The Stroke of Winter(49)

“We’ll do that,” Wyatt said. “When we’re not trying to solve a mystery.”

They climbed into the car, and as Wyatt started it up, he turned to Tess. “So, should we call my mom?”





CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO



The call came through the car’s speakers.

“Honey!” Wyatt’s mother said, laughter in her voice. “You called your mother! What a good boy. How’s tricks?”

Wyatt chuckled. “Tricks are good, Mom. I took Pop to lunch today.”

“Oh, bless you,” she said. “I’ll bet he loved that.”

“We went to the brewpub near the hospital,” Wyatt said. “He had a beer!”

“Now I know he loved that.”

“It was fun. How’s Dad?”

“Keeping himself out of trouble,” she said. “He’s out playing golf with some of the guys. He’ll be sad he missed your call.”

“Tell him to give me a buzz later when he gets home if he wants to chat,” Wyatt said. “And how are you, Mom? Everything good?”

“I’m great! Can’t complain. So, what’s up, honey? I know you’re not calling to inquire about our health. I just talked to you last week.”

Wyatt caught eyes with Tess. “Mom, I have someone in the car with me, and the call is on speaker.”

“Okay, I won’t swear, then, or blurt out my Social Security number,” she said.

“A good policy all the time,” Wyatt said, smiling broadly and shaking his head. Obviously, this man loved his mother. “Mom, this is Amethyst Bell. Tess, meet my mother, Kathy.”

“Hi!” Tess said.

Kathy was silent for a moment. “Tess! I haven’t seen you in ages.”

Tess and Wyatt exchanged a curious glance.

“You’ve met Tess before?” Wyatt asked his mother.

“Of course, honey,” Kathy said. “I knew Indy and Jill back in the day. We went to school together and sort of lost touch after they moved down to the Twin Cities. But we’ve gotten together on and off when they’ve been in Wharton over the years.”

It made sense, Tess thought. Wharton was a small town. Of course, people of around the same age would know each other. She had only vacationed in Wharton but wondered if she and Wyatt had crossed paths in the past. That would certainly explain the instantly familiar feeling between them.

“I’m doing some work for Tess at her house,” Wyatt went on. “La Belle Vie. She’s turning it into a bed-and-breakfast.”

“Oh!” Kathy said. “How nice. Giving the old place new life. I love it. So, you’ll be in Wharton permanently?”

“That’s the plan,” Tess said.

“Wonderful,” Kathy said. “I’ll stop by when we get back in the spring.”

“Please do,” Tess said. “My parents will be coming to Wharton around that time, too.” She stopped short of telling her why.

“Great!” Kathy said. “It will be great to catch up with them.”

“Mom,” Wyatt said, his words coming out slowly. “While we were doing some renovations, we came upon something that has created a sort of mystery. I think you might be able to shed some light on it.”

“Well, that sounds intriguing. What is it?”

“Do you know someone named Daisy Erickson?”

Silence, then.

“Mom?”

“I’m here,” she said. “That just took me off guard. I haven’t thought about Daisy in years. What about her? Why would you bring her up?”

Tess winced. She and Wyatt hadn’t talked about what, if anything, they were going to tell his mother about the paintings. Her father had given her strict orders to keep their existence under wraps until he could make the trip to Wharton in the spring. It was sketchy enough showing the paintings to Joe, but really, who was he going to tell about them? Wyatt’s mother was another matter.

They exchanged a quick glance, and somehow Tess knew Wyatt was on the same page.

“Daisy came up in relation to something going on at La Belle Vie right now,” Wyatt said. “Pop said you and she were friends, and she left Wharton many years ago.”

Kathy was silent for a moment. “Okay, so you’re not going to tell me exactly what it is, right?”

Wyatt smiled and shot Tess a look. “Well. Right. Not at the moment. It’s sort of a mystery we’re trying to solve. Very hush-hush.”

“Okay, Hercule Poirot,” Kathy teased. “What do you want to know?”

“Pop said she left town,” Wyatt said. “Do you have any idea how to contact her?”

Kathy was silent for a moment. “I haven’t thought about this in a long time,” she began. “But no. I don’t know how to contact her. I haven’t heard from Daisy since the last time I saw her in Wharton.”

Tess’s heart sank. So, they were no closer to solving this mystery after all.

“And you don’t know where the family moved?” Wyatt asked.

“The family?” Kathy asked. “Oh, honey, she didn’t leave with her family. She left them. Ran off, people said. What a terrible term. But that’s what people called it. The talk was pretty ugly, I can tell you that.”