Chapter 10
“It just came loose?” Robert asked, moving to inspect the rack.
Finding the general store in such disarray had been a surprise.
Having ventured there looking for Christopher to tell him to be ready early the next morning, Robert hadn’t been prepared for this.
He had taken a chance that Christopher would be in the store as it seemed that he followed Lucy more often than not.
Still, he hadn’t expected the fabric to be on the floor and Lucy to be shaking like a leaf in a gale.
She shrugged. “I didn’t touch it, and it just fell.”
Mr. Di Aventura stepped up behind him, also peering at the broken racks.
“I just don’t understand it,” he said, shaking his head.
Robert moved in closer and picked up some of the pieces. He found one of the bolts that had held the racks to the wall.
“There’s the problem,” he said, fingering the piece of metal. “The bolt has been stripped. Look here.” He held it up for Mr. Di Aventura to inspect.
“Oh my goodness! This was my fault,” the store owner said. “I thought I had done a good job, but I guess I’m not a carpenter. Maybe I used old nuts and bolts and didn’t even know it. I’ll have to get someone to come and fix these racks properly. I’m so very sorry, Lucy.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said with a tired smile. “Accidents happen.”
The thing about being a sheriff was that Robert could never really take anything at face value.
He found it almost impossible to accept the first answer to a question or the first recounting of events.
Something felt off. Something felt wrong, and he couldn’t put his finger on it yet.
Accidents did happen, yes, but sometimes something caused them to happen.
“It’s probably just a combination of factors,” Christopher said.
Robert turned to him. It occurred to him that Christopher seemed to be around a lot lately. It was difficult to turn a corner and not run into the man. “It might be,” he said carefully.
There was no reason to alert Christopher to the fact that his being in the store when this happened just added him to Robert’s internal suspect list. Which was silly.
If that was what he was going to base his list on, then he would have to put Mr. Di Aventura and Lucy on that list too, as well as whichever of the boys Mr. Di Aventura employed in the back.
“Who had access to these racks?” Robert asked.
“Well, everyone who works here and anyone who has been in this part of the store,” Mr. Di Aventura said.
“It’s not as though the racks are hidden away.
They’re right here for anyone to look at.
I like people to be able to sift through the fabrics, you know, get a feel for the cloth’s texture.
” He paused, eyebrows rising. “Sheriff, do you think someone tampered with them?”
“Maybe not tampered with, but perhaps leaned on them, pressed down, did something to make them unstable,” Robert conceded. “Maybe exploited the stripped bolts’ weakness.”
This was met with a moment’s silence. Then Christopher turned to him. “What kind of sick person would do that?”
No one answered.
Robert didn’t want any rumors spreading around town or people pointing fingers at neighbors and quickly stopped that line of thought.
“It’s probably just an accident.” He echoed Lucy’s words from earlier and didn’t miss the suspicious look she gave him. She already knew him so well. It would’ve made him smile if the situation were different.
“I’m so very sorry, Lucy,” Mr. Di Aventura apologized once more. “It’s my store and therefore my fault. I’m so grateful the good Lord kept you safe.”
Robert didn’t like laying the blame on Mr. Di Aventura’s door, but there didn’t seem to be another option at the moment. It really was most likely just an accident, no malice or harm intended. But something nagged at him.
Lucy insisted on staying and finishing up her workday, so Robert left with Christopher in tow.
“You seem to be spending a lot of time around Lucy,” Robert said to Christopher as they walked up the road.
“Well, she’s kind and pretty and easy to talk to,” Christopher said. “Also, she’s one of the few people I know in this town.”
As they walked up the street, they spotted Duncan sitting on a rock on the edge of an open piece of land, sketching away. He had a focused look on his face as though he was concentrating really hard.
What was he so fascinated with? Robert wondered. This wasn’t the time though. He needed to have a word with Christopher.
“Listen,” Robert said. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but Lucy has asked me to please ask you to stop following her around.”
Christopher looked shocked. “I’m not following her around!”
“Sure you are,” Robert said. “You turn up anywhere she is.”
“It’s a small town.”
“Not that small.” Robert marshaled his patience, telling himself it wasn’t fair to dislike the man just because he had spotted the gem that Lucy was.
That just indicated Christopher wasn’t a fool.
Nevertheless … “Just be considerate, please. That’s all she’s asking for.
