the first thing that popped into her mind. She offered the young girl a job. Julia has been working at Togs part-time ever since. It had been a large learning curve for both of them. It was Julia’s first job. Giselle had expected the young girl to be confused with the cash register or have problems answering questions about clothes from the shoppers.

Giselle rinsed her coffee cup and put it in the dishwasher. As she went to the bedroom to finish dressing for work, she smiled at the thought of anyone stumping Julia with a question about fashion. She sincerely doubted it would ever happen. Rather, it was something else entirely that caused problems for the young girl. Giselle realized very early on that Julia had very little self-esteem. She was hesitant to make suggestions to anyone.

It had been difficult to convince Julia at first that Giselle really wanted to hear her ideas. Julia was stunned when she learned that Giselle had acted on them. Today marked the first day they would discover how good those suggestions would prove to be. The first shipment of stock recommended by Julia had arrived yesterday. Giselle spent much of the day putting the clothes out on the racks.

Although Giselle had maintained sales from customers of her age group and older, she’d lost touch with the types of clothes that younger people might wear. She still had no idea how it had happened. It had taken Julia’s comments to open her eyes to the problem. It had certainly gone a long way to explain why her sales over time had taken on a downward slope.

Shortly before ten o’clock, Giselle opened the front door of Togs and stepped out onto the sidewalk. Her clothing store was located in a brick building with several other shops. Anderson’s Florist was on one end of the long brick building on Main Street and Tea & Thyme was on the other. The owner of the building, Ross McMann, kept a business incubator in the shop space closest to Anderson Florist. The other shops were Olde Tomes, Vintage Teaberry, and Teaberry Togs.

Giselle loved her location. She had grown fond of the other shopkeepers in the building over the years. She turned to look at the front window of her shop and the glass on the door. They could use some cleaning. She held a small bucket of water, a squeegee, and a roll of paper towels in her hands.

“Hey, Giselle.” Ross McMann stopped on the sidewalk next to her. “This looks serious.”

Giselle laughed. “I think it’s time for some spring cleaning. At least the door, anyway.”

“The weather is definitely cooperating,” Ross agreed. “I hope it stays like this.”

“I saw you enjoying it with a morning run,” Giselle said.

“I didn’t want to waste the chance. Enjoy your Saturday.” Ross gave a wave and continued walking a few doors down until he came to his own door.

Giselle watched him stand and inspect it. He turned and looked at her. She held up her squeegee. He nodded and signaled that he’d be back in a moment before unlocking his door and ducking inside. Giselle finished cleaning her door and stood back to inspect it.

“I think you have a streak over there.”

A hand appeared in front of Giselle and pointed to the left side of the door. She turned to find a man that looked to be around her age, or maybe just a bit older. At five eight, Giselle was taller than most women. The man standing next to her was about three inches taller. He wore his blond hair short.

“Uh, thanks.” Giselle tilted her head. The different angle allowed her to see the streak. He was right. It was pretty noticeable. “Oh, that would have been bad.” She ran the squeegee over it again and dried it with the paper towels.

“Better,” he said. He glanced at the store name on the front window. “Your place?”

“It is. I’m Giselle Lafitte.”

“Kurt Dodd. I’d shake your hand, but…” He looked down at the water dripping from her squeegee onto her hand.

Giselle followed his gaze and laughed. “Yeah.” She set the squeegee back in the bucket and began wiping her hand with the paper towels.

“Nice weather for washing windows,” he commented.

“I was just about to say the same thing,” a deep voice behind Giselle said.

She turned to find Ian. He wasn’t in uniform, but he still managed to look like the police officer he was.

“Hey, hi.” Giselle took a step back to include Ian in the conversation. “Ian, this is Kurt. We just met when he stopped to critique my work.”

She watched as the two men nodded to each other. They appeared to be sizing each other up. She couldn’t help making her own comparisons. Although Kurt was about an inch taller than Ian, the police officer was noticeably more muscular and fit. His posture was ramrod straight and he had what she’d always thought of as a commanding presence.

Giselle looked down at her bucket. “I should get this to Ross. He wanted to borrow it.”

“I’ll watch Togs for you,” Ian said.

“Thanks. Nice meeting you, Kurt.” Giselle lifted the bucket and turned to walk toward Ross’s place but found him walking toward her. She met him half way and passed the cleaning supplies off to him. He promised to bring them back to her soon. By the time she returned to Togs, Kurt was gone and Ian was waiting for her inside Togs.

“Did he mention why he was in Teaberry?” Ian asked.

Giselle gave him a wry smile. “I didn’t ask. I don’t usually interrogate potential customers.”

“Speaking of customers, how have things been going here?” he asked.

Giselle moved behind the counter where the cash register was located. “Good. I had a lot of sales for the dance that’s coming up next weekend. I’m hoping things really pick up now that the weather is getting nicer. Maybe spring break will help too.”

“It usually makes things busier for us also,” Ian said. “Are you here alone today?”

“No, Julia is due in any minute.” Giselle turned toward the door when the bells rang. “There she is.”

Julia smiled a greeting to both of them when she entered.

“I’ll let you guys get to work then,” Ian said as he passed by Julia on his way out the door.

Julia turned and watched him go.

“What was that about?” Julia asked as she walked toward Giselle.

Giselle was still staring at the door.

“I have no idea.” She turned to Julia. “The stock you suggested came in yesterday.”

Julia immediately began walking around the store to look at it.

“I hope I didn’t steer you wrong,” she said as she lifted a summer dress from the rack.

“You didn’t. You made excellent suggestions and I agreed. If the items don’t sell, it’s on me.”

Julia gave the older woman a hesitant look before hanging the dress back on the rack. The bells on the door caused them both to look at the new arrivals.

“Hey, you two.” Giselle went around to the other side of the counter.

“I brought help,” Megan said with a smile.

Lauren laughed. “Megan said you get a panicked look whenever she comes into the shop.”

Giselle nodded. “She isn’t kidding.”

Lauren moved over to a rack of clothes. “Oh, this is nice.”

Giselle and Julia shared a smile. It was the same sundress Julia had just been holding.

“I don’t think that would fit me for a while,” Megan pointed out.

“No, but it would fit me.” Lauren grinned at her cousin.

Megan shook her head then turned to Giselle.

“Have you heard from Sal Hobson lately?” Megan asked.

“Yeah, I talked to him…” Giselle tried to think back. “Actually, I guess it’s been a while.”

Megan turned to look at something Lauren was holding up.

“Why do you ask?” Giselle felt guilty. It had been a while since she’d spoken to the older man she considered family.

“I wanted to add another tree to an order I already placed with him. I haven’t been able to get in touch with him.” Megan watched as Lauren took something else from a rack and handed it to Julia. Julia began carrying items back to the dressing room.

“I’ll have to make some time to get out to see him next week.” Giselle picked up something else to show to Lauren. Lauren nodded and Giselle passed it off to Julia.

Megan sighed. Based on the numbers of items they had already accumulated within a matter of moments, it was going to be a long morning.

Chapter Four

The stairs leading up to the top of the bleachers called to him. He could see others up there, way at the top. They looked like they were having fun. He wondered how far they could see. Maybe all the way to outer space. He took a step closer to them. Nothing happened. He took another step. Holding his breath, he waited. He could hear the sound of a bat as it connected with a ball. He could hear voices shouting encouragement and instructions. But he didn’t hear the one voice he expected to hear. He took another step. He was next to the stairs now. It was just a matter of climbing up them.

“Noah, I need you to stay by Daddy,” Justin said without turning around.

Noah sighed and returned to his father’s side. “I’m bored.”

“Watch your sister. She’s coming up at bat.” Justin put his hand on Noah’s shoulder.

Noah leaned against the railing. He wondered if he could climb on it.

“Focus on the ball, Mia. Just like we practiced,” Justin shouted above the other voices.

He could see the concentration on his daughter’s face. The pitcher threw the ball. Mia made a face just before she took her swing. She missed.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about that one. Focus on the next one. You got this,” Justin shouted.

Noah picked his foot up and rested it on the bottom rail. His dad didn’t notice. He picked his other foot up and put it on the rail too. It raised him up several inches. He looked over at his dad. He could tell that his dad was focused on Mia. Noah lifted his foot and put it on the next rail.

Mia swung at the next ball. It connected.

“That’s it, baby. Run! Go to first!” Justin shouted as Mia took off.

Noah lifted his other foot and placed it on the rail.

“You got it, go to second,” Justin shouted as he reached for Noah. “Don’t climb on the rail, Buddy.”

Justin pointed at Mia. “Watch your sister. Look, she’s going to make it.”

Noah looked at his older sister running around the bases. One of the other kids picked up the ball and threw it toward the second base. The kid there missed the catch.

“Keep going, Mia!” Justin shouted. “Run!”

“Dad!” Noah said. “I have to go.”

“What? Oh, okay, Buddy. Wait just a minute.” Justin kept his eyes on Mia as she ran toward third base.

“Now, Dad! I have to go now!” Noah headed for the stairs exiting the bleachers.

Justin caught up with him half way down the stairs. He turned to see Mia rounding third base before losing his view of the field as he continued to descend.

When he reached the bottom step, Noah took off like a shot to the restrooms below the bleachers. Justin heard the cheers as Mia crossed the home plate when he caught up to Noah and followed him into the restroom. When they exited the restroom, they were surrounded by parents and children as they moved quickly in the opposite direction to get back to their cars. The game was over.

Justin led Noah around the bleachers and met his daughter as she walked off the field.

“Daddy! Did you see it! I won the game!” Mia skipped toward him.

Justin wrapped an arm around her to pull her in for a hug.

“I sure did, Mia. You were great!” Justin navigated the kids through the crowd toward their van.

“Is Mommy home? I want to tell her,” Mia said as she climbed into the van.

“Not yet, sweetie. She’s shopping with Megan.” Justin made sure both kids were secure in their seats before climbing in. “What do you say we stop and get some food to celebrate?”

Both kids began yelling for food, but not the same kind.

Justin looked in the rear-view mirror. Mia was sweaty and her hair was going everywhere. Noah was scowling at Mia because he didn’t like her choice for food. Justin smiled as he pulled out of the parking lot. Just another Saturday.

***

Cole grabbed on to the handle of the cart and followed Trina down the sidewalk next to the rear of the building. She stopped when she reached the end.

“This is where we had them last year,” Trina said as she pointed.

Cole looked at the space. “Which way to you want the rows to go?” He motioned with is hand. “This direction?”

“Yeah. You want to butt up against the building and leave enough space in between them for people to get in and out easily, especially if they have a cart.”

“Okay. I’ll let you know if I have any more questions,” Cole said as he began off-loading the materials to set the rows up.

“Let me know when you’re done with these and I’ll help you bring the ceramic planters out,” she said. “I need to get back inside and grab my lunch while I have a chance. A couple of warm days and everyone is going crazy.”

“It’s been a while since anyone has seen a warm Saturday,” he agreed.

“In another five hours or so, we can enjoy it too,” she said before heading back inside the feed store.

Cole smiled at the thought. Actually, he didn’t mind being at work. It was something he was familiar with. It was doing other things on a Saturday that had his stomach in knots. Visions of Julia in a fancy dress danced in his head. Not that they had any reason to be there. He hadn’t asked her to the dance. He hadn’t asked anyone to the dance.

For all he knew, she was planning to go the dance with someone else. He hadn’t heard anything about it but that didn’t mean anything either. He carried some of the cement blocks and set them on the ground, positioning them roughly where he thought they should go. He wondered again why he hadn’t been able to work up the courage to ask her. When he turned around to get one of the boards to lay on top of the blocks, he saw her standing there.

“Hey,” Julia said.

“Hey.” Cole stared at her.

Julia looked down at the cart with the cement blocks and the boards.

“Making some shelves?” She crossed her arms.

“Yeah.”

She looked away from him. “So, I was wondering. Are you going to the dance next Saturday?”

“Are you?” It was what he really wanted to know.

Julia looked back at him. “Are you asking?”

Cole spoke without thinking. “Yeah.”

She nodded. “Okay. You can pick me up. I have to get back to work now.”

Cole watched as she walked away. He wondered what had just happened.

***

Rhys parked in the lot next to the police station and sat there for a few moments before getting out. He still couldn’t believe it was true. When he approached Dan with the idea of buying the house from him, he expected the other man to say no.

Rhys had already decided that he liked the house so much, he would have continued to rent the place from Dan if that’s what the other man had wanted. Instead, Dan had immediately agreed. He couldn’t believe his luck. With his salary and what Ava was bringing in with her cleaning business, they shouldn’t have any trouble making the payments. It would be way more space for Ava and Bella than what they were used to in the apartment above Ham and Joni Givens’s place, and it would be a great home for the three of them once he and Ava were married. It was more than he could have hoped for.

Rhys walked across the parking lot and entered the police station. It was the first warm weekend they’d had in months and the promise of the end of winter. He was definitely looking forward to this summer. He and Ava were planning to get married. Rhys stopped at the front desk to greet Martha.

“What’s the word?” Martha asked.

“Looks like I’m joining the ranks of homeowner,” Rhys said with a smile.

“Well, good for you!” Martha looked behind Rhys as Ian joined them. “Looks like you’re stuck with him.”

Ian raised his brows at Rhys. “Dan agreed?”

“He did.” Rhys looked back at Martha. “Anything going on today?”

Martha passed him some notes.

“Thanks.” Rhys followed Ian as he walked toward the main office area. He shuffled through the notes as they walked down the hall, dodging others as they passed them.

“Anything?” Ian asked as they reached the office.

Rhys held up the notes. “Looks like most of these are complaints about the same thing.”

“What’s that?” Ian glanced down at his computer.

“Someone is drag racing on the country roads.”

Ian straightened. “Kids?”

Rhys shuffled back through the notes. “Evenings and weekends. Maybe. The times are right.”

“I guess it is that time of year,” Ian said as he turned back to his email. He scrolled through the new messages.

“Yeah.” Rhys picked up his hat. “Let’s hope we figure out who’s doing it before anyone gets hurt.”

Ian closed out his email before following Rhys from the office.

“You got that right,” Ian said. “Just think. A couple more years and Bella will be driving.”

Rhys nodded. He was already having nightmares about it.

Chapter Five

She set her phone down Sunday after lunch with a frown.

“Still no answer from Sal?” Dan asked.

Megan turned to look at him before walking over to the stove.

“No. Giselle said she hasn’t spoken with him in a while either.” She filled the kettle and put it on the burner.

“He’s probably just avoiding the calls. He is planning to sell the place this week,” he pointed out. “He probably doesn’t want to deal with the hassle of it all.”

She nodded agreement. It was possible.

“I know. On the one hand, I’m starting to feel like I’m stalking him.” She opened the tea tin and pulled out a bag.

“It’s still just a little too early to plant trees anyway.” Dan topped off his coffee cup.

She knew that was true. “I heard peepers last night.”

He grinned. “There’s no truth to that one.”

She gave him a surprised look. “You don’t believe it?”

“That if you hear peepers three times that means it’s spring?” He shook his head.

“Technically, they have to get frozen three times. The fourth time you hear them, you know that winter is over for sure.” She reached for her mug.

“You’re ignoring science to rely on frogs?” He asked jokingly.

She smiled. “Well, we might want to wait a while before we plant fruit trees,” she acknowledged. “Still, I like keeping track of how often I hear peepers every year and when.”

She watched as his eyes drifted to the clock.

“Are you still planning to check on Gabe this afternoon?” she asked.

“Yeah, I guess. I don’t really want to.” Dan let out a sigh as he set down his coffee cup.

“You’re afraid of what you might learn?” she guessed.

He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I know what he’s been up to. I’ve seen his truck parked at the bar outside of town more than once on my way home from the feed store.”

“I’m sorry.” She didn’t know what else to say.

He shrugged. “Nothing you can do about it.”

She turned when the kettle whistled and poured the hot water into her mug.

“What are you going to do this afternoon?” he asked.

“I caught up with my web site work for the rest of my clients but I’m still working on the new information for the Teaberry web site.”

“Is that the info you got from Ward?” he asked.

She nodded as she dipped her tea bag in her mug. “Yeah. He had some interesting stories about the town when it was first built. I wish I had some pictures to go with it. It sounded really interesting the way he described it but…”

“A picture is worth a thousand words?”

She smiled. “Yeah. It just makes it easier to understand, I think. Easier for people to visualize. It’s hard to imagine what life was like back then.”

“Would you have liked being married to someone who worked for the railroad?” he asked.

“You think that’s what you would have done?” She took her tea bag out and threw it away.

Dan picked up his coffee cup and led the way to the living room.

“Probably. That’s what a lot of guys did around here. There were routes through practically every town of any real size. It was a major form of transportation.”

“Ward said they shipped a lot with the railroad too,” Megan said as she sat next to him on the couch.

“He talked about trains?”

“You should have heard him. He could even tell you all about the locomotives and where they were built.” She shook her head. “It was amazing. I’m going to add some of that to the web site.”

“I’d like to see pictures of all of that,” he said.

“Maybe they’ll have something at the library. I was planning to go anyway.” She saw Dan glance at the clock.

“You should probably just go and get it over with,” she suggested.

He knew she was right. He leaned forward for a kiss before standing.

“I’ll probably be back soon.”

She reached for her laptop from the table next to the couch and watched him leave.

Dan thought about their childhood as he drove to the garage where his brother now lived. Gabe had always been the happy kid, the one who managed to find something fun no matter where he was. In his teens, it usually had something to do with a car. That was one reason why Dan had rented the old building with the tiny apartment above it. He figured it would give Gabe a chance to find a new future but still be involved with the one thing he seemed to love most.

He hadn’t been back to see Gabe at his new place since dropping him off there his first day back in town. He figured his brother deserved the time to make some decisions on his own. After seeing his brother’s truck at the bar most nights, he wasn’t sure it had been the right thing to do. He was relieved when he pulled into the lot next to the garage and saw the doors to the bays open.

Gabe was inside with the radio blasting. He was buried deep inside the engine of a car. Over the noise of the radio, Dan heard the distinctive clanking of a tool as it hit the cement floor of the garage. Mumbled curses followed.

Dan bent to retrieve the tool. “Here.”

Gabe didn’t look up as his hand reached for the tool. “Thanks.

“What’ve you got here?” Dan recognized the vehicle but figured it was something to say.

“Just checking it out. She said it was making a noise.” Gabe straightened from the car and looked at his brother. Although there were a few years between them in age, they could nearly be twins.

“Did she tell you the tires looked flat, too?” Dan asked with a wry smile.

Gabe looked confused for a moment. When he remembered, he smiled also.

“I’d forgotten about that.” Gabe’s forehead furrowed as he tried to remember more details. “Why does she always think that?”

Dan shrugged. “I don’t know. Mom has just always been that way. Maybe she had a bad experience with a flat tire?”

“Before she met dad?” Gabe looked around for his rag. He found it on the old cart he’d been using to hold his tools.

Dan studied his brother. He looked tired, but otherwise okay.

“How are you holding up?” Dan asked.

“You mean, without my wife?” Gabe finished wiping his hands and tossed the rag back where he found it.

Dan didn’t want to go over the same argument. He decided to change the subject.

“Are you getting any business aside from Mom?” As soon as he said it, he realized it came out wrong. He didn’t want to sound like he believed his brother was a failure.

Gabe didn’t seem offended. “Some.”

Dan waited for more details but didn’t get them.

“Listen, Megan and I are planning a little family dinner next week. We’d really like it if you could make it.”

“You could have just called to ask.” Gabe narrowed his eyes at his brother. “What, you wanted to check up on me?”

Dan didn’t bother to lie. He met his brother’s gaze.

“You’re my brother. I wanted to know if you were okay.”

“I’ll be okay when I get my wife back.” Gabe bent over the engine again.

Dan ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “You think you’re going to find her at the bar on the edge of town?”

Gabe stood straight again. “You have been checking up on me.”

Dan sighed and pressed his fingers into his eyes. “No. It’s on my way home from the feed store. In fact, I’m sure a lot of people have seen your truck there.”

Gabe dropped his eyes. “Including LeAnn?”

“Or someone she knows.” Dan waved his hand around the garage. “Maybe you should just focus on building up some clientele here.”

Gabe stared at him, the anger evident in his eyes.

Dan didn’t know which of them it was directed at, him or Gabe.

“Yeah, maybe.” Gabe didn’t sound convinced.

Dan gave up. “Okay. I’ll call you later in the week about getting together.”

Gabe watched as his brother drove away. He wondered why he hadn’t told Dan that he appreciated him stopping by. He knew his brother only wanted to help. He looked around the garage and thought about what Dan had said. Maybe he should just focus on the garage. It was what he knew.

He heard the noise of an engine. He could tell it wasn’t Dan’s, but he didn’t recognize it. He stepped out of the open garage door to look. It was a nice-looking car. Gabe smiled as he walked up to the two kids getting out.

“Nice,” Gabe said. “Engine needs some work though.”

The young driver nodded his agreement. He looked to be in his late teens at the most.

“That’s why we’re here,” the driver said.

“We heard you knew about race cars,” the other kid added. “We want to know if you can make this one faster.”

Gabe pointed toward the car with his chin as he walked around the front.

“Pop the hood. Let’s see what you’ve got under there.” Gabe reached down and lifted the hood, then let out a whistle. “Not bad. I can make it better.”

The two kids looked at each other and smiled.

Chapter Six

She set the skillet of scrambled eggs next to Dan on the table. He reached for the spatula immediately and transferred most of the eggs onto his plate.

“Your mom is right. I definitely like adding leftover stuffing to the eggs like this.” He forked up a large mound and began eating.

Megan turned back to the kitchen counter to get her mug of tea before settling in the seat across the table from Dan. She cradled the mug in her hands as she watched him. He had been a little quiet after visiting his brother the day before. She’d waited to ask him about it, knowing that he sometimes needed to think things through before he tried discussing it.

“How did things with Gabe go?” she asked when he finished his plate.

He wiped his mouth with a napkin then took a drink of coffee as he considered his answer.

“It sounds like he might try to make it for dinner this weekend,” he said finally.

Megan smiled. It was a start. She had been worried that Gabe would decline. “That’s good. Your parents said they’ll be here also.”

“He hasn’t made a lot of progress at the garage.” Dan leaned back in the chair, his arm stretched out in front of him holding the coffee cup on the table.

“Do you think he’s going to try to make a go of it there?” She’d never really known Gabe well. She had no idea what he might be interested in doing.

Dan made a face as he considered it. “He was working on Mom’s car when I got there. He said he’s worked on some others.” He took another sip of his coffee. “He’s going to have to do something. He needs to pay the rent.”

