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Ryan drove to Shandra’s house unsure what his next move should be. All the facts circled back to Chea, the jilted lover. After watching her prowess with the sword at Halloween, he didn’t have any qualms thinking she could have swung a limb or post and hit the victim in the head.
The barn doors stood open and Shandra’s Jeep wasn’t inside. Where could she be? He parked in his usual spot on the far side of Lil’s beat-up ’60s pickup.
As if the thought of her conjured up the woman, she walked out of the studio and met him. “Where’s Shandra?”
“I thought she’d be here.” He reached for his phone, hit the number one, and waited while it rang. Sheba bounded out from behind the studio, her tongue lolled out. He had to take a step backwards when she placed her feet on his shoulders.
“Hey girl, where’s your master?” The phone went to voicemail. He didn’t like that she wasn’t picking up her phone and hadn’t told him or Lil where she was.
“She not answerin’?” Lil asked.
He shook his head and scrolled through his phone for Treat’s phone number. He didn’t have Ruthie’s and figured Maxwell would know as much as Ruthie.
“Maxwell, state your business,” Treat’s voice boomed.
“It’s Ryan. When did Shandra leave the diner?” He wasn’t too worried, but at the same time, if she had got onto the killer she could be in danger.
“She left here around three.” Maxwell shouted, “Babe. Did Shandra say where she was going?”
Ryan heard some muffled words and Treat said, “Ruthie thinks she was going home. Why?”
“I’m at the house and she’s not here. Lil was concerned because she hasn’t heard anything from her either and when I tried to call her, the phone when to voicemail.” Ryan’s gut tightened with each scenario circling in his mind.
“I can go out and see if I find the Jeep anywhere,” Treat offered.
“I’ll try her phone again and let you know if she turns up.” Ryan touched the off button and hit number one again. The phone rang twice and Shandra answered.
“Where are you?” he asked, much too forcefully.
Lil glared at him.
“Didn’t know I had to check in.”
The iciness in her voice told him she’d heard the same thing in in his voice that Lil had. You didn’t demand anything of the two independent women.
“Forget I said that. I was worried. You weren’t home, Lil hadn’t heard from you, and the first time I tried calling your phone went to voicemail.” He knew from the first day he’d met Shandra that to maintain a relationship with the headstrong, independent woman he would be apologizing a lot.
“I drove to Warner to volunteer at the art department.”
He could tell by what she wasn’t saying that the trip had been about more than volunteering. “I see. Where are you now?”
“Parked on the street in Huckleberry so I could answer the phone.”
He took the hint. “I’ll let you go and will have dinner ready when you get here.” That would put her in a good mood. Food and her favorite wine.
“Where was she?” Lil asked, patting Sheba on the head.
“She went to Warner to volunteer in the art department at the high school.” He knew there had been an ulterior motive.
Lil blew air out between her lips. “She don’t stick around here long enough these days to get her work done. What makes her think volunteering is a good idea?” She stomped through the open barn doors.
Ryan headed to the house with Sheba on his heels. He’d make a dinner that would have Shandra forgiving his rash comment.
~*~
Shandra pushed the Jeep faster than usual to get home. While she’d been upset that Ryan had taken the tone he did when she answered her phone, she also knew she had done something wrong and he was going to be upset about that. She’d accepted Cathleen’s invitation to Thanksgiving dinner. Ryan had come up with all kinds of excuses since their engagement to avoid a family dinner, but she felt they owed it to the family to show up for a holiday.
The barn doors were open, waiting for the Jeep. She pulled in and spotted Lil, sitting on a stool her arms crossed, waiting.
It seemed more than one person was miffed about her not checking in.
“Hi Lil. How did your day go?” Shandra asked, closing the Jeep door and walking toward the woman.
“Sunshine and horse apples.” She stood, uncrossing her arms. “When you left, it sounded like you were checking on the diner and comin’ home. You didn’t show up by noon and no call. You didn’t show up by mid-afternoon, and no call. Ryan shows up and asks where you are and all I can say is haven’t heard from her.”
Shandra didn’t know whether to be flattered the two were worried about her or annoyed. She was a grown woman. If there had been something to call about she would have but to say she was going here then there all the time—that wasn’t happening.
“I’m sorry you were worried. But I don’t believe I said when I would return. You don’t need to worry about me. If I’m in trouble I’ll call you or Ryan.” She knew enough to make sure she mentioned Lil first.
The woman nodded. “Fine. I’ll wait until I see that copper thing popping out between the trees before I open the barn doors here on out.” She walked away.
