A Deadly Affair at Bobtail Ridge by Terry Shames Page A

Jenny. He slows, though, and tucks in a few rows back. But the stir caused by his arrival has alerted Jenny. She cranes her head to look and then snaps back, fast. You don’t have to be a genius at reading body language to notice her shoulders stiffen. Whatever happened between the two siblings, the death of their mother has not patched up anything.
    At the reception, there’s no sign of Eddie. I was hoping to have a few words with him to find out if he ever heard anything from his daddy. If he and Jenny were on the outs, I wonder how he knew his mamma was in the hospital and that she died.
    I go through the receiving line that consists of Jenny and a couple of Vera’s closest friends, and I overhear some of Vera’s students describing to Jenny what they learned from Vera. One says, “She was my favorite teacher. She was a wonderful lady.” Jenny is dignified and gracious, but I can see that having to interact with all these people is a strain.
    Although Jarrett Creek and Bobtail are only fifteen miles apart, there isn’t much comingling, so I don’t know many of the people attending. But suddenly I spy someone I do know, a young woman who works in the flower shop in Jarrett Creek. She’s very pregnant, with that glow some women get when they are nearly ready to deliver. She’s standing alone, so I walk up to her. “Rowena, you grew up in Jarrett Creek. How did you know Vera?”
    She beams at me. “My husband was one of her students. Here he comes with my punch.” A tall, lanky man in his forties, several years older than Rowena, comes over with two cups of punch. He barely registers my presence and says to his wife, “I wish you’d go sit down. It’s not good for you to be standing so much.”
    â€œOh, now stop it, Doyle,” she giggles. “If standing around means I get this baby out earlier, then I’ll stand up while I sleep tonight. But here, let me introduce you to Chief Craddock.”
    Doyle Hancock tells me he grew up in Bobtail and never wanted to live anywhere else. “Rowena works part-time at the flower shop in Jarrett Creek so she can learn the trade. She’s bound and determined to learn how to arrange flowers.”
    â€œI want to learn everything I can from Justine so I can open my own florist shop one day here in Bobtail.”
    â€œThat’s not going to be for a while,” her husband says, “not until our kids are in school.”
    They prattle on, sparring in that easy way some couples have. I wait until I have an opening. “Doyle, Rowena says you were one of Vera Sandstone’s students.”
    â€œThat’s right, and lucky to be. She was fair, but she didn’t let anybody off easy—I teach English over at Bobtail JC, and she’s the person who got me there.”
    â€œLet me ask you something. Did you know her kids? You’d be about Jenny and Edward’s age.”
    He grins. “Yeah, I was in the same grade with Jenny.”
    â€œAnd how about Eddie? Did you know him?”
    â€œHe was two grades above me. Can’t say we ran in the same circles though. He was a jock and I was more the studious type.”
    â€œHe was popular?”
    â€œOne hundred percent. He was one of those guys that seemed to be good at everything. He didn’t have time for a kid like me.” He smirks. “If you want to know something about him, ask Careen Hudson.”
    â€œDoyle!” Rowena puts her hands on her hips. “That’s just pure old gossip.”
    â€œWho’s Careen Hudson?” I ask.
    â€œGo ahead and tell it,” Rowena says, laughing.
    He shrugs. “She was a teacher that all the boys had a crush on. There was always talk that she was making out with one or another of them. And she got fired when she was found with one of them.”
    â€œDoyle, you don’t know if this Eddie had anything to do with her. You’re just stirring up