Simple Deceit (The Harmony Series 2) (4 page)

“You’re right about that,” I said, grinning. “The truth is, I’m a terrible cook.”

Sam’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. “You can’t cook? You never told me that before.”

“Does this mean you don’t love me anymore?”

Sweetie grunted and adjusted her graying bun. “Gracie girl, this boy has been so poky-faced while you been gone, he didn’t even eat much of
my
food. I don’t think your cookin’ abilities are too important to him.” She sighed as she looked at her nephew. “He certainly missed you. I’m glad to see him smilin’ again.”

Sam brushed a lock of blond hair off his face and stared at me innocently. “I have no idea what she’s talking about. Were you gone? I didn’t notice….”

I laughed and pointed my fork at him. “You’d better watch it, bub. I can head back to Wichita anytime.”

He tossed me a lopsided grin. “No, you can’t. No apartment anymore, remember? Seems to me you’re stuck here now.”

“Speaking of being stuck here, I’m almost afraid to ask. Did you get the problems with my electricity figured out?” Although my Mennonite uncle’s house had been wired for electricity, there had been a lot of problems with it. I never knew from one day to the next if it was going to work.

“The furnace is in, the electricity is on, but it’s a work in progress, I’m afraid. I’ll have to keep tweaking it. When summer comes, we’ll have to add a couple of air conditioners.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m more concerned about freezing my toes off than I am about air-conditioning right now. Thanks for taking care of things for me. Sorry to put all this on you, but with having to go back and forth so much…”

Sam waved his hand at me. “No apology necessary. It’s worth it. I’m just glad you’re here.”

“Me, too. You have no idea.”

A tiny meow and the sensation of something rubbing against my leg reminded me that Snicklefritz was glad to be home, too.

“Snickle will be glad to get settled down in his own house tonight,” Sam said. “Just remember what we said about keeping him inside.”

I swallowed a bite of mashed potatoes. “That won’t be a problem. He’s always been an indoor cat. I don’t think he has any desire to go outside.”

“You might be surprised, Gracie,” Sweetie retorted in her low, raspy voice. “Animals is animals, you know.”

Sweetie wasn’t crazy about cats. Of course, this meant Snickle gravitated to her like white on rice. What is it about cats that makes them hound the people who dislike them the most? Sam
and I thought it was kind of funny.

“It’s especially important that you keep an eye on him, Grace,” Sam said. “Without claws he’s a sitting duck for coyotes or other animals.”

“I know, I know. You’ve told me that a hundred times.”

“I think you might be exaggerating just a little.”

“I had him declawed so he wouldn’t tear up my furniture,” I retorted. “Guess I should have realized I’d end up someday as Gracie of Sunnybrook Farm.”

Sam snorted. “That’s ridiculous. You don’t have a farm.”

“All right, you two,” Sweetie said. “Let’s quit talkin’ about that mangy cat.”

As if on cue, Snickle took that moment to jump into her lap. Sweetie shrieked and waved her fork around, which caused a piece of meat loaf to sail up into the air and land on the floor a few feet away. Snickle jumped down and made a beeline for the tasty morsel, scarfing it up before any of us had a chance to react.

Sam burst out laughing. “Hope meat loaf is okay for cats.”

Sweetie stood to her feet, her face beet red. She beat one hand against the bib of her overalls. She reminded me of King Kong defending himself against his attackers on top of the Empire State Building. “You hope my meat loaf’s okay? That cat did that on purpose. He planned it!” She pointed her fork at Snickle, who gazed at her interestedly while he chewed and swallowed the last juicy morsel of Sweetie’s main course. “It’s a good thing you’re goin’ home tonight, cat. If you was around here much longer, I’d…”

“You’d what?” Sam asked. “You wouldn’t hurt an animal if it set fire to your hair. I couldn’t even get you to put out traps for the mice and rabbits that chew our irrigation lines. You talk big, but you have no intention of hurting that cat.”

Sweetie gave her nephew a fierce frown. “Them mice weren’t flippin’ my meat loaf in the air, neither.”

Snickle chose that exact second to rub up against Sweetie’s leg. Her complexion deepened, and I began to worry she was having a stroke. After glaring at my poor cat, she seemed to surrender and plopped back down in her chair. “Now just what caused that bump on your head, Gracie? That cranky old Pat Taylor better not have anything to do with it. You need to start fillin’ us in on the details, girlie.”