Shandra wasn’t sure if the woman was put out or just tired and wandering away from the conversation. She walked to the barn doors, closed them, and headed to the house. It had grown dark. Shadows played peekaboo in the tree limbs bopping in the wind out of range of the outdoor lights. Her eyes and lungs stung from the icy gusts.
She pulled the kitchen door open and the aroma of baking bread and savory soup made her stomach growl. Was that why Lil was put out? Ryan was here to make her meals when she came home late.
Sheba slid down the hallway using the rug runner to stop before colliding with her.
“Hey, girl! Did you miss me, too?”
The big slobbery tongue and cries of happiness proved she had.
Ryan walked out of the kitchen, grabbed her around the waist, and kissed her.
She pulled out of the kiss and peered into his eyes. “Wow! If I’d known I’d get such a welcome, I would have come home earlier.”
“Now you know what you miss when you aren’t here as we all thought you would be.” He kissed her again lightly, and headed back into the kitchen.
Sheesh. It appeared everyone was scolding her for not telling them her every move today.
When they were seated at the counter, Ryan with a beer, and her with a glass of wine, and their meal, she told him about her trip to Warner High and what Ruthie and Maxwell had said about Mr. Timms.
“I’ve been getting the feeling that Mr. Timms knew about Donald’s return.” Ryan set his spoon down. “He sounds like the type who would need to know everything his wife is doing. Even if she tried to hide it from him.”
Shandra nodded her head. “I agree. But I want to know, why did you think the teaching awards were for him and not Chea?”
“Because they were on the same shelf as a photo of him holding a trophy. I didn’t have time to read the engraving on the awards.” Ryan shrugged and tipped the beer bottle up.
“No one likes him.” Shandra said.
“True. But Nattie seemed to have a tolerance for him.”
Shandra stared at Ryan. “Nattie? Really? From what I’ve seen of her, I can’t imagine her happy about her daughter being married to a control freak.”
“I got the feeling when I was talking to her that while she didn’t like the guy, she felt he was good for her daughter.” Ryan ran the conversation with the old woman over in his head. Yes, while she didn’t like the man, she definitely gave the impression he was better for her daughter than Donald Kerby.
Shandra was quiet, eating her soup and bread, sipping her wine. When she finished, she slid her bowl forward and swung her stool to face him. “I ran into Cathleen at the high school.”
His senses went on alert. “My sister?”
“Yeah. She was walking down the hall when I was asking about speaking to the head of the art department.” Shandra swirled the wine in her glass, her gaze on the red liquid.
“What did she have to say?” He pushed his bowl and utensils to the middle of the counter and spun. He dipped his leg, catching her knees in between his thighs.
“She said Bobby enjoyed the art classes at the school.”
“Why did you leave out meeting her when you were telling me all the information you’d learned about Timms?”
Her gaze lifted. She gave him a half smile. “I didn’t know how you’d feel about me running into your family and accepting dinner invitations.”
His first instinct was to curse and tell her they weren’t going. But he realized she wouldn’t have accepted if she wasn’t ready to do more mingling with his overbearing family. “You sure you want to?”
“It’s Thanksgiving. That’s a family holiday. You know we won’t be with my mom, so I thought we might as well join your family. You said so yourself we don’t hang out with them enough.” She put the wine glass on the counter and leaned closer. “I’ve grown thicker skin and can tell your father to buzz off when I feel he’s offensive.”
Ryan grinned. The happiness forcing the grin came all the way from his toes. “I’ve wanted to be more a part of my family but didn’t want you to feel awkward.”
“I know you aren’t going anywhere no matter what your father says. And I know you don’t hold the same feelings as your father.”
He wrapped her in a hug. “I am one lucky man.”
She snuggled closer and he held her until his phone rang. He released her and pulled out the cell. Forensics in Coeur d’Alene.
Shandra picked up the dishes and started rinsing and loading the dishwasher.
“Greer,” he answered, walking into the great room to get away from the clatter of dishes.
“Sheila Rickman. We’ve determined the wood I extracted from the victim was cedar. After examining the posts and limbs brought into the lab, we found traces of blood on one of the older cedar posts. The dryness of the wood explains the fine dry slivers we found on the victim. Our findings say it is the murder weapon.”
Ryan’s brain was already coming to a conclusion he didn’t like. “Thank you. I assume you sent the findings to me in a report via email?”
“I did.”
“Thanks.” He hit the off button, trying to decide the best way to confront Nattie Small.