Home to Walnut Ridge (9 page)

“
Oh no,” Tracey croaked,
grabbing her arm. “Look out front.”

Deacon Stone was making his way up the
front steps, his signature mustache and aviator sunglasses in
place.

“
Quick, Trace! Lock the
door!”

“
I would but there’s no
lock. Want me to body-slam it shut?”

The town’s self-appointed unofficial
boss man stepped inside the smokehouse, took off his sunglasses,
and looked around the room. “Ladies, ladies, what have we
here?”

“
Gee, Deacon, I don’t
recall asking you to stop by,” Alex said, brushing her bangs aside
then planting her hand on her hip. “To what do we owe this
pleasure?”

He tucked the glasses in his shirt
pocket, taking his time as he nosed around the large room. “Oh, you
know, just stopping by to say hello, Miss Collins.”

His saccharine tone irritated Tracey,
but she tamped down a burning desire to spit on his fancy leather
boots. She’d never liked his Tom Selleck mustache, especially since
everyone had long told him he resembled the older actor. Tracey
didn’t see it, forever distracted by a rather large mole just below
his left nostril. Plus, Deacon’s personality certainly didn’t match
that of the famous actor. She let out a huff. “What do you
want?”

“
I heard you were back in
town, Tracey Jo.” He chuckled, still glancing around. “I’ve always
found it amusing how our national politicians vote themselves big
fat salaries, then find every excuse they can to take a vacation.
Not just our elected officials like your boss, Morgan Thompson. But
staff like you as well. Must be nice.”

“
Tracey asked you a
question,” Alex said, stepping closer to him. “What
do
you want?”

“
Well then, I’ll get right
to it. I couldn’t help but notice all the commotion around this old
building. You’re obviously not tearing it down. Looks to me like
you’re into some kind of renovation or such?”

“
Could be,” Alex said.
“But I sure don’t see how that concerns you, so if you don’t
mind‍—‍”

“
Actually it does concern
me. As a member of the City Council, I don’t recall seeing any kind
of paperwork about this particular building. I inquired of our City
Manager as to whether you’d applied for a building permit. Faye
said she’s seen nothing of the kind. So I suppose you could say I’m
here on official city business. Because if you’ve got any plans
whatsoever for this ol’ shack, you’d best stop right now. Nothing
happens in Jacobs Mill without approval of our City Council.” He
plastered a smile on his face and waited for a response. “It would
be wise to remember that.”

Tracey saw anger smoldering in her
sister’s eyes. Not tears‌—‌more like Vesuvius on the brink of
eruption. She stepped between them. “Deacon, why don’t you just
cart yourself down to Faye’s office and have you a nice little pow
wow. We’re busy here.”

His gaze moved slowly to hers. Another
fake smile. “Did your sister here tell you the School Board had to
ask for her resignation? She flagrantly broke school rules and
wasn’t the least bit shy about it. She’d been warned about it
before. She knew she was in violation of‍—‍”

“
Are you done?” Tracey
snapped.

Alex pushed Tracey out of the way.
“Deacon, so help me, if you don’t get out of here this
minute‍—‍”

“
What? What exactly are
you going to do, Miss Collins?” He stretched himself to his full
height, a good four or five inches taller than Alex.
“Hmm?”

Alex inhaled and slowly let it out,
trying to control her temper. “I mean it, Deacon. GET.
OUT.”

He laughed. Tracey couldn’t believe
it. The man actually threw his head back and laughed.

Tracey blocked Alex just as she
reached out to shove him.

They turned at the sound of footsteps
behind them. Noah, Gristle, Stump, Lester the quiet one, and even
Hank the redhead gathered slowly around them. Tracey noted the
glint in Noah’s eyes, but he didn’t say a word.

“
Well, well,” Deacon said,
his tone once again laced with sweetness. “I see we have us a party
here.”

None of the Elders said a word. They
just stared at him, their message unmistakable.

