Killer Crullers (17 page)

*   *   *

The sun was beginning to set, so I decided to walk back to my Jeep. I was three feet away from it when my cell phone rang, and I was delighted to learn that it was Jake.

“Hey, stranger,” I said. “How did the day’s lecture go?”

“Better than I had any right to expect,” he said with a laugh. The chuckle told me more than his words. He’d had a good time and was happy about it, something I didn’t get to hear all that often in his voice. It was the nature of the business he was in—dealing with death and all of the dark things that occupied the worst parts of the human condition, to be saddened by it all—but for the moment, there was a real lightness in his voice that I loved to hear. “It turns out that teaching can be fun, once you get the hang of it.”

“Since you’ve just been doing it a few days, it didn’t take you long, did it?”

“Okay, I’m no pro yet, but I can’t tell you how nice it feels not to be hunting down bad guys for a change. How was your day?”

“Let’s see. I got up way too early even with my new hours, spent the day making and selling donuts, and then ran into dead end after dead end in my investigation. It was peachy, just peachy.”

“Don’t give up, Suzanne, you’re too good at this to just walk away.”

“From donut making, or sleuthing?” I asked with a laugh.

“Either one,” he said. I loved that Jake had given up his early opposition to my amateur investigations and was now more accepting of the idea that I could mine information that was unavailable to the police.

I was about to thank him for the compliment when I heard a familiar woman’s voice speak to him. “Come on, Jake, we’re going to be late for dinner.”

“Was that Ashley?” I asked.

“She wants to make up for tricking me, so she’s offered to take me to dinner tonight.”

I could imagine her asking, but I was a little surprised that he’d accepted. I was about to comment on that when he said, “I’m sorry, Suzanne, but I’ve got to go. Talk to you tomorrow.”

He hung up before I could even say good night. There was something about that exchange that left me less than satisfied with the situation, and I needed to talk to someone about it. I saw that Grace’s official date hadn’t started yet, so I took a chance on calling her so I could talk about it with her.

Thankfully, she picked up on the first ring. “Where are you?”

“I’m at my Jeep,” I answered, a little confused by the question.

“Oh, it’s you.”

“Hey, I deserve better than that, don’t I?” I asked.

“He’s two minutes late,” Grace said.

“Wow, you’re one tough gal to date. You might want to cut the guy a little slack,” I said.

“We’ve got reservations,” she said, “but I might be able to get them pushed back a little. What’s going on, Suzanne? Did something happen?”

“Yes, but not with the case.” I felt so silly saying it that I wondered why I’d called her in the first place. “You know what? Forget it, Grace. It’s not important. Have a nice night.”

“Suzanne Hart, don’t you dare hang up that phone. Now tell me, what’s going on?”

I took a deep breath, and then said, “Jake just called. Our conversation was kind of abrupt, because he had to go to dinner.”

“That’s understandable,” Grace said.

“With Ashley,” I finished.

There was a longer pause than I liked, and the silence just seemed to drag on and on. I finally asked, “Grace, are you still there?”

“I am. I’m just trying to figure out what to say,” she said.

I didn’t like the sound of that. “You don’t think there’s anything to it, do you? Tell me I’m just being paranoid.”

She paused again, and then said, “Jake cares deeply for you. He’s not about to throw that away, especially with your niece.”

“You know, technically she’s Max’s niece, not mine.”

“You know what I mean.”

“So, I don’t have anything to worry about?”

Grace was a little more somber than I liked when she answered. “I don’t know that I’d say that, either. It might not be a bad idea to visit him at the campus tomorrow.”

I didn’t like that idea at all. “I’ve got work to do, and an investigation to run. Besides, if I just show up, he’ll think I don’t trust him.”

“Do you?” Grace asked.

“Of course I do.” At least I thought I did.

“Then there’s nothing to worry about.” I heard a doorbell ring in the background, and she added quickly, “Sorry, Suzanne, but I’ve got to go. He’s here.”

I was about to say good night when she hung up on me, as well. There seemed to be a lot of that going on lately, and I had to admit, I wasn’t a big fan of it.

