Holly Grove Homecoming (11 page)

Well, no sense in spending too much time looking for their noisemaker. Whenever their pest started making that god-awful noise again would be time enough to intercept him.

He eased back over to Carly’s side and dropped down beside her on the quilt. A breeze stirred the willow, creating a languid movement among the branches and a soft rustle as the leaves brushed against each other.

Carly started, and Trooper quickly placed his hand on her arm to calm her. Her quick sigh was followed by a soft laugh, just before she fell backward onto the quilt.

Darn! Was she mad at him or was she just tired already? Trooper lowered his body until he was lying on his side. He propped himself up on his elbow and tried to gauge her attitude from the expression on her face, but he couldn’t see well enough to make that determination. He leaned in closer, and when he did, she turned her face toward him. Suddenly, their lips were within a couple of inches of each other. Trooper still couldn’t see her very well, but he could feel the warmth of her breath on his skin.

That warmth increased rapidly when Carly lifted her arm, placed a hand on the back of his head, and pulled him toward her until their lips brushed.

Trooper’s heart kicked into overdrive just as a corner of his mind warned him that this wasn’t a particularly wise way to behave on a stakeout. At the same time, yet another portion of his brain informed him that wisdom was a highly overrated virtue and he should loosen up and go with the flow.

He made no move to break the contact between his and Carly’s lips, nor did he attempt to deepen the kiss. Carly had initiated it, and he decided to let her determine just where they were going with it.

But he sure wasn’t disappointed when her hand on the back of his head exerted enough additional pressure to increase the intimacy between their lips. He had just decided to become an active participant in that kiss when he heard his aunt calling his name in a loud whisper.

“Nelson? Nelson? Where are you?”

He jerked back just as Carly moved her hand. He rolled and pushed himself to his feet in one quick movement, then hurried to shove his head through the weeping willow branches. He could make out his aunt’s form standing a few feet away.

“Shhhh,” he hissed. “Over here. What’s wrong?”

She stepped closer. “Nothing’s wrong, dear. I just thought you might get hungry. I made a pan of brownies and brought a few out to you.” She extended her arm. In her hand was a dinner plate covered by a large cloth napkin.

“Brownies?” Trooper automatically reached for the plate she held out toward him. “Eh, thanks.”

“You’re quite welcome, dear. Well, I’m pretty tired, so I think I’ll turn in now. I hope your stakeout goes well.”

Trooper experienced a strong desire to remind Myrna that his activities had, in fact, been intended as a stakeout rather than a tea party. He refrained because there was no sense in hurting his aunt’s feelings, and besides, if any harm had been done, it was too late to correct it now.

In fact, he figured that any hopes he’d had of catching their nocturnal visitor were totally dashed for the evening.

Carly had apparently decided the same thing. When he re-joined her under the shelter of the willow, she had already folded the quilt over her left arm, and the cooler sat at her feet. She placed a hand on his arm and spoke in a whisper.

“I hope you’ll forgive me, Trooper, but like Myrna, I’m getting pretty tired. I think I’ll follow her example and turn in also.”

Trooper didn’t bother to respond in a whisper. “I think you’ve got the right idea. I’ll walk you home.”

“No need,” Carly said quickly. “Just watch from this side of the street until I get inside. I’ll flash the porch lights twice when I’m in and all seems well.”

It seemed clear that Carly was already regretting that kiss she’d initiated and didn’t want to risk him attempting another if he walked her to her door. “Okay, if that’s what you want.” He tried not to sound sullen.

“I hope I haven’t ruined your stakeout for you.”

“No, of course not. I don’t think our unwanted guest was going to show tonight anyway.”

“I hope not. Well, thanks for a very informative evening.” She picked up the cooler and allowed Trooper to part the willow branches so she could step outside. He followed and watched her cross the street. Fortunately, the streetlights allowed him to keep her in sight all the way to her front porch. A few seconds later, her porch lights flashed off, then on, then off again.

The evening of the stakeout turned picnic turned tea party was over. Trooper just hoped the folks from his office never learned about this. They’d kid him about it until his dying day.

C
arly couldn’t believe
what an idiot she’d made of herself tonight. Poor Trooper. Obviously he’d just wanted to have a nice, quiet stakeout, and what had she done? She’d kissed the man. Good grief! How unprofessional.

She stomped through the house to the kitchen, flipped the light on, and slammed her cooler down on the countertop. She was furious with herself. A nice, promising friendship appeared to be developing between her and Trooper, and what had she done? She introduced romance. Or would a man think of it as sex? Yes, that’s no doubt what he had been thinking. If Myrna hadn’t shown up, where would her kiss have led?

She jerked the refrigerator door open and grabbed one of the beers she kept for guests. She would have preferred wine, but opening a beer was quicker, and she wanted help in forgetting fast.

