Good Buy Girls 05 - All Sales Final (21 page)

“May I see?” Maggie asked.

Mary Lou handed her the paper and sure enough in between Edward Higgins and Martin Lewis a name had been very carefully covered with Wite-Out.

“That’s weird, right?” Maggie asked.

Mary Lou shrugged. “It could have been an error, but yeah, it seems odd.”

“I’m going to need to bring this to Sheriff Collins so he can take a look at it,” Maggie said. “Maybe he can find out what’s beneath the Wite-Out.”

Mary Lou bit her lip. “I’d have to ask Ruth first. She doesn’t like anything in the file to leave the building.”

“This is a police investigation,” Maggie said. “I don’t see that she has much choice.”

“Choice about what?”

Maggie and Mary Lou spun around to see Ruth approaching, and she did not look happy.

“There’s an item here that needs to be shown to the sheriff,” Maggie said.

She was pleased that her voice was smooth and not as rattled as she felt given that Ruth was looking at her with blatant suspicion.

“Why does Sheriff Collins need to see it?” Ruth snapped. “What are you looking for specifically?”

“I was looking for information about a World War Two fighter pilot named Jasper Kasey,” Maggie said. She studied Ruth’s face for any hint of recognition. There was none. “We found where his name should be on the list of veterans from St. Stanley, but it’s been Wited-Out. Who would do that?”

Ruth glanced at the list. This time Maggie saw her lips get tight. “No one covered up the name if that’s what you’re insinuating. More than likely, it was a typo. Things weren’t done on computers back then.”

Maggie gave her a hard stare. “Maybe not, but if it isn’t Jasper Kasey’s name under the Wite-Out, whose was it?”

“No one’s,” Ruth said. “This list was typed up long after World War Two, clearly whoever did it twenty or thirty years ago made a simple mistake.”

“There’s nothing simple about this,” Maggie said. “Not if they were covering up a murder.”

Ruth gasped as if Maggie had slapped her. “Are you calling into question the integrity of the historical society?”

“No, just its members’,” Maggie said.

Two red spots of color brightened Ruth’s rouged cheeks, making her look as if she were being lit up on the inside by her anger.

“That was uncalled for,” Ruth said. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

She blinked at Maggie from behind her round spectacles and Maggie had the uncomfortable feeling that Ruth was going to cry. Guilt swamped her. When had she become a bully?

“I’m sorry,” Maggie said. “You’re right. I was out of line. This whole situation with the house has made me very tense.”

Ruth bobbed her head vigorously as if she couldn’t agree more that Maggie was behaving very badly.

“I’m going to take this list to Sheriff Collins,” Maggie said. “I think he’ll be able to have someone look at it and tell us what is under the Liquid Paper.”

Ruth opened and closed her mouth, but no sound came out. When Maggie went to take the paper from Mary Lou, she clutched it close.

“Can I make a copy of it before you go?” Mary Lou asked. “I haven’t had a chance to enter it into the database and if anything happened to it . . .”

“Nothing will happen,” Maggie said. “I promise.”

“It’s critical that we not lose this list of names,” Mary Lou insisted. “Beyond your own interests, we need to have a copy.”

Maggie nodded in agreement and Mary Lou took the
paper to a copy machine in the corner. While she ran the copy, Maggie tried to look anywhere but at Ruth. She couldn’t shake the feeling that in Ruth’s eyes she was desecrating the historical society and everything for which it stood.

She glanced at the ceiling, then the floor, then the wall. She could hear the copy machine warming up and she wondered how long this was going to take exactly.

“I heard of him once,” Ruth said.

“Excuse me?” Maggie said.

“I heard of Jasper Kasey but just once,” Ruth said.

Maggie waited for her to say more. She didn’t want Ruth to close up on her again, and she was afraid if she asked any questions, Ruth would stop talking.

“It was at a church social and I heard some of the ladies talking about Ida Dixon and why she had never married,” Ruth said. “They said the love of her life Jasper Kasey left her at the altar, which I thought was sad. She was such a pretty lady.”

