Letters From Al (10 page)

"I wish I could have known her like that." Maddy said softly, "You're lucky."

Aunt Polly sighed and wiped her glasses. "No. The town and I were the lucky ones to have known her."

Putting the fragile spectacles back on, she slapped her knee and leaned forward. "Yes, she always was the first one to help. Now maybe I can repay her kindness. So, I'll help you. As for a remembrance, well, I got a heart full of memories. That's enough for me, that, and now you." Sipping her tea, she shook her head and chuckled. "I'm talking your ear off aren't I? So windy I could dry a load of laundry in front of me. Just one more thing, you're a good person. Your aunt knew that or she wouldn't have kept track of you. She liked Alec, thought he was a fine judge of character." Her voice was full of pride when she mentioned the cocky young deputy.

Maddy didn't say much but recognized what might be an effort at matchmaking in progress. If anything, her new friend appeared honest and straightforward. It was apparent she adored Alec, too.

"Yep, he's so much like my own boy, I often overlook his shortcomings. He's got them you know. But he's a good man. Can't understand why that gal would leave him, how anyone could hurt him. Oh well, water under the bridge.”

Absently, Aunt Polly nodded and sat back in the rocking chair, hands clasped over her stomach.

While cleaning up the dishes, Maddy thought about what Aunt Polly meant when she talked of someone hurting Alec. It had to be about his divorce. Debating whether to mention it or not, she decided to wait a while. They all had things in their past they didn't like to talk about.

Chapter
6

In Chicago Maddy jogged with at least one friend or a group of her apartment neighbors would invite her to join them. There was always a safety issue and running in numbers was best living in the big city.

It paid to be careful. She was in rush hour crowds at lunch and an unseen hand jerked her shoulder bag off and disappeared. That time she was angry rather than scared because she couldn't do anything. It was all very frustrating and expensive. Her I.D. had been in it and she had to have all her locks and phone number changed. It was a big, time-consuming hassle.

The day after she officially became owner of her aunt's property, she rose early and decided to jog around Nielsen. Since she didn't know anyone who jogged, she looked around tentatively and stepped out on the porch stretching to prepare to run. Luckily she had remembered her gym bag with black running shorts, a light tee shirt and her favorite running shoes in it.

Maddy started out easily down the street past Aunt Polly's, waving when she saw her peek out the door. She headed towards the town square and luxuriated at the freedom from worry about traffic or being mugged. The stores were just coming alive for the day. She recognized many of the merchants and waved as she jogged past them, heading for a country road that led out of town.

Maddy found herself becoming addicted to everything about the country life. She almost hated to turn back for the day, but she did. Just by coincidence she passed the small sheriff's office and quickly backpedaled to stand, jogging in place, in front of the plate glass window.

It didn't take long for Alec to notice and come out.

"Hey, you're up and out early this morning." He looked enviously at her. "Wish I could join you."

"Join me? Hey, I just went two miles out and two miles back. I'm on my way home. How about you? You look a tad out of shape there deputy." She teased and poked a finger at his stomach.

"Hey, I'm a busy man."

"Well, crime rate so high you can't jog sometime?" She panted, bending at the waist to catch her breath.

He scratched his jaw and smiled, "I'm off duty tomorrow. You want to put your money where your mouth is?"

She shrugged and started out past him. "I'll be by here at seven sharp, then breakfast at my place, if you can keep up."

"I can keep up. That's a challenge if I ever heard one. I'll be here, waiting." He called out after her then looked at his reflection in the window and rubbed his stomach. "I'm not out of shape either!"

It was the first of many mornings they shared jogging and then home to bran muffins and orange juice in Maddy's sunny kitchen. The routine became comfortable and she liked how it made her feel, like a part of something. When Alec couldn't make it, she really missed those ragged police academy sweat clothes and that insufferable grin as he tried to run her into the ground. But on his busy days she used the time to go through her aunt's things with Aunt Polly.

