Hard Candy (6 page)

Penny shook her head. She couldn’t believe he had all of this going on here. She hadn’t realized how much of a big deal this was.

“
Oh, you have to see the best part.” Craig kept going back until he reached an office behind the kitchen. It was filled with boxes, in varying states of readiness. Some were full of candy, others were sitting empty. A small desk with a desktop completed the décor. “This is where I’ve been doing all the internet orders. I need to come up with a better plan, but so far it’s just been me doing it. I might have to hire someone to help out.”

She couldn’t take her gaze off his happy face. This was what he was meant to do. He wasn’t going to leave this. Which meant she was even more confused, because she couldn’t see him moving to Houston to be with her, not with the store doing so well. Did she want to see what kind of future she could have with Craig? It was one of the reasons she was here, wasn’t it? For the first time, she realized being with Craig would mean leaving Houston and coming home to Bandit Creek.

Suddenly, that didn’t seem so easy. She had worked for years to get to where she was in her career. What would she do here? What could she do?

Sure, she didn’t exactly love her job, not the way Craig did, but that didn’t mean she was ready to just throw it away.

And she was getting ahead of herself again. They were taking this week as a test of sorts. To see what happened between them. And to see what had happened so many years ago.

“
I love it,” she said. “You’ve really done a good job, here.”

Craig beamed. “Thanks. It works for me, you know?”

“
Yeah, I do. Listen, you said you had some things to work on this morning so why don’t I go out front and you can get to it.”

“
You sure?”

“
Yeah. I might grab some liquorice and go sit out in the park.”

“
Okay, just grab whatever you want. On the house.”

Penny laughed. “Sure you want to just give me that kind of free reign?”

“
I trust you.”

She laughed, before heading back through the kitchen and into the store itself. She grabbed a liquorice wand on the way out and set out to wander down the street. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. She’d had these grand plans to come here and figure out what happened all those years ago and now that she was here she had absolutely no idea where to start. Maybe she should go to the Sherriff’s office, but she’d already talked to Adam Medicine Crow. What else could he possibly tell her?

With no direction in mind, Penny started to walk down Main Street. She walked past the library and peered through the windows of the Grey Rose restaurant before finally spotting the Powderhorn Saloon. It was early, but she figured it might be open. Worth a shot anyway.

Crossing the street, she pushed open the doors and stood in the doorway of the old place. It had been built in 1912, right after the flood wiped out the old Bandit Creek. Penny figured people always seemed to gravitate to a saloon, no matter what the year. However popular it was, the saloon didn’t look like it had ever been updated. Grit covered the floors, and the dusty charm of the place brought back good memories of when she was younger.

She wasn’t sure what she was doing here, but she wouldn’t find anything she wanted at the Powderhorn. That was for sure. With a sigh, she stepped back outside and stood in front of the saloon. What was she supposed to do?

“
Aftnoon, Cherry.”

Penny whirled at the voice.

Speaking of memories, there was a living one right there. Jack was walking -- actually, stumbling -- toward her. He passed her without another comment and continued down the street. She wasn’t sure where he was going, but he had a brown paper bag in his hand that she’d bet ten dollars had a bottle of JD in it.

Jack was an interesting fellow. He had that ageless kind of face that made you play guessing games about how old he was. He’d been ancient since she’d been in diapers, that was all she knew about it. But, there was something about Jack…Hold on, had he called her Cherry? Had he meant Cerise?

“
Jack! Hey, Jack.” Penny jogged toward the man, stopping a little distance away from him. Geez, he reeked. Jack had that particular eau de bum that made her want to walk away.

He kept walking, ignoring her.

“
Jack? I don’t know if you remember me? Penny Anderson. I used to live here a while back. Moved away with my dad right after my mom died. Cerise Anderson? Do you remember her?”

“
Cemtry.”

“
Sorry, what was that?”

“
Come out to play,” he mumbled. “Cemtry girl.”

Right, that made sense. What the hell? What was she doing, coming to Jack of all people for a clue? Something made her stand still, though. She’d heard rumors about Jack her whole life.

“
Jack, can you help me? It’s about my mom.”

Jack took a swig from his bottle before letting out a belch that just about seared her nose hairs. Lovely.

“
I don’t know where to start. Looking for information about what might have happened to her. To Cerise Anderson.”

“
Cemtry lane.”

“
Cemetery Lane? Is that...Are you saying I should go there?” God, she felt stupid.

“
Cemtry. Cherry girl. Go to lake.” Jack belched again before stumbling off away from her.

Extremely helpful, Jack was. Penny sighed. Well, she had nothing else to go on. Might as well follow through on the drunken ramblings of the town bum. What else did she have to lose?

She’d gone back to The Candy Store to tell Craig she was heading to the cemetery—she’d needed him to drive her back to his house so she could pick up her rental car—and now she stood here feeling like a complete idiot. Her mom was here, but she didn’t want to go down and cry over her tombstone. She was going to force herself, though. God, she hated cemeteries. Walking down the manicured rows, she looked around. There was an even mix of modern and older headstones, which made her think of her mom. They’d come down here when Penny was growing up, to pay their respects to their family buried here.

