Elementary in Teaberry Page 2

  He finished it for her. “By marrying me.”

  They remained where they were in silence for a moment. His hand never stopped rubbing.

  “They were right, I think. To convince you to divorce me. It was probably the best thing for you under the circumstances.”

  She felt a sigh escape. “They’re really going to go bonkers now.”

  “No doubt,” he agreed.

  She thought about their plans. “Do you care?”

  “They’re your family,” he pointed out.

  “In name only,” she muttered. Then she had a thought. She tried to tilt her head up to look at him. “What about your family? What are they going to say when they find out?”

  “They’ll probably think we’ve both lost our minds.”

  “Maybe it is wrong.” She settled back into him. His hand continued rubbing as she thought about their plan. Her eyes fluttered closed again. “I don’t care.”

  He huffed out a short laugh. “You were the one to take care of me all those years. Every time I had some new half-baked idea, I’d call you up and ask you to send more money. Maybe it’s time for you to be the irresponsible one now?”

  When he didn’t get a response, he looked down at her. LeAnn was asleep.

  ***

  Erica spun a brightly covered ball in her hands as she sat on the floor of her living room. Her children were surrounded by other toys. Mason glanced over at her. Erica held the ball up in the air. He was tempted, but not for long. His attention went back to his twin sister.

  Maddie held a soft-body doll tightly. “Mine.”

  It was a challenge to Mason. He tried to wrest the doll from his sister’s grasp.

  Brad swooped in and lifted Mason into the air. “There he is. Want to play catch with Daddy?”

  The doll was forgotten as Brad sat down on the floor a few feet from Erica. He kept Mason between his long legs and held out one hand.

  “What do you want to do today?” Erica tossed the plush ball.

  Brad deftly caught it in one hand. He waved it in front of Mason’s face. “Not sure it will be warm enough to have dinner outside yet.”

  Erica watched as Brad tempted their son with the ball.

  After a few moments, Brad realized Erica hadn’t continued the conversation. “You okay?”

  “What do you think?” She leaned back against the couch behind her. “Are you going to want more?”

  His eyes shot to hers as he made the connection. “Kids?”

  “Yeah.” She watched Maddie toddle toward them with the doll in her hands.

  As she neared her brother, she stopped and held the doll toward him. Mason nearly fell over his father’s leg trying to get it. Maddie pulled it back against her body and laughed.

  Erica held her hands out. “Come here, you.”

  Maddie shook her head and took several steps back.

  “I’m thinking we might have our hands full at the moment,” Brad said. “You?”

  Erica pretended to move toward Maddie. Maddie laughed and stepped farther away.

  “Yeah. Pretty much.” Erica leaned back against the couch again. “I have some time off coming up.”

  Brad tossed the ball up into the air to get Mason’s attention. “Yeah, that’s right. What do you want to do?”

  She made a face as she shook her head. “I have absolutely no idea.”

  He laughed. “We could have a staycation.”

  “A what?”

  “Staycation. That’s when you stay home instead of going somewhere.”

  She made another face. “That isn’t a thing. Is it?”

  He nodded as Mason finally managed to climb over his leg. Brad watched his son make a beeline for Maddie.

  “I can’t believe that.” She caught the ball that Brad tossed back to her. “I mean, what are the options if we didn’t stay here?”

  “We could try to find someplace that has accommodations for two little kids,” he suggested.

  She looked around the room as she considered it. Their living room resembled a toy store. “Pack all of their stuff and bring it with us?”

  He grunted an agreement.

  “Staycation is starting to sound better,” she said as Mason reached his sister.

  Brad began moving toward them on his hands and knees as the argument erupted. “Uh huh.”

  Erica began crawling behind Brad. “We’ll go somewhere when they’re a little older.”

  Chapter Three

  The man standing in her doorway was angry. That much she knew. What Jessilyn didn’t understand was why he was taking it out on her. As the town events coordinator, she didn’t typically deal directly with construction projects.

