CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“This is a terrible idea,” I said. “I’m sure he knows you’re following him.”
“You don’t know that,” Lois argued. “He headed to the center of the village. We have every reason to be going to the village too. That’s where the Sunbeam Café is. That’s where my granddaughter is. That’s where I live!”
“So that’s our story. We are going to—”
The buggy in front of us stopped abruptly, cutting off my words. Lois hit the brakes hard, and the car’s tires squealed. The fluffy poodle hanging from the rearview mirror swung back and forth like a pendulum.
My hand gripped my seat belt with all my might so it didn’t pinch me in the throat as I was tossed forward in my seat.
Lois threw her arm out across me, hitting me in the chest.
“Ouch!” I cried.
“I’m saving you,” Lois said. “It’s called the mom arm.”
Lois said a few choice words about the buggy in front of us. I didn’t say any such words, but I was thinking a few.
“That nut could have killed us,” Lois cried.
I rubbed my chest where her forearm had hit me.
Tucker jumped out of the buggy and marched back to us.
“That nut is coming this way,” I said, dropping my hand and sitting up straighter.
Tucker stomped to Lois’s window and tapped on it. His face was a mask of anger.
She lowered it just a couple of inches. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Lois wanted to know. “I almost rear-ended you. You could have hurt us, yourself, and your horse.”
“If you ran into the back of my buggy, it would have been your fault. You would have caused the accident. If a car rear-ends another car or even a buggy, it’s the car behind that’s at fault.”
She wagged her finger at him. “Don’t you lecture me on traffic laws, young man. I’m the one with a driver’s license.”
“Lois,” I said under my breath.
“I stopped because you were following me, and you need to stop.” He shook with anger. “You have no right to harass me like this.”
Lois pulled her neck back. “Harass you? Listen here, you—”
“Lois,” I hissed.
Lois glared at Tucker through the window. “Following you? Don’t you be ridiculous. Millie, have you ever heard a more ridiculous idea?”
I didn’t move. I was staying out of the tale that Lois was about to tell.
“You could have gone around me at any time. You’re in a car.”
“I know very well that I’m in a car, young man. But there is no rule against driving slow. We were taking our time getting back to the village. We aren’t in a rush like so many of you young folks are. I thought Amish young people were supposed to be different in that way. I suppose I was wrong.” She sniffed.
His face flushed. “Oh, I—I’m so sorry. I should not have assumed that you were following me.”
“You know what assume means, don’t you?” Lois asked.
Tucker’s face was blank.
Lois glanced at me. “I’m not going to tell him.”
I leaned over the console between the seats. “Tucker, I’m sorry if we upset you. We would never want to do that. We’re off to see Lois’s granddaughter at the Sunbeam Café.”
He nodded. He looked like he wanted to say something, but just shook his head. “I’m sorry. I—I don’t know what came over me.” He spun on his heel and ran back to his buggy. He leaped onto the seat, and a moment later, the horse clomped away, pulling the buggy behind it double time.
Lois smiled at me smugly. “See? Our cover story worked.”
I rolled my eyes and settled back into the seat. “Now what are you going to do? Are you going to stick with your story that you are going to the village and not follow him?” I asked.
Lois waited a few beats before she shifted her car into drive again. “Let’s see where he goes.”
“You still plan to follow him.”
“Of course I do. He would not have jumped out of the buggy like that, all high-and-mighty, if he didn’t have something to hide.”
She had a point.
We drove down the county road behind Tucker’s buggy, but this time we stayed well back. It helped that Tucker had urged his horse to such a fast pace.
Lois glanced at me. “Don’t you find his reaction odd?”
“It was surprising, I can say that. Tucker Leham never struck me as the type of person who would confront someone.”
“He has anger issues,” Lois said. “That much I know.”
I nodded and Tucker just went up a notch on my suspect list.
Lois followed Tucker’s buggy at the same distance and same pace as before. “This is working,” she said.
It stopped working when we were almost at the village and Tucker’s buggy turned off onto a side road. If we followed him, it would be obvious we weren’t on our way to the Sunbeam Café.
“Drat!” Lois cried and tapped her long nails on the steering wheel. “I can’t follow him now after we told him that we were going to the café!” She continued straight down the road. “It was a good idea though. I think we shook him up a little.”
The question was whether Tucker Leham was a man that we wanted to shake up.
Lois parked her car in one of the diagonal spots in front of Darcy’s café. There was a small red vehicle in the spot next to us.
“Uh-oh,” Lois said. “That car means trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?” I asked, looking around to see if there was some threat. Apparently, I had been thinking about murder for too many days on end, and I was seeing danger everywhere.
