Pumpkins in Paradise (Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mystery Book 1) (12 page)

When Tj arrived at the post office a
t exactly eleven twenty-three, Hazel, who always wore a proper shin-length day dress and sturdy one-inch heels, was on a stepladder changing a light bulb. “Let me help you with that.” Tj hurried over and steadied the ladder for the tall, thin, woman with short, roller-curled hair. “Climb down and I’ll finish up for you,” she offered.

“Nonsense
. I’ve been changing light bulbs since before you were born; actually,” she clarified, “since before your father was born. I think I can handle it.”

At seventy-one, Hazel was feistier than most women half her age. Technically she should have retired from the post office with a full pension years ago, but the spunky widow was determined to remain employed until they hauled her away in a body bag, a sentiment she often shared when concerned friends tried to talk her into slowing down a bit
. Tj knew she’d never had children and her husband had died more than thirty years ago. Most felt that as far as Hazel was concerned, the post office, which had been a constant in her life for more than fifty years, was the only family she had left.

“You here for your dad’s package?” she asked after replacing the bulb and climbing down
. Folding the stepladder, she carried it back to the storeroom before taking her place behind the old counter, which she’d decorated with fall accents, as she did every year.

“My dad has a package?”

“New seal for the generator pump at the resort. He asked me to keep an eye out for it. I gather the old one is leaking like a sieve. They don’t make stuff the way they used to. In my day you could buy a piece of equipment and it would last a lifetime. It didn’t cost a month’s wages, either.”

Tj realized she was in for one of the soapbox back-in-my-day speeches for which Hazel was famous
. Over the years Tj had discovered it was best just to listen politely and nod at appropriate intervals.

“Folks these days seem to have lost all perspective on what things are worth,” Hazel continued
. “Why, that new coffee shop on the corner charges almost five dollars for one of its fancy cups of brew. Back in my day, things cost what they were worth and not a penny more. I tell you, if the people in this country don’t mend their ways we’re headin’ for another depression.”

Tj doubted that, but she didn’t say as much. “I know what you mean,” she responded politely
. “I’ll take the seal as long as I’m here, but actually I was looking for Pru.”

“
Pru’s in the ladies room,” Hazel replied as she handed Tj the package from behind the counter.

“Not anymore.
” Prudence walked into the room. At eighty-three, she was what Tj thought of as a handsome woman. Tall and lean, with angular features, a beaklike nose, and a head of short white hair, the woman commanded attention wherever she went. It wasn’t surprising that Hazel and Pru were such close friends. If there was anyone in town who could match Hazel wit for wit it was Pru and her outspoken manner. Pru had once told Tj that the best thing about being older than sin was that you could say anything you wanted, no matter how rude, and no one would think anything about it.

“Interesting choice.
” Prudence eyed her up and down.

“Huh?
”

“The outfit you have on
. Interesting choice.”

Tj looked down at her black running shorts and extra-large Serenity High School sweatshirt
. First Helen and now Pru? Was there a new fashion police in town?

“I just came from school,” TJ explained
. “And I have soccer practice later,” she added for good measure. “It didn’t seem worth it to change just to run a few errands.”

“
Uumph,” Pru grunted. “Never gonna get a man that way.”

Tj started to explain that she wasn’t trying to get a man but decided to choose the path of least resistance and change the subject
. She was unsure of how Prudence would respond to her inquiry, but anything had to be better than the subject they were on. “I was speaking to a visitor who stopped by the high school to inquire about Zachary. It seems his father knew Arthur,” she began.

“My Arthur?”

“Apparently so. I guess they were friends a long time ago. His name was Will Jackson.”

“Will’s son is here?
” Prudence actually looked shocked, an expression Tj had never associated with the feisty woman.

“It seems Zachary had been trying to contact his dad before he died, so Trent decided to make a detour to meet him,” Tj explained.

“Will’s still alive?”

“No, I’m sorry, he died a year ago.”

Prudence lowered her eyes.

“I know it’s none of my business, but after speaking to Trent, I have to admit I was curious about your relationship with Zachary
. If Arthur was good friends with him around the time of your wedding, I’m guessing you must have known him back before his accident.”

Prudence sat down on one of the stools behind the counter
. Tj waited as a parade of emotions from grief to happiness crossed her face. She looked toward Tj, who could tell she was seeing a memory from her past. A dreamy look come over her face as she began to speak. “Yes, I knew him. I dated him for a while. He was quite a looker, but Will was the one who really caught my eye. Handsome and rugged; not like those pretty boys you girls today seem to prefer. No, Will was a real man; a bit grizzly, if you know what I mean.”

A mental image of Grizzly Adams popped into Tj’s head
. She wasn’t sure if that was what Pru meant, but she decided to remain silent and wait for her to continue.

“When I was a teenager I worked at a little pub on Steamers Wharf
. My poor papa nearly popped an artery when I took the job as a bar maid, but it was fun and the money was good, so I stayed on despite his disapproval. It was the best decision of my life. That’s where I met Will.”

Tj saw a single tear slide down the wrinkled cheek of the suddenly vulnerable woman
. She started to take a step forward, but Hazel motioned for her to stay where she was.

“He was working as a deckhand for the summer and we hit it off
. We went out a few times before he introduced me to his friends, Arthur, Zachary, and a man by the name of Timothy Bell. I was a real looker back then, if I do say so myself. And—” she looked directly at Tj—“although I hate to admit it, I guess a bit of a tease.”

Prudence a tease?