Maggie said nothing, hoping Ruth would say more but she didn’t. Mary Lou returned with the original document that she’d put in a manila folder.

“I promise I’ll take very good care of it,” she said.

Ruth looked like she wanted to say something but she remained silent. Mary Lou nodded, letting Maggie know it was okay for her to go.

When the door swung shut behind her, she could have sworn she felt the eyes of the two ladies on her back as she walked down the sidewalk to the police station.

She hoped she wasn’t making too big of a deal about the list but her instincts told her that she wasn’t, that this was important and that she had to show it to Sam.

She found him in his office. The station was quiet since it was so early in the morning. Given that they had just had breakfast together a little over an hour ago, Maggie was surprised that she felt her heart do that little tap dance thing it did every time she saw him. Maybe it was the white shirt and tie he had on, maybe it was the clean shaven jaw or maybe it was the fact that he was going to be her husband in just a few weeks.

That thought instantly squashed the pitter-patter of her heart with a tsunami of anxiety. She still didn’t have a dress or a venue. Gah, she was the worst bride ever!

“Darling, you went from a giddy grin to a thundercloud frown in the blink of an eye,” Sam said as he rose to his feet. “You all right?”

“I’ve been better,” she said.

“Is it wedding jitters or Captain Bones or both?”

“Both,” she said. “How’d you know?”

“I can read you like a book,” he said. “Besides I’ve been feeling the same way.”

Maggie raised her eyebrows.

“Well, not the wedding jitters part,” he said. “I feel like we have that nailed.”

“Having the pastor on speed dial does not mean we have it nailed,” she said.

Sam grinned at her. “You’re cute when you’re nervous.” When she didn’t smile back, he grew serious. “Coffee?”

“That’d be great,” she said.

“Sit tight,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”

Maggie glanced at the clock on the wall. She had to get to her shop. The Good Buy Girls were coming around to discuss the wedding again. Suddenly, elopement didn’t seem like such a bad idea, except for the wee detail about her mother never forgiving her.

“Here you go.” Sam reentered the office with a mug in hand. He put it on the desk beside Maggie and paused to kiss the top of her head.

“So, talk to me,” he said. “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”

Maggie fortified herself with a sip of coffee before she spoke.

“I returned my books to the historical society today,” she said.

Sam took his seat behind his desk. “You said you were going to do that. How’d it go? Was Ruth there?”

He made a comically alarmed face and Maggie knew that he shared her impression of Ruth being wrapped a bit too tight.

“Not at first,” she said. “Mary Lou was there and she gave me a list of all of the men from the St. Stanley area who served in World War Two. I wanted to see if Jasper Kasey was listed and if so, did they have any biographical information on him?”

“Great idea,” he said.

“I thought so,” she said. She handed him the manila folder. “The list is in there. Now tell me if you think there is something odd going on.”

Sam opened the folder and scanned the list. “The place where his name would fall alphabetically is covered up.”

Maggie nodded. “It’s too much of a coincidence, don’t you think?”

Sam studied the list some more and then glanced up at her. When his blue eyes met hers, they were dark and determined.

“Way too much of a coincidence,” he said.

Chapter 22

Maggie watched while Sam made a phone call. She could tell it was Andy he was talking to and not just because he greeted her by name but because there was a familiarity in his tone that he didn’t use with everyone.

He explained about the paper and asked her to come and have a look at it. Then he got a perplexed look on his face and Maggie got the distinct impression he was uncomfortable. He hung up, looking distracted.

“Well, I’d better go open up the shop,” Maggie said.

Sam nodded and then looked thoughtful. “I wonder if Andy is missing Richmond. I had to pull some strings to get her on loan to us but she seems really fixated on the old days.”

Maggie made a noncommittal humming noise. She
knew this was the perfect opportunity to let Sam know what Andy had said to her about bringing him back to Richmond, but she held her tongue. She trusted Sam to make the right decision, really she did. More importantly, she wanted him to make the right decision for himself.

