Pecan Pies and Homicides (25 page)

Reba spun the blowgun in her hand, looking as if she were leading a marching band onto the field. “Go on and call the cops now, Opal. He won't give you any more trouble.”

Ella Mae hurried to Loralyn and slid an arm around her waist. “It's going to be all right,” she said. As Opal dialed Officer Hardy's number, Ella Mae led Loralyn, who was trembling violently, to the sofa. Her mother took one of Loralyn's hands and stroked it gently. Ella Mae picked up the other. The LeFaye women comforted Loralyn as she wept, her mascara dripping onto her white silk blouse, leaving a permanent record of the moment when her world fell apart.

Justice is similar to magic,
Ella Mae thought.
They both exact a price. And sometimes, the price is unfair.

The man who'd killed Eira and Barric would pay for his crime, she knew, but his family would pay too. Opal would feel ashamed, though not for long, but Loralyn was bound to suffer her father's rejection for the rest of her days. Now, as Ella Mae held the hand of the woman she'd once viewed as her greatest enemy, she vowed to help her heal.

Ella Mae turned to Reba and the two women smiled at each other. It was the kind of smile shared between family members. A slight curve of the lips and a glimmer in the eyes that said, “I know you. I love you. I'll always be with you.”

And when Ella Mae returned her gaze to her mother's face, she saw the same smile lifting the corners of her mouth. Ella Mae could feel the invisible threads joining her to her mother and to Reba. She imagined that if one were to strum them, the sound they'd produce would be like the ringing of tiny silver bells. And if the threads became visible, they'd shine like starlight.

Ella Mae shut her eyes. She rubbed Loralyn's back and murmured softly to her. Her hand moving in gentle circles, Ella Mae's thoughts turned to another woman with a halo of golden hair. A woman who Ella Mae hoped had leapt out of her frozen body to dance right off the mountainside and into the moonless sky. She thought of Barric and of the burned grove in Oak Knoll.

Inexplicably, a strange peace fell over her. She held Loralyn, and in a voice barely above a whisper, she sang a verse from “I See the
Moon,” an old lullaby Reba used to sing to her when she couldn't sleep.

Over the mountain, over the sea,

Back where my heart is longing to be,

Please let the light that shines on me

Shine on the one I love.

In the days following Jarvis Gaynor's arrest, Ella Mae tried to put the ordeal behind her. She wanted nothing more than to return to a life of baking pies, playing with Chewy, and sharing meals and laughter with her family and friends. She'd also been trying to catch a few moments alone with Hugh.

He'd been avoiding her, she knew, citing issues at work, and would stop by the pie shop only for quick visits. Coming in through the back door, he'd sit on a stool and chat amiably while Ella Mae, Reba, Jenny, and Aiden did their best to keep pace with the ever-increasing number of orders.

Ella Mae could barely concentrate on the baking, plating, and garnishing, let alone having to discern whether or not her boyfriend remembered seeing her in the lake Sunday night. All she knew was that a chasm was opening up between them. Hugh still made her laugh, like when he made a smiley face garnish out of two cucumber slices and a tomato wedge and dared Reba to serve it to one of Havenwood's grouchier residents, but his levity felt forced. He still kissed her too, but his touches were brief and without tenderness. When his lips brushed hers, she sensed a lack of presence, as if his thoughts were elsewhere.

But Ella Mae wasn't the kind of woman to sit around and wait for change. Since her return to Havenwood, she'd learned what mattered most in life, and her love for Hugh mattered. She wasn't going to let what they had go cold without a fight, so on Friday, when closing time drew near, she rolled out a ball of dough and fetched a heart-shaped cookie cutter from a large plastic tub she kept in the storeroom.

She'd just retrieved a container of red raspberries from the walk-in when Jenny entered the kitchen carrying two dirty plates. “Officer Hardy is here. He wants to know if he can come back and talk to you. He's not in uniform or anything. In fact, he just polished off a slice of pear and almond tart followed by three mini maple pecan pies.”

“Hey, if a paying customer wants to check out the kitchen, that's fine by me.”

Jenny finished loading the dishwasher and then hesitated. “The dining room's empty. Do you want me to stay and keep you company? I don't mind.”

“No, you go on ahead.” Ella Mae smiled at her. “And tell Reba and Aiden they're done for the day as well.”

“Aiden will be out the door in seconds,” Jenny said. “He has a date with Suzy tonight. It's just supper at her place, but Aiden's been checking his watch for the past two hours. He'll spend more time primping than Suzy will, I swear.”

Ella Mae laughed. “Just warn him that if he ever hurts her, I'll bake him an arsenic pie.”

