Catherine Terry. She’s going to help me do some genealogy research at the cemetery here in Blessings.”
Rachel started to say yes, and then something stopped her.
“The name doesn’t ring a bell,” Rachel said.
Gage hid his disappointment with a shrug. “I understand. She hasn’t been here long.”
Rachel saw his expression fall, which made no sense. Why would he care whether she knew his friend or not?
“So you’re into family research. How fascinating!” Rachel said. “Then you’ll be visiting our All Saints Cemetery while you’re here, I guess. What’s the family name you’re researching?”
“Um…my father’s side…the Brewers.”
“Well, happy ghost-hunting,” Rachel said, and then smiled again before heading back into the kitchen.
But the moment she was there, she grabbed Bud by the arm.
“That new guy who checked in last night…Gage Brewer…he asked if I knew Cathy Terry.”
“So?” Bud asked.
“He said she’s going to help him do family research at the cemetery here, but I don’t believe him.”
“Well, he hasn’t broken any laws,” Bud said. “So don’t go causing trouble for no reason.”
Rachel sniffed, but she already felt a measure of loyalty to Cathy Terry for her recent heroism at the park. She felt the need to warn Cathy, just in case, but she didn’t know how to contact her.
“I wish I had her phone number,” Rachel said. “I’d at least call to confirm she knows this man.”
Bud sighed. “I heard Duke Talbot is seeing her. Hope probably has the number. You could call her.”
“I think I will,” Rachel said. “You make another run through the dining room. I’m going to the office.”
“Okay. Whatever it takes to make you happy,” Bud said, and winked, but Rachel missed the wink. She was already on a mission. Unaware that inquiries in small towns piqued both curiosity and suspicion, Gage finished up his coffee, then put on his jacket and left. He wasn’t quite sure how to go about looking for Cathy Terry, because cruising up and down streets would only call attention to the presence of a stranger in a small town, which was the exact opposite of what he intended.
But as it turned out, the streets were busier than usual because of Thanksgiving, and the busiest place in town was the Crown. Shopping for groceries for family feasts was happening in large numbers.
After a couple of turns up and down Main Street, Gage pulled into the parking lot at the Crown and set up a kind of stakeout…watching for a curly-haired redhead driving a black Jeep Cherokee. Once he found out where she was living, he’d call it in and still make it home for Thanksgiving with a neat little bundle of money for his trouble.
But Rachel was on a mission in direct opposition to Gage Brewer, as she made the call to Hope.
It rang a couple of times and then Hope answered.
“Hello, this is Hope.”
“Hi, honey, this is Rachel. Did I catch you at a bad time?”
“No, no, I’m fine. I’m off work for the next two days. What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you have Cathy Terry’s phone number. I need to call her about something.”
“Duke does. Hang on a second,” Hope said, then went down the hall to where Duke was putting extra leaves in the dining table. “Duke…Rachel wants Cathy’s phone number. Can you help her?”
“Sure,” Duke said, and pulled up Cathy’s number in his own phone as Hope handed hers over. “Hey, Rachel. Hope said you want Cathy’s number?”
“Yes…I may be overreacting, but we had a late-arrival guest last night, and this morning during breakfast he said he was from Las Vegas. Then asked me if I knew Catherine Terry. Then gave me some dubious story about Cathy being a friend from Vegas and that she was going to help him do research at the local cemetery for family history. I never heard where Cathy was from, so I didn’t volunteer anything about her.”
The hair rose on the back of Duke’s neck. He knew she’d run into the old friend in Savannah just a few days ago, and now some guy from Vegas had shown up asking about her. This didn’t feel right.
“What was his name?” Duke asked.
“Gage Brewer. Listen, Duke…I don’t know much about Cathy’s story, but if this sounds fishy to you, I think she needs to know there’s a stranger in town asking about her.”
“I do know her story, and it’s fishy,” Duke said. “I’ll call her right now, and if it’s nothing, then thank you so much for caring enough to give her a heads-up. And if