  “Mr. Moody, I cannot help you if you don’t explain the issue.” Jessilyn fixed a smile on her face.

  The fifty-something pointed a finger in the air. “It has to stop, I’m telling you. I told the mayor she needed to do something about it.”

  Jessilyn squeezed the pencil between her fingers. “And I’m sure that she has. If there is anything that needs to be done.”

  Kirk Moody slapped his hand against her doorway. “Oh, something needs to be done alright. That thief keeps underbidding me for jobs.”

  It was finally beginning to make sense. “You put in a bid for one of the jobs the town administration is overseeing?”

  Kirk’s bushy eyebrows elevated on his forehead. “I’ve put in bids for every job they’ve worked on over the years. I’ve never won the bid once. That thief keeps underbidding me.” His weathered face darkened in color as a thought occurred to him. He took a step inside her doorway. “Does your office send bids to other contractors so they know how low they need to go?”

  Jessilyn felt her own brows go up. Before she could frame a reply, the mayor’s voice could be heard behind the irate man.

  “Kirk Moody, are you harassing my employee?” Barbara Reynolds stood in the hallway with her purse in her hands. She was wearing one of her trademark skirt suits. At the moment, steely blue eyes were locked onto the electrical contractor.

  Kirk shuffled his feet as he shifted his weight to turn toward her. His gaze dropped as he faced her. “I stopped at your office first. You weren’t in.”

  “I was in a meeting,” Barbara said evenly. “Not that it would have mattered. You and I have already discussed this. My office does not play favorites with contractors nor do we behave unethically when we go out for bids on projects.”

  Kirk finally looked up at her. “He did it again. I just lost another bid.”

  Barbara’s back remained straight but her voice softened a degree. “That is not something the town events coordinator can be blamed for.”

  Kirk half turned back toward Jessilyn. After mumbling an apology, he turned to leave.

  “If you have evidence that another business is conducting business illegally, you need to contact a lawyer,” Barbara said to his retreating back.

  He waved to acknowledge that he heard her as he left the building.

  Barbara offered Jessilyn an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry.”

  “Not your fault.” Jessilyn sat back in her chair. “He thinks we’re giving out his quotes to other contractors so they can underbid him on his jobs?”

  “He’s always been a bit of a handful to deal with.” Barbara shook her head as she glanced in the direction Kirk had left. Then she turned back to Jessilyn. “If he troubles you again when you’re here in your office alone, call security.”

  Jessilyn felt her brows go up as she nodded her agreement.

  ***

  Megan went down the back steps of her house feeling only slightly guilty that she was leaving Aaron behind with her mother. As she crossed over to her SUV, she looked around her farm. Henry was near the paddock. She watched as he went airborne long enough to reach the top of the fence. He remained there for only a moment before joining Flora and Dora on the other side. The two miniature donkeys looked as though they were waiting for him. The three began moving away from the fe
nce slowly, Henry searching for bugs while the donkeys grazed the newly grown grass.

  Everything was greening up. The grass offered ample reminder that mowing season would officially begin soon. The fruit trees were in bloom. Though the leaves had yet to form on the trees, the buds were full of promise. Perhaps the most telltale sign of spring, and the one she waited for at the end of each long winter, was the call of red-winged blackbirds. She could hear them as she paused to enjoy the moment.

  She was on her way to town a few moments later. The short trip gave her time to reminisce. When she was younger, most days offered opportunities to see one or more of Lauren, Caitlyn, and Erica. If they weren’t spending time together during school in their classes, they would see each other after school and on weekends.

  These days the four of them were all married. All but Caitlyn had begun their own families. Though they all had taken different directions with their choices of careers, they doggedly continued to make time for each other. Not just to continue their own friendship. They hoped that over time their children would come to think of themselves as extended family.

