Pecan Pies and Homicides (3 page)

“She's my mother.”

“In that case, yours is another important Havenwood family and I believe you should be made aware of our circumstances. Please”—he waved at the vacant chair next to Opal—“I'm Robert Morgan and this is my wife, Eira.”

The lovely young woman smiled shyly. Ella Mae caught a quick glance of pale gray eyes before Eira averted her gaze once more. She was as slender as a ballerina and wore a slip of a dress made of ice blue satin. “Your name is beautiful,” Ella Mae said. “What does it mean?”

“Snow,” Robert answered before Eira could even open her mouth. “My wife was a dancer when we met. I went to see
The Nutcracker
in Atlanta and she was in the ‘Waltz of the Snowflakes.' She outshone every woman on the stage. The Sugar Plum Fairy couldn't hold a candle to her.”

“You look so graceful just standing in place that I can't imagine how wonderful it would be to see you dance,” Ella Mae told Eira. “Are you still performing?”

Robert rapped his knuckles against the arms of his wheelchair. “Unfortunately, she spends most of her time taking care of me. Speaking of which, my darling girl, would you get me another helping of Thai shrimp? They're irresistibly delicious.”

When Eira hesitated, Robert's tone turned brisk. “Go on, you don't care for this business talk. Actually, forget the shrimp. Why don't you have a little fun? After what we've been through, you should enjoy the party.”

“Of course,” Eira said. Head bent, she excused herself and made for the door.

Ella Mae touched Eira on the elbow as she passed. “I'll make sure to find you later on. My aunt runs the Havenwood School of the Arts and I'd love for the two of you to meet once you're settled.”

Eira's face lit up like the sun. “Oh, I'd like that,” she said in a voice filled with longing, and then left the room.

“You'll have to forgive my wife,” Robert said. “She hasn't been herself since the fire. It's not easy to be shackled to an older man in a wheelchair either, but I couldn't do without her. She's an angel.”

Robert Morgan's words didn't sound sincere to Ella Mae, and she tried to hide the instant dislike she'd taken to the man. After all, he and his community were in need of a fresh start, and since Ella Mae had so recently been given one of her own, she decided to be as friendly as possible to the people from Tennessee.

“Would you tell me about the fire?” she asked.

He nodded gravely. “It was set deliberately. There was no camper forgetting to stamp out his fire or a careless smoker leaving a lit butt on a pile of dry leaves. This was arson. And it caught us all by surprise. Our grove has never been threatened and we've flourished in our little mountain town for over two hundred years. Of course, our numbers have grown smaller and smaller over time, but we've remained strong.”

“My friend's grove in North Carolina was bulldozed last year,” Ella Mae said. “She told me that the most influential Elders had passed away and the next generation didn't secure local government seats or other positions of power, so there was no one to stop the sale of their land. They tried to get an environmental coalition involved, but their efforts were too little, too late.” Ella Mae sighed. “The loss of two groves in one year is tragic. We must find a way to bring all of your people here. Do you employ many of our kind?”

Robert smirked. “I hire only the best and the brightest. That's how I turn a profit. For Eira's sake, I decided to live near a grove, but there are other reasons I chose Havenwood. I'm a businessman first and foremost. Everything else in my life comes second. Opal has found a suitable site for my offices and I believe my top executives will fit in nicely here. However, with our Lady burned to a crisp, there's no one to take responsibility for the blue-collar types of our community.” He picked a fleck of lint off his suit jacket. “I'm afraid they'll have to fend for themselves.”

Ella Mae's hands curled into fists. He spoke of his dead leader with such disrespect that it was obvious her loss didn't affect him at all. As long as he could keep making money and have his, or at least his wife's, magic renewed during Havenwood's spring equinox ritual, he didn't care what would happen to the rest of his kind. Keeping her voice calm and her expression pleasant, Ella Mae said, “Perhaps I could be of some assistance with the ‘blue-collar types.'” She turned to Opal. “I'll tell the Lady about this. I'm sure she'll have an opinion on what should be done for the
entire
community.”