She doesn’t mind seeing you or dealing with you when your business and hers intersect of their own accord, but it has felt kind of forced on your side. ”
Christopher stopped walking and turned to Robert. “Well then, I suppose I should make my intentions known to her.”
Robert stumbled a little but regained his composure quickly. “Intentions?”
“Yes,” Christopher said with a sigh and a dreamy look on his face. “I think I’ve fallen in love.”
Oh dear. It was bound to happen.
Lucy was such a beautiful, wonderful person; Robert wasn’t at all surprised to hear that Christopher had fallen under her spell too.
She had quite the effect on people, whether she knew it or not.
While Robert didn’t at all like that he and Christopher had feelings for the same woman, he also couldn’t blame the man.
“Have you spoken to her about this?” Robert asked as they resumed their walk.
Shaking his head, Christopher sighed. “I can’t seem to find the words. It’s really frustrating.”
“Perhaps you don’t need to,” Robert said, trying to find a kind way to explain that he was barking up the wrong tree and that Lucy already had another suitor.
Casting about for some way to explain the situation to Christopher, who was watching him with a bright and hopeful smile on his face, Robert came up with nothing.
“She seems to trust you though,” Christopher said. “Sees you as a kind of a brother or uncle, perhaps?”
Uncle? Robert was only about four years older than Lucy and about the same age as Christopher. How could he say something like that?
“You could put in a good word for me,” Christopher went on.
Hadn’t he seen how Lucy had come rushing to Robert for comfort in the store? Didn’t he know what that meant?
“I think you should—” Robert began, but Christopher cut him off.
“Yes, yes …” he said, nodding, some strange conversation going on in his head that Robert wasn’t privy to.
Just then Kyle came striding up the street toward them. He waved and seemed to have something that he needed to speak to Robert about. “Hi there, Sheriff!” he called.
“Maybe I just need to show her that I’m the man for her,” Christopher said brightly, seemingly oblivious to anything going on around him. “Thanks, Sheriff. You’re the best.” He patted Robert on his arm and hurried off.
“He seems happy,” Kyle said as he reached Robert. “But you don’t. I heard about what happened in the store. Is Lucy all right?”
“Thank God, yes, she doesn’t even have a scratch,” Robert said. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, it’s more along the lines of what I’ve noticed,” Kyle said. He looked around suspiciously. “How well did you and Lucy vet the newcomers?”
Robert didn’t have time for this. He had a suspicion that there was something afoot in Unity, but he couldn’t quite decide what it was.
Was it Mr. Rossi and his investigation of the town and the mine?
Or was it something to do with the gunmen, who hadn’t quite settled in yet? Or was it something else entirely?
He needed to speak to Michael.
“Thanks, Kyle,” Robert said. “I’ll be sure to keep an eye on them.” He walked off.
“But I didn’t tell you what I saw!” Kyle called, running after him.
Robert kept walking.
“I saw that Ben fellow hanging around the town storeroom. I don’t know if that’s significant, but it seemed odd,” Kyle said.
Why would it be odd? Maybe the man needed to purchase something like any other citizen of Unity.
“Thank you,” Robert said impatiently and hurried on.
As he entered the building and approached Michael’s office door, he heard raised voices.
“Who’s in there?” he asked.
“Michael and Andrew,” Michael’s assistant, a young man of around nineteen named Carl, said. “They’ve been yelling at each other for an hour so far.”
“An hour?”
The assistant nodded.
Robert squared his shoulders and knocked on the door. Without waiting for someone to tell him to enter, he pushed his way in.
“… you think!” Andrew yelled.
“Robert!” Michael snarled. “What are you doing here?”
Robert stared at them. Both men were on their feet, their faces red with anger. Michael stood behind his desk, his hands planted on the smooth wood surface. He looked as though he was ready to punch someone and only having his hands planted was keeping him from doing just that.
“You’ve been yelling at each other for an hour now. I think it’s time someone stepped in and mediated, don’t you?” Robert demanded, his patience hanging by the slimmest of threads.
With a sigh and a shake of his head, Michael resumed his seat. “I guess you’re right,” he conceded.
“What’s got you both in a rage?” Robert asked, stepping further into the room and closing the door on Carl’s inquisitive face.
Andrew swallowed and ran a hand through his hair. He strode to the office’s window and stood there looking out over Unity, his arms across his chest.
“It’s Mr. Rossi’s preliminary findings,” Michael said. “They’re not exactly glowing.”