Bury the Hatchet in Dead Mule Swamp (9 page)

“OK,” I said. “Fair
enough.”

“I’ve really enjoyed
getting to know you tonight. I didn’t realize you had taught
Literature at the college level. I’d never say that Cherry Hill
lacks culture, but once in a while it’s nice to have a friend who
might be able to discuss a serious book with some
animation.”

“Thank you. I’ve had a good
time too. You’ve given me a chance to reflect on my situation in a
new way.”

“You are a beautiful woman,
Ana. I’d love to have dinner with you occasionally, if you are
amenable.”

“Jerry, I, I...” I
stammered. The truth was, that as much as I had enjoyed the evening
and Jerry’s company, I was sure now that our age difference, and
some other fundamental differences, kept me from being attracted to
the man in a romantic way.

“Ana, don’t jump to any
conclusions. Actually, I want to be quite clear on what I’m
proposing.”

I watched the light from
the candle flicker across the tablecloth and sparkle on the wine
glasses. “Go on,” I finally said. I held my breath
apprehensively.

“I need to be quite clear
on one thing. I’m not looking for a relationship beyond one of
friendship.”

I let myself breathe.
“Friendship would be perfect,” I said with a sigh.

“However,” he continued,
“what I have in mind is actually more risky. I’d like to involve
you in a conspiracy, if you are willing.”

Chapter 13

“Conspiracy?” The word
itself was shocking. “I thought you were an upstanding citizen,
Jerry. What on earth do you have in mind?”

“Oh, probably nothing
illegal, but it’s definitely on the sneaky side. You seem like the
right person to help me.”

I wasn’t sure if that was a
compliment or not. “You think I’m sneaky?”

“No, no, that’s not what I
meant. But you are certainly in an excellent position to accomplish
certain things,” he added cryptically.

I poured a cup of coffee
and took a hasty swallow. I wanted a clear head for the rest of
this conversation, wherever it was going. The coffee burned my
tongue and I spilled some of the hot liquid on the tablecloth.
Apparently, Jerry assumed I was shocked or anxious about his
intentions. He rose and reached across the table, intending to take
the cup from my hand, murmuring, “Oh, bother. I’ve upset
you.”

Waving him away, I set the
cup down without help. “The coffee’s too hot,” I explained with a
tentative smile, wiping my lips on my napkin. “It’s nothing. Tell
me what grand perfidy you have in mind.”

Jerry took his seat again,
and hitched the chair nearer to the table. He leaned in close and
spoke softly. “You know Cora’s still in love with me, right? We
just have to help her realize it.”

I was very glad I didn’t
have a mouthful of anything just then, or I probably would have
gagged. Or spit it all over my potential co-conspirator. My
surprise clearly showed.

“Oh, yes,” Jerry continued,
nodding. “That’s why she’s so adamant in saying negative things.
She has to keep convincing herself she’s angry.”

“She certainly doesn’t
sound like a person in love with you,” I said dryly.

Jerry’s lip twitched. “You
know Cora pretty well, but perhaps not quite well enough. She’s so
committed to her history project that she’s afraid if she actually
loves a person there won’t be room in her heart for both. I didn’t
have that figured out when we were together before.”

“And now you think you
understand her better?” I was skeptical.

“Definitely. What she
wants, what she needs, is an interesting historical building in
town for her museum. For that, she needs money. I have plenty, and
I don’t need nearly as much as I have. What I do need is Cora, a
happy Cora.”

“I know she was interested
in turning your house into a museum.” I thought I’d probe the topic
with what little I did know.

“Yes, but that wasn’t very
practical.”

“Listen, Jerry. If you are
thinking of buying some building to make Cora happy with the
expectation that she’ll re-marry you, I’m not sure that’s very
realistic. And it doesn’t sound very romantic, either.”

“It’s romantic enough. The
way to Cora’s heart is through a building. Trust me. No one’s ever
appreciated what she does to any great extent. She doesn’t give
people much of a chance because she’s overly defensive about how
poor her set-up is.”

“Poor set-up! You must be
kidding. Her displays are wonderful,” I said.

“Of course they are,” Jerry
said without missing a beat. “But not compared to what she sees in
her head. She has visions of different rooms for different eras,
whole clusters of rooms with themes, a searchable database for
researchers...”

“I know about that,” I
interrupted. “I’ve been working on it with her.”

“And you know how much time
that will take to bring it up to Cora’s standards.”

“I do.” I took another sip
of coffee. It was cooler now, but I could feel Jerry warming to the
topic.

“Anyway, my strategic plan
has two prongs. First, a building. The other is to make her
jealous. That’s where you come in.” He leaned back and smiled
broadly, showing his teeth.

I leaned back myself, in
reaction. I felt my eyebrows rise and tried to buy some time by
looking around. I realized the restaurant had emptied and quieted.
Only a few other diners remained. The candle on the table was
burning low and guttering, throwing shifting shadows on the wall. I
pinched the flame out and tried to focus, surprised at how much
darker the room was without that tiny light. The implication of
Jerry’s plan clearly was that Cora would see me dating Jerry and
suddenly want him for herself. But, did Jerry know about Adele’s
designs on his future? I thought she wouldn’t be at all pleased if
Jerry decided to take up with the newcomer—me. Would Cora actually
be jealous, or would she just write me off as someone who chose to
consort with the enemy? I could end up with no friends at all as a
result of this scheme.

“Tell me what you’re
thinking.” Jerry broke my concentration.

“I think it’s pretty
far-fetched,” I blurted out.

Jerry smiled broadly again.
“But worth a try?”

“I’m not sure. You are
asking me to risk losing my best friends.”

“Friends, plural?” he
asked.

“Yes, you must be aware of
how Adele Volger feels about you. She wouldn’t be happy at all to
see you dating me.”

