Reap What You Sew (31 page)

“Was she in Anita’s trailer?”

She posed Milo’s question to Margaret Louise, adding a reality that just now dawned in her mind. “When we went on our tour of the set, I left you guys for a little while to take a phone call from Dixie—”

“That doesn’t work, Tori,” Milo pointed out from his end of the line. “You said the call came in about Anita’s death while you were still there, remember?”

Milo was right.

Lowering the phone momentarily, she relayed his comment to the others.

“And Glenda would have had to have made sure the phone was fully charged and in its place before she left the night before.”

“The time of death is believed to have been around eleven or so that night… which was after Glenda did her check and long before Annabelle had her tour,” Tori mused.

“That’s assuming, of course, Glenda actually put the phone back into the drawer, yes?”

Tori turned to look at Leona.

“What was that?” Milo asked in her ear.

She repeated Leona’s comment into the phone, then used her finger to guide Todd’s focus toward the curled ribbon on the center of the table. “Have you ever seen Glenda with ribbon like that?”

Todd shook his head. “Nope.”

“What ribbon?” Milo asked.

She switched the phone to her left ear. “You know, that gold and white braided thing that got mixed up with my list last night.”

“That’s Stan’s.”

“Stan’s?” she echoed.

“Yeah. It’s how that candy he shared with the kids yesterday is packaged, remember?”

She racked her brain for a memory to go along with the words in her ear, but she simply couldn’t remember. She’d been too preoccupied with Rick Manning to pay much attention to anything that happened after he left the classroom.

“But that doesn’t make sense.” Lowering the phone, she addressed Todd. “Stan Kelly didn’t have any sort of run-in with Anita before she died, did he?”

“If by run-in you mean telling him his job was over for letting”—he motioned toward Leona—“
Pooky
onto the set that first day, yeah, they had a run-in. Fortunately for him, though, she was murdered before she placed the call to his boss.”

Slowly, she brought the phone back to her mouth, her heart thudding in her ears. “D-did you hear that?”

“I heard.”

“I got my motive.”

“You sure did.”

She swallowed back the lump that threatened to make it difficult to speak. “I better go. I’ve got a phone call to make.”

Chapter 28

She’d been to a number of parties over the years to celebrate any number of special milestones.

Baptisms.

Birthdays.

Graduations.

Engagements.

Weddings.

And anniversaries.

But a party to celebrate the successful conclusion of a murder investigation? Never.

“I think we should have more of these, don’t you?” Rose said, lowering herself onto one of the remaining patio chairs before claiming her plate of food from Milo’s helpful hand. “Especially if Margaret Louise is going to make this kind of food.”

“Wait until you see the cake,” Melissa gushed. “Debbie outdid herself this time. It’s a chocolate lover’s dream.”

“There’s chocolate cake?” Tori looked from Melissa to Rose and back again.

“That’s right, Victoria.” Georgina pushed Beatrice to the right as she shifted to the left, the break in their bodies affording a bird’s-eye view of the four-layer chocolate cake atop the picnic table. “See?”

She gulped. “Um, why?”

“Because we’re celebratin’, that’s why.” Margaret Louise hoisted her leg over the picnic bench and patted the vacant spot to her left.

“We’ve never had cake before….”

Debbie shrugged. “Well, the first three times you solved a murder, we thought it was a fluke.”

“Now we just know it’s part of knowing you, Victoria.” Dixie forked a bite of potato salad from her plate and shoved it in her mouth.

She wasn’t sure if she should be flattered or mortified. Either way, she couldn’t help but feel as if she’d somehow tarnished Sweet Briar.

“So walk me through your latest case.” Debbie scooted back on the cushioned chaise to allow Colby to claim his seat by her feet. “I feel like I was totally out of the loop this time around.”

She felt her face warm. “I don’t have cases. I’m a librarian, remember?”

“You’ve certainly solved your share of crimes,” Melissa teased as Molly Sue ran onto the patio and wrapped her arms around her mother’s legs. “Oh, hey there, sweetie.”

“It wasn’t really me this time. It was more Milo… and Todd,” she protested.

“And
you
.” Margaret Louise draped an arm around Tori’s shoulders and pulled her close. “You took bits and pieces from Milo and Todd and then sewed it up tight before you handed it over to Chief Dallas.”

“The rest was easy. Stan Kelly had motive—he was determined to save his job so he could be a part of his grandchildren’s lives, he had means—he had keys to all the trailers, and he was caught red-handed with the proof by Annabelle.”

“So what was the fourth item?” Leona finally asked, her gaze straying to a clearheaded Annabelle who was gently pushing a delighted Sally on the swing set. “The one she got caught swiping?”

“A pack of gum,” Margaret Louise volunteered. “She’d grabbed it right off the middle of the table.”

“But where were all the other items?” Colby asked. “The ones she managed to hang on to until you found them in her bag?”

“The pocket of the coat he’d draped over the back of Mamma’s chair durin’ his interrogation.” Margaret Louise, too, looked out at Annabelle, her focus one of curiosity rather than worry. “Mamma’s fast.”