Megan nodded and looked down at her tea. She felt Emma wrap around her ankles. She pushed the chair away from the table a bit to accommodate her new size and picked the black cat up from the floor. Emma pushed her head under Megan’s hand. She wanted her ears rubbed.

“What do you have planned today?” he asked.

She accepted the change of conversation as she rubbed Emma’s ears. She was rewarded with a loud purring.

“I’m planning to meet up with Caro. Before that, I’m going to stop at the library. I want to see if they have any old photos of Teaberry. And then I might see what they have for baby books and quilt patterns while I’m there.”

“For the baby’s quilt?” He knew she was planning to make one.

“I have something in mind for the quilt, but it never hurts to look at what others have done for inspiration too.” She saw that the smile was back on his face. “I might end up making more than one. If not now, then by next fall I’m sure I will.”

“You think you’ll need more than one?” he asked.

She knew he didn’t have much experience with small children. “We’ll need more than one of a lot of things, I’m sure.”

He glanced at the clock. “I should probably get going. We’ve been crazy at the feed store since this warm spell hit.”

He stood and walked around the table. When he reached her, he bent down to give her a kiss.

“I can’t wait to see what you come up with for the quilt.”

“It’ll be fun working on it,” she said.

Emma jumped down from her lap when Dan moved away from the table. Megan watched him leave the kitchen to finish getting ready for work with the black cat trailing behind him. She hoped that dinner this weekend with his family would give them all a chance to begin healing. It might be a start, anyway.

***

He leaned over the table to get a better look at the map. After tapping his finger on the line connecting Teaberry to the next largest town, Archie straightened.

“That’s the railroad right there. I remember hearing a lot of stories about that when I was young.” Archie looked at the others around the table.

“Did you know of anyone who worked for the railroad?” Megan asked.

“Oh, sure. Well, not so much me, of course. My dad did though. That’s where I got all the stories from. He would tell me the horror stories.” His eyebrows danced as he warmed to his story. “I loved those. A lot of the guys he knew would jump the trains when they were young. Not all of them made it.”

“Jump?” Linda asked.

“You know, to hitch a ride,” Archie explained. “Some call it hopping. A lot of guys moved around that way back in the day.”

“They jumped onto it while the train was moving?” Linda’s eyes widened.

“Sure. That’s what I meant when I said they didn’t all make it. Injuries happened.” Archie leaned over the map again. “This is where the old depot was. They tore that down decades ago.”

“I don’t think I remember it,” Linda said.

“I think it was right around the time you were born. Maybe a little earlier.” Archie made a face. “There have been a lot of changes to the town over the years. I’m not sure I remember them all now.”

“Does the library have any old photos of the town from its early days?” Megan asked. “Like, maybe of Main Street?”

Linda shook her head slowly as she looked around the library. “Not that I can think of, no. You might have better luck asking if anyone in town has anything. A lot of people have old pictures that they hand down. Most are of family, but some might be of the town.”

Archie rubbed at his bald head. “I might have some of the old trains.”

“That would be nice,” Megan said. “Especially if you have stories to go with them.”

Archie grinned. “I never seem to have a shortage of those.”

“I would love to hear them,” Megan assured him.

“You know who you need to talk to,” Archie said as he rested his hand on the table. “Sal Hobson.” Archie nodded his head.

“You think he has old photos?” Megan asked. She had never thought to ask him.

“Maybe, but what I know he has is even better than that.” Archie leaned back over the map. “See this right here?”

He looked at Linda and Megan to make sure they were following. They both nodded to encourage him.

“That’s Main Street. This map doesn’t have much detail, but Sal has it,” he said.

Megan wasn’t sure what he meant. “Has it?”

Archie nodded again. “He has a replica of what Main Street looked like back in the day.”

“Like a model?” Megan still wasn’t sure she knew what he meant.

“It’s made out of wood. It’s a scale model, you know? It’s the actual buildings and everything, just the way they used to be.”

“Seriously?” Megan and Linda asked at the same time.

Archie grinned. “I haven’t seen it in years. It’s something, that’s for sure.”

“I’ll have to try to call him again,” Megan said. “I tried all weekend, but I haven’t had any luck yet.”

Archie frowned as he rubbed his head again. “I haven’t heard from him either. He stood me up, in fact.”

“He did?” Linda nodded to someone across the library to indicate she’d be right with them.

“Yeah. We were supposed to go to the train show together.” Archie started pulling his coat on. “I ended up having to go by myself.”

“Train show?” Megan hadn’t heard of one. “They show trains?”

“Yeah, you know. Model trains. The one I went to this past weekend is one of the better shows. It takes up a whole floor of a building,” Archie explained. “The local chapter puts it on once a year.”

“They have train cars to look at?” Linda asked.

“Oh, better than that. They have them all running around the tracks. The tracks go all through the building. They research it all so that the layout follows a specific theme or era. It’s pretty exciting to watch. There’s landscaping and buildings and antique cars with little people.” Archie’s eyebrows were dancing again. “Of course, they have vendors there to sell all that stuff so you can put your own together too.”

“That does sound like something worth seeing,” Megan agreed. She thought it would be something a child would enjoy seeing for sure. She made a mental note to mention it to Dan. Maybe it was something they could take their kids to.

“Next time you hear of something like that, let me know,” Linda agreed. “We’ll post the information on the board here at the library.”

Archie waved goodbye before leaving. Linda crossed the library to help the other patron. Megan went over to the section on parenting. She took a couple of books from the shelf then went over to the magazine section. She knew that the library had some subscriptions to craft magazines. After reading through a few, she glanced at the clock. She needed to get her books checked out and be on her way.

Chapter Seven

The drive to Tea & Thyme from the library was short. Megan found a parking space about a block away and walked the rest of the distance happy that she didn’t have to worry about slipping on ice. The warm weather they’d enjoyed for the past few days had taken care of that. She hoped it stayed that way. She was looking forward to starting the addition on their house. It was an undertaking that would go more smoothly with good weather.

Several smells tantalized her as she entered Tea & Thyme. All of them were good. One of the twins was behind the counter making an energy drink for a man Megan didn’t recognize. She could see several pastries and other baked goods in the glass case on the counter. She knew they had been made by her cousin, Lauren. Tea & Thyme was one of her many regular customers.

Megan browsed the tea options until the man in front of her paid for his drink. He turned and nodded to her as he waited to get his card back from Janice.

“Nice place here,” he said.

Megan smiled. She wasn’t sure if he meant the shop or the town. She happened to like both.

“We think so,” she agreed.

After putting away his card, he left the shop. Megan stepped up to the counter to say hello. Janice watched the man exit the shop.

“It’s getting to be that time. Warmer weather usually brings more tourists. That’s a good thing,” Janice said.

Megan knew the shops in town relied on it. “How have you been?”

Jill joined them from the small addition where customers could sit to enjoy a cup of tea and maybe some of the baked goods.

The twins stood side by side. Both were a couple of inches taller than Megan’s five five. Both had strawberry blonde hair with a similar cut. To help the residents of Teaberry tell them apart, they wore the part on opposite sides. The twins shared a look between them but didn’t answer.

That was Megan’s first clue that they had something to tell her. The twins were rarely quiet.

“Is everything okay?” Megan asked.

Jill and Janice hesitated again. Megan could tell they were communicating with each other silently. Finally, Jill nodded. Janice turned to Megan.

“We were wondering the same thing,” Janice said.

“We’ve never seen him like that before,” Jill added.

Janice reached out and placed her hand on Megan’s arm. “Is everything okay with you?”

“If you need to talk with anyone about anything, we’re here to listen.” Jill nodded, her face filled with compassion.

Megan didn’t try to hide her surprise. She had no idea what they were talking about.

The twins took her silence as hesitation.

“We won’t judge, of course,” Jill was quick to add.

“Sometimes people just lose their temper,” Janice said.

“Life can be stressful,” Jill agreed.

Megan shook her head. “I’m sorry. You two have lost me.”

Jill turned to her twin. “Perhaps she doesn’t know?”

“Know what?” Megan asked.

Both twins now looked at her with compassion.

“About Dan,” Jill said.

“And his temper,” Janice added.

Megan had known Dan since kindergarten. She smiled.

“Dan doesn’t have a temper,” she said confidently. “I know the difference, remember? Josh had a temper.” It was true. Her first husband had often lost his patience when life didn’t go the way he envisioned.

“We discussed that, didn’t we?” Janice asked her twin.

Jill nodded. “We did. We wouldn’t have believed it ourselves if we hadn’t seen it.”

“Seen what?” Megan asked.

“Dan having an argument with someone,” Janice said.

“That’s not possible,” Megan replied. She didn’t even question it. She didn’t have to.

“Oh, but it is,” Jill said. She took a step closer to Megan and lowered her voice. “We saw it ourselves. He was really yelling at poor Sal.”

“Sal Hobson?” Megan knew that couldn’t be the case. She and Dan had been discussing Sal. Dan would have said something. She narrowed her eyes at the twins.

“When did this happen?” Megan asked.

“Last week,” Janice said.

“At the end,” Jill agreed.

Megan smiled again. “Did you two know that Gabe is back in town?”

The concern on their face cleared instantly.

“Oh! That does explain it, doesn’t it,” Jill asked her sister.

“It does. That Gabe. He was always very…” Janice looked for the right word.

“Passionate about some things,” Jill supplied.

“Exactly,” Janice looked relieved that she didn’t have to come up with her own description.

“They almost look like twins on the outside,” Janice said.

“But they’re nothing alike on the inside,” Jill finished.

Megan couldn’t agree more. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with Sal, actually. I lost a couple of fruit trees this past winter.”

“You know he’s selling the nursery, don’t you?” Jill asked.

“That’s why that man is in town,” Janice said with a wave toward the door. “The one that was just here. He said he put in a bid for it.”

“They’re supposed to announce the winning bid soon,” Jill said.

“Maybe you can ask Sal why Gabe was yelling at him,” Janice suggested.

“I’m a little worried that I haven’t been able to reach Sal,” Megan said with a frown as the bells on the door rang.

Jill motioned toward Ian as he entered the shop.

“Maybe Ian could check on him,” Jill suggested.

Ian nodded amiably. “I will if you make me one of those energy drinks I like.”

Jill smiled before moving to the other side of the counter.

Ian turned to Megan. “Who am I checking on?”

Megan made a face. “I haven’t been able to get in touch with Sal Hobson. I’ve called him several times over the past several days. It’s not like him to ignore my calls. He knows I love his plants and trees as much as he does.”

“Kindred spirits,” Janice said with a smile.

Jill returned with the energy drink. “Maybe you could do a wellness check?”

Ian accepted the drink as he passed some cash to Jill.

“I will do that later today when I’m on duty,” he agreed. “Thanks for this.”

He raised the energy drink in a mock salute before turning to leave. As he passed through the door, Caro was just reaching it. Ian held the door for her.

“Thank you,” Caro said with a gracious smile. “I’m late,” she said when she saw Megan waiting for her.

“Not at all. I was a little early.” Megan motioned toward the addition. “We’re meeting for tea,” she told the twins.

Caro eyed the baked goods in the display. “And maybe a little something to go with it.”

They settled in a booth in the addition and placed their orders.

“How are things at the farm?” Caro asked.

Megan told her that they were putting on an addition.

“How are things with you two? I haven’t seen Tom much lately,” Megan said.

“We’ve been busy,” Caro said with a smile. “Now that Marcy and Casey are married, Tom feels like it’s finally time to relax.”

“That’s good to hear. Any plans?”

Caro’s face lit up. “Oh, yes. We have a cruise coming up. I enjoyed traveling in the past, but it’s a lot more fun planning it with someone else.”

“I can imagine.” Megan leaned back when Janice returned with a tray.

“There you go. Let me know if you need anything else,” Janice said before leaving.

“It’s not that he feels like he’s missed anything by not traveling before. He wanted to be with Marcy and Ethan,” Caro said.

“I understand completely. I’m the same way. I can see traveling at some point,” Megan said.

“But right now you’re focusing on growing a family and that’s where you’re the happiest,” Caro guessed.

“Yes. That’s it exactly. I’m in my happy place, just like Tom was. And now he has a new happy place. That’s the way it should be.” Megan picked up the beautiful tea cup and admired it. It was part of the charm of having tea at Tea & Thyme. In addition to enjoying a cup of loose leaf tea, it was served in beautiful bone china.

A short time later, she and Caro parted. Megan walked out of Tea & Thyme and turned toward the opposite end of the building. Since she was this close, she should stop in to see Caitlyn. She walked past the other shops in the building enjoying the view. It was a beautiful spring day. The birdsong she heard was a pleasant sound. The birds seemed just as happy as she was as they went about their business.

The buds on the trees lining the sidewalk interspersed with brick showed promise of blooms any day. The sidewalks on both sides of the street had pedestrians. Janice was right. There were a lot more people out enjoying the weather. She saw several faces that she recognized.

“Hey, Dena,” Megan said when she saw a familiar face.

“Hi, Megan.” The other woman continued walking briskly down the sidewalk.

Megan entered the florist shop. Caitlyn wasn’t in the front so she continued to the back workroom. She found Caitlyn unboxing supplies.

“Hey, that time of the year, huh?” Megan asked as she leaned against a counter.

Caitlyn lifted something from a box.

“The spring dance. Do you remember when we went?” Caitlyn asked.

“Funny how important it seemed back then.”

Caitlyn laughed. “It was the end of the world if you didn’t get asked. Or if you didn’t pick the right dress.”

Megan made a face. “You and Lauren picked mine out.”

“You looked adorable in it too,” Caitlyn said. “And your hair.”

“Don’t remind me. Poor Irlene.”

“She did a good job with it,” Caitlyn said.

“Without any help from me,” Megan agreed. “It’s a good thing she knew what she was doing.”

“Are you out enjoying the weather?” Caitlyn took the last item from the box. She sliced the tape on the bottom and began flattening the box.

“I just had tea with Caro. Oh, and I ran into Dena walking down the street,” Megan said.

“Dena Baker? I haven’t seen much of her lately.” Caitlyn frowned. “I’m sure she’s busy. Two kids and a divorce.”

“Has to be hard,” Megan agreed.

After catching up with Caitlyn, Megan got back into her truck for the return trip home. As she drove through town, she saw Erica directing traffic on a road with school buses passing by. She wondered when Erica had taken on that duty.

Chapter Eight

Sal’s nursery was located on a road outside of town. It was a country road with little traffic this time of year. Once the garden plants were ready for sale, which typically happened around Mother’s Day, the area would be overrun with residents of Teaberry jostling to get the best of the plants for their gardens. The long driveway leading to the building Sal used as a storefront ended with a large parking area.

Hobson’s Nursery had been around for decades. It was well-known in the area for both plants and trees. It was where many shopped for flowering shrubs, any kind of tree including fruit, shade, or ornamental, and any kind of flower imaginable for landscaping. Such things were enough to generate traffic from spring until fall when pumpkins and other gourds were added to the mix.

But Ian knew from experience that it was the short period when everyone was putting in their gardens that the true chaos happened. People from miles around came to get the best of the best. Ian was one of them. Although his actual garden was small, he also got several planters each year.

He called them cheaters. They were the pepper and tomato plants that already had fruit by the time he bought them in early spring. It enabled him to have fresh-picked vegetables weeks before he normally would. He glanced at the greenhouses as he drove up the long drive.

“Nice setup,” Rhys commented.

“You’ve never been here?” Ian found that hard to believe.

“No. You?” Rhys looked around with interest. Maybe Bella would like a garden?

“Every year since I first moved here. Even before I put a garden in, I always had planters.” Ian pulled into the parking lot near the storefront.

“The house is in the rear of the storefront. Makes it convenient for him. Sal lives here on the property year round.” Ian exited the police cruiser.

He could see rows of trees with their roots balled up between two of the greenhouses. They walked around the storefront. Sal’s car was parked near the entrance to the house.

“Let’s try back here,” Ian suggested as he walked toward the entrance to the house.

As they neared the door, both men stopped. It was partially open. Rhys immediately signaled with his hand that he would take point. Ian nodded his agreement. They were both well versed with the protocols to follow. Ian continued into the house beyond Rhys as they checked each of the rooms. When they found Sal, they called it in.

***

The sight of bread dough rising above the sides of the bread pans was always a happy event. Megan turned on the oven when she got home and began working on dinner. Although the warm weather was a welcome change from the winter, it still wasn’t a balmy summer day. Fresh bread from the oven and a pot of stew sounded like a good idea.

She rummaged through one of the freezers to pull out some frozen vegetables from last year’s garden. There were plenty of green beans left. She had bags and bags of them that she had cut up before freezing them last summer. There were also chunks of zucchini. She usually froze zucchini three different ways. She liked to shred it and freeze a couple of cups in each bag for her zucchini bread. She sliced it to go with things like fried potatoes. She also cut it into chunks for soups and stews. Any squash that had gotten away from her in the garden and grown too large was especially good for that.

She grabbed a bag of diced onions and some cubed potatoes for the stew. While she was digging in freezers, she also took stock of what she had left. She hadn’t decided what she was making for Dan’s family when they came for dinner on the weekend. She needed to get the menu settled so she could pick up anything she was missing.

She returned to the kitchen with her frozen vegetables and set them near the stove. The meat was already thawed in the fridge. She was taking it out when the phone rang. Setting the meat on the counter by the veggies, she walked across to another counter where she kept her phone charging. She frowned when she saw who was calling.

“Ian?” Megan said when she answered.

“Yeah. Listen, I’m sorry to tell you this,” Ian said.

“Oh, no.” Megan leaned against the counter.

“Yeah, sorry. Do you happen to know a next of kin?” Ian asked. “We don’t know who to contact. Word travels so fast around here, I wanted to get in touch with them as soon as possible.”

Megan took a deep breath to help clear her thoughts.

“Well, that would be Giselle as far as I know,” she said slowly.

“Giselle? She’s related to Sal?” Ian asked. It wasn’t what he was expecting to hear.

“No. No, actually she’s not technically. It’s more of an extended family thing. Giselle’s grandmother and Sal Hobson were friends. Giselle always thought of him as a grandfather,” she explained.

“But he isn’t really? You don’t know of any other relatives?” Ian asked.

“No. I think Giselle is it. He never had any children of his own.” Megan tried to remember everything she’d ever heard about Sal. “Maybe Giselle would know if there’s anyone else?”

“Good point. Okay, thanks. I have to go.”

Megan thought about Sal as she continued working on dinner. By the time Dan arrived home from work, she was happy to walk into his hug as soon as he entered the house.

“Hey, what’s this?” Dan tilted her head up to make sure she was okay.

Megan managed a sad smile, then told him about Sal.

“You were right,” Dan said as he pulled her back in for a hug. “I should have trusted your instincts.”

“Unfortunately.” Megan pulled back. “Dinner’s ready whenever you are.”

Dan eyed the fresh bread cooling on the counter.

“Let me clean up first and I’ll be right back out.”

Megan sliced the bread and ladled the stew into bowls. Dan returned a few minutes later and took a seat at the table. He saw her frowning again as he buttered his bread.

“Still thinking about Sal?” he asked.

“No. Something else happened today. I heard something interesting from the twins,” she said.

She explained what they had said about seeing Dan in an argument.

He gave a wry grin. “They really thought I’d get into a fight with someone like that?”

Megan made a face.

“I knew it had to be Gabe right away. That’s not the bad part of the story,” she said.

He could tell by the look on her face that he wasn’t going to like the rest of the story.

“Don’t tell me…” he said.

Megan nodded. “Gabe was arguing with Sal.”

Dan closed his eyes for just a moment. He opened his eyes and let out a loud sigh.

“Of course, he was.”

“Ian said it looked like Sal died of natural causes,” Megan said quietly.

Dan shook his head. “At least there’s that.” He watched her face for a moment. It looked like she wasn’t certain. His eyes narrowed.

“What are they thinking for the cause of death?” he asked.

“Heart attack.”

***

Ian parked the cruiser in front of the small single-level home. He’d driven around the neighborhood often while on patrol but never knew it was where Giselle lived. He could see kids outside taking advantage of the weather. There were smaller kids with bikes riding around their driveways as parents worked out in the yard clearing small branches or checking on flower beds. There were several young teens in one driveway playing a game of basketball. The sounds of their shouts brought back happy memories of his own youth. He’d spent a lot of hours with his friends doing the same thing when he was that age.

Ian approached the door slowly. Notifying the next of kin was always difficult. He’d volunteered after speaking with Megan on the phone. Rhys had looked relieved and offered to stay on scene until Ian returned.

He pressed the doorbell and waited until Giselle opened. The smile on her face turned to concern when she realized he was in uniform. Her eyes widened as she waited to hear what he had to say.

He glanced around the neighborhood. “Mind if I come in?”

He could hear her dishwasher running in the kitchen. It was after dinner. She had probably just finished cleaning up. Giselle led him to the living room. Neither one of them took a seat.

“What is this about?” she asked.

Ian didn’t want to prolong it. “It’s about Sal Hobson. I’m sorry. It looks like he may have suffered a heart attack.”

He saw the first large drops of tears form in her eyes just before they spilled over.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated.

He raised his hand toward her, then dropped it, unsure what to do. Although he had been trying to find excuses to spend time with her lately, their relationship was still too new. He didn’t know if she wanted him to intrude on her grief. He was wishing now that he hadn’t been taking things so slowly.

Giselle shook her head as she wrapped her arms around herself.

“Megan was just asking me about him this past weekend. I told her I’d make the time to check on him this week.” She expelled a loud breath. “I meant to do it today. I just didn’t get to it.”

He doubted that telling her she would have been too late would be helpful.

“I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d spoken to him. I shouldn’t have let so much time pass. I was just busy at work.” She raised her hand as though waving away her own excuses. “I should have done something. I should have made the time.”

Ian spotted a tissue box. He pulled one out and handed it to her.

“Thanks.” She dabbed at her eyes.

“Did Sal have any other relatives that I should contact?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No. I was it.”

Chapter Nine

She stepped back from the murder board early Tuesday morning. Aside from the name of the victim, it was completely devoid of other information. Erica and Jerry had just caught the case.

“Did you know Sal?” Jerry asked.

“We’ve been out there for bedding plants. You know, the flowers around the house,” Erica said. “Brad and I were talking about maybe getting some vegetable plants this year.”

“You’re thinking of putting in a garden?” Jerry asked. He couldn’t quite picture it.

“No. Megan suggested using some sort of boxes.” Erica used her hands to demonstrate.

Jerry made a face as he tried to interpret. “Planters?”

