Road Trip (17 page)

“Maybe I can help.”

Annie’s eyes jumped to the door behind Jake. Detective Matthews stood in the doorway. He walked into the room, followed by Cat. Her eyes were full of shock and tears.

“Cat?” Jake cried.

“We heard you shouting,” Cat said. “I was looking for you. The detective said he had something to ask you. Why were you shouting at Annie? Jake, what have you done?”

Jake took a step toward his sister, his own eyes filling with tears. “I just wanted you to be safe.”

She shook her head and backed away until she stood in the doorway.

“Mrs. Dawson, are you all right?” Detective Matthews asked, his eyes turning to Annie.

“I’m fine,” Annie said. “Jake didn’t do anything to hurt me.”

“I wouldn’t have,” Jake said, turning sharply to face the detective. “I wouldn’t have hurt her.”

“But you hurt Max,” Detective Matthews said. He pulled the small plastic bag from his pocket, the one with the button. “This button came from that jacket you’re wearing right now. I can see where it’s missing. And I’m betting the hair the techs found in Max Lessing’s hand came from your head.”

“I didn’t kill him,” Jake said. “He was OK when I left him. He was
laughing
at me when I left him.”

“According to the medical examiner, the blow that killed him would have taken a while to do the job,” Detective Matthews said.

“He grabbed me,” Jake said. “I was just trying to get him off me.”

Detective Matthews nodded. “You’ll get a chance to tell me all about it. But for now, you’re coming with me. You’re under arrest for the murder of Max Lessing.”

Cat began to cry as Detective Matthews recited Jake’s rights and handcuffed his hands behind his back. Annie walked across the room and put her arm around the thin young woman’s shoulders.

Detective Matthews turned Jake toward the door. Jake looked at his sister and said, “Don’t cry, Cat. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Cat didn’t answer, only turning to cling to Annie. The detective gently pulled the younger man toward the door. As he passed them, he said, “Will you be OK? Should I send someone to take Miss Reed home?”

“I’ll make sure she’s OK,” Annie said.

The detective nodded. “Thanks for everything,” he said. Then he led Jake out of the room, closing the door behind them.

Cat cried for several minutes. She cried for the man she thought she loved. She cried for her brother. She cried for the family that would never be the same. Annie stayed with her until she’d cried out all the energy she had.

“Cat,” Annie said gently. “You really shouldn’t be alone tonight. Is there anyone I can call to come and get you?”

Cat shook her head. “Jake was always the one I called when I was in trouble.” She looked up at Annie with swollen eyes. “He was the one I always counted on.”

“And that’s what he was doing that night,” Annie said gently. “Trying to be the brother you always counted on.”

Cat nodded. “I think I just want to go home to my mom.”

Annie nodded again. She led Cat out into the hall where she was surprised to find Mary Beth, Stella, and Kate hurrying down the hall toward them. “We heard there’s been an arrest,” Mary Beth said. “Everyone at the mixer was talking about it.”

Annie nodded. “I’ll tell you about it, but right now we need to help Cat get home to her mom.” Cat was practically swaying on her feet, the emotional storm having left her weak and exhausted.

“We’ll take my car,” Mary Beth said. She looked around. “I don’t suppose we all have to go.”

“I should go,” Annie said, nodding toward where Cat still gripped her arm as if it were some kind of lifeline.

“You don’t suppose I’m going to stay behind with this kind of situation?” Stella asked.

Kate looked anxiously at each of them. “I suppose I could stay,” she said reluctantly. “If you need the room.”

Mary Beth smiled. “No, there’s plenty of room.” She turned to Cat. “I’ll need your mom’s address for the GPS.”

Cat nodded weakly. “It’s almost an hour from here.”

Mary Beth winced at that, but only slightly. “That’s not a problem. Let’s get you home.”

The drive to Cat’s mother’s house was made mostly in silence. Annie could feel the waves of curiosity coming off her friends, but they all could sense Cat’s fragile state. It wasn’t the time to talk about anything that might upset her more. At one point, Stella complimented Cat gently on her jacket. “I saw it at the first fashion show, of course,” Stella said. “I thought it was very nicely done.”