As I drove back home, I knew in my heart that Jake was faithful to me, no matter what the temptation. I was just being silly, but it still didn’t help ease the anxiety I felt about his dinner plans. While I knew without vanity that I was at least a little attractive, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I was no raving beauty, even when I’d been in my early twenties, and that was some time ago. Ashley was, for want of a better word, a knockout, and while I didn’t dream for one second that she’d set her sights on Jake, I probably would have felt better if she was back in her dorm studying instead of having dinner with my boyfriend.

CHAPTER 11

Momma was out again—presumably on another date—when I got home, and I couldn’t face more leftovers, so I got back into my Jeep and drove to Trish’s diner. I knew I could just as easily have walked the short distance through the park, but it was dark out, and I was feeling more than a little vulnerable at the moment. I knew what the real problem was. As much as I loved my independence and freedom, sometimes I got lonely, and tonight was definitely that kind of night. I wanted to be around people who were laughing, arguing, having deep discussions, just living their lives. I knew that I could get so wrapped up in my life that sometimes I forgot there was another world out there going about its business without a single thought or care about mine.

After fighting the temptation as long as I could, I tried calling Jake to see if his dinner was over, but when I did, the call went straight to voice mail. That was just about more than my overactive imagination could take at the moment. I almost turned around and drove back home, but I was still hungry, so I decided to keep going.

Trish was working the front when I walked in. “Hey, Suzanne, how are you?” She took a second look at me, and then added, “Is everything okay?”

I glanced around the diner and saw several couples out together, young and old, and the only place to sit was at the bar. “I’m fine. You’re busy. I’ll come back another time.”

She touched my arm before I could go. “You’re not getting away that easily. There’s always room for you here. Why don’t you sit right here and we can chat while I work?”

I couldn’t just leave, not that way. “Okay. Thanks.”

“What can I get you? After you order, we can talk.”

“I’ll have the special, whatever it is,” I said.

“Don’t you even want to know what we’re serving tonight?” Trish asked. “You really are off your game tonight.”

“Okay, what is it?” I asked.

“Country-style steak, green beans, and mashed potatoes.”

“That all sounds great,” I said.

Trish gave her cook the order, and then poured me a glass of sweet tea without asking. She knew well enough that I had usually had Coke with my burgers and sweet tea with everything else, though I changed it sometimes just to be different.

As Trish slid the glass in front of me, she said, “It won’t take a minute, but you still have time to tell me what’s going on.”

I saw an older couple approach the register with their bill. “You really don’t have time for this, and nothing’s wrong, anyway. I’m just feeling a little sad, blue, and alone. I bet you never feel sorry for yourself, or all alone in the world, do you?”

Trish’s smile dampened for a moment. “Trust me, I have more than my share of dark days, too.”

“How do you cope with them?” I asked her.

“Mostly, I just come into work, get busy, and after I start dealing with the folks who come in, my problems just fade away.”

“And what happens when they don’t?” I asked.

“I have a piece of pie,” she said.

“I’m serious, Trish. I’d really like to know.”

She looked at me steadily. “Suzanne, I wouldn’t lie to you.”

There was a bell from the kitchen, and she returned a second later with my plate. As Trish slid it in front of me, I took in the rich aroma of the gravy-laden steak, saw the real butter melting on top of the mashed potatoes, and marveled at the bright green tones of the beans.

“What do you think?” Trish asked me.

“It looks good enough to eat,” I said.

Trish laughed, and then patted me on the back. “I’m really glad you came in tonight.”

“You know what? I am, too,” I said.

I finished my meal, good to the last forkful, and was about to ask her for the bill when she whisked my plate away and put a large slice of apple pie down in front of me.

“I couldn’t possibly eat this,” I said.

“I’ll put it in a box, then,” Trish said as she started to take it away.

I put my hand on the plate to stop her. “Well, maybe I could manage one bite,” I said.

Trish laughed, and then said, “Good for you. I knew deep down that you were my kind of gal.”