"I sure understand all the wonderful books I got over the years now. Aunt Madeline was quite the connoisseur when it came to reading." Her hand passed over the richly bound books lining the walls.

"It's probably why you became a librarian, too." Aunt Polly winked at her as she dusted the volumes. "You know she used to have a whole set of expensively bound books, right here by the door. I don't see them anywhere now."

"Are you sure, about the books? They might be in the attic. Maybe she put them away or sold them."

"No. No, them was the first books she bought years ago, classics, she called them. Real expensive and she treated them like they was made out of gold. Your aunt said she'd never get rid of them." Aunt Polly's suspicions made Maddy feel uneasy. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Aunt Polly nodded with a knowing look.

"That's what I'm getting at. Only Leland and I have been in here that I know of. Makes a body wonder what else is missing. Have you found her jewelry box yet?"

"Well, just this one." Maddy pulled an oriental, red-lacquered box from the roll-top desk. "I wonder what it's doing in her desk instead of her bedroom."

"That's not her jewelry box, at least not the one she showed me." A frown creased Aunt Polly's face. She looked up and down the tall bookcases on either side of the doors in the library, dusting as she went.

"Well, I don't know where this one came from but Madeline's was bigger and made of black leather. There were gold corners and a lock on it."

Gingerly Maddy snapped open the lock and lifted the lid. Only a tangle of pearls and some cheap costume jewelry lay in the bottom. The top part had a cameo set of a pin and earrings in it.

"I don't know where this cheap stuff came from, but this was her favorite." Aunt Polly said softly and picked up the cameo. "She told me her husband gave them to her, wore them all the time. There's a picture album around somewhere of him and her, and she's wearing them in the picture. She had a lot of nice jewelry, expensive, too."

"This is the only jewelry I've seen around." Maddy said uneasily. "What about her husband, did she ever talk about him?"

Aunt Polly handed her back the cameo with a sigh. She dusted slowly, her eyes soft as she remembered.

"She said she met him in Omaha back in the late 30s or so. They got married, never had any kids. He was drafted in World War Two and never made it back. It just about broke her heart and she moved here for a fresh start. She told me he didn't have any family and she didn't claim any." Aunt Polly shrugged, lost in her thoughts, "His name was Franklin, Franklin O'Keefe. That's all I know."

Maddy jumped out of her chair and went into the parlor where she recalled seeing a plush, velvet photo album in an old Victrola cabinet. Laying it open on the desk, she and Aunt Polly gazed at the old photographs.

"Here, here's the picture of Franklin and your Aunt Madeline. Nice looking couple, they were. She used to have this sitting on her dresser."

A handsome man sat with her Aunt Madeline. He was in an Army uniform and she wore a simple white gown with high neckline and lace veil framing her face. The cameo broach was centered at her throat and she had on the matching pierced earrings. Her own striking resemblance to her young aunt astounded Maddy. They looked alike, right down to the way she wore her short hair.

"Yep, you two could have been sisters." Aunt Polly nodded.

"That's incredible; we do look alike, don't we?"

Maddy smiled and touched the photo. "You said he died in the war. Then where is he buried?" Maddy closed the book carefully and looked at her friend.

"Yes, that war killed a lot of good men. I think Madeline said he died at Omaha Beach, she always thought it was ironic that a man from Omaha, Nebraska, should die in a battle with the same name. I think he was buried overseas."

They cleaned the rest of the afternoon in thoughtful silence, wondering about the lives Franklin and Madeline had in such a star-crossed time, ending so sadly.

They were stretched out on the wicker lawn furniture when Alec drove up after work, too exhausted to move. They simply waved for him to join them, pointing to a frosty pitcher of lemonade sitting between them. Maddy was on the lounger, her hair covered in a red bandana and Aunt Polly relaxed in a curved rocker.

"What do we have here? Two ladies too pooped to pop?"

Alec teased, sitting down at the foot of Maddy's lounger.

