The next day I set out to fulfill my promises to Constance.
It had been a late night. Not because we were at the police station. Mary, Liz, and Rip had gone in by themselves to make their confessions, but we had waited up to hear from Beatty to make sure it had all been settled. He called around two in the morning. The three had confessed to everything. It was over. For us at least. For Constance’s family, the journey was just beginning, and, despite everything, I wanted to help.
Actually, I was grateful to be helping again. It had been too long.
After pedaling around town for nearly an hour, I found John on his lawn mower in front of the library. I didn’t have to engage him in a game of chicken to get him to stop this time. I just raised my hand, and he cut the motor.
He sat back in his seat as I walked my bike over to him, red leaves swirling down around us from the oak tree towering overhead.
He took his cap from his head and rubbed his brow with the back of his hand. “I’m guessing you’ve heard Mary confessed last night.”
I nodded. “How are you doing with everything?”
“Still putting one foot in front of the other.” He smiled, somewhat sadly.
“Listen, I want to apologize to you for the other day.”
He frowned in confusion.
“About the letter. I made a promise not to tell you where I got it from, but it wasn’t fair to you.”
He rubbed his chin. “It was Maureen, wasn’t it? She called me this morning. Said she wanted to meet up. Have a word about something important.”
“I’ll let her explain everything.” If she was ready to talk to John, the tip I had emailed her last night from Constance must have panned out. “I’m still sorry for my part in it though.”
“You’re not the one who needs to apologize.” John picked at a bit of dirt on his overalls. “What a family, huh? I didn’t know Mary was in such a bad way. I should have been there for her. And Connie, if only I had known she was trying to reach out to me.”
“It was cruel of Rip to keep that letter from you. I know what he was trying to do. I know he wanted to keep you and Constance at odds, but still, I can’t understand it.”
“Nah, you wouldn’t. You’re a good kid.” He shook his head and looked up at the sky. “I can’t help but think if my mother hadn’t died when she did, we all would have turned out different. We could have had happy lives.”
“You still can, John.”
He looked back at me and smiled. “I didn’t mean it that way. I’m happy enough doing my thing. I don’t have any complaints.”
I adjusted my grip on my bike. “I was actually thinking you might want to expand your thing.”
He shot me a suspicious look.
“I was talking to a few people from the town council this morning, and as you well know, they’re going to try to turn the house into a museum if it can be restored, but when it comes to the land, Constance requested the old hobby farm to be converted into a petting zoo slash animal rehabilitation site. Now, the historical society has a lot of plans for the house, but when it comes to the animal rescue, they’re at a loss. A project like that needs someone in charge.”
John’s chin dropped to his chest. “You don’t mean me?”
“It would definitely have to be someone who’s passionate about animals,” I said, ignoring his comment. “And this person would probably have to make sure the grounds are kept up, so someone with a lawn mower would be ideal.”
The wrinkles around John’s eyes creased as a genuine smile spread across his face, but it dropped just as quickly. “Given all that’s transpired, I’m not sure Connie would want me to be in charge of something like that.”
“I have it on pretty good authority that is exactly what Constance would have wanted.”
John gave me a sideways look. “Pretty good authority, huh?”
“The best.” I nodded sharply.
“You Warren women.” The smile returned to his face as he looked down to his lap. “Do you think that means Connie has forgiven me?”
My chest tightened. “John, I know she has.”
He peered up at me. “Is she at peace?”
“She is,” I said with another nod, “but I think she’d still like to know that you forgive her too.”
“I never blamed her for any of it.” He pulled a hanky out from his pocket and rubbed his nose. “I hope she knows that.”
Just then, out of nowhere, Dog flew over the top of both of us and cawed loudly.
My eyes widened. “I think she knows.”
John laughed. “I always knew there was something funny about that bird.”
Brynn Warren, it’s been an age since I’ve seen you.” Beatrice Saunders beamed at me from behind the wooden counter of the town records building as I came in the door. Beatrice was a fixture in Evenfall. She was the type to always have a smile on her face and a hand outstretched ready to help those in need. I had gone to school with two of Beatrice’s kids, so even though I was all grown up, she always looked at me with a warm, motherly gaze. I had missed that look. “How you doing, honey?”
“I can’t complain.” I walked toward the counter, matching her smile. “How are you? How are the grandkids?”
Beatrice and I chatted a little while. She loved talking about her grandkids, and I found I loved hearing about them. It really had been too long. After a couple of minutes, she asked, “So what can I do for you today?”
I had one last promise I needed to fulfill for Constance. This task had been the one that had given me pause in the graveyard. Yet while I had been taken aback at first, the more I thought about it, the more sense it made to me. I could see why Constance needed me to do this. Although I was a little nervous about it, given it probably wasn’t entirely legal.
“Well,” I said, opening my messenger bag and pulling out a single piece of paper. “I’m sure you know Constance Graves was staying with us at Ivywood Hollow before her death.”
She laughed dryly. “I think the whole town knows that.”
“Right, as it turns out, she left behind some important papers in her room. Now, I’ve given most of them to Beatty Barnes to look after, but he said this one belongs here.” I placed the paper on the counter and gave it a pat for good measure.
“What’s this, now?” Beatrice asked, bringing her glasses up to her nose.
“It’s the ownership for the Graves family burial plot.”
She gave it a thorough look. “This is good to have. We had a break-in recently. A lot of documents were thrown about. In particular the ones having to do with the graveyard.”
“I heard. That’s why I brought this right over.”
She eyed the document closely. “What’s this? It looks like there might have been something stapled here at one time.” She pointed to the top corner of the page.
“Oh?” I felt my cheeks burn. “There’s no other page as far as I know.” That was true. There was no other page. There had been another page. An addendum. But that had been burned in my fireplace.
Beatrice looked at the page again. For a moment I thought she was going to raise an objection, but all she said was, “Okay, I’ll be sure to file this away. Did Beatty make a copy?”
“I don’t think so.”
“In that case, I’ll send him one for the estate. I’m sure, given all that’s happened, the more paperwork the better. Just so there are no misunderstandings.”
I nodded.
Beatrice’s smile dropped into something a touch more sad. “It would be nice to think all the Graves siblings could rest in peace together. Even Mary, if she so chooses.”
“It’s what Constance wanted.” The words came out before I could stop them. I felt my cheeks burn even hotter.
Beatrice gave me a funny look. “You sound pretty certain about that.”
“Well,” I said, performing a quick finger charm. “I would imagine that would be the case.” I patted my cheeks with my magically cold fingertips.
Beatrice gave me a wan smile. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that. Constance did have a reputation for being difficult.”
“You know,” I said, shaking my head, “I think she had a bigger heart than the world ever got to see.”