A Flicker of Doubt - Tim Myers [52]
Grover spat on the ground, then turned his back on me and gave his full attention back to the fire.
I had no choice. I’d come looking for answers, but n instead all I’d managed to do was to bring my friend to grief.
How in the world was I going to tell Markum what I’d done?
There was nothing else I could do but look for my friend and give him the bad news. What if he showed up at Grover’s as soon as that T-shirt went up? I couldn’t stand the thought of him going through a shunning with everyone looking on. I drove back to River’s Edge and went upstairs, hoping that he’d be in his office.
He was, and I suddenly found myself wishing that I’d been able to delay conveying the news a while, say a year or two.
Markum was deep in thought studying a geological survey map when I walked in. He had it spread out over his desk, and he looked up as I entered. “Harrison, you should see this. I might have found something.”
As much as I could have used the distraction, I knew I had to tell him the bad news before I lost my nerve. “I’ve got something I have to tell you,” I said solemnly.
The map was quickly forgotten. “What is it? Has something happened?”
“I messed up, and I’m sorry. I don’t think I was wrong to do it, but I should have talked to you first”
Markum leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through the tangle of his thick black hair. “Is it something we can fix?”
“I’m afraid not,” I said.
“Well, don’t just sit there; tell me what you’ve done.”
I took a deep breath, then admitted, “I just talked to Grover. I confronted him, if you want to know the truth, and he banned me from his place. You, top,” I added, not able to meet his gaze.
There was too much silence for too long, so I forced myself to look up. Markum had his fingers intertwined,” and he was studying them carefully. After what seemed like a lifetime, he said, “Maybe you’d better tell me about it.”
“I didn’t go there looking for trouble, I swear it Mrs. Jorgenson told me Grover was backing Runion’s bid to take over the river bank.”
“He’s broke,” Markum snapped. “I doubt he’s got’ two dimes to rub together.”
“That’s the stray he likes to tell, isn’t it? Mrs. Jorgenson told me she’s one of the few folks in Micah’ Ridge who knows the truth. Markum, he never gave any of his money away. Grover’s been feeding that to folks right along with his barbecue.”
“So naturally you felt the need to call him on it,” Markum said.
“Doesn’t anybody around here care that they’re going to destroy the land around us with condos?”
“And ruin your view in the process.”
I stood up. “Listen, I understand that you’re mad, this isn’t just about me.”
“Harrison, if they were doing this in Hickory or Bethlehem on the Catawba, would you be so upset?”
I paused, then said, “I’d like to think so. Listen, I’m sorry this happened.”
“So am I,” he said.
“So is that it? Did I just kill our friendship?”
He studied me for a few moments, then said, “Not over barbecue, no matter how good it is. I just wish you’d talked to me first. Maybe we could have found a way to look into it without this happening.”
“I’m sorry,” I repeated.
“Don’t worry about it. So what do we do now?”
“I’m going to forget about Runion until Cyrus’s sister Ruth gets here. Until then, I’m going to dig into Becka’s death more.”
“And sell a candle or two along the way, too, right?”
“I’m always up for that.”
I left him at his desk, sorry that I’d cost him something so dear. It was a casualty of my nosiness that I shouldn’t have taken a chance with. Markum had suffered from my mistake, and I was determined to make it up to him. Maybe I’d go on his next salvage and recovery job after all; he’d asked me enough in the time since we’d met. If I made it back in one piece, the grand gesture would be worth it.
He was right about one thing.
Friendship was more important than good barbecue, though there were folks in the South who would stone me if I said it aloud.
Downstairs to the candleshop, I decided to drop in on Heather and try to put Pearly’s advice to work. It was hard to believe