“Yeah, that’s what they are. Megan has some out at her place.”

Jerry nodded slowly as he pictured it in his mind. Then he remembered seeing them. “Yeah. Hers holds water in the bottom part so the dirt in the planter tray doesn’t dry out as fast. I liked those too.”

“Are you and Madison thinking of growing vegetables?” Erica asked. She knew they were both very health conscious.

“Yeah. Madison likes things fresh. The farmers market in town is nice for that too. Still, I wouldn’t mind having a few things growing at our place.” Jerry picked up the file on his desk.

“Anything in there I should add to the board?” Erica asked.

Jerry shook his head. “They don’t have a lot of details yet. It was the bruises on his arms that first alerted them. They thought the head injury was just from him falling during the heart attack until they saw those. Then they started questioning the angle of the injury on his head once they had a chance to examine him better.”

“Looks like we need to figure out who he interacted with recently. Start working from there,” Erica said. “We don’t have anything to go on now, that’s for sure.”

“Early days yet,” Jerry said. “Of course, you know who asked Ian to do the wellness check?”

Erica shook her head when he told her who it was. Why was she not surprised?

“Has Megan spoken with him recently?” she asked.

“I have no idea.” Jerry returned the folder to his desk and stood.

“We might as well start there,” Erica said as she walked out of the office.

***

Caro followed Tom out to the car.

“You’re sure we have everything?” he asked for the third time.

“If we don’t, we’ll buy it when we get there,” she said with a grin.

“I’ll take your word for it,” he said as he got into the car. “You’re the seasoned traveler. I’m the rookie here.”

Caro fastened her seat belt. “Not to worry. You’re learning from the best.” She was only half joking. She knew she was lucky to have travelled as much as she had. She and her husband had often visited places together. Once he passed away, she continued taking trips on her own.

He laughed as he pulled out of the driveway.

“I know I’m looking forward to it. A whole week out on the water.” He stopped at the sign on the corner.

“There will be several port stops with the option to do a little shopping on shore,” she pointed out. “If you’re interested in that. It isn’t required.”

Tom slowed as a school bus pulled in front of him.

“Is that something you like to do?” he asked.

“It’s nice to see new things and try the food,” she said.

“Then that’s what we’ll do. I’m relying on you to teach me the ropes,” he joked as he came to a stop again.

“Plan on gaining some weight,” she said. “The food on the ship is going to be amazing too.”

“Now that the weather is breaking, we can go for walks in the evening again,” he reminded her.

“Look at those little ones,” Caro murmured. “They’re so adorable.”

“I remember when Ethan was that little,” Tom said then chuckled. “For that matter, I remember when Marcy was that little.”

“The older kids must already be in school,” Caro said. The kids getting on the bus now were the younger ones.

Tom made a noise as he looked beyond the bus. They were stopped several yards behind it and he could easily see around it.

“What’s that?” Caro asked as she turned to him.

Tom waved in front of him. “I don’t think that car is going to stop.”

They watched as the car came toward them, driving past the school bus and then past them.

“They never even slowed down!” Caro said.

“That’s not right,” Tom muttered. He gestured toward the small children getting on the bus. “On a road like this one, they’re supposed to stop whenever the kids are getting on or off the bus. The bus driver had the lights flashing.”

“I’ve never seen that before,” Caro said as the bus began moving again. Tom continued to follow it for a few more blocks before it turned onto the school campus.

***

Steffie took her books from her locker and slammed the door.

“I can’t believe you actually asked him,” she said.

Julia had surprised herself, that’s for sure. She figured Steffie didn’t need to know that.

“Why not? It beats wondering if he was going to ask me.” Julia closed her locker and turned to walk with Steffie.

“I guess.” Steffie dodged a group of kids who didn’t yield when they saw her coming toward them.

“Have you figured out how you’re doing your hair yet?” Julia asked.

“My mom made an appointment at the salon,” Steffie said. “Irlene always does a good job.”

Julia kept her hair one-length and didn’t often need it trimmed.

“She’s done my hair in the past too.” Julia made a face. “Now that I think about it, she usually has examples of styles this time of the year. Doesn’t she?”

Steffie nodded. “On mannikin heads, yeah. I always thought it was funny when I was little. Now I understood why. Did your dress come in?”

Julia had Giselle choose several different styles that she hoped would be popular for the upcoming dance. So far, they were selling very well. Julia had even helped to create a display of some of them in the front window. It had been her idea to keep rotating the dresses on the mannikins often. That seemed to help also. Giselle said it had, anyway. Julia figured she would know.

“Yeah. Did you get yours yet?” Julia asked. She eyed her friend. They had one at the store that would look good on Steffie. She hadn’t wanted to say anything.

Steffie glanced at Julia. “No. I haven’t found one. Do you think there’s anything at Togs?”

Julia stopped at the door to their class and looked at Steffie.

“Yes, but I didn’t want to say anything. I don’t want you to think that I expect you to buy things from there just because I work there.” Julia twisted her purse strap.

Steffie made a face. “If I don’t like it, I won’t buy it. Okay?”

Julia smiled. “Okay.” From the corner of her eye, she saw Cole walking down the hall with his friends.

Emilio elbowed Cole.

“What?” Cole was watching Julia go into her classroom.

“There’s your girlfriend,” Emilio said.

“Shut up,” Cole said without any heat.

Brent started laughing. “He’s just jealous. He doesn’t have a date for the dance Saturday.”

“Neither do you,” Emilio pointed out.

Brent stopped laughing.

Cole continued walking. He hadn’t told them that he wouldn’t have a date either if Julia hadn’t asked him.

“What’s the secret?” Emilio asked.

Cole wondered if Emilio was reading his mind for a moment.

“What secret?” Cole stopped in front of their classroom.

“To asking a girl out,” Emilio said.

“Yeah,” Brent added. “We need to learn from the pro.”

Cole shook his head. “Shut up,” he repeated before entering the classroom. He heard Emilio and Brent laughing behind him.

***

Megan pulled the tray of cookies from the oven and set them on the rack to cool. She put another tray into the oven and set the timer for them. Once that was done, she sat back down at the table and began working on web pages again.

In addition to the web pages for Teaberry that she developed, she also had a large number of other clients. She had been busy lately keeping the new items at Togs updated. Giselle was really changing up her stock a lot it seemed.

There was also the new spring stock at the feed store. It was the fun time of the year when Dan had the baby chickens, ducks, and rabbits for sale in the store. Megan had taken the photos of them herself. She’d had a lot of fun with it.

She also wanted to update some of the history pages for Teaberry. Based on the web server statistics, those pages got a lot of hits. As she continued to add more content, the traffic on them continued to increase.

Megan clicked save and stood to check on the cookies. She transferred the cookies from the tray to the rack and took the tray back over to the kitchen counter. The last batch of cookies were in the oven so she didn’t need to add any more dough to the tray. She just needed to wash it. The doorbell interrupted her from doing that.

She found Erica and Jerry on her doorstep. She could tell by the look on their faces that something serious had happened.

Erica immediately put her hand up.

“It isn’t Dan,” Erica said. “We’re here about Sal Hobson.”

Megan felt herself breathe again. She nodded and led them to the kitchen.

“What about Sal?” Megan asked as she waved to the kitchen table. She saw Jerry eye the cookies. She took a plate from the cupboard and transferred some cookies to it then set it on the kitchen table.

Jerry reached for one immediately.

“It’s starting to look like it wasn’t a simple heart attack.” Erica explained what they already knew. It didn’t take long. They didn’t know much.

“We need to know who Sal has been talking to lately,” Jerry said.

Megan thought about the twins and what they’d said about Gabe. Her face gave away her concern.

Erica’s eyes narrowed. “What?”

Chapter Ten

It was another beautiful spring day. She was amazed at the difference in just the few warm days they’d had. It seemed as though the brave plants in her flower beds had shot up overnight. Although she knew that it would be quite a while before the leaves were fully formed on the trees, there were signs of buds. She knew from experience that the fatter ones ready to burst were blossoms. It was one of her favorite times of the year when they bloomed.

Jennifer stopped in front of Togs for a moment. She needed to speak with Giselle, but she didn’t want to do it in front of customers. Seeing none inside the store, she entered. Giselle was on the other side of the counter and had her back to Jennifer but turned when she entered.

“I’m sorry about Sal,” Jennifer said.

Giselle nodded but didn’t speak. Jennifer could see that Giselle held a wad of tissues in one hand. She stepped further into the shop.

“Are you up to talking about things?” Jennifer asked.

Giselle frowned. “Things?”

Jennifer approached the counter. “You know that Sal had you listed as his heir, right?”

Giselle looked down and nodded again. Jennifer could see fresh tears threatening.

“I can come back some other time or we could make an appointment to meet in my office…” Jennifer began.

“No.” Giselle shook her head. She managed a tremulous smile. “No, it’s okay. I’m just feeling guilty, that’s all. I should have spent more time with Sal lately.” Giselle shrugged. “It’s a regret that’s going to be with me for a long time. I didn’t spend the time with him that I should have. I didn’t listen to him as well as I should have the last time I did see him.”

“He told me that you’ve been busy,” Jennifer said. “He understood, you know. He ran a business for years. He was very proud of what you’ve made of Togs.”

Giselle’s eyes widened in surprise. “He said that? When?”

“You know he sold his place, right?” Jennifer asked. “We’ve been meeting a lot to handle the paperwork.”

“Oh.” That made sense. Giselle frowned briefly. “Did he make a decision for the sale?”

“He did. That’s one of the things I wanted to speak with you about. I wanted to make sure you still wanted the sale to go through first.” Jennifer studied the other woman. She looked as though she hadn’t slept much.

“Um, yeah. That’s what he wanted, right? To sell it.” Giselle frowned again.

“He spoke with you about all of that?” Jennifer wanted to confirm it.

Giselle nodded as she dabbed at her eyes again.

“Sure. He asked if I wanted to have the nursery. I told him no.”

Jennifer was happy to hear it. It matched what Sal had told her.

“You still feel that way?” Jennifer asked.

“Yes.” Giselle looked around Togs. “This is my life. I love plants, but not like Sal did. Not like you would need to. It wouldn’t be for me.”

“Okay then. I’ll notify the winning bidders that you aren’t planning to contest the sale.”

Giselle looked curious. “Who did Sal choose?”

“Jax and Seth,” Jennifer said. “I contacted them as soon as Sal made his decision. They’ve already signed the paperwork. I just wanted to make sure that you hadn’t changed your mind about all of it. That would have complicated things.”

Giselle smiled. “No, I haven’t changed my mind. Jax and Seth. That’s nice.” She nodded as she considered it more. “That’s a good fit, don’t you think?”

Jennifer agreed. She was glad to hear that Giselle felt the same way.

“The bulk of Sal’s estate goes to you. As such, the funds from the sale will be transferred to you. Are you okay with me distributing the other items following Sal’s wishes?” Jennifer asked.

“Of course. I know it’s what Sal wanted.” Giselle met Jennifer’s gaze. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“There will be some documents for you to sign. Call me when you can come into my office to take care of that. For now, I’ll get busy notifying Jax and Seth that there are no concerns with the sale and taking care of the other transfer.” Jennifer offered her condolences again before leaving.

All things considered, she thought Giselle was holding up very well. She walked away from Togs hoping that the most difficult part of her day was done. As soon as she reached her office, she made the call to Jackson Anderson. He agreed to pass the information along to his partner. Happy that had all gone well, she called the next person on her list.

***

Emmet Parker nodded to Tyler as he passed through the diner on his way to a booth. He took a seat facing the door and set his Gatsby style hat on the bench seat next to him. Tyler returned a moment later carrying a pot of coffee. He flipped over a cup for Amos and filled it to the brim. Tyler didn’t have to turn to know that the love of Emmet’s life had just arrived. Emmet’s face lit up. Tyler flipped over a second coffee cup. He left a lot of room for creamer in this cup.

“Hey, sweetie,” Emmet said.

“Hey, Dad.” Jennifer slid into the booth. “Thanks, Tyler.”

Tyler looked expectantly at the two of them. Jennifer leaned back and read the daily special on the wall.

“Looks interesting,” Jennifer said with a glance at her father.

Emmet nodded his agreement. “Make that two.”

Tyler nodded and took off.

Emmet noticed the tinge of sadness in his daughter’s eyes.

“How is your day going?” he asked her.

“I spoke with Giselle.”

He pushed the creamer and sugar closer to her. “That was the hard part.”

“Yeah.” Jennifer mixed her coffee the way she liked it. She lifted the cup and held it in front of her with both hands, her elbows resting on the table. “What are your plans this afternoon?”

Emmet smoothed down the long gray mustache that covered his upper lip. He kept his matching goatee trimmed fairly short. His thin, round wire-rimmed glasses glinted in the fluorescent lights as did the top of his bare head. The remaining hair circling around his head was kept short. The prominent laugh lines emanating from the corners of his blue eyes crinkled with amusement at her question.

“Have I been volunteered for something?” he asked.

Jennifer grinned. “It will be a fun task for you. I told Ward I’d bring something to him this afternoon.”

“You need a man with a truck?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Even your truck isn’t big enough for this job.”

He sat back in his seat a bit. She had his interest up now.

“To Ward, huh? And it’s bigger than my truck.” Suddenly, it hit him. “The model of Main Street?”

Jennifer smiled at his enthusiasm. He looked beyond thrilled, then became serious.

“Who’s moving it?” he asked.

Jennifer laughed as she set her coffee down.

“This is why I’m asking you to oversee the project. The movers will be at Sal’s after lunch. Can you make sure that they secure it and transport it correctly so it makes it to Ward’s in the same condition?” she asked.

Emmet didn’t hesitate. “Of course. I’d love to.”

Jennifer looked over at the kitchen. She saw Ian step up to the register to pay for takeout. After paying, he turned and saw Jennifer and Emmet.

Ian waved on his way out of the diner. He jumped in his truck and drove the short distance to Togs. He wasn’t looking forward to telling Giselle the news, but he knew that he had to. He’d volunteered. He found her waiting behind her counter at the cash register.

She smiled when she saw him. It was sad, but it was a smile. He wondered how long it would be before she did it again. He knew his news was going to be difficult.

“We can eat in the back. If anyone comes in, I can hear the bells on the door.” Giselle led Ian to the back.

He set the food on the table. He waited until she’d gotten some of it in her before he finally broached the subject.

“Listen, I need to tell you something.” Ian’s eyes held hers.

Giselle could tell by the tone of his voice that she wasn’t going to like what he had to say. She lowered her hands to her lap and clasped them together.

“There’s been some changes to what was originally thought about Sal’s death,” he said. He saw the first flash of alarm in her eyes. “Now that there’s been more time to examine everything, they’ve changed the ruling on the cause of death.”

She was confused. “It wasn’t a heart attack?”

Ian nodded once. “No, he did suffer a heart attack. But that was after something else happened.” Ian let out a breath. “It’s looking like he may have been in a struggle of some sort before he died.”

“Struggle?” Giselle stood as the word sank in. “He struggled with someone? Who would do that?”

Ian stood also. “That’s what the police are going to find out,” Ian said as gently as he could in an attempt to soothe her. He didn’t think it would work. He wasn’t surprised when he saw her fists clench at her sides.

“Police? You’re the police!” she said.

“Yes, I am. But this case has been turned over to Erica and Jerry.”

Her eyes widened even more. “They… they handle the murders.”

Ian nodded. “Yes. They do.”

Chapter Eleven

The morning promised another beautiful day. The signs of spring were everywhere. Megan stood at the kitchen window watching Henry, a Brown Leghorn rooster, checking out the barnyard. Dan eyed him with caution as he walked from the barn to the house. The sight of her husband going out of his way to avoid the small bird made her laugh.

“Henry made it through the winter without any problems,” Dan said as he entered the kitchen.

Megan smiled but didn’t comment about his deliberate avoidance of the bird.

“The lambs look good.” He crossed the room to fill his coffee cup before sitting down at the kitchen table. He took several slices of zucchini bread and buttered them liberally before setting them on his plate.

Megan brought the skillet from the stove and placed it on the trivet on the table. She took her own seat at the table and debated her options between the zucchini bread or the scrambled eggs and sausage. She ended up reaching for the zucchini bread.

“What do you have planned for today?” he asked.

“Looks like I’m going to Togs.” She watched him fill his plate from the skillet.

He glanced up at her. “I know you’re not planning on a shopping trip. Does this mean Giselle is hoping you’ll look into Sal’s death?”

“That would be my guess.” She brushed the crumbs from her hands onto her plate before lifting her tea mug. “Have you thought any more about Gabe?”

Dan wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I know that you feel guilty about telling Erica he was seen arguing with Sal…”

“Yes, I do,” she agreed.

He locked eyes with her. “That is not on you. I would have told Erica the same thing.”

Megan wrapped both hands around her mug. It didn’t make her feel any better.

“What if there’s an innocent explanation?” she asked.

“Then Gabe will explain it and that will be the end of it.” Dan picked up his fork again.

She knew he was right. Her phone buzzed. She stood and crossed the room to the counter where she kept it charging. As soon as she read the text, she reached for the remote and turned on the small television set.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Caitlyn just texted me and told me to turn on the news.” Megan changed the channel and stood back from the television.

“Hey, that’s Erica.” Dan grabbed his coffee and stood.

“It looks like she’s being interviewed.” Megan turned up the volume.

Dan stood next to her and watched. He was nodding before the interview was over.

“I’ve seen that happen more than once,” he said.

Megan replied to Caitlyn’s text then sent another to Erica and Brad.

“She did pretty well,” Dan said as he brought his plate and coffee mug to the sink.

“No doubt, better than she thought she would,” Megan said.

“She was probably thinking about her own kids getting on a school bus.” Dan leaned in for a kiss. “I need to finish getting ready for work.”

Her phone buzzed again after he left the room. It was from Brad. He confirmed Dan’s guess. She told Dan when he returned to the kitchen.

“You’re right. Brad told her to think about the twins while she was being interviewed. He said they actually did the interview a few days ago but just started airing it today.”

Megan was still thinking about Erica’s television debut when she drove into town later in the morning but by then the school buses weren’t running. She found a parking space on the street near Togs and walked the rest of the way. She found Giselle alone in the store when she got there. The first thing Megan noticed when she saw Giselle was how tired she looked.

“How have you been holding up,” Megan asked as she crossed the store to the checkout counter.

Giselle managed a smile. “Probably not much better than I look. Thank you for coming. I wasn’t sure what else to do.”

“The police are looking into it,” Megan reminded her.

“I know and I’ve already spoken with them. It’s just…” Giselle’s eyes scanned the store as she struggled for the words to explain. “I guess I’m just feeling guilty.”

“Guilty?”

“You know, for not taking your advice when I should have for one thing.” Giselle looked at Megan. “You were right. I should have checked on Sal when you told me to. I should have gone right out there.”

“Sal understood that you were busy with the store, Giselle. In fact, we talked about that the last time I saw him,” Megan said.

“You did?”

“Yes. I was asking him questions about the history of Teaberry. I’ve already posted some of his stories on the town web site,” Megan said.

“How did he seem to you?” Giselle’s hands reached for a pile of clothes in front of her on the counter. She automatically began hanging the garments on hangers.

“He was fine. He seemed happy to be selling the nursery.”

Giselle turned and hung the first item on a rack behind her. “He mentioned that to me also, more than once.”

“Did you hear who he chose?” Megan hadn’t heard.

Giselle’s smile was less strained this time. “Jax and Seth. Isn’t that great?”

“It is. It’s a nice fit for them. I’ll bet Sal was thrilled to have them put a bid in.”

Giselle’s hands slowed as she reached for another garment from the pile.

“You know, that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.” Giselle slipped the garment on the hanger slowly as she thought back, her eyes over Megan’s shoulder.

“About Jax and Seth?”

“No, it was something else.” Giselle started to shake her head, then her eyes snapped back to Megan. “That was it. He said that people aren’t like what they used to be.”

“Did he explain it any more than that?” Megan couldn’t imagine what that might mean.

Giselle shrugged. “Only that some people are just too pushy. I know it had to do with the sale of the nursery, but he didn’t give me any more specifics.”

Giselle turned to hang the garment on the rack.

“I just feel so guilty that I didn’t make the time to see him last week. I did see him before that of course,” Giselle said.

“He understood that you were busy here,” Megan reminded her.

“The spring dance is always crazy,” Giselle agreed. “All the young girls coming in and trying on dresses.”

Megan couldn’t even begin to imagine it.

Giselle hung the last garment and turned back to Megan.

“I know that you’ve worked on puzzles before,” Giselle said. “Is there any chance I can convince you to look into this one?”

Megan saw the hope in Giselle’s eyes. She knew the police were on the case. She was sure they would solve it. On the other hand, in addition to their shared love of plants and trees, Sal had always been so kind to her. Megan would feel guilty if she didn’t try to do something. She would pass along anything she learned to Erica immediately.

“I know the police will make every effort to solve the case,” Megan said. “But maybe they wouldn’t mind some help, if I can manage to find anything.”

Giselle put her hands together. “Is that a yes?”

Megan nodded.

***

Julia drove to Togs immediately after school. She found a parking space nearby and dropped a few coins in the meter. Togs wasn’t open late during the week and Julia didn’t work every day after school. So far, her parents hadn’t even noticed that she had a job. She wondered how much longer she should keep it that way as she walked toward the shop.

She greeted Giselle when she entered but walked straight to the rear of the store. Giselle had a small office back there and it was where they both stowed their things while working. When Julia emerged from the office, she met Giselle at the front of the store.

“How did things go today?” Tracking the sales had become something of a fascination for Julia. Now that Giselle was taking her advice for some of the stock, she worried that her input influenced sales the way she hoped it would.

“Not bad for a Wednesday,” Giselle said as the bells on the door rang.

Several young girls entered. Julia recognized them but didn’t know all of their names. She didn’t have classes with them. The girls spread out and began looking at the dresses. Julia could hear them talking about the dresses and their dates as they worked their way around the store.

For the most part, this group seemed to have no trouble finding dresses to try on. Julia knew that she’d be busy for a long time after they left, restocking everything. She didn’t mind. She found that she liked staying busy. Two of the girls went into changing rooms to try on the dresses. A third one continued to look at other dresses. Julia noticed that the fourth girl was a little more hesitant. She hadn’t picked anything up to try on yet.

Julia glanced over at Giselle. Knowing when to offer help and when not to was something she was still trying to figure out. Giselle gave a slight nod of her head. Julia crossed the store and went over to the fourth girl.

“Can I help you find anything?” Julia asked. “It’s Cami, right?”

The other girl looked surprised that Julia would ask.