She turned the bottle up and downed a few swallows. Yuck! Even forgetfulness wasn’t worth enduring that taste. She walked to the sink and was about to pour the rest down the drain when a tap on the kitchen door sent her heart slamming against her ribs.

She dropped the bottle in the sink and spun to look toward the kitchen door. The top half of the door was glass, and her back porch light was on, so she had little trouble in recognizing Trooper’s face outside.

She marched to the door, unlocked it, and jerked it open. “You scared me half to death. What’s going on?”

Trooper winced. “Sorry. I didn’t see any lights on in the front of the house so I came on around to the back. Can I come in?”

Carly pulled the door open enough to let Trooper step inside. “What do you want, Trooper?” If he’d come over thinking she’d jump in bed with him just because she’d kissed him, well, she was going to scream or, better yet, kick him.

He glanced toward the sink. “I thought you didn’t like beer.”

She shoved her shoulders back and narrowed her eyes. “What business is it of yours whether I like beer or not? Maybe I decided tonight that I wanted a beer. Can’t a woman change her mind?”

“Ouch.” He winced again. “I was afraid you were mad. That’s why I came over. I wanted to apologize to you before our friendship is damaged.”

Carly’s anger started deflating as fast as a punctured balloon. “Apologize?”

“Yeah, you know, for kissing you under the willow. I know you just intended your kiss to be a friendly peck but I started to get a little carried away because, well, really, you’re a very desirable woman. But I want you to know that even if Aunt Myrna hadn’t shown up, I would never have done anything you didn’t want to do.”

Carly just stood there, her eyes growing wider. Was this man for real?

He heaved a sigh. “Well, that’s all I wanted to say. If you’re not too mad, I’d like to stop by sometime tomorrow, maybe take you out to lunch by way of an apology.”

“Oh,” Carly murmured. He was apologizing to her after she’d made such a fool of herself over him. He was either the sweetest guy in the world or one of the most naïve to think she wasn’t hugely attracted to him. She stammered in her rush to answer. “S-s-sure. Lunch would be great.”

His smile was bright and relieved. “Great. I’ll pick you up around noon if that’s okay by you.”

“Sure,” Carly said. Well, wasn’t she a brilliant conversationalist?

“Fine.” He raised a hand in farewell. “I’ll see you tomorrow then. Lock up behind me.”

With a gait that was almost jaunty, he walked to the kitchen door, stepped outside, and then waited on the stoop until she locked the door behind him.

“Good night,” he called through the door.

“Night,” she responded. She watched him until he disappeared around the corner of her house and then she made her way upstairs to settle in for the evening, a silly smile on her face.

* * *

T
rooper awoke
the next morning feeling downright chipper. He’d had a good night’s sleep, and he was proud of his foresight from the evening before. Going to see Carly had been a stroke of pure genius, if he did say so himself.

He would never try to pass himself off as a Casanova, but he liked to think he had enough knowledge of the opposite sex to understand that if he hadn’t gone to Carly and apologized, their friendship could have been mortally wounded.

So while he showered, he sang, and while he shaved, he occasionally smiled at himself in the mirror while congratulatory thoughts ran through his mind. Yep, he was pretty smart and as a result, he was going to have lunch with Carly today.

He’d decided to take her to Margo’s by the Lake because he figured she’d never been there and frankly, he was hoping to impress her. He wasn’t quite sure why. He had pretty much decided they should remain merely friends, but on the other hand, he’d certainly enjoyed that interrupted kiss last night. He wouldn’t mind overmuch if he got a chance to try another, complete kiss.

When he eventually made his way downstairs, he found a note from Myrna saying she’d forgotten to tell him that this was her day to volunteer at the county hospital. She’d be gone all morning, the note said, and he should fix himself whatever he wanted for breakfast.

Trooper didn’t mind being left alone that morning. He’d lived alone for so many years that he had come to value alone time. After putting a pot of coffee on to brew, he checked the cabinet where Myrna kept her boxes of cereal and decided on one that wouldn’t, he sincerely hoped, taste like cardboard. After pouring a bowl, he checked the coffee, which wasn’t through dripping yet, so he made his way to the front porch to see if the daily newspaper was there.

His first action upon stepping out onto the porch was to glance across the street. He hoped Carly might be outside, watering her impatiens or maybe just enjoying the cool of the morning before the sun climbed too high, but there was no sign of her.

The daily newspaper from Knoxville hadn’t arrived, but the local weekly paper lay on the edge of the porch where the paper boy had tossed it. Trooper figured after so many years away, he wouldn’t know anyone mentioned in the paper, but he liked to read while he ate so he picked the paper up and went back inside.

He settled down at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal and spread the paper out in front of him. As he had expected, most of the names mentioned were not ones he recognized. A few surnames were familiar, but he decided that in many cases, the people mentioned were the children of his classmates. Which, darn it, made him feel more than a little old.