“
I see then, well, I’ll be
on my way,” Deacon said, turning to leave. “Miss Collins, you just
let me know if there’s any way we can be of service‍—‍” He stopped
as he opened the door, glancing over his shoulder “‍—‍With whatever
it is you all are up to here.” His mustached smile didn’t quite
reach the disdain in his eyes. He turned and made his way out the
door and down the steps.

Alex let out a long,
graveled groan. “I mean to tell you, if
that man
‍—‍”

“
Alex, what’s going on?”
Noah asked.

Tracey answered before Alex could.
“Just an old bully flexing his muscles. Nothing new about
that.”

Alex let her head drop back, her eyes
closed. “I can’t tell you how badly I wanted to smack that fat
gnarly mole right off his face.”

A snort sounded behind them. They all
turned to find Lester snickering with a crooked smile. A
split-second later they all broke into laughter.

Everyone except Alex. “No, I can’t
laugh. I won’t. There’s nothing funny about that jerk.
Nothing.”

As their laughter settled, Tracey put
her arm around her sister. “Oh, c’mon, Sis. You can’t let him get
to you. That’s exactly what he wants. But you know
what?”

Alex huffed and tossed her a glare.
“What?”

“
I think he just met his
match,” she said, nodding her head at the guys around
them.

They looked at each other as if
considering the idea.

“
You want me to go slash
his tires, Miss Alex?” Stump asked, completely serious.

“
No, how ‘bout I go teach
him a
thang or two
about manners?” Gristle gestured with great flair. “That dude
think he
all
that. And I’m tellin’ you right now, he
ain’t.
”

Tracey looked at Alex. “Y’know, I have
to agree. Don’t you?”

They all laughed, then Noah planted
his hands on his hips and shook his head. “That may be, guys, but
you don’t want to cross him.”

“
Ah, c’mon, now!” Gristle
cried. “Where’s the fun in
that
?”

“
Noah’s right.” Stump
folded his arms across his massive chest. “You can’t let him scare
ya away, but you sure don’t wanna get him all hot ‘n bothered. Just
let it go so as he’ll leave you alone, Miss Alex.”

“
Easier said than done,
Stump. I’ve still got battle scars from that one.”

He stepped closer to her, rested his
hand on her shoulder as an easy expression warmed his bearded face.
“Well, don’t you worry yourself none. We gotcha
covered.”

Alex exhaled, relieved, and looked up
at him. “Good to know. Thanks, Stump.”

Tracey looked at him, this tall, tall
man, and decided beneath all that hair and height and breadth was a
big soft heart. The thought eased her own tension.

“
Okay, show’s over, let’s
get back to work,” Alex said, clapping her hands.

The men stood there, not
moving.

“
What?”

“
Nothin’, Miss Alex,
’ceptin’ we only came in fo’ a cup of coffee,” Gristle mumbled.
“That okay wid’ you?”

Chapter
7

While Buddy and Noah
rigged up additional temporary lighting, the girls told him about
Deacon’s visit. He assured them he would handle the permits
and
Deacon Stone. Tracey
could see the immediate relief in her sister’s face. She reminded
herself to ask Alex sometime about the whole sordid story of her
retirement‌—‌which clearly wasn’t.

The day had been exhausting, but
productive. The Elders took off at four-thirty when Alex thanked
them and sent them on their way. Alex had told Tracey they all had
their own places and liked their privacy, which was why she didn’t
offer them dinner every night of the week. Just on
occasion.

The three of them ate a quiet dinner
together, then both Dad and Alex called it an early night. Tracey
was tired, but rarely ever went to bed early. Her D.C. hours had
left an indelible mark on her sleep patterns.

Besides, there was something she
wanted to do. She made herself a hot cup of tea, slipped her laptop
under her arm, and headed for the back porch. As much as she loved
the grand front porch at Walnut Ridge, the large screened-in back
porch was her haven. Cozy and intimate for its size, it was the
perfect spot to get lost in a good book or stretch out on the
cushioned sofa for an afternoon nap. Several years ago, Buddy added
a stone fireplace on the east side of the porch, making it even
more inviting on nights like this.

