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Honey Pot’s autumn sun couldn’t make up its mind. It hid behind the clouds and set slowly over the horizon. Winter waited just around the bend. The sun would fall faster during the cold months. But for now, Lydia enjoyed the last morsel of heat with Scout on her back porch. She waited for Ivy to call her. Being alone with a cute boy wasn’t the safest of situations for Ivy.
During their long night-time conversations, Ivy divulged to Lydia her dating checklist. Ivy didn’t really believe she would ever put herself back on the market but Lydia knew Ivy was too young to give up finding a lifelong companion. She begged Ivy to imagine her life with a husband and the qualities he would possess. The two had written it all down, like an emergency escape plan and logged it away.
Lydia believed Ivy would find a special guy, someday. She didn’t expect it so soon. She nibbled her iced coffee straw and wrapped Scout in a light quilt. The day was officially over. Though Lydia held on to the sun, it moved on without her.
Inside the house, the front door slammed. Lydia heard two voices echoing closer to her. She expected to see Grant and Ivy and was shocked to see Ivy chatting with Flora and Enoch.
The sliding glass door opened for Lydia.
Ivy took her baby and kissed her pudgy face. “Say, ‘mama’,” she said. Scout blew a spit bubble. “She really did say it.”
“I’m sure she did,” Lydia said. She walked into her cozy house and locked the door behind her. “And she’ll say it again.”
“Until it drives you crazy,” Flora said. “If my kids holler Mama once, they holler it 1,000 times. Some days I think that’s all I hear. Choruses of Mama.”
“Just once will do for now.” Ivy rubbed her nose tenderly on Scout’s nose and Scout banged her fists together asking for more loves. “Besides, this Mama knows you’re a super-smart cookie. Yes, you are.”
Flora and Lydia exchanged knowing looks before congregating at the kitchen table. “Happy as I am to see you, Flora, what are you doing here?”
“I sent Ivy to see Maddie and Lou and she called me on her way back. I’ll let her tell you the story but I wanted to see your face as she tells it.” Lydia’s curiosity ticked and her eyebrow tented on her forehead. She turned to Ivy who was still kissing her little girl.
“And,” Lydia said, rushed to hear the news. She pictured Grant and Ivy kissing passionately in Ethan’s truck but brushed the image away. Flora wouldn’t have driven over to her house for only that.
“You’re going to want coffee,” Ivy said. Lydia responded by raising her iced coffee cup. “So, Grant and I drove to the Sleeping Pretty. To talk with Maddie and Lou.”
“That I know, go on,” Lydia prompted. Something strange was going on. Arson? Blackmail? Murder? Lydia was only awaiting confirmation.
“Maddie met us in the lobby but Lou was out to dinner with his wife and kids. They drove down to stay the night with him. Anyway,” Ivy’s speaking speed amped up and she began to shake in excitement. “I don’t know where to start.”
“Start with Maddie,” Flora said.
“Okay, Maddie. Maddie went down to the library when the inspector was there. She said Ines and Della were having a disagreement. The inspector wants to have the entire mobile investigated and Jake’s body autopsied. Ines agreed. But Della was adamant. She said Jake was a firm believer in letting the dead rest. Whatever that means.”
Lydia stirred her coffee. “What does that mean?”
“According to Maddie,” Ivy said. “It means a quick cremation before tomorrow’s memorial and then a trip home afterward. Maddie said Della didn’t want the hassle of transporting Jake’s body. Della also said that Bill backed her choice and Ines could call Bill if she wanted.”
“Did she?” Flora leaned closer to Ivy, squishing Enoch closer to her neck.
“Maddie says she did but Bill didn’t answer. Last Maddie heard investigation or no, Bill and Della are heading to Ashton in the morning and dealing with the entire thing.”
“Can they do that?”
“Sure they can,” Lydia said. “There’s no big police investigation. The fire department claims it was an accidental fire. So all they need is the final inspection by Donate Life. It might mess with their chances to sue but if they don’t care they can do whatever they like.”
The three ladies and two babies sat staring at each other. Their pondering was cut short when Lydia’s phone rang. “That’ll be Joan,” Ivy said. “She’ll want to know what’s going on.”
“Sorry, Flora, I need to take this.” Flora waved a hand of indifference at Lydia’s apology.
“Ivy and I will talk a bit longer and then I’ll scoot. I’m not sure this storm is over, yet. I’d like to be home if it decides to rear up again.”
Lydia swiped her thumb across the incoming call screen and offered a half-hug to Flora before walking down the hall.
“Joanie, how are you baby?” Lydia shut her bedroom door, leaving only a crack open. Ivy may need to chat after Flora left and she wanted the teen to know she was welcome to intrude.
“Oh, mom. It’s so good to hear your voice. Sorry, we can't have a face to face today.”
“Oh sweets, I’ll take you any way I can get you. So, how’s Africa?” Lydia sat on her bed and propped herself up with pillows.
Joan’s distant voice sparkled with mischief. “Too much, Mom. Too much to tell you in one phone call. I’ve got big news. But I might need to wait until Daddy’s on the line. Where is he?”
“Well, baby, it’s the end of September.”
“Oh right, the fishing trip. And you stayed home?”
“For Ivy.” Mother and daughter said in unison.
“Yes, at least that’s the excuse I used...”
Joan laughed. She remembered their yearly fishing trips with humorous disdain. She hated them as a teen but longed for them once she left home. Her poor mother always ended up in the mud or bruised before the end of a trip. There wasn’t a single week of fishing where Lydia came home unscathed.
“I got an email from Ivy. She says there’s a bunch of stuff happening in the neighborhood.”
“Are you guys conspiring against me, again,” Lydia asked.
“Something like that. So, dish!”
Lydia unwrapped the weekend for her girl and left off with the report of Maddie and the refused investigation.
“Why would they do that? It messes up their chances of a settlement later. Don’t they want to know for sure Jake died from the fire? What if he had a weird medical condition that snuck upon him? Della and Bill are both related to him. It may come in handy later, to know.”
Ivy snuck into the room, a sleeping Scout in her arms. “They think they know how he died.”
“They do?” Again the mother and daughter spoke in stereo.
“Hey, sis,” Ivy spoke toward Lydia's cell.
“Hey back,” Joan said. Lydia warmed at the girls’ growing closeness. She wondered what it would be like to have both girls face to face.
“Don’t leave us hanging. How’d Jake die?”
“He noticed the smoke and hurried to leave, but tripped and hit his head on one of the metal armrests.”
In the background, a speaker announced the time and grumbled a name. Joan took a huge breath over the line. Her exhale crackled over the speaker. “Oops. Got to go.”
“Already?”
“Sorry Mom, life doesn’t slow down. I promise we’ll talk again soon.” Everyone sent everyone else their love and the phone call ended.
Lydia stared at Ivy. “If Jake died rushing out of the mobile, why did Bill find him flat on his back with his feet pointing toward the only exit?”