A Timely Vision (17 page)

“Too many. Please don’t start sounding like Gramps.” I tucked Anne’s name into the drawer under the register. At least I wouldn’t have to wonder
what if
, as I did with Brian McDonald, the purse snatcher. “Besides, we’re independent women, right? We’re business owners. Entrepreneurs. Men aren’t necessary for women of the world like us.”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about, Dae.” Trudy got to her feet and patted an invisible platinum blond hair back into place. “But I’d give up all of this for the right guy.”

At that moment, Kevin walked into the store with an armload of Blue Whale T-shirts. Trudy and I stared at him for a long moment before we both started laughing. “Should I go out and come back in?” he asked.

“No.” Trudy smiled at him. “I think you’re perfect right where you are. You’re not married, are you?”

“No.” He looked at me as if expecting an explanation.

“Kevin, this is my friend Trudy Devereaux. She runs the Curves and Curls Beauty Spa next door. Trudy, this is Kevin Brickman.”

“From the Blue Whale Inn, right?” She walked over to him and held out her hand. “Welcome to Duck, Kevin. I do men’s cuts, manicures, and massages too. Stop in sometime.”

She stood there for a long moment holding his hand and gazing into his eyes. Only a customer trying to get into the shop broke them apart. Trudy smiled apologetically, then went next door.

“Women are very friendly here.” Kevin watched her go as he held the door for two more customers. “Busy day, huh?”

“Yeah. I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

“Is that a subtle way of telling me to go away? You
did
offer to let me put some stuff from the Blue Whale here.”

I shook my head. I guessed I wasn’t exactly one of those superfriendly women he was getting used to in Duck. “No. I was only surprised you weren’t putting on roofing or something, that’s all.”

“I would be except that the Blue Whale is pretty much a crime scene and they don’t want me to change anything right now. And it’s almost dinner time, and I can’t get in the kitchen even though nothing happened there. I never realized how annoying it is to have someone murdered in your home.”

My stomach gurgled as I glanced up at the teapot clock. It was almost seven P.M. I hoped Kevin would be nice enough to ignore that abdominal rumble, but when I turned to face him again, I noticed he was laughing. “What?” I demanded. “I skipped lunch. Coffee only goes so far.”

“Cranky
and
noisy. I guess you’d better buy me dinner.”

“How do you figure that?”

“I came and rescued you by reminding you it was time to eat. I think that warrants dinner. Any suggestions where we should go?”

His enthusiasm was contagious. I’d had a good business day, and it wasn’t unusual for Missing Pieces to be closed by now. The rush had kept me from worrying about Miss Mildred. “I’ll tell you the truth, I don’t eat out much. I probably couldn’t recommend a good restaurant. I’m sure they’re all fine, but I prefer my own cooking. You’re welcome to come to supper.”

“I’d like that. It must be nice to enjoy your own cooking. I don’t know if Chef Boyardee in the microwave qualifies as cooking, but I’m not too crazy about it. I’ve spent most of my life eating in restaurants.”

“I’ll bet you’ve eaten in some exciting places while you were working for the FBI.”

“Like every greasy spoon and two-bit diner across the country,” he said. “Working for the FBI sounds a lot more glamorous than it really is.”

We came to an arrangement for selling the Blue Whale T-shirts, and Kevin put his pamphlets on the corkboard near the door. I did a quick walk through the shop, checking to make sure nothing was missing, left behind, or about to be covered in Coke from a misplaced paper cup. “Still,” I said, picking up the conversation when I was done with my inspection, “it must seem really tame to live in Duck after travelling so much.”

“It’s quiet,” he agreed. “But that’s what I was looking for.”

I turned off the lights and locked the door behind us. Shadows were beginning to lengthen on the boardwalk, and the shops around Missing Pieces were closing too. The nightlife was beginning for our summer visitors, but for many of the people who lived here, the day was done and it was time to go home.

We walked down to the house, making small talk about the town and the difference there between summer and winter. “Actually, we call it off-season,” I explained. “We don’t like winter.”

Kevin stepped away from the road as a car blew its horn, almost grazing his pant leg. “Whatever you call it, I’m looking forward to it. I didn’t realize so many people would be here over the summer. Or in-season. Why don’t you guys put in sidewalks?”

“Do you know how much they cost? It may look like we’re rich, but we’re not. We
are
working on sidewalks, though, and some other things.”

When we got to the house, Mary Lou opened the front door as I reached for the handle. “Dae! Kevin! It’s good to see you. Come in. We’re getting supper ready.”

This is different.
Mary Lou was acting like Gramps’s hostess. “Good to see you too. Where’s my grandfather?”

“In the back. He’s grilling. I’m in charge of salad. I hope you brought some dessert with you. We ran out of the apple pie I brought before we could eat supper.” Mary Lou laughed and closed the door after us.

“I could go out and get something,” Kevin offered.

“That’s okay,” I said. “I’m sure we can find something here.”

“Dae, I want to talk to you about creating an ordinance to protect the sea turtles.” Mary Lou put her arm around my shoulders as we walked into the kitchen. “People don’t realize how fragile they are as a species. They go down there all times of the day and night, build sand castles. Really, we need an ordinance.”

“Why is building sand castles bad for the turtles?” Kevin asked.

I knew what was going to happen, but I wanted to see Gramps without Mary Lou. As soon as Kevin asked, she switched to
his
side, explaining as she went. “Well, you see, the castles fall in on the baby turtles as they’re trying to reach the sea. Sometimes it smothers them. Sometimes they get trapped there and a predator finds them.”

