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I watched as Mary pulled herself into a standing position. She did her best to storm off, but she was slow on her feet so it looked more like an angry shuffle. She walked straight ahead, past the dining room, and disappeared down the hall that led to the north wing.
I let out a shaky breath.
And Earl heard me.
His head whipped in my direction.
I stepped out of the shadows and offered a weak wave.
Even in the dim light, I could see the blush blossoming on what little of his cheeks were visible underneath his thick beard.
“How much did you hear?” he asked.
“Not much,” I lied.
He got himself back on the couch. “I...I shouldn’t have lost my temper with her.”
I frowned. If anyone had lost their temper, it was Mary. “I don’t think you did anything wrong.”
“Still,” he said, rubbing his hands. “I upset her. I didn’t mean to do that.”
I sat down next to him and touched his shoulder. “I know you didn’t,” I said gently.
“I know how important getting married is to her.”
“Is it?”
He nodded. “She’s never been married before.”
“She hasn’t?” This was news to me. “How do you know this?”
“We started talking almost as soon as she moved in,” Earl said. “We were talking about our lives—you know, what we did before we ended up here—and she told me.”
“I didn’t know that,” I admitted.
“She said she was close at the last place she lived. Had found a fellow she liked, and they were due to get married. But he died and they hadn’t gotten the chance.” He looked at me and I knew we were thinking the same thing. Arthur had died, too. “Anyway, I was just trying to do her a favor.” He glanced at his hands. “She’s a nice enough lady, and I just thought it might be nice to give her the one thing she wants out of life before...well, before it’s too late.”
My eyes filled with tears. Maybe my hunger was making me delusional...or maybe his sweet gesture really was tear inducing.
“That is a very nice thing to offer,” I told him. “But I don’t think it’s your job to sacrifice yourself for someone else’s happiness.”
I might still be in my twenties, but I’d definitely learned this little bit of wisdom after some of the relationships I’d suffered through.
“It wouldn’t be a sacrifice,” Earl said. “I like Mary. She’s a nice lady.”
I didn’t think liking someone and thinking they were nice were reasons enough to marry someone.
But, I reminded myself, I was in a different stage of life than Earl and Mary. For all intents and purposes, I was at the beginning of mine: starting a career, thinking about if I wanted a family. Earl and Mary were facing the end of theirs. Maybe not immediately, but the stark reality was probably staring them in the face.
I didn’t know Earl’s marital history, but he had just told me Mary’s. She’d never tied the knot, and she’d made it clear to him—and to others—that getting married was important to her. I thought about the stories I’d seen on social media, of terminally ill young adults who’d married their high school sweethearts so they could cross that off their bucket list. They knew their lives were being cut short, and they wanted to experience as much as possible before their time was up.
Mary and Earl weren’t all that different. Yes, they were significantly older, but Mary had a desire to get married. And Earl, being the good friend he was, wanted to fulfill that wish for her.
It was about her, but it was about him, too.
He wanted to make her happy. To do something for a woman he cared about. He might not have loved her the way a man typically loved the woman he decided to propose to, but in this scenario, it didn’t matter.
There were benefits for both of them.
“Well, it was a very sweet thing to do,” I said.
He gave a little shrug. “I don’t know. She didn’t seem to think so.”
“She’s still upset about Arthur,” I said. “Maybe she just needs time.”
“She’s not upset about him,” Earl clarified. “She’s upset at him.”
He wasn’t wrong.
It was the same conclusion I’d come to after watching their exchange.
And I was right back to where my thoughts were when Mary had marched off, before Earl had caught sight of me and I’d gotten sucked into his sweet, romantic narrative.
Mary was definitely still upset at Arthur.
I just needed to figure out if she had been upset enough to kill him.
“Will you be alright?” I asked Earl.
I was hesitant to leave him if he was upset over his denied proposal.
“I’m fine,” he said. He gave a little laugh. “Been through a lot worse in my life.”
I stood up. “You’re sure?”
He nodded.
I left, a little reluctantly, and once inside my car, I pointed it in the direction of the nearest fast-food place.
With food in hand, I found a parking spot and scarfed down my burger in about four bites. I followed this by shoving handfuls of fries in my mouth and washing it down with the large Diet Coke I’d ordered to go with it.