For a brief moment, she thought Opal might argue, but she surprised Ella Mae by nodding in agreement. “That's an excellent idea. And you might be in need of help in the pie shop very soon. As co-chair of the winter carnival, I was planning to have you supply the food for the event. We'll still have the chili cook-off and the Junior League will handle the hot cocoa stand, but the steering committee thought a selection of potpies and warm cobblers would be a nice addition to our usual fare.”

Robert Morgan yawned. “I think I'll leave you ladies to discuss your charming little event. My wife and I look forward to attending it, of course. Eira will be lonely being in a new place, and I hope she makes friends with the right sort of people. Like your lovely daughter,” he told Opal. And then, so as not to appear rude, he turned to Ella Mae and added, “And you as well, Ms. LeFaye.”

He pushed a button near his right palm and his wheelchair shot forward. The moment he was gone, Opal narrowed her eyes and hissed, “
This
is when you decide to finally act the part of the Lady's voice? We were finalizing a major land deal!”

“I'm sorry. I admit that I've been completely self-absorbed since the harvest, but the displacement of these people has snapped me out of my stupor. I won't sit by and let you and those of Robert Morgan's ilk choose who can and cannot move to Havenwood. Our kind has been shrinking in numbers with each passing generation. We need to offer sanctuary to all who need it. We have to protect these people from harm.”

Opal frowned. “An interesting choice of words considering one of
them
started the fire.”

“What?” Ella Mae was aghast.

“That's right. The blaze began
inside
the grove. Where only we can enter. That means the arsonist was neither human nor Shadow Child. No assassin started a fire at the base of the Lady's trunk. One of our kind is a killer.”

Ella Mae was astounded. “Why would someone do that? Not only did they commit murder, but they ruined their ability to recharge their own magic.”

“As I'm sure you've noticed, being enchanted isn't always sunshine and buttercups. It's a challenging life.” Opal took a dainty sip of champagne. “The arsonist wouldn't be the first of our kind to grow tired of being different. Perhaps his or her gift wasn't useful. Perhaps it was a burden or a hindrance instead. Perhaps . . .” She trailed off, her gaze drifting to the dark sky.

“They fell for someone they could never share a future with,” Ella Mae said very softly.

Opal, who'd carried a torch for Ella Mae's father long before Ella Mae was born, nodded. “That's a possibility. Sometimes we end up loving the most unsuitable people.” She made a dismissive gesture with her hand. “Either way, the Tennesseans will boost our local economy and increase our strength as a grove, but they will also bring a threat into our midst. Being that the Gaynors are one of Havenwood's prominent families, I felt it was my responsibility to get to know their Elders and the other important individuals from their town.”

“Absolutely,” Ella Mae said. “However, we can't stop there. What about the regular Janes and Joes? We can't ignore them. Not only do they need shelter, but someone has to get close to these people—to find out if the arsonist is among them.”

“All right,” Opal grudgingly conceded. “Why don't you and your aunts handle the lower echelons? Find them gainful employment and places to live. Become their friends and mentors. Someone knows more than they're letting on about the destruction of their grove.”

Ella Mae moved toward Opal and lifted her champagne glass. “Then it's decided. We'll protect the residents of Havenwood—both the old and the new—together.”

After a moment's hesitation, Opal raised her own glass and touched it against Ella Mae's. “Together,” she agreed. “Now if you'll excuse me, I should return to my guests.”

Opal departed in a wave of hairspray and expensive perfume. Ella Mae retraced her steps to the front hall and began to search for Suzy. She passed through the dining room and, after casting a curious glance at what looked to be a sumptuous buffet, continued on to the ballroom.

Some of the guests were dancing, but most stood around the perimeter of the room watching as one couple swept across the floor. Ella Mae gently shouldered her way through a knot of people in time to catch Eira performing an effortless pirouette before returning to the waiting arms of a good-looking young man in an ill-fitting tux. His cheap suit didn't hamper his grace, however, and as he spun and dipped Eira, it was obvious that he was smitten with his partner.

