Next Step

When we arrive at Ryan's house, he leads me into his kitchen where he dumps a messenger bag on the breakfast bar. I settle onto a barstool and he looks to me.

"What I am about to show you has to stay between us, Sawyer. No telling LulaBelle or Annabeth or anyone. Okay?"

I nod to him and he opens the flap of the bag. I watch as he pulls several files out and he stacks them neatly on top of the bar.

"I went through Poppy's laptop today," he says. "And I started looking for your guest lists, which I did find by the way."

My eyes widen with glee as he hands me a folder and I reply, "Yay! You're a lifesaver, Ryan."

I start going through the papers and he continues, "Yeah well, I started looking into other Historical Society files she had saved on there and I saw one that had accounting info on it."

He slides me another folder but he keeps his hand on top of it, preventing me from opening it. I look to him as he says, "I think you're right about Arthur being suspicious. I think Poppy thought so too and started investigating his accounting abilities."

He finally lifts his hand and I open the flap to the folder. There are probably fifty spreadsheets in the folder and they are all labeled by events and deposits. I notice all of Poppy's notes on the spreadsheet are in bright red ink so it's easy to follow along to her thought process. It looks like her spreadsheets go back at least four years and according to her red notes, there have been discrepancies in accounting dating further back than that. I look to Ryan and say, "If this is right, Arthur may have been skimming off the top of the Historical Society funds since Poppy took over the club."

Ryan nods I agreement.

"If these spreadsheets are true and accurate then yeah, I think that's what she was investigating."

"It makes sense," I say with a nod as my finger skims the spreadsheet. "Arthur told me my party planning budget was only $3,000 but according to Betty Samuels, the fundraiser raised enough to have a $5,000 budget. That, and he said there wasn't a dollar to spare because every penny had been spent. But according to Mrs. Hemming, there should have been around a $2,000 cushion because she donated all the money to cover the gardens."

Ryan's eyes narrow as he says, "You haven't been looking into this on your own have you, Miss Marple?"

I sit silently for a moment. I cringe as I say, "Would you believe me if I said I just kind of stumbled upon it?"

"Sawyer, I asked you not to play detective," he says sternly. He closes the lid to the folder and in protest, I reply, "All I did was try and get the donor lists. The whole budget stuff was just a part of that. I'm sorry. I didn't realize getting these lists was going to open a door to bigger problems."

He frowns.

"Well from now on, stay out of it. I'm only confiding this to you so you know to stay away from Arthur. No more asking anyone questions. I'm afraid if Arthur did have something to do with Poppy's death and he thinks you're putting things together, you might be at risk."

"It's his fault that I had to go on a mad hunt for those lists. If he would have just turned over his copy to me in the first place, then I wouldn't have had to make so many phone calls."

"Why didn't Arthur want to give you his donor lists? Why do you think he said he didn't have them?" Ryan asks and I shrug.

"I don't know. Maybe it proves how much was raised at the fundraiser and maybe his real numbers are higher than the rest of the society thinks was raised? That way he can pocket money and no one is the wiser."

"Do you know how much was raised?" Ryan asks and I nod. I slide my purse towards me and pull Mrs. Samuel's notes out. I hand them to Ryan as I say, "According to Betty, no one in the society knows she has a copy of the restoration breakdown. When her and Poppy went over it together, Poppy told her she wanted to keep a close eye on the budget for this project."

I watch as Ryan's eyes glide over Betty's notes and then he says, "She was probably trying to catch Arthur embezzling from the society."

I look at him.

"Do you think we just figured out who murdered Poppy?"

Ryan shrugs and lets out a loud, long exhale.

"If Poppy found out he was embezzling and confronted him, it would make sense. More sense than you killing Poppy to get back together with Jackson."

I catch his smirk and roll my eyes. We are both hunched over the file folders and I can tell we are both wondering if we just caught Poppy's killer.

"So how do we prove it? You can't bring Arthur in and ask him about it because he could go and destroy any records he has. And you can't arrest him on this evidence alone, can you?"

He sighs as he stares at the folder.

"I'll have to go back and see what Arthur's alibi was for that night. I also need to see if I can find any other proof that he may have been stealing from the fund."

"Should anyone know I found the donor lists? Do you think Arthur will panic if he thinks I have the accurate amount of funds raised from the party?" I ask and Ryan stares at me while he thinks of a response. I continue, "My momma will wonder how I finalized the guestlist for the grand re-opening. I might have to tell her I have the lists."

"She might ask how you got it. And you can't tell her I broke the law so you could have a proper guest list," Ryan says as he frowns. I nod and quickly reply, "You know what, she isn't in charge of this party. I just asked her to help and even that may have been a mistake. I will send out the invitations on my own and if she asks how I created the guest list, I'll say I brainstormed with Betty and Scarlett and together we came up with all of the guests on our own."

"Say what you need to. And from now on, you will do no more investigating," he says again and I nod along with a smile. He eyes me as I say, "I will stop investigating, but I must say, if it weren't for me, you would have never looked into Arthur Huxley's accounting abilities. So..."

Ryan shakes his head with a smirk on his face.

"Fine. Thank you for the lead. Now stay out of it."

"I will. And anyway, now that I have these lists, I can continue to plan the party," I tell him as I reopen the folder that holds the prize I have been hunting for. I start to scan over the names and the amounts, but Ryan's voice forces my eyes to move from the paper and look back to him.

"Can I ask you a question, love?"

"Of course."

"Now, I am all for you staying focused and planning this party but...what made you want to buy the winery?" He asks. I bite my lip as I lean back on the barstool. I fold my arms across my chest and then reply, "When I was looking around that empty bar I was saddened to think of what could become of a place that holds so many happy memories. Besides Mel's, Old Town Winery is the only other fun bar to go to. It is the only one that plays live music and serves local wines. I thought it might be nice to own my own happy place you know? Where am I going to go when they tear it down?"

Ryan nods as he takes my hand out of my crossed arms. He holds it and says, "You can always escape here, Sawyer. Never feel like you are stuck at your mama's house."

"And do what though? Come over here and hang around in the quiet until you or Austin get home from work? I'm tired of feeling alone."

I watch Ryan's face fall before he says, "I didn't know you felt alone."

I release a sharp exhale and I squeeze his hand. I look up to his worried eyes and say, "Everyone is moving on with their lives. Finding out Annabeth is pregnant and Austin is proposing just proves that. Soon, my two best friends will be knee-deep in baby duty and my bother will be livin' in some fancy house across town with Margot. Everyone else I'm acquainted with is part of a club or society and preparing to raise their own families. You have an important, time-consuming job that keeps you busy whereas I'm stuck at my momma's, drinkin' wine on the roof and waiting for my boyfriend to have a break