Letters From Al by Pieper, Kathleen (ebook audio reader TXT) 📕

Maddy was about to argue but when Aunt Polly came up behind him with her arms crossed, she sat back meekly.

"I guess I did enough today anyway, I can't fight you both. But, Alec, I've had some more ideas about the house, let me tell you about it."

"Okay, but I've got some news that will interest you too. Who goes first?" He sat in a chair next to her.

"You go first. The look on your face tells me it's important. Is it something we've been waiting to hear about the guy who attacked me?"

"Aunt Polly, there's news." She called out to her friend.

"What news? What's going on, Alec?" Hurriedly Aunt Polly sat down.

"I just checked in at the office and thought you'd like to know they found that van matching the description of the one outside the house, only thing was there was a body in it."

"A body?" Maddy sat forward, horrified, her hand covering her mouth. "Who was it? Anyone we know?"

"From the description, I'd say it was your dirty cowboy. A white male, about twenty-five, long, dark hair, cowboy shirt with torn sleeves. His name was Fred Simmons and he has a record."

"How awful, Alec. I won't have to identify him or anything, will I?" Maddy shuddered.

"No, he's already been identified. I'll take care of it. I saw him as well as you did that day. Don't worry."

"’Don't worry, he says’. A man who attacks Maddy is dead. Who killed him?" Aunt Polly snorted and leaned forward.

"That's awful. As bad as what he did to me, I'd never wish him dead." The thought made her shiver just thinking about it. She still had nightmares about being attacked in her own home. "I just want all that stuff behind us and not have to think about it any more. I think I understand now why my aunt didn't want to have anything to do with a gangster and that money. It's brought nothing but grief."

Alec thought for a moment then swiftly dropped to one knee, holding her hand tightly.

"I wasn't going to do this now, but maybe now is the time. Maddy, I love you and I'm asking you to marry me. I don't care if you want a long engagement, but I just have to ask now or bust wide open."

In shocked silence, Maddy covered his hand with hers; she was overcome and didn't hesitate for a moment. She could only nod. A million happy thoughts were racing through her mind. Slowly she pulled him up, kissed his strong hands and whispered, "Yes."

Fumbling in his pocket, with shaking hands he produced a jeweler's box and slowly opened it. A lovely diamond engagement ring sparkled from the black velvet nest. Trembling, she held out her hand and he slipped the ring on her finger. Tears slid down Maddy's cheeks. But they were tears of joy.

"We're going to have a wonderful life, Maddy. With lots of kids. No looking back."

"And a hunting dog for you." They both laughed and held onto each other tightly, "What a deal." She said happily.

Maddy and Alec joyfully prepared for their wedding. After much discussion they decided to go for the bed and breakfast plan. They wanted to wait until they got it going first, but Aunt Polly decided to make plans for both the wedding and the inn and blatantly took responsibility for them.

The whole town of Nielsen seemed caught up in the young couple's life, and Maddy couldn't have been happier to share their joy with the town. Things never seemed so good. In honor of her aunt, Maddy decided to wear Aunt Madeline's wedding gown she had found carefully saved in one of the trunks. The satin dress had turned a soft golden color from being in storage. The simple line suited Maddy and would be her 'something old' and 'something borrowed'.

Preparing the rooms for the guests took a lot more work. The one bedroom with water damage on the wall needed to be fixed immediately, the wallpaper hung in tatters. With Tommy's help it was the last room to need major repair.

"Well Tommy, this is the last and worst of it. When we're done, we'll tackle the fence and garden outside. Isn't this a mess?" Maddy curled up her nose at the mustiness.

"No sweat, Miss Maddy." Tommy's happy-go-lucky attitude brightened up the nasty chore.

"Yeah, Miss Madeline and I fixed this very wall a long time ago. I was just a little kid then." Maddy smiled to herself at his description. "She didn't have anything to stuff in the hole so we went up to the attic and got a bunch of papers she said weren't any good for nothing anymore, and stuffed them in there. Then she used paste and covered it with wallpaper, and it was good as new. She paid me for that too."

Maddy, working hard, only half-listened to his story. The old fashioned glue was brittle and lumpy and fell in dry clumps, making the clean up a little easier.

"Aunt Madeline certainly stuffed enough of this paper in there, didn't she?" Maddy commented to Tommy as they worked.

"Yeah, she sure did get mad when the roof leaked, said she'd fix this hole good and proper." Tommy chuckled at his memory.

About the same time Maddy noticed the printing on the papers, the words Tommy spoke caught her attention. "’We got these papers from the attic she said weren't worth nothing.’" Jerking her head up, she looked at Tommy seriously, her heart pounding.

"What did you say, Tommy? About the papers you used?"

“What about the papers?”

"About the papers you stuffed in the wall. You said you and Miss Madeline got them from the attic. What kind of papers were they? What did they say on them? Do you recall?"

He shrugged again and kept on working.

"Tommy, this is really important. Very important. Please try and remember, you said Aunt Madeline said they weren't worth anything?" Tommy thought a moment and then nodded. Maddy looked from the crumbling wall to Tommy and