Cat looked down at her jacket sleeve, as if surprised to find herself wearing it. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Then the group fell silent again. The air had cooled considerably with the coming of night. Annie was surprised to see a bright full moon shining down at them from the clear, star-filled sky. As they drove away from the lights of the city, the stars grew brighter and brighter. It seemed strange to see so much beauty after such a gut-wrenching experience.

When they finally reached Cat’s mother’s house, Annie and Mary Beth walked Cat to the door, where they had to wait a while. Cat’s mother blinked sleepily as she opened the door, but her attention grew sharp when she saw Cat’s red eyes. “What’s happened?” she asked.

“Jake,” Cat wailed and turned to nearly throw herself on her mother.

With Cat crying again, her mother turned frightened eyes toward Annie and Mary Beth. “Jake is OK,” Annie said. “But he is being charged in Max Lessing’s death. Apparently they had a fight. It was an accident. He’s talking with the police now.”

Cat’s mother nodded, her face resigned. “I worried about something like that happening,” she said. “Jake’s a good boy.”

“I believe he is,” Annie said.

Again, the other woman nodded. Then she led Cat into the house and closed the door quietly behind her.

Annie turned around sadly. “I guess it’s over,” she said.

Mary Beth nodded, and they headed back to the SUV. On the ride back to the hotel, Annie filled in Kate and Stella about everything. By the time they pulled into the parking garage again, Annie felt hoarse and very tired.

To her surprise, she realized she wasn’t worried at all about the speech she would give in a few hours. Somehow, she knew it would be all right.

17

Kate watched Annie shift nervously in her chair at the front of the room on the low raised platform. She felt bad for Annie. It had been a difficult few days for all of them. Kate didn’t know if she was relieved or just deeply sad that the mystery of Max Lessing’s death was resolved.

Again her eyes drifted to Annie. Kate wondered if Annie’s stomach was in knots. She thought about her own nerves when her dress was announced as the winner of the design competition and the horrifying fiasco as the announcer tried to hand her the check. As proud as she was of that award, it certainly felt better to be out of the limelight. She was ready to settle back into being Kate—the one nobody noticed.

“Excuse me,” a deep voice spoke to her right. “Is this seat taken?”

Kate turned with a preoccupied smile. “No, it’s empty … .” She stared in surprise at the tall man in cowboy boots, jeans and a loose-fitting blue sweater. “Detective Matthews?”

A smile quirked the corner of the handsome man’s mouth. “The case is closed. I’m off the clock. I was hoping we could just be Peter and Kate now.”

“That would be nice,” Kate stammered as the detective slipped into the seat beside her. Kate felt unnerved by just how close the seats had been placed in the room.

“Have I missed anything?” the detective asked, turning his eyes to the front of the room. “I am looking forward to hearing Mrs. Dawson’s speech.”

“They haven’t really started.” Kate sneaked a look at him as he stretched his long legs out, the tips of his boots slipping under the row of chairs in front of them. “I didn’t know you were so interested in Betsy Holden.”

“I’m not, really,” he answered casually, “but I wanted to hear what Mrs. Dawson had to say. I find all of you very interesting. Though you’re the one I really came to see.”

Kate didn’t know what to say in response to that.

“So,” he said, keeping his eyes focused on the stage, “would you like to have dinner with me tonight?”

“Like a date?” she squeaked.

“Exactly like a date.”

Kate looked down at her hands. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

He leaned forward in his seat and turned his head so he could look into her face. “It seems like a great idea to me. It’s the kind of idea I don’t have too often, but I think it’s one of the best I’ve come up with in a while.”

Kate just shook her head, then raised her eyes to look at him. “Why would you want to go out with me? I haven’t dated anyone since high school, and then I just dated the one guy, the one I married, the one I divorced. I’m terrible at dating.”

“Well, I’m a little out of practice myself,” he said. “Maybe we can work on our dating skills together.”

When she didn’t answer, his smile played again at the corner of his mouth. “I thought you liked me … a little.”

She took a deep breath. “I do like you. But I just don’t feel ready to date.”

“I don’t think it’s something you need a lot of prep for,” he said. Then he grinned. “Look, you live in Maine. I live in Texas. Even if it’s a terrible date, it’s not like we’re going to have that uncomfortable point where we have to pass each other on the street and pretend.”

“But what if it’s a great date?” she asked softly, turning now to look at him directly. “I live in Maine, and you live in Texas. What’s the point?”

