Chapter 41
By nine the next morning, half of Cumberland Creek knew what the other half already had known—that Karen and Adam were an item. And that included Beatrice, who was sitting at the breakfast table with Vera, Eric, Jon, and Elizabeth.
Bea didn’t know quite what to say. When she thought of Karen, she immediately thought of her as a towheaded, barefoot child running around the neighborhood. Then there were her difficult teenage years. She had started using birth control; DeeAnn had found the pills. It was early, too early. How old had Karen been? Fifteen, maybe. She was involved in a drinking episode or two, as well. DeeAnn and Jacob had had a time with her.
Now, she was a grown woman. Almost twenty-six. A nurse. A responsible adult. What on earth would she see in an almost forty-year-old man? Beatrice couldn’t imagine.
“Mother? Did you hear me?” Vera asked loudly.
“I’m not deaf. Of course, I heard you,” Bea said and took a bite of her egg.
“What do you think?”
“I’m not sure what to think. I wonder if there aren’t any young men her age. Why would she be interested in Bryant? He’s too old for her. But then again, she’s an adult. Maybe it will come to nothing.”
Eric nodded. “That’s what I said. I’m sure she’ll get bored with him and move on.”
“In the meantime, DeeAnn is mortified,” Vera said after setting her coffee cup back down on the table.
“Why?” Jon spoke up. “Maybe they are in love. Love has no age limits.”
Beatrice almost choked on her biscuit. Of course, Jon would say that—he was such a romantic.
“He’s too old for her,” Beatrice said again with finality. Jon shrugged.
“I’d be more concerned about his being a detective than his age, frankly,” Eric said.
“That, too,” Vera said. “I mean he’s definitely in a dangerous line of work and I never felt like he was looking to raise a family.”
“Well, he loves Lizzie,” Beatrice said.
“Everybody loves me.” Elizabeth grinned.
Vera laughed and reached over to tousle her red hair.
Beatrice did not want to think about her granddaughter growing up and meeting a man. It did not settle well in her mind. No, indeed. She hoped and prayed that her granddaughter would be spared too much heartbreak, but a bit was inevitable. Beatrice sighed. She decided to think about something else. At that moment, she decided to go and visit Emma Drummond again.
She couldn’t get Emma off her mind. Had she really killed her husband? If anybody had deserved it, he did. But still, to kill your husband?
Bea mulled all that over during her walk to Emma’s abode. She remembered more about her friendship with Emma and was so glad she’d found her again, even if Emma was scared to leave her room.
When Beatrice walked into the lobby area of Mountain View Assisted Living, she was surprised to see Sheriff Bixby pass by her. He smiled and nodded. Such a nice man. He must have someone here, she mused.
She told the woman behind the reception desk she was there to see Emma and was told to go right down to her room.
Beatrice rapped at the door.
“Go away! I told you to go away!”
“Emma? It’s me, Beatrice.”
“Oh!” Emma said and opened the door. “I thought you were that arrogant Sheriff Bixby. If I were twenty years younger, I’d kick his ass.”
Beatrice was taken aback. Emma had never spoken like that. She had always been quite timid.
“I’m sorry, Beatrice. I lost my temper. Please come in.”
“I just saw him leaving,” Bea said. “Was he bothering you?”
“I’d say,” Emma said, reaching up to tuck a strand of gray hair back into her long ponytail. “He married my niece, you see.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“They want to buy my house.”
“Oh?”
“I love my house. I know I don’t live there anymore, but it comforts me to know that Michelle does. I don’t want him getting his greedy hands on it.”
“Well, nobody says you have to sell,” Bea said, sitting on the couch. “Are they pressuring you?”
Emma sighed deeply and punctuated it with something that sounded like a cry or a sob. “Threatening me is more like it.”