“Anyway, it didn’t take long before I had all four men wanting to date me. Being young, I didn’t see the harm in giving them all a spin. Not that I was a tartlet, mind you.”

“No, I’m sure you weren’t.
” Tj tried not to smile.

“Not like young girls today, who give the milk away before the cow is bought and paid for
. No, this keg was only tapped once, but that doesn’t mean a gal can’t do a little sampling before she hitches her plow to any one horse.”

Tj realized that
Pru must be nervous, the way she was spouting clichés like there was no tomorrow. Not that Pru was above speaking her mind; but she usually was a bit more eloquent in her delivery.

“It was a magical summer, with all four men vying for my attention,”
Pru continued. “I painted the town red, with a different man on my arm each night of the week. We danced and we drank and shared long good-night kisses under the summer moon. It was all so romantic. I hated to see it end, but eventually I realized I had to make a choice, and I chose Arthur. He seemed to be the most responsible of the four. When she’s looking for a husband, a gal looks for a man who will put down roots and return faithfully to the nest every night. Will was the handsomest of the group but also the wildest. I figured a gal like me could never hold him in the long run. After Arthur and I became engaged, Will left and I never saw him again.”

“And Zachary?”

“Zachary continued with a life of drinking and chasing girls until he fell in love with a young woman from off the mountain.

“Do you know her name?”

Prudence tapped her lip with her right forefinger as she thought about the question. “I never met her, but I believe her name was Mary. I have no idea what her last name was or where she came from. After bringing her home, the couple chose to spend most of their time cloistered in his big old house. Folks in town used to speculate about what was going on, but most of it was nothing more than rumor, I suppose.”

“Zachary was married?”

Pru shrugged. “Don’t really know.”

“Do you know what happened to her?”

Pru thought about it. “I’m afraid I don’t.”

“You know,” Hazel joined in, “if you’re really interested in this, you might talk to Frannie
. The library has a bunch of handwritten journals that were donated by locals from as far back as the logging camp Jeremiah Collins ran. You might be able to fill in some of the gaps in the story.”

“Thanks
. I might do that.”

Tj glanced at the clock
. If she skipped lunch, she’d still have over an hour before she had to be back to the school. Since the library was just two doors down from the post office, she decided to head over to see what she could find out from the documents Hazel had mentioned.

The library was one of Tj’s favorite places in town
. Built as a bordello at the turn of the century, it had been converted into a library more than sixty years earlier, a few years after the town was incorporated. The downstairs, which at one time had served as a common room for entertaining, held a large wooden counter that was now used as a reference desk but originally served as the bar on which girls had danced to entertain the men.

Behind the counter were rows of bookshelves that held reference materials that could only be accessed with librarian supervision
. In front of the counter was an open area in which round tables surrounded by chairs were provided for patrons.

The upstairs was divided into smaller rooms, converted from bedrooms into bookrooms, each with its own subject matter
. One room was decorated in nursery rhymes and held children’s books, another housed fiction, yet another reference and business books, and another self-help and religion.

Each bookroom contained long sofas or cozy chairs for visitors who wished to preview a book before checking it out and taking it home
.

“Afternoon, Tj,” Frannie, the fifty-six-year-old spinster librarian greeted her
. “You look tired today. Long night?”

“One of our mares had twins last night
. I stayed up late to help Dad and Rosalie.”

“Everything go okay?”

“We thought Shasta might have a hard time, but she did great. She had two beautiful fillies the girls have named Belle and Ariel after the princesses they plan to be for Halloween.”

“Belle and Ariel
. Both beautiful names.” Frannie smiled. “By the way, that book you asked me to track down for one of your students arrived this morning.” She adjusted her wire-framed glasses as she held up a hardback book. “A mom at sixteen?” she queried.

“One of my girls seems to be headed exactly for that
. The school counselor recommended the book, but I couldn’t find it in the bookstore or online.”

“It’s been out of print for quite a few years,” Frannie explained
. “I have a couple of used booksellers who can usually track down what I need. I hope it helps. Sixteen is a little young to be changing diapers and worrying about which brand of formula to buy.”

“Tell me about it.
” As far as Tj was concerned, dirty diapers and midnight feedings were best left for your thirties, if ever, but for some reason her second-string left guard Lindsey seemed to be infatuated with the idea of having a baby even though she was still three months away from her seventeenth birthday. Tj suspected her obsession with getting pregnant had more to do with her idealized fantasy about a cozy family life with her handsome boyfriend Ron than the reality of swollen ankles and sleepless nights.

“I really appreciat
e you tracking down the book,” Tj said.

“No problem. I’m always happy to help
. But I can’t imagine what young girls these days are thinking.”

“It seems that teenage pregnancy is all the rage
. Although I’ve never seen it, I understand there’s even a reality television show about it. Not sure anything I have to say can compete with that, but I figure I can try to be there for the girls and hope for the best.”

“The girls are lucky to have you.
” Frannie smiled.

Tj couldn’t understand why Frannie had never married
. She was nice looking in an outdated, spinsterish sort of way. Her hair, which she kept neatly pulled back in a bun, was an attractive medium brown and her skin was clear and unlined. She had a nice smile and an interesting shade of dark green eyes. She owned her own house, seemed responsible with her money, volunteered in the community, attended church every Sunday, and was the nicest person you’d ever want to meet. Quite a catch, by normal standards.

“The reason I’m here,” Tj began, “is because I’m doing a bit of research into Zachary Collins’s past, and Hazel mentioned you have an archive of old journals and other documents that might help me.”