“Ana, Adele is an old
friend. She likes me a great deal. I like her. We tried seeing each
other for a while after our spouses died, but we aren’t suited for
each other as a couple. If I let Adele in on the plan, and have her
blessing, would you agree?”

“You know Adele can’t keep
a secret for ten minutes,” I challenged.

“There is that. Hmm. All
right. I’ll have to think about how to handle Adele.

I switched to discussing
the other prong of attack. It seemed safer. “You have a building in
mind for the seduction of Cora?” I twisted my lips into a grin that
I hoped looked ironic rather than sarcastic.

“Of course. I’ve bought the
old school building.”

I laughed loudly and one of
the remaining couples in the restaurant stared at us for a moment.
I shook my head and added, more quietly, “I should have
known.”

“I had a moment of concern.
It’s sat empty for over thirty-five years, and then when I went to
make the city an offer, they said someone else had put in a bid.
That lady who bought the small building on my block...”

“Virginia
Holiday?”

“Yes. She managed to get
herself listed as the realtor, and she wouldn’t even talk to me.
Then, one day, Harold Fanning called me up and said Ms. Holiday had
dumped the property back on the city, that her potential buyer fell
through. He wanted to know if I was still interested.”

“So you worked through
Holiday Realty?”

“No, I bought it directly
from the city. They weren’t happy with the cost of all the
paperwork they’d done, just to have it revert to them in a
month.”

“How do you propose to tell
Cora?” The word “propose” seemed eerily appropriate.

“I’m not sure yet. I’m
still working on that part of the plan.”

“This is sort of crazy,” I
began, unwrapping another candy and popping it in my mouth for the
fortifying effects of the chocolate. “My son, Chad, was here last
month.”

“I heard about it, but I
didn’t have the pleasure of meeting him.”

“He thinks that old
building is creepy, and he wanted me to find out about renting it
for a weekend so he and some friends could come here at the end of
October and scare each other silly. But I couldn’t find out who
owned it. I also talked to Harold, but it must have been when that
new woman had it tied up. He wouldn’t tell me a thing.”

“A Halloween Party, eh?”
Jerry mused. “Not bad, but too narrow an appeal.”

“What are you talking
about?”

“I need an adult audience.
A spooky event wouldn’t draw enough townspeople.”

“To what?”

Jerry leaned in and took my
hand. “How about a Harvest Ball? Would you do me the honor of
attending with me?”

I let Jerry continue to
hold my hand but shook my head and said, “I’m not following
you.”

He released my hand and
held up four fingers. “I need four things. One, I need the
building. That’s accomplished.” With the other hand, he folded his
index finger into his palm. “Two, I need a reason to start cleaning
it up, check the plumbing and all that, without having to make up
some outrageous business adventure that no one would believe. I was
so concerned someone else was trying to buy it that I haven’t even
checked out the interior condition, I just bought it.

“Then, I have to get Cora
and a large group of citizens all in the same place at the same
time, so I can present it to her. Last, she has to be shocked
enough, and off-balance enough to realize that she cares about me.”
His fingers were now all curled and enclosed in his left hand. He
opened both hands and held them out, palms up, as if presenting the
world with a gift, Cora with a future.

“And, you think she’ll
actually be jealous of me and want you back?”

“I do. And of course, our
game will be over that night. We’ll tell her it was part of the
secret to get the building ready.”

“You’ll be lucky to get her
to come. She hates big social gatherings like that.”

Jerry sighed. “I know.
Maybe we can figure out a way to make the ball have some historical
context, where her expertise is needed.”

“What if we reenacted the
shooting of that judge? What was his name? She’d have to be
involved to be sure we get it all right.” I heard myself slide
right into the conspiracy, but didn’t have enough sense to put on
the brakes.

“Ah. Reuben Pierce
Oldfield. A local legend of infamy.”

“She’d want to bring in the
exact furniture. She has it all, you know.”

“I don’t feel very good
about turning a bunch of young people loose to have paintball
fights in the building or whatever kids do nowadays, but I wonder
if Chad and his friends would want to be actors in a murder
drama.”

I felt a bit slighted at
Jerry’s opinion of my particular college student’s respect for
private property, but then again, I knew that boys’ pranks could
get out of hand. “I can certainly ask him,” I said. However, I had
some misgivings at Chad’s reaction to the idea that he wouldn’t be
in charge of the plot.

Jerry now took both of my
hands in his. He smiled warmly but seemed intensely preoccupied at
the same time. “Ana, this is going to be the biggest social event
Cherry Hill has had for a decade. We’ll draw in people from four
counties. I’ll have food catered...”

“Maybe give Jack Panther
some business?”

A frown creased Jerry’s
face. “Jack doesn’t do fancy foods, but, yes, surely there would be
some work for him.”

“Maybe Cherry Hill folks
prefer plain, solid fare, nicely served,” I suggested.

The frown lines disappeared
and Jerry was off and running with ideas again. “Of course. Janice
and Suzi Preston could be in charge of the presentation. It all
looks better without the backdrop of the Pine Tree Diner. Small
pulled pork sandwiches, fruit and vegetable trays,
tarts.”

“Slow down,” I said.
“Create an atmosphere; you said a Harvest Ball, and turn it over to
Janice and Jack. I’m sure they’ll do a great job.”

“You’re right, of
course.”

“Assuming you have plenty
of money to fix up that wreck of a building, and have correctly
deduced Cora’s reactions, that leaves us with just one major
problem.”

“What’s that?” Jerry
asked.

“Adele.”

Jerry released me again. He
sighed and rose from his chair, placing his napkin on the table. I
stood up too, stretching my back, which was stiff from the extended
time we’d spent in concentrated discussion.