Page 2 of Jewel in the Rough

Fingers crossed.

The highway—in truth, a well-maintained two-lane road—seemed to meander towards the southwest end of Piedras Island. Moments later, Benny passed a sign announcing, “Killegen’s Point - 2 miles.” Supposedly, his destination was beyond this smaller town and down a long road.

“It’s easy to find,” Ciara had assured him. “Just a mile or so down Jensen once you’ve passed the big cedar, it’s only a maybe one hundred yards, and you’ll take a left. The driveway is pretty long and there’s all sorts of derelict farming equipment. You can’t miss it.”

“You realize I’ve never been fluent inrural how to find shitlanguage, and phrases like ‘you can’t miss it’ mean I will, in fact, miss it, right? Just give me the address and I’ll plug it in.”

“Can’t wait to hug you again, Benny. It’s been too long.”

Benny glanced in his rearview mirror again, only to see a long line of cars snaked out behind his. Having to wait three hours meant he’d been first on, and thus, first off the ferry. The traffic behind him made him twitchy. He’d be glad when he was off the road. At Killegen’s Point, though, he pulled into the parking lot of Chester’s Grocery, a cement block building painted several shades of gray. Benny squinted through his windshield at it, noticing the pink and orange that showed through where the newer paint had chipped off. Interesting.

The store’s reader board is what had him stopping. It declared Honeycrisps @ $1.99 a pound and Jewel Dairy Ice Cream - Lmtd Supply. If there was ever a reason to console himself with frozen treats, fear of the unknown was it. Setting the Volvo in park, Benny got out and headed toward the entrance.

The interior of Chester’s was as eclectic as the outside, but Benny refused to let himself be distracted as he headed toward the frozen food aisle. He wasn’t the only one interested in the ice cream section. He waited while two senior citizens argued over whether they should get the mint-jalapeño or the lavender and honey.

“The mint is organic,” one suggested.

“The lavender and the honey are both local, that new guy is the supplier.”

“Thatnew guymoved here,” the first man pointed out huffily, “when Claribel Delacombe got her divorce, twenty years ago.”

“Iknewyou had a crush on Claribel—”

“I just think… she’s a fine woman.”

“Excuse me,” Benny interrupted, not sure at all how long this discussion would continue. “Maybe you should get one of each and take one of the flavors to your friend? I bet she likes ice cream, too.”

The seniors swung around to stare at him. From the expressions on their faces, Benny thought either he must look like a new species of human to them or he’d said something ridiculous, which was more likely.

“Huh,” grunted the one accused of having a crush.

His friend gave him a knowing look. “Get the lavender and honey, Stan. I’ll get the mint.”

With their pints of ice cream in hand, Stan and his friend thanked Benny and wandered toward the front of the store. Benny could hear them discussing just how the ice cream was going to be presented, and he kind of wished he could witness the ice cream wooing event, as well. He returned his attention to the freezers.

Three shelves were dedicated to Jewel Dairy products, but they were almost empty. Benny leaned closer, his nose almost touching the glass. There was a choice of mint, lavender, or cayenne-truffle, so he grabbed a pint of the cayenne. He was having a talk with Ciara about the boring names. Surely cayenne-truffle ice cream should be called something like Spicy Chill or… Icey Hot?

It was a pity he didn’t have anywhere to store the ice cream. He’d just have to eat it all—and then he’d make his way to his final destination. Refuge. Whatever.

The driveway to the Jewel Dairy Farm was as easy to spot as Ciara had said. Benny took a left and started up a gravel road wide enough for two cars, with weed-filled drainage ditches on either side of it. A stand of trees shielded the farm from the main road, and once he’d passed through them, Benny could finally see his new—temporary—home. Hopefully.

The road bisected lush green pastures. Wildflowers were blooming, white and yellow butterflies were flitting lazily from bloom to bloom, and bumblebees were working hard. The farm equipment Ciara had mentioned was stacked randomly along the fences. Forgotten, broken down, who knew? Ciara had said the farm was about twenty acres, and honestly, even though he’d grown up in a small town, Benny had no idea how big twenty acres looked. It sounded big.

About fifty yards up the road was a huge old-fashioned farmhouse, probably built in the 1920s. It was dingy white and stood two stories, at least, with a screened-in porch that Benny parked as close to as he was able. A gleaming kelly green John Deere tractor-mower thing lurked near one of the barns. Ciara hadn’t warned him there was more than one barn. But surely the bigger one, closer to the house, would be where the cows and Old MacDonald hung out?

Slipping from behind the wheel of the Volvo, Benny took in more of the gorgeous surroundings. It was very farm-like, but then, what had he expected? What he really wanted to know was where the couple with the pitch forks was. Or maybe it was good there was no sign of anyone like that because Teagan Morrison was probably going to be difficult enough.

Benny took a deep breath. The air ever so slightly smelled of sea water, reminding him he was now on an island, and he crossed the drive to lean on one of the fences. He couldn’t help but snort at what he saw. Affixed to the front of the barn was a hand-painted sign that read Indignant Gurls Club. Past the big barn were a few smaller structures, maybe storage or something, he didn’t know. But, he supposed, he’d find out soon enough. Like the barn, the buildings appeared well maintained, and all of them had fresh coats of extremely bright paint. Ciara must have had something to do with that, because instead of red, those structures were painted white, turquoise, pink, and yellow, and Benny loved it.

With the late afternoon sunshine warming his skin, Benny lingered at the fence, trying to prepare himself for meeting Teagan Morrison and basically throwing himself on a stranger’s mercy, when he heard muffled swearing coming from the barn. Seconds later, a cow ambled out of a gate and into one of the pastures. She looked straight at him, and Benny would swear she winked before wandering off to the far side of the field.

It was now or never, he supposed.

CHAPTER3

Teagan

Doing the time without doing the crime.

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