Teaberry Blossom Time, page 14
“Ward is still pretty active with it,” Ham said. “He and Sal spent a lot of time together talking about it.”
“You might want to check with him,” Joni agreed.
“What was your question?” Ham asked Megan. “We got sidetracked again,” he told Joni.
“You spoke with Sal at the Jammin’T,” Bella reminded them.
“That’s right. We did.” Ham looked at Joni. “He talked about taking some trips, right?”
“He did,” Joni agreed. “He said he was going to take it easy after he sold the nursery. Maybe go see a few places he always wanted to see but hadn’t gotten to yet.”
“He mentioned Ward when we spoke with him,” Ham remembered. “Sal said he was going to give him the model of Main Street that he had.”
“That’s something, that model. You should see that,” she said to Megan and Bella. “You just wouldn’t believe it until you see it.”
Megan climbed back into her truck a few minutes later. She was so close to Ward’s house that it seemed easier to just drive there to see if he was home. Within minutes, she was standing on his front porch ringing his doorbell.
“Megan, what brings you by?” Ward stepped back to let her enter.
Megan followed him into his living room.
“I’ve been speaking with several people about Sal,” Megan explained.
Ward took a seat on his couch. “I still can’t believe he’s gone.”
“I understand that the two of you were friends,” Megan said before murmuring her condolences.
“We had some interests in common,” Ward said. “You’re here working on a puzzle, aren’t you? How much have you figured out so far?”
“I’m wondering about the nursery,” Megan said slowly. She pulled the map out that Giselle found and opened it as she stood from the couch.
Ward reached for his reading glasses in his front pocket.
“What have we here?” he asked. “Oh, it’s another map.”
“Another?” Megan asked.
Ward looked above his glasses at her. “Yes. I found one earlier. It was in an odd place. What have we on this one?”
Ward studied the map. He ran his finger along Sal’s property line.
“The map I found only has Sal’s property on it,” he said.
“Where did you find it?” she asked.
Ward grinned. “You should come and see it. Sal left it to me.”
Ward pushed himself up from his seat. Megan followed behind him with her map. He led her to the back of his house.
“I didn’t know you had an addition on the back of your house,” Megan said as she followed him into a large space.
“I had it put on when the kids were still here. We used it as a family room at the time,” he explained.
It no longer had furniture in the room. Instead, it had a lot of counter space and large plastic storage containers with lids. Megan saw the model of Main Street as soon as she entered the room. It was on the counters that ran around all of the walls.
“This is amazing,” she said as she approached one section to get a better look.
“The other side of the street is over there.” Ward pointed to the counter running on the opposite wall. “I couldn’t fit the entire side of the street on one wall. If you can picture it, the street continued, and that section over there would be attached to the end here. The rest of the other side is across the room.”
“This is way more than what I had pictured,” Megan said in awe. “The craftsmanship is unbelievable.”
“It is, isn’t it?” Ward agreed. “I feel a lot of responsibility now that I’m the current curator, so to speak.”
“I can understand that.” Megan remembered the map in her hand. “You said that you found a map?”
Ward picked up something and began unfolding it. “This one isn’t as large as yours. It was tucked into one of the buildings. I didn’t notice it until earlier today.”
Ward spread it out on a small folding table in the middle of the room. It was obvious that he had been using the table to do some work. There were several containers of glue, precision razor knives, and other tools.
“Some of the buildings in the model need a little work. I’ve been touching them up, trying to make sure that they last another generation.”
Megan looked at the map Ward unfolded. She saw the immediate resemblance to the one she held.
“There’s writing on your map,” she said.
“Yes. It looks like streets or something all over the property. I didn’t understand it. I can’t imagine Sal wanting that.”
Megan couldn’t either. She leaned forward to get a better look.
“There are words over on this side. The handwriting looks familiar.” She pulled her phone out and searched for the image that Jax sent her.
“That handwriting looks the same to me,” Ward said.
“It does to me too. The note is unsigned though. Are there any clues on your map to tell us who wrote it?” Megan asked. She leaned forward again, trying to make out more of the writing.
“Let’s try using this.” Ward reached for the magnifying lamp and turned the light on. “I needed this to do some of the fine work on the model.”
Megan pointed to some writing in the corner. “Is that a name?”
“Indeed it is.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
She gauged the distance between the trees and pointed down.
“Right here.” Megan watched as Dan approached with shovel in hand.
“How were the twins when you stopped to see Erica?” He sunk the shovel into the ground.
“They’re definitely teething,” she said.
He looked up. “Really? That has to be great.”
Megan hoped he felt the same way when his children were teething.
He saw her hesitate. “That means they’ll be eating real food soon, right?”
“Yeah, but teething can be a difficult time,” she warned him.
“Why?” He sunk the shovel in again.
“They’re fussy, for one thing. It can be a little painful for them.” She walked over to examine the new peach tree.
“They’re in pain?” He added more dirt to the pile he was creating.
“Of course.” She walked over to the new pear tree. “It’s usually a bit stressful for a while but then it’s over with. All parents go through it.”
Dan lifted one more shovelful. “What do you think?”
She checked the size of the hole and compared the root ball.
“A little bigger, I think.”
He sunk the shovel again. “What did you learn about Sal’s death?”
“It was pretty much what I thought. Kurt Dodd wanted to buy the property from Sal and make an off-road trail park there.” She leaned against the four wheeler.
“I thought the town was planning to do that on the land next to it?” He stopped to look at her again.
