Page 40 of Grounded (May Hollow Trilogy #1)

Beulah opened the Farmer’s Almanac and checked the dates for when Annie planted most of the garden.

It was best for the moon to be waxing for the above ground vegetables, but it wasn’t always possible.

Beulah didn’t go in for all that astrology business that predicted the future.

She knew for certain it was straight from the Devil.

But there was something to the moon’s effect on things, and she’d seen too much evidence of it herself to believe differently.

When Fred was alive, he castrated his steers by the moon’s placement in the sky.

It made a difference in how much they bled and how quickly they healed.

He weaned his calves by it, and when most people suffered three days of cows mooing and lowing in the fields for their lost babies, a day passed and all was quiet.

Jo Anne was weaned by the moon and had done real well.

Beulah grabbed her walker and used it to lift herself up from the recliner.

It was high time she walked by herself to the garden.

Annie took her out last week after she had weeded it and seeing that rich black dirt turn made her want to get her hands in it.

There would be none of that right now, not yet.

All she could do was sit in a chair and admire it.

The doctor thought she was healing up fine, or so he said during her appointment yesterday in Rutherford.

“A little more walking won’t hurt a thing.

It’ll be good for you,” he had said. He gave her some new exercises to do to help her get her movement back.

It was a slow progress. She hadn’t been upstairs since the surgery, but the doctor recommended she take it slow and use the stairs.

In a month, she should be able to move back to her bedroom.

It was something to work toward. Beulah took small, slow steps around the smokehouse and to the garden beyond.

Annie was out in the paddock, brushing down Nutmeg.

It seemed to be one of her favorite things to do.

Nearly every day, she went out to tend to that horse.

The garden was as pretty as Beulah had ever seen it.

There were nice straight rows, and the last plantings showed little curls of bean sprouts pushing above the surface.

Delicate leaves of corn waved in the breeze, looking like a row of tiny flags.

Easing down in the chair, she watched as Annie took the halter off Nutmeg and patted the horse on the rump.

Her granddaughter disappeared into the barn and returned without the halter. She called out, “How did I do?”

“Prettiest garden west of the Alleghenies. You tilled it up nice. I couldn’t have done any better.” Beulah meant it. “By the way, Jeb Harris called. He’ll be here before noon.”

“Good. I hope he can find something out with the license plate. Maybe we’re making a big deal out of nothing.” Annie sat down on the grass beside her. “But Joe’s phone call this morning makes me think even more that she is up to something,” Annie said, twisting a blade of grass.

Indeed, Beulah thought. Joe had spotted the woman with the flyaway hair out in the middle of the creek, twice this week before daybreak, pouring something out of a five-gallon bucket.

With his cows drinking out of that creek, they couldn’t afford some poisonous ingredient from her drug making being tossed into the water, if that was what she was up to.

“Let’s hope it is nothing. And if so, then no harm’s been done.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, listening to the birds sing. Annie reached out and picked a dandelion.

“Grandma, what would you do if you thought someone you loved was making a mistake? Would you tell that person?”

Beulah thought for a minute before she answered. “Proverbs says a wise man seeks counsel.”

“But what if the man hasn’t exactly asked?”

“Maybe he has. If you’re talking about Jake, I think that’s why he brought Camille here. To see what she thinks of us and what we think of her.”

Annie pulled her knees up under her chin. “I worry about him,” she said.

Beulah leaned back, considering her words carefully.

The sun’s warmth felt life giving to her, as if she could soak up that energy and have more of her own.

How could she tell Annie what she saw in Jake’s face?

Both of them were too frightened to recognize it because of what it might mean.

Providence guided Annie back here just when Jake was about to make the biggest decision of his life.

It was no accident. But it was not for her to uncover it. What will be, will be.

“Time will tell,” Beulah said, closing the subject. The sound of gravel crunching in the distance grew louder. “I believe Jeb is here.”

Beulah held Annie’s arm so she could walk a little faster over the uneven ground. The policeman parked his gray car next to the gate.

“Jeb Harris, you’re looking more and more like your daddy every day!” Beulah exclaimed.

“Mrs. Campbell, I take that as a compliment, although my hairline is receding a little faster than his. I think it’s the job.”

Beulah could hear the pride in her own voice when she said, “This is my granddaughter, Annie Taylor.”

“Nice to meet you.” Harris stuck out his hand.

“Come on in, Jeb. We’ve got some coffee or iced tea.”

“Coffee sounds good.” He held the door while she managed the step into the house with Annie’s help.

“I heard you had a knee operation. You doing better now?”

“Little better every day. Annie’s been staying with me before she goes back to New York. Annie, if you’ll get the coffee, I’ll show Jeb the picture.”

“I just got your voice mail this morning. I’ve been down in Eastern Kentucky with a big operation. It’s taking a lot of our manpower.”

Jeb looked at the picture and took out a small notepad from his shirt pocket. He wrote down the license plate numbers.

“I’ll drive by on my way out. What makes you suspicious?”

Annie placed a mug full of coffee on the table next to Jeb.

“We think there’s something very strange about her story.

Her name is Stella Hawkins but she’s vague about her background.

She paid Grandma in cash up front, so there’s no bank account that we know of, and we noticed a sensor at the entrance to her driveway.

One day when we dropped off food, she seemed high on something.

She keeps her windows covered and she’s made it clear she wants no one around,” Annie said.

“And,” Beulah interrupted, “Joe Gibson has spotted her out in the creek twice before daylight, dumping something out of a five-gallon bucket. We’re wondering if she’s making drugs and using the creek to get rid of the evidence. We don’t want our cows poisoned.”

Annie studied his face, unsure if he thought they were crazy or if there might be something to be concerned about.

“It’s possible. There have been reports of animals being poisoned from meth ingredients being dumped. We’ll try running the plates first and see if anything comes up. Have you noticed more traffic on your road lately?”

Annie looked at Beulah for an answer. “Not really, but we’re usually in bed by nine-thirty.”

Jeb nodded. “We’ll see what we find out, but I have to be honest. We’re pretty shorthanded right now. But if you notice anything else, give me a call.”