“Do you work here?” Cami asked.

Julia smiled. Maybe she should tell her parents. There was a chance, however slim, that they were going to hear it from someone eventually anyway.

“Yes. I really like it.” Julia turned to a rack and pretended to examine the dresses. “Do you know what you had in mind?”

Cami looked like she wasn’t sure how to answer.

Julia motioned over to another rack of dresses. “There are some over here that would look good with your coloring.”

She crossed over to the other rack and pulled up a dress that she thought would look good on Cami. She was careful to hold the price tag so Cami could see it.

Cami looked surprised. “That isn’t bad.” She reached for the dress and immediately checked the price again.

Julia nodded her agreement. “I think you should try it on.”

The dress was one of her recommendations to Giselle for stock that might appeal to younger buyers. Although her parents gave her a free rein with spending money, she knew that most kids her age didn’t have that option. By the time the four girls left the store, all four were carrying dresses. Julia knew she had a satisfied smile on her face when she joined Giselle at the front of the store.

“You did good,” Giselle said.

Julia was starting to think that maybe Giselle was right.

Chapter Twelve

Jax finished entering the numbers into the spreadsheet then clicked save. He sat back in his chair and stared at the figures. It was going to be a little tight for a while, but he believed it was all worth it. Having the nursery was going to help with a more stable income.

When he initially made the decision to leave his corporate life in Seattle and return to Teaberry, he was thinking as a single man with no responsibilities. Since that time, a lot had changed. Now he had marriage and a family in mind. In addition to two-year-old Jasmine, he hoped that his family would continue to grow over time.

He and Trina had plans to marry in the future once things had stabilized. She was finishing her degree. He was growing a business with her help. That business now had a full-time partner. Working with Seth had enabled Jax to get a lot further with his plans and much more quickly than he thought was possible. He closed the spreadsheet and stood from his desk.

As he walked to the kitchen, he thought again about Sal Hobson. Sal had owned the nursery long before Jax was born. He remembered going there as a young kid with his mom and sister. Owning a florist shop naturally meant that his mother had a love for flowers. Her yard could easily have graced a magazine featuring the best landscaped yards in the country.

It was how Jax had learned to do what he did now. When he’d gotten old enough to handle a shovel on his own, his mother had dreamed the landscape designs. Jax had made them come true. He opened the fridge and pulled out a beer as he considered the impact his mother had on both of her children. After taking over her mother’s florist shop, Caitlyn was a successful businesswoman. Jax now owned a nursery with a landscaping business.

He wondered what impact he would have on Jasmine and any other children who came after her. He wished now that he had taken parenting notes from his mother. He glanced at the clock and considered calling her but changed his mind immediately. He knew that she and Ross were flying out to the west coast early the following morning. No doubt they were busy taking care of all the last-minute preparations.

He wanted to share his good news with his family. He wanted to let them know that he was working to be just as successful in the Teaberry business world as they have been. Maybe he could bug his sister. Then he remembered. The spring dance was this weekend. She was probably going crazy with that.

He knew that Trina just got home from work not that long ago. He also knew that she was taking more classes this semester than she ever had before. She had doubled down on her classes to them done in anticipation of them getting married. He didn’t know if she’d want to relax after work or jump right into homework. Either way, he didn’t want to mess with her plans.

He shook his head. Looks like he was celebrating on his own. He’d thought about throwing a party at the Station Pub & Grill and inviting all his friends and family but that didn’t seem right with Sal’s death. He still couldn’t believe that had happened. Who would do that? And why? Jax frowned as he faced the sliding glass door in his kitchen. It was starting to get dark outside. The doorbell interrupted his thoughts. He passed through the house to the front door, wondering who would be stopping by now. Finding his mom and Ross on the other side surprised him.

“I hope we aren’t interrupting anything,” Susan said as she stepped into the house.

Anyone seeing the Andersons together would know they were related. In her mid-fifties, Susan Anderson was an older version of Caitlyn but beat Caitlyn’s five one frame by an inch. Her short black hair was now showing streaks of gray. Although Jax inherited his five eleven height from his father’s side, it was the striking blue eyes that left no one in doubt of their relationship.

“Ross, I thought you two would be busy packing.” Jax shook the man’s hand.

In many ways, Ross McMann had been a father to Jax for years. He was the mentor Jax needed in the corporate world. When Jax returned to Teaberry, Ross followed to make sure the younger man was okay. He ended up staying.

“We couldn’t leave without seeing you first,” Ross said as he followed Susan into the kitchen. Ross lifted a bottle of wine. “We brought something.”

“I’ll have some of that,” Susan said.

“There’s beer in the fridge if you’d rather,” Jax said to Ross as the doorbell rang again.

“Wow. I’m popular tonight,” he joked before leaving.

He found Doug and Caitlyn on his doorstep. Both had bags of takeout in their hands.

“Are you kidding me? I was just thinking of food.” Jax followed them back into the kitchen.

Caitlyn immediately got busy setting out plates and silverware.

“I thought you’d be swamped,” Jax said as he got a beer for Doug.

“It is crazy,” Caitlyn agreed. “I think the warm weather has something to do with it. Some years, it’s still snowing during the spring dance.”

Jax watched as his kitchen became a hive of activity. He glanced at the clock again. Maybe Trina could stop over for just a few minutes. He pulled out his phone to call her just as the doorbell rang again. He found her on the other side holding Jasmine on her hip. Jasmine flung her body forward when she saw Jax. He caught her easily and leaned in close to Trina for a kiss.

“How did you know to come over?” he asked.

“Your mom called me. She wasn’t insistent, of course. She said if I had homework to do, they’d understand. I wanted to come though. She’s right. It’s a big moment.”

Trina began helping Caitlyn and Susan with the food. Jax put Jasmine in her booster seat at the table and put a plate in front of her. Trina put a few things on it to keep Jasmine busy.

“When are you two leaving?” Trina asked Susan.

“Our flight is early tomorrow morning.” Susan stood back and admired their work. “This is quite a feast.”

“I think it was very wise of my big sister to get engaged to a man that co-owns a restaurant,” Jax said with a grin. “Especially the way she eats.”

“Ha ha,” Caitlyn said as she put a sippy cup in front of Jasmine.

Ross raised his beer. “I’ll give the toast. To Jax and Seth in their venture.”

“Thanks to you,” Jax said. “We couldn’t have done it without your help.”

Ross raised a hand. “I’m a silent partner. I’ll look forward to when you two can take over completely.”

Susan looked around the room and thought about how lucky she was.

“Has anyone heard any more about Sal?” she asked.

“I haven’t,” Jax said. He turned to Caitlyn.

“I know the police are looking into it,” Caitlyn said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to hear Megan is also.”

“I hope someone figures out something soon.” Jax grabbed Jasmine’s sippy cup just before she toppled it.

Susan moved around the table and took a seat. “Poor Giselle. This has to be very hard on her.”

“I stopped in to talk to her yesterday for just a minute,” Caitlyn said as she took a seat next to Doug. “I couldn’t stay long, but I wanted to check on her.”

Susan looked up. “How was she?”

“As you might expect. A little teary and carrying a lot of guilt for not making more time to see him in the week before he died.” Caitlyn took some food from the container in front of her.

“I hope for her sake that she resolves some of it soon. She doesn’t have anything to feel guilty about,” Susan said.

“Maybe she just needs some time to think about it,” Ross suggested.

***

Giselle stared at the photo of her grandmother and Sal. It was taken on one of their many trips. They enjoyed travelling and went as often as they could. Having the nursery closed in the winters made it easier on Sal to do that. Giselle set the photo back down and slumped back in the couch.

She knew that Sal was proud of her for owning her own business and that he understood, more than most, what crunch time felt like. Giselle had fond memories of helping out at the nursery when she was younger. It was that experience that propelled her into her own business. One that didn’t involve working outside in the elements. Giselle understood from an early age that she was more of a girly girl. She preferred the world of satin, lace, and accessories over dirt, roots, and digging.

She heard her phone buzz a moment before her doorbell rang. She lifted her phone and read the text. Smiling, she went to the door and opened it.

“I have a security camera,” she said. “I can tell who’s on the other side of the door.”

“Better to be safe,” Ian pointed out. It was why he’d texted her first to let her know it was okay to open the door to him. “Mind if I come in for a minute?”

She noticed he wasn’t in uniform. “Are you here to ask me more questions?”

He followed her into the living room. “Does asking you how you’re doing qualify?”

She motioned to the couch before sitting. “I’m doing better, actually. I’m still upset about his death, but I’m not feeling quite as guilty.”

“That’s good to hear.”

She picked up the photo and handed it to him. “I was thinking about Sal when I was young. That helped.”

“You spent a lot of time with him?”

“I did. I enjoyed the chance to spend time with both him and my grandmother. I have a lot of really good memories from it.” She frowned.

“But you’ll be happier when the case is solved,” he guessed. He understood it completely.

“Yes. Is there any news?”

He shook his head. “Early days yet,” he quoted Jerry.

Chapter Thirteen

There was a parking spot about a block away from Jennifer’s office. Megan negotiated the truck into it and walked the rest of the way. Jennifer’s office was on one of the side streets leading away from the town square. The street was lined with trees bursting with life. Megan could see bees and other insects buzzing around the emerging flowers in anticipation of them opening fully.

She knew that she probably wouldn’t get much information from Jennifer. She was rarely successful in the past when working on puzzles. As a lawyer, Jennifer was unable to discuss many things about her clients or her cases. Megan wanted to try anyway. The bells on the door rung as she entered the office. Jennifer appeared a moment later.

“I wondered if you’d stop by.” She motioned to her office behind her.

Megan followed her back and took a seat across from her desk.

“Sorry to bother you, but…” Megan said.

“You want to ask some questions because you’re working on a puzzle?” Jennifer guessed with a wry smile.

Megan raised both hands. “I know you probably can’t tell me anything…”

“Actually, this time I can.” Jennifer leaned forward and propped her elbows on the desk. “I spoke with Giselle. She gave me permission to pass along at least one clue to you. She thought it would make things easier for you.”

Megan raised her brows and waited.

“I’ve been given permission to tell you that Giselle knew in advance that she was the primary heir to his estate. That should allow you to cross her off your list of suspects. At least, in terms of monetary gain as motive.”

“Good to know,” Megan said. “Not that she was actually on my list.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think so either.” Jennifer sat back in her chair. “But Giselle wanted me to let you know.”

“How involved were you with the actual sale?” Megan asked.

“I handled the paperwork at the end of it all. Stan Jiblonski handled the real estate aspect of it. He’s the one who advertised it and met with the potential buyers, that sort of thing.”

“Then Sal made the final decision?” Megan guessed.

“Yes. From what he told me, he was thrilled that Jax and Seth were on the list. He didn’t talk to me about any of the other prospective buyers though. You’d have to talk to Stan about that.”

Megan nodded. She planned to go there next.

“Who is on your list?” Jennifer saw Megan’s slight frown of confusion. “Of suspects? Who do you think might have reason to kill Sal?”

An image of Gabe immediately flashed in Megan’s mind. She wondered how Dan was doing.

***

Dan pulled into the parking lot of Gabe’s garage. He was pleasantly surprised to see another car inside the garage. Better yet, Gabe was in there working on it. He hoped that was a positive sign. He entered the garage and turned down the music on the radio.

Gabe rolled himself out from under the car. He looked at Dan for a moment, then rolled back under.

“What brings you here, Big Brother?”

Dan heard Gabe drop a tool. He crouched down to look under the car. There were several other tools laying on the garage floor within reach. Gabe’s hand stretched out and felt around. When his fingertips landed on the tool he wanted, he grabbed it and went back to work.

“I was hoping to speak with you about something,” Dan said.

He wasn’t sure he was going to get the answers he wanted to hear. He stood and stared down at his brother’s legs protruding from the car.

“What’s that?” Gabe asked.

“For one, how are things going here?” Maybe he’d have better luck if he approached the subject in a roundabout way.

“As you can see, I have some work. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it? For me to make a go of it?” Gabe dropped another tool.

Dan watched as he slid back out from under the car.

“I’d like you to be happy,” Dan said. “If running a garage does that, then yes.”

Gabe stopped and stared at him. “I was happy working the racing circuit.”

“Were you?” Dan doubted it. “What brought you back here?”

“LeAnn…” Gabe began, then stopped.

“LeAnn has been here all along. It didn’t bring you back before,” Dan pointed out.

Gabe shrugged. “Okay. I was ready for a change.” He motioned around the garage. “This is as good as any, right?”

“Has the work been steady enough?” Dan looked around the garage. Other than the one car, it was empty. “Maybe you need to do some advertising?”

“That takes money that I don’t have,” Gabe said.

“There might be other ways. Word gets out. I’ll post something on my board at the feed store.”

Gabe started to say something, then stopped. He looked at Dan.

“Thanks,” Gabe said finally.

It was more than Dan expected.

“Sure.” Dan pointed at the car. “Someone knows you’re open.”

Gabe huffed a laugh. “Yeah. I’ve had several people stopping by. Maybe you’re right. Maybe the word just needs to get out a little more.”

Dan looked directly at his brother. He couldn’t gauge if Gabe believed his own words or not.

“Listen,” Dan said. “Speaking of the word getting out…”

“Yeah.” Gabe narrowed his eyes at Dan.

“Have you heard about Sal?” Dan watched Gabe closely. His brother looked immediately concerned.

“Yeah, what was up with that?” Gabe asked.

“The thing is, someone said they saw you arguing with him shortly before he died.” Dan didn’t have to wait long before the explosion.

“What? That’s crazy.” Gabe turned his back on Dan.

“Are you saying you didn’t talk to him recently?” Dan asked.

“No. I mean, yes. I did. But there wasn’t an argument. That’s not what happened.”

Dan walked around to face his brother. “What did happen then?”

“I just went out to talk to him. I heard the nursery was for sale. I wanted to check it out.” Gabe met Dan’s gaze.

“Why?”

Gabe shrugged. “To see if maybe I might want to get into the nursery business.”

Dan knew his face revealed his disbelief.

“You don’t know anything about running a nursery,” he pointed out.

“I figured I could learn. How hard could it be?” Gabe shrugged again. “In the end, I decided it wasn’t for me.”

“Why would someone think you were arguing with him?” Dan asked.

Gabe made a face. “Beats me. I mean, we talked about me moving back here. What happened with LeAnn.” He waved around the garage again. “This. I might have gotten a little animated. That’s all.”

“That’s all?”

Gabe looked impatient. “Yeah, you know. I blew off some steam. Sal let me do it. I felt better after.”

Dan wanted to believe him. The fact that Gabe wouldn’t meet his gaze made him wonder.

***

After leaving Jennifer, Megan found Stan Jiblonski in his office. She knew that he was in his fifties. He was maybe a year or so older than her parents. The black hair that he had left formed a crown around his head and was sprinkled liberally with gray. He was carrying some extra weight around his middle. The smile on his face was warm and friendly.

“Megan, what brings you in? Don’t tell me you want to sell that farm of yours?” Stan asked with a wide smile.

She laughed just as he’d expected her to.

“I was hoping you could give me some information about the sale of the nursery,” she said.

Stan nodded knowingly. “Carol and I were talking about that last night. We wondered if you’d be working on this puzzle.”

For as long as Megan could remember, Stan always found a way to mention his wife in nearly every conversation he had. She thought it was sweet.

“Can you tell me who placed bids on the property?” Megan asked.

“Well, let’s see. You know that Jax and Seth were the ones who got it, right?” Stan waited for Megan’s nod before continuing. “I figured they would.”

“Why is that?” she asked.

Stan made a face. “The other bids weren’t very competitive, for one thing. It was more wishful thinking, I guess. Like with Dena Baker.”

“Dena?” Megan remembered seeing her recently. She was a newly divorced woman with two small children. “Oh, I get it. The house is attached to the storefront.”

“Yeah, it took me a while to figure that one out. She was thinking she’d be able to have the kids with her while she worked.” Stan opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out some papers. “Then there was that guy from out of town.”

“You didn’t know him?” Megan asked.

“No.” He glanced down at the top page before putting the papers back in the drawer. “Kurt Dodd. Not sure exactly what his interest was. He didn’t even ask to see the greenhouses when he met me there to look over the place.”

“Any others?”

Stan leaned back in his chair. “A few. Rodney Ladd and Owen Dwyer. Both of them are local. Then there was the last one. He seemed more competitive than some of the others. I talked to him a bit. He said he wanted more details about the nursery and the process for bidding. The guy already owns a nursery in another town. I wasn’t sure how Sal would feel about that at first.”

Megan made a face. “He ended up choosing Jax and Seth.”

Stan nodded. “Exactly.” He shrugged. “In the end, the decision was totally Sal’s. My job was to get the bids. He picked the winning bid based on his own criteria.”

Megan continued to think about what she had learned from Stan as she walked to the florist shop. She figured while she was in town, she should stop to see Caitlyn. She found her friend busy at work in the back of the shop. There were flowers everywhere.

“Looks like you’re getting there,” Megan commented. The refrigerators were stocked with corsages and boutonnieres. There were loose flowers that still needed Caitlyn’s magic touch before they could join the others in the various refrigerators in the shop.

“It just keeps getting crazier as we get closer to the dance,” Caitlyn agreed.

Megan put a bag on the counter near the coffee pot.

“I made an extra loaf of zucchini bread for you. I thought the sugar might help.” She leaned against the counter and watched Caitlyn work.

“That sounds awesome, thanks.” Caitlyn didn’t look up from her work. “Have you learned anything yet?”

“Not much. I just started though.”

“We were talking about it last night. We did something quiet together to celebrate. Didn’t seem right to have a real party,” Caitlyn explained.

“I understand. There will be plenty of time to celebrate later. I’ll bet Jax is thrilled.”

Caitlyn’s face lit up. “Almost as thrilled as my mom. She can’t believe we’re both following in her footsteps.”

“Yeah, that is something,” Megan agreed.

“It’s perfect for Jax, really. He learned a lot about the business working with my mom over the years. We both did. It’s a much better fit for him than what he was doing in Seattle.” Caitlyn transferred the corsage she just finished to the refrigerator.

“I guess some people figure out what they want to be when they grow up a little earlier than others,” Megan said mostly to herself. An image of Gabe flashed in her mind again.

Chapter Fourteen

He set the sanding sponge down and ran his hand over the board. It mattered to him, the smoothness of the board. It had to be perfect. He would be trusting a precious gift to it. Knowing that his own child would be sleeping in the crib that he built still managed to amaze him. He gave the crib one last look before leaving the barn.

After marrying Megan, he had taken over a part of the barn for his woodworking projects. His initial projects had been made for Megan. He thought at the time that he understood what the phrase ‘labor of love’ meant. He realized now that he still had a great deal to learn.

He walked over to the paddock and looked out at the sheep. It was a small flock, made a little larger with the appearance of some new members recently. The lambs remained close to their mothers now, still too new to stray far on their own. For their part, the mothers kept a close eye on them.

Dan turned back to the house. That was when he saw Henry. The rooster was checking the barnyard for breakfast. He’d stayed in the hen house most of the winter. It was only when the weather broke that he began escaping from the fenced-in area around the coop again on a regular basis. Dan kept his eye on the bird as he walked toward the house.

He knew what the problem was. Both he and Henry were in love with the same woman. Megan probably found it amusing. He and Henry had their own thoughts on the subject. They’d finally come to an agreement of sorts at the end of last year. Though he doubted they would ever be friends, they had come to tolerate each other. He wondered if Henry remembered that fact now.

He would have to pass by him to make it to the house. Dan refused to skirt around the bird again. It was the principle of the thing. A man shouldn’t be scared of his own livestock. Not one as small as Henry, at any rate. He continued his straight path to the house. As he came closer to the rooster, Henry stopped what he was doing and twisted his head to look at Dan.

Dan slowed as the two of them sized each other up. After passing the bird, Dan expected to be attacked from behind at any moment. He continued walking, however, and made it to the back porch without incident. Before opening the kitchen door, he released the breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

“You two seem to be getting along better,” Megan said.

She stood with a mug of tea in her hand. He knew she usually watched for him from the window near the sink.

“I’ll call that one a draw,” he said as he leaned in for a kiss.

He eyed the breakfast with appreciation as he approached the table. The jars of jelly were his first clue that today’s breakfast included thick slices of homemade bread. It was something he hadn’t had on a regular basis before marrying Megan and something he knew he would never tire of now. As he filled his coffee cup, Megan carried over a skillet of eggs and bacon. Dan took his seat and filled his plate.

“This looks amazing, thanks.” He quickly tucked into his food.

Megan wrapped her hands around her tea mug and watched him. He could tell she was still concerned about what they’d discussed the previous night. When he finished eating, he reached out across the table. She held out her hand and placed it in his.

“We can’t make Gabe do anything. He has to want to do things on his own,” he said.

“You’re right. I know that.”

He smiled gently. “I promise I won’t beat myself up over it either.” He knew she was worried about him.

She smiled back. “Okay.”

Dan let go of her hand and sat back in his seat to finish his coffee.

“He’s either going to make something of his life or he isn’t. He makes it sound like he’s moving forward. He claims he’s getting jobs out at the garage.” Dan shrugged. “I’ve seen the cars there, so I know that he is.”

“Did you believe him? When he told you about Sal?” she asked.

It wasn’t the first time that she’d asked him.

“You’re worried that when you solve the puzzle, it’s going to implicate my brother?” he guessed.

She made a face indicating it was possible. They both knew it was true.

“For now, let’s just hope that doesn’t happen,” he suggested as he stood. “I need to get ready for work.”

***

Gabe went down the stairs from the apartment and unlocked the side entry door to the garage. Once inside, he opened the large garage doors in front of each bay and walked over to the radio. He was used to the noise. For whatever reason, he had never liked silence.

Maybe it was because the noise had a chance of drowning out his thoughts. That was something he’d never liked to do. Think too much about a lot of things. He turned to look at the car that another kid had dropped off the night before. Working on cars didn’t require much thought. His hands always seemed to know what to do.

Maybe that’s why he followed the racing circuit for as long as he did. No thinking was required. He didn’t even have to decide where to go next. He just followed everyone else. He walked over to the car and lowered himself to the creeper. After grabbing a handful of tools, he dragged himself under the car. The wheels of the creeper made it easy. If he had a real working garage, he wouldn’t need the creeper. He’d have a lift. The previous owner must have sold it before getting rid of the building.

Gabe wondered how much a new one would cost. Should he even care? He didn’t know how long he planned to stay around anyway. He wasn’t getting anywhere with LeAnn, that’s for sure. She still refused to see him.

“Hello?”

