Heart of Gold (17 page)

C H A P T E R

13

A
t the reception, Bernadine listened as Trent greeted their guests and thanked them for coming. As always, his remarks were short and sweet, for which everyone was grateful. In attendance were local politicians, business owners, men and women of the cloth, and plain ol' everyday folks. Most were walking around the airy new store, assessing its offerings and checking out the displays of fresh vegetables, bread, and meat. Crystal and Eli were offering face painting, and there was a line of eager children waiting for their turns. Sheila and her committee had done a bang-up job of dressing up the interior with balloons and festive banners, and there was free ice cream, punch, and bite-size samples of meat and cheese from the store's deli for the guests to nibble on. Bernadine was proud to have gotten this project off the ground. With Gary's help, it was a dream come true for both the community and for the Clarks. The residents of Henry Adams now had their very own grocery store, and the recently divorced Gary and his girls had a bright future.

“This is quite a place you have here, Ms. Brown.”

She turned to the speaker and plastered on a fake smile. “Hello, Mayor Wiggins. Thanks for coming.” The blonde standing with him wasn't someone she'd met. From her artfully tousled hair and deep tan to her peasant-inspired white blouse and tight designer jeans, she could've just blown in from, oh, Palm Springs, but the pricey handbag was a knockoff, as was the gleaming black leather jacket lying so casually over her arm.

“Let me introduce my wife, Astrid Franklin Wiggins.”

“Pleased to meet you.”

“Same here.” The eyes told the lie as she looked Bernadine up and down like a boxer sizing up an opponent.

Having had no idea that Wiggins was married or what his wife was about, Bernadine did her best to maintain a pleasant demeanor.

The wife glanced around critically at the goings-on, then turned back. “All the hoopla you've been causing since you came to town is making Franklin's residents somewhat jealous.” There was acid hidden beneath the mild tone.

Bernadine shrugged. “Just doing what I feel is best for Henry Adams.”

“My family founded Franklin, and we've always been the center of things. We built the first library and the school. Had the first gaslit house and the first telephone. Franklin money built the first municipal pool.”

Bernadine wondered if she was supposed to be intimidated. “That's a lot of firsts, but where's this going, Ms. Wiggins?”

“Because of you, our people are demanding the same level of services. They want a new senior center, movies on Friday nights, a new school. New roads downtown. If Henry Adams has something, they want it to. I need you to stop throwing your money around.”

Wiggins's eyes went big. “Um, honey . . .”

“Shush!” his wife snarled softly. Red-faced, he complied.

Bernadine found this very interesting. “Mrs. Wiggins, I will tell you what I told your husband last summer during the Big Box incident. This is
my
money. No one can make me spend it on what I don't want, or stop me from spending it on what I do want.”

That apparently made Astrid so angry that she lost her mind. “My ancestors were founding this country when you people were shoeless and picking cotton. I will not play second fiddle to a bunch of—”

The wide-eyed Mayor Wiggins sucked in a shocked breath and grabbed his wife's arm. Bernadine gave her a crocodile's smile. “I can't believe you went there, but because you did, this is what's going to happen. The kids here want a pool, so in the spring I'm going to build the biggest, baddest swimming pool you've ever seen. It'll have diving boards and slides and all the stuff kids like—and on the day it opens, the Franklin kids will get a personal invite, so they can enjoy it, too. And every time you drive by and see it, you'll know that you and your nasty mouth are the reason it was built. Nice meeting you.”

Bernadine threaded her way through the crowd to look for Mal. She was so hot she wanted to go back and sock Astrid Wiggins in her nose, but the swimming pool would put her nose out of joint in a far more powerful way, and that would have to do. What a bitch. She wanted the skinny on Astrid Franklin Wiggins and knew Mal could probably fill her in, but she hadn't seen him since the reception began. She spotted Reverend Paula and Roni by the cookie aisle. Hoping they might have seen him, she made her way over.

“He was by the meat counter when I last saw him,” Roni offered. The aftermath of the encounter with the Wigginses must have still been on her face, because Roni asked, “Are you okay, Bernadine?”

