LITMIR.BIZ

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need help.”

      “Do you need a doctor?” Joe asked.

      Feeling herself blushing, she wondered how long she’d zoned out this time. “Not that kind of help.” Goodness, she was going to scare him away. Suddenly she was terrified she already had. “I was referring to the animals and all the rest.”

      He studied her, causing her to remember she hadn’t combed her hair. She only hoped he could see past her bare feet and dishevelment.

      “I would appreciate it if you would consider continuing whatever arrangement you had with Myrtle Ann.” When he said nothing, she prodded, “Would you?”

      “You aren’t asking me to leave?”

      “You don’t want to leave?”

      She held her breath.

      He held her gaze.

      For the first time she noticed that his eyes were brown. All three lines in his forehead were engaged in his scowl.

      Shaking his head as if to clear it, he said, “I’ll stay.” And then, more quietly, “For now.”

      Relief rained down on her. Before she started laughing uncontrollably, she turned toward the door, but changed her mind. Instead of going inside, she eased around the corner of the house and back onto the side porch where she could watch him walk away.

      “Mr. McCaffrey?” she called after some time had passed.

      Turning, he faced her, feet apart, hands on his hips.

      “Since I can’t restore order to the universe, I’m going to restore it to The Meadows. This was once a working farm. I think it needs to be again. Do you think Myrtle Ann would mind?”

      “She left it to you, didn’t she?”

      “I hope that hasn’t caused problems for you.”

      “Believe me, it was no skin off my nose.”

      She stared at him, and Joe found it unnerving. The breeze fluttered the hem of her skirt and lifted her hair away from her face. She looked like someone from one of the old legends that abounded in the valley. He was pretty sure she was smiling.

      “I’m very glad to be here,” she said, “And I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.”

      She slipped soundlessly out of sight around the corner of the house before he thought to mention that he still didn’t know her name. By then it was too late. He should have told her about the rumors. It was too late for that, too. Besides, it was only a matter of time before she went into town and heard them for herself. Wondering if she would still want him living in her cabin then, he continued on toward the pond. For the hell of it, he picked up a stone and flung it, sending it skipping across the surface on his way by. He heard it skip across the water, but he didn’t stick around to count the ripples or watch the stone sink.

      The old-fashioned screen door bounced as it closed behind him. Looking around, he caught his reflection in the mirror inside. After a time, he shrugged, for it was official. The new owner of The Meadows of Murray was a loon.

      She was going to fit right in.

      “So you’re the new owner of The Meadows.”

      It was the third time it had been said in exactly that way, the third time Lila and Pepper exchanged a quick look, the third time Lila nodded.

      The cashier at the grocery store had watched them closely as she’d said, “I heard somebody new was moving in.”

      The attendant at the gas station where she’d dropped off the U-Haul trailer and filled up her gas tank had asked what she planned to do with the place. Like the others, the waitress leaning in to take their orders right now said, “Have you met Joe yet?”

      Pepper’s sharp kick under the table kept Lila from replying.

      “Lila and I don’t quite know what to make of him.”

      “Then you’ve heard.”

      Pepper smiled encouragingly at the waitress. Again, Lila felt a sharp nudge under the table.

      Joe McCaffrey had unloaded the trailer while Pepper slept. After a brief discussion, he and Lila had decided that he would stack everything except the garden statues on the back porch until she made room in the house. He hadn’t come inside, and Pepper hadn’t ventured out.

      “Nobody wanted to believe it at first,” the waitress exclaimed. “Not of one of our own.”

      Pepper shook her head. “I can only imagine how you must have felt.”

      While Lila pulled a face, one of the other customers called, “Trudy, can I get a refill up here?”

      The heavyset waitress tucked her pencil over her ear and said, “I’ll be right back.”

      Rubbing her sore shin, Lila waited until Trudy was out of hearing range to whisper, “You haven’t met Joe.”

      “Trudy doesn’t know that.” Pepper had slept hard. Despite the crease still lining one cheek and the traces of jet lag in her voice, she was suddenly wide awake. “She’s dying to tell us something. Who are we to deny her?”

      Lila felt a vague sense of unease. She didn’t like gossip, but Pepper was right about one thing. Everyone they’d encountered seemed to want to tell them something about Joe.

      She and Pepper had found this little diner on Rebellion Street in the middle block of the downtown district of Murray. The courthouse claimed the most prominent position at the head of the town square, the post office and usual law and insurance offices nearby. Evidently, the chains hadn’t made it this deep into the Valley, for there wasn’t a Starbucks or Baby Gap to be found. Instead, there was a charming old-fashioned five-and-dime, a card and gift shop, a bookstore, three bars, a dress boutique and a huge antique store. Lila would have enjoyed browsing, but Pepper had needed coffee, industrial strength, which reminded Lila. “You haven’t touched your latte.”

      Pepper took a cursory sip. “Here she comes. Let me handle this.”

      The waitress returned, topping off their water glasses and spreading the cutlery. “Where was I?”

      “You were telling us how nobody could believe it about Joe.” Pepper’s tone invited trust.

      Falling for it, Trudy said, “It may have been a crime of passion, but murder is murder, isn’t it?”

      Not even Pepper could form a coherent reply.

      Trudy didn’t seem to need one. “We all assumed he would leave town after, well, you know, after the body never turned up. Instead, Myrtle Ann asked him to come live at The Meadows. The place went to seed for more than twenty years. Stone walls crumbled and more limbs fell with every passing storm. Out of the blue, she asked Joe to start clearing the pastures. Some people think she knew she was dying. Went to her maker on her way back from the mailbox. Folks still find pieces of her mail spread far and wide by the wind that day. It was junk mail mostly, beggin’ letters, she used to call them. She must have sent a donation to every charitable organization on the planet. A lot of people wondered if she’d have any money left.” Trudy looked at Lila shrewdly. “Are you a relative of Myrtle Ann’s?”

      Lila floundered. How could she tell this woman that she’d never even met Myrtle Ann Canfield? It was Pepper who finally answered. “Lila has an interesting family tree, but at least her family doesn’t treat her like a puppet on a string the way mine does. Getting back to Joe, why do you suppose Myrtle Ann asked him to start clearing the pastures?”

      “You know how old people get,” Trudy said. “Joe took good care of her, I’ll give him that.”

      “Joe McCaffrey, a suspected murderer.” Pepper made a tsk, tsk sound. “I’ve read that a lot of serial killers are good to their mothers. Ow. I mean, ooh la la.” It was Pepper’s turn to rub her sore shin.

      Trudy

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