Jenny saluted on her way into the dining room.

A moment later, Jon Hardy pushed the swing door open. “Is it safe to enter?”

“As long as this isn't an impromptu health inspection.”

Hardy gazed around the room, clearly liking what he saw. “It's warm, bright, and clean in here. Exactly how a kitchen should be.” He pointed at the stool pulled up to the worktable. “May I?”

“Of course. Do you mind if I make some noise before we talk?” She pointed at the food processor. “I'm making a white chocolate and raspberry filling.”

Hardy waved to indicate she should continue with her work and Ella Mae blended the filling and began to spoon it onto the heart-shaped pieces of dough. She didn't add any enchantment to Hugh's treat. She vowed to never use magic on him again. “Are you interested in becoming a pastry chef on the side?”

“No, ma'am. I'll leave that to experts like yourself.” There was a glint of amusement in his eyes. “Though you seem to get caught up in my job more than the average citizen.”

Ella Mae paused in the act of covering the white chocolate raspberry filling with another piece of heart-shaped dough, wondering if Hardy expected her to appear contrite. “I guess I have been entangled in a mess or two since I came back to town.”

“I'm actually here to thank you,” Hardy said. “Opal Gaynor stated that without your intervention, her husband might have fled before we had the chance to apprehend him. We knew that he'd been romantically involved with Eira Morgan, but we had to wait on the Oak Knoll Sheriff's Department to obtain the proof we needed before making an arrest. Mr. Gaynor paid for most things—hotel rooms, restaurant bills, gifts—in cash, but when the deputies distributed photos of Gaynor and Eira Morgan to neighboring towns, many people remembered seeing them together. Apparently, they acted like a couple madly in love.”

“That wasn't love,” Ella Mae murmured.

Hardy spread his hands in a show of capitulation. “I agree. Theirs was more of a dangerous passion. Crimes of passion are about possession and betrayal, and this one had a lion's share of both.” He watched Ella Mae seal the edges of the tiny pie using the tines of a fork. “I also came to tell you that Eira Morgan wasn't pregnant. The details of this case will be public knowledge before long, but I wanted to tell you this one myself. She wasn't well, Ms. LeFaye. She suffered from delusions and paranoia. She was seeing a professional when she was in college but stopped shortly after graduation. Apparently, that was the first time she was convinced that she was carrying a child, but she wasn't pregnant then nor prior to her death.”

“If only she'd gotten help,” Ella Mae said sadly. “All of this could have been avoided.”

“Her life might have been spared,” Hardy said hesitantly. “But Jarvis Gaynor was a ticking bomb. I've encountered men like him before. Always too quick to anger. Always burning with a quiet fury. People like Jarvis stoke their fires until they explode. Sadly, Eira Morgan was in his path when it happened.”

Ella Mae fell silent, wondering if Jarvis's propensity toward anger was exacerbated by Opal's coldness, if her disdain had fanned his rage. Jarvis had said that what he wanted most was to start a new life far away from his wife.

“I'm surprised he confessed,” she mused aloud. “I expected him to go down swinging.”

Hardy nodded. “I did too. But as our interview wore on, he told me that he'd lost everything that defined him, and it no longer mattered if he had his freedom or not. He indicated that you were responsible for his ruin, though that doesn't hold much water with me. People always want to blame someone else when they realize they have nowhere left to run.”

“Did he admit Robert Morgan was his original target? What if he'd succeeded? What would he do with Morgan's body?” Ella Mae opened the oven door and slid the heart-shaped pies inside. When she turned around, Hardy was pushing granules of sugar around the worktable with the pad of his index finger and frowning.

“He was going to dump Mr. Morgan into the lake.” Hardy shook his head in disgust. “Roll his wheelchair right off the end of a dock.”

“That's awful.” An image flashed in Ella Mae's mind of the terrifying creature she'd seen in the lake. The knowledge that she'd known the beast in its human form all her life made Ella Mae shudder.

She rubbed her arms and smiled at Hardy. “Can I offer you a decaf? I need something hot to drink.”

“No, thank you. I've overindulged already, especially on your magical pies.”

At his use of the word “magical,” Ella Mae's smile nearly faltered, but she kept it in place and poured the remains of the coffee into her mug. She couldn't help but feel that Hardy was studying her, analyzing her facial expressions and body language, but for what purpose she couldn't say. Stirring cream into her coffee, she picked up the mug and gazed at him expectantly over the rim.

Hardy cleared his throat. “One final question before I go. Mr. Gaynor was involved in an arson case in Oak Knoll, Tennessee. Two of your employees are from that same town, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Did you know about the fire before you asked Jenny and Aiden Upton to live in your house and work in your pie shop?”

