Uncovering Secrets: The Third Novel in the Rosemont Series (19 page)

Chapter 46

Sophie and Sarah bounded onto Maggie’s bed at dawn on
Monday morning. She opened one eye as Eve circled in her basket and snuggled
back into her blanket. “What are you doing up so early? Are your Mom and Dad
awake?”

“No.
Mommy sleeps a lot now that there’s a baby in her tummy,” Sophie said. “And
Daddy’s not up yet. But we’re awake so we went to see the kittens.”

“You
did?” she said, brushing the sleep from her eyes.

Sophie
took a deep breath. “We did. But we let them out of the kitchen. We’re sorry,
Gramma. We know they’re supposed to stay in there at night. But we opened the
door a teensy crack, and they zoomed out of there.”

“Don’t
be mad at us,” Sarah pleaded.

Maggie
smiled and drew them into a hug. “I’m not mad. They move pretty quickly, don’t
they? Where are they now?”

Both
girls shook their heads in unison. “We don’t know,” Sarah said. “They went all
over the place.”

“I
know how we’ll get them back. We’ll put their food out. Those three are chow
hounds.” She threw the covers back and found her robe and slippers. “Come on,
Eve—if I’m up, you’re up,” she said to her faithful companion.

“We’ve
got a busy day today,” she said to her twin granddaughters. “Did your parents
tell you? We’re going to pick out pretty dresses for all of us to wear at the
wedding, and we’re going to choose the flavor of my wedding cake. Will you help
pick it out?”

The
girls nodded vigorously. “Go wake your aunt, and let’s get started on our day.”

***

Their first stop was Archer’s Bridal, the only bridal
shop in Westbury. Anita Archer sprang from her chair behind the counter when
Maggie came through the door. “Mayor Martin. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she
said, pumping Maggie’s hand.

“This
is my daughter, Susan Martin; my daughter-in-law, Amy; and my granddaughters,
Sophie and Sarah.” She turned to Anita. “I’m afraid we’re here on short notice.
You may have heard that I’m getting married in June.” Anita Archer nodded
vigorously. “I need a wedding gown, and Susan and the girls need dresses.
They’re in the wedding party.”

Anita
Archer had to restrain herself from clapping her hands in glee.

“Can
you help us with this, or are we cutting things too close? Should we go buy
something off the rack?” Maggie asked.

“Good
heavens, no!” the woman replied, indignantly. “You don’t want to do that. I can
help you with all of it right here. I’ve got designers that can get your
dresses here in time. Do you know what you’d like?”

Susan
pulled a folder out of her large shoulder bag. “We do,” she said, producing a
series of photos of brides and bridesmaids.

“Oh
… these are lovely,” the woman replied. “We’ve got things like this in our
couture line. They’re a bit pricey. Do you have a budget in mind?”

The
woman held her breath as Maggie uttered Anita Archer’s favorite words in the
English language. “Cost doesn’t matter. We’ll go with whatever we like best.”

This
gloomy Monday morning suddenly turned brilliantly sunny for Anita Archer.

With
gowns and dresses selected and ordered, the group moved on to Laura’s Bakery
for the scheduled cake tasting at eleven o’clock.

“I
don’t know what I was thinking. Now we’ll never get the twins to eat a decent
lunch,” she said to her health-conscious daughter-in-law.

“Who
cares?” Amy replied. “It’s a special day when you can help your grandmother
plan her wedding. Besides, my sweet tooth has been on overdrive this entire
pregnancy. I want a piece of cake!”

“Let’s
see what Laura has lined up for us,” Maggie said. “Her cakes are all glorious.
The hard part will be settling on just one flavor.” Half an hour later, they
all agreed—it would be impossible to pick just one. Maggie ordered
alternating layers of pink champagne and chocolate-almond, encased in
cream-colored fondant decorated with white roses. With the decision made, they
stepped across the threshold to Pete’s to grab a quick lunch before venturing
to the makeup counter at the trendy salon on the square.

***

Maggie led the expedition to the attic after breakfast
Tuesday morning. Susan insisted that “the viewing,” as her family called it,
could wait until after they’d ordered their dresses for the wedding. With that
detail sewn up, the time had come.

“Gosh,
Gramma,” Sophie said, scanning the attic. “This is huge.”

“And
creepy,” Sarah chimed in, biting her lip. “Do you keep the door locked?”

“I
most certainly do. But there’s nothing to worry about up here except perhaps
your overactive imagination,” she reassured her granddaughter. “This is a very
friendly attic. I spent an entire day up here, remember? There’s nothing but
treasures. And dust.” She looked at Sarah, who shrugged and hid behind her
father.

“The
silver’s over there,” Maggie said, pointing to two long tables along the back
wall.