She looked me straight in the eye. “Margot trouble.”
“That’s bad,” I agreed.
She nodded. “We’d best go in and face it.” Lois climbed out of the car, and I did the same. It was a warm May day, so I didn’t bring my bonnet. I touched the top of my head to make sure my prayer cap was secure. The last thing I wanted was for my prayer cap to fall off when facing off with Margot Rawlings.
I followed Lois into the café. The same men I had seen there the first time I’d come to the café were still in the same two seats, working on their two computers. I was starting to wonder if they slept there. Bryan looked up from his computer and smiled at me.
I smiled back and looked around the café. It was much busier than it had been the other times I had visited. Five of the tables were filled with Englischers eating a late lunch. Most of them were eating salad or soup. Everyone appeared to be enjoying the food.
At the counter, Darcy spoke with a short woman with cropped curly hair, which she continually patted as if to make sure it was in place. Perhaps she felt the same way about her hair as I did about my prayer cap. Margot’s brown curls were her most distinctive feature. Since she was so petite, you usually saw her curls before you saw her face. She hadn’t changed much since our younger days. Margot was another woman I’d known as a girl in the village.
Margot rested her hand on the counter. “I can see how this café could have potential in upcoming events at the square. You have done a wonderful job with the menu. Everything I’ve tasted has been absolutely splendid. Tell me your other plans for this place. There must always be new plans. You must always strive for more, bigger, and better.” Margot stopped just short of holding her fist in the air as a show of strength.
Darcy was far less confident and licked her lips. “The café just opened.”
“Don’t think small, girl; think big!” Margot cried.
The Englisch tourists at the table looked over to see what the yelling was about.
“I have thought of expanding to catering. That’s how I started cooking. I worked in catering. I can see how catering events on the square could benefit all of us,” Darcy said in a quiet voice.
“Yes, me too. I’ll bring it up with the committee. It would be nice to have a local business provide the main dishes at our events. Of course, Swissmen Sweets provides the desserts.”
“Oh, I know,” Darcy said. “That shop has been here for a long time, and I wouldn’t want to step on any toes. I would happily work on the savory menus if they want to continue to provide the sweet.”
Lois gave her granddaughter a thumbs-up sign behind Margot’s back.
Darcy’s eyes went wide.
Margot noticed—there was very little Margot missed—and spun around. Lois morphed her excited gesture into a yawn. “Goodness, I could use a nap. It’s funny; when you’re a child, you hate naps, but the older you get, the more enjoyable they are.”
“Lois, how long have you been standing behind me?” Margot asked.
Lois feigned an expression of surprise. “Standing behind you? Millie and I just arrived. We wanted to drop in and see if Darcy needed any extra help around the café. Clearly, she doesn’t and has everything well in hand. She has turned this business into one of the loveliest spots in Harvest.”
I thought Lois was laying it on a little thick, but I just nodded. Anything I added to the conversation would make it sound even more false.
Margot pressed her lips together. “It’s nice to see you too, Millie. I heard you were back in the village.”
“I’ve been back for a few months,” I said. “I’ve seen you around the square at different events, but you always seem to be surrounded by people who need your help.”
“Being in charge of all the activities in the village is a full-time job, but it’s one that I relish. It keeps me busy. Honestly, I don’t know what I would do without it.” She turned her attention back to Lois. “You will be happy to learn I think Darcy has done an exemplary job with the café. The place looks wonderful, and I can see much potential in using this space and Darcy’s skills for future events in the village.”
Lois grinned from ear to ear. “I’m glad to hear it. You couldn’t find a prouder grandmother in the entire county than I am.”
Margot patted the curls on the top of her head. “I must say that what you have here, Darcy, is quite impressive. I will leave you to it now. You will be hearing from me soon, and we will have the schedule for possible events we’d like you to partner with the village on.”
“I would love that,” Darcy said with a little bit of awe in her voice, as if she couldn’t believe that this was actually happening.
“Good,” Margot said, and turned toward the door. She stopped halfway there. “Millie, I was wondering if you had a moment to chat outside the café.”
Lois and I shared a look.
“Want me to go with you?” Lois whispered. “I can be pretty tough.”
“I don’t need toughness to talk to Margot, just my wits,” I whispered back.
She nodded. “Suit yourself, but dollars to donuts you come back in here having volunteered for fourteen if not twenty programs to be held on this square throughout the year.”
I knew that was possible with Margot involved. I would have to keep my head to make sure it didn’t happen.