She gave him a quick kiss and dashed out the door right as his phone began to ring.

*   *   *

“So, do you think he finally gets that she wants him to return to the force in Richmond?” Ginger asked.

The Good Buy Girls met every week to swap coupons and share any online ads or circulars from the paper that they thought might help someone in the group. Usually, they met at Maggie’s house but since her mother and sister were staying there, they had decided to meet for lunch at the Daily Grind. Summer had joined them, which was still odd for Maggie, but she was trying to rally.

“I don’t know if he sees it that clearly yet, but I have hope for him,” Maggie said.

“You’re an id—” Summer began but then interrupted herself. “Sorry, old habits.”

The rest of the Good Buy Girls looked at her and she shook her blond hair out as if shaking off her old miserable personality.

“What I meant to say was you are too trusting,” Summer said. “There, that sounds better, doesn’t it? You’re about to marry this man. You do not need some old
colleague from his past getting his head all spun around about where he wants to be. He belongs here with you and if you need to tattoo that onto the woman’s forehead with your boot heel, I say do it.”

“She has a point,” Joanne said. Baby Patience was asleep in her stroller beside her and Joanne had taken the opportunity to eat a whole lunch: sandwich, iced tea and chips. Maggie had the feeling it wasn’t always the norm for the busy new mother. Through a mouthful, Joanne added, “Boundaries have to be maintained.”

Claire nodded. “I know if she was trying to get Pete to leave town, I’d want to kick her caboose all the way back to Richmond.”

Ginger hooted. “Listen to all of this tough girl talk.”

“Oh, come on, you know you’d put a beat down on her if she tried to get Roger to ditch you for his career,” Summer said.

“Roger comes with four teenage boys,” Ginger said. “No woman in her right mind would poach him for a career or a relationship because I would make sure the boys went with him.”

“Clever,” Maggie said. “So, can I borrow the boys?”

Ginger laughed. “I would not do that to you no matter how much they adore their Aunt Maggie.”

“Like I said, I think Sam is figuring this out on his own. He just needs a little more time,” Maggie said.

“If you say so,” Summer said. “Just remember you have a wedding coming up, and if there is anything that will make a man bail in a blind panic that is it.”

“Is that what you call positive talk?” Ginger asked.

“What?” Summer shrugged. She picked the tomatoes off of her sandwich before she took a bite. She swallowed and then said, “It is not helping that you don’t have any of your wedding stuff in order. I don’t think that sends a very good message to a groom.”

To Maggie’s surprise, all of the Good Buy Girls looked at her and not in support but as if they agreed with Summer’s assessment of the situation.

“I have made some decisions,” Maggie said.

“Do tell,” Ginger said.

“Well, after some research, I discovered that buying flowers from a local grower is a lot more cost effective than having a florist make a ton of arrangements.”

“And you’ve talked to a flower farmer to see what he’s carrying?”

“It’s on my to-do list,” Maggie said. “Jim Peters has a peony farm and I was hoping to get him to sell them to me wholesale.”

“He happens to be a client of mine,” Ginger said. “I’ll ask him. Your timing is good because I know his flowers are just beginning to bloom.”

“Have a dress yet?” Summer asked.

“Working on it,” Maggie said.

“How about a venue?” Claire asked.

“Again, working on it,” Maggie said.

“Oh my god, you didn’t book a venue yet. I’m going to start having a freak-out,” Joanne said.

“No, no, it’s all fine,” Maggie lied. “Really, Sam said as long we have the pastor and the license he doesn’t care about anything else.”

“Oh, that’s so romantic,” Claire said. She sighed and Maggie wondered if she’d been on a Jane Austen bender lately. It had been known to happen.

The others nodded in agreement except for Summer, who rolled her eyes. Maggie had a feeling it was taking every bit of restraint Summer had not to give her a hard time.