Oh well, time had marched on after he’d left town. He hoped he hadn’t waited too long before coming back. Clues had a way of disappearing over time, as he’d learned too well in his job, but he wasn’t going to give up without trying.

Come to think of it, he had an entire morning at his disposal. He really should do something toward his project. He hadn’t had time to locate an office supply store but he could borrow a few sheets from his aunt’s grocery list pad and get some sort of start.

First he wanted to clean up his dishes and put them away. Since Myrna was volunteering at the hospital, she would likely be tired when she got home and he certainly didn’t want her facing work in the kitchen.

Then he recalled that he needed to write a note telling his aunt that he and Carly were going out to lunch and he wasn’t quite sure when he’d be back.

By the time he’d finished those two chores, he was far too restless to settle down making lists. Not to mention the fact that he welcomed any excuse to put off starting his investigation. Instead he decided to go for a walk before the day got too hot. After all, he’d skipped his morning run.

He stepped back out on the porch, locked the door behind him, and jogged down the steps. Humidity was beginning to climb, and the temperature already was far too hot for even a brisk walk, so he decided a stroll down Sugar Maple Drive would suffice for today. Maybe this afternoon he could talk Carly into going back to his uncle Roy’s for a swim. If nothing else, he could point out that he needed the exercise.

Trooper took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders as he walked down his aunt’s sidewalk toward the street. When he caught sight of her big blue trashcan sitting at the curb, he paused and looked around. The entire street was lined with trashcans, waiting for the city collectors to come by and empty them.

“Darn it all,” he muttered under his breath. He should have recalled that this was trash collection day and gone downstairs in time to roll the container out to the curb for his aunt. After all, he’d told her he’d help with chores around the place, and here he’d fallen down on the job already.

Although irritated with himself, he decided not to let his lapse ruin his mood, which had been excellent, based on his upcoming lunch with Carly.

He blew his breath out in sigh and then started off in a comfortable stride. He glanced across the street, looking toward Carly’s house just in case she’d come outside for some reason, and a flicker of light called his attention to the Abbotts’ trash. Something large and silvery sat beside the bright blue trash container.

A quick glance up and down Sugar Maple Drive assured him that he was alone, so he quickly cut across the street and slowed his pace as he approached the Abbotts’ trash. Sitting on the curb was a round galvanized washtub, a little smaller than the one he remembered seeing in Myrna’s basement. If he recalled correctly, his aunt had once soaked clothes in a similar tub before putting them in her old-fashioned wringer washer so she could complete her usual Monday-morning clothes-washing chore.

He glanced toward the Abbotts’ living room window to make sure Marge wasn’t looking out, then quickly grabbed the tub by the handle on one side and flipped it over. The bottom was dented in several places, as though it had been hit over and over again.

Trooper paused to glance around again, then lifted the hinged lid of the trash container and looked inside. He’d hoped to find a wooden bat or a similar object that would explain the dents in the tub, but if there was anything of that nature, Trooper wouldn’t have been able to see it. There was nothing inside except black plastic bags tied together at the top.

A rumble and clattering from a few houses away indicated that the garbage truck was on its way. Trooper considered for a few seconds picking up the washtub and taking it back across the street but quickly abandoned the idea. Mrs. Abbott already hated him, and if she saw him making off with a piece of her trash, she might try to take a warrant out for his arrest.

He knew she couldn’t accomplish anything, accusing him of stealing something she or Mr. Abbott had obviously thrown away, but there was no sense in strengthening her antagonism toward him.

With a mental shrug, he continued his walk, but his mood was no longer quite so bright.

* * *

M
arge Abbott let
the dining room curtain fall back into place as Trooper Myers stopped inspecting her trash and walked on down the street. Who did he think he was, snooping in their trash container? Didn’t he know that was against the law? And him an FBI agent! She’d call the sheriff but it wouldn’t do any good. Those lowlife lawmen all stuck together. Didn’t matter if
they
broke the law. They protected each other.

She might not be able to call the police, but she’d give Ralph a piece of her mind tonight when he got home. He hadn’t said a word about her going out at night with the washtub and Larry’s old bat, but last night after supper he’d chopped that bat up and this morning he’d picked up her washtub and carried it out to the curb with the trash.

She’d wanted to say something to him. Actually, she’d wanted to scream at him, to tell him to leave her stuff alone. But she couldn’t afford to give him an excuse to start talking again about her animosity toward Trooper Myers. She didn’t appreciate him telling her that she had no cause to blame Trooper for what had happened to her beloved Larry.

Fathers just didn’t love with the depth that mothers did. She was convinced of that. Which explained why Ralph could never understand why she wouldn’t be deterred by him getting rid of her washtub and the bat.

No, she wasn’t through trying to make Trooper Myers miserable. Not by a long shot.