“I am. Just a little drama.”

“It's not your sister, is it? How is she?”

“The drama had nothing to do with her. She's at home, doing her best impression of Blanche Dubois because her personal life is unraveling like an old sweater, and she's clinging to denial rather than dealing with it.”

“I can talk to her if she wants,” Paula said.

“I doubt she'll agree, but I'll let her know. Okay. Let me go find Mal. See you later.”

The store would officially open in the morning, and to help make sure people returned, door prizes of gift cards were being given away. In a little while, one lucky person would receive a hundred-dollar shopping spree. Bernadine had been tapped to draw the winning entry. Until then there was Mal to find, more folks to say hello to, and little kids with ice cream cones to lighten her mood and make her smile.

Barrett stopped her. “I just escorted two underage teens off the property.”

“Shoplifting?”

“Yes, watched them slip a six-pack of beer into a backpack on the monitors. Told them next time it happens, I call the sheriff.”

Bernadine approved of his largesse. “Good to know the cameras have proven themselves already.”

“Yes, it is. The fact that they're camouflaged makes people think we don't have security, and that's to our advantage.”

Henry Adams was testing a new high-tech camera system that was cleverly embedded into the ceiling tiles. The company's owner was one of Barrett's marine buddies. Once again Bernadine was pleased that Barrett had discovered his niche. “Carry on, Mr. Homeland Security.”

He saluted and melted back into the crowd.

She finally found Mal helping Bing and Clay stock the meat cases. He greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. “Quite a crowd you have here, Ms. Brown.” He was stacking packaged hot dogs into one of the cold bins.

“This is wonderful, isn't it?” Streams of people flowed by. The store was one more item she could scratch off her Henry Adams wish list. “Tell me about Astrid Wiggins.”

He studied her silently for a moment, and like Roni, he must've seen something. “What happened?”

So she told him. When she'd finished, he nodded. “Sounds like her. Family had lots of money at one time, but now, not so much. She still thinks she's queen though, and no one in Franklin blows his nose without her permission. Heads up the historical society, library board, school board. Her daddy was a vet back in the day. He handled the white farmers, and I handled our side. Pretty decent guy, died ten years ago, but his daddy—Astrid's grandfather Walter—was a real bastard. Led the Klan here. He's dead now, too. You've let folks around here know just what a tiny fish she is, and she's not liking it.”

“How long have she and the mayor been married?”

“Probably fifteen years. Rumor at the time was that granddaddy paid August to marry her.”

Her jaw dropped.

“You met her. Between her hoity-toity attitude and that horse face, not even her money could get her a man.”

With her wide jaw and large teeth, Astrid did resemble a horse.

Mal stacked more hotdogs and added, “Growing up, the girls over in Franklin called her Seabiscuit behind her back.”

“Wow.”

“So you go ahead and build that pool. It'll make her choke half to death every time she sees it, and that'll be a good thing.”

“Thanks for the history lesson.”

“Always here for you.”

“What are you doing after this is over?” she asked him. “Can I treat you to the movies tonight?”

“Sure. What's Tamar showing?”

“
The Princess Bride
and
The Green Pastures
.”

“Okay. And after it's over, we can take the truck down to the creek and catch up on our smooching.”

She laughed. “You are a mess.” Her fingers went to his promise necklace hanging from its delicate chain around her neck. Since he'd presented her with it, she'd been wearing it twenty-four/seven to remind herself that she was loved by an awesome and, yes, crazy man.

Over the speaker system Gary announced more gift card winners. A squeal of delight sounded nearby. Bernadine turned to see an obviously giddy woman running toward the front of the store. Onlookers smiled.

Gary's voice came over the sound system again. “It's now time to draw for the big $100 shopping spree. If Ms. Brown would please make her way to the front of the store, we'll have her pick the winning ticket.”

“Guess that's me.”

“It is indeed. I'll see you in a bit.”

“Love you, Mal.”

“Love you too, Ms. Brown.”

