Christmas In Paradise (Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mysteries Book 4) (19 page)

“So,” Helen
began, turning to Harriet, “I wanted to call you today, but I was swamped with Bonnie calling in sick and didn’t get the opportunity. How did the meeting go?”

“You realize it was a closed
-door meeting?”

“I realize t
hat. Did they decide on a new mayor?”

Harriet sat forward on the sofa. “The
y discussed someone to speak to, but I’m not sure how that went.”

“So spill,” Jenna said impatiently.

“They asked Doc, but he declined, and Bookman was also considered, but with his new book he’s already swamped. They talked about asking Jake Hanson, but his health has been declining, and of course Hunter is much too busy at the hospital. I know both your dad and grandpa were asked,” Harriet looked at Tj, “but both claimed to be too busy with the resort. Hank Hammond’s name came up as a possible candidate if they decided to go with a part-time mayor and a full-time town manager. Kyle was considered, but he’s new to the town and the council. In the end they decided to speak to Harold Harper.”

“Judge Harper?” Helen asked.

“He’d be perfect,” Tj realized. “He’s lived here forever; he’s recently retired so he has an excess of free time; he’s still young enough that his health is good, and he’s certainly familiar with the idea of setting and upholding the law.”

“And everyone already respects him and yields to his opinion,” Jenna added. “He really
would be a good choice.”

“It was actually Kyle’
s suggestion,” Harriet informed them. “I have a feeling that if Harper does accept the position, Kyle will be next in line when he’s had a bit more time in the area and experience on the council. Everyone is very impressed by his ability to think on his feet.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty great,” Tj agreed.

“It looks like several cars just pulled up,” Frannie announced.

Nikki filed in
, followed by Rosalie, Kyle’s mom, Vicki Donovan, high-school counselor Sheila Remington, Bren, and Emma Grainger.

“It looks like we
’re all here now,” Helen announced. “Bonnie is still ill, so I guess we’ll have an odd number, but I made a second kind of cookie to replace the one Bonnie would have brought, so I’m sure we can work it out.”

“If you need a
twelfth body, I just left Libby Well’s office,” Sheila offered. “Dr. Wells offered to meet me on a Saturday to take a look at the congestion the baby has been battling for a few days. I mentioned that I needed to hurry in order to get here on time and she said she’d love to do something like this.”

“Call her up,” Tj
said, jumping right in. No one could say she was one to pass up an opportunity when it presented itself.

Libby Wells was a young
, beautiful woman who served as the town’s only pediatrician, although in a place as small as Serenity, the local doctors tended to generalize and treat anyone who needed treating. Rosalie had entertained the Jensen clan on many an occasion with tales of removing a fish hook from a hand or stitching a gash on a leg when the hospital was overrun due to an accident on the highway or an incident at one of the ski resorts. Although she was the only veterinarian in town, there were those who wouldn’t hesitate to ask about their gout when they had their dog in for a shot or their cat in for an annual checkup.

Once Libby arrived
, the games Helen had planned commenced, so it wasn’t until after everyone had gathered to choose and package the cookies they wanted to take home that Tj had a chance to speak to Libby alone.

“Which cookies did you bring?” Libby asked Tj.

“I think the oatmeal, but I’m not sure. Jenna made them for me when I told her I’d planned to bring Oreos.”

Libby laughed. “Since I was a last
-minute addition to the party I didn’t bring anything, but I can assure you that Oreos, or maybe Nutter Butters, would have been my cookie of choice as well.”

“I guess as the newest doctor in town you
must work a lot of hours,” Tj commented.

“I do a lot of shifts as the on
-call doctor. It provides me with a little extra income and also earns me goodwill points with the more seasoned doctors who don’t want to do it. It can be challenging at times, since I’m a pediatrician, and when I’m on call I’m expected to deal with pretty much anything that comes up.”

Tj picked up one of the pieces of bunt cake Helen
had served as dessert and took a bite. “I suppose that treating patients outside your area of expertise is common practice in our town.”

“It is
, and trust me, it’s not always easy. I’ve had plenty of instances when people who really did need treatment decided to wait until the next day, when they could see Hunter or one of the more established doctors.”

“I guess it takes quite a few years of treating folks before they begin to believe you know what you
’re doing.”

“
Hunter hasn’t been a doctor any longer than I have, but he seems to have a reputation in this town that rivals only his grandfather’s,” Libby said.

“Hunter cut
his baby teeth on a stethoscope,” Tj commented. “And he grew up not only as Jake Hanson’s grandson but as the high-school football hero. He’s gold as far as most people are concerned. I think that while Hunter hasn’t been a doctor any longer than you have, he’s lived here longer. A lot longer. Give it time. Folks will begin to trust you the way they trust him.”

“I hope so.”

Libby took a sip of her tea as Tj searched for a way to bring up her visit to Rupert Kingston.

“I guess you heard about what happened at the resort over Thanksgiving,” Tj
finally jumped in.

“If you mean
the guy who died, yeah, I heard. Everyone has been talking about it.”

“
The man visited Serenity in August using the name Rupert Kingston.”

Libby frowned. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

“It seems you met him. He stayed at the Serenity Motor Inn when he was here.”

“Of course
.”

“So you remember going to his room?” Tj asked.

“Of course I remember. I have an excellent memory.”

“Do you mind telling me why you went
there?”

Libby hesitated. “Why do you want to know?”

Tj took a deep breath. She didn’t know Libby all that well, so she needed to tread lightly if she was going to gain her confidence.