Tracey built a small fire like her
father had taught her years ago. Satisfied, she trekked back inside
for one more thing, then returned, placing the fragile, wrapped
items on the wicker coffee table. She unwrapped them, first the cup
then the saucer, and turned on the small lamp on the table beside
her. All day, thoughts of their unexpected discovery had needled
her.

Carefully holding each piece up to the
light, she studied the design. Basically, both pieces had a white
background edged in gold and a deep, dark shade of red‌—‌no, now
that she looked at it in the light, more like a dark maroon or
magenta. A white twisted rope pattern set inside the gold band
rimmed both cup and saucer. Below that, a quarter-inch band of the
dark maroon with a single row of tiny gold dots circled the
pieces.

And on the face of the
cup, an eagle with its wings outstretched, its head turned to the
left with the faintest wash of yellow behind it‌—‌almost as if the
sun glowed behind it. What looked to be an olive branch was gripped
in the eagle’s talons atop a shield of sorts with muted red and
white vertical stripes below, topped by a horizontal band of navy
blue.
How odd that the shield leans to the
left just ever so slightly,
she
thought.
Protruding from the upper right
edge of the shield were four or five arrows.

She wondered if it were some kind of
colonial design. Something about it seemed familiar, but she just
couldn’t put her finger on it. The eagle, the red, white, and blue
shield, the olive branch—

“
Good evening,
Tracey.”

“
Ah!” She caught herself,
juggling the cup but saving it. “Noah! You’ve got to stop sneaking
up on me like that. I almost dropped the cup we found
today.”

As she set it down, he came around to
the back entrance of the screened-in porch and opened the door.
“I’m so sorry‌—‌really. I promise I’m not trying to spook
you.”

“
I know, but‌—‌maybe I
should give you bells to wear around your neck so I’ll hear you
coming.”

He smiled. “I hope not. Never been one
for wearing dog collars.”

“
Well, never say never,”
she said, pushing her hair back out of her face. “Was there
something you needed?”

As he approached the sitting area,
Tracey noticed he’d changed into an olive-green sweater and a clean
pair of jeans, his hair still damp from a shower.

“
Please, have a seat. I
didn’t mean to interrupt. I saw the light back here and decided to
take my chances and see if anyone was up.”

“
Oh? Did you need Dad or
Alex? I doubt they’re asleep yet.”

“
No, please don’t disturb
them.” He pointed to the rocker adjacent to the sofa. “Mind if I
join you?”

“
Please, have a seat.
Would you like a cup of tea? Or I could make some
coffee.”

“
No, I think I’ve had
enough caffeine for one day.” He sat down and gently set the chair
rocking, his glance moving to the cup and saucer on the table.
“Apparently we’re both on the same wavelength. When I got back to
the cottage, I couldn’t stop thinking about them. Where they came
from‍—‍”

“‍—‍
and who put them
there?” Tracey added. “Me too. I was just about to go online to see
what I could find out.”

He chuckled softly. “Like minds. I did
the same thing, but I’ve misplaced my charger and my laptop’s out
of juice. I’m bad about that sort of thing. That’s why I came up to
the house. I wanted to take a better look at the pieces.” He leaned
forward, pointing at the cup. “Do you mind?”

“
No, not at
all.”

He lifted the cup then leaned back in
the lamplight. “So what have you found out?”

“
Nothing, yet. I’m curious
about that crest or whatever it is. What do you make of the symbols
on it?”

He held the face of the cup up to the
light on the table between them. “I actually had a thought about
that. I thought it looked like some kind of crest or coat of arms,
but it occurred to me it might be something else. It almost looks
as if it could be some kind of official china. I can imagine it in
a place setting at the governor’s mansion for some kind of state
dinner, can’t you?”