The Possum Hollow Hullabaloo (The Penelope Pembroke Cozy Mystery Series)

The

Possum
Hollow

Hullabaloo

A Penelope Pembroke Cozy
Mystery

Book 4

     
Judy Nickles

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright@2013 Judy
Nickles

ISBN-10: 1490515402

ISBN-13
:  978-1490515403

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

        
Contact the author at:

[email protected]

Dedication

To all the
Penelopes who do what has to be done and never look back.

Special thanks to:

Donna Alice
Patton , who was not only the catalyst for Penelope but who vetted all things Catholic, understanding my research was done in a Protestant sort of way.

Meet Penelope Pembroke:

Owner of the best (only) B&B in Amaryllis, Arkansas (pop. 5492), who’s

Flirting with 50 (You’re as young as you feel.)

Divorced
(Travis Pembroke, cotton entrepreneur, had a wandering eye.)

Mother of Detective Bradley Pemb
roke of the Amaryllis PD (She wishes he understood her as well as she understands him.)

Apple of her
father Jake Kelley’s eye (She wouldn’t trade him for two spotted pups.)

Best friend of Mary Lynn
Hargrove, the mayor’s wife (They’ve known each other since high school and know each other inside out.)

And the only human creature tolerated by
Abijah, the 18-pound orange tabby who stalks the family home-turned-B&B

Penelope keeps her ear to the ground, her eyes open, and her battered heart in solitary confinement. Then one night, while having a veer and a Reuben at the seedy-though-popular Sit-n-Swill, she meets Tiny
aka
Sam who is about as much of a biker as she is a belly dancer.

She insists on dabbling in danger and disaster despite Sam’s best efforts to discourage her. The fireworks  begin in Book 1, light up the skies in Books 2, 3, 4, and 5, and end in one spectacularly explosive display in Book 6.

Now, Book 4

The Possum Hollow Hullabaloo

CHAPTER ONE

“It was a perfect wedding,” Jake Kelley said to his daughter as they watched the newlyweds drive away. “I’m glad they moved it up to October instead of waiting until Thanksgiving.” He rested his hand on Penelope’s shoulder—which he intuitively knew was sagging— as she turned to go inside the family home-turned-B&B, where her new daughter-in-law, Rosabel Deane Pembroke, had changed clothes after the reception in the parish hall of St. Hyacinth’s.

“Yes, it was, and it was nice of Harry and Mary Lynn to offer to drive
Rosabel’s parents to the airport.”

“Too bad they couldn’t have stayed over another night.” Jake tugged at his tie, worn too long for one day.

“Barton felt he couldn’t leave the saddle shop any longer.”

“He said he didn’t have reliable help.”

“Well, not expert help anyway.” Penelope followed Jake through the dining room to the kitchen. “Are you hungry for supper?”

“What do you have?”

“Left-over beef stew. It won’t take long to warm up.”

“That sounds good. I’m going to catch the five o’clock news on TV. Holler at me when it’s ready.” He pecked her cheek. “Rosie’s a keeper.”

“Bradley adores her.”

“That he does.”

Penelope’s hand hesitated on the refrigerator door. “He’s not like his father.”

“Travis managed to keep every commandment but the sixth, I guess.”
(Note: For Catholics, “Thou shalt not commit adultery” is the sixth commandment.)

“He didn’t even blessed recognize it.” Penelope’s voice broke.

“Honeychild, that was his problem, and he’s answered for it by now.”

“Right.”
Penelope shook herself. “I’ll call you when supper’s ready.” Taking the stew from the refrigerator, she spooned some into a pot on top of the stove and turned the knob to medium. Then she went back for a can of biscuits, peeled away the paper, and hit the cabinet at the perforation so that it opened with a pop.

“
Pow! Right in the heart.”

Penelope jumped,
then leaned against the cabinet without turning around. “Oh, it’s you.”

Sam’s arms went around her waist.
“Yep. Sorry I couldn’t get here for the wedding.”

“You said you probably couldn’t.”

He nuzzled her neck. “How did things go?”

“Perfectly.
Rosabel was gorgeous, and Bradley was…” Tears spilled out of her eyes and down her cheeks. “I want them to be so happy.”

Sam turned her toward him and cuddled her against his chest. “They will be, Nell.”
He stroked her hair while she cried for a few minutes. “You were thinking about Travis, I bet.”

“I don’t kn
ow why. He’s been dead for two years and out of my life a lot longer than that.” She let Sam wipe her face with the clean handkerchief he always seemed to have handy.

“He was the father of your son. You can’t pretend he never existed, no matter what he did.” Sam’s voice soothed her churning emotions like cold water on a burn.

“Daddy just said he kept every commandment but the sixth.”

“Thou shalt not commit adultery. It’s there for a reason.”

She glanced up at him, then away. “I’m surprised you think so. You keep trying to get me into bed with you.”

“It’s not the same thing. Neither of us is married, and since Travis’s death, you’re also unmarried in the eyes of the Church.”

“That doesn’t make it right for me to sleep with you, and you know it.” She slipped out of his arms and began to lay out the biscuits on a baking sheet.

“I’ll settle for supper.”

“Daddy’ll be glad to see you.”

“How about you?”

“I guess I wish I wasn’t, but I always am.”

“Jake in his room?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll go out and keep him company then.”

Penelope added more stew to the pot and opened a second can of biscuits.
Why do you always turn up when I’m the most vulnerable? What do you want from me—besides the obvious? You should know by now you’re not going to get that.