Gabe froze when he heard the voice.

“Hello? Anyone there?”

He pulled himself out from under the car. It took him a moment to come up with the name.

“Dena?” He could tell she didn’t recognize him.

“Dan? What are you doing here?” Dena looked confused.

Gabe should have expected it.

“No, it’s Gabe. We went to school together, remember?”

Her confusion cleared. “I thought you moved away.” She looked around the garage. “Are you open for business?”

It occurred to him that he hadn’t heard an engine pull up to the building.

“Do you need help?”

She waved behind her. “I broke down a little way down the road. I thought I saw the garage door open when I drove past here. I didn’t have the number to call though. I figured I’d take the chance and walk over. I need to get my car going.”

Gabe stepped out of the garage and looked down the road. She was right. It wasn’t far.

“Let me grab some tools and go see what it is,” he suggested.

She nodded in relief. “My kids are at school. It’s Dena Baker now. I kept the last name after the divorce since my kids have it too. I’m supposed to be at work now. I called my boss but I can’t really afford to miss the time.”

He could tell she was upset. He heard it in her voice.

“Let’s check it out first. Can you pop the hood for me?” he asked as he reached her car.

She slid into the driver’s seat and did as he asked.

“Try the engine,” he called. He listened to the noise that came next. He straightened and came around to her. “Okay, that’s not too bad. I’m going to need to run into town and get a part though.”

He told her to lock up the car.

“Do you want to stay here or come with me?” Gabe asked as they reached the garage again.

She looked around the nearly barren garage. “I’ll go with you.”

***

Erica finished writing another note on the murder board. The case wasn’t solved by any means, but the board was no longer blank.

“What time did the twins say they saw Gabe Parker arguing with Sal?” she asked.

Jerry checked his notes and called the time out to her. She wrote it down on the board.

“What did he have to say about it?” She turned to look at him.

Jerry didn’t have to check his notes.

“He claims he was just talking about life with Sal. He thought about what it would mean to own a nursery. It sounded good for a nanosecond until Sal set him straight on that. The two men parted as friends.”

Erica hoped that was the case. She knew what it would mean for Dan and the rest of his family if Gabe were involved in Sal’s death.

“Okay. What else do we have?” Erica picked up her own notes. “We’ve spoken to each of the bidders for Sal’s nursery. If what they say is true, we have a timeline for each of them in the days leading up to Sal’s death and a few more questions. We need to get out and talk to some more people. Maybe they’ll have the answers.”

Jerry stood and grabbed his things. “What did you think of Dena Baker?”

“You mean her story?” Erica followed Jerry out of the office.

“Yeah. Something just didn’t sound quite right with it,” Jerry said.

“That’s funny. I felt the same way about Gabe Parker’s story.” Erica went through the door and walked toward their car.

When they reached it, Jerry climbed into the passenger side. “I agree with you on that one, too.”

“Both claim they didn’t have anything to do with Sal’s death,” Erica pointed out as she pulled up to the street.

She flipped the turn signal on and waited for traffic to clear. They watched as Gabe Parker drove past with Dena Baker in the car.

“What are the chances that them being together is a coincidence?” Erica asked.

“You don’t believe in coincidences,” Jerry reminded her.

Chapter Fifteen

Megan enjoyed every moment of the drive into town. She loved this time of year. Everything was bursting with life. Everything looked new and full of promise. She felt a movement and rubbed her side as she continued to consider her puzzle.

After thinking about what little she did know and what she needed to know, she decided to start at the place where many in Teaberry show up at some point. It was possible that even someone from out of town would stop at the diner while checking on the potential purchase of a nursery.

She entered the Jammin’T at lunchtime, hoping to take advantage of the crowd. She wasn’t disappointed. She caught Tyler’s eye as she crossed the room. The tables and booths were pretty full. Megan headed for the end of the counter and slid into a seat on the other side of Cy Douglass. She leaned forward and greeted Casey.

“We were just talking about you.” Casey set the newspaper down.

“We figured you’d be around eventually,” Cy agreed. He took a sip of his coffee.

“Do you know anything about Sal’s death?” Megan asked them.

“We know about the nursery,” Casey said. He nodded toward Cy. “Cy more than me.”

Megan looked at Cy with hope in her eyes. She needed a place to start with her puzzle. Even if all they knew was background information. In her mind, it was like having the edge pieces of the puzzle. They not only helped to form the whole picture, they often gave her the foundation she needed so she would know what questions to ask.

Cy rubbed his chin. “I’m not sure how much I can tell you.”

“Were you close with Sal?” Megan wasn’t sure who Sal had considered his friends.

“We’ve spent some time together,” Cy said. “There was an age difference, but we shared some common interests. Of course, I’ve also bought quite a few things from him over the years.”

Megan assumed that was true for many of the residents of Teaberry, herself included. Hobson’s Nursery was where she bought many of her garden plants and flowers, as well as her fruit trees. Even Dan got some of his stock from Sal for resale at the feed store.

“What did you have in common?” she asked curiously.

“Trains, for one.”

That hadn’t been what she’d expected him to say.

“You like trains?” She remembered what Archie had said about them.

Cy and Casey shared a smile.

“They make noise and they move. What’s not to like?” Cy asked with a grin. “In this case, though, I’m talking about model trains.”

“I understand Sal was a fan. He was supposed to go to a show recently with Archie,” Megan said.

“That was a good one.” Casey leaned forward to see her around Cy. “Ethan and I went to it.”

Tyler stopped and left a pot of hot water and some teabags next to a mug for Megan.

“Are you going to order any food?” he asked.

“No, but thanks for the tea. Can you tell me anything about Sal?” Megan watched Tyler scan the diner in case anyone needed him.

“He came in fairly often. He said he didn’t want to cook for himself.” Tyler nodded to someone across the room. “Be right back.”

Megan poured the hot water into the cup and dropped the teabag in before turning back to Casey and Cy.

“I was glad to hear about Jax and Seth getting the nursery,” Cy said. “I think they’ll keep the tradition going.”

Megan agreed. Tyler appeared next to her again.

“I can also tell you that Sal complained a couple of times about his decision to go out for bids like that,” Tyler said.

“He did? Why?” Megan looked up at Tyler.

Tyler shrugged. “All I know is he mumbled something about the hullabaloo.”

Megan smiled. It was one of Sal’s words alright.

“He should have just sold it without the hullabaloo. That was it. I guess he didn’t like dealing with the other bidders. You know, once Jax and Seth threw their hats in the ring.” Tyler left them again to get a fresh pot of coffee.

He stopped on the return trip when he reached Megan and leaned down.

“Don’t look now. The guy that just walked in? He was one of the bidders. He mentioned it to me the other day when he stopped.” Tyler straightened and kept going.

Megan turned around to look. The man in question scanned the diner and finally decided on a seat at the counter two seats away from Megan. He was the same man she’d seen in Tea & Thyme. She flashed Cy and Casey a look before lifting her tea and sliding over a seat.

“Hi, my name is Megan. Do you mind if I ask you some questions about the nursery?” She smiled at the man as she ran names through her head. “You’re Kurt, right?”

Kurt narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you a reporter?”

Megan laughed. “No, I’m not. Actually, I own a farm outside of town. I used to buy all of my plants and trees from Sal. I understand that you put a bid in for the nursery.”

He raised his brows at her.

Megan shrugged. “Small town.”

“What can I get for you?” Lynn asked as she rounded the counter to stand in front of Kurt.

Kurt glanced at the board. “I’ll take the special and some coffee.”

Lynn hung the ticket in front of Holly and returned with a coffee pot. She filled Kurt’s cup and kept moving.

“In answer to your question, yes. I put a bid in for the nursery.” Kurt quickly studied Megan. His eyes dropped to her stomach then to the ring on her hand. He twisted in his seat and focused on Holly in front of him.

“Did you deal with Stan Jiblonski when you placed your bid?” Megan understood that to be the process.

“Yeah. I didn’t get all of the answers I wanted from him though. I ran into the old man in here one day.” Kurt continued to stare at Holly.

“You talked to Sal? What about?”

Kurt threw her a look of impatience. “The nursery, of course. For all the good it did me. Man wouldn’t talk to me about it.”

Megan wasn’t surprised. Sal definitely had a mind of his own. As far as he was concerned, the bids should have gone through the realtor. That was Stan’s job.

“Talk about a stubborn old coot.” Kurt took a sip of his coffee. “I should have had that nursery. I swear the sale was rigged. I should look into that.”

Megan wasn’t sure how that could be. “Did you speak with the realtor about it?”

“That guy? He was clueless.” Kurt set down his coffee cup when Lynn appeared again. She took a plate from the counter in front of Holly and transferred it to the counter in front of Kurt.

“Well, I’ll leave you to your lunch.” Megan took her tea and slid back over next to Cy.

He gave her a questioning look. Megan raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything. It was noisy in the diner, but she didn’t want to take the chance that Kurt could hear her. She put some money on the counter for her tea.

“I’ll see you two some other time,” she said before leaving. After getting back into her truck, she pulled out her phone. It didn’t take her long to find the number she wanted. She listened to the phone ring a few times before Dena picked up.

“Dena, hi. It’s Megan Parker. I was wondering if I could talk with you.” A noise on the other end of the call drowned Dena’s response out.

“What’s that?” Megan asked.

“I said I’m at the garage on the edge of town.”

Megan didn’t have to ask her which one. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

She ran multiple scenarios through her mind as she drove to the garage. When she pulled into the lot, she saw Dena standing at the entrance in one of the large doors. She seemed to be pacing back and forth. Megan parked her truck and approached the garage. There were two cars inside. That had to be a good thing, right? It meant Gabe was getting work.

Dena looked stressed. Megan glanced inside and saw legs poking out from under one of the cars.

“Is that yours?” Megan asked.

Dena wrapped her arms around herself.

“Yeah. I broke down in front of the garage. How crazy is that, huh?” Dena glanced at her car.

“Sounds like a good thing. It could have been a lot worse.” Megan smiled in an attempt to put Dena at her ease.

Dena still looked stressed. “I need to get to work. It’s only a part-time job, but it’s the first job I’ve had in years.”

“How long is it going to take to fix your car?” Megan asked.

Dena shook her head helplessly. “Gabe thought it was an easy fix at first. He’s been at it for a while though.”

Megan stepped into the garage and raised her voice.

“Hey, Gabe? What if I drop Dena off at work?” Megan asked.

Gabe pulled himself out from under the car. He looked between the women.

“I could come and pick you up after work. You could drop me off here,” he suggested.

Dena looked relieved. She turned to Megan.

“That would be great, thanks.”

Megan waved to Gabe before returning to her truck. Dena climbed into the passenger side.

“I thought you had a lot of experience with your husband’s trucking company?” Megan asked.

“How do you prove that?” Dena asked. “He won’t exactly write me a reference. As far as anyone is concerned, I haven’t worked since before we were married.”

“Is that why you put a bid in for Sal’s nursery?” Megan asked.

Dena huffed out a breath. “Pretty stupid of me, I know. But you’ve been out there, right? There’s a house attached to the storefront. I could keep my kids close when I work.”

“Did you talk to Sal about any of that?” Megan asked.

“Sal? No, why? I mean, I put my bid in with Stan like I was supposed to. Then I crossed my fingers. That’s all I did. I didn’t really think I’d get it. But I figured I’d never get it if I didn’t try.”

Megan pulled into the address Dena had given her.

Dena unbuckled her seat belt. “It isn’t much, but it’s a job and I have to support my kids.” Dena slipped out of the truck. “Thanks for the ride.”

Chapter Sixteen

She saved the web page and stood from her comfortable position on the couch, setting her laptop aside as she did. After going to the kitchen, she filled the kettle with some water to make tea. While waiting for the water to boil, she picked up her phone and pulled up the web pages she had just completed. It was a way of double checking that her display code was working correctly. She wanted the pages to look just as good on one device as it did on another.

Once her tea was ready, she carried both the mug and her phone back to the living room. The doorbell surprised her. She didn’t typically have visitors on a Friday morning. After peering out the window next to the door, she opened it to Jax and Seth.

“Hey. What brings you two here?” she asked as she led them back to the living room.

She set her phone down and lifted her tea mug.

“Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Not for me, thanks,” Jax said as he took a seat.

Seth waved her off and sat as well.

“Sorry to bother you like this.” Jax looked over at Seth. “We debated coming.”

Seth spread out his hands. “We know the police are looking into it.”

“But we figured you would be too,” Jax added.

“We know you had an order in for a tree from Sal.” Seth leaned back in his seat.

“We found it in the ledgers. We were going through everything we could find, trying to figure out who was expecting what,” Jax explained.

“You’ve started working then?” That sounded exciting. Megan could picture the rows and rows of plants that must already be growing in the greenhouses.

“Oh, yeah. There’s a lot to take care of, that’s for sure.” Jax started to get animated. “Luckily, Trina seems to have some experience with it, especially on the plant side and several other things. I’ve been trying to figure out the books.”

“I’m the strong back for the moment,” Seth said with a wry smile.

“Don’t believe him,” Jax interrupted. “He knows more of the business side than he lets on.”

“It’s a learning curve,” Seth said. “Trina seems to be the only one who can figure out a computer system.”

Megan knew they hadn’t stopped by to talk about the tree she ordered.

“Can I assume that you found something?” she asked.

“We did,” Jax confirmed. “It may not be anything,” he was quick to add.

“We turned it over to the police, of course.” Seth looked back at Jax.

“The thing is, we found something by your name in the ledger. That’s another reason why we’re here. The fact that Sal seemed to have it linked to you.” Jax focused on Megan.

She cupped her tea with both hands. “Tied what to me?”

“A note.” Jax pulled out his phone.

Megan set her tea down and reached for Jax’s phone. He’d pulled up an image of a hand-written note before passing it to her. She looked up at Jax after reading it.

“Someone wanted to see him to make another offer.” She thought about the implications. “Did you two meet with Sal about your bid?”

“No,” Seth said. “That wasn’t part of the process described to us. We submitted a business proposal to Stan.”

“According to Stan, Sal didn’t want to deal with the bidders himself. That’s why he hired Stan,” Jax explained.

It was what Stan had told her as well. She wondered which of the other bidders had tried to skirt around that and go to Sal directly.

“As you said, it may not mean anything,” she said slowly.

“There’s something else,” Seth said. “I drove past the nursery just before we put in our bid. I wanted to check on some things to make sure my memory of it was correct.”

“We wanted our business proposal to be perfect,” Jax said.

Seth nodded his agreement. “Anyway, I saw a truck there with a logo on the side. It was another nursery.”

“Stan mentioned that the owner of another nursery put in a bid. Maybe he’s the one who wrote the note.” It made sense.

“We wondered the same thing.” Seth looked at Jax again.

“Could you make out the name of the other nursery?” she asked.

“Kaczmarek’s. They’re about an hour away from here,” Seth told her. “We checked all of that out too when we put the business plan together. What the competition was within a given range, that sort of thing.”

“As we said, what we’re telling you may not mean anything.” Jax stood. “We should get going. I just wanted you to know in case it ended up helping with your puzzle.”

Seth joined Jax to leave. “We’d like to know what happened to Sal,” he said simply.

Megan did too. She asked Jax to forward the image of the note to her phone. After they left, she looked up the name of the other nursery. Seth was right. It was a bit of a drive. Maybe Dan wouldn’t mind going with her tomorrow. She closed down her laptop and gathered her things to go into town. Her first stop was at the craft store.

“Megan, what brings you in today?” Luella walked over to greet Megan as she entered the store.

“I’m going to start a quilt for the baby. I hear congratulations are in order?” Megan said with a smile.

Luella held up her left hand. “I’m still getting used to it.”

Megan watched Luella’s gaze move past her. She turned to see Everett on the other side of the store. It was the area where the fabrics were kept.

“I’ll go congratulate the groom too.”

Megan paused near the cutting station where Everett was standing. He looked lost in thought.

“Everett?” Megan had to repeat herself before Everett’s eyes focused on her.

“Oh, Megan. Hello.” The smile lit up his face.

Megan smiled back at the fifty-something man. His height, slender build, and red hair made him stand out in any crowd.

“You looked lost in thought,” she said. She knew it was a fairly common event for him. He had a passion for writing children’s stories and often escaped mentally as he dreamed up new adventures for his characters.

“I was,” he admitted with a wry grin. “It was about the young child who left something behind.” He held up a package.

“That looks like more than a figment of your imagination.”

Everett nodded. “It’s Irlene’s actually. She must have left it by accident. She ran in on her break to pick it out.”

“I can drop it off when I leave,” Megan offered. “I need to pick out some fabric for a baby quilt first.”

“That would be wonderful. Don’t pick up anything too heavy,” Everett cautioned. “I can carry the bolts of fabric for you back to the cutting counter. Just let me know when you’re ready.”

Megan didn’t encounter any bolts too heavy to carry when she picked out the fabric for her quilt. Before long she was walking into the Teaberry Salon with Irlene’s package. Irlene was busy with a customer that Megan recognized immediately.

“Hello, Megan.” The woman in Irlene’s chair was known by most in Teaberry.

“Mayor Reynolds.” Megan held out the package.

Irlene made a face as soon as she saw it.

“Where did I leave that?” Irlene reached for the package and set it on her workstation.

“Everett gave it to me.” Megan took a seat in the hood dryer behind Irlene. She watched both women in the mirror as she spoke with them.

“How are things going with the puzzle?” Barbara asked.

“Not many pieces yet. Did you know Sal well?” In her experience, the mayor knew a little about everyone.

“Like a lot of other residents of Teaberry, I bought many of my plants from him, of course.” Barbara turned her head after receiving a gentle nudge from Irlene. “I did speak to him recently as well.”

“Did he talk about selling the nursery?” Megan guessed.

“He did. He was lamenting the quality of the business plans he’d received with the bids. Of course, he also said that it made his job of choosing the winning bid that much easier.”

“I’m not surprised that Jax would submit a solid plan,” Megan said.

In addition to coming from the corporate world, she knew that Jax would also have the advice of Ross McMann. Ross ran a business incubator and trained people who to write business plans.

Megan raised her eyes to Irlene in the mirror. “You wouldn’t happen to have any clues to the puzzle, would you?”

Irlene shook her head. “Not this time. Sal didn’t believe in hair dressers. He went to a barber.”

Megan saw the frown cross Irlene’s face.

“What is it?” Megan asked.

Barbara’s eyes met Irlene’s in the mirror.

Irlene hesitated for only a moment. “You know that I’m swamped this time of the year with the spring dance, right?”

Megan nodded.

“Sometimes the girls come in groups and sit around talking while they’re waiting,” Irlene said.

“You heard something?” Barbara asked.

Irlene bit her lip. She didn’t believe in passing stories between the people who sat in her chair.

“I think the kids might be up to something,” Irlene said hesitantly.

“Like what?” Barbara prompted.

Irlene shook her head. “That’s just it. I don’t know. It sounds like there’s a group of them doing something they shouldn’t. The girls that I’ve had in here didn’t seem to be a part of it. It was just gossip. Maybe that’s all it is. Maybe there’s nothing to it.”

“And maybe there is,” Barbara said quietly.

***

Megan stopped at the grocery store later in the day. She hesitated in the produce section for several minutes before finally seeing the person she wanted to speak with.

“Owen, do you have a minute?” Megan asked. She’d seen the younger man in the store before but never had a name to go with the face until now. The mayor had mentioned that he worked at the store.

The twenty-something looked up with a smile on his face.

“Can I help you?” He stopped pushing the heavy cart of produce and waited for Megan’s answer.

“I understand that you put in a bid for the nursery recently,” Megan said. “I was wondering if you also went out to speak with Sal, the former owner.”

The smile left Owen’s face. “No, I didn’t. Why would you ask?”

“You do know that his death was no accident, right?”

“So?” He began offloading some of the produce and putting it into the display bins.

“I wondered if you might have seen anyone else at the nursery when you spoke with him,” she said.

Owen focused on his task. “No, I didn’t go out there. I saw him in here, but that’s just because he shopped here.”

Megan was about to thank him for his time when he turned to look at her.

“I did see him in the parking lot with someone else. He was pretty animated,” Owen said.

“Animated?”

Owen nodded slowly. “I was leaving work for the day. I park over on the far side of the lot, so I didn’t have a good look at the other person.”

“You couldn’t hear what they were talking about?” Megan asked hopefully.

“No. I just know that Sal was gesturing to the other person. You know, to leave him alone I guess.” Owen frowned.

“Who was it?” Megan asked.

“That’s just it. I couldn’t see. The other person never left their car. They just stopped while they were driving past Sal, you know? He seemed to yell at the other person, whoever they were. He waved them away and kept walking.” Owen turned back to his produce. “That’s all I know.”

“What kind of car?” Megan asked.

Owen shrugged without turning around. “I think it was dark colored. Maybe blue. I didn’t really pay much attention.”

Chapter Seventeen

It was a beautiful day for a drive. So many things were already in bloom.

“Are you sure you don’t mind giving up part of your Saturday for this?” Megan asked.

“You promised me a lunch date out of it,” Dan reminded her.

She couldn’t help the smile. She knew he didn’t want her to make the drive on her own. She wasn’t complaining. They didn’t get out like this together often. It was a nice change. Her hand flew up to her stomach as the baby became more active.

Dan saw the motion out of the corner of his eye.

“What was that?” he asked.

“There’s a future professional kicker in there, I think.” She rubbed her side.

“Sports injuries. I’ll add it to my list of things to worry about.” He slowed to take another curve in the road.

“You wouldn’t want your child to play professional sports?” She watched the passing scenery. Things were getting greener by the day.

“I’ll be okay with anything they choose to do as long as they stay safe and happy.” He glanced at the GPS to find his next turn.

That reminded her. “I saw Erica’s taped interview about school bus safety again on television yesterday.”

“I hope they start running it every day.” He slowed to take a turn.

Megan could see the sign. “There. On the left.”

Dan pulled into the parking lot. There were several other vehicles parked there. The buildings were on the other side of a chain-link fence. Visitors had to pass through a gate before they could look at the plants and trees. Megan could see the Kaczmarek van on the other side as they passed through the gate. It was parked near the end of the main office building.

There were also several very large greenhouses and mounds of stones and different colored mulch. Larger trucks bearing the same logo were near the mounds. She assumed it was the trucks they used for deliveries of the stone and mulch.

“Pretty big operation,” Dan commented as they headed for the office.

Megan murmured her agreement as they entered the large building that displayed a lot of items for sale. She paused as she saw several things that interested her. In addition to yard art, there were seeds, gardening tools, and just about anything else someone might need to grow something.

