Page 67 of June's First Murder
"We have," Sara Lee agreed. "Tomorrow will be another day."
"With hopefully no more murders," June added with a slight smile.
"Definitely no more murders," Sara Lee laughed.
They cleaned up the kitchen together, put away the tea mugs, made sure Pippi had fresh water, and Mister Smee's litter box in the laundry room was clean. Then they headed upstairs together, Sara Lee stopping at her bedroom door.
"Goodnight, Nana June. I love you."
"I love you too, sweetheart. Sleep well."
June continued down the hall to her own room. She changed into her nightgown, washed her face, brushed her teeth, finishing all the familiar rituals of a normal evening. But tonight didn't feel quite normal. Tonight felt like the end of something significant.
She climbed into bed, and Pippi curled onto her pillow. As June reached to turn off her bedside lamp, Mister Smee appeared in the doorway. He walked into the room with his usual dignity, jumped onto the bed, and settled himself on June's pillow, right where he could watch over her while she slept.
"Thank you," June whispered to him. "For The Pale Horse. For The Count of Monte Cristo. For the cookbook. For being so clever."
Mister Smee blinked his eyes slowly. And purred.
June turned off the lamp, and outside her window, Meadowlark Creek slept peacefully. Tomorrow would bring new challenges… Diane's legal troubles, Carl's distress over the misplaced drug, the town's gossip and speculation.
But tonight, June allowed herself to rest. The truth had been found. Justice would be served, perhaps not perfectly, but as fairly as imperfect humans could manage.
And in the Victorian house on the quiet street, an older woman, her granddaughter, a scruffy rescue dog, and a remarkably intelligent orange and white cat all slept soundly, knowing they'd done what needed to be done.
The First of June Festival had ended in tragedy. But out of that tragedy had come truth, and understanding, and maybe the kind of justice that made room for mercy.
That would be enough.
29
SARA LEE
Sara Lee guided the bookmobile down the familiar county road, windows rolled down to let the warm June breeze flow through the cab. The converted food truck still carried the faint ghost of french fries beneath the newer scents of old paper and vinyl seat covers, a combination that had become as comforting to her as the smell of coffee at Barb's shop.
The Virginia countryside rolled past her windows in shades of green and gold. Fields of soybeans stretched toward distant tree lines, their leaves rustling in waves when the wind picked up. An old barn leaned picturesquely against the sky, its weathered boards silvered by decades of sun and rain. Split-rail fences marked property lines, some neat and freshly painted, others leaning over with age.
Sara Lee waved at one of the county residents who was out mowing his front pasture on an ancient John Deere tractor. He lifted his hat in return, his weathered face creasing into a smile. A quarter mile down, anolder man stood in his vegetable garden, a wide-brimmed straw hat shading his face as he bent over tomato plants heavy with green fruit. He straightened when he heard the bookmobile's distinctive rumble and waved with both hands.
This was still Sara Lee's favorite part of her summer job… these moments of connection, these small acknowledgments that said,I see you, you're part of this place, you belong here.
She slowed as she approached the turnoff for Miss Patty's house, that rambling ranch with the fenced yard full of bright plastic toys. The unofficial daycare was in full swing today. She could hear children's laughter even before she pulled into the gravel driveway.
Six kids came pouring out the front door the moment Miss Patty opened it, ranging from a toddler who could barely navigate the porch steps to a gangly ten-year-old boy. They swarmed the bookmobile like enthusiastic puppies, their voices rising in excited chatter.
"Miss Sara Lee! Miss Sara Lee! Do you have the new Dog Man book?"
"I need something about dinosaurs!"
"Can I get a chapter book? A real one?"
Sara Lee opened the side door and stepped back, laughing as they climbed aboard with the kind of barely controlled chaos that came from being young and excited about books. She helped each one find what they wanted… the Dog Man book for Emma, a picture book about T-rex for little Marcus, and a Junie B. Jones for the ten-year-old who was "just checking it out for his sister."
Miss Patty stood in the doorway, a baby on her hip, watching with that combination of exhaustion and contentment that came from loving other people's children all day. "Thank you," she mouthed silently, and Sara Lee nodded back.
As Sara Lee pulled away, she caught a glimpse in her side mirror of the children already sprawled in the grass, books open, the world forgotten in favor of the stories in their hands.
People danced around the questions they wanted to ask as she continued her route. She could see it in their faces, in the way they approached the bookmobile with a little more curiosity than usual, a little more eagerness to linger and chat. They wanted to ask about Raymond's death, about Diane, and about what Nana June had discovered.
