"And you'd only have to cook every third day, but we like dinner at 6:30, no later."
"I don't know, Gracie. I could just get you to pay my rent and stay at my place. It'd only be six months, that's not too long. I'd rather do it that way, I'd just be in the way at your house," Jeanine told her.
Gracie shook her head, grinning. "Nope, it's a package deal. I'd have to protect my investment, make sure you finished the course. Otherwise you'd never be able to repay the loan. Whadda ya say?"
"I'll have to think about it," Jeanine said. "It sounds like you want free maid service, I'm not sure I want to do that kind of work.
Especially
for family. You ought to help me out, not ask me to clean your damned house."
"It seems like a fair offer to me," Gracie said. "Think about it. But let me know soon so Mom can arrange the finances. Once she invests my money I don't know if I can take any out."
"My burger's getting cold," Jeanine said. "I'm gonna go finish my lunch now."
When Aunt Jeanine had left Gracie turned to her mother and quietly said, "Don't worry Mom. I
knew
she'd never go for it. It required accountability. But now I can say I've made the offer so she has no grounds to complain. Not that that would stop her!"
"Gracie, you're sneaky," her mother said.
A few minutes later people were finishing their lunch and going for dessert. Jennifer and Cindy walked by Gracie's table and she invited them to sit down.
"Thanks for having us all here today," Gracie told them. "The food's great." She noticed Jennifer had a (very) small piece of chocolate cake on her plate.
"You're welcome," Jennifer said. "I thought, I mean we thought it would be nice to have everyone over. You didn't
have
to let us stay here and I'd like to say you're all welcome here anytime."
"What Jen's trying to say is that things have changed for everyone, and this is a chance for new beginnings. We're both very grateful," Cindy said.
"We've
all
been though enough anguish in the past few weeks," Clarissa said. "Cindy's absolutely right, it's a time for new beginnings, and I hope they're positive for everyone. Jennifer, you mentioned going to school the other day, have you given any thought to what courses you might take?"
"I know you, like, probably think it's silly, but I'd like to do something with fashion. I don't think I could come up with the designs, but maybe selling them. I've always had a pretty good idea of what's in style," Jennifer replied.
"I don't think that's silly at all!" Clarissa said. "Fashion merchandising can be a very rewarding area. You do have a good eye for style, and you'd make a good model for the clothes you're trying to sell."
"I wanted to ask you, could I maybe sell some of the jewelry and use the money to start school this summer?" Jennifer asked, a little nervously.
"It's your jewelry, dear," Clarissa told her. "You can do what you like with it. But I think that's a
wonderful
idea. The sooner you get started the sooner you can become self-sufficient. And this way you don't have to use your inheritance paying rent. Cindy, what about you?"
"I've given the landlord notice I've moved out, and again I'm very grateful for you letting me live here with Jen," Cindy said.
Clarissa smiled kindly. "I thought we'd been through all that! What I meant was, what will you do now?"
"I've changed to the day shift, I'll take care of the house and help Jen with her schoolwork, I guess."
"Isn't there anything else you'd like to do?" Clarissa asked.
Cindy looked a little embarrassed. "Well, some day I'd like to get into accounting. But I can do that later when we're settled somewhere."
Jennifer looked at Cindy in surprise. "You never mentioned that to
me
!"
"When I had trouble paying the bills school seemed out of the question," Cindy explained.
"Then I think I'll sell more jewelry and we can
both
go to school this summer! You can quit that lousy job and we'll help each other study." Jennifer grinned wickedly. "When I open my fashion boutique you can keep track of our profits."
Everyone laughed happily. "Hah!" Gracie said. "You guys may be going back to school, but I'm taking the summer off."
"Justin's thinking about summer school, too," Clarissa said.
"No kidding?" Gracie asked. "Taking
what
?"
"Some art classes, to begin with," Clarissa responded. "He's got some talent, but he's never done anything with it. He needs to find out what area he likes best, and exactly where his talents lie."
"I'd have thought he'd want to go into music," Gracie said. "He's always listening to that weird stuff, he knows a lot about it."
"I asked him about that," her mother told her. "He said he still likes the music, but he's realized the lifestyle that goes with it isn't something he wants to get involved with any more. It's not going to be easy for him to change, but I think he'll be a lot happier this way."
"Um, I know it's not exactly any of my business, but will Justin have to go to jail?" Jennifer asked.
"The DA took the circumstances into consideration and declined to file charges," Clarissa told her. "He's on probation – he knows if he messes up again they'll bring those charges back up and he'll really be in trouble. I don't think he will."
Jerry Wilkins wandered over and sat down at the table. He looked first at Jennifer, then at Clarissa; unsure quite who the hostess was he spoke to the table in general. "Ladies, thanks for a great little picnic. I surely enjoyed it."
"Glad you could come, Jerry," Jennifer said. "Since you're here, let me ask you something. What's going to happen to Jack Dunbar?"