  Megan found a parking space about a block down from the Jammin’T. The four of them had scheduled a get together a little before the busy lunchtime crowd. Megan knew she was a bit early. Perhaps it was spring fever. Though the other three ladies weren’t yet there, she was surprised to find Casey and Cy already sitting at the counter.

  “You’re early.” She slid into the counter seat next to Cy.

  “I’m retired.” Cy was grinning when he lifted his coffee cup to salute Holly on the other side of the window where she was busy cooking up the orders. “Holly and Tyler have taken over the farm.”

  Megan leaned forward to look around Cy.

  Casey was frowning at him. “I think that means you need to get some animals out at your wife’s farm.”

  “I can visit Holly and Tyler if I want to see animals,” Cy pointed out.

  Casey ignored him. “A dog, maybe. Though the twins might like a cat. Or even two cats. One each.” He rubbed his chin. “They’d have to look alike, of course.”

  Megan smiled as Tyler stopped next to her and shook her head at his offer of tea. “I’ll wait until the others get here.”

  “Girls day out?” Tyler nodded before crossing behind the counter to get another pot of coffee. “Good day for it.”

  “I think everyone has spring fever with this run of warm weather,” Casey said. “I’ll bet the kids in school are going crazy.”

  Megan didn’t doubt it. She twisted around in her seat to check if any of the others had arrived.

  Casey twisted around also. “Ethan says he’s planting sweet corn for your produce stand this year.”

  “I’m pretty excited about it.” Megan watched as Stan Jiblonski entered the diner and headed their way. She immediately slid down a seat so the real estate agent could sit next to Cy. “Hey, Stan. I’m waiting for some friends for lunch.”

  Stan nodded a greeting to Cy and Casey as he took the seat. “Hey, Megan. I uploaded some new pictures of listings for you for my web site.”

  “I saw that and already worked on them for you. They’re all live with the text you wanted for them.” Megan watched Stan look over her shoulder.

  “Hey, Kirk.” Stan waved him over. “I’ve been leaving messages for you. I have a house that needs some electrical work. I need quotes. The buyer can’t get the funding until the situation is straightened out.”

  Megan watched the lines in Kirk Moody’s face deepen into a scowl as bushy brows pulled together.

  “Who else are you talking to?” Kirk’s voice sounded like gravel.

  Stan gave an apologetic smile. “You know I need multiple quotes. It’s up to the client to decide which electrician they want to go with.”

  It didn’t appease the electrician. If anything, the scowl on Kirk’s face deepened. “If you called Eastman, don’t bother calling me too. I can already guarantee he’s going to undercut me.”

  Stan spread his hands out hoping to appease Kirk. “You don’t know that for sure. You haven’t seen the job yet.”

  Suspicion crept into Kirk’s eyes. “You don’t share the quotes, do you? It’s the only way I can figure the guy knows what to bid.”

  “Of course not.” Stan looked upset that anyone would question his ethics.

  Megan saw Lauren and Caitlyn enter the diner. She slipped from her seat and skirted around Kirk to join them. By the time they sat at a table, Erica was walking into the diner.

  “Thought I’d be late.” Erica slid into a seat with her back against the wall.

  “It can be tough getting out of the house with little ones,” Lauren said with a sigh. “Grace was not happy.”

  Tyler appeared. “The flavor of the day for iced tea is blackberry. I have sweet or unsweet.”

  “Sweet,” Caitlyn said quickly with a grin.

  Megan ordered half and half with the others then turned to Caitlyn. “How are things going with you and Doug?”

  Caitlyn’s smile slipped. “Nothing to report yet.”

  Lauren reached over and placed her hand on Caitlyn’s for a moment. “It’ll happen when it happens.”

  “It seemed so easy for the rest of you.” Caitlyn looked around the group. “What was your secret?”

  “I don’t know about the others, but we weren’t actually trying,” Erica said.

  Megan shook her head to indicate that she and Dan weren’t either.