Since the baby was the more important story, I decided to get my meeting with the sheriff out of the way first. I quickly recounted my run-in with the fussy lawman, first assuring them that he had nothing to do with my injury. “He let me off with a warning, but I got the feeling he would have rather executed me on the spot.” I pointed my finger at Sam. “You’re the one who told me he hates everyone in Harmony. I guess you’re right. He was especially upset about Jacob Glick’s body. Seems he thinks we should have called him in sooner.”

Sam shook his head. “That would have been a disaster. Frankly, if there’d been a way to keep him out of it altogether, I would have been happier about it. That man makes me uncomfortable. He used to come to town and park himself in the diner. Then he’d watch everyone, like a snake looking for its next meal. Even came around here a few times, poking his nose in our business, like he wanted to make sure we were doing everything by the book. Some of his questions were weird, though. Personal stuff.” He speared another piece of meat loaf and held it up in front of him. “I was very relieved when he stopped hanging around so much.”

“You must not be the only one who thinks that,” I said. “I heard folks in Harmony try to solve their problems without bothering him. I certainly understand how they feel. I know it sounds crazy, but it was almost like he knew me. And when he said he was going to keep an eye on me… Well, it seemed, I don’t know, like a threat.”

“I don’t like the way that sounds,” Sam said after swallowing the food in his mouth. “I just don’t trust the guy. And you’re right about people here trying to keep him out of their business. Of course, there have been a handful of times when there wasn’t much choice. He’d either come or send a deputy, but it was clear he wasn’t happy about it.”

Sweetie, already stirred up by Snickle’s antics, exploded. “That man’s a sharp-tongued, nasty-minded, side-winding snake in grass who—”

“So something really interesting happened when I got into town,” I said quickly, hoping to pull Sweetie’s attention away from her newest source of contention, Sheriff Pat Taylor. As I told them about the abandoned baby and my subsequent fall, Sam’s mouth dropped open.

“Grace, are you sure you’re okay? I can drive you to the emergency clinic in Sunrise. You should probably get X-rays.”

I grinned at him. “Are you trying to tell me I should have my head examined?”

“It’s not funny. Head injuries can be serious.”

“Thanks, Sam, but Abel called John, and he came over and checked me out. I’m fine. Just a headache and it’s already better. Between the aspirin and the good food, I’m recovering nicely, thank you.”

“John Keystone is not a real doctor,” Sweetie sputtered. “For cryin’ out loud. He sells meat. You’re not a side of beef.”

“But he
was
a doctor,” I said gently. “He examined me thoroughly. No sign of a concussion. Just a nice bump on the head. Really, I’m fine.”

“What about the baby?” Sam asked. “Is it okay?”

“She seemed fine. She needed to have her diaper changed, but other than that, she looked healthy and well fed.”

Thankfully Sweetie’s attention turned from my welfare to the
baby’s. “Oh my goodness gracious,” she said in a tight voice. “And no one knows who the mother might be?”

“No. Abel’s wondering if it could be someone in his church. He wants to keep the baby for a while to see if the family comes to get it.” I shrugged. “I told him he should contact Child Services if he doesn’t find the mother soon. I wouldn’t want to see him get in any trouble.”

I noticed that Sam had little to say about the abandoned baby. He seemed to be concentrating on his food.

“It’s wrong to leave your child behind and take off,” Sweetie said. “Seems to me that mother ain’t much of a mother.”

“We don’t really know what’s going on,” I said. “Hopefully Abel and Emily will find the right solution.”

Sam finally broke his silence. “One thing I know. Abel Mueller will do everything in his power to make things come out right.”

I nodded my agreement.

“Changing the subject,” he said, “you mentioned something on the phone about some project that would help Harmony. What’s that about?”

“It’s a developer. A new client of Grant’s. He’s thinking about building a retirement community down the road a few miles from here. He’s in negotiations to buy land he needs from some farmer. He believes Harmony adds charm to the area and his residents will find the town an appealing attraction.”

Sweetie slapped her hand on the table. “We don’t need to be overrun by no fancified, rich retired folks who have nothin’ better to do than to come down here and gawk at us. Retirement community. What a daft idea.”