“Well, I’ve got this vacation time that just piles up and up,” he said. “And I always wanted to see how Yankees live—especially the pretty ones with the big beautiful eyes.”

“You don’t give up, do you?” she asked as the hint of a shy smile brightened her face.

“Now what kind of homicide detective would I be if I gave up easily?”

“Just so you know, I’m not the sort who …” she waved a hand vaguely, “you know … on a first date.”

He laughed out loud, drawing attention from the women seated around them. Kate felt her cheeks warm up at the curious looks they got. “I didn’t ask you out because I thought you would … you know.” He waved a hand around in a perfect imitation of Kate’s gesture. “I want to talk to you. I want to see you smile. I really like your smile, and I haven’t seen it nearly enough. I want to hear your views on … everything. I just want to get to know you. I promise, the evening can be totally without … you know.” He waved his hand around again. Then he smiled, and his eyes turned warm. “Though, in the interest of full disclosure, if you agree to go out with me, I’m probably going to try to kiss you at some point. I don’t want you to be too surprised by that.”

“Now you’re laughing at me,” she said.

“Nope,” he said. “I’m trying to be charming. It’s not my best attribute.”

“I’m wary of charming men,” Kate said.

“Then it’s a good thing I’m not very good at it,” he answered.

She looked at him for a moment. Suddenly, she was tired of being careful, shy Kate. Maybe it was time for one teeny-tiny risk. “OK, dinner would be nice.”

“Really?” Peter looked surprised. “I think you should know that I was fully prepared to beg.”

“No thank you,” she said. “You’ve drawn enough attention to us.”

The lopsided smile appeared again. “Maybe. For now. But I’m not making any promises about the future.”

Before she could respond, Mr. Gold stepped up to the microphone on the stage and called for everyone’s attention. Kate made a determined effort to focus on the events on the stage, even though she had trouble thinking when she could feel the warmth of Peter’s leg against hers in the tightly packed row.

She swallowed hard and hoped she had made the right decision. It certainly wasn’t the safe decision.

18

On the small raised stage, Annie looked with alarm at the ever-growing audience. When she’d first sat down, she’d felt sure the number of chairs in the room were overly optimistic, but people had continued to come through the big double doors at the back of the room.

Annie met the eyes of her daughter, seated proudly in the front row with John and Joanna on either side of her. The whole family looked just a little more pale than usual, but they also looked eager and incredibly beautiful to Annie. She smiled at LeeAnn’s husband, Herb, though he didn’t see her smile. His head was bent low to listen to something John was saying. Annie liked how attentive Herb was to the twins. He reminded her of Wayne that way. The sight of her family made her feel a bit less wobbly.

Then she scanned the rest of the room. Her eyes widened when she recognized the police detective striding down the aisle. He would have stood out in this crowd simply by virtue of being a man, though a few men were sprinkled here and there in the audience. Still, she couldn’t have imagined anyone who looked less like a needlework fan than the long-legged man in worn blue jeans and boots.

The detective looked up at the stage and saw Annie looking at him. He smiled and nodded. Annie nodded back, though she suspected her smile was more than a little tight and nervous.
Surely, there aren’t more questions
, she thought. Then Detective Matthews turned down a row and stepped over several older ladies to reach an empty seat in the middle of the row. A seat right beside Kate.

Annie watched her friend closely, hoping they weren’t going to be entangled in any more mysteries for this trip. The detective bent slightly toward her, clearly speaking. Kate looked at him in surprise, and then she blushed and nodded. The detective slipped into the seat beside her. As Annie watched, Kate blushed several more times in response to things said to her. Then Annie caught sight of Mary Beth’s grinning face on the other side of Kate.

Oh my!
Annie thought.
Poor Kate; she’ll never hear the end of this
.

Annie was pulled out of her reverie when Mr. Gold stepped up to the microphone and welcomed everyone. He chatted a bit about what a huge success the convention had been for all the guilds involved. “We hope to see more of this type of gathering in the future,” he said.

The audience applauded warmly. Then Mr. Gold went on to talk about Betsy Holden. He pointed to several of the pieces on display and described the unique innovations Betsy made to the craft of cross-stitch. He drew special reference to the portrait of Stella that Annie always called The Lady in the Attic.

