Chapter 10
JUNE
June walked at a brisk pace toward Ted's house, enjoying the warm morning and the familiar streets of Meadowlark Creek.
She'd lived here her whole life, had walked these sidewalks as a young woman, then as a mother, and now as a grandmother.
She knew every house, almost every family's history, and many of the secrets that time had tried to bury.
That knowledge could be a burden, but today, it might be useful.
Ted's house was a neat craftsman-style bungalow with a well-maintained garden full of roses. Just like her Victorian had been the house she’d lived in when her husband was alive, the craftsman was the house he’d shared with his wife before her death.
She sighed as those memories floated through her mind.
June and her husband had been best friends with the Mastersons for many years.
June missed his wife and knew Ted grieved the loss of her husband.
He was outside when she arrived, planting flowers by the front walk, his movements careful and precise. When he saw her coming up the walk, his whole face lit up.
"Junie! To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"
"I thought I might take you up on that standing offer for coffee," she said, returning his smile. "If the invitation's still good."
"It's always good for you." Ted stripped off his gardening gloves and gestured toward the porch. "Come on up. I'll put on a fresh pot."
They settled into comfortable wicker chairs on his screened-in porch, the morning sun filtering through the trees, painting everything in gentle light.
Ted brought out coffee in delicate china cups.
She smiled, recognizing them as his late wife's good set.
He headed back in and returned with a plate of store-bought cookies arranged as nicely as if he'd baked them himself.
"This is lovely, Ted," June said, and meant it.
"I'm just glad you finally said yes." His eyes twinkled. "I was starting to think I'd have to wait until we were both ninety."
"We're getting close enough as it is," June teased.
They sipped coffee in comfortable silence for a moment.
June had known Ted since they were children together at Meadowlark Creek Elementary, although he was a few years older.
They'd gone through school together, remained friends, married their childhood sweethearts, and built their lives.
But the friendship had remained constant, a thread running through all the decades.
He joked and flirted at times, but she knew their close friendship was all either needed.
Which made what she was about to do feel slightly dishonest. "Ted," she began carefully, "I wanted to ask you about the Meltons. About Raymond and Horace."
His expression shifted slightly, became more guarded. "Because of what happened."
"Yes."
"Junie, you know I can’t tell you everything, and I haven’t been their attorney since I retired years ago."
"I'm not asking you to violate any privilege," she assured him. "Just... context. Historical context. We knew those boys when they were young, but you saw them much more often. You've seen how this feud developed over the years."
Ted set down his coffee cup, his weathered hands folded in his lap. "You're looking into things."
It wasn't a question.
"I'm curious," she said carefully.
"You're looking into things," Ted repeated, but there was fondness in his voice rather than judgment. "Of course you are. You find a body and are determined to snoop out what you can. You’re going to put those thousands of mystery novels you’ve read to use, and think you're Miss Marple."
"I prefer Harriet Vane, actually. More literary."
That comparison caused a surprised laugh out of him. "Lord Peter would approve." He sobered. "But Junie, this isn't a book. This is real. And if Raymond was murdered—"
"You think he was murdered, too."
Ted sighed, running a hand through his snowy-white, thinning hair. "I think Raymond made a lot of enemies. I think he came back to Meadowlark Creek with some purpose beyond just attending a festival. And I think his timing… right before the trust dissolved is suspicious as hell."
June leaned forward slightly. "Tell me about when they were young. I knew them and their parents, of course, but not nearly as well as you did. When did the feud start?”
Ted settled back in his chair, his gaze growing distant with memory. "Raymond and Horace. Lordy, where do I even start? When they were young, they’d spend time together. They both came over and played with my son. Good boys. Liked having them around.”
“So what happened?”
“Differences became more apparent. Horace was smart, disciplined, and ambitious.
To be honest, he could be described by some as a golden boy.
Raymond was..." He paused, searching for words.
"Raymond was just as smart but wanted things to come easily. I think he resented having to work for what Horace seemed to get naturally. I always thought that Raymond didn’t have what my dad called stick-to-it-iveness.
God knows, Horace had perseverance in spades. "
"Sibling rivalry?"
"Bone-deep jealousy that turned into bitterness over the years.
" Ted sipped his coffee. "When Horace went to university, their parents promised Raymond the same opportunity. Raymond went to college for a while, but he didn’t finish.
He wanted the money they would have spent on his education given to him directly.
When they refused, he got angry and moved out. "
"How old was he?"
"Nineteen, maybe twenty. He managed to get work in Richmond.
Best as I can remember, it was a mid-level job for some company.
But he always traded on the family name, always expecting special treatment because he was a Melton.
When things didn't work out, he'd quit and find something else.
Eventually, he ended up in some private finance company, I think. "
"And Horace?"
"Horace became an attorney. A good one. Worked his way up, got appointed to the bench, built a respected career through actual effort and skill.
" Ted's voice held both admiration and sadness.
"The few times Raymond would come home for the holidays or family events, things would get heated.
Always some confrontation about how Horace got everything, and Raymond got nothing. "
June thought about what they had seen at the festival. Raymond was drinking and lashing out at anyone who came near. "Was it ever true? Did the family favor Horace?"
Ted’s bushy eyebrows came together as he seemed to consider the questions carefully.
"Their parents loved both their sons. But I also think they were exasperated with Raymond, and that exasperation probably felt like rejection to him.
It became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Raymond acted out because he felt held back, which made his parents more exasperated, which made Raymond act out more.
" He shook his head. "He never made peace with their father before he died, and I know that hurt their mother.
By the time she died two years ago, the brothers hadn't spoken in several years.
Horace was named the executor of the estate, which infuriated Raymond even more. "
"And the trust?” Seeing Ted hesitate, June rushed, “I'm not asking for specifics. Just... the general structure. The kind of thing that will be known soon."
Ted studied her for a long moment, then seemed to come to a decision, sighing heavily.
"They received some of their inheritance when their father died, but of course, most went to their mom.
Then she set up the trust when she was dying.
I was no longer their attorney, having retired, but George Smythe, their new attorney, was handling it all.
But Horace talked to me. Their mother had watched her boys fight for years, and she wanted to give them a chance to reconcile.
So she put both their inheritances in the trust with conditions. "
"What kind of conditions?"
"She didn’t want them to fight over the trust, so they had to wait two years after her death before it would be dispersed.
I assume she thought that would keep Raymond in line and them from fighting right after she died.
” Ted scoffed. “Why she thought that would work, I have no idea.
But, the two years will be up in another month.
At that time, the trust will dissolve, and both will receive their share of a significant amount.
If one died before the trust dissolved, the money would go entirely to the other. "
June absorbed this. "So Horace stood to gain significantly from Raymond's death."
"Yes. But before you go pointing fingers, you should know that Horace didn't want it that way.
He argued with his mother about it and said it wasn't fair to Raymond.
He said that putting off the money was just setting up more resentment.
But she insisted. She thought it would motivate Raymond to learn to be patient. "
"Did it?"
Ted's expression was troubled. "I don't know."
June felt a chill run down her spine. "So Raymond was about to get his money."
"Yes." Ted sighed heavily.
"Although he didn’t act like he was soon going to have money coming in to him.”
“No, you’re right. You’d think that he’d be on top of the world, finally getting close to getting his inheritance."
"Maybe he had been okay," June mused. "But when he came back to Meadowlark Creek, he fell back into old patterns."
Ted held her gaze. “You might be right. A homecoming for some people is pure happiness. For others, it’s a reminder of times they’d rather forget."
“And now Horace gets it all.”