Page 58 of June's First Murder
She paused, taking a sip of coffee. "He was tooembarrassed to go to the bank here in town. You know how small towns are; everyone would know our business was failing. Which they probably did anyway. So he wanted to go out of town for a loan. Keep it private."
"And he went to Richmond?" Barb asked quietly.
"Yes. And somehow—I still don't know exactly how—he ended up meeting with Raymond Melton." Betsy's mouth tightened with distaste. "Raymond worked for some kind of lending company. Or claimed to. But the terms he offered... Well, it would have been like loan-shark interest. Predatory. Bob would have been paying it off for the rest of his life and still owed more than he borrowed."
Sara Lee felt her pulse quicken. This was important. "What did he do?"
"Bob walked away," Betsy said firmly. "Told Raymond no. And Raymond—being Raymond—didn't take that well. Made some ugly comments about Bob being a failure, said the Cordells had always been 'too proud and too poor' to make it in business. Really nasty stuff."
Betsy's hand tightened around her mug. "But then Bob did something smart. He swallowed his pride and came home. Went to our bank here in town, and the lending manager connected us with a legitimate lender that could offer us the business loan we needed. Reasonable terms, fair interest rate. The kind of loan that helped rather than buried us."
"And obviously the business recovered?" Sara Lee asked.
"Better than recovered," Betsy said with evidentpride. "Business picked back up after the worst of the building lull passed. Bob and Bill worked their tails off, made some smart decisions about diversifying—they started carrying more specialty woods and doing custom milling. Within three years, they'd paid off the entire loan. And then they were able to help Barb open this place."
She smiled at her daughter, reaching over to pat her hand. "We wanted you to have your dream, honey. And the coffee shop's doing wonderfully."
"But Raymond kept bringing it up," Barb said. "That's what that comment was about at the festival. The 'old debts.'"
"Oh, Raymond loved to taunt them about it." Betsy's voice carried pure contempt. "Every time he came to town, he'd make some comment about Bob being a 'poor business owner' or Bill not having what it takes to run a real company. Just needling them, trying to make them feel small. He was furious that they'd succeeded without his 'help.'" She made air quotes around the wordhelp.
"So there was no actual debt?" Sara Lee asked carefully. "To Raymond, I mean?"
"Not a penny," Betsy said firmly. "We never took his blood money. But he acted as if we owed him something anyway. Like Bob walking away from that terrible deal was somehow an insult that needed to be punished." She shook her head. "The man was a jerk, plain and simple. Everything he touched, he tried to poison."
Sara Lee felt relief flood through her at the ideathat Bob and Bill Cordell could be taken off the suspect list. Yes, Raymond had been an irritant… a persistent, nasty irritant who'd taken pleasure in humiliating them. But hardly worth killing over. They'd beaten him by building their business without his predatory loan and succeeded where he'd predicted they'd fail.
That wasn't a motive for murder. That was a motive to smile quietly to yourself and let Raymond stew in his own bitterness.
"I'm glad you told me, Mom," Barb said, squeezing her mother's hand. "I always wondered, but I didn't want to ask if it was something private."
"Oh, honey, your dad was just always embarrassed since he’d wanted to help you out earlier," Betsy said. "But your father made the right choice. And we're all better for it."
Outside, Maximus the golden doodle lifted his head and barked once—a cheerful, conversational bark that seemed to say he was ready to continue their walk whenever Betsy was.
"Well, that's my cue," Betsy said, laughing. "His Majesty calls." She stood, giving both Barb and Sara Lee quick hugs. "You take care of yourself, Sara Lee. And give my best to Ms. June."
Outside, Maximus the golden doodle suddenly spotted a squirrel darting across the sidewalk. The big dog lurched to his feet with a joyful bark and took off in hot pursuit, completely forgetting he was tied to the small café table. The table scraped across the concrete with a horrible screeching sound, tipping precariouslyas Maximus dragged it behind him like a determined sled dog.
"Maximus! NO!" Betsy shouted, running for the door. She burst outside, chasing after her dog, who was now hauling the table down the sidewalk, completely undeterred by the extra weight, his tongue lolling out in pure joy as the squirrel scampered up a tree.
Sara Lee and Barb collapsed against each other in laughter, watching through the window as Betty finally caught up to the dog, grabbed his collar, and began the process of untangling him from the overturned table while Maximus wagged his tail, looking enormously pleased with himself.
A helpful spectator brought the table back to the cafe, and Barb rewarded them with a free coffee.
After their mirth slowed, Barb leaned across the counter and held Sara Lee’s gaze. "Girl," Barb said, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. "Now that it’s just the two of us, start talking! You've been busy!"
Sara Lee sipped her coffee and tried to figure out how to answer. The warm liquid was perfect, exactly what she needed, but it also gave her a moment to think. She decided on prevaricating. "What do you mean?"
Barb laughed, the sound rich and knowing. "Don't play coy with me, Sara Lee Higgins. The whole town is talking about you and Ms. June asking questions about Raymond. Seems like you were investigating before the Sheriff even got around to it."
Sara Lee started to take a bite of the lemon bar, thetart sweetness calling to her. But Barb placed her hand on Sara Lee's arm, stopping her mid-bite.
"Hey," Barb's voice softened, losing the teasing edge. "Talk to me. We've been best friends for too long to keep secrets, especially such big secrets. What's going on?"
The guilt hit then, sharp and immediate. Sara Lee set down the pastry and leaned forward, lowering her voice even though the other customers were far enough away not to hear. "I can't really tell you when it started... well… maybe that's not true. The day before the First of June Festival, Petunia came into the library and told Nana June to be aware that Raymond was coming to town. She was worried that he would cause a scene at some point."
Barb nodded, her expression shifting to something more serious. She pulled her stool closer, creating their own private bubble in the public space.