I couldn’t stop thinking about what I’d witnessed, and what Earl had said.
I knew that Mary had wanted to get married. What I hadn’t known was that she’d been engaged at her prior place of residence.
And that her fiancé had died.
I wanted more details, more information. I knew the best way to get it would simply be to ask Mary. But did I want her to know that I was digging for information about her past?
No. Not when I considered her a suspect, I didn’t.
I wadded up my burger wrapper and stuffed the empty fry carton back into the bag. After a long sip of soda, I made my decision.
Instead of heading home, I turned around and drove back to Oasis Ridge.
Anne didn’t just have employee records in her office. She had resident files, too. I didn’t know how I was going to get my hands on Mary’s, but I knew I had a better chance of getting a look at it when she wasn’t onsite than if I waited to do it during regular business hours.
Heidi, the attendant manning the front desk, buzzed me in.
“Forget something?” she asked.
I made a face. “Yep.”
“At least you didn’t get too far before you realized it.”
I turned down the hallway and opened my office and flipped on the light. I set my purse down on my desk, grabbed a loose sheet of paper, and then went back into the hall. I looked down the length of it and immediately spotted who I was looking for.
“Leo,” I said, hurrying toward the security guard at the end of the hall.
Leo was probably pushing sixty. A slight man, no taller than me, I wasn’t sure he would be much of a deterrent to someone intending to wreak havoc or cause harm. Even though that was part of his job description, the real reason he was there to provide a sense of security for the residents. They liked seeing a man in uniform patrolling the premises, especially at night.
“You’re still here?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I forgot to get this to Anne.” I held up the paper in my hand. “Any chance you could let me drop this in her office?”
Leo had a master key to virtually all the rooms and offices in the building. If anyone could get me into Anne’s office, it was him.
“I can take it for you,” he suggested. “It being so late and all.”
I knew he was doing this to be kind, but it was literally the last thing I needed him to do.
“Oh, it’s fine,” I said hastily. “If you’ll just let me in, I can put it with the other stuff. I...it’s a missing page to something I gave her earlier. I need to put it in the right place.”
Ugh, I hated lying.
Leo grinned. “Oh, sure, I understand.” He pulled his keys from his pocket and slowly walked toward Anne’s office door. A minute later, he was pushing it open. “Here you go.”
I could have kissed him. “Thank you so much.”
“Want me to wait for you?”
“Totally not necessary,” I said. “I’ll be sure to lock the door behind me.”
He shrugged. “Sounds good. I was just about to grab a cup of coffee and take a quick break.”
It seemed a little early for a break, considering he didn’t start his shift until seven p.m. and it was just past eight o’clock, but I wasn’t about to say anything.
“Thanks again,” I told him. You’re the best.”
I listened as his footsteps and the tinkling jingle of his key ring slowly faded. Once I was certain he was gone, I toed the door, closing it a little, and sprinted across Anne’s office to access the resident files.
I found Mary’s right away, in the bottom drawer. I yanked it out and, using the flashlight on my phone, quickly located her residential application. It was a two-page document, and the list of prior residences was on the second page. I squinted at the info she’d written down, then snapped a picture of it.
I stowed the file back in the drawer and stood back up. My gaze darted to the other filing cabinet in the room. The employee one.
I debated for half a second before hurrying to that cabinet and yanking open the top drawer. I could peek at Lola’s file, see exactly what her disciplinary action report said.
But Leo had other plans for me. The sound of his keys clanking against each other grew louder and with a silent groan I slid the drawer shut. Realizing I was still clutching the paper I’d told Leo I had to drop off, I stuffed it into the recycle bin next to Anne’s printer. It was a blank sheet of paper, and she probably wouldn’t even notice it in the overstuffed bin.
Leo poked his head in. “Everything okay in there?”
I smiled brightly. “Perfect.” I motioned to the neat stack of folders on Anne’s desk. “Found exactly what I was looking for.”
Leo returned the smile. “Glad to hear it.”
“Thanks for letting me in,” I said as I slipped past him and back into the hallway.
“Happy to help,” he responded.
I just nodded.
I was hoping what I’d found would help.
Help solve the mystery of who was responsible for Arthur’s death.