Miz Scarlet and the Bewildered Bridegroom (19 page)

“Oh, yes,” I laughed,
imagining the moment when Edna and Ruth came face to
face.
Boy, this is going to be a
hoot.
And then I remembered why
Ruth was at the Four Acorns Inn. That dose of reality brought me
back to my senses.
On the upside,
think of how Jenny will feel when she learns that Ruth is watching
out for her. Will that help her to stop worrying so much? I hope
so.

I knocked on the door
before opening it. Tray in hand, I crossed the room and set it down
on the small table beside the arm chair where Ruth sat. She leaned
over, picked up her fork and stabbed at the banana cake, breaking
off a hearty piece. I watched her raise it to her lips and open her
mouth. She chewed the cake for a moment or two before nodding
enthusiastically.

“Excellent.” She took a
sip of coffee. “Also good. Now, shall we get started? I want to
know everything that’s gone on in the last few
days.”

Ruth questioned me for
the better part of twenty minutes before she agreed to leave the
Black Oak Room and follow me down the long staircase to the living
room. As we appeared in the doorway, Dr. Van Zandt spotted us.
Jumping to his feet, he stood at attention, waiting to be
introduced to the newcomer.

“Hello,” my mother
called out, waving to the long-awaited arrival. “Please come in.
You must be Max’s Aunt Ruth. It’s so nice to meet you. We
absolutely adore him, as you probably already
know.”

The introductions were
made quickly, efficiently. Ruth wasn’t one to waste time or energy
on small talk.

“Please, don’t let me
interrupt your conversation,” she insisted, taking a seat in one of
the wing chairs flanking the fireplace. It was the perfect vantage
point for watching the group.

My mother gave her a
bright, friendly smile, waiting until the newcomer had settled in
her seat. Tilting her head in Dr. Van Zandt’s direction, Laurel
continued. “We were just discussing the merits of hiking. I was
just telling Thaddeus that he should climb White Oak Hill, Scarlet.
Perhaps you or Jenny could give him a tour of the summit
tomorrow.”

“If it’s convenient,”
he added. His gaze lingered on my mother’s face, in no hurry to
look away. I took that as a positive sign their romance was headed
in the right direction.

She turned to me
expectantly. What could I say?
Sorry. I’ve got to decide tomorrow whether to proceed with
the wedding or inform the bride and groom they need to make other
arrangements.

“Certainly. It’s
supposed to be a nice day. The view of Hartford should be worth the
trip,” I assured him, as I added hiking to my to-do list for
tomorrow. I’d simply put the wedding arrangements on hold until I
returned from schlepping up the mountain. “Speaking of Jenny, has
anyone seen her?”

“She went with Bur to
pick up Michael from work. He’s staying another night, just to be
on the safe side. I think it’s a good decision under the
circumstances, don’t you?”

My mother waited
expectantly for my response. I had no problem with Shark Boy
staying with Kenny, especially since he seemed to have a calming
effect on Jenny. “It’s fine by me.”

“Bur’s taking them out
for ice cream on the way home. I think he wants to get to know the
young man better.”

“Good idea,” Thaddeus
remarked; that earned him nods amongst the silver-haired set. “Kids
still need adults in their lives who care what happens to
them.”

“These young people are
far too casual in their relationships,” remarked the Queen of
Clean. “I worry a great deal about my granddaughter. Michaela’s
constantly on that phone of hers, texting her friends. Good
heavens, it was hard enough when her mother was growing up, but
these days? Dreadful things are going on. Why, just last week, a
boy in my neighborhood crashed his car into a tree going sixty
miles an hour. I know his poor grandparents.”

Ruth was watching us
all carefully, her dark eyes flitting from person to person. Did
she suspect an insider amongst the group? If there was one, I
couldn’t imagine who it might be.