As for Eira, she shone like moonlight on snow. Her pale skin glowed beneath the soft light of the chandeliers and her hair floated around her face in a silvery blond cloud. With every move of her body, her icy blue dress sparkled like morning frost.

“She was a professional ballerina before Morgan got hold of her,” a man next to Ella Mae informed the woman on his arm.

“What a waste of talent,” the woman said, clicking her tongue in disapproval. “I heard he's paralyzed from the waist down. And he must be fifteen years her senior! Why on earth did she marry him?”

The man snorted. “For his money. Why else?”

Ella Mae forced herself not to scowl at the man. Eira didn't strike her as a gold digger and she knew the type well enough. Loralyn fit the description to a tee, but Eira was nothing like Loralyn. Eira seemed sweet and reserved.

“Look at her,” the woman said. “She belongs onstage. Instead, she'll spend the next fifty years waiting on him. It's really quite sad, isn't it?”

“Come on, Madge. There's a tray filled with cream puffs calling my name.”

The song came to an end and the guests clapped heartily for Eira and her partner. The string quartet at the far end of the ballroom played a waltz next and half a dozen couples took the floor. Ella Mae couldn't stop staring at Eira. She moved like water—fluid and effortless, her arms wrapped around her partner's neck, her gaze locked on his face.

“She's in love with him,” Ella Mae murmured, completely entranced by the pair's synchronized movements. Every time their hands met or the man pulled Eira against him, a shimmering light seemed to wash over them. It was a beautiful but bittersweet sight, for Eira belonged to another man. A man who could never dance with her and probably had never gazed upon her the way her handsome partner did—as if she were the most exquisite woman in the world.

When the waltz was over, Eira's partner gave her a tender kiss on her palm and then led her off the floor. The crowd parted and Robert Morgan rolled forward, his eyes glittering coals of anger as he watched his wife reluctantly drop her partner's hand. Robert stared at her with a look that promised repercussions in the near future and then turned to respond to a waiter's query.

Eira was flushed from dancing, but her joyful expression quickly evaporated. Her partner had vanished and she darted anxious glances around the room, pivoting this way and that, like a lost child searching for her mother.

“Hi again!” Ella Mae waved to her from the edge of the dance floor. “I was hoping to run into you.”

Eira's grateful smile tugged at Ella Mae's heart. “You were?”

“Yes. But I was so spellbound watching you that I almost forgot what I was going to say.” She led Eira to a quiet corner. “I wanted to tell you about my aunt's school. One of her dance instructors is retiring at the end of the term, and I know she'd love to have someone with a rare talent such as yours working with her students. Have you ever thought about teaching?”

Clasping her hands over her heart, Eira cried, “Oh, yes! Ever since I stopped dancing professionally, I've dreamt of opening my own little studio and of having the chance to work with children. But this would be the next best thing!” She reached out and grabbed Ella Mae's forearm. “There are others who need jobs. Places to live. Hope for the future. People like Barric Young, the man I was dancing with. He's a farmer. And Jenny Upton, who works at our coffee shop. And Aiden. That's Jenny's brother. He's an electrician.
Those
people.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “No one's looking out for them. No one here cares. Except for me.”

“I care, and I have an idea,” Ella Mae said. “I have a big house that's totally empty right now. We can move Barric, Jenny, and Aiden into the house and help them find jobs. Once they get back on their feet, they can lend a hand to others. We can use Havenwood's upcoming winter carnival as an impromptu job fair. I'll be the main food vendor, so I can hire a few people to assist me with the event and they can get the word out that those folks are looking for work.”

“That sounds great.” Eira released a heavy sigh. “I've been so worried about them, and Robert . . .” She glanced over her shoulder. “Well, he has his own agenda.”

Ella Mae took a business card from her evening bag and wrote her home and cell phone numbers on the back. “Call me tomorrow. We'll meet at my house and hammer out the details.”

Nodding, Eira tightened her grip on Ella Mae's arm. “I don't know if I'll be able to get away. If I can get someone else to look after Robert for a bit, could we meet at your grove? I could use a safe haven for a little while. A place to think.”