Simple Secrets (The Harmony Series 1) (29 page)

Sam laughed. “Oh, great. Don’t show it to me. I don’t want to cry, and people laugh when I hiccup. I make this strange squeaky sound. Can’t control it.”

“Thanks for the warning,” I said. “I’ll try to keep you happy.”

Sam gave me a strange look and shoved another piece of pie in his mouth.

“You two young people talk like you have known each other all your lives,” Ida chirped. “Gracie, didn’t you just arrive here on Friday?”

I nodded. “Yes, I did. But for some reason, it seems like a lifetime ago.”

Ida raised her eyebrows. “My goodness, are we so boring?”

“No, not at all.” I sneaked a quick look at Sam who returned my gaze with an overly innocent look. “I—I guess it’s just that I’ve been learning so much about the town and its people. And about my family. Things I never knew.”

“I understand that.” Ida sat her plate down and picked up her cup. “There is a lot of history in Harmony. Many people have come and gone. In fact, few people are left from Bishop Angstadt’s days. Most of the old folks have passed—and the young ones have moved away. Only a handful of us left. But the town has changed. People stay now. Things are better. More peaceful.”

I was certain she believed what she said, but I knew Harmony still had ghosts. Ghosts that needed to be exorcised. “Abel told me he has diaries and memoirs left behind by past residents. He seems to be an expert on Harmony history.”

An odd look crossed Ida’s face. “Well, he does have some information, but...”

“But there’s nothing like actually being there?” Sam finished for her.

Ida sat her cup down and folded her hands. “People only write down what they want people to know in their memoirs. They tend to leave out the unpleasantness—especially their own failures and disappointments.” She smiled at us. “Now mind you, I am not saying Abel is misrepresenting anything, but he just has written words. He cannot see the hearts behind the words.”

“You’re probably the best source of information in town,” Sam said. “People should come to you when they want to research Harmony’s past.”

“Well, I do not know about that, but folks have come around from time to time to ask about past incidents and residents.”

I caught Sam’s eye, and he gave me a little nod.

“Ida,” I said, trying to keep my tone light, “do you remember a man named Jacob Glick?”

She frowned at me. “Jacob Glick? Now why would you ask me about him?”

“I—I ran across his name somewhere. Seems like an interesting man.”

The old woman grunted. “Interesting? About as interesting as a snake in the grass.” She screwed up her face in a grimace. “The bishop’s sidekick, that’s what he was. But there was no pretense of godliness in that man. Evil intentions. Evil thoughts.” She shook her head. “Herman and I kept our eyes on him. We were determined to keep him away from the young women in our town. Herman confronted him more than once, but Jacob slithered back to the bishop who always protected him.”

“That must have been frustrating,” Sam said. “Why did you and Herman stay here? Why didn’t you leave?”

“Because she felt she had to protect people,” I said softly. “Just like she’s trying to protect Sarah now.”

Ida’s head bobbed up and down. “Ja, ja, that’s one reason. But we also felt Harmony needed us.” She stared past us. “You know,” she said dreamily, “too many people are looking for a place where they feel comfortable. But life is not just about comfort. It is about being in a place where you are needed. Comfortable or not, we all have a special place where God wants to use us. A place where someone is waiting just for us. I belong to Harmony. I belong to the people He sends to me. I may not know why—but I know it’s important to His plan.” She refocused her attention to us. “And I intend to be in the center of His will. That is my calling, you see. Even if He only has me here for one person—it is His plan, not mine that counts.”

Sam nodded as though he understood. I just shook my head. I also believed God had a plan for everyone’s life, but I had no idea what mine was. Sometimes I worried that I’d completely missed it. Maybe I was so far off track I’d never find my way to that place Ida talked about.

“I—I suppose other people felt the same way about Glick that you did,” I said, trying to shift the conversation back to the dead man buried on Benjamin’s property. “I mean, he had enemies, right?”

“Oh my, yes. Most of the parents who had young girls. And to be honest, even though Bishop Angstadt protected Jacob, I got the feeling he did not like him any better than the rest of us. He certainly seemed relieved when he left town.”

“What made Glick leave?” Sam asked.

