Part Three
She Said
After arriving back in Sleepyside, Honey decided that Mart had done enough thinking for the moment and that the time had come for more talking. The time since she had first read the article had only solidified the desire to carry out her plan. She was determined that Mart would share his feelings with her now, so that she could make some decisions. With that in mind, she cornered him one morning and convinced him to take her across the lake to the Pavilion, where they could be alone.
“We’re going to talk,” she announced, as Mart seemed to be settling down to a long session of kissing.
He looked disappointed for a moment, then he nodded. “Okay. What do you want to talk about?”
Honey raised an eyebrow. “The same thing we talked about in Kentucky. I asked you to think about it and now that you’ve had some time to think, I need to know what you think.”
Her boyfriend’s face betrayed his dismay. “It hasn’t really been enough time to think about something like that, Honey. If you can just wait a little longer–”
“I don’t want to wait,” Honey informed him, in petulant tones. “Everyone keeps telling me I’ve got so much to do with my life, but I don’t want those things. I’ve already done plenty of travelling; I’ve had more adventures than most people get in a lifetime; I don’t even like college all that much and I don’t think I really want to be a detective anyway. What I really want is a baby.”
There was a long pause, as Mart considered the matter. “Doesn’t that scare you?” he asked, in a small voice. “It scares me – more than I can express.”
Honey drew her knees up to her chin and leant on them. “It scares me a little,” she admitted. “But I can live with that. What I can’t live with is acting the way that everyone else wants me to act and ignoring what I feel inside. It’s driving me crazy!”
He nodded, slowly. “I need to think about this.”
“That’s what you said the last time,” she objected. Their conversations seemed to be going around in circles and it frustrated her. “I need to know, Mart. I need to know soon.”
He shrugged and kissed her. “You will. I promise I won’t keep you waiting too long, but it’s like I already told you: I can’t make such a life-altering decision in a moment. I need to consider a lot of things. It’s going to change everything, Honey. Don’t you see that?”
“I’ve seen it all along,” she answered. “That’s what’s been holding me back. But I’ve researched it now and I really don’t want to go through what my mother went through. It terrifies me to think that I might have to have some of those procedures. I know what I want from my life, Mart, and I don’t want to get to a stage where I’m desperate enough to have to do that.”
He thought for a few long moments. “Have you thought about what will happen if it turns out that you don’t take after you mother in that regard? You do have two parents, you know, and genetic material from both of them.”
“But the chances are that, whichever side I take after, there will be problems. My family has published histories dating back hundreds of years and it’s amazing that there’s any of us here at all, considering the number of times that both of my parents’ families have almost died out altogether.” She gave him a weak smile. “I come from a long line of people who had small families.”
“And I come from a long line of people who had big ones,” Mart answered. “I don’t understand your point of view, Honey – I do admit that. But, don’t you think that maybe the two together would cancel each other out?”
She sighed. “I’m just afraid that it won’t, and I don’t think I could stand to gamble on that and lose.”
“Well, give me some time to think, please, Honey.” He kissed her softly. “I won’t keep you waiting too long.”
She saw the pleading in his eyes and nodded her consent.
He Said
The first time that Dan saw Jim, he was walking with his girlfriend on the path that led to the clubhouse. Dan quickened his steps to catch up to the pair, the anger he had felt when he saw the photograph blossoming once more within him.
“Jim, we need to talk,” Dan told him, by way of greeting. “Alone, if you don’t mind, Trixie.”
She frowned. “I do mind, actually.” Dan waited, watching her, saying nothing. “Oh, all right, then.”
When she had gone, Dan gestured to the clubhouse and waited for Jim to go inside.
“What’s the trouble?” Jim asked.
Dan went into the storeroom and, reaching up to the darkest corner, pulled out the bag of papers that he had found in the Preserve. “You want to leave things like this lying around?”
His friend frowned as he took the bag and began looking through it. A moment later, the blood drained from his face. “Where did you get these?”
In a few words, Dan described the place where he had found the bag. “I thought of going to Trixie–”
“Please, don’t,” Jim asked. “I mean, she knows that there was a problem with this, but I’d rather that she didn’t have to see this stuff.”
“What?” Dan was almost overwhelmed by the urge to just deck Jim and be done with it. “She knows and she’s still… I mean, that’s just sick.”
