Bud was scanning Hunt’s card to pay for his room when Hunt thought about the locks he needed to change.
“Hey, Bud, is there still a locksmith here in town?”
“Yes, there sure is. Mills Locks, next door to Bloomer’s Hardware on Main Street. The owner’s name is Cecil, but everything is probably closed today.”
“Okay…I remember him,” Hunt said. “Thanks, and thank you for your hospitality,” he said, then carried his bag out to the truck. Out of curiosity, he drove straight to the locksmith, saw the Open sign on the door, and went inside.
The man at the counter looked up.
“Welcome to Mills Locks. I’m Cecil Mills. How can I help you?”
“I need a couple of new locks put on a house I’ll be remodeling. Would you be available to do that today?”
“Yeah, sure. Here in town?” Cecil asked.
“Yes, where Marjorie Knox lived. I’m her oldest son, Hunt. I’m going to fix it up some before it’s put up for sale.”
“Lived?”
Hunt nodded. “She passed away early this morning.”
Cecil frowned. “I hadn’t heard. I’m real sorry about that. I’m waiting on a customer who’s on the way in from his farm, but I can get away around noon, if you don’t mind me coming at your lunch hour.”
“I’m not on any schedule. You sure you’re okay working on New Year’s Day? It could wait until tomorrow,” Hunt said.
Cecil shrugged. “I’ve already been called out twice today for emergencies, and my wife is home and sick with the flu. I’d just as soon be here.”
“Then noon is fine. Do you know the address?” Hunt asked.
“It’s the last house on the right at the end of Peach Street, right?”
Hunt nodded. “Yeah. My Harley and her black pickup will be under the carport.”
“Then I’ll see you at noon.”
“Right,” Hunt said, and left the shop, then stopped by the grocery store. He was surprised to see that it was no longer a Piggly Wiggly, and had a new facade and a new name to go with it. The Crown.
Nobody recognized him, which made shopping easy, until he got up front to pay. The cashier who was checking him out kept looking at him, and when he put his credit card in the reader, she finally spoke.
“You sure do look familiar. Are you from around here?” she asked.
Hunt nodded as he put his card back in his wallet. “I’m Hunt Knox. I used to sack groceries here back when it was still the Piggly Wiggly. You’re Millie, aren’t you?”
“Yes! I’m Millie Garner! I knew you looked familiar. I just heard about your mother’s passing. My sympathies to the family,” she said.
“Thanks,” he said, and began putting his bags back in the shopping cart.
“Do you plan on staying here?” she asked.
“Only long enough to fix up the family house so it can be sold at auction. I promised her I’d do that,” Hunt said, then walked out pushing the shopping cart.
By the time he got back to the house and unloaded the groceries, it was getting close to noon. He took off his jacket, then began emptying the sacks and putting up the things he’d just bought.
By the time he was through, Cecil Mills was knocking on his door. He let Cecil in, and then pointed out the locations where new locks were needed.
“There’s just the front door, and then a back door in the kitchen.”
Cecil nodded. “I’ll get those switched out for you and get both locks synced to open with one key. How many keys are you going to want? It comes two keys to a set, so you’ll have four.”
“That’s plenty. I’ll be the only one using one here, but when it sells, then that will be handy for the new owners.”
“Then I’ll get right to work,” Cecil said.
“Call out if you need me,” Hunt said, then took a notepad and a pen and started in the kitchen, making a list of the things that needed to be fixed.
* * *
Emma slept in, but when she finally woke up, she was startled to see her husband, Gordon, sitting on the end of the bed staring at her.
“What on earth are you doing?” she muttered, combing her fingers through her hair.
“You were talking in your sleep,” he said.
Her heart skipped a beat.
“I had nightmares all night,” she said. “My mama died. I’m sad.”
“You were crying in your sleep. You were muttering something about a secret, and don’t tell Mama.”
She stifled a moan. “Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it? Mama’s dead, and I have to go to the house and get clothes to bury her in.”
Gordon stood up. “I thought you and Birdie already did that a week ago. You said Birdie took them to her house.”
Emma wiped her hands across her face. “Oh. Yes. You’re right. I’m so confused. This is a horrible time for all of us…what with Hunt coming back and all.”
He frowned. “Why does it matter if your oldest brother came back for his mother’s funeral? It would be weirder if he had not.”
Emma was beginning to feel trapped. “Well, because he left us all so long ago, and now—”
Gordon shoved his hands in his pockets, eyeing the flush on his wife’s face. He knew she was lying, but wondered why.
“Why did he leave, anyway? Every time I ask, someone always changes the subject.”
“I’m not talking about it,” Emma said, and got up and went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
“Right! Just like you’re changing the subject now,” he yelled. “Just for the record, I’ll be glad to meet your brother. Maybe he’ll be nicer to me than Ray and Junior are.”
Emma heard him and groaned, then turned on the shower and stepped in beneath the spray, wishing she could wash away the demons from her past as easily as she washed the sleep from her eyes.
* * *
Birdie Knox worked as a bookkeeper at Truesdale’s Feed and Seed just off Main in Blessings. She’d gone to work there straight out of high school, and considering the lack of jobs there were in a place this small, she considered herself lucky she was so good with numbers.
Because it was New Year’s Day, the feed store was closed, but tomorrow was payday, and since she’d taken the last two days off to be with her mother, she was behind in her work. With only four hours of sleep, she’d gotten up to a cold, quiet apartment, eaten toast and jelly, then taken her coffee with her as she headed to the store.