Page 133 of Mistletoe and Mischief

“It was stupid, but we do stupid things when we’re desperate.”

“We do,” Kent agreed far too quickly.

“In the end we worked everything out, thank God,” Dave said. “I made such a mess of my marriage. I nearly destroyed my wife’s faith in me.”

“And then there were those missing jewels,” Emily added. There was far more to the story.

“Oh, yes, the jewels.” Dave sighed, lifting his mug of cocoa.

“Missing jewels?” Kent asked, looking from one to the other.

“It’s a long story, so allow me to condense it. One of the older ladies in the church, Martha Evans, died and several pieces of her jewelry turned up missing.”

“Dave was the last person to see her alive,” Emily said. “Which immediately threw suspicion on him.”

“So everyone assumed I was the one who took the jewelry—even my wife,” Dave said, grinning at Emily.

She smiled back. “What else was I supposed to believe?” she murmured. “Besides, I found Martha’s earring in his suit pocket. Only I didn’t know it belonged to Martha or that someone had purposely placed it there. At the time, I imagined my husband was having an affair.”

“My goodness, you two had quite a few troubles, didn’t you?” Kent glanced at Beth.

“What saved your marriage?” she asked.

“Prayer,” Emily said, “and the two of us talking honestly. Dave finally admitted we had more bills at the end of the month than money, and that he was doing two jobs.”

“And Sheriff Davis was instrumental in capturing the man responsible for the theft of Martha’s jewelry,” Dave explained, “with Roy McAfee’s help.”

“What an incredible story!”

“It really is, and I’ll fill in the missing pieces the next time we see you,” Emily promised. She took a last swallow of her cocoa and stood, the puppy in her arms. “We need to head home. My parents are looking after the boys.”

“Wait,” Kent said. “I want to know who actually took the jewelry?”

“Someone who worked on Martha’s will, a paralegal,” Dave explained. “His name is Geoff Duncan. He’s serving prison time now. He was trying to impress his fiancée’s family, so he stole the jewelry, pawned it all and spent the money.”

“Lori Bellamy, the fiancée, didn’t have a clue what Geoff had done,” Emily said. “She’s Lori Wyse now. She got married not long ago to Lincoln Wyse, who opened a body shop in town earlier this year. They seem to be a good match, although they had a few problems with Lori’s family. But apparently that’s all settled now.”

“This Geoff guy. Did he have a grudge against you?” Kent asked.

“Not that I know of. I was just the perfect candidate for him to frame because, as Martha’s pastor, I spent a lot of time with her. Like I said, I seemed to be the last person to see her alive, and I was also the one who found the body. The obvious suspect.” He shook his head. “Thank goodness Sheriff Davis and Roy McAfee looked beyond the obvious.”

“It must’ve been a terrible time for you,” Beth said sympathetically.

“The worst, but we made it through and I’m so grateful we did.”

“I can imagine.”

“Some people are far too willing to give up on...” She let the rest fade once she realized what she was about to say. Emily didn’t want to embarrass the divorced couple.

Kent moved closer to Beth. “I agree.”

“So do I,” Beth said, almost before the words had left Kent’s mouth.

They looked at each other, but the moment was broken by the sharp peal of Kent’s cell phone.

He answered it on the second ring, and although Emily couldn’t make out what was being said, the person calling him was clearly female—and clearly upset.

“Yes, of course,” he said. “Yes, I know.” He closed his cell with a snap. “I apologize, but I need to leave.”

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