Chapter Twenty-Six

On Wednesday morning, Paul picked up his briefcase and kissed Kate’s cheek. “There’s another piece in the national paper about Castile. I left it on the kitchen table for you.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now I’d better get moving before Miss Organization thinks I’ve gone missing.”

“Be sure to tell Millie I said hi.” Kate kissed him good-bye and wished him a productive day. She scanned the short article, noting there was nothing new on the case. She had a strong urge to visit Ava Castile, but she also felt the pressure of figuring out who, other than Charlie, had taken the funds at Valley Trust. She already had a full schedule, working on the Faith Freezer supplies for the homeless and wanting to get back to her stained-glass project.

Still, she might be able to learn something from Ava that would help Charlie Mayer. Before attempting anything else, Kate decided it might be time to pay a visit to Ava Castile. She’d call first but needed to find the number. She doubted it would be listed, but there it was, in the white pages, under N and A Castile.

Kate placed the call, expecting to be routed to a secretary or manager of some sort. She was surprised when Ava herself picked up the phone. Kate introduced herself and asked if they could meet to talk about the situation at Valley Trust.

“I’d love to meet you, Kate. Can you come here for lunch?”

“Perfect.” Kate got directions and the code for the security gate and hung up. “That was easy.” Maybe too easy. She let the thought slip by and tried to stem her excitement. She laughed at herself for feeling too much like a teenage girl about to visit a rock star.

With plenty of time before her meeting, Kate showered, then dressed in jeans and an old plaid work shirt. When she stepped out of the master bedroom, she noticed that Aleeda had returned from taking the boys to school. She was standing at the kitchen sink.

“Hola!” Kate greeted as she walked into the kitchen.

“Hola.” Aleeda wrung out the dishrag and wiped down the counters. She sounded cheerful as always.

“Can you help me with the Faith Freezer Program again today?”

“Sí.” Aleeda grinned. “I have good news. We have more than enough volunteers. We are stockpiling casseroles and side dishes. We should be able to serve dinner at the campsite tomorrow evening.”

“Wonderful!”

“I am more than happy to take care of this for you. I can show you the schedule and what we have done so far.”

“Maybe later.” Kate hugged her assistant and friend. “You are a godsend. What am I going to do when you leave?”

“Perhaps I can continue to help you in some ways.”

Kate smiled. “I’ll count on that.”

Though Kate had a number of items on her to-do list, she poured herself another mug of coffee and went into her studio. Aleeda bid Kate farewell as she headed out the door to the Faith Freezer house.

Kate had been working for more than an hour when the doorbell rang. She stretched and rubbed her backside as she hurried to the door. “Renee. What...?”

“This won’t take long.” Renee brushed past Kate.

“But I—” Figuring there was no way to stop her, Kate relented.

“I just wanted to...” Renee stopped midstride and turned back to face Kate. “I came to apologize for what I said Saturday night at the town hall meeting. I don’t know why I sided with Lucy Mae. I guess the whole idea of helping all those people felt overwhelming. I’d like to do what I can to help the homeless at the campground...especially the children.”

Kate’s annoyance melted as she moved forward to give Renee a hug. “Thank you.” She stepped back.

“You’re welcome. I’m heading over to the Faith Freezer house, so I’ll see you later.”

“Wait, I’ll go over with you.” Kate needed a break and wanted to take a look at the schedule to see for herself what kind of progress Aleeda and the others had made.

Kate had never seen the house so busy. It was like walking into a beehive, not that Kate had ever done that.

“Kate, come see.” Aleeda waved her in and over to the long table already laden with boxes, labeled and ready for storage. “We’ve run out of room in the freezers.” She beamed. “But several of the women have volunteered to store the boxes in theirs.”

“Oh, Kate. I’m so glad you’re here.” Lucy Mae Briddle stood at one of the counters with her hands sunk into bread dough. “I was planning to call you to apologize.”

“Me too.” This came from the other side of the kitchen, where real-estate agent Gail Carson was putting on an apron.

“After the meeting on Saturday,” Gail said, “we had a long talk with Loretta and LuAnne over at the diner.”

“We were being shortsighted,” Lucy Mae added. “Renee called me this morning and said the Faith Freezer Program could use some extra hands, so here we are.”

“You were right at that meeting, Kate.” Gail wound the apron strings around her waist and tied them at the front. “We also heard about Aleeda.” Gail nodded at her and smiled. “I had no idea we had people from our own community living out there.”

“I’m glad you’re here.” Kate went from one woman to the other and gave each a hug.

“Some of the women are cooking at home.” Aleeda’s brown eyes sparkled as she spoke. “I thought we could stockpile a month’s worth of dinners, and then it would simply be a matter of maintaining the supply.”

“Do you have a menu for tomorrow’s dinner?” Kate asked.

“Sí. I wrote out the one you had written on your list. A Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. I found a farmer who promised to give us six fresh turkeys that we’ll prepare in the morning. I thought we’d use your oven as well as the one here and I’m working on finding others. I have volunteers set up to bring the food. We’ll use Paul’s pickup and Danny Jenner’s SUV to haul most of what we’ll need.”

Kate chuckled. “I see you have everything under control.”

Her cell phone rang, and she stepped outside so she could hear.

“Hi, Kate, Lucas Gregory here.”

Kate was embarrassed that she hadn’t contacted him sooner. “Lucas, hi. I suppose you’re wondering how I’m coming along with the window.”

“Yes, but I’m calling for another reason as well. I wonder if you have a few minutes. I have someone here I’d like you to meet.”

“Um...sure.” She glanced at her watch. She still had an hour and a half before her lunch with Ava Castile.

“Meet us at the Country Diner.” Lucas sounded jovial enough, but Kate was still confused.

“Oh, okay.”

“You might want to bring Paul.”

“If I can.”

Kate closed her phone, said her good-byes to the volunteers, and then phoned Paul as she hurried back to the house to change and pick up her car. She was just checking out her outfit—a periwinkle blue sweater set, charcoal gray slacks, and flat black dress shoes—when Paul walked into the bedroom.

“Lookin’ good, Mrs. Hanlon.” Paul raised his eyebrows and met her gaze in the mirror. He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck.

She ducked out of his embrace and laughed. “You do say the nicest things”—grabbing his hand, she pulled him into the living room—“but we have to get going.”

“So what’s the big secret?” Paul asked as he settled himself in the Honda.

“I have no idea. Lucas said he wanted me to meet someone and to bring you along.”

“And another mystery begins.”