I gave Kevin an apologetic look as I left the two of them in the kitchen. A few of Gramps’s friends from his pinochle game were in the living room laughing at something on TV. I closed the back door as I went out and enjoyed the blessed silence for a minute. It had been a long, difficult day. I still felt that terrible guilt about not being able to help Miss Mildred. I knew I had to let it go, but it was hard.

“Are you going to stand up there on the porch all night,” Gramps asked, “or are you going to come down and hand me those potatoes?”

I went down to help him. We had a few lights in the back, but they were mostly for show, party lights. They illuminated the swing and the pier going down to the sound but weren’t there for practical considerations. “Lots of supper guests.”

He laughed. “Nice, isn’t it? Your grandmother loved to cook for big crowds. We were both sorry we couldn’t have a large family. But we loved your mother. Lucky for us, we always had plenty of friends. Hand me that corn now.”

The big grill, converted by Gramps from the old tank they’d used for heating oil when I was a child, was full of food. The smell was delicious, probably drifting out to neighbors, inviting them over. I expected to find several more people waiting for supper when I went back inside.

“What’s with Mary Lou acting like she lives here?” I hoped that hadn’t come out as bad as it sounded to me.

He glanced up from his basting. “Why? Have you got something against Mary Lou?”

“No. Not unless she’s looking for somewhere else to live—like here. I don’t think I could live with Mary Lou.”

“In other words, I’m supposed to be alone the rest of my life?”

“Not alone.” I scuffed my foot on the sandy grass. “You have
me
.”

He stood up straight and hugged me (still holding the basting brush). “And someday, you’ll meet someone and leave
me
. What will I do then?”

I hugged him back fiercely. “I’ll never leave you. You know that. Me and you, right?”

“That’s right, Dae. I’ll never leave you either. But we could both do with some companionship from the opposite sex. This house was built for a big family. Don’t forget, I came from six brothers and two sisters. I think we could both meet special people, and we could all live here. Unless, of course, you’d rather live at the Blue Whale.”

I was totally amazed that he would even tease me about something like that. “You may think Kevin likes me that way, but believe me, he wants to be with Shayla.”

“Maybe for now. But I’m a good judge of people after being sheriff for so long. Kevin Brickman is looking for stability in his life. He’s not going to find that from Shayla.”

“Lucky there are plenty of other women in town.”

“Because you can do so much better?” He laughed. “Oh. That’s right. I forgot about
Tim
.”

I nudged him hard. “Despite what anyone thinks, Tim and I aren’t going to end up together.”

We heard the back door squeak open and both looked up at the porch. I was surprised to see Kevin’s tall, broad-shouldered form silhouetted against the lights from the house. “Dae? Chief Michaels is here with Agent Walker. They need to speak with you about Miss Mildred.”

Kevin sounded so formal. I knew it wasn’t good news. I could imagine him, back in his FBI days, using the same tone to tell someone their child had been kidnapped or something of equal horror. I glanced at Gramps. He nodded as I headed inside.

The number of people in the house had doubled since I’d gone out back. But the chief and Agent Walker stood out in the otherwise casual crowd. The chief’s uniform looked a little wrinkled for him. Tough day, I guessed. Agent Walker was dressed in a dark suit and tie.

“Can we go in the next room and talk for a minute?” The chief raised his voice above the din.

“In here.” I led the way into the dining room and was glad to notice Kevin accompanying us. I figured it would be good to have someone there who wasn’t actively involved in what was going on. “What is it, Chief?”

He removed his uniform hat and spent a few seconds looking at the worn carpet before his eyes met mine. “Mayor, I thought you should know right away. They had to hospitalize Millie. She got crazy acting, then they found out she was dehydrated. The doctor said it seems like she hasn’t been eating. She’s still in police custody, you understand. But you could go visit her, if you like. I gave orders to the officer at the door that he was to let you in.”

A few moments passed in uncomfortable silence as I fought to get my emotions under control. When I could finally speak, I said, “Thank you, Chief. I’d like to see her. What will happen now?”

Before he could answer, Agent Walker replied, “She’ll be evaluated to see if she’s fit to stand trial. Many times in these circumstances, we realize the person who’s been charged with a crime isn’t able to face a judge in a courtroom. We aren’t without some semblance of mercy, Mayor O’Donnell, no matter what you think.”

“You mean she wouldn’t have to go to jail?” I felt a little ray of sunshine warm my heart.

“He means she’d be found guilty without a trial and sentenced to spend the rest of her life in an institution.” Kevin’s voice was dark when he spoke.

“Is that true?” I asked Chief Michaels.

“I’m afraid so.”

“
No!
That’s not fair! How much life do you think a ninety-two-year-old woman has left to live in the first place? Couldn’t you let her live out her life with one of those electronic bracelets on her ankle? Whatever she’s done, it may not be anything she’d do again.”

“If we could do something like that, Mayor, you know we would,” Agent Walker assured me. “But let’s not forget that the evidence appears to support the theory that Mildred Mason murdered her sister, then tried to hide the evidence. Would you want her to live out the rest of her life as though nothing happened? What about justice for Elizabeth Simpson?”

There was no good or easy answer for that. My heart told me that Miss Mildred was not dangerous and surely hadn’t killed her sister. The evidence seemed to be overwhelmingly against her, but it didn’t seem real to me.

“I’m sorry, Mayor.” The chief patted me awkwardly on the shoulder. “We’ll do the best we can for her.”

I felt numb. It was like watching this happen to someone in a dream. It couldn’t be happening in real life. Years of growing up and being reminded to watch my manners forced a smile on my lips. “I know you will. You’ll stay for supper, won’t you? Gramps has a bunch of food on the grill.”

The chief hitched up his pants and nodded. “You know, I’d like that. Where’s Horace?”

“He’s in back. Maybe you could help him bring all that food inside.”