“Hey, someone who makes treats for a living can’t afford to turn her nose up at pie when she gets the chance.”

“Don’t sell what you do short,” Trish said. “You make a lot of people in April Springs happy with those donuts you make. It’s not a little thing, bringing some joy into the world.”

“I know, and I love it. I’m just having one of those evenings.”

She looked stunned by the admission. “Still? After eating a slice of my world-famous apple pie?”

I realized that I was feeling better, though whether it was due to the food or the company, I couldn’t say.

It made me glad, yet again, that I lived in a small town.

*   *   *

I was trying to get interested in a movie on television, but my thoughts kept skipping to a thousand different places. No matter where they went, though, they always returned to Jake. I trusted him, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t curious about why he wasn’t answering his phone.

When the actors in the movie began discussing something that had just happened—something that I’d clearly missed—I turned off the show and thought about going to bed, even though it was early, even for me.

I’d just stood when the front door opened, and Momma came in. “Suzanne, how was your evening?”

I considered telling her about Jake and his dinner with Ashley, but honestly, I didn’t feel like rehashing it with her. “I’d love to tell you it was uneventful, but I’d be lying.”

“Do I want to know?” she asked as she hung her jacket up.

“I don’t think so. Can I get a free pass tonight?”

Momma must have seen something in my eyes, because she nodded and said, “Of course you may.”

“How was your date?”

“It was quite lovely, actually,” she said, and though I knew Chief Martin wouldn’t have described it that way in a million years, I was certain that he would have been pleased to hear it nonetheless.

“How goes the decision-making process? Come to any conclusions yet?”

She laughed, a surprising reaction as far as I was concerned. “That’s funny, you sound just like Phillip.”

“I bet his request for the information was a little more urgent than mine,” I said with a grin. I couldn’t help getting a little tweak in.

“I’ll tell you what I just told him. I’m not ready to make a decision one way or the other. If you must know, I think he’s relieved that he didn’t get an outright refusal, and he’s taking my delay as encouragement more than anything else.”

“Who can blame him? You certainly shocked me when you didn’t say no right away.”

Instead of being upset, Momma just nodded as she sat down on the couch. After I joined her there, she said, “At first, I thought he was insane when he proposed. We’ve known each other our entire lives, but we’ve only been dating for a few months.”

I saw a look in her eyes that surprised me. “But now?”

She glanced at me a moment, and then asked, “Do you want the truth, or would you like to hear what you want to hear?”

That answer wasn’t as easy as it should have been, but I knew what to say. “The truth. Always the truth.”

I hoped I meant it, but even if I wasn’t entirely convinced that it was true, I was still glad I’d said it.

“The idea of being with him has some real advantages,” she finally said. “As much as I love having you here and sharing this home with you, the prospect of spending the rest of my life with a man who clearly adores me isn’t to be discounted lightly.”

“I guess the real question is, how do you feel about him?”

She took a deep breath, and then let it out slowly. “That
is
the heart of the matter, isn’t it?”

“Do me a favor, Momma.”

“For you? Anything,” she said as she touched my shoulder lightly.

“Don’t turn him down because you’re worried about me. Grace has offered me a room at her place, so if you decide to marry him, I won’t get in your way, and I certainly don’t want to be used as an excuse for you to say no, if marrying him is what you want to do.”

She looked shocked by the declaration. “Why, that never even occurred to me.”

It was time to lay my position out on the table. “Momma, I can’t stay here when you’re trying to build a new life with someone else. It’s nothing against you or the police chief. I just don’t want to get in the way.”

“Suzanne, I would never bring another man into this house. Your father and I spent our entire married life here together, and I won’t do anything to touch those memories. I thought you understood that if I say yes, I’ll be the one moving out, not you. The house will be yours, and yours alone.”

That was a blockbuster, and I wasn’t sure how to react. “Momma, are you sure? This is the only place you’ve lived all your life. How could you leave?”

“I don’t have to tell you that getting married involves some sacrifices for both people.”

I looked around our homey place filled with love and memories. “But it’s a lot to give up,” I said.