When I reached the DJ booth, my sister Maggie saw me and threw herself around the table to catch me up in a bear hug. My middle sister was a few inches shorter than me, and her chestnut hair had enviable spiral curls that fell past her shoulders. As always, she wore a pretty, floral dress with a full skirt that would look equally suited for anything from running errands to attending a wedding. Keeping with the theme of the festival, all the flowers on her pale blue dress were darker variations of blue.
Out of the three of us, Maggie was the most reliable Jessup sister. I could always count on her to be there when I needed anything, just as I knew she’d be the first to tell me the hard truth when I needed to hear it. She was a math whiz, the perfect Texan hostess, and had a consistent swing that made her the anchor of the Cedar River softball team.
“I was so worried about you,” she said once she’d stopped trying to crush the air out of my lungs. She stepped back to look at me. “Did you wear sunscreen today? You’re looking a little pink.”
“I knew I was forgetting something,” I told her. I had to raise my voice to be heard over the live band on the stage.
Maggie dragged me behind the DJ table. Behind the enormous speakers, it was still loud, but no longer painfully so. “I heard you’d gotten arrested for killing the mayor.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s not even close to true. Have you talked to your husband today? He was there.”
“I haven’t seen him since this morning. We keep missing each other. I texted him, but I don’t think the message went through.”
It was difficult to get a good cell phone signal in the park on a normal day, since it was right on the edge of the nearest cell tower’s range. Days like this, when it was crowded, it would be easier to stand on the table and yell real loud than to call someone. “Have you started a suggestion list yet?” I asked her.
“Seriously? It’s like you don’t know me at all.” My sister’s lists were extraordinarily detailed. It was how she managed to keep the rest of the family organized.
“Can you add ‘look into a cell phone booster,’ and ‘arrange shuttle service from the municipal parking lot,’ please?” I asked.
She picked up a yellow legal pad. The first page was already half-full. Maggie jotted my suggestions down before coming back to her original question. “So you weren’t arrested?”
“Of course I wasn’t. I found the mayor’s body and gave a statement to the police.”
Maggie made a harrumphing noise. “Oh please. Let me guess, a certain Cedar River detective used a supposed interrogation to flirt with my baby sister.”
“It wasn’t like that,” I said. “Beau was a perfect gentleman.”
“Likely story. But if you’re not on the hook for killing Mayor Bob, why did you call J.T. this morning?”
I clicked my tongue. “Does no one in this family talk to each other anymore? Mayor Bob died holding a cup of Sip & Spin coffee that he’d gotten from Tansy. But half the town dropped by the booth this morning to get a fix and no one else got ill, so I doubt there was anything wrong with the coffee. I can’t believe Tansy didn’t tell you any of this.”
“By the time I came by to relieve her, she’d been working the booth by herself all morning without so much as a bathroom break. She waved at me and darted out of here like the devil was chasing her.”
“Is that so?” I asked. That was odd. Not the running part. Our oldest sister ran marathons for fun. Sometimes I didn’t think we were even related. But it wasn’t like her to take off without catching Maggie up on the events of the morning. Like our mother, who practically lived for gossip, Tansy was almost always in the know. She didn’t spread it around willy-nilly, and never exaggerated, but she was good at sharing information with us.
“I’m sure she’ll be back,” Maggie said. She looked around at the crowded park. “It’s a great turnout this year.”
“Y’all did a great job,” I agreed. She was on the Bluebonnet Festival Committee, and deserved credit for all her hard work. “I’m so glad you suggested having Sip & Spin sponsor the music booth. That was a stroke of genius.” Technically, marketing fell under my job description as the internet guru of the family, but we were all responsible for the success of our record shop.
“Thank you,” she said proudly. The band onstage wrapped up their performance. After a hearty round of applause, they started packing up their instruments. Maggie selected a record from the stack, placed it on the turntable, and set the needle in the groove. As Bob Marley began playing over the loudspeakers, Maggie turned to me. “All jokes aside, I hear you’re getting friendly with Beau Russell again. Joyce Whedon saw you two at a bar in Austin, and it looked cozy.”
I didn’t want to talk about Beau right now. Unlike Tansy, Maggie was rooting for us to get back together. I knew that no matter which way I went, I would be disappointing someone. Since I’d rather not worry about that at this moment, I changed the subject. “Speaking of dates, have you met Mom’s new boyfriend yet?”
“Her what?” Maggie asked, her eyes wide.
“His name’s Marcus Best, the guy from the car commercials.”
“Mom’s dating a used car salesperson?” Maggie looked like she was going to cry.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I assumed you’d be happy for her. You’re always such a romantic.”
“There’s nothing romantic about a married woman dating a used car salesperson,” my sister said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“A widowed woman,” I gently corrected her. “As much as I don’t want to like it, Dad’s gone. And Mom deserves to be happy.”
“You think this Marcus Best joker can make Mom happy?” She snatched up her purse and dug through it until she came up with her phone. “Ugh. No bars. I’m gonna take a walk until I get a signal.” She dropped her purse on the table and took off before I could stop her.
“Um, excuse me?”