"I got him a good lawyer, one of my best buddies. He's out on bail now. It'll be months before he goes to trial, so he'll be back at work come Monday," Jerry said. "I hope that doesn't distress you-all too much. He's a good salesman, no sense in adding to his troubles."
"After what he did?" Gracie asked. "I'd think you wouldn't want him back. What if he got mad at someone else there?"
"I think it's safe to say that won't happen," Jerry replied. "When I went to visit him in jail he told me he'd been the one with the original idea of trying to sell Bixby. Now, I know what you're thinkin', but just hold your horses a minute. Jack told me where to look in his desk, and sure 'nuff I found his notes on the deal. In his handwriting, and dated a month before Charles started talkin' about it."
"That proves he had motivation," Gracie said.
"Well now, it does that," Jerry agreed. "But it also proves he had provocation. Please understand, Ma'am. I do
not
approve of shootin' up yer Dad's car, but I
do
think he had reason to be mad. Jack will pay for what he did, but I don't believe in punishing a fellow any more than is necessary."
Gracie nodded her head. "I can see that."
"What, um…" Jerry cleared his throat. "What will happen to the fellow who killed Charles? If you don't mind my asking."
"Bill's in jail," Gracie told him. "He can't afford bail and anyway the college has fired him. I don't blame him for being hurt and angry – but his 'solution' hurt a lot of other people. The best I can figure, he just snapped. He felt betrayed and walked out of here vowing he'd never speak to Dad again. Then he started thinking, and realized he had the opportunity to kill him and maybe get away with it. If he'd had more time he would've probably cooled down and understood what a horrible plan he was contemplating. But in order to pull it off he had to act fast and he didn't have
time
to think."
"I heard about your heroics," Jerry grinned at her. "But I thought there was no real evidence against him, only the confession he gave you."
Gracie blushed. "Mom didn't want me to do it, but I was never in any real danger. It was the only way to get at the truth. I
knew
I was right, but I couldn't prove any of it. Once Lieutenant Freeman heard the confession he knew where to look. They found the gun, and the latex gloves Bill had worn. They kept his prints off everything but the inside of the gloves. There was gun oil and GSR on the outside, too." She used the term confidently, now that she knew what it was.
"They even used metal detectors and found the drill bit where he'd thrown it out the window," Gracie continued. "The metal shavings in its grooves matched the gun, and he hadn't worn the gloves when he chucked it so they got a fingerprint off it, too."
"That seems like it covers the main points," Jerry allowed.
"But there's more!" Gracie said. "Bill's bicycle tires match the tread marks found at the scene. There's probably thousands just like 'em, they're a common brand.
But
they did find evergreen sap on the bike which makes it a little more likely it'd been there."
"Sounds a little weak to me," Jerry said.
"It is, it's just a small point. Ironically the new clothes Bill bought weren't as good a disguise as he'd thought. That plaid shirt kinda stood out. The police found several students who remembered seeing a man wearing that shirt in the school parking lot, even if they hadn't recognized the professor. There was also a lifer at the campground that saw him drive in and head straight to the public shower and then burn something. They checked out the fire pit, but he'd burned the clothes pretty thoroughly."
"So you really
did
figure it all out from some pretty small clues."
"I just happened to know some things the police didn't, and put them into context," Gracie said humbly.
Clay, who had been to the dessert table, walked up and handed a plate to Clarissa and set one at his own place. He looked around and saw that everyone was still sitting at the tables. He raised his voice and said, "Hey, everybody, listen up! I've got something to say and I want you all to witness."
The group quieted down and turned to look at Clay with some curiosity. "I've done a lot of thinking the last couple of weeks, and I'm sure everyone else has, too. I've thought a lot about the people I know; what kind of people they were and what they were capable of."
Clay had their attention now, and heads nodded in agreement.
"I've watched how they've all weathered this storm, because how a person acts in crisis tells you a lot about their character. And last but not least, I've thought a lot about myself. What kind of character am I?"
This got a lot of laughs from the gathering, as Clay had intended.
"I've realized that I've let past mistakes guide my current life; that because of them I've been afraid to do something that would be good for me and hopefully good for others. I've realized that I love Clarissa very much."
The crowd was suddenly completely silent as everyone riveted their attention on the tableau in front of them. Gracie's hands flew to her mouth as she sucked in a breath and waited for what she knew must be coming.
Clay did it right. He got down on one knee in front of Clarissa and in a steady voice asked, "Clarissa, will you marry me?"
Clarissa grabbed Clay's hands and pulled him up with her as she stood too. "Yes, Clay, I will."
Clay pulled a small box from his pocket and opened it, presenting a sparkling engagement ring to Clarissa. Gracie could see tears of joy in her mother's eyes as she examined it before Clay removed it from the box and put it on her finger. The newly engaged couple embraced as everyone clapped and cheered.
Gracie jumped up and hugged them both, then stood aside as everyone else rushed in to congratulate them. She saw Lieutenant Freeman come around the corner of the house and stop to look at the knot of people. She ran up to meet him.