“I work until three,” Barb said. “I can come over right after work.”
“Great!” Pam said. “Mary and I will whip up invitations and plan some silly games. We’ll have fun.”
As they walked out the door Mary took Barb’s hand and led her to a picnic table in the shade. ‘Come over to the flower shop tomorrow. I want to show you some flowers that might be nice for a lakeside wedding.”
“I’ll have to talk to Sandy. This is all really fast and I don’t have much saved up for flowers, a cake, or things like that.”
“Barb, Floyd and I are giving you the flowers as a wedding gift. Just pick out the ones you want and we’ll have them at the wedding.”
Barb searched Mary’s face for a moment, trying to find some reason she might be playing a cruel joke or evidence she thought Barb was suddenly a charity case.
“What’s the matter, Barb?”
“I’ve heard that wedding flowers cost a lot of money.”
“Forget about the money. They’re a gift.”
“I don’t know what to pick,” Barb said, seeing Pam waving goodbye as she left the parking lot.
“Come to the flower shop and I’ll show you some ideas that I think would work for an outdoor wedding with the flowers that are available this time of year. Besides, Floyd told me that you’re a photographer. I’ll bet that you have a great eye for color and composition. We’ll dream up something together.” Mary handed her a business card.
“I’ll look at the schedule when I get to the photo lab and I’ll give you a call. Okay?”
“That’ll be great. I should be back at the shop in half an hour or so.”
Pam called Mary at the flower shop shortly after lunch. “Mary, I can’t believe that Barb doesn’t want her mother at the shower.”
“I suspect there’s some bad blood between them. I’m guessing her mom might not have approved of Barb’s former life.”
“It’s really sad that she doesn’t have anyone close to be her maid of honor. I’m really pleased that she asked us, but I’ve never been close to her.”
“Look at it from Barb’s standpoint,” Mary said. “Most women don’t relate to her very well. She’s led a tough life, and she’s finally at a point where she has something solid and reliable. You and I may be the only female support group she’s ever had. We may be her best friends right now, and the most important thing we can do is to be by her side at the wedding.”
“She needs unconditional love.”
“Exactly,” Mary said. “Even is she doesn’t understand it right now.”
A few minutes later, Barb called the flower shop to set up an appointment for the next day.
CHAPTER 24
“Is Melissa Schotten on duty?”
“Who should I say is calling?” the receptionist asked.
“Tell her it’s Floyd Swenson, from the Pine County Sheriff’s Department.”
It took several minutes for Melissa to answer. “Please don’t call me anymore.”
“I’m sorry to disturb you again, but I need one more answer.”
“I’m sorry, too. I have to work.” Melissa’s words were followed by the dial tone.
Floyd drove to the credit union and walked to Dolores Smith at the teller’s counter. “Can I steal a few minutes of your time, Dottie?”
“It’s pretty slow,” she replied. “Maybe Brad will cover for a bit.”
Floyd closed the manager’s office door. “We’re still muddling around in the Aaron Roberts disappearance.”
“I know. Melissa called and said you’d been harassing her. She was particularly angry that I’d told you about Kenny attacking her.”
“I understand that Ken and Melissa were an item before he left for Korea. At some point they broke up while he was still overseas. Was it because Aaron starting dating Melissa?”
“I’m sure Aaron had nothing to do with it. Kenny was being a jerk, suspecting Melissa of cheating on him with every other guy in town. Melissa had been so supportive, writing letters daily, even sending boxes of cookies and treats. When Ken got this crazy idea she was seeing someone else she got fed up and told him they were through. He wrote back and apologized, but within a week he was back with the paranoia about her dating other guys. Melissa and I talked about it a lot and we guessed he was being fed this information by someone who wanted to needle him. But Melissa couldn’t forgive his lack of trust and she wrote him that it was over again.”
“There wasn’t anyone else?”
“I think Melissa and I were pretty close, and she told me there was no one else. I know she wasn’t dating anyone regularly.”
“Did you ever find out who was feeding Ken the false information that she was cheating?”
“No. I didn’t spend much time pursuing it, but I know Melissa asked a lot of people who all denied it. The strange part was that none of them were communicating with Ken at all. The group they hung with weren’t the type to be pen pals. They seemed more the hard drinking, hard living, meet-me-at-the-bar-but-don’t-expect-me-to-write type. I got to the point where I just decided that Ken was paranoid, and that maybe the guys in his unit were feeding his paranoia.”
“What happened when Ken came home?”
“He called Melissa and wanted to get back together. She said no but he kept after her. The last days he was in town he called and begged her to go out, and she agreed only if they were part of a group. You know the rest.”
“You’re sure there was nothing between Melissa and Aaron?”
“The only reason Melissa hung o ut with Aaron was because he was Ken’s friend. She said he was nice, but really immature, and she didn’t like the way he treated Kathy.”
“So much for that theory,” Floyd said. “Thanks for your time.”
He turned to leave, but hesitated. “Dottie, the last time I was here you said to let sleeping dogs lie.”
“Maybe. I don’t recall.”
“Have you been past my house recently?” he asked.
“I don’t know exactly where you live,” she replied. “Why would I have been past your house?”
“Someone left notes taped to my door asking me to let sleeping dogs lie. That was exactly what you said last time I was here asking about Aaron’s disappearance.”
Dottie’s eyes hardened. “Maybe you should take the hint.”
“I think Aaron Roberts’ parents would like to know where he is. I owe it to them to do all I can to solve the mystery.”
“I can’t imagine your investigation is going to do anything but scratch scabs off old wounds. That’s probably why I told you to leave things alone.” Dottie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Melissa and I have no interest in discussing this again. Karen Solstad was here, and she asked if I knew why you were digging into Kenny’s past. Millie Nelson called and asked why Sandy Maki showed up at their farm asking about Mike getting Betsy pregnant. What good can come from any of this?”
The streak of hot weather had left everyone with short fuses and boiling tempers and the deputies were responding to domestic disputes daily.
Pam could hear the Roberts shouting at each other from the driveway as she parked her cruiser behind the MACK white semi-tractor with its bulldog hood ornament. The house windows were all open and Pam assumed the voices could be heard by the neighbors a quarter mile to the west. She called the dispatcher, announced she was at a domestic dispute and asked for backup. She knocked on the screen door. When her first knock failed to gain acknowledgment she knocked with her flashlight.
“Sheriff’s department!”
“Go away!” a male voice yelled from inside the house.
“Sheriff’s Department! Open up!” Pam yelled in her best command voice. At the same time Floyd announced to the dispatcher that he was en route to back up Pam. He was still more than ten minutes away from the Roberts’ rural home east of Pine City.