Jim shook his head. “You don’t understand. There was a man trying to blackmail me and that’s what Trixie knows. I haven’t ever cheated on her – of course I haven’t. I love her.”
“So, where do these papers come into it?”
Jim shrugged. “He used to hang around down near there, trying to catch me and taunt me. Maybe he lost them. I’m sure he had more than one copy. If he couldn’t find them, he probably wouldn’t have worried that anyone else would.”
Dan nodded, but his friend did not seem to notice. Jim had one of the papers in his hand and he was staring at it in something like distress. Dan had not taken particular notice of that sheet and had no idea what it could be. Whatever it was, it was holding all of Jim’s attention.
“Is there anything I can do?” Dan asked.
Jim shook himself out of his reverie. “No, I don’t think so. I called the man’s bluff and he gave up the attempt. It’s all under control. Just leave these with me, will you?”
Dan nodded. “Sure. And I won’t say anything about them, either.”
Jim looked up and smiled. “Thanks, Dan. You’re a good friend.”
She Said
When she first walked into the apartment in which she was going to be living, Diana thought that she had made a huge mistake. It was not just the smell – which she suspected signified that someone had been smoking something not necessarily legal. It was also not just the scantily clad couple she saw sprawled together across the sofa. Those things made her a little uncomfortable, but the big problem was the man who leaned against the far wall, eyeing her.
He was tall and lean, dark-haired and handsome, in a bad boy way. His tight-fitting T-shirt and jeans hinted at muscles that were firm, but not over-developed. While the rest of the package might have held some appeal, there was a look in his eyes that sent shivers up her spine.
“Oh, hello,” she greeted, uncertainty evident in her voice.
“Hello yourself,” he answered, smirking.
Nodding to him, Di clutched her bag more firmly and hurried to find her room. The friend of a friend who arranged it had helpfully stuck a scrap of paper with Di’s name scrawled upon it to the door. Di ripped it down and went inside, locking the door behind herself. She looked around, wondering where to start. The room was tiny – the guest rooms in her parents’ house had closets that were larger – and contained only a bed and a built-in closet. With a sigh, she set her bag down on the bed and unpacked it.
Having stowed her belongings as best she could, Di decided to go out and buy a few odds and ends she had not thought to bring. As she walked back towards the door, she noted that little had changed: the couple were still making out on the sofa and the man who gave her the creeps was still leaning against the wall. She nodded to him once more and slipped outside. If this sort of thing was going to continue, she thought, it was going to be a long few weeks.
He Said
A soft breeze rustled the leaves as Mart walked alone, thinking deeply. The decision he was about to make was far more momentous than any other he had faced, and more terrifying than he would admit, but he knew that he had to choose very soon. He found a place to sit, leaning against the trunk of a tree, and began to set the turmoil of his mind into order. He considered the expectations he had for his life, the plans he had made for himself and the ones that Honey had expressed for hers. He wondered at the possibility that Honey was right – or that she was wrong – and the consequences in each case. In time, he formulated some questions to ask Honey, telling himself that when she answered them, he would know what to do.
In a way, that was a lie to himself. In his heart, he already knew what he was going to do; he had known for quite some time. Admitting it was another matter altogether. He was scared of the outcome. He was scared of the way he was feeling. He was scared of what Honey would do when she knew.
He took a shaky breath and tried to sort through the feelings, to imagine how the conversation with Honey would go. The thought of talking this through with Honey was almost as scary as the thought of how it might turn out.
Mart got to his feet and began to walk some more. His thoughts dominated his attention to an extent that he did not notice where he was going. Some time later, he recognised the area where he was as being not far from the lake. The path curved and a glimpse of it came into view. After another curve, he was greeted with another sight.
He could see Honey up ahead. She turned and saw him, and began walking towards him. Beyond her, nearer the lake, he could see a couple of other figures and he assumed that some kind of impromptu get-together was in progress. He quickened his pace, wanting to touch Honey, to start the conversation so that it would be over and done with sooner.
“Where have you been?” she asked him as they met.
“Off by myself. Thinking.” He took her hand and led her onto one of the smaller paths, away from the potential of prying eyes and listening ears. “I think we need to talk about a few more things before I can come to any decisions.”
Honey sighed. “What else is there to talk about? I thought we’d been over everything already.”
