My heart ached for her. Fear overwhelmed me when I went through my own divorce. Wade never said those same words to me, but he left me financially broke. I experienced first-hand the distress of having to support myself. I could relate to Marianne’s distress.

By the time we made our way back to the lobby, Doc had returned and was talking with Dee Dee.

“Hi, Doc. Any news?”

His face held the answer. “No. Nothing new.” He looked as forlorn as a little boy who wasn’t old enough to go hunting with his daddy.

I nudged Marianne. It was now or never. “Doc, Marianne needs to talk to you. I think we’d better go somewhere private.”

We all traipsed behind the counter and into Doc’s office. Penny had returned with Doc, so she volunteered to man the front desk.

“Doc, I realize you’re going to be mad at me when I reveal what I’ve done,” Marianne said. “I’ll probably lose my job.”

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?” Doc took Marianne’s hands in his own.

I was touched with the display of compassion. I wondered how compassionate he’d be when he found out what Marianne had to say.

“I’m so sorry for what I’ve done. I know better than to do something dishonest, but I was in a tight spot and couldn’t figure out a solution.” Marianne’s chin quivered and she dropped her head.

“Go ahead dear. It can’t be that bad.” Doc’s gentle encouragement seemed to give her confidence to continue.

“I needed money. After my divorce I had to start over on my own. I didn’t have a job.” Her eyes pleaded for empathy. “I couldn’t let my daughter go hungry, so I borrowed as much money from the bank as possible.” She looked at me. I nodded.

“Well, that doesn’t seem so bad,” Dee Dee said. “I borrow money all the time.”

“No, I guess it wouldn’t be that bad. But, I was in way over my head and felt like I was drowning. When I received the bookkeeping job at the museum, the temptation was more than I could handle. I took a little money from the register every now and then.” By this time the tears flowed. Doc let go of her hands and sat back in his chair. He couldn’t have appeared more surprised if Gloria Hamilton had patted him on the back and congratulated him on a job well done.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Please don’t inform the police,” Marianne choked out between sobs. “I fully intended to put the money back. But, one day Jacob saw me take some from the cash bag. Next thing I knew, he made unwanted advances toward me. I said I’d report him, and he told me to go ahead – he’d tell you I took the money.”

“So you didn’t say anything?” I couldn’t imagine how terrified she must have been. Her actions put her in a lose-lose situation. She’d made a bad decision at the time when she’d been left to raise her child alone, and now it had come back to haunt her. If Mama hadn’t offered me a place to live, I don’t know what I’d have done. But I wondered if this young woman could have been panicked enough to kill Jacob. Although there were moments I’d hated Wade, never enough to murder.

“I’m so ashamed.” She hid her face in her hands.

“Uh, I’m shocked.” Doc slid his chair back, stood up and walked around the room. With hands behind his back, he paced for a few minutes then sat back down.

“I don’t have a notion how to handle this.” Doc gazed at the top of Marianne’s head. “Marianne, why don’t you take the rest of the day off? I’m not saying I’m going to fire you, I just need time to think.”

The tears flowed faster. Dee Dee handed Marianne a fresh Kleenex. She blew her nose in a most unladylike honk.

Marianne turned pleading eyes up toward Doc. “I’m aware I did something wrong, but I’m asking you to please put yourself in my shoes. I’m willing to pay back all the money. I’m sorry, please forgive me.”

I thought of how many times I needed the forgiveness of others. Through experience, I also understood how hard it was to forgive sometimes. The whole scenario brought back painful memories. Wade had dropped the news, out of the blue, he wanted to end our marriage. He’d found his soul mate online, a beautiful, blonde, twenty-something. My world turned upside down, and he left me to pick up the pieces.

They say what goes around comes around. In Wade’s case, the saying came true. His beautiful blonde soul mate was in reality a 300 pound bimbo who played men for what she could get. By then, it was too late to preserve the marriage. Wade wanted out.

The anger and bitterness began to eat away at me. It wasn’t until Dee Dee helped me see that if I continued to harbor these feelings they would destroy me. God had a good plan when he asked us to forgive others. When we forgive someone who has hurt us, forgiveness can heal that hurt. Even though I’d made progress in forgiving Wade, every now and again I still thought of him as ‘the jerk.’ Lord, please forgive me.

“Trixie.” Dee Dee brought me out of my reverie. “Marianne just left. What were you thinking about, anyway?” She squeezed my shoulder. “Wade?”

I’m not sure if it’s a curse or a blessing to have a friend who knows you so well. “I don’t want to talk about it.” I swiped at a tear that ran down my cheek. “I don’t think we can accomplish anything else here. Why don’t we go pick up Nana and go to lunch. I’m starved.”

“Let’s go!” She grabbed her signature style gigantean purse faster than Nana could spot a good-looking guy.

Doc sat at the table with his head down. “Look Doc, it’s obvious you have a lot of information to digest,” I said. “We’ll leave you alone while you decide what you want to do about Marianne.”

He raised his head and stared at us like he’d just realized we were still in the room. “I can’t believe it. She’s such a sweet girl. I didn’t need this problem on top of everything else.” He stared into his empty coffee cup. “I think I’ll take some quiet time to pray about this situation. The Lord knows I need all the help I can get.”

I hated being the bearer of more bad news, but a thought entered my mind. “You’re aware, if Jacob threatened Marianne, it’s possible she killed him to get out from under his control.”

Doc’s head shot up. “No!” he said. “I can’t believe she’d hurt another human being. She may have stolen some money, but she wouldn’t kill anyone.”

He was extremely upset, and I didn’t want to cause him further stress. But Marianne definitely gained a place of honor on our suspect list.

We said our good-byes and walked out into the humid air. On our way to the parking lot we crossed the abandoned railroad tracks. Several historic train cars rested on the tracks, in front of the museum, reminiscent of a time gone by.

“Oh, fiddle-dee-dee,” Dee Dee said.

“Why are you talking like Scarlett?”

“I saw the Gone with the Wind Museum. I just couldn’t help myself.” We both laughed.

“All right, Scarlett. What were you fiddle-dee-deeing about?”

“I forgot to ask Doc where Susan Gray works. She’s next on our list of suspects.”

“Why don’t you call him on your cell phone while we drive to the hospital to pick up Nana?”

The visitor’s center next door was a hive of busy tourists. After we crossed the tracks, I turned and looked at the three story, red brick building. If I had a chance tonight, I’d read the book Dee Dee found in the antique store. I wanted to learn more about the family who once called this home.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

What did Doc say?”

Dee Dee flipped her phone closed. “He said Susan owns Magnolia Books and Antiques, the bookstore where I found the Andrews’ Raiders book. We probably met her while we shopped.” She replaced her phone in her purse.

“We can go by the shop after lunch and talk to her.”