Everyone in the store was crowded around the area at the front of the store. Gary was standing on a large wooden crate. On the floor beside him stood Gemma Dahl, decked out in her snazzy indigo-toned employee vest. She was holding the large cardboard box that people had been putting their entries into. She gave Bernadine a smile of greeting.

“Ms. Brown, would you do the honors?” said Gary.

Gemma removed the top. Bernadine reached in, stirred the slips around, and, one hand over her eyes, drew out the winner. “Pete Bantam!”

A yell of “Yes!” shot up from the back of the crowd, and he came forward as the onlookers applauded wildly. She knew Pete. He was a pipefitter from Franklin. A big bear of a man who sported a graying waist-long ponytail, he'd worked on the Henry Adams construction crew her first summer in town. When he reached Bernadine, he gave her a huge hug and everyone cheered.

Gary said, “Mr. Bantam, you can take advantage of your prize any time in the next thirty days.”

“Got three growing boys. I'll be here first thing in the morning!” he declared, to much laughter.

He moved back into the crowd, and Bernadine watched him receive a happy welcome from his wife, Maria.

Gary then announced, “Tomorrow the first one hundred people to arrive will get a chance at one of the three $50 and two $25 sprees up for grabs, so make sure you come on back.”

The buzzing crowd began to disperse. Some people headed for the exits, while others who'd just arrived drifted away to check out the store.

“This was great,” said Gemma. “Can't wait to start work in the morning.”

Before Bernadine could respond, she saw Gemma stiffen and her eyes widen, then narrow ominously. Curious, Bernadine turned to find the root of the reaction. There stood the Wigginses. Austin was speaking with someone, but Astrid was staring daggers. “You know her?”

“Oh yeah,” Gemma said in a voice tinged with bitterness.

“You sound as if there's history there.”

“There is. Remember the nasty remarks and whispers I told you I was getting? Astrid is the head witch in charge. She and I have been beefing since high school. My shift's done, so I'm going to grab my coat. I'll see you in the morning.”

“Okay.” Gemma walked away, and Bernadine turned to Astrid, who stared back with eyes as cold as January on the plains.

Zoey finally made it to Mr. Patterson's place. Only in hindsight did she realize this had been a really bad idea. Her thighs were burning from all the pedaling, and it had taken her such a long time to get there, she just knew her mom would get back to the house first. She hopped off her bike and ran to the fence to leave the bag, then heard, “Stop right there!”

It was Mr. Patterson. He didn't have his gun, but he was walking toward her like he was really mad. Zoey straightened slowly.

“What're you doing here again, Raymond!”

Zoey was shaking so badly, it took a moment for her to form speech. “I—wanted to bring you some cake.”

“Why?”

“I thought you might like some,” she whispered.

“Scared of me, are you?”

She wanted to lie but couldn't. “Yes, sir.”

“Good. You should be scared of people you don't know!” he barked, leaning in and yelling the last three words.

She jumped with fright.

He stuck out his hand.

Shaking, Zoey passed the bag holding the cake to him over the broken-down fence.

“Come back here, again, Raymond and I'll shoot you! Now git!”

Her tears flowed as she ran back to her bike. Jumping on, she pedaled like her life was in danger. Maybe it was. She didn't know. She'd tried to be nice to an old man, and all she'd gotten out of it was being yelled at and scared half to death. Her mom was going to be so angry when she got home and found her not there. Why was her life so awful?

Pedaling over open land now, the tears clouding her eyes kept her from seeing well, and instead of steering around a large hole ahead, she pedaled right into it. The abrupt stop sent her flying over the bars. When she landed, her head hit the ground, and everything went black.

Roni was pulling in to her garage when her phone sounded. Seeing Tamar's name on the caller ID, she wondered what she wanted.

“Hey, Tamar.”

“I'm on the way to the Hays hospital with Zoey.”

Roni's heart stopped. “What! What happened?”

Tamar told her of finding the unconscious Zoey in the field near Genevieve's old place.

“Oh my god!”

“The EMTs just loaded her into the ambulance.”