Death Over the Dam (A Hunter Jones Mystery Book 2) (20 page)
Read Death Over the Dam (A Hunter Jones Mystery Book 2) Online
Authors: Charlotte Moore
But the best part was when it ended with a big surprise, and a handsome man in cowboy clothes, who would later become Bethie’s stepfather, ran up to the front of the church and handed Bethie’s mom a dozen red roses.
It had turned out that he was from Nashville, and had come all the way to Magnolia County to talk her Mom into marrying him, and that Mom was very glad to see him and said she had only left in the hope that he would be jealous and come after her. His name was Vance Holliday, and he could sing, too.
They sang “Blessed Assurance” together, and Miss Novena from the paper took a picture and a television team from Macon that had come to get a story on the concert put it on the late evening news.
Everybody in the county was talking about that great romantic moment for days, and Hunter convinced Tyler that Novena’s photograph was just great and should go on Page one of the following week’s paper.
It would make up, she thought, for the fact that she and Sam didn’t show up for the concert but had the whole night to themselves.
Damon Dixon got a two year prison sentence despite Molly Bloomfield’s best efforts. Sam figured he’d be out in less than a year if he stayed out of trouble and would have sense enough to go to some other part of the country. He hoped never to see him again.
Sharon Bennett was in far more trouble than Damon. She had confessed to telling Ned Thigpen she would show him he way out to Deirdre’s home so that he could talk with her, but she never intended for him to get there, because when he began talking about writing some sort of memorial story about Michael Donagan , it was clear to her that his nosing around and making things public could lead to real trouble, after she had gone to so much trouble to keep things quiet.
Molly Bloomfield had tried her best to get Sharon to shut up, but Sharon just snapped at her.
“Shut up, will you?” Sharon snapped.”” I’m trying to explain that it was in self-defense. He was going to ruin everything for me and my son. I’ve always tried to help Grady. He’s so sweet, but he doesn’t have any sense about managing money.”
Fortunately for Grady and Deirdre, there was so much money in Michael Donagan’s bank account and investment accounts that after the Social Security Administration and the IRS got their money back, there was still over $180,000. There was a will too, which Sharon had in her extensive files, that left everything to Deirdre and Grady. Sam brought in Mike Donagan’s hand written instructions for his funeral, and Sam suggested to Grady that he hire someone to do his bookkeeping for him..
Michael Donagan’s remains were returned to the old wooden casket and buried in the cemetery adjoining the New Shepherd Church, which Grady and Deirdre both joined the following Sunday.
The river went back to its old peaceful meandering and the creeks became narrow streams again, but the work of recovery would go on for months, with some volunteers returning over and over to help the merchants.
A federal housing grant came through, state funds were appropriated to rebuild the Timpoochee Lake dam and the bridge, and the people of the Magnolia county voted for a one percent addition their sales tax in order to build a real city hall and library for Cathay.
And finally, for the first time ever, people in Merchantsville began to complain that there was too much in The Messenger about the other side of the river.
The End
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