She checked the size of the hole and nodded.
“That’s the thing. Kurt was hoping that if he got the land and put his in first, he’d get all the money from the idea.”
Dan carried the new peach tree over to the new hole and set it down next to it.
“I would think the town would prefer to have him foot the bills for everything,” he said.
“I guess he did approach the mayor,” Megan said. “She turned him down after a background check on him. That was when the town decided to move forward on their own. The property that they’re using was actually donated to the town from one of the residents once the mayor approached them about it. The plan is to have some outside company actually run it for the town.”
Dan removed the plastic planter from the tree and loosened the roots.
“Do you want me to carry the water bucket over?” She took a step toward it.
“Don’t even think about it.” He took two long strides and lifted it.
She returned to leaning against the four wheeler.
He poured some of the water into the hole then lowered the tree in.
“Did he confess to how he killed Sal?” He began backfilling the dirt from the pile.
“He claims it was an accident. He said he stopped out at the nursery to talk to Sal about it. He found Sal outside looking over the trees. The two of them argued. Sal said no and tried to get away. Kurt grabbed him and Sal his lost footing. He hit his head when he fell but he got up and ran into the house. Kurt got scared and left.”
Dan put some of the sod he’d removed around the new tree. He stood and used his weight to tamp it down.
“Is that when he put the map Ward found in the model of Main Street?” Dan asked.
“There was a tiny smudge of blood on the map, so that’s the theory, yes.” Megan walked over to the next row of fruit trees to pick out the spot for the pear tree.
Dan walked over with his shovel. At her nod, he sunk it into the spot she had indicated.
“I guess Kurt tried to get into Sal’s good graces at first,” Megan said. “He kept stopping by at the nursery.”
“I imagine that got on Sal’s nerves,” Dan guessed.
“It explains why he kept complaining to everyone about going out for bids,” she agreed.
“I’m glad it’s over with now and they caught the guy.” Dan lifted a shovel of dirt onto the new pile.
“Erica told me that they’ve also stopped the drag racing problem. For now, anyway.” Megan lifted the bucket of water. It was only half full so it didn’t weigh as much. She carried it over to Dan. He narrowed his eyes at her as she set the bucket down.
“I’m sure there will be all new problems next spring with it,” he said.
“No doubt,” she agreed. “Hopefully, Gabe won’t be the one helping them though.”
Dan stopped digging for a moment. “He sounds pretty excited about the off-road trail. I guess he’s hoping to get involved with that.”
“That sounds like a good fit.” Megan checked the size of the hole. She shook her head.
Dan began digging again.
“He also said that Dena is helping him get started with his business.” Dan went over to the pear tree and carried it back to the hole.
“That is probably the best thing that could ever happen to him.”
“I know that. I just hope he knows that and listens to her.” He cut the plastic planter pot and removed it.
“Running a business takes a lot of knowledge and hard work,” Megan agreed.
***
Seth scratched his head.
“I have no idea.” He looked over at Jax and pointed at the cash register.
Jax shook his head as he walked over to join him.
“That whole system hates me, I swear it,” Jax said.
Seth wanted to make fun of him for saying it, but he felt the same way.
“We need to get this working. If last week was any indication, we’re going to be swamped next week. You and I are going to be out making deliveries. I have, like, ten orders already lined up.” Seth looked back at the cash register.
Trina came into the office and looked at the two of them.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
Seth pointed at the cash register. “That computer system doesn’t know how to deal with deliveries.”
“Okay. I’ll handle it,” she said.
Jax and Seth shared a look.
Trina walked past them to the office in the back. She sat down at the computer and began typing. Jax came into the office and watched her.
“Think you can figure it out?” he asked.
She grinned. “Are you kidding? We learned this in my classes at college.”
Megan’s Recipe
Simple Stuffed Peppers
1 pound of ground beef
1 egg
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
1/4 cup of water
3-4 large green peppers, cut in half and cleaned
2 (8 ounce) cans of tomato sauce
No-salt seasoning or garlic powder or parmesan cheese or other seasonings to taste
Mix egg, water, and bread crumbs to form a moist paste. Add the meat. Stuff into fresh or frozen peppers. Waiting until frozen peppers have thawed isn’t necessary. Place in greased casserole dish. Cover with tomato sauce. Sprinkle with seasoning and/or parmesan to taste. Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. For thicker sauce, remove foil about fifteen minutes before done.
Books by R. A. Wallace
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R. A. Wallace is the author of two cozy mystery series:
Indigo Investigations Cozy Mystery Series
Callie Indigo is struggling to make ends meet with her private detective agency, Indigo Investigations, while juggling the complexities of an extended family and life in general. When she isn’t working a legitimate case, she’s often talked into helping out friends and family. Just when she’s wondering if she’ll ever turn a profit, her life becomes even more complicated with the appearance of Greyson Divine who has the uncanny ability to appear just as Callie is solving a case. Callie has to admit, however, that sometimes Greyson Divine may actually be helpful. This cozy mystery offers a clean read with a female sleuth, friends, and family.
Teaberry Farm Bed & Breakfast Cozy Mystery Series
Megan is the main character in the series but interacts with a wide range of other characters in the fictional town of Teaberry. A difficult first marriage ended in the accidental death of her husband. She supports herself with her bed and breakfast, produce from her farm, and her tech skills as a web developer. Over time, she discovers that the love of her life was in front of her all along. Main characters in the series are multigenerational.
R A Wallace, Teaberry Blossom Time