In the pantry, she took down a graham cracker pie crust and two boxes of instant banana pudding and put together a no-bake banana cream pie replete with sliced bananas and whipped cream on top. By the time the stew reached a comfortable bubble, the pre-heat light on the oven had gone out. She slid the biscuits inside and closed the door.

You know the way things are, but you keep coming back. I can’t think of a reason except that you love me, but you never say it, not in so many words. Most of the time you seem to know when I need you and manage to turn up—like tonight. But I don’t know much more about you than I did when you sent Shana and me on the run after the fire at Pembroke Point.

She took three placemats from a drawer and unrolled them on the table.
When you’re here, you act like you belong to the family, but then you go away again, and I don’t know where you go or when you’ll be back. I can’t live that way, not again. I always knew Travis was shacking up somewhere, and he’d be back eventually, but it tore me to shreds even after I stopped loving him. I won’t ever live like that again.

When the oven timer dinged, she took out the biscuits before she went to the door leading to Jake’s apartment. “Supper,” she called down the narrow hallway, smiling as she heard the television go silent. Jake loved his television, but he didn’t have to be called twice to eat.

“Smells good, Nellie.” Jake pulled out his chair and sat down. “Got any strawberry jam for those biscuits?”
              She set the grape-leaf jam pot on the table and sat down, too, unfolded her napkin, and crossed herself in unison with her father. “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.” As she crossed herself again, she cut her eyes toward Sam, knowing in advance that his hands were in his lap.

You said you lapsed, Sam, but you won’t tell me why. How does a man lose his faith?
How can a man—how can anyone—live without it?

****

“Where are Brad and Rosabel going on their honeymoon?” Sam asked as he rinsed the dishes and handed them to her to load the dishwasher.

“Just up to Eureka Springs.
Both of them have to be back at work on Monday. But they’ve talked about taking a cruise later.”

“That’s nice. I guess they got the house finished the way they want it.”

“It’s really cute. Bradley even has a den.”

“A man-cave, huh?”

“They brought the pool table from Pembroke Point. It didn’t really fit with the antebellum atmosphere.”

“When will the house and grounds open to the public?”

“This summer, they hope. We’ve got a couple of women interested in being docents, so they’re studying the history of the place while someone from the history commission is overseeing the furnishings—on his own time.”

“So Brad decided to let them help.”

“Yes, but conditionally. The man can’t make any changes unless Bradley approves them.” Penelope wiped the cabinet with a paper towel and tossed it. “Of course, the farm’s still in operation, thanks to Chuck Runyon, so they have to work around that.”

“Chuck’s a good young man, even if he did try to play Dick Tracy with Lewis Collier and company.”

“He felt he had to redeem himself for those portraits going missing. Anyway, the farm will pay its own way. Bradley doesn’t want an admission fee for touring the house.”

“Sounds like he has everything under control.”

“I think so.”

“Want to go sit in the swing?”

“Why not?”

The turn-of-the-century yard lamp now wired for electricity cast just enough light on the porch for Penelope to see Sam’s face. “You need a shave. I guess you’ve been traveling.”

He nodded.

“Biking?”

“Not this time.”

“So did you dispossess my car from the garage to hide yours?”

He grinned. “Sorry about that.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Right, I’m not.” He took her face in his hands and kissed her, lightly at first, then with a hunger that both pleased and disturbed her. “I’ve missed you, Nell.”

“I missed you, too.”

“You’ve been busy with the wedding.”

“I still missed you.” She laid her head against his shoulder as he set the swing in motion with his foot.

“How are things going for Shana and Peter?”

“All right.”

“Ex-in-laws made any trouble recently?”

“Not that I know of, but they’re not going to give up. They’ll just watch their step for a while.”

“And then what?”

“Then they could try for custody again.”

“Have Peter and Shana set a date for their wedding?”

“Not yet. I think Shana’s got cold feet.”

“Because of Tabby?”

“In a way.
She still feels the Bainbridges could use her past against Peter in a custody fight.”
            “Maybe they’ll give up.”

“They’re evil people.”

Penelope recognized Sam’s silence as agreement.

“How about Possum Hollow?
Things quiet out there these days?”

“Tammy
Turney’s fiancé is due home from Iraq in a few months. She’s the librarian and sort of a Jill-of-all-trades at the school out there. George Harris, the principal, says they may lose her, depending on where Jack ends up being stationed.”

“He’s staying in?”

“He’s career.”

“That presents a problem for the school then.”

“She’s been wonderful with the kids, but the whole staff is devoted to keeping them in school and trying to get some of them into town for junior high and high school.”

“They don’t have a lot of luck, do they?”

“Not without the parents’ support, and truant officers aren’t fond of poking around in the Hollow. They make a few attempts, just to say they went looking, but they don’t try too hard.”

“You can’t blame them, I guess.”

“Well, nobody likes looking down the end of a double-barrel shotgun. Bradley says the state police could come in and clean out the whole place, but it’s low on their list of priorities. So we just keep trucking along.”

“I hope you stay out of there.”

“Mary Lynn and I are in charge of Christmas at the school. You know that.”

Sam’s arms tightened around her. “Just be careful, Nell.”

“Christmas is three months away.”

“But I’m here now, and I might not be here then.” He ran his fingers through her short, ash-blonde hair, recently touched up for the wedding. “So what’s Santa bringing me?”

“Not what you want.”

“But something close?”

She lifted her face. “Something close, I guess.”

“I’d settle for some good old-fashioned necking right now.”

“Necking, as in…”

His hand drifted down her arm, though it didn’t stray. “Let me rephrase that.”

“Oh, Sam, you never give up.” Her desire for him began to stir.

“Nope.”

She closed her eyes and gave herself up to his lips.