Mart smiled and kissed her temple. “How about, where we intend to live, how we intend to support ourselves? Those are the kinds of questions that people are going to ask us.”
She shook her head. “They’re also very easy to sort out. We’ll get an apartment near the campus; you already work to support yourself and I’ll work for a while, too, until our first baby is born. If worst comes to worst, we can always draw on my trust fund to make ends meet. We’ll live simply, save as much as we can. You’ll graduate and work full-time. It will all work out. See?”
He nodded. “I suppose so.”
“You’re still not convinced, are you?” she asked. “Something is still scaring you.”
“The whole concept is scaring me, Honey. I don’t know where to start on talking about what scares me about this.” He ran a hand through her hair and kissed her. “You just need to give me some more time to work through this.”
She pulled back and looked up at him. “I’m not feeling all that patient at the moment.”
“Just a little bit longer?” he asked, putting on his best puppy-dog face.
Honey smiled and kissed him on the lips. “Just a little while.”
He looked into her eyes and was lost. “I love you, Honey,” he told her. “I never want to leave you.”
She Said
A few weeks after their first trip, Trixie returned to Kentucky with Jim to start on the project. She had decided that the best way to manage it would be to do as much as possible while she had time free, in the hope that by the time her classes started in September most of the time-consuming work would be done. To her delight, Mr. Wheeler had offered her his backing, before she had even thought to ask.
So it was that she and Jim set themselves up in a motel-room for a week or two. During the day, they often split up to do two tasks at once. On one particular morning, Jim was busy interviewing contractors while Trixie tidied up a few loose ends at the house itself. She had just about finished when the disturbance began.
“Hey! You!” A large, angry man approached the fence and pointed a finger at Trixie. “What are you doing in there?”
Her heart beating faster, she considered her answer for a moment. “I was given a commission by Lucius Englefield and I’m fulfilling it.” Before he had gotten past opening his mouth, she added, “And who, may I ask, are you?”
“Milton Englefield – the old man’s heir, and the owner of this land,” the man answered. He drew himself up to his full height, which was considerable. “I don’t care what my uncle told you to do; I want you off my land within a minute.”
“Your land?” Trixie looked up at the bulk of the man in front of her and wondered whether all of the gates were locked. “Do you have the title?” She knew, of course, that he did not; she held the title to the land.
He shook with silent laughter. “Of course not. The old man’s barely cold in his grave. But I’ve always known this place would be mine when he went. It’s only a matter of time before I get it and bring the bulldozers in – which will make whatever you’re doing pretty meaningless, I’d say.”
“Well, if you don’t own the land yet, I guess that I can continue what I’m doing, then,” she replied, as a quiet determination began to fill her. “Please make sure you let me know when you get that title. You can contact me through your uncle’s trustee; he knows who I am and what I’m doing.”
The large man looked even angrier and a little confused. “Trustee? You mean Steve Hosking? What’s he got to do with it? Isn’t he only getting rid of the foreign junk?”
“I already told you, Mr. Englefield. He knows who I am and what I’m doing here. Beyond that, it’s between your uncle and myself.”
“I told you to get off my land,” he reminded her, rattling the wire.
Trixie shrugged. “If you haven’t got the title, it’s not your land. I have the proper authority to be here and I’m going to stay here.”
“I’m not finished with you!” he yelled after her as she walked away.
“Great,” Trixie muttered to herself, ignoring his continued shouting. “That’s the last thing I need. And now I know why Mr. Englefield disinherited his own family – I’d disinherit him, too, if he was my nephew.”
She hastily finished up what she had come to do and made her way back to the motel, using the house’s back gate to try to dodge the angry man. She breathed a sigh of relief when she was safe inside their room and picked up the phone to call Steve Hosking. His secretary put her straight through.
“I think we have a bit of a problem,” she confided. “I had a visit at the house just now from a man who said he was Milton Englefield, and he thinks the house is his.”
Through the telephone line, she could hear the other man sigh. “I had a feeling this was going to happen. Let me explain a little: under the terms of his will, Lucius left practically everything to his nephew Milton. Now, Milton is aware that some of the assets were held in trust and that a number of other beneficiaries exist, whose inheritances will come from the trust. He doesn’t know who these people are, or what they will receive because his uncle was highly secretive about the whole business and I have had no reason to tell him. What he has failed to understand is that the house was in the trust – he still thinks that it is part of the estate and that he will inherit as residuary legatee.”