“
You heard Bonnie Elston confessed to killing the man?”

Libby looked surprised. “Bonnie killed someone?”

Did this woman live in a cave? No wonder people didn’t trust her. She obviously didn’t take the time to keep up with what was going on in the town she served.

“She didn’t kill him
, but she confessed to doing it in order to get Dennis out of jail.”

Libby furrowed her brow. “Who
’s Dennis?”

“Dennis Elston. Bonnie’s son, Jenna’s husband, Mr. July on the annual firefighter calendar.”

Libby smiled as the pieces fell into place. “Oh, that Dennis. He killed Rupert Kingston?”

“No
, but he was charged with killing him.”

Libby didn’t say anything
right away, but Tj could tell by her facial expression that she was beginning to catch on.

“Anyway, I’m trying to help both Bonnie and Dennis by tracking down the real killer. I’m speak
ing to everyone who might have known the man or even had contact with him.”

Libby picked up a carrot stick and nibbled on the end. “Why are
you
looking into it? Don’t we have people who do that for a living?”

“Not very well,” Tj admitted. “All I need to know is why you went to
his room.”

Libby shrugged. “It was a Sunday
, so I was the only one on call that day. The answering service we use contacted me and told me that a man who was staying at the Motor Inn had called in asking to see a doctor. Normally, I would have had him come to the hospital, but the service told me the man was unable to drive, so I made a house call. When I got to the Motor Inn the man said he was feeling better and didn’t need my services. I wanted to be certain he really was okay, so I used the excuse that I needed him to fill out some paperwork since I’d actually responded to the call. He invited me in and I chatted with him for maybe twenty minutes while he filled out the forms, and then I left.”

“Did you have any further contact with
him?” Tj asked.

“Nope, that was it. I never saw him again.”

Sunday mornings
were always busy at the resort, so Tj tried to help out at the reservation counter when she could. Her dad always provided coffee, tea, hot cocoa, and a variety of doughnuts and pastries for his guests to nibble on, should they be required to wait in the oftentimes predictable lines.

“It looks like we
’re pretty much caught up,” Tj said to the desk clerk who worked the Sunday morning shift. “The customer in cabin twelve asked me to stop by, so I’ll do that now. I have my cell. Call if you need me.”

Tj pulled on her snow boots and heavy coat. Jordan was staying in cabin 12
, and she had been stressing over the reason for his request since he’d called her that morning. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. He got along well with the family, the girls loved him, and he’d been able to spend a lot of time with them. Tj wondered if things had gone
too
smoothly.

“Tj, thank you for coming
by. Come in.” Jordan escorted her into the cabin.

He’d done a wonderful job with decorations. The tree was strung with colored lights and decorated with ornaments the girls had ma
de. There were also sister-created masterpieces on the refrigerator door, as well as crayon drawings on several other unoccupied surfaces. There was a pile of wrapped gifts under the tree that, Tj noticed, bore the names of the resort pets. Jordan and the girls must have gone shopping for Echo and the cats during one of their excursions into town.

“Can I get you something to drink?”

“No, I’m fine,” Tj said as she sat down on the sofa in front of the fireplace. She took off her coat; the fire made the small cabin quite warm. “So what’s up?”

“I wanted to get Christmas gifts for the girls,” Jordan began.

Tj let out the breath she’d been holding. That was it? He wanted to talk about gifts for the girls?

“I was hoping you could help me out,” Jordan continued.

“I’d be happy to.”

“Each girl gave me a list.” Jordan placed
papers with at least ten items each on the table in front of her.

Tj realized she was going to have to have a talk with her sisters about the true meaning of Christmas.

“I figured they m
ight have asked for similar items from you, so I wanted to share the list with you before I went shopping. I’d hate to buy duplicates of things you’d already gotten.”

Tj picked up the list
s and began to read. “Ashley asked you for a television for her room?”

“A flat screen,” Jordan confirmed. “Forty
-eight inches or larger,” he added.

Tj laughed. “I
’m so sorry. I don’t know where this whole greedy gift thing came from. She already asked me to get her a computer.”

“I’ve only known her a short time
, but I gather the girls didn’t have much in the way of luxuries when they lived with their mother. It’s my guess that Ashley realizes that things have changed and is comfortable enough to want to make up for lost time.”

“Maybe,” Tj acknowledged. “But aski
ng someone she’s known for three weeks to buy her a television is quite a bit over the line. I’ll talk to her.”

“I don’t mind the list. I’d like to buy something nice for each of the girls. I don’t have anyone
else to buy for, and I find that I’m quite enjoying the opportunity to do so. I just wanted to check with you so that I don’t get the girls something you don’t want them to have.”

“Ashley doesn’t need a forty-eight
-inch television.” Tj continued to look at the list. “She asked you for a sewing machine?”

“
She mentioned that Jenna was going to teach both her and her friend Kristi to sew. She wanted her own machine so she could practice.”

“I can’t even sew a button on
a blouse, but Ashley is very creative and seems to have a knack for fashion. If Jenna is going to teach her how to use it, I think a sewing machine would be perfect. There’s a corner in her room where we have an old bookshelf, but maybe we can find her a sewing table with drawers to put her supplies in as well.”

“I’d love to look for a used one that I can refinish while I’m here,” Jordan
said.

“Talk to Helen. She
’s the queen of used anything. And as for Gracie, she’s getting her new baby from Santa if Kyle comes through like he promised, so maybe a cradle to put next to her bed would be something special. I’m sure Helen can help you find a used one you could fix up as well.”