“Can I help you?” A woman around Megan’s age stopped as she passed through the store carrying a planter.

“I was hoping to speak with the owner,” Megan said with a friendly smile.

“He’s outside between these two buildings,” the woman said before continuing to the cash register.

Megan and Dan went out the side door. They found an older man shifting some small trees in rows next to the building to make room for more as he filled in the gaps made by shoppers.

He looked up from his task. “Can I help you?”

Megan introduced them. “I was hoping to ask you some questions about your interest in the nursery in Teaberry.” The man straightened. She could see the name tag on his shirt now. “You’re Pete Kaczmarek. The owner, right?”

“I am.” He removed his work gloves. “I know you aren’t the police. I’ve already spoken with them.”

“No, sir. I’m not. I’m just a friend of Sal’s who has some questions about his death,” Megan said honestly.

Pete stared at her for a moment. “Okay. Let’s hear them.”

“You have a beautiful nursery here. What made you interested in bidding on Sal’s?” she asked.

“I have a large family. I was thinking it might be time to branch out. I figured the kids might want their own places.” Pete offered a friendly greeting to a couple of shoppers as they walked past him.

“Did you speak with Sal at all?” Megan asked.

A smile flashed on Pete’s face. He nodded once then looked at Megan and Dan.

“I did. Interesting man. I can’t say that he was rude, but he definitely set me straight about my mistake.”

“Mistake?”

“He didn’t want to deal with the bidders directly. He said that’s what the realtor was for,” Pete explained.

Megan had heard that before. “Did you talk about anything else?”

Pete nodded to another couple as they walked by. “We swapped a few stories about running a nursery. That’s about it.”

“One more question. You didn’t by any chance give him a note, did you?”

Megan heard a voice from the door they had just passed through.

“A note? No, why?” Pete started moving away from them toward the office.

“No reason. Thanks for your time,” Megan said as she turned to Dan.

“Lunch?” he asked.

She rested her hand on her stomach and smiled. Lunch sounded great.

***

Caitlyn thanked the nervous young man as she handed him the change.

“Have a good time. Remember to drive safely.” She followed him to the front door of the florist shop.

The heavy click as the lock slipped into place brought a smile to her face. She had officially lived through another spring dance. Her own experiences at the dance as a young girl in high school were now just memories. Her connection to the annual event was to provide a tiny element of many memories to come. She enjoyed that aspect. Just as she remembered what her corsage looked like, she knew the girls attending tonight would have the same kind of memories.

She quickly ran through her closing routine. She glanced at the remaining corsage in her refrigerator in the front room. She always made a few extras, just in case. It was the last-minute decisions, no doubt prompted by someone else remembering from the spring dance of their youth, that corsages were an expected part of the event. This year, she’d sold all but one of them. Caitlyn was retrieving her purse from the workroom in the back when she heard a tapping on the front door.

She seriously considered ignoring it for a fraction of a second. The romantic in her won out. She walked into the front room and looked through the glass door. The lone figure on the other side was familiar. He was looking away from her, no doubt wondering what to do now that he knew the florist shop was closed.

Caitlyn flipped the lock open. Cole whirled around, the relief on his face evident. He quickly opened the door and stepped inside.

“Ah, sorry about this,” Cole said.

Caitlyn bit her lip to hide her smile.

“I guess I didn’t think. I mean, that is, I didn’t really know…” Cole stopped talking and expelled a breath.

“That you were supposed to get a corsage for your date?” she asked.

He nodded his agreement. “Guilty.”

Caitlyn made a show of checking out his fancy suit. “Nice.”

Cole laughed self-consciously. “I feel like an idiot.”

“Lucky for you, you won’t be an idiot without a corsage.” Caitlyn took the last corsage from the fridge and held it up for him. “Will this do?”

He shrugged indecisively. “How would I know?” he asked curiously.

“The guys are supposed to ask what color she’s wearing so you can match it up,” Caitlyn advised.

“Because we aren’t already stressed enough,” he said with a wry smile as he pulled out his wallet.

Caitlyn didn’t disagree with him. “It’s a learning experience. By the time you’ve made it through this and a couple of your friends’ weddings, you’ll be ready to handle one on your own.”

“I’m just hoping to get through tonight without making a complete fool of myself.” He held up the corsage. “Thanks for this.”

Caitlyn followed him out of the florist shop and locked the door.

“Remember, she’s going to be nervous too. Try to relax. Most of all, be safe tonight,” she told him.

***

Cole pulled up to the mansion Julia called a house. He thought about what Caitlyn had said but found it hard to believe. Anyone who was used to all this probably wasn’t going to be nervous about a high school dance. Julia probably took dance lessons and everything as a kid.

Cole braced himself for meeting her parents as he walked up to the front door. The sound of the doorbell made the sweat under his arms increase. He reached up with his finger and tugged at the collar constricting his throat. He waited on the large front porch, his nervousness increasing exponentially as each moment passed. He was about to press the button again when the door finally swung open.

“Hey,” Julia said.

He vaguely registered that she looked nervous. Maybe Caitlyn was right.

“You look great.” He managed a smile as he held out the corsage.

“You think so?” She focused on the corsage. “Thanks. It’s beautiful.”

“I’ve never seen you with your hair up like that,” he said without thinking.

Julia raised her hand halfway to her hair before dropping it.

“Thanks. Irlene did it for me.”

Cole realized that the house seemed quiet. “Are your parents home?”

“No. They had plans.”

He tried not to let his relief show. “Are you ready to go then?”

“I guess. I just need to grab my things. Do we need to stop at your place so your mom can take pictures or something?” Julia asked.

“Nah. She’s at work.”

He thought she looked dismayed at his answer. He wondered why.

“Okay. I’ll be right out,” she said.

His phone buzzed as she walked away. Cole read the text from his younger brother.

“Mom wants to know when you’ll get here for pictures,” Garrett texted.

No way did Cole want Julia to see his house. It could never compare to the mansion she lived in.

“Tell her we’re running late and can’t make it,” he texted back.

Julia returned with her purse and some sort of wrap to cover he shoulders.

“Ready?”

Chapter Eighteen

He watched as another young couple passed in front of the police cruiser.

“How many years have you had this duty?” Rhys asked.

“More than I can remember,” Ian said. “At least they have good weather this year. Some years, they’re fighting rain or even snow. This year, everything is in bloom. Next year, it will probably be sleeting ice. That’s just the way it is in northwest Pennsylvania.”

Rhys leaned forward a little as another couple walked past.

“Hey, isn’t that?”

“Julia and Cole, yeah.” Ian leaned forward also. “They make a nice couple.”

Ian sat back in his seat and turned to Rhys when he heard the other man grunt a response.

“You’re just scared,” Ian guessed.

“Got that right,” Rhys muttered.

“How old is Bella now?” Ian asked, even though he already knew.

“Not old enough.” Rhys ignored the other man’s laughter. “You ready to walk around?”

Ian opened the door in response and got out.

“I’ll head around this way,” Rhys pointed.

Ian pointed the other direction. “I’ll circle around the other way and meet you inside. They have teachers and other monitors supervising inside and there’s also the school security, but they like having us visible at different times throughout the night.”

Cole stood in line next to Julia waiting to get inside the gym. He watched as she looked at all the other girls. It took him a few minutes to figure out why.

“Did you sell a lot of the dresses they’re wearing?” he asked quietly.

“Yes. I also want to see what the other girls are wearing. The ones who didn’t buy their dresses from Togs,” Julia whispered back.

“Checking out the competition?” he asked.

“It’ll help us to know what stock we should order the next time,” she agreed.

“Sounds like you’re feeling better about working there.”

She stole a quick glance at him. “You were right. Giselle doesn’t expect me to know everything. She’s been teaching me a lot.”

Cole passed the tickets over to the attendant when they reached the door to the large gymnasium.

“Did you see any of this already?” he asked her as they stepped inside.

“No. I heard some of the other kids talking about it though. Some of the girls in my classes helped decorate.” Julia looked around. “There are some seats over there.”

Cole nodded his agreement. When they reached the seats, he remained standing while Julia sat down.

“I’ll get us some drinks.” He motioned in the direction of the refreshment table.

Cole joined others at the refreshment table doing the same thing. He nodded to a few that he knew as he waited his turn.

“I’m telling you. It doesn’t get any faster,” he heard someone behind him say.

Cole turned toward the voice but everyone around the refreshment table shifted and he didn’t see who it was. He reached out for two cups as the person in front of him left, then headed back for Julia. He found her talking to her friend, Steffie.

“I should get back to my date.” Steffie rolled her eyes.

“She’s not having a good time?” he asked Julia.

“She decided she doesn’t like her date,” Julia told him as she took a cup from him. “I guess all he wants to do is talk to his friends about cars.”

The sound of the band beginning to play a song blared over the speakers. Cole could feel his heart pounding.

He leaned in closer to Julia. “I have a confession to make. I don’t know how to dance.”

Julia watched as others began swaying together to the music.

“Neither do I but it doesn’t look hard.”

“Seriously?” He didn’t believe her.

She shrugged. “I’m game if you are.”

***

Caitlyn entered the restaurant side of the Station Pub & Grill and paused in the doorway. She didn’t see Doug, so she continued on to the bar side. She spotted him immediately behind the bar. He was helping out the bartender to keep up with the orders. She walked slowly across the room, winding her way around the crowd.

She knew the instant that Doug became aware of her. His hands froze in the middle of mixing a drink. She waited as his eyes started at her feet and worked their way up to her face before she took another step toward him. She saw him set down whatever he was holding and say something to the bartender before he quickly came around the bar and met her halfway across the room.

“What’s the occasion?” he asked with a gleam of admiration in his eyes. He’d never seen her in the siren red dress she was currently wearing.

“I’m celebrating the end of another spring dance,” she explained.

“I thought the dance just started.”

“Not my part. The flowers are all gone.”

“Good point.” His hand went to the small of her back automatically to guide her the rest of the way to the bar. He made a show of kissing her after pulling out a chair he kept reserved just for her.

“Wine?” he asked.

“Please.” She watched the others in the room as she waited for him to return. She saw another woman at the far end of the bar sitting by herself. She thought the woman looked familiar but she couldn’t come up with a name to match the face.

Doug set a glass of chilled white wine in front of Caitlyn.

“I shouldn’t be much longer.” He eyed her outfit again. “Are you sure you aren’t going to mind staying in tonight? We could go out instead, if you’d rather.”

Caitlyn smiled as she shook her head once.

“Home sounds like the best place to be.” She enjoyed the attention he was giving her in her snazzy red dress, but the thought of a night curled up on the couch next to him sounded better than anything else she could come up with.

She sipped her wine and watched the others in the room again while Doug finished up what he was doing. At one point, the crowd by the bar shifted giving her a clear view of the woman at the other end of the bar. This time, she wasn’t alone. Caitlyn’s heart dropped when she saw the man next to the woman lean in for a kiss.

It took a moment for her brain to convince her eyes that Dan wasn’t cheating on Megan. It was Gabe kissing another woman. Good thing for Dan. Caitlyn had almost flown across the room. Doug joined her again. He glanced down at the other end of the bar and nodded to her.

“I thought that was Dan for a minute,” Doug said in her ear.

“How long has he been here?” Caitlyn asked.

“Tonight? He just showed up. This woman is new.”

Caitlyn understood that to mean that Gabe had been in before and with other women.

“Are you ready to go?” Doug asked.

“Oh, yeah.” She definitely didn’t want to sit around and watch Gabe.

***

Rhys drove slowly down the road outside of town.

“Looks like the traffic has really thinned. Hopefully, everyone from the dance has made it home safely,” Ian said.

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Things seemed to go pretty well at the dance. I’d like to end our shift knowing that the kids are all safe.”

Ian strained to see down the road in the beam of the headlights.

“Is that someone walking?” he asked.

Rhys tried to make it out. “Looks like it.”

They stopped the car when they reached the figure. Whoever it was, they were having trouble walking in a straight line.

Ian got out of the car first. The person walking away from him seemed totally oblivious to their presence.

“Sir!” Ian said loudly. “Sir! I want to talk with you.”

The figure in front of him paused and began to turn around but lost his footing. Ian moved quickly to help the man back to his feet.

“Gabe? Is that you?” Ian asked as Rhys joined them.

Whatever he responded didn’t make sense.

“Let’s get him in the back seat,” Rhys suggested.

Ian tried to prop Gabe up. He half dragged the man to the cruiser. Rhys opened the back door and they managed to get him in. Rhys and Ian climbed back into the front seat.

“She left me,” Ian heard Gabe say.

“Who left you?” Ian asked.

Gabe didn’t answer him at first.

“Some woman.”

Ian shot Rhys a look.

“At least he’s not driving a car,” Rhys said.

True. “Gabe! Who left you?” Ian asked.

“I don’t know. Don’t know her name.” Gabe began sliding over in the seat.

“Do you want to drive him home?” Rhys asked.

“Said she didn’t want to hear about my wife,” Gabe mumbled in the back seat.

“He’s staying out at that garage, right?” Ian asked. He didn’t want to take Gabe to his parents’ house at this hour of the night in the condition he was in.

“Yeah. That’s what I heard.” Rhys said.

“LeAnn. Where is LeAnn?” Gabe asked. “I want LeAnn.”

“Not tonight, Buddy,” Ian said.

Chapter Nineteen

He filled the snap line chalk box with blue chalk as he considered his options. He definitely wanted a flower border along the fence that surrounded the back yard. Of course, having something around the deck on the back of the house was an absolute must. It was the shed he hadn’t decided on yet. If nothing else, he might want mulch around it. Either way, it was going to be a lot of digging to get the layer of sod up everywhere. He planned to start digging right after dinner.

“Evan, are you ready?” Seth asked.

Evan hopped down the steps of the deck and joined Seth in the yard. His gaze kept turning to his neighbor’s yard. He was looking for his best friend, Logan. The two boys were the same age and attended school together.

“This is what I need you to do.” Seth handed Evan the end of the snap line. “Hold on to this and walk over to that corner.”

Evan eyed the metal end of the line curiously before taking off in a run toward the corner of the deck.

“Whoa, slow down, Buddy. That’s it, walk, don’t run. It takes a while for the line to come out.”

Seth waited until Evan made it to the corner.

“Okay, now you’re going to hold the end down on the ground.” Seth watched as Evan dropped to both knees. “That’s it. You need to press the end into the ground and hold it tight for me.”

He could see the determination on Evan’s face as he held the metal end down.

“I’m going to lift the line and bit and let it snap back down. Are you ready?” Seth waited for the nod before pulling. The line went flying as Evan let go.

“That’s okay, Buddy. Let’s try it again. Hold the end down. Real tight, okay?”

This time, Evan held the metal clip on the end with one hand and the line with the other. Seth pulled it and snapped. He didn’t get the tight line he was hoping for. The blue line that magically appeared on the ground was a little blurred. It would do.

“Okay, you can let go now. We’re going to do it on the side of the deck next.”

Evan dropped the line and stood. The knees of his jeans were soaked through.

“You need to carry the end of the line over to that corner,” Seth rolled up the slack as he followed Evan around the corner to get the shorter side of the deck.

“We’re going to do it again, same thing. You ready?” Seth watched as Evan dropped to his knees again and held the line down with both hands.

“Okay, here it goes.” Seth snapped the line. He began reeling the line in. “Okay, I’m going to put some more chalk on the line before we make the next snap.

“How do you do that?” Evan ran over to Seth to watch.

“I have to turn this. Here, you do it.” Seth handed it to Evan and pointed. “You need to turn this, right here. Like when we go fishing.”

Evan made several turns before pausing to swipe at his nose. He continued for several more then checked to see if Logan was next door. He wanted to know if his friend could see him working with Seth. He rubbed at his ear before reeling some more. Finally, the line was completely reeled in.

“Good job. Now we’re going to do this last line over here by the deck. Then we’ll check and see if dinner is ready. Okay?” Seth handed Evan the metal clip on the end of the line and motioned for him to walk to the other corner of the deck.

Evan nodded enthusiastically as he dropped to his knees and held the freshly-chalked string down with both hands. After Seth made the snap, he signaled for Evan to let go and began reeling the line back in.

“Good job, I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Evan stood and wiped his hands on his shirt as Jessilyn appeared at the sliding glass door. She tapped on the door to let them know dinner was ready.

“Oh, boy!” Evan ran up the steps of the deck. He pressed one hand against the glass and grabbed the door handle with the other to force the door open.

“Mom, I helped Seth.”

Jessilyn looked over at him as she carried a casserole dish to the table. His hands and face were covered in blue. There was even some in his near white hair, the dark color showing easily. There were smears the size of his hands down the front of his shirt.

“I know, I watched you. Good job.”

Seth walked in and closed the sliding glass door behind him.

“Smells good in here. C’mon, Buddy. We need to get cleaned up.” Seth corralled Evan to the bathroom at the end of the hall.

Jessilyn had everything on the table when they returned. Both of them were now clean. Evan had on a different shirt and all traces of blue were gone. His face was now a little red in some places where he must have scrubbed harder.

“Can I go over to Logan’s after dinner?” Evan asked.

“Not tonight. Logan and his mom have plans.” Jessilyn saw her son’s frown. “Don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of time to play with him tomorrow. You’ll be over there all day.”

Evan’s frown turned to confusion for a moment until he remembered.

“Spring break!” he yelled.

Jessilyn picked up his plate and began filling it.

“Maybe once you get a little older, you’ll be able to come to work with me at the nursery,” Seth said. “You can help me there like you do at home.”

Evan nodded as he reached for his plate.

“If yesterday was any indication, we’re going to be swamped there during spring break,” Seth said.

“I hope so,” Jessilyn said as she watched Seth fill his plate. “You need the business.”

“How busy will you be this week?” he asked her.

“The mayor will be gone on vacation. It isn’t usually a busy time for us but I do have that project with the off-road trail to deal with.” Jessilyn took the serving spoon from Seth.

“Is there a problem with it?”

“Looks like it’s generated some interest. I guess it’s just a matter of deciding which way we want to go with it. I doubt we can manage to please everyone in the end though.” Jessilyn put the serving spoon back in the casserole dish when she was done. “Just like the bidders for the nursery. There can only be one winner.”

***

“It was so nice of you to do this,” Kelly Parker said to her daughter-in-law as she joined her in the kitchen.

“I’m hoping some fences can be mended.” Megan turned from the stove to give Kelly a hug.

“That would be nice,” Kelly agreed as she looked around the kitchen. “What can I help with?”

Megan took stock. “I think we’re pretty good. I had a lot of peppers in the freezer from last year’s garden so I went with stuffed peppers. They should be ready.”

“They smell wonderful,” Kelly said.

“I was going to make mashed potatoes to go with them but decided I was in the mood for potato salad. I hope no one minds,” Megan said with a grin. “It’s in the fridge if you want to get it out.”

“The pregnant woman gets to choose the food. Besides, you’re doing the work.” Kelly opened the fridge. “Todd will be happy, anyway. I don’t usually make it to be honest. Too much work. I hate having to cook the whole potatoes. You have to wait for them to cool before you can skin them and cut them up. It’s a pain and takes forever.”

“I cheat,” Megan confessed as she transferred some freshly baked buns to a basket.

“How do you cheat with potato salad?” Kelly set the large container on the kitchen table.

“I use red skin potatoes so that I don’t have to bother peeling them, for one thing. I also cut the potatoes into chunks before I cook them. It doesn’t take long at all to cook them that way. The hard-boiled eggs and potatoes get done around the same time. By then, I have the veggies diced up to put in. It probably takes less than half an hour altogether, especially if I’m just making a small batch for two of us.”

“That does sound easier. Don’t tell Todd yet. I want to give it a try. If he likes it, I’ll tell him he owes me for doing all that work.”

Megan laughed. “The only trick is to make sure you don’t cook the potatoes too much. I like them soft, so it isn’t a problem for me but they can get mushy pretty quick if you aren’t careful.”

Kelly picked up the potato salad and turned toward the dining room.

“It sounds like more of us are arriving. I’ll take this out and come back for more. Do you want everyone to just put what they bring in the dining room?” Kelly asked.

“Please. Sounds easier.” Megan took out some hot pads and put them on the counter. When she heard a noise behind her, she turned to find Gabe standing in the kitchen.

“You look like you had a rough night.” It was the nicest way Megan could think to phrase it. He really looked like someone ran him over with a car then backed up and did it again.

“I feel like I had a rough night. Coffee might help.” Gabe took a seat at the table.

Megan opened the oven door and lifted out the tray of stuffed peppers. After setting it on the hot pads, she went over to the coffee maker and turned it on.

“I understand Dan spoke with you about Sal,” she said.

“Yeah.” Gabe dropped his head into his hands and propped his elbows on the table.

“He said that you weren’t arguing with him,” Megan continued. “Can you tell me what you did talk about.”

“Not much. I didn’t stay long. He listened to me talk about LeAnn.” Gabe began rubbing his head. “Told me I should stick with the garage. Try to make a go of it.”

“Did Sal say much else?” She asked.

“Like what?”

“Did he mention anyone else being out to see him?” she asked.

“No.” Gabe pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes. “I was leaving when they got there, so he didn’t have the chance.”

“Someone came while you were there? Who was it?” Megan wondered why he hadn’t mentioned it before.

“Yeah. I have no idea who it was. I didn’t recognize the car.”

She thought back to what Owen had told her at the grocery store. “Was it dark colored? Maybe blue?”

“It was.”

“Can you describe it more?” she asked.

Gabe could. Down to the engine inside the car. The only thing he couldn’t tell her was the license plate number.

“The coffee is done,” she told him as she texted the info to Erica.

Chapter Twenty

The neighborhood where Rodney Ladd lived was a newer development. It had a lot of young couples with families. Many of the kids were taking advantage of the break from school and were outside playing. Megan parked on the street in front of Rodney’s address and approached the house. A man in his early thirties stepped out before she reached the front door. He stopped when he saw her approaching.

“Rodney? I’m Megan Parker. I was hoping I could ask you some questions.” She stopped in front of him.

His eyes dropped to her stomach. “Are you Dan’s wife?” he asked.

“Yes, that’s right.” Owning the feed store meant Dan was fairly well-known in Teaberry.

“What kind of questions?” he asked.

She could see the look of caution in his eyes.

“About your bid for the nursery. I understand that you were hoping to buy it. You know about Sal’s death, right?” she asked.

The caution turned to something else but flashed by so quickly she couldn’t make it out.

“That wasn’t right,” he said as he crossed his arms.

“No, it wasn’t. Did you talk to Sal before he died?”