Trixie drew a breath. “Who is going to tell him?”
“The executor of the will, I guess,” Mr. Hosking answered. “I’ll give him a call, if you’d like.”
“Thank you. That would be great.” She paused a moment. “In the meantime, you don’t think Milton Englefield would be violent, do you? He was kind of threatening when I talked to him. I was pretty glad he was on the other side of the fence.”
“Well, I wouldn’t provoke him, if I were you,” the other man replied, dryly. “He comes with rather a short fuse, but I haven’t known him to be violent, only argumentative. I doubt he will be any real trouble, though, since he’s not from around here; he lives in Lexington, I think.”
“Not quite far enough away, if you ask me,” Trixie answered. “I think I’d rather if he lived in Alaska.”
Mr. Hosking laughed. “Not something that I can do anything about, I’m afraid. But I will make that call for you.”
“Thank you,” Trixie answered, and bid him goodbye.
She sank down onto the bed and heaved a sigh. This, she was sure, meant trouble.
He Said
Mart took a deep breath and willed himself to stay calm. His preparations were all in hand, he knew, but this was a lot more important than a simple dinner. The fact that he knew what the outcome of the evening was likely to be did not ease his mind at all. He knew that he needed to get this right. He checked over his provisions, reassuring himself that everything was ready. Seeing that it was, he set off for the Manor House, to collect his girlfriend.
Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the lake and he helped her into the rowboat. When he had considered romantic locations for a private conversation, Mart could not go past the Pavilion, which stood on the other side of the lake. Its position meant that there would be no interruptions. It also meant a certain amount of difficulty with the provision of food, but if there was anything that Mart was willing to go the extra mile over, it was good food.
They arrived on the far shore and Mart helped Honey out of the boat, guiding her inside. He flicked a light switch as they entered to reveal the setting he had prepared. A table stood in the middle of the room, a chair on either side. It was set with a low arrangement of flowers and shining plates and silverware. Honey’s eyes shone when she saw it and he noticed the thrill of anticipation in her face.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured, squeezing his hand. “I love it.”
“I hoped that you would,” he answered. “I think I set the bar a bit high for myself, though, when we came here last year.”
She smiled. “I don’t mind if you can’t always meet that mark.”
“Well, I wanted tonight to be special.”
“For any particular reason?” she asked, a coy smile playing on her face.
He handed her into her seat. “Perhaps.”
A few minutes later, they were enjoying the meal that Mart had obtained for them. This time, he had chosen to use a local catering company that specialised in dinner party fare. The pair engaged in conversation as they ate. Once the meal had been finished, but before he brought out the dessert, Mart decided that the time was right to put his plans into play. He took a moment to summon up his courage.
“I know that I’ve kept you waiting for a lot longer than you would have liked,” he admitted, carefully watching her expression.
Honey nodded. “That’s true. I hope this means that I’ll have my answer tonight.”
“You will.” He smiled at her and took her hand. “Honey, I love you. Will you marry me?”
Her face lit up with a brilliant smile. “Yes! Oh, yes, of course I will. I love you, Mart!”
A weight dropped from his shoulders. He remembered the ring, which was still in his pocket, and reached to pull it out. Honey’s gaze followed the movement, curiosity evident in her expression.
“I meant to give you this at the same time as I asked,” he admitted, “but it slipped my mind.”
He flicked open the lid to the box and watched the delight shine on her face. He took it out and slid it onto her finger, relieved that he had gotten the sizing correct and mentally thanking Di for the assistance she had given him in finding that information.
“It’s beautiful, Mart!” she cried. “Oh, thank you!”
The next thing he knew, they were kissing like they had never kissed before.
She Said
The first thing that Honey did when Trixie and Jim returned to Sleepyside was to get her best friend alone for a private chat. Honey had been dreading this particular talk ever since the idea had occurred to her of changing her life plans. Now that the time had come, behind the closed door of her bedroom, her nerves were threatening to overtake her. She took a deep breath and began.
“Trixie?” she asked, in tentative tones. “Can we talk about something? Only, I need you to keep it to yourself, because I haven’t told anyone else yet; nobody at all.”
“Sure,” her friend replied, easily. “What’s up?”