I looked up and there was a white woman standing on the other side of the DJ booth. She wore a straw cowboy hat and a long sundress covered in yellow sunflowers. She was holding out a piece of paper. I took it automatically. “Here’s the introduction for the band, and between the second and third songs, if you’d just read what’s on the back, that’d be great. Thanks!” She turned and hurried toward the stage.
Without waiting for the song on the record player to come to an end—I didn’t want to give myself a chance to chicken out—I lifted the needle and turned on the microphone. Stage fright or not, someone had to introduce the next band and I was the only person in the booth. Which, come to think of it, was all my fault. If I’d only answered her question about Beau honestly instead of bringing up Mom’s love life, Maggie would be here to do the announcements. Served me right. With trembling hands, I stumbled through the intro and then the band launched into their set.
The rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully. Neither Tansy or Maggie returned, but I cycled the bands through without any major incident. I didn’t like being behind the microphone, but I didn’t embarrass myself too badly. Still, I was happy when the last band wrapped up their set.
Like pretty much everything in Cedar River, the Bluebonnet Festival wound down at sunset, when Cedar River Memorial Park officially closed for the night. The vendors around me were busy cleaning up their surrounding areas and securing their merchandise. I wasn’t sure what the plan was for the DJ booth. I didn’t want to leave the expensive equipment and records out overnight, exposed to the elements, but my bike was still parked at Town Hall and it would take me forever to carry all of this back to the shop one load at a time, just to have to set it up again in the morning.
“Can I give you a hand with that?” I looked up to see Marcus Best standing in front of the table. “Your mom suggested I swing by and see if you need anything.”
The rumble of an approaching truck got my attention. I looked up and recognized my uncle Calvin’s old Bronco. He must have circled the park on the far side and come up between the trees to end up behind the booth. Thank goodness for four-wheel drive. The truck rolled to a stop and Tansy got out of the driver’s seat. “Sorry I’m late. I had to wait for the crowds to thin out to get back here.” Leaving the headlights on to help illuminate the booth, she walked around to the bright orange and white rental tow-behind trailer that was hitched to the back of the truck and opened the door.
“I still can’t believe Uncle Calvin loaned you his truck this weekend,” I said. Calvin didn’t let anyone drive his precious Bronco. I’d borrowed it recently—without his permission—and got a flat tire. I wasn’t sure he was ever going to forgive me for that.
“He owes us,” Tansy said. “Let’s get started.”
“What can I do?” Marcus asked.
Tansy shielded her eyes from the bright lights of the headlights, noticing him for the first time. “What are you doing here?”
He held out his hands. “Came by to lend a hand, and it looks like y’all can use it. So how can I help?”
Tansy said, “We need to get the soundboard and the record player into the trailer. I’ve got some tarps to cover the big speakers, but anything else that isn’t nailed down needs to be secured.”
Together, the three of us made short work of it. Once everything was locked up, I asked Tansy, “Mind giving me a ride back to town? My trike’s in the municipal lot.”
“Sure. Jump in.” She hesitated a second, then added, “Marcus, need a lift?”
He smiled at her. “Thanks, but it’s such a nice night, I think I’ll walk back to the parking lot.”
“You live nearby?” I asked. “I’ve never seen you around town before.”
“I’ve got a place up north of Dallas, near my original dealership, but I mostly stay at my condo in Austin these days, so I don’t have far to drive,” he replied.
“Have a safe trip home,” I said. He waved and headed down the path. “That was nice of him to help out,” I said as I climbed into the passenger seat.
“Yeah, he’s not so bad,” Tansy said, putting the Bronco into gear and carefully backing out. “Have you heard anything more from the police?”
I shook my head. “Nope.” I pulled out my phone and checked the screen. There were no new notifications, but I still didn’t have a signal. “Not yet.”
“I can’t believe they think that we had something to do with Mayor Bob’s death.” My sister concentrated on the windshield as she navigated our uncle’s Bronco over the bumpy ground surrounding the park. “It’s nonsense. I don’t even know why he was drinking our coffee this morning, if he disliked it so much.”
“I don’t want to think about it,” I admitted.
Most of the tourists had left, but there was a minor traffic jam as the vendors filed out of the parking lot. “Your trike is in the municipal lot?” she asked as we waited our turn.
“Yeah. Mind dropping me there?”
“No problem.” Tansy pulled into the lot and stopped in front of Town Hall. I looked up at the dark windows and felt a tugging sensation in my gut. “You alright?” she asked.
“Yeah.” I unbuckled my seat belt and opened the passenger door. “I would just be a lot better if I’d stop finding dead bodies.”
Tansy laughed. “Trust me, Juni, we’d all be happier.”
I had to chuckle along with her. “Thanks for the ride. See you at home.” I hopped out of the Bronco and closed the door behind me.
My tricycle was just where I’d left it. Normally I didn’t worry about it. Cedar River was a close-knit community. If anyone took my lime green adult tricycle for a joy ride, someone would turn them in before they got more than a few blocks away. But with all the strangers in town for the Bluebonnet Festival, I should probably get into the habit of locking it to a bike stand.
As I rode back to the house I shared with my oldest sister, the stresses of the day faded away. I knew Marcus meant well by offering to help me find an affordable used car, but I truly enjoyed riding through the streets of Cedar River on my trike, especially on a quiet, mild spring night like this one. It was relaxing. By the time I got home, I felt like a new person.