Rodney looked past Megan to a car passing down the street. He waved before looking back at her.

“Yeah. I ran into him in town one day,” he said.

“Can I ask what you talked about?”

He shrugged. “It’s no secret. I already told the police. He didn’t seem to want to talk about selling the nursery. We talked about the train show a little. He said he was planning to go.”

“You’re a fan too?” she guessed.

Rodney smiled. “Occupational hazard, I guess. Anyone who likes engineering and robotics is probably going to like trains.”

It raised another question. “I was wondering about that.”

“You mean, would I have kept my teaching job if I’d gotten the nursery?” he took a couple of steps toward his car. “Hard to say. I was hoping it would supplement my income during the summers mostly.”

Megan could tell that she was keeping him from something.

“Thanks for your time,” she said.

“Not a problem. Maybe Dena can help you with whatever it was you wanted to know.” He reached to open his car door.

“Dena? Dena Baker?”

“Yeah, I guess it is Baker now. It wasn’t back when we were in school together.” He stood next to his car, the door open.

“You saw her with Sal?” That didn’t match with what Dena had told her.

“Yeah. She was talking to him before I ran into him.”

***

He knew the Jammin’T would be packed during spring break. It was why he’d suggested they meet at the Station Pub & Grill instead. Rhys took a seat in a booth on the bar side so he wouldn’t have to wait. Ian joined him a minute later.

“I grabbed some menus on my way in,” Ian said as he took a seat.

“I already know what I want,” Rhys said as a waiter stopped by their booth.

“I’ll have the pulled pork sandwich with Jalapeno peppers,” Rhys said.

“Make it two.” Ian handed his menu over to the waiter. “Sorry I’m late.”

“What was it this time?” Rhys rested his arms on the table.

“One of the pillows on the couch. She shredded it.”

“You might want to look into obedience school,” Rhys suggested.

“Do they even have those around here?” Ian asked.

Rhys shrugged. He had no idea.

“Did you hear anything else?” Rhys asked.

“No, I’m happy to say. Sounds like they didn’t have one last night.”

Rhys thought about it. “Maybe that’s just because they’re off school all week.”

“Yeah, I figured the same thing.” Ian leaned back as the waiter returned with glasses of water for them.

“They probably figure they have all week to drag race,” Rhys said after the waiter left.

“That’s what I’m worried about. Without school, they’re probably going to be staying out a lot later at night.”

“What do you want to do?” Rhys asked.

“What can we do? We’re trying to monitor as many of the country roads as possible. That’s where they usually decide to race.”

“At least it’s staying light later now. Maybe that will help.” Rhys knew he didn’t sound convincing.

“I guess. Not sure it’ll help us catch them, but it might make it a little safer for anyone else who happens to be on the same road.”

“Well, we’ll be on shift shortly. We’ll do what we can do.” Rhys watched the waiter walk toward them carrying a tray.

“Might not hurt to try to talk to some of them,” Ian said.

Rhys thanked the waiter as he set their plates down.

“What do you mean?” he asked Ian as he reached for his sandwich.

“You know, maybe we can see if there’s been any talk of the racing at school.”

“They’re not at school,” Rhys pointed out before taking his first bite.

“Yeah. That might make it easier. We know where some of them work.” Ian bit into his sandwich.

***

Gabe descended from the upstairs apartment slowly. He didn’t appreciate the food that Megan had sent home with him yesterday until he realized he didn’t have anything else in the apartment to eat and he was low on money. The jobs he’d been getting were few and far between.

Maybe Dan was right. Maybe it was time to try some advertising. The sound of a car pulling in stopped him. He waited until Dena parked and got out before walking over to her.

“What brings you by?” he asked.

“I figured I owed you some money for fixing my car.” Dena reached into her purse and took out a twenty. “It isn’t much, but I’ll give you more as I get it.”

Gabe looked at the hand she held out. He knew she couldn’t afford to give him the money any more than he could say no.

She saw his hesitation. “You can’t run a business if you don’t charge your customers. Trust me, I know all about that.”

“That’s just the thing. I’m not sure I am running a company,” Gabe said.

Dena dropped her hand, still holding the twenty.

“There’s a lot of potential here. The building is solid. The parking lot isn’t the greatest.” She looked at a few areas where the asphalt had worn away. “It isn’t bad right by the building though. That’s where most people would be parking. It shouldn’t cost as much to patch just those areas that need it the most.”

Gabe didn’t look convinced. “No one’s been beating down my door.”

“Why would they if you aren’t even sure you’re open for business? It’s a small town, remember? People are just waiting to see what you decide.”

“You think?”

Dena walked past him into the garage and looked around. “Where’s the office?” She turned and began walking toward it without waiting for an answer. When she opened the door, she saw the room was completely empty.

“How are you doing your paperwork?” she asked when he stopped behind her.

“What paperwork?”

She held up the twenty again. “You have to track everything. There are taxes for one thing. You’ll need to collect and submit them.”

Gabe looked at her dubiously. “I don’t know anything about all that.”

Dena tucked her twenty back into her purse as she walked back to the bays in the garage.

“Maybe we could work out a trade of sorts,” she suggested.

“What do you mean?”

“I know I owe you money for working on my car. I could work a few hours in your office to get your bookkeeping started for your business.”

He stared at her.

“Don’t thank me now. You’ll understand how important it is at tax time.” Dena turned and began walking back to her car. “I’ll be back soon.”

Gabe watched as she pulled away. Another car coming from the other direction slowed and pulled into the lot. Four young kids got out. Gabe walked over to meet them.

The driver nodded as Gabe reached them.

“I hear you know a little about making cars faster,” the kid said.

***

Julia took another armful of clothes down from the hook in the dressing room. She moved around the shop returning them to their racks as more girls entered the store to shop. Julia recognized them from school. She saw Giselle greet them and offer assistance. Julia hung the last garment and met Giselle up at the front counter near the cash register.

“So far, spring break is looking good for business,” Julia said quietly.

“Thanks to you,” Giselle replied. “They’re all coming in to see the new stock we got in.”

“Let’s hope it sells,” Julia said as she watched the girls walk around the store.

She paid particular attention to the items the girls slowed to look at more closely. Eventually, they decided to try some things on. After another thirty minutes, they left with packages in hand.

“Looks like the stock is selling,” Giselle said with a happy smile.

Julia turned to the door when the bells rang again. This time, she knew she wouldn’t be making a sale.

“Officer Riordin,” Giselle said. “You aren’t in uniform yet. What brings you in?”

Ian crossed the store to stand on the other side of the counter.

“My shift starts a little later. I was hoping to talk to Julia, actually.” Ian flashed them both a smile.

“We saw you at the dance the other night,” Julia said.

Ian nodded. “You two looked nice. That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Julia looked surprised.

“Not your date. I was wondering if you’ve been hearing any talk of drag racing,” Ian explained.

Julia started shaking her head no, then stopped.

“Maybe. Not really though,” Julia said hesitantly.

“You don’t sound sure,” Ian said.

“The thing is, I didn’t really hear anything. My girlfriend said that her date was ignoring her. He just wanted to hang out with his friends and talk about cars.” Julia shrugged. “That could mean anything.”

Ian agreed with her.

“Cole said he heard a funny comment. Something about making the car go really fast.” Julia made a face. “That could mean anything too.”

“Seems pretty coincidental that both comments dealt with cars,” Giselle pointed out.

Ian wondered how much of a coincidence it was.

Chapter Twenty-One

Ava wrapped the rest of the sandwich and cleared the debris from her desk.

“Thanks for bringing me something back after your lunch with Ian,” she told Rhys.

“What’s up?” He leaned back in the chair across from Ava’s desk.

She’d been adding some touches to her office to make it homier. He knew that her role as the head of a company still felt new to her in many ways. It looked like she was finally feeling a little more comfortable with it. At least enough to add some photos of the three of them to the credenza behind her. But he felt that something was troubling her.

She frowned a little as she looked across the desk at him.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I’m a trained police officer, remember?” He laced his hands together and rested them on top of his head. “You barely ate your lunch. Tell me what’s bothering you.”

Ava’s eyes dropped to the pencil in front of her. She picked it up and began turning it in her fingers.

“There’s this thing,” she said.

“Thing?”

She gestured vaguely with the pencil. “It’s an entrepreneurial class.”

“Okay.” He stretched the word out to prompt her. She still wouldn’t meet his gaze.

“Ross McMann called me about it.”

That made sense. Ross helped Ava to set her business up initially. It was part of the work he was doing with the business incubator.

“He wants you to take the class?” Rhys rubbed the top of his head with his hands. “I know you’ve been busy with your company. It might be a little tough trying to squeeze in taking a class on top of it. If you think you need to do it though, I’m behind you.”

Ava’s eyes raised to his for a fraction of a second before dropping again. What he saw in them looked like fear. He dropped his hands from his head and sat up straighter.

“What am I missing?” he asked.

“He wants me to present.”

“Present,” Rhys parroted. It took a moment for it to sink in. “He wants you to speak in front of the entrepreneurial class? That is awesome.”

She shot him another look.

He raised both hands. “Okay, I get it. Erica really freaked out when they asked her to be on television for the school bus safety segments. I probably would have too, if they’d asked me.”

She twisted the pencil in her fingers one last time before dropping it on the desk.

“I don’t know what to tell him. I don’t want to let him down. He’s helped me so much.” She sat back and crossed her arms. “He said he’s going to be late getting back into town. He wants me to take the class tonight.”

“Short notice,” he pointed out. “Maybe you could just say you aren’t prepared?”

“I thought about it.”

He studied her for a moment. “What’s really bothering you?”

She met his gaze. “It’s a college class.”

“Yeah, why aren’t they on spring break?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I think they stagger the breaks for the schools so everyone isn’t off at the same time.”

He thought about it. “Yeah makes sense. Florida couldn’t handle everyone in the north going down at the same time.” He still felt he was missing something. “What part really bothers you?”

“It’s a college class,” she repeated. She could tell he still wasn’t getting it. “I’ve never been to college.”

“What does that have to do with it? You’re a successful businesswoman. You have a lot of great information to share. They’d be lucky to have you speak to them about starting your own company.”

She managed a wry smile. “We’re getting married. You’re supposed to say that.”

“We are, aren’t we,” he said with a satisfied smile. “Still, it’s true. I think you should do it. But only if you feel comfortable. I don’t want to pressure you into something you aren’t ready to do.”

She made a face as she considered it. “Erica looked pretty good on television. She didn’t seem nervous. She definitely knew what she was talking about. Are you sure she was freaked out?”

“Totally. She said she didn’t eat anything before she did it because she was afraid she was going to lose it.”

Ava looked down at the takeout bag from the Station Pub & Grill containing the rest of her lunch. She understood the feeling.

***

Jennifer thanked Ava for making the time to come to her office.

“I could have brought the papers over to you if necessary,” Jennifer told her.

“I was pretty excited about getting everything for the sale done. I needed the short break from work anyway. I should get back though,” Ava said as she stood. “Thanks for letting me sign first.”

“Not a problem,” Dan said as Ava left. He turned back to Jennifer and Rhys. “Okay, so where do I sign?”

“I marked everything in blue for you. You’re going to initial on these pages,” Jennifer flipped through them to show Dan. “Then you sign here.” She flipped back a few pages. “And here.”

“Okay. If I can have your pen?” Dan reached over and took the pen from Jennifer.

Rhys waited for Dan to finish then turned to Jennifer for his instructions.

“You’re in green.” Jennifer flipped the pages and showed him where to initial and sign.

Dan passed over the pen.

Rhys did as he was told then pushed the papers back over to Jennifer.

“You are now the proud owner of a house,” Dan said to him.

“I’ll get these filed right away,” Jennifer said as she reached out her hand. “Congratulations.”

Rhys stood and shook her hand. “Thanks. Both of you.”

“You’ll want to talk to your insurance company. Get your policy switched over from renter to owner,” Jennifer reminded him.

He nodded. He had already been in touch to get it started. “Thanks.”

Dan followed him outside. “How does it feel?”

“Pretty awesome actually. Thanks again. I mean it.” Rhys hesitated.

Dan was about to walk away to return to work but changed his mind when he saw the look on Rhys’s face.

“What is it?” Dan asked.

Rhys let out a sign. “If I knew something about your brother, would you want me to tell you?”

Dan raised his hand and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I already know I’m not going to like this.” Dan nodded once as he dropped his hand. “Let’s hear it.”

Rhys told Dan about finding Gabe stumbling down the road late at night.

“Explains the epic hangover he had at our family dinner on Sunday,” Dan said.

Rhys winced. “That had to be bad.”

“I wondered why he jumped up and ran out of the room when we started passing the food to him. I wouldn’t have guessed this.”

Rhys gave a half shrug. “Sorry.”

“Not your fault. Thanks for telling me.” Dan slapped Rhys on the arm. “Congrats again.”

***

“The possible vehicles matching the description of the car seen at Sal’s is a long list,” Jerry said as he joined her in front of the murder board.

“No doubt.” She’d expected as much.

“He gave a pretty detailed description of the car,” Jerry said in Gabe’s defense.

“It would have been more helpful if he could have at least narrowed down the state on the license plate,” Erica said. “But you’re right. It’s something and that’s better than nothing.”

Jerry looked at some of the new notes on the board. “What did you think about most of the bidders having contact with the victim just before he died?”

“I don’t get how they spill their guts to Megan but don’t mention it when they talk to us.” Erica turned away from the board rubbing the back of her neck. “It’s been a long day.”

Jerry followed her as she left the office. “We made some headway today.”

“Not enough, but we’re close. I feel it.”

Erica continued to run things through her head as she drove home. She wasn’t surprised to see her parents’ van in the driveway. They often stopped to help out with the twins. It was something she was finally beginning to get used to. After ignoring her for the first thirty-something years of her life, they were trying to be the parents she always wished they were.

She saw her husband first. He was carrying bottles to the living room.

“Are they still up?” She didn’t think she’d get to see them awake.

“They seem to understand when you’re working a murder case.” He still hadn’t figured that one out.

Erica smiled when she saw everyone in the living room. Her mother was holding Mason. Her father had Maddie. Kaylee was standing behind her father and facing Maddie. She was waving a stuffed toy in front of Maddie to keep her entertained.

“Here we are,” Brad said as he passed out the bottles.

“Hopefully this will help them to fall asleep,” Veronica said as she sat on the couch to position Mason with a bottle. Once she had him settled, she looked up at Erica. “You look tired. Do you want to grab a shower? We can stay a little longer.”

“That sounds great, thanks.” Erica rested her hand on Kaylee’s arm. “How about you? Do you need to go?”

“I can hang out a while longer. Grandma and Matthias are gone this week.”

“That’s right. A family trip to Florida, isn’t it?” Drew asked as he held out Maddie toward Kaylee.

“Yes. I’m joining them at the end of the week,” Kaylee said as she reached for Maddie. She curled her around expertly and started teasing her with the bottle. Maddie laughed.

Erica loved that sound. “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

When she returned to the living room, Mason’s eyes were drooping.

“I’ll take him.” Erica reached down and lifted him. “There we go, little man. I missed you.”

Drew held out his hand to his wife and pulled her up from the couch.

“We’ll let you get them to bed,” Drew said. “We can stop back tomorrow though, if it will help.”

“That would be great. Thank you both.” Erica rocked Mason back and forth. “Drive carefully. It’s spring break. There’s more traffic than usual on the road.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

She pulled one of his jackets on and picked up both mugs. She found him outside in the barn, standing in front of the crib. He leaned in for a kiss when he took the coffee mug from her.

“This is nice,” Dan said as he admired his jacket on her.

“It fits me better than my jacket,” she said.

He took a sip of the coffee. “Maybe I should put a coffee pot in the barn?”

“You might not ever come back in the house,” Megan predicted.

“I don’t know about that. I get pretty hungry out here,” he said.

“Breakfast is ready. I just wanted to get a peek at how the crib is doing.” She held her mug with both hands and took a sip of her decaf tea as she admired his handiwork.

“I’m ready to put the stain on,” he said as he reached out and ran his hand across a railing. “I ordered in something special that I read about online.”

She knew that he had spent a lot of evenings reading up on everything as he planned the project.

“It’s gorgeous. I can’t wait to see it finished.” She turned with him to walk out of the barn.

“The lambs were close to the fence when I came out,” Megan said.

They paused by the paddock to watch them. The miniature donkeys, Flora and Dora, were on the far side of the sheep but came closer when Megan and Dan approached the paddock fence.

“They love attention,” he said as he reached for a muzzle through the fence.

Megan glanced at him as she reached out a hand. “Are you okay?” she asked him.

“Yeah. Just thinking about Gabe. He seems to be getting his fair share of attention these days too, but it’s not necessarily for the right reasons.”

“You’re thinking about what Rhys told you?” She rubbed Flora’s nose through the fence then reached behind one ear and scratched.

Dan gave Dora one last pat. “We should get inside. I need to eat and get to work.”

Megan turned to follow him. “I’ll probably be going into town today.”

“How are you doing with the puzzle? Have you thought of any more pieces to track down?” he asked.

“Honestly, this one has me puzzled, pardon the pun.”

“The pieces aren’t fitting together?” He took the steps onto the back porch and held the door open for her. Once inside, he went to the sink to wash his hands.

She slipped out of his jacket and hung it on one of the chairs before going to the sink.

“What have you learned so far?” He took his seat at the table.

Megan thought back as she dried her hands. “Well, the twins thought they saw you arguing with Sal.”

She opened the oven door and took the casserole dish out.

“That ended up being Gabe,” he said.

“Yeah.” She set the dish on the trivet then removed the lid.

Dan picked up the serving spoon. “Didn’t Giselle tell you something odd about Sal.”

“That was the comment he made.” Megan put the casserole lid on the stovetop then took her own seat at the table. “Sal said something about people not being like they used to be.”

“I imagine that’s true enough.” Dan finished filling his plate and handed the serving spoon over to Megan.

“He also said that some are too pushy.” Megan added some scrambled eggs to her plate.

“Also true enough,” he agreed. “He mentioned to me that he wanted to retire from the nursery.”

“Makes sense. That’s why he put it up for sale.”

“Yeah.” Dan tried to recall the conversation while he chewed. “He was pretty adamant about it remaining a nursery.”

“Probably one reason why he chose Jax and Seth as the winning bidders,” she guessed. “That’s what they said they focused on in their offer letter. They had a big proposal all worked out with projections and everything.”

“A business plan. Makes sense.”

“I guess they had it all mapped out for the next five years.” She looked at the loaf of bread on the counter. There were only a few pieces left. She’d have to make more. “Do you want a piece of bread?”

“Please. Sounds like they should have been the winning bid,” he said. “They earned it.”

“I thought so too.” She put a slice of bread on each of their plates and then took some jelly from the fridge. “Tyler said that Sal wished he hadn’t bothered with all the hullaballoo though.”

“What do you think that meant?”

She pushed the jar of strawberry rhubarb jam across the table at him.

“I’m guessing he wasn’t happy that most of the bidders managed to hunt him down and talk to him in person,” she said.

“I can understand that.” Dan spread a generous amount of jam on his bread. “What about the note?”

She was wondering the same thing. “At first I assumed it was from Mr. Kaczmarek.”

“He said he didn’t give him a note. Did you believe him?”

“Yeah, I did. You?” she asked.

“I thought he was telling the truth.”

“Then who did write the note?” she said more to herself.

Dan watched her think it all over as he finished his breakfast. He stood from the table and brought his plate and silverware to the dishwasher.

“You need to eat,” he reminded her before heading to the bedroom to finish getting ready for work.

Megan ate automatically. She finished without knowing how it had happened. She heard her phone buzz when she stood to clear the table. She was reading the text when Dan returned.

“Looks like I need to see Giselle today too.”

***

Ian walked down Main Street toward Togs. He nodded to several people as he passed them on the sidewalk. Although he hadn’t been born in Teaberry, he was happy to call it home now. He knew Rhys felt the same way. He could tell how excited his partner was when he told Ian about his new home purchase. Ian had been almost as excited when he’d bought his own place.

The difference was, Rhys wanted the home for his family. Not only will he have a new wife, he’ll have a daughter. That was something Ian had been thinking about ever since Rhys has told him about buying Dan Palmer’s house.

He stopped in front of Togs and took a breath before opening the door to walk inside. He saw Giselle waiting on a customer at the cash register. He waited while the transaction was completed and nodded to the woman as she left the store with her package.

“Ian. What brings you in today?” Giselle came around to the front of the counter.

“I was wondering if you were free for dinner on my next night off,” he said quickly. It wasn’t the smoothest invitation, but he’d managed to get it out.

Giselle hid her surprise quickly. “Ah, sure. That would be nice.”

“Yeah?” he asked.

She smiled. “Yeah.”

“Great.” He looked around the shop. “I should let you get back to work.” He pointed to the door. “I have to…”

“Yeah, okay.” Giselle waved to him before he walked out the door. She was still staring at it when Megan entered a few moments later.

“Hey, what’s up?” Megan asked.

Giselle glanced at the door again before focusing on Megan.

“It probably doesn’t mean anything,” Giselle said. “I’ve been going through Sal’s personal things. You know that I cleaned his place out after Jax and Seth bought the nursery?”

Megan nodded.

“I found a map with some notes on it. I wasn’t sure what any of them meant or how old the notes might be.” Giselle shrugged. “Like I said, it’s probably nothing. Then again, I remember what you told me about solving your puzzles. I thought this might be a piece. If I don’t tell you about it and it turns out to be a puzzle piece that could have helped, that’s bad.”

“Better to look into it and find out that it’s not,” Megan agreed.

“Let me get it for you. It’s in my office in the back.”

Giselle returned a moment later and handed the map to Megan.

Megan glanced down at the folded map. “Are you okay?”

Giselle blew out a breath. “Yeah. I thought it would be hard to go through his things, but that’s not the way it worked out. I found some old photos of my grandmother that I didn’t even know about. Some of the photos have Sal in them too. They looked really happy together.”

***

Erica ended the call and turned around to look at Jerry.

“How are your parents doing?” he asked.

“They’re still pretty upset.”

“Understandable. They left your house last night and were run off the road by a group of drag racing cars all driving straight at them. That would be enough to upset anyone,” Jerry said.

“I still can’t believe it happened. I guess their van is pretty messed up.”

“Driving it into a ditch to avoid a head-on collision can do that,” Jerry said.

“They could have been killed,” Erica said. When she saw Rhys and Ian enter the main office, she turned to face them. “Where are you two with the drag racing case?”

“We heard about your parents from Martha on the way in,” Rhys said. “Are they okay?”