I tuned out the
conversation as I set about collecting plates, cups, and
silverware. Where was Kenny? What was he up to? He hadn’t checked
in for a while. I hope he didn’t think Ruth was viable as his
substitute. She weighed all of about a hundred and ten pounds,
soaking wet. I was pretty sure that if Kradic and his pals
returned, she’d be the first one they’d toss over the railing. Then
again, maybe she was still licensed to carry a
weapon.

Once I loaded the
dishwasher, I rounded up the dogs, harnessed them, and lead them
out the back door for their last run of the night. January trotted
over to the hostas by the driveway and started sniffing. Little
Huck finished his business quickly, ready to head back into the
house for his evening treat. Mozzie surprised me. He wandered over
to the stone wall and stopped, his tail wagging enthusiastically. I
hoped he hadn’t caught the scent of a skunk. That would be all I’d
need -- three stinky dogs.

“Moz, what’s up?” I
asked the Cavalier King Charles spaniel. That little dog’s gaze was
set on the wall, as if he were mesmerized. “What’s the matter,
boy?”

Of all the times for
my phone to ring!
Reaching for it,
I found my hand trembling. What if there was someone on the other
side of the boulder barricade?
Should I run for it now or just back away slowly and hope the
voice on the other end could call the cops when the thugs try to
grab me?
“Hello?”

“Scarlet, for heaven’s
sake! Take those dogs into the house. I don’t want them to give my
position away!” Kenny sounded perturbed. I was about to tell him
about Mozzie’s unusual behavior when I realized why that little
tail was wagging. Boy, did I feel like an idiot.

“Will do, Captain
Peacock. Will do.” Relieved, I gave the leashes a light tug,
steering the three little mutt-ka-teers towards the back
door.

No longer pondering
where my boyfriend had gone, I got back to my duties as innkeeper.
Just after nine, while I was busy setting up for breakfast, Jenny
came into the kitchen. She seemed a little more
relaxed.

“How did it go?” I
asked.

“Bur says Michael will
have his car back tomorrow. The inn is going to pay for the new
tires. That’s so nice of you guys.”

“It’s the right thing
to do. The only reason the tires were punctured in the first place
was because someone was out to ruin us.” We would count this as a
business deduction, just as we would if the damage had been done to
a guest’s vehicle.

“We went to Farmer
John’s Dairy Barn. Awesome ice cream,” she told me. Yes, she was
definitely feeling more like her old self. “Did you know that Bur
and Hammerhead both have a two handicap for golf?”

“Is that what my
brother claims?” I stifled a chuckle. “How did that come
up?”

“Bur found out
Hammerhead is an alternate on the traveling golf team for the club.
They use him when one of the members can’t play.”

“I see.” I could
imagine the interesting result should Bur ever find himself having
to play Shark Boy. Either my brother would need a crash course in
putting or he’d have to cheat to break even. Then again, stupidity
is its own handicap, isn’t it? Maybe he could claim a sore shoulder
as his explanation for the extra couple of bogeys. “It’s nice that
they have golf in common.”

“Did I miss anything
exciting while I was out?” she wanted to know. I read between the
lines, realizing it was her way of probing to see if anything bad
had happened in her absence.

“Max’s aunt arrived.” I
gave her a smile, to let her know things were fine.

“What’s she like?” The
teenager grabbed two cold sodas from the fridge and came back to
the kitchen island, plunking herself down on a stool as she waited
for my answer.

“Larry.”

That got her attention.
“What’s that supposed to mean? She looks like
Larry?”

“No, she doesn’t look
like Larry, but they have something in common. Guess what that
is.”

“How am I supposed to
guess?” I could see the wheels turning, so I gave her another
prompt.

“Give it a shot. What
kind of work do you think Larry will do after she retires from the
Connecticut State Police?”

“She’ll probably be
working for Mercer Security or some other....You mean Max’s aunt is
a retired cop?”

“Yup. She is.” I pulled
out my stash of tiny boxes of breakfast cereal, preparing to refill
the basket in the butler’s pantry. “They’re two peas in a
pod.”