In a way, it was nice, that Cerise was buried here beside her family that she used to come and visit. Taking a much longer route than she’d originally intended, Penny walked around and stopped at each of the headstones she’d used to visit back then. The cemetery was pretty well tended. A few headstones had flowers propped up against them, some silk and some real.

At the end of her meandering path, Penny finally reached the place where her mom was buried.

Penny crouched down. “Hey, Mom. I feel stupid, and I don’t know what to say to you. I wish you could tell me what really happened all those years ago. Did you drown in the lake? Did someone… Did someone hurt you? What am I doing here? Why am I doing this? I loved Dad, and I don’t like thinking these things about him. What kind of person does that make me that I’d even think he might be responsible for what happened to you?”

Blinking away tears, she placed a bracing hand on her mother’s tombstone.

“
You’d be horrified, wouldn’t you? If I suspected him of doing something like that to you. Family was so important to us, to you. But, if that was true, then why’d you cheat on him, Mom? Why would you hurt him like that? You hurt him and then you just disappeared.”

She sighed. That wasn’t fair. Her mother hadn’t disappeared, she’d died. But, how?

“
What would you tell me if you had the chance? I’m trying here, Mom. Help me out. Please?” Penny slid down to sit on the ground. She crossed her legs and looked out over the cemetery.

“
I visited your family. Yours and Dad’s, both. The ones we always used to come to. I know how important family was to both of you. I’m sorry Dad isn’t buried here. He asked to be cremated, but I don’t know what to do with his ashes. Stupid, huh? They’re just sitting at my house. Aunt Gertie didn’t want them.”

Wait, Aunt Gertie. As much as she hated asking her aunt for anything, Craig was right. They had lived just down the street from each other. Her aunt had obviously known about the journal when Penny had confronted her with it over the phone. Should Penny go and see her? Maybe she’d say something in person that she hadn’t said over the phone. It was worth a shot.

She stood up in a rush. Bending down slightly, she touched a shaking hand to the headstone in front of her. “Bye, Mom. I’ll be back. I promise.”

Hurrying to where she parked her car, Penny pulled her cell out of her purse and dialled Craig.

“
Hello?”

“
Craig, it’s me. I’ve decided to follow a hunch and go back to Missoula.”

“
What? You’re leaving? No, you can’t leave. Penny...”

“
No, no! I’m not leaving. I’m just going into Missoula to visit Aunt Gertie. It’d be a hell of a lot easier if she still lived in Bandit Creek, but I don’t mind the drive.”

His sigh of relief came through loud and clear, making her feel bad for causing him any concern. “Okay, well, drive safe and don’t stay too long. You sure this is what you want to do?”

“
She’s the only one I can think of talking to. I was too mad before, and so was she. I mean, obviously, by her calling you it means she’s still pissed at me for asking about mom’s affair, but I need to see if she knows something else. I deserve to know, and she can just deal with it if she doesn’t like it.”

“
You want me to come with you?”

She did, but at the same time this was something she should do by herself. Her aunt wouldn’t appreciate her bringing Craig along, even if she knew he was aware of everything. “No, you said you had work to do.”

She opened the car door and sat down inside.

“
Pens, I can drop work. I want to drop work to be with you. If you need me.”

Decision time. “I
do
need you. I’ve realized that easy enough. But, I also need to do this by myself. Promise me you’ll hold me when I come back?”

“
For as long as you want.”

“
Thanks, Craig.”

Penny tossed her phone into her purse and started the car. She really should let her aunt know she was coming, but she didn’t know what to say.

Instead, she let the miles drift past as she drove toward Missoula. Was this the right decision? Was this going to solve anything?

She only had to stop once to call Craig back for directions, but eventually she pulled up in front of a modest bungalow. She’d never been here before, but she’d had the address. Her dad and his sister had written back and forth for years. Old-fashioned, maybe. But, it was a good thing now.

She loped up the steps and rang the doorbell. Seconds later the door creaked open and her aunt was standing in the entranceway. That was fast. Had she been sitting right beside the door or something? Aunt Gertie hadn’t changed a bit. She was short and round, with a deceptively jovial expression.

“
Penelope.” Her aunt made her name sound like it was something dirty. Lovely.

She sighed. “Hi, Aunt Gertie.”

“
Won’t you come in? I wasn’t expecting you.”

“
No, I’m sorry about that. I should have called.”

“
You haven’t exactly been exhibiting proper behavior, so I expect nothing less.”

They took a seat in the living room. Penny surreptitiously looked around. The couches were pale ivory with huge flowers strewn across the fabric. Family portraits were the only decoration in the room.

“
Look, I’m sorry about the journal. About the way I confronted you with it.”

“
I know you think you deserved to know, but you were a child.”

“
I was seventeen!”

“
Yes, and you acted like a child. You don’t get automatic rights to know everything about your parents, Penelope. It doesn’t work that way.”

Penny hung her head. It felt like she was back in elementary school again, being chastised.

“
I’m sorry.”

Her aunt wilted, slightly. “I’m not mad about the journal, Penny, or your reprehensible behavior when you accused me of conspiring with Lord only knows who to keep it from you. I’m upset about you telling that boy. How many other people have you told about your parents private affairs?”