“She sure is.” Leona met her sister’s smile and raised it with one of her own. “She sees what she wants and goes after it.”

Tori laughed out loud. “I guess you come by it honestly then, huh, Leona?”

“Huh?” Leona echoed. “
Huh
? Didn’t I teach you to always use proper grammar? You
are
in the south now, dear.”

She felt Milo’s eyes studying her from across the patio, the look they bestowed nothing short of pride.

For her.

She pushed off the picnic bench and stood, her destination clear. It was time to get serious about planning their wedding. She crossed the patio and sat down beside Milo. “Can I ask them?” she whispered.

“Yeah, you can ask them.”

Squeezing his hand in hers, she looked around at her friends, the people who had stood by her in a way no one ever had until she moved to Sweet Briar. Collectively, they’d stood by her through some of life’s darker moments, their loyalty, their love, unwavering and true.

They were the perfect choice to stand beside her while she pledged her eternal love to the greatest man she’d ever known.

She blinked back the tears that threatened to give her away and dug deep inside to find some semblance of a steady voice. “Ladies?”

Seven sets of eyes turned in her direction.

She glanced back at Milo, caught the way his smile spread to his eyes in its trademark knee-weakening way.

“What is it, Victoria?” Beatrice asked.

She winked at Milo then turned back to her friends. “I was wondering if I might be able to borrow you for a particular day.”

“You have us every Monday night,” groused Dixie.

“Hush!” Margaret Louise demanded. “Let Victoria finish.”

“I was wondering if the seven of you, plus Nina, would do me the honor of being my bridesmaids when I marry Milo.”

Squeals erupted around the patio as six bodies rose from their respective seats and circled around Tori.

“Leona?” she asked as she took in the one member of the circle who was still seated. “Is there something wrong?”

“Do you have a flower girl picked out?”

She nodded, then sought eye contact with Melissa. “I know she’ll be approaching twelve by the time we have our wedding, but would it be okay if I asked Lulu to be my flower girl?”

“She would love that,” whispered Melissa.

“Well, what about a ring bearer?”

She looked at Milo, saw his shrug. “We don’t have a ring bearer yet, Leona. Lyndon will barely be walking when we have our wedding.”

Reaching beneath her seat, Leona plucked Paris off the ground and held her up for Tori to see. “Since Nina’s son won’t be available, perhaps you should consider some other options.”

“Such as?”

“Well, being open-minded is most important, of course,” Leona drawled.

“Okay…”

“For example, no one ever said the ring bearer has to be a boy, right?”

She nodded, her gaze ricocheting between her friends and Leona, the intrigue on their faces surely matching her own. “That’s true.”

“And no one ever said the ring bearer had to walk, either.”

She scrunched up her brow? “Wait. You mean I should send Lyndon up in a stroller with the rings on his lap or something?”

“No, they’d be much too small for a baby his age,” Debbie cautioned as Melissa nodded in agreement. “He could swallow them.”

Leona waved the notion aside. “Don’t be ridiculous. A one-year-old baby has no place in a wedding party.”

“Then what are you driving at, Leona?”

“Well, I was thinking more along the lines of a ring bearer who hops.”

“Hops?” she echoed in disbelief.

“Paris would do a fine job in that capacity. We’d just need to find her a velvet ribbon to match the color of our dresses and she’d be absolutely precious. The rings themselves would be tied into the bow for safekeeping.”

“Good grief, woman, I think you’ve finally lost your marbles.”

Leona glared at Rose from atop her glasses. “I most certainly have not. It’s actually a wonderful idea. Victoria was present at the birth of Paris’s children. It only makes sense that Victoria would then share her wedding with Paris in return.”

Rose waggled her fingers at Margaret Louise. “I think you might have the wrong family member living at Three Winds.”

“Come Saturday, I won’t have any family members livin’ at Three Winds,” Margaret Louise declared.

Tori took Margaret Louise’s hands in hers. “You’re bringing Annabelle home to live with you?” The second the words were out, she met Melissa’s eyes, prayed the question didn’t sound judgmental.

Margaret Louise shook her head. “Nope. Not with
me
.”

“Then where—” She stopped, the meaning behind Margaret Louise’s words making her turn and face Leona. “Annabelle is going to live with
you
?”

Leona nodded. “And Paris, too.”

“But why?” she whispered. “She was doing okay at Three Winds, wasn’t she? I mean, she seemed happy there.”

“She was.”

“Then why move her again?”

“Because Mamma and I have a lot of years to make up in a short amount of time.”

She swiped away a tear as it rolled down her cheek.

“You truly are amazing, Leona Elkin. Simply amazing.”

“You’re preaching to the choir, dear. Truly.” Lifting Paris into the air, Leona turned the bunny toward the bride-to-be. “Now, about that velvet ribbon…”

Sewing Tips

(Contributed by readers via Elizabeth Lynn Casey’s Facebook author page)

   Measure twice, cut once.