“Barely.” Erica crossed her arms. “The next person may not be so lucky. This has to be stopped.”

“We’ve had other reports of the races, but no one has been able to give us any details. We have no clue which cars are involved.” Ian removed his hat and tossed it onto his desk.

“Someone has to know something about the cars,” Erica said. “We need to find that someone.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

He frowned at the money in his hand. It wasn’t that he didn’t need it. He just wasn’t sure he was happy about how he’d earned it. Gabe watched as the car full of male teens left a spray of stones and dust as they sped out of his parking lot. It was something he would have done when he was that age.

As he stuffed the bills into his pocket, his fingers hit the card he’d found in his shirt pocket the morning after his ride home. He pulled it out now and stared at it. Shaking his head, he took a step toward his garage then stopped again.

After keying the number from the card into his phone, he told himself he was an idiot. The money he was getting from the teens was the bulk of what he had been bringing in with his work at the garage. Making the call now could only result in an end to that cashflow. He knew that. For whatever reason, he made the call anyway. Once he finished leaving the message, he returned to the garage. He called himself a fool every step of the way.

***

Megan climbed down from her truck and approached Dena’s house. She wasn’t sure how the other woman was going to react to seeing her again, but she had too many questions to stay away. She was surprised to see Dena actually smile when she answered her door.

“Do you want to come through?” Dena asked. “The kids are playing out back.”

“Sure.” Megan followed her to the deck on the back of the house.

“With the money that I get from their father, I’m still holding on to this house. I don’t know how long that’s going to last though.” Dena motioned to a grouping of chairs.

Megan took a seat. Dena’s young sons were playing kickball. It looked like they made up their own rules as they went along.

“I imagine you’re here about Sal again?” Dena said. She glanced at Megan briefly, then returned her focus to her sons. “You found out, didn’t you?”

“That you spoke with Sal? Yes. Why didn’t you say that to begin with?” Megan was pretty sure she already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear what Dena had to say.

Dena barely shook her head. “I don’t know. I was scared. I am scared. My boys are all that I have. I didn’t want to take the chance that I got messed up in anything that could threaten that.”

“The police have already spoken to you about it, haven’t they?” Megan figured Erica and Jerry wouldn’t sit on the information she’d passed to them.

“Yes. And you know the worst part? They weren’t scary about it. I should have just told them in the beginning. I made a bad situation worse.”

“What can you tell me about it?” Megan asked. “When you talked to Sal, what was he like?”

Dena laughed. “He was Sal. He told me that I had a lot of skills but growing plants wasn’t one of them.”

Megan looked around the yard. There was a large shade tree in one corner of the back yard. There weren’t any flowers or shrubs.

“I told him it didn’t matter. I’d have to learn. I never could keep a plant alive, no matter what I tried.” Dena turned toward Megan again. “I just thought the setup was good, you know? With the house right there, I could have my boys near me. I begged him to choose my bid over the others even if it wasn’t the most competitive.”

“I understand.” Megan smiled as one of the boys called out a rule change to the game. The other one added his own twist to it. The boys agreed and began playing again.

“He did say something odd when I talked to him,” Dena said, almost to herself.

Megan turned to her. “What was that?”

Dean made a face. “Something about people wanting the land for their own reasons. At the time, I thought he meant me.”

“You don’t now?”

“I wonder. It was the way he said it, you know? He seemed upset about something and I didn’t get the impression it was with me. Sal could be cranky, but he wasn’t ever mean. Not to me, anyway.”

Megan agreed. She began pushing herself up from the chair. “I should let you go.”

Dena stood also. “Need help getting up? I remember what it’s like.”

Megan laughed. “I think I’m good, but thanks.”

“Do you have your nursery set up yet?” Dena asked as she walked Megan back through the house.

“We’re going to put a small addition on so that the nursery is next to us on the first floor. We wanted it to be closer to us,” Megan explained. “With any luck, we’ll need the nursery for more than one baby.”

Dena stopped at the front door. “That reminds me. It’s what made me believe Sal was talking about someone else.”

“What’s that?”

“He was determined his place would remain a nursery. That’s why I didn’t think he was upset with me. He knew I was planning to do that if I had the winning bid.”

***

Rhys pulled into Gabe’s garage lot and parked near the building. They could hear the music coming from the radio inside the building. The garage doors were open. There was one car inside. They didn’t see Gabe’s feet sticking out from under the car until they walked inside and removed their sunglasses. Ian walked over to the radio and turned it off.

Gabe rolled the creeper out. “Hey. You got my message.” He stood and looked at the two police officers in front of him.

“You didn’t give us much information. What’s this about?” Ian asked.

Gabe had been arguing with himself ever since he left the message. Unfortunately, he lost the argument.

“There’s been something going on ever since I moved in here.” Gabe explained that he’d been working on several cars.

“By working on them, you mean you’ve been getting them ready for racing?” Rhys asked. He didn’t look happy.

Gabe raised both hands, palms out. “Listen, I didn’t realize that’s what they were doing. Not at first. I’m not even positive now. It just makes sense, that’s all. You get a bunch of kids and some fast cars together…”

“They nearly killed someone the other night during one of their races,” Ian pointed out.

“I didn’t know that. I don’t know that the kids I’ve been helping were the ones involved.” Gabe looked from Ian to Rhys. “I called you now, didn’t I?”

“You should have called us sooner,” Rhys said.

“Why didn’t you?” Ian asked.

Gabe began pacing and waved around the garage. “I needed the money, for one thing. Besides, I enjoy it. It’s what I’ve always enjoyed.”

“Have you thought about the off-road trail they’re planning on?” Ian asked.

Gabe stopped pacing. “What’s that?”

“The town is working on a deal to put in some off-road trail. They haven’t gone public with it yet because they’re still hashing out all the details,” Ian explained.

“It’ll be a supervised place where people can enjoy themselves a little more safely,” Rhys added.

“I’m looking forward to it, I know that.” Ian said. “It sounds like it’s right up your alley. There will be a need for someone to work on the off-road vehicles.”

“Seriously?” Gabe couldn’t believe it. “Where do I sign up?”

“First things first. You need to give us some names of your customers,” Ian said.

“We need to make sure they don’t hurt themselves or anyone else,” Rhys agreed.

***

Megan sat in her truck and pulled out the map that Giselle found in Sal’s belongings. It was a puzzle on its own. She recognized the geographic area on the map. It was outside of town in the same location where the campground was. There were farms in the area as well. Of course, Sal’s nursery was also shown on the map. Not surprising, since the map was found with his things.

What she didn’t understand was the writing on the map. It only seemed to be on the land next to the campground. There were also land hooks which didn’t make sense. She knew that the Z-shaped symbols were used on maps to show different parcels of land owned by the same person. There was no way that could be the case here. The land hook was showing Sal’s property being owned by the same person who owned the land with all of the writing on it.

Some of the lines on the property next to the campground appeared to be roads, or something. She couldn’t remember hearing anything about a new housing development going in there. Anything at a scale such as this would definitely cause a lot of discussion in Teaberry.

Megan wondered what it all might mean. The one person who would know was Mayor Reynolds. Megan knew that she was out of town. But there was someone else who may know something about it. She started the truck and headed for the mayor’s office.

Chapter Twenty-Four

She hung the phone up and breathed a sigh of relief. She was looking forward to when the mayor would return to field all of the questions involving the project. Although she was fairly familiar with the project in general, Jessilyn didn’t know the minute details of every little thing involved with it. Her primary function related to the new off-road trail project was to help promote it once it was in place and tie future events into it whenever possible.

The tapping on her door startled her. For a moment, she worried that one of the many entities wanting a detailed answer had decided to try getting it in person. Seeing Megan was a relief.

“Oh, hey. What brings you in?” Jessilyn tried smiling and realized her face hurt. She must have been clenching her teeth.

“You look like you need a break,” Megan said from the doorway. “Do you want me to come back another time?”

The smile this time was more genuine. “No, come in.” Jessilyn waved to the seat across from her desk. “It will be a nice break from what I have been doing.”

“Standing in for the mayor while she’s out of town?” Megan guessed.

“I keep a list of jobs I never want to have. Mayor is at the top of it,” Jessilyn confessed.

“I agree completely.” Megan took the seat. “Hopefully, my question isn’t that difficult.”

“As long as it doesn’t involve drainage culverts, trail grades, ecological impacts, underlying soil conditions, topography, or any of the other million and one details that boggle my mind,” Jessilyn said wryly.

“Excuse me?” Megan reached for the map Giselle had given her. Suddenly, it was beginning to make sense.

“Nothing. It’s just that the new off-road trail project is a little out of my league. What can I help you with?” Jessilyn watched as Megan unfolded the map.

“Now that you say that, I’m afraid it might have to do with an off-road trail. I didn’t know Teaberry was planning one.” Megan stood and placed the map on Jessilyn’s desk. “Can you tell me if this is where it’s being planned?”

“That’s an easy question.” Jessilyn pointed at the property next to the campground. “It’s going here. The thought was that having the campground adjacent to it would be more appealing.”

“I can understand that. I’m sure a lot of people from other areas would take advantage of the campground.” Megan pointed to the land hook symbol tying in Sal’s property. “Any clue why this is here?”

Jessilyn shook her head. “No. To my knowledge, that was never discussed. Not by the mayor, at any rate. Do you think that’s something Sal was considering before he sold the nursery?”

Megan doubted it. Certainly not if he told Dena that it needed to remain a nursery.

“You’re sure that Sal’s property wasn’t being considered for the project?” Megan asked.

Jessilyn gave a half shrug. “I’m positive that it wasn’t discussed here at the mayor’s office.”

After speaking with Jessilyn, Megan sat in her truck again trying to fit the puzzle pieces together. She knew that she had the edge of the puzzle fairly well together. She understood that Sal had no intention of selling his land to anyone who had plans that didn’t involve a nursery for the property.

Some of the puzzle’s center was also in place. It was obvious that someone else did have plans for Sal’s property. It’s possible that the plans were motive for Sal’s death. But she still had some major gaps in the puzzle. She needed to speak with someone who knew Sal better than most. Maybe it was time to go back to the beginning?

She remembered that Sal was friends with Ham and Joni Givens. She wondered if they might know anything. Their house was close by and it was worth a quick stop. She knew that Bella would be with them since it was spring break. A few minutes later, she parked her truck in front of their house. Bella answered the front door. Megan followed her into the living room.

It looked like total chaos. Joni and Ham Givens were sitting in their usual seats. There were boxes all over the room. A few were already closed up with tape. They also had writing on the side. Megan could make out donate on a couple of the boxes. One said kitchen. Another said dining room.

“As you can see, we’re trying to weed through a lifetime of accumulation,” Joni Givens said.

“Are you thinking of moving?” Megan remained standing near Bella. There were no other seats available. The rest were filled with boxes.

“We think it’s time,” Joni said. “My brother and his wife live down in Florida.”

“The way they tell it, there’s a lot to do down there,” Ham said. “They’re pretty active.”

“You know that Ava and Rhys bought your husband’s place,” Joni said with a wave toward Bella. “They’ll be moving into that right after the wedding, of course.”

“We’re going to go down to Florida and kick up our heels,” Ham said with a smile.

Megan smiled back. “I won’t take up much of your time.”

“You’re here about Sal, aren’t you?” Ham asked. “Another one of those puzzles of yours.”

“I was wondering if you could tell me anything about Sal? Did you speak with him recently?” Megan asked.

Joni turned to Ham. “When was that?”

Ham rubbed his hand against his chin as he thought.

“It was when you went to the diner for lunch, wasn’t it?” Bella asked.

Ham pointed at Joni. “That’s right, it was. We ran into Sal there, remember. We were talking about the train show.”

“We didn’t go to this one,” Joni said to Megan. “We used to go to all of them.”

“We were members of the club,” Ham added. “That was a lot of fun, wasn’t it?” He asked Joni.

“Oh my, yes. We went all over for that,” Joni agreed. “It was always so nice to see the designs they came up with at other places.”

“Sal was a member too?” Megan guessed.

“He was,” Ham said. “There were several of us from Teaberry in the club.”

“Still are,” Joni said to him before turning to Megan. “We couldn’t keep up with it as much lately.”

“Ward is still pretty active with it,” Ham said. “He and Sal spent a lot of time together talking about it.”

“You might want to check with him,” Joni agreed.

“What was your question?” Ham asked Megan. “We got sidetracked again,” he told Joni.

“You spoke with Sal at the Jammin’T,” Bella reminded them.

“That’s right. We did.” Ham looked at Joni. “He talked about taking some trips, right?”

“He did,” Joni agreed. “He said he was going to take it easy after he sold the nursery. Maybe go see a few places he always wanted to see but hadn’t gotten to yet.”

“He mentioned Ward when we spoke with him,” Ham remembered. “Sal said he was going to give him the model of Main Street that he had.”

“That’s something, that model. You should see that,” she said to Megan and Bella. “You just wouldn’t believe it until you see it.”

Megan climbed back into her truck a few minutes later. She was so close to Ward’s house that it seemed easier to just drive there to see if he was home. Within minutes, she was standing on his front porch ringing his doorbell.

“Megan, what brings you by?” Ward stepped back to let her enter.

Megan followed him into his living room.

“I’ve been speaking with several people about Sal,” Megan explained.

Ward took a seat on his couch. “I still can’t believe he’s gone.”

“I understand that the two of you were friends,” Megan said before murmuring her condolences.

“We had some interests in common,” Ward said. “You’re here working on a puzzle, aren’t you? How much have you figured out so far?”

“I’m wondering about the nursery,” Megan said slowly. She pulled the map out that Giselle found and opened it as she stood from the couch.

Ward reached for his reading glasses in his front pocket.

“What have we here?” he asked. “Oh, it’s another map.”

“Another?” Megan asked.

Ward looked above his glasses at her. “Yes. I found one earlier. It was in an odd place. What have we on this one?”

Ward studied the map. He ran his finger along Sal’s property line.

“The map I found only has Sal’s property on it,” he said.

“Where did you find it?” she asked.

Ward grinned. “You should come and see it. Sal left it to me.”

Ward pushed himself up from his seat. Megan followed behind him with her map. He led her to the back of his house.

“I didn’t know you had an addition on the back of your house,” Megan said as she followed him into a large space.

“I had it put on when the kids were still here. We used it as a family room at the time,” he explained.

It no longer had furniture in the room. Instead, it had a lot of counter space and large plastic storage containers with lids. Megan saw the model of Main Street as soon as she entered the room. It was on the counters that ran around all of the walls.

“This is amazing,” she said as she approached one section to get a better look.

“The other side of the street is over there.” Ward pointed to the counter running on the opposite wall. “I couldn’t fit the entire side of the street on one wall. If you can picture it, the street continued, and that section over there would be attached to the end here. The rest of the other side is across the room.”

“This is way more than what I had pictured,” Megan said in awe. “The craftsmanship is unbelievable.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Ward agreed. “I feel a lot of responsibility now that I’m the current curator, so to speak.”

“I can understand that.” Megan remembered the map in her hand. “You said that you found a map?”

Ward picked up something and began unfolding it. “This one isn’t as large as yours. It was tucked into one of the buildings. I didn’t notice it until earlier today.”

Ward spread it out on a small folding table in the middle of the room. It was obvious that he had been using the table to do some work. There were several containers of glue, precision razor knives, and other tools.

“Some of the buildings in the model need a little work. I’ve been touching them up, trying to make sure that they last another generation.”

Megan looked at the map Ward unfolded. She saw the immediate resemblance to the one she held.

“There’s writing on your map,” she said.

“Yes. It looks like streets or something all over the property. I didn’t understand it. I can’t imagine Sal wanting that.”

Megan couldn’t either. She leaned forward to get a better look.

“There are words over on this side. The handwriting looks familiar.” She pulled her phone out and searched for the image that Jax sent her.

“That handwriting looks the same to me,” Ward said.

“It does to me too. The note is unsigned though. Are there any clues on your map to tell us who wrote it?” Megan asked. She leaned forward again, trying to make out more of the writing.

“Let’s try using this.” Ward reached for the magnifying lamp and turned the light on. “I needed this to do some of the fine work on the model.”

Megan pointed to some writing in the corner. “Is that a name?”

“Indeed it is.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

She gauged the distance between the trees and pointed down.

“Right here.” Megan watched as Dan approached with shovel in hand.

“How were the twins when you stopped to see Erica?” He sunk the shovel into the ground.

“They’re definitely teething,” she said.

He looked up. “Really? That has to be great.”

Megan hoped he felt the same way when his children were teething.

He saw her hesitate. “That means they’ll be eating real food soon, right?”

“Yeah, but teething can be a difficult time,” she warned him.

“Why?” He sunk the shovel in again.

“They’re fussy, for one thing. It can be a little painful for them.” She walked over to examine the new peach tree.

“They’re in pain?” He added more dirt to the pile he was creating.

“Of course.” She walked over to the new pear tree. “It’s usually a bit stressful for a while but then it’s over with. All parents go through it.”

Dan lifted one more shovelful. “What do you think?”

She checked the size of the hole and compared the root ball.

“A little bigger, I think.”

He sunk the shovel again. “What did you learn about Sal’s death?”

“It was pretty much what I thought. Kurt Dodd wanted to buy the property from Sal and make an off-road trail park there.” She leaned against the four wheeler.

“I thought the town was planning to do that on the land next to it?” He stopped to look at her again.

She checked the size of the hole and nodded.

“That’s the thing. Kurt was hoping that if he got the land and put his in first, he’d get all the money from the idea.”

Dan carried the new peach tree over to the new hole and set it down next to it.

“I would think the town would prefer to have him foot the bills for everything,” he said.

“I guess he did approach the mayor,” Megan said. “She turned him down after a background check on him. That was when the town decided to move forward on their own. The property that they’re using was actually donated to the town from one of the residents once the mayor approached them about it. The plan is to have some outside company actually run it for the town.”

Dan removed the plastic planter from the tree and loosened the roots.

“Do you want me to carry the water bucket over?” She took a step toward it.

“Don’t even think about it.” He took two long strides and lifted it.

She returned to leaning against the four wheeler.

He poured some of the water into the hole then lowered the tree in.

“Did he confess to how he killed Sal?” He began backfilling the dirt from the pile.

“He claims it was an accident. He said he stopped out at the nursery to talk to Sal about it. He found Sal outside looking over the trees. The two of them argued. Sal said no and tried to get away. Kurt grabbed him and Sal his lost footing. He hit his head when he fell but he got up and ran into the house. Kurt got scared and left.”

Dan put some of the sod he’d removed around the new tree. He stood and used his weight to tamp it down.

“Is that when he put the map Ward found in the model of Main Street?” Dan asked.

“There was a tiny smudge of blood on the map, so that’s the theory, yes.” Megan walked over to the next row of fruit trees to pick out the spot for the pear tree.

Dan walked over with his shovel. At her nod, he sunk it into the spot she had indicated.

“I guess Kurt tried to get into Sal’s good graces at first,” Megan said. “He kept stopping by at the nursery.”

“I imagine that got on Sal’s nerves,” Dan guessed.

“It explains why he kept complaining to everyone about going out for bids,” she agreed.

“I’m glad it’s over with now and they caught the guy.” Dan lifted a shovel of dirt onto the new pile.

“Erica told me that they’ve also stopped the drag racing problem. For now, anyway.” Megan lifted the bucket of water. It was only half full so it didn’t weigh as much. She carried it over to Dan. He narrowed his eyes at her as she set the bucket down.

“I’m sure there will be all new problems next spring with it,” he said.

“No doubt,” she agreed. “Hopefully, Gabe won’t be the one helping them though.”

Dan stopped digging for a moment. “He sounds pretty excited about the off-road trail. I guess he’s hoping to get involved with that.”

“That sounds like a good fit.” Megan checked the size of the hole. She shook her head.

Dan began digging again.

“He also said that Dena is helping him get started with his business.” Dan went over to the pear tree and carried it back to the hole.

“That is probably the best thing that could ever happen to him.”

“I know that. I just hope he knows that and listens to her.” He cut the plastic planter pot and removed it.

“Running a business takes a lot of knowledge and hard work,” Megan agreed.

***

Seth scratched his head.

“I have no idea.” He looked over at Jax and pointed at the cash register.

Jax shook his head as he walked over to join him.

“That whole system hates me, I swear it,” Jax said.

Seth wanted to make fun of him for saying it, but he felt the same way.

“We need to get this working. If last week was any indication, we’re going to be swamped next week. You and I are going to be out making deliveries. I have, like, ten orders already lined up.” Seth looked back at the cash register.

Trina came into the office and looked at the two of them.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Seth pointed at the cash register. “That computer system doesn’t know how to deal with deliveries.”

“Okay. I’ll handle it,” she said.

Jax and Seth shared a look.

Trina walked past them to the office in the back. She sat down at the computer and began typing. Jax came into the office and watched her.

“Think you can figure it out?” he asked.

She grinned. “Are you kidding? We learned this in my classes at college.”

Megan’s Recipe

Simple Stuffed Peppers

1 pound of ground beef

1 egg

1/2 cup of bread crumbs

1/4 cup of water

3-4 large green peppers, cut in half and cleaned

2 (8 ounce) cans of tomato sauce

No-salt seasoning or garlic powder or parmesan cheese or other seasonings to taste

Mix egg, water, and bread crumbs to form a moist paste. Add the meat. Stuff into fresh or frozen peppers. Waiting until frozen peppers have thawed isn’t necessary. Place in greased casserole dish. Cover with tomato sauce. Sprinkle with seasoning and/or parmesan to taste. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. For thicker sauce, remove foil about fifteen minutes before done.

Books by R. A. Wallace

If you enjoy a book, please consider leaving a review.

R. A. Wallace is the author of two cozy mystery series:

Indigo Investigations Cozy Mystery Series

Callie Indigo is struggling to make ends meet with her private detective agency, Indigo Investigations, while juggling the complexities of an extended family and life in general. When she isn’t working a legitimate case, she’s often talked into helping out friends and family. Just when she’s wondering if she’ll ever turn a profit, her life becomes even more complicated with the appearance of Greyson Divine who has the uncanny ability to appear just as Callie is solving a case. Callie has to admit, however, that sometimes Greyson Divine may actually be helpful. This cozy mystery offers a clean read with a female sleuth, friends, and family.

Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy Mystery Series

Megan is the main character in the series but interacts with a wide range of other characters in the fictional town of Teaberry. A difficult first marriage ended in the accidental death of her husband. She supports herself with her bed and breakfast, produce from her farm, and her tech skills as a web developer. Over time, she discovers that the love of her life was in front of her all along. Main characters in the series are multigenerational.