“Betsy was an amazing craftsperson,” he concluded, “and a true artist. Now, we welcome someone who knows more about Betsy Holden than anyone else. Please welcome her granddaughter, Annie Dawson.”

Annie felt a jolt of nerves so sharp that she jumped. She stood up swiftly, hoping the movement covered her obvious panic. She stepped up to the microphone and again looked toward her family in the front row.

“I want to thank The Golden Needle Company for bestowing this honor on my grandmother, Elizabeth Holden—and for asking me to come and talk about her. I cannot think of a topic I enjoy more,”—then Annie smiled —“with the possible exception of the topic of my grandchildren.” The audience laughed lightly in appreciation.

“Betsy Holden—‘Gram’ to me—was an amazing artist, but she was amazing in an even more important way,” Annie went on, the shakiness slowly draining from her voice. “She was an amazing mother and grandmother, an amazing friend, and an amazing neighbor. Gram never saw someone in need without rushing to help. She never saw a tear without stopping to dry it. She was never too busy to spend time with those who needed her. She always was the finest example of a true Christian I’ve ever known, and I try to be more like her every day.” Annie paused to take a breath. She saw LeeAnn beaming at her. John offered her two thumbs up from his seat beside his dad. Annie smiled back.

“Gram’s art reflected who she was—a patient person who took time to do things well. She loved beauty and looked for the beauty in God’s creation and in her friends—even ones who might act a little ornery.” As she said that, Annie risked a quick peek at Stella, hoping the older woman wouldn’t be mad about the obvious reference to her. But Stella was nodding and smiling.

“This moment represents something Gram would have hated and loved,” Annie said. “She hated being pointed out as special. She saw herself as ordinary—but very blessed. But she would love being here with her family, her friends, and the people who enjoyed her work. She would love looking at the needlework of each and every one of you. She would have told you that she could learn from you. And she would have believed it.”

Annie felt herself relaxing a bit as she neared the end of her speech, though she could feel her eyes stinging with tears. She just hoped she could finish before her voice grew thick. “I miss Gram every single day. And I’m glad so much of her lives on in her beautiful work—and in the smiles and laughter and love of the friends and family she left behind. She changed everyone she met for the better. She changed me more than anyone. And I’m deeply honored to have called her Gram.”

When she finished, the room was silent for a moment, and Annie felt a jolt of worry. Did they hate her speech? Then the applause began. Around the room, people stood up and applauded. Annie knew they weren’t really applauding her. They were applauding who she stood there for—Gram, and the love Gram left in every heart.

Annie looked at her family. John jumped up and down as he clapped. Joanna waved at her, smiling brightly, and Annie gave a small wave back. LeeAnn beamed, and Annie saw Gram in her daughter’s eyes.

Then Annie turned her gaze toward the Stony Point group, seated next to her Brookfield friends. They all applauded and grinned. Annie saw Stella wipe at her eyes, then return to clap some more. As Annie’s gaze passed Kate and her new friend, the police detective winked at her. Annie burst into a laugh.

Finally, the applause died down, and Annie stepped back to make room for Mr. Gold again. The rest of the ceremony passed in a near blur for Annie. Mr. Gold spoke again, and then he called up LeeAnn and her family to the stage. LeeAnn gave Annie a panicked glance. Putting the twins in front of this many people could be disastrous since they never quite knew when John might get one of his mischievous, seven-year-old good ideas. But Herb simply herded them all up, and Mr. Gold introduced them.

Then he called for Stella Brickson to come up, explaining that she was the mysterious woman in the portrait. After that, he called up the rest of Betsy’s friends from Stony Point. Annie saw Detective Matthews touch Kate’s hand as she stood up to thread her way to the front. After her friends were introduced, Mr. Gold then called for everyone who had been directly touched by Betsy, directly or through her craft to come up.

The tears finally fell as Annie watched a flood of people walk to the front. The visual display of how much her grandmother gave to others made Annie feel both blessed and humbled. Annie felt a tug on her sleeve, and she looked down to see Joanna looking concerned. “They aren’t going to squish us, are they?” the little girl asked.

“No, sweetie,” Annie said. “They’re just coming to show their love for Gram.”

Joanna nodded solemnly. “That’s OK then.”

Annie stood back up straight and looked around. It was more than OK. It was spectacular.