“Wow, what did Edna
say?”

“She doesn’t know yet,”
I snickered. “Boy, would I love to be a fly on the wall when that
announcement is made.”

“Me
too.”

“By the way, Dr. Van
Zandt wants a guide to take him up to the summit tomorrow. I wasn’t
sure what your plans were, so I volunteered. If you’re interested,
feel free to step in for me.”

“I might just do that,
Miz Scarlet. Maybe Hammerhead would like to join us. It’s his day
off tomorrow. He’s taking me to Misquamicut for some body surfing
when he gets his car back.”

“That sounds like fun.”
I made a mental note to give Kenny a heads-up on the teenagers’
plan, just in case he felt they needed to be shadowed on the trip
to Rhode Island and back, for their own protection.

“Is it okay if we watch
TV in the library for a while?”

“It’s fine by me. Just
don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” I kidded. Jenny stopped in her
tracks and burst out laughing.

“Oh, please! How can I
do that? You don’t do most things!” she shot back.

“Excuse me?” My
eyebrows shot up.

“Do you and Captain
Peacock ever do anything more than hold hands and make googly eyes
at each other? You two are like a pair of high school students
stuck in a time warp!” she chided me.

“You make me sound like
a prude!” I retorted, shaking my head in amused disbelief. I wasn’t
sure how much I really wanted to share about my private
romance.
If she only
knew.

“Well, aren’t you?”
said the naive teenager.

“Is that what you
think?” Teenagers always seem to assume that the adults in their
lives are circumspect, unless they see evidence to the
contrary.

“I’ll bet you never
even owned a bikini!”

“What?” By this time, I
was laughing so hard, the tears rolled down my cheeks. “You think I
never owned a...Oh, that’s rich!”

“It was turquoise and
purple,” said a familiar male voice, interrupting our conversation.
“I couldn’t take my eyes off her. And just for the record, young
lady, we prefer to take our romance behind closed doors, unlike you
whippersnappers, shedding your clothes and partners at the drop of
a hat! Your generation mistakes sex for love, and when the going
gets tough, you youngsters quit! News flash -- good relationships
take work to maintain them.”

“Well said, Captain
Peacock!” I applauded him jovially, even as my mind took in his
comment. I was surprised he could describe that teeny-tiny bikini.
How many years had it been? It was my favorite suit the summer I
turned sixteen. I never even noticed him paying attention to me
down at the pond when we went swimming, although heaven knows I
tried hard to make it happen.

“Ha! Your idea of
romance is cuddling on the sofa, watching some lame, old movie!”
This was a bold side of Jenny I didn’t know well. I wondered
whether she realized that challenging Kenny to a verbal jousting
match wasn’t necessarily a good idea. He wasn’t the type to back
down.

“You know what, Jen? A
guy can sweet talk a woman and get her to do just about anything he
wants when he lays on the charm and cons her. But keeping up all
that bulldocky takes effort, especially after she gets to know him.
It’s a rare man who can please one woman through the years by being
his real self. I consider myself lucky that Miz Scarlet is in my
life.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet,”
I smiled, touched by the unexpected declaration. How I loved that
handsome smile of his, not to mention those kind eyes, those broad
shoulders, and the way his fingers felt on my skin. Without meaning
to, I got lost in my reverie.

“I’ll have you know,
little girl,” he continued, emphasizing the word “little” in a
rather condescending way, “that not only was I the assistant
director of public safety for a major university, I’m also the
father of a daughter. I’ve held a lot of hands and listened to a
lot of girls just like you share their heartbreak. I’m going to
tell you the same thing I’ve told each of them. If you don’t
respect yourself and know what your expectations of a man are,
you’ll be taken advantage of by most guys. You have the power to
decide what kind of relationship you want and what you are willing
to give of yourself to get it. And if you’re giving more than
you’re getting, you’re with a loser. Romance should always be a
two-way street, a win-win for both parties.”