Honey took a moment to collect her thoughts and gather up her courage. “I’ve made a decision,” she admitted. For a time, she did not continue. Instead, she watched the apprehension build on Trixie’s face. When she did finish the confession, it was all in a rush. “I can’t be a part of the detective agency, like I always said I would, because I’m not going to be a detective, because I’m getting married and we’re going to have a baby as soon as I can convince Mart to get me pregnant, but he thinks it’s better to wait until after the wedding for that, because there’s not that much point to getting married to have a baby if you start trying for the baby before you have the wedding.”
Trixie frowned. “I think so, too, but I really wish you hadn’t told me that last part,” she muttered. A moment later, her frown cleared. “It’s okay, though, Honey,” she assured her. “I kind of knew we’d never actually have a business together. I was just waiting for you to figure that out, too – or admit that you had.”
“I’m just glad that we’re going to be sisters-in-law.” Honey reached over and gave her friend a big hug. “I’ve wanted that just about forever and it’s finally going to be true.”
“Mmm,” Trixie agreed. “I’ve wanted that, too. Just, please, don’t tell me anything about my brother and trying for babies, because that is just too much information, okay? You can tell me when you’ve actually achieved the baby, and I’ll pretend I don’t know how you did it.”
Honey smiled. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to blurt that part out, exactly.”
“So, are you going to tell Brian in private, too?”
Honey shook her head, confused. “Why should we? He’s okay with Mart and me, now. He’s over me. It won’t be a problem.”
Trixie raised an eyebrow. “You think?”
“Yes, I’m sure.” Honey nodded her head for emphasis. “We’ve dealt with all of that, now.”
Her friend still looked sceptical, but Honey ignored the fact. The last thing that she needed now was more trouble from Brian.
He Said
“Brian! Phone for you!” Indira called from the main room of the apartment.
Brian heard her and went to see who was calling him. “Yes?” he answered, after taking the offered handset.
“It’s me,” his sister told him. “How are you doing?”
He frowned as they exchanged news. There must be a reason why she was calling, but he could not think what it might be. After a suitable pause, she did not come to the point, so he enquired, “Was there something you wanted to talk to me about, by any chance, or is this purely a social call?”
“Oh, I was just wondering how you were doing,” she answered in an airy voice. “Been on any dates lately?”
“No.” His frown deepened into a scowl. “What is this about, Trixie?”
“Nothing.” He knew that was not true. “I just thought I’d see how you were going. Indira seems nice. Maybe you could date her.”
“I’m not intending to,” he answered. “I don’t see why you should be concerned about my social life.”
She sighed. “Well, I’d like to see that you were moving on with your life. I don’t want you to be lonely or anything.”
“I’m not lonely,” he snapped. “Just because my workload at the moment doesn’t leave much time for relationships doesn’t mean that I’m in any way underprivileged. I am fine, Trixie, now can we please change the subject?”
Once more, she sighed. “Fine. If you don’t want to talk about yourself, we’ll just have to talk about me. My other news is that Honey and I have decided that we won’t open an agency together.”
Brian’s brow creased and his eyes squeezed shut. He was getting a very bad feeling about this conversation. “I suppose that’s to be expected,” he answered. “I hope you’re not too upset.”
“No. I’d known for a long time that it wasn’t going to happen. I’d already started making other plans. I think Honey’s making other plans, too, only with Mart instead of me. I guess that’s a reasonable swap, since we are almost-twins, but I think they’re different kinds of plans.”
“If you don’t mind, I don’t think I want to hear about Honey’s plans with Mart.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers, trying to stem the oncoming headache he was now feeling.
“You know, Brian,” his sister commented, “it’s sometimes really hard to talk to you. I think I’m going to do us both a favour and stop here, okay?”
“Maybe that’s the best idea. I’m sorry, Trixie. I don’t mean to be such a grouch.”
“I don’t know why not,” she teased. “You do it so well.” He could hear the smile in her voice as she told him to look after himself and ended the call.
Brian sat down on the sofa and let his head drop into his hands. There was something that she was trying to tell him, he knew. Whatever it was, he was sure that it meant something bad was about to happen. He took a few minutes to ponder what that something might be, but came up with nothing concrete. Shaking his head to clear the thoughts, Brian went back to what he had been doing, but the damage was done: in the back of his mind, a seed of worry had been planted.
Continue to part four.