“I just wanted to introduce myself,” she said with a soft voice. “You’ve made quite a positive impression on Eli.”
“Yeah, I bet,” she chuckled. “‘That irritating journalist.’”
“No. Quite the opposite,” the older one assured.
“Really?” she asked, looking around. “Whereisour illustrious sheriff?”
“Over there, with his father,” Mary Louise gestured. “They’ve just ordered drinks and are holding down our table so we don’t lose it. Our daughter and her boyfriend are roaming around somewhere as well.”
Goldie spotted Eli in a suit and tie sitting at a table near the kitchen on the other side of the center with an older man also wearing a suit. She noted he looked a lot like his dad and cleaned up well. She was tempted to tell Mary Louise how Eli had saved her life with the mountain lion, or how brave he’d been with Horace Mason, but considering his penchant for downplaying things, she decided not to.
“I can’t imagine how I’ve made a positive impression,” she observed. “He’s spent half his time telling me I’m not focused on the job that brought me here, and the other half saying no to areas I want to explore.”
Mary Louise smiled politely. “Well, I don’t know aboutthat,but Idoknow he hasn’t spoken to me so enthusiastically about any other young lady except his former girlfriend. That is, until he got a Dear John letter from her while he was in the service. So, you’ve gotten his attention somehow.”
She glanced over towards the sheriff again. “Yeah. What happened there, if you don’t mind me askin’? Eli said somethin’ about a girl when we first met but was pretty vague about it.”
“Lila Hemmings,” Mary Louise replied with an exasperated sigh. “She was Eli’s first serious love and grew up here. She was very pretty, and they both were full of high hopes and expectations. He wanted to be a pilot in the Army Air Corps, and Lila was certainly attracted to the glamor of a pilot and officer. But Eli failed his math requirement during training. He became a mechanic and a sergeant instead. That didn’t sit well with Lila. He was stationed at Pearl Harbor, and almost exactly a year ago, took a round in the leg from a Japanese Zero.”
“He never told me any of this,” Goldie said, interested.
“No, he wouldn’t,” his mother said, knowingly. “He was trying to pull a pilot out of a disabled plane at the time. The pilot was killed, and Eli—well—he was actually very lucky. He spent a month in a Honolulu hospital bed, then another learning to get around with crutches first, then a cane. He was given a medal, discharged from the army in March, and came straight back to Sparkledove. He knew Lila had already moved away by then, but he always liked the town and found a job instead. He could finally walk without his cane in August. Just a little over three months ago.
“So, Banyan hired him with a cane?” Goldie asked.
Mary Louise nodded. “He really gave him a second chance and a sense of purpose. I’ll always be grateful to the mayor for that.”
“And Lila? What happened to her?”
“Oh,” the sheriff’s mother said, rolling her eyes, “she went out to California with a girlfriend. They went to Hollywood with the intention of meeting and marrying movie stars. She had the audacity to write Eli and tell him she deserved a ‘whole man.’”
“Jesus! That’s terrible,” Goldie gawked.
“Yes, well, selfish, superficial people with immature minds think that way.”
“He’s well rid of the bitch,” Goldie declared.
Eli’s mother was surprised at the word “bitch,” but agreed.
“I think so, too. Anyway, I just wanted to meet you. He turned down one of my pot roast dinners to stay in town and do something with you one night, so I was naturally curious. Helovesmy pot roast.”
Goldie just smiled, not having the heart to tell her the truth.
Within a minute of Eli’s mother returning to her table, Goldie ran into Father Fitzsimmons, who was carrying his camera with a flash attachment.
“Ay, Padre,” she said. “Gonna shake a leg tonight?”
“Hi, Goldie,” he greeted. “Actually, I’m working. I’m taking table photos for the mayor.”
“Really?”
“I ran into him on the street with my camera, and he asked what I was doing. I told him I was taking pictures for your article, and he asked if I’d like to take photos of people at all their tables and the festivities. Apparently, it’s a big crowd pleaser. I’m here tonight, then I’ll also be here Sunday afternoon to take orders if people want copies. I’m sure this isn’t exactly what my bishop had in mind for community involvement, but it gives me the opportunity to meet a lot of people. And you were right, Mayor Banyan said he’d be happy to make a donation to the church since I’m taking photos for your article.”
“That’s great! Where is Banyan?” she asked, looking around.
“Over there, by the ticket table, talking to those two men.”
Goldie looked and saw a very dressed-up Charles Banyan conferring with Tully and Crosby, who were decidedly not dressed for the dance. Seeing them together, she got an idea.
