“Ra—Detective Fellowes. Randy Fellowes.”
“Perhaps Randy likes you a little. Hmm?”
“We’re just friends.”
“Oh. Okay.” Orene poured two cups of tea. “Let’s have this in the sitting room. It’s so much more comfortable.”
They prepared their tea. Orene had pulled out pretty sugar cubes with little flowers painted on them.
Another woman who loves sugar cubes as much as me. It’s like wearerelated.“These are beautiful.” She could imagine Jeremy rolling his eyes.
“Aren’t they a treat? Each one is a teaspoon. Just pop them right into your cup.”
“Got it. Okay. Aren’t we snazzy?”
Orene breezed down the hall. “My husband used to say I was really missing an opportunity not opening up my little tearoom here. I do love all of this stuff so much. It’s a shame not to share it, but I never wanted him to have to live with it night and day.” She sat and leaned into Natalie. “He was a man’s man. Ruggedly handsome right to the end.”
“I can still see the love in your eyes,” Natalie said.
“Still makes me twinkle,” she said with an impish grin. “No doubt.”
Natalie placed her hand on her heart. She’d never heard anything quite so sweet.
“Well, we are delighted you are here in Chestnut Ridge, no matter what brought you here. I do think it’s fair to say that family brought you here. I mean, all family is not blood, and following Jeremy’s path back to Chestnut Ridge seems to fit if you ask me.”
“He was not only my family, but my best friend. My friend Sheila introduced us, and she’s who was there for me when Jeremy died. I stayed with her when this big mess happened, up until I decided to come here.”
“You’ll feel like family here. Maybe living in the city has its limits.” Orene giggled. “City limits. Get it?”
It was a silly pun, but Orene was getting a great little laugh out of it.
“I get it,” Natalie said, “but I think when you have no family at all, you act and react differently to things. I guess that’s why Jeremy and I connected immediately.”
“I see.” Orene paused, and then, almost as if she were deciding whether to say anything, she finally said, “What about Jeremy’s grandfather? He never told you anything about him?”
Natalie shook her head. “He mentioned he was gone, but I don’t think we ever talked about how he died. I guess I just assumed he died of old age. I didn’t have grandparents. See what I mean about reacting differently when you don’t have extended family? I didn’t even think to ask.”
“I’m seeing that. You believe that you and Jeremy were like two peas in a pod. Is that right?”
“We were, and he made me feel like I was the most precious thing in his life.”
“I’m sure he did. There’s something to be said for that. No matter what else, that is the part that keeps you together day after day.”
“Yes.” Natalie liked being able to share with Orene. She was such a good listener, and she wasn’t forcing unsolicited advice on her like so many of her older patients, although she kind of loved them for that too. “Jeremy was a hard worker. Trustworthy. Always there for me.”
“Just like his grandfather,” Orene said in a matter-of-fact tone.
That caught Natalie off guard. “You knew Jeremy’s grandfather?”
“Of course. I know everyone who happens through this town.”
She leaned in. “What was he like?”
“Oh gosh, where to start about Paul? He was a brilliant kid. Too smart for his own good, I believe. He was always taking things apart and putting them back together. Had such alogical mind. The smartest kid in school, really. Loved to read. We went to school together, but then, everyone went to school together back then.”
“You went to school around here, then.”
“Where else? The schoolhouse was for all grades, and we closed down during harvests. He went on to college. That was rare for kids from ’round here. The town paid for his college on the commitment that he’d work here in Chestnut Ridge for at least seven years when he completed his studies.”