I cleared my throat. If Sweetie couldn’t find anything to be upset about, she’d turn something as innocuous as a small retirement village into the invasion of the Huns. “There will only be sixty homes in the development. I hardly think a hundred people
over fifty-five constitutes being ‘overrun.’ ”

She scowled at me. “We like Harmony the way it is. Don’t need no hoity-toity strangers changin’ things. Besides, we only have around five hundred folks livin’ here now. Another hundred? My lands, girl! That’s a huge amount for this little town to support.”

Sam held his hand up. “You know, this explains some of the rumors I’ve been hearing. Seems that your developer friend has already visited several people in town. Convinced them that his project will change their lives—bring more business in. Between the folks who actually live in the community and their friends and family members, several of our business owners are seeing dollar signs, especially during the holidays. I hope it’s true. Ruth could use the business, and so could Gabriel and Sarah. You know they’re working hard to get Levi’s candle shop off the ground.”

I put my fork down and frowned at him. “I knew Eric was in town, but Grant said he was just here to spread the word about a town meeting tomorrow night. I figured he’d save all the details until then.”

Sam shrugged. “When a stranger comes to Harmony and starts asking residents to attend a meeting, there are going to be questions. I doubt he had much choice.”

“You’re probably right. Still, I wish he’d waited for me to get back. I could have helped him.”

“I believe he’s been here almost two weeks now,” Sam said. “But only during the day, I guess. I doubt he’s driving back and forth from Wichita. He’s probably staying in Council Grove. No other hotels nearby.”

“So what exactly do
you
have to do with all this foolishness?” Sweetie asked me, still eyeing Snickle, who had curled up next to her feet.

“I’m going to be working on this project with Eric. You know,
helping to get things set up. Designing the brochures and promotional material for the community. It’s my first freelance job for Grant, and I’ll be making pretty good money. If this project works out well, Eric promised Grant even more business down the road. That means more work for me.” I grinned at Sam. “Makes it possible for me to pay for all that fancy electricity that’s powering my house. Also means I might actually have food through the winter.”

“Like we would let you starve.” Sweetie sniffed. “You don’t need no hoity-toity developer to take care of you. You got us.”

I smiled at the woman who had become like a second mother to me. When I’d first come to Harmony, I’d seen her as a nuisance—someone to avoid like the plague. Now she was one of the most important people in my life. “Thank you, Sweetie. I know that.” I reached over and covered her hand with mine. “I feel the same way about you.”

She scowled at me and moved her hand away, but not before giving my fingers a little squeeze. “Land’s sakes. No need to get all sloppy about it.”

“Okay, but thanks anyway.”

She cleared her throat and grabbed another roll. Sweetie didn’t express her feelings very often, but when she did, it didn’t last long.

“Hope this big-time developer’s not plannin’ on breakin’ ground now. Bad weather will be comin’ down on us soon enough. Not a good time for buildin’ anything.”

“No, he intends to get started in the spring. He wants to get the planning out of the way—and get the community behind the idea.”

“So tell me about this Eric,” Sam said. “I still haven’t met him. Haven’t been to town much, and every time I do manage to get there, he seems to be gone. How old is he? Should I be jealous?”

“Eric Beck’s around thirty years old, wealthy, and quite handsome.” I laughed at the stricken look on his face. “And no, you
shouldn’t be jealous. Of anyone. Ever. I’ve discovered I have a thing for farm boys with gray eyes and long blond hair, and Eric is definitely a city guy. All the way.”

“Sounds like a slick showman with a tricky streak,” Sweetie said sharply.

I sighed. “Well, he isn’t. He’s a very nice man who truly believes his retirement village will be a blessing for everyone.” I shot her a disapproving look. “You might want to reserve judgment until you actually meet him.”

Aware that she’d been chastised, she murmured something under her breath and reached for the jelly. Hopefully the storm was over for a while.

I turned toward Sam and rolled my eyes. He shrugged. We were both used to his aunt’s outspokenness, but sometimes she went too far.

“Do you know whose land he’s looking to buy?” Sam asked.

“A Rand McAllister. I don’t know him.”

“Rand McAllister?” Sweetie squawked. “Why, that land of his ain’t worth nothin’. Rand is as lazy as the day is long. Spends his time drinkin’ in the shed behind his house if you want my opinion. And the way he treats his poor wife and child…”