"For your information, young man, we've got the entire downstairs cleaned and sorted." Aunt Polly informed him and then yawned.

"My aunt was neat enough," Maddy continued, "but she saved everything." She poured a glass of lemonade for Alec and refilled hers.

"I'm glad you stopped by, Alec," Aunt Polly sat up straight and seemed to forget her fatigue. "Well, are you going to tell him, or am I?" She glanced at Maddy.

"Tell me what?" Alec looked from one to the other in anticipation. He placed an arm over Maddy's slim leg in a familiar gesture. His warm skin on her leg sent prickles up her spine. She liked it when he acted comfortable around her.

"Oh, Aunt Polly seems to think some of my aunt's things are missing." Maddy said uneasily.

"Well, are they missing, or not?" Alec took on a professional manner as he sipped on his drink and stared at them intently. "Tell me about it."

"Well, we came across a small, red jewelry box and Aunt Polly said my aunt had a big, black jewelry box with valuable pieces like a strand of pearls, ruby ring, diamond and gold broach. I don't know, I never saw them of course, but so far all we've found was some cheap costume jewelry, oh, and the cameo pin and earrings." Maddy shrugged, feeling uncomfortable.

"Are you sure, Aunt Polly?" Alec asked, his tone serious.

"Of course I'm sure. Oh, and don't forget the leather bound books, they're gone, too. She told me she'd never get rid of them. I wouldn't make that up."

He overlooked her sarcasm with a shake of his head when Aunt Polly sat back with arms crossed, rocking vigorously. Maddy and Alec exchanged glances and he patted Aunt Polly's knee consolingly.

She shook a finger and scolded him. "Don't you patronize me, young man, I may be old and I might be a little deaf but one thing's certain, I know my friend's jewelry. Except for the cameo set, it's not here."

"Well, we still have all the upstairs to go through, yet." Maddy interjected, trying to smooth the situation over.

"I agree. But this happens when houses sit empty. If they don't show up we better start an investigation. I'll check a few places tomorrow." Alec said.

"I'm sure they'll show up, I'll ask Leland about it too."

"I know what he'll say. 'My secretary looks after that.'" Aunt Polly mimicked and stopped rocking. "I'm sorry, but I just don't trust that man. He wanted me to turn over everything I own for him to manage not long ago, I told him I been handling my affairs all my life and can handle them now. He left mad. I don't think Madeline would have let him either if he hadn't got a hold of her when she was so sick. Right after he started taking care of her he bought that big old car he drives. Might be a coincidence, might not be."

"Oh, Aunt Polly, he has to be honest in his business or no one would go to him. We have to give him the benefit of the doubt." Maddy shook her head.

"What about the break-in?" Alec said suddenly, snapping his fingers.

"Someone had been inside, but nothing was disturbed so we blamed kids just playing a prank. I remember because I was out chasing rustlers at the Thedford farm. Whoever broke in might have taken the jewelry."

"Rustlers?" Maddy interrupted disbelief on her face.

Alec nodded. "No jokes please, we have high-tech rustlers now, complete with computers and 18-wheel rigs for the getaway."

"I always pictured them as bad guys in black hats riding horses and swooping down on the cattle herds. Trucks and computers are not very romantic."

"Cattle rustling is big business, it's hardly romantic. They've even taken a couple shots at me." Alec replied dryly.

Maddy's shocked look made him laugh.

"Don't worry, they missed. But, getting back to the break in, I don't know if it's such a good idea for you to stay here alone, Maddy. Honestly, you don't even have a cell phone yet. Maybe someone knew about the missing bonds and came across the jewelry. They may decide to come back for more." He shook his head and looked at her seriously, no good-natured teasing in his eyes.

Maddy shook her head immediately. "I am not going to let someone chase me out of my home. Plus, we don't even know if that's what happened. You said yourself you thought it was just kids. No, absolutely not. I made a promise to myself that I was going to run my own life from now on. I intend to."