“It was strange timing,” Ida said slowly. “The last time I laid eyes on the man, he looked like the proverbial cat that had swallowed the canary. Happy as a lark. Never could figure out why.”

“I’ll bet a lot of people were happy to see him go,” I said. Sam and I had hoped Ida would point to someone who specifically wanted Glick gone. But it seemed that everyone in Harmony wanted him out of town. This wasn’t getting us anywhere.

Ida rose to her feet. “More coffee?”

“Sounds great,” Sam said.

“Let me help you with that.” I started to get up when she waved her hand at me.

“You two sit still.” She picked up the tray and headed to the kitchen. “I’m not so old I cannot fetch three cups of coffee.”

As she toddled away, she mumbled something that I couldn’t completely understand. But before she got much farther, a couple of the words brought me to full alert.

“Ida,” I said, a little louder than I meant to. “What did you just say?”

Sam shot me a concerned look, but I held my finger to my lips, signaling to him to be quiet.

Ida stopped and turned around. “I am sorry, dear. It is nothing. I—I just said that it is odd so many people are interested in that terrible Jacob Glick.”

Sam got to his feet and crossed over to where the elderly woman stood, still holding the tray. He gently took it from her. “What do you mean? What people?”

Ida looked back and forth between Sam and me, a look of confusion on her face. “I guess I should not have said
people.
Just one person who asked me all kinds of questions about Jacob. I had almost forgotten about it. It was awhile ago.”

“And who was that?” I asked.

“Why, it was John Keystone, the butcher. He visited me not long after he moved to Harmony. Wanted to know about the early days of our little town, but our conversation kept angling back to Jacob Glick. I found it odd at the time. He said he was doing some kind of family research.” She shrugged and headed toward the kitchen, leaving Sam and I to stare at each other with our mouths hanging open.

“Sure didn’t expect that,” Sam said after we climbed into his truck and waved good-bye to Ida.

“Me either. Why would John Keystone ask about Glick? Could he possibly know something about his death?”

Sam shook his head as he turned onto the main road. “How could he? He was a baby when Glick died. Besides, he only moved here a year ago, and he barely knew Ben. It doesn’t make sense.”

“He said it had something to do with family business. What could that mean?”

“I don’t know, but he must have been referring to
his
family. I remember Abel saying Glick had no relatives.”

“So John was talking about his own family,” I repeated. “Glick was a predator. We can’t assume all his victims lived here. John’s interests may have nothing to do with anyone in Harmony.”

“You could be right. But what if he lied? Maybe he was just trying to keep Ida from getting suspicious about his questions.”

“But why? Who is Glick to John Keystone?”

Sam just shrugged.

My brain kept trying to wrap itself around this new twist. What information was John fishing for? I thought back to Saturday. John’s meat market was right across the street from Ruth’s shop. He easily could have slipped in and stolen the vase after Ruth left. But why would he want to cause trouble for me? I was no threat to him.

“Could Mary have overheard me asking about Glick and told John?”

“They’re pretty good friends,” he said slowly. “I think she’d tell him whatever he wanted to know.” He frowned. “But was Mary even in the room when you mentioned Glick?”

“She was there all right. Every time I looked her way, she was shooting me dirty looks.”

He sighed. “Well, Abel’s pretty loud. Even if Mary didn’t hear you, she easily could have heard him. And he mentioned Glick very clearly.”

“I—I don’t know what to make of this.” I stared at him. “Can you ask Mary if she talked to John about me? And if Glick’s name came up? I have to know if John had any reason to take Ruth’s vase.”

“Oh man. You don’t know what you’re asking. Mary would like to take off my head and serve it as the main course for supper. Besides, even if she did mention our conversation, it doesn’t mean John had any reason to frame you for theft.”

I patted his arm. “I know that. I’m just trying to follow the trail to see where it leads—even if it’s a dead end. Talking to Mary might be difficult, but you’ve got to mend fences with her anyway. Surely you’re not planning to avoid the café for the rest of your life.”

“Well, actually that was the plan,” he said with a smirk. “It may be the safest alternative.”

The silly look on his face made me laugh. “I think you can come up with something better than that.”

His only answer was a grunt.