“All
of that?” Susan said, pushing a threadbare ottoman out of her way as she surged
toward the tables. “Holy cow, Mom. I had no idea.” She surveyed the tables.
“This is all so beautiful. There are some very interesting pieces here. I’ve
never seen anything like them.”

“And
there’s more in the bank vaults. All the really valuable stuff is there. We’re
driving to Ferndale as soon as we finish here. You’re not going to weasel out of
going,” Maggie stated in her sternest Mom voice.

Susan
looked over her shoulder at her mother. “I wouldn’t want to ‘weasel out of
going.’ Not after seeing all this.”

Mike
stepped forward and took Amy’s hand to help his pregnant wife traverse the
littered attic.

“I’d
pictured this in my mind,” Amy said, “but nothing like this.”

“I
want you to take as much of this as you’d like,” Maggie directed.

“Don’t
you want it?” Amy asked.

“I’ve
already removed what I want. I’m going to sell everything you don’t take.”
Maggie turned to her granddaughters. “That includes the two of you. I want you
to have pieces from Rosemont’s attic, so that you can hand them down to your
children one day. And if there’s nothing here you like, you may find something
in the bank vault.”

Susan
and Mike stopped culling through the items on the table and looked at each
other. Susan nodded at her brother, and he turned to Maggie. “There’s more than
enough here, Mom. We want to see the stuff in the bank vault—especially
the tea set by that guy whose name I can never remember—but we want you
to sell all the really valuable stuff.”

Maggie
nodded. “That’s the most practical approach.” She turned toward the stairs.
“Take your time. I’m going to check in with my office, and we’ll set out for
Ferndale when you’re done. I’ve labeled boxes with each of your names,” she
said, pointing to a stack at the end of one of the tables. “Put anything you
want in your box. I can send it to you or keep it here. If you divide up
everything on these tables, that’s fine with me. We’ve got a small fortune to
sell in the bank vaults.”

Chapter 47

Chaos engulfed Rosemont in the days leading up to the
carnival, the Saturday before Easter. Maggie couldn’t tell who took more
delight in running up and down the stairs—the twins or her new kittens.
The weather was sunny and warm. They hiked on the trails by the Shawnee River
and went for ice cream in town. Eve and Roman were included in everything.

Joe
Appleby and his crew mowed and trimmed the lawn. Deliveries of supplies for the
carnival arrived with increasing frequency and were stored on the back patio.
Maggie marveled at the efficiency with which everything was coming together.

She
had scheduled the entire week as vacation, but needed to go into Town Hall on
Thursday afternoon. She packed off her family for a day at the nearby science
museum and set out for Town Hall on foot.

The
trees surrounding the square were in bud, circling the gray stone courthouse in
a band of vibrant green. Spring bulbs of hyacinth, tulip, and daffodil made
their joyous presence known in scattered clusters on the lawn. Maggie breathed
deeply and paused to survey the scene in front of her: the businesses lining
the square, their bright awnings and inviting signs; a hulking man walking a
trio of miniature Yorkshire terriers; and an older couple sitting close on a
park bench, pointing to something in the newspaper they held between them. To
think she’d almost thrown in the towel on helping this wonderful town and these
kind and gentle people restore their financial safety and security. She glanced
at the sky.
Help me get this right,
she implored before resuming her
walk to her office.

Maggie
intended to spend only a couple of hours at her office. Her desk was covered
with messages and mail, which she carefully moved to one side so she could
concentrate on signing checks. She was sliding the stack back into place when
her eye fell on the message from Alex Scanlon marked urgent.

Maggie
hesitated, then picked up the phone and placed a call to him.

“I
thought you were on vacation,” he said. “You shouldn’t be calling me from Town
Hall.”

“Your
message is marked urgent, and I was here for a few minutes anyway, so I thought
I should return your call. What’s up?”

“We
got the documents from the offshore banks. They finally complied with the
court’s orders. Boxes and boxes of documents.”

“Thank
goodness,” Maggie replied. “I’m so glad to hear it. What have you found so
far?”

“We’ve
only started to go through them,” Alex said. “Forest Smith and the paralegal
team are making the first pass through them. I’ll review anything that they
think might be significant. So far, we’ve only found items that put the finger
on William Wheeler.”

“That’s
disappointing. We both know he wasn’t smart enough to pull this off by
himself.”

“We’ve
just begun. Don’t despair. We’re going through every inch of paper with a
fine-toothed comb.”

“Good,”
Maggie said. “I was going to call you today, anyway. Would you and Marc join us
for brunch on Easter Sunday?”