Ella Mae didn't know where he was going with this line of questioning, but she decided to tread carefully. “I heard about the fire for the first time at the Gaynors' party. I had no idea it was set deliberately until much later,” she lied. “Jenny and Eira were friends, and Eira mentioned that Jenny and her brother were ready to relocate. Since I was in serious need of help, I called Jenny and asked her to drive down for an interview. Knowing she'd be a great fit, I offered her the job right away.”

Hardy looked confused. “The fire didn't destroy a single home or business, so why did so many people leave Oak Knoll? Especially to come here?”

Ella Mae shrugged. “I can only speak for Jenny. She was involved with her boss and they had a bad breakup. Trust me, when a romance at work goes sour, it's best to start over again in a new place. And Eira was moving to Havenwood, so it made sense for Jenny to be near her best friend and for Aiden to follow his sister. As for the others who left? I have no clue. Did you ask Robert Morgan? Perhaps he could shed some light on the Oak Knoll exodus.” She idly sipped her coffee.

“I did ask, in fact. Mr. Morgan told me that his company had outgrown its current office space and that he'd gotten an incredible buy on a large tract of land just outside Havenwood's town limits. Most of his executives were willing to make the move, and now he's here.”

Grimacing, Ella Mae said, “I disliked that man from the moment we met. When I heard about Eira's death, I immediately assumed Morgan was responsible. He treated his wife like she was a doll in a music box—something to be owned and admired, something to be wound up and made to perform on a whim. I never sensed an ounce of love or respect in him, even after she was gone.”

“I had my suspicions about him as well,” Hardy said. “Especially considering his interest in winning the affection of another man's wife. But Mr. Morgan is innocent of any wrongdoing, at least in the eyes of the law, and I've been told that he plans to donate funds to have a ballet studio built in his wife's honor at the Havenwood School of the Arts.” He shrugged. “Let's just hope there's more to him than what we see.”

Ella Mae made a noncommittal noise and shot at glance at the oven timer. The pies were almost finished baking.

Hardy got to his feet. “As for you, Ms. LeFaye, you remain a bit of a mystery to me. I'm usually adept at reading people, but I believe there's more to you than what meets the eye.”

Ella Mae glanced down at her flour-covered apron and laughed. “I should hope so!” The pair chatted about other things for a few minutes while Ella Mae removed the pies from the oven and set them on the cooling racks. When they were ready, she boxed up two of the heart-shaped pies and walked Hardy to the door. “As for me being a bit of a mystery, don't you think all of us are more than we seem? The hidden selves are capable of betrayal and heartbreak. Even murder. But they're also capable of great acts of altruism and love.” She handed him the pink bakery box. “These are for your wife.”

“Thank you. She'll love them.” Hardy opened the door and paused at the threshold. “You're an intriguing woman, Ms. LeFaye. I just hope that you can manage to keep yourself extricated from future police investigations.”

“I'd much rather see you here in the pie shop than in that gloomy conference room at the station.” She laughed.

Hardy smiled in return and then left.

Ella Mae took his vacant stool and finished her coffee. As she sipped the hot, rich brew, she resolved to be more guarded around Hardy. If he watched her too often or too closely, he might discover just how unique she was.

Finishing her coffee, Ella Mae loaded the dishwasher and tidied the rest of the kitchen. She then transferred the remaining heart-shaped pies into a pair of bakery boxes and headed to Canine to Five.

At the reception desk, she proffered one of the boxes to the woman on duty.

“This is my lucky day!” the woman exclaimed, opening the lid and grabbing one of the bite-sized pies. “Oh, they're still warm. Thank you, darling. I skipped lunch and my stomach is rumbling like a freight train. Hugh's in his office. Go on back.”

Ella Mae suddenly felt so nervous at the thought of finally being alone with Hugh that she could barely hold the other bakery box steady. She walked down the empty hall, moving farther away from the rumbling barks and shrill yips of the dogs playing in the agility area or swimming in the pool, and tried not to think about how Hugh had looked at her under the water. She focused on more pleasant memories instead, like the way his cheeks dimpled when he smiled or how he pinched the bridge of his nose when he was deep in thought. She pictured him pouring too much syrup on his pancakes or how he could make a quarter roll back and forth over his knuckles. She heard his deep laugh, saw his strong hands gripping a fire hose, and thought of how he always got down on all fours to greet an unfamiliar dog entering the daycare for the first time.

Holding these images at the forefront of her mind, she knocked on his office door and grinned when he called out, “Enter if you dare,” in what the receptionist referred to as his ogre voice.