We passed Ben’s house and reached Main Street. I looked at my watch. Four fifteen. We were supposed to meet Levi at four thirty. A little early for supper, but he had something else planned around six. We had just enough time to pick up sandwiches. “You know, even if we find out that John knows of my interest in Glick, we still have no idea what that means.”

“I agree. That’s why we have to confront him.”

“Confront him!” I tried to keep a note of hysteria out of my voice, but I failed miserably. “Since coming to Harmony, I’ve taken a long-held secret and blabbed it to so many people I’m surprised my family skeletons haven’t danced their way onto the front page of the local paper!”

Sam cast a disapproving look my way. “First of all, we don’t actually have a local paper. Secondly, if we did, I hope we could come up with something better than your exploits. Besides, just who have you blabbed to? Me? Sweetie found out on her own. You didn’t tell Emily the truth.”

“But I more or less confirmed her suspicion that Glick was dead. And as far as Sweetie goes, she found my uncle’s letter because of me. Because of my carelessness.”

“Now hold on there,” Sam said sharply. “You weren’t careless. Sweetie was overly nosy. There was no way for you to know her part in all this or that she was actually spying on you. That’s not your fault.”

“I guess you’re right, but it sure feels like this situation is spiraling out of control.”

“This situation has been out of control for thirty years. We’re the ones who need to bring it back under control. You’ve convinced me that discovering the truth is our only hope.”

Of course, he was right. Every moment I’d spent in Harmony had only proved that secrets buried in emotional graves eventually turn deadly. The truth had to come out. I was also well aware of the fact that at the end of my two weeks, if I still didn’t have the answers I needed, I would have to tell my father everything. Now that I knew he hadn’t actually caused Glick’s death, I certainly felt better about that possibility. However, just because I knew my father wasn’t involved didn’t mean the authorities would believe it. As of now, he was the only person we knew about who’d fought Glick the night he died. And then he’d left town. No matter how you sliced it, Dad looked guilty. The only outcome that would absolutely protect my father was handing over the real killer. I prayed God would help Sam and me find him before it was too late.

We were nearing the bakery. “So what are we going to tell Levi?” I said.

“I don’t know. I guess we’ll tell him the truth.”

“Will he keep our conversation secret?”

“If we tell him to, yes.” He pulled up in front of the bakery.

“I hate passing this burden on to someone else.”

“I do, too.” He turned off the engine. “But we’ve got to have more information, and he’s the only person I can think of who might be able to give it to us.” He smiled at me. “Don’t worry. I’ve known him all my life. If there’s anyone in Harmony we can trust, it’s Levi Hoffman. He’s been like a father to me.”

I nodded. “Okay, okay. Guess I’m just getting a little antsy. Seems like we take off down one rabbit trail and another pops up. I just hope this journey we’re on has a satisfying conclusion. We’re dragging a lot of lives behind us.”

Sam reached over and turned my face toward his. “You’ve got to have some faith, Grace. God brought you here for a purpose. He won’t desert us now. The results of this journey, as you called it, aren’t on your beautiful shoulders. They’re on God’s strong ones.”

I gazed into his eyes and saw the sincerity there. “Exactly what I’ve been telling myself. But you might need to remind me several times a day. Think you can live up to the challenge?”

He laughed softly. “I’ll try.” He learned over and kissed me on the forehead. “Now, let’s go pick out some sandwiches.”

We exited Menlos’ a few minutes later, loaded down with sandwiches, pop, and cookies warm from the oven. Mrs. Menlo gave us paper plates, napkins, and plastic utensils—something I hadn’t thought about. She also stuck three pieces of baklava into our sack.

We got back in the truck, and Sam drove while I balanced our meal on my lap. I’d passed the city park on my way into town, but this was my first chance to actually scout it out. We turned onto a dirt road that wound around the small lake. A group of geese glided smoothly across the shimmering crystal water. Several small ducks quacked noisily as a woman and her daughter threw pieces of bread to them.

We passed a lovely stone water fountain surrounded by whitewashed wooden benches. Water gently danced down the four-tiered stone fountain. “It’s beautiful,” I said to Sam. “Looks expensive. Where did it come from?”