  “We weren’t trying to get pregnant, but we weren’t not trying either,” Lauren said.

  Caitlyn started to say something then stopped as Tyler returned with their tea. She changed the subject when he left. “Thanks to Megan, I discovered that the former owner of the florist shop was a toy maker.”

  “Yeah?” Erica turned to Megan. “What kind?”

  Megan reached for her tea. “I know for sure that he made blocks with numbers and letters on them. After I talked to Ward about Caitlyn’s shop space, I figured out that I actually have some of them.”

  Caitlyn leaned forward in her seat. “Seriously? They still sell them?”

  Megan made a face indicating she didn’t think so. “I bought them from Leah and Daryl at Vintage Teaberry. Aaron loves them.”

  “Oh.” Caitlyn’s shoulders slumped but it didn’t last long. “If you found some, there might be more out there. I would really like to know more about the people who made them too.”

  “I can try to find out.” Megan thought about it for a moment. “I didn’t really ask Ward for many details when I talked to him about it before. He might know more about the family.”

  Erica held her glass of tea in front of her lips. “It beats looking for puzzle pieces to a murder.” She lifted her brows over her glass as she sipped her tea.

  Megan laughed with the others. A short time later, they each went their four separate ways. Megan walked down the sidewalk toward their parked cars with Caitlyn.

  “If I learn anything more about the toy company, I’ll let you know.” She waved as Caitlyn stopped at her florist van then crossed the street to get to her car.

  As she was strapping her seatbelt on, she saw a familiar tow truck drive past. Although she waved, she didn’t think LeAnn or Gabe saw her. Her brother-in-law and his ex-wife both appeared to be engrossed in a conversation with each other and weren’t paying attention to others around them. She smiled as she wondered if they were just coming back from lunch also. For their sakes, she hoped so. It might mean that they were moving forward with their relationship.

  Chapter Four

  “And that is the last order of business.” Caitlyn closed the folder in front of her and stood. “Thanks, everyone, for coming today. The business council impacts the growth of Teaberry because of the time you invest.”

  Caitlyn watched as several members of the committee began to file out of the room. Most did so in small clusters as conversations broke out between them.

  Rhonda Waters stood and turned to Caitlyn. �
�That went well.”

  Caitlyn wasn’t so sure. Her eyes followed another cluster of people from the meeting room then shifted back to Rhonda. “I’m not sure we have everyone on board for promoting the entire town as a destination place.”

  Rhonda’s eyes were full of understanding. “It’s a tough sell.”

  “It is,” Caitlyn acknowledged with a nod. “But I think it could have a positive impact on the town.”

  Rhonda waved at someone just before they left the room. “There’s definitely a gap between where we currently are and where you envision we should be. The trick is figuring out how to bridge that gap.”

  “Those who have been in business longer seem to understand the potential benefits a little better,” Caitlyn murmured. Her eyes shifted to Leah to include her in the conversation as she stopped next to them. “I appreciate that you both have been supportive of this.”

  “Vintage Teaberry is always happy to encourage shoppers to come to Teaberry,” Leah said with a smile.

  “Speaking on behalf of Waters Food, we ship our product out to stores for sale as you know but we also do a good amount of sales with our outlet here. Increasing the number of potential shoppers is a plus for us as well.” Rhonda slipped her purse strap over her shoulder. “But I also understand why smaller businesses are less eager to spend their own money for ad space to sell the town of Teaberry.”

  Leah nodded her agreement then gave Caitlyn a sympathetic smile. “Perhaps others will come around to it over time?”

  “Maybe.” Caitlyn shifted her focus to Rhonda. “You have a big promotion going on for a new product. Are you planning on starting a new line of meals for those interested in healthy options?”

  Rhonda’s face lit up. “I’m really excited about this. As you know, we also grow a lot of the ingredients that go into our products and we’ve been going more and more organic. Waters Food might be looking at expanding our farming segment of the business to support this new product.”