“Thanks,
Maggie. We’d love to. I’m sorry that Aaron was too wrapped up preparing for his
boards to make the trip, but we’d love to see Susan and Mike and his family.”
Alex hesitated. “I know that I’ve been short with you lately, and I’m sorry.
I’ve never worked so hard in my life. I’ve been testy with everybody, which is
no excuse. I just want you to know that Marc and I both miss you. We became
very close when we stayed with you all those months and neither of us want to
lose that.”

“This
past year has turned all of us inside out,” Maggie replied. “None of us has
been at our best. I miss both of you, too. I think of you as part of my family.
It’ll be good to have you there on Sunday.”

“What
do you want us to bring?”

“How
about some good champagne? Let’s celebrate the progress we
have
made
this year.”

Once
she returned that first phone call, the stack got the best of Maggie and she
spent the rest of the day in her office, feverishly returning calls and emails.
She knew it was time to quit when she saw the text from Mike telling her that
they were on their way home. She forced herself to sweep the unanswered mail
into the box at the edge of her desk, log off her computer, and head for the
door.

Frank
Haynes stepped out of his office as she approached the elevator.

“Mayor
Martin,” he called. “I thought you were off this week, preparing for the
extravaganza at Rosemont on Saturday.”

“Will
we see you there, Frank? Will you be courting the press again, like you did
last year?”

Haynes
bristled. Maybe he had misled that reporter and taken too much credit for last
year’s successful carnival. He’d also donated prizes worth more than a thousand
dollars. Didn’t that entitle him to some recognition? “I’ll be there to present
the prizes I’m donating again this year,” he answered stiffly. “If the press
deems that newsworthy, who am I to complain?”

Maggie
eyed him steadily but held her tongue. She didn’t want to stir up trouble with
him. They stepped onto the elevator together.

“What
are you donating this year?” she asked.

Haynes
hesitated a split second. In truth, he hadn’t given it a moment’s thought and
didn’t know what he’d be bringing. “The usual fare—tablets, e-readers, a
television. And I think I’ll add a bike this year. What do you think?”

“Bikes
are always popular in the spring.”

“And
Forever Friends will donate coupons for a free dog or cat.”

The
elevator stopped on the ground floor and they exited into the lobby.

“You
can drop everything off at Rosemont tomorrow night. We’re having pizza for
everybody who’s helping. You didn’t come last year, but why don’t you join us
tomorrow?”

“I’ll
see what I can do,” Haynes replied, knowing he’d like nothing less.

***

Maggie slept fitfully the night before the Easter
carnival, waking almost every hour. Her lack of involvement in the planning
process was driving her crazy.
Once a control freak, always a control freak,
she told herself. She looked at her bedside clock at four fifty-five and
decided it was time to get up.

Maggie
padded noiselessly down the stairs, leaving Eve snoring in her basket, and
started a pot of coffee. Her kitchen looked like a foreign land, every surface
covered with boxes and bags, filled with who-knew-what. She spotted a row of
pink bakery boxes and pulled one down from the top of the stack. She carefully
lifted one corner of the box and was greeted with the sight she’d been hoping
for—an entire box of Laura’s banana muffins—half plain and half
with chocolate chips.

Maggie
told herself she shouldn’t as she carefully loosened the tape and extracted one
of the muffins—with chocolate (
eureka!
). She shook the box to
re-distribute the remaining muffins and cover her tracks, feeling sheepish as
she did so.
Surely one muffin for breakfast was allowed?

Maggie
bundled herself into a shawl that hung by her kitchen door and took her coffee
and muffin to the back lawn. She walked to the end and perched on the top of
the low stone wall that marked the end of the lawn and the beginning of the
woods. The rising sun hit the dew and set it sparkling like a net of diamonds.
She pulled off a chunk of the muffin and popped it into her mouth, savoring the
heady aroma of her coffee and feeling the contentment borne of the knowledge
that she was exactly where she was meant to be, doing what she was meant to do.

***

By the time Maggie fed the kittens and made her way
upstairs to collect Eve, the light was on under Susan’s door, and she heard the
low tenor of Mike’s voice, admonishing his girls to be quiet and let their
mother sleep. She knocked softly and opened the door. “I need some help. Can I
steal these two?” she asked, pointing to Sophie and Sarah. Mike gave her a
silent thumbs-up and herded the girls out the door.

“Let’s
feed Eve, and then we can all come back upstairs and get ready in my room. How
does that sound?” she asked, and they both nodded vigorously. “We can feed the
kittens,” Sophie offered.

“Not
this morning,” Maggie responded quickly. “I’ve already done that. They’re
tucked away in the laundry room for the day, and I don’t want you letting them
out. With all the commotion around here today, they could easily get lost. We
don’t want that, do we?” She fixed them with a stern glance.

“We
won’t, Gramma,” Sarah answered seriously.

***

Getting ready with her two granddaughters underfoot took
almost twice as long, but Maggie finally managed to pull herself together and stepped
onto the back lawn as Sam Torres pulled up in his pickup truck, followed
closely by George Holmes and Tim Knudsen. Within thirty minutes, everyone who
had any part in planning the carnival was on site and setting up whatever was
needed. Maggie was prepared to lend a hand, but every offer of help was
declined with the assertion that they were “all set.”

Maggie
wandered to her perch at the bottom of the lawn and surveyed the scene. The
gables and peaks of Rosemont were silhouetted against an azure sky. A light
breeze fluttered the streamers and skirted tables that now dotted the lawn.
John, Alex, Marc, and Susan were hiding eggs. She waved to John, and he made
his way toward her.

“You’ve
done it again, my dear,” he said as he gathered her in his arms.

“I
haven’t done one single solitary thing.” Maggie declared. “The others deserve
all the credit this time.” She swept her hand to indicate the group scurrying
to and fro on the lawn, finalizing preparations for the opening of the
carnival, a matter of minutes away.

“Isn’t
that the definition of true success? To leave a legacy that lives on after
you?” John surveyed the scene.

Maggie
turned her face to his. “Dr. Allen—you are the kindest, wisest man on
earth.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. “I hope you’re right.”

“I
know I am.” He pointed to the twins. “Sophie and Sarah are having a blast.
They’ll remember this—and be telling their grandchildren about
it—when they’re your age.”

“I
don’t know about that. But I hope so.”

John
cocked his head to the woods behind them. “Want to hide out in there and neck
while all this is going on? Nobody’d ever notice we’re gone.”

Maggie
laughed. “It’s tempting, but you’ll just have to wait until Monday when
everyone’s gone home. We’d better get going. The gates open in ten minutes.”

***

Sophie and Sarah were, indeed, having the time of their
lives. They won the three-legged race easily, taking advantage of the special
teamwork that comes so naturally to twins. They were headed to the lemonade
stand when they noticed a cluster of children gathered around a boy and a
one-eyed dog under a banner that read “Mercy Hospital: A Child’s Place.”

They
hung back and watched as children waited in line for their turn to spend time
with the dog. The last child in line, younger than most, was accompanied by a
girl close to Sophie and Sarah’s age.

Sarah
caught the older girl’s eye and smiled. “Are you going to see the dog?” she
asked.

Marissa
Nash nodded. “My sister met him when she was in the hospital, and that boy told
her that Dodger would be here. My mom wasn’t going to let us come until my
sister wanted to pet the therapy dog.”

“Where’s
your mom?” Sophie asked, looking around.

“She’s
not here,” Marissa replied. “She started to come with us, then changed her
mind. She said we could stay if my brother and I watched Nicole the whole time.
Sean took off the minute our mom left, and now I’m stuck with her.”

“That’s
not fair,” Sophie stated flatly. “Have you played any of the games?”

Marissa
shook her head.

“What’s
wrong with your sister?” Sarah asked.

“I’m
not sure, but she’s been sick a lot, and she’s been in the hospital twice.
Mommy told us that the doctor can fix it, but they haven’t found the right pill
yet.”

Sarah
and Sophie nodded, absorbing the information. “Why don’t we all go around
together?” Sarah proposed. “One of us can always be with Nicole, and we can
take turns doing stuff.”

Marissa
beamed. The instant bond that children so easily form was made, and the girls
were inseparable for the remainder of the carnival. Sophie even helped Nicole
collect enough eggs to finish sixth in the egg hunt. Susan was manning the
prize table when the four girls ventured over to select Nicole’s trinket.

“I
wondered where the two of you had gotten off to. I see you’ve made some new
friends,” she said, smiling at Marissa and Nicole.

“This
is my aunt Susan,” Sophie said proudly.

“And
who are you two lovely ladies?” Susan asked.

“I’m
Marissa Nash, and this is my sister Nicole.”

Susan
looked at Nicole carefully and asked, “Did you come to see that doggy today?”
Nicole nodded. “He’s really special, isn’t he? So calm and gentle.” Nicole
nodded again and sat down on the grass.

“Have
you had fun today?” she asked, directing the question to Marissa.

“Loads
of fun,” she said, turning to Sophie and Sarah, and the three girls giggled.

“And
we’re going to get together again when we come back for the wedding. We already
asked Mommy if we could have a sleep over at Rosemont with Marissa. She said,
‘We’ll see.’” Sarah supplied in a tone that indicated she thought the plan was
set in stone.

“Sounds
like a perfect idea to me,” Susan said, awash with the fond remembrance of
those special “vacation friends” she’d made when she was their age. “Are you
going to the egg toss? It’s about to start.”

The
three older girls set out across the lawn, but Nicole stayed put. Marissa
turned back and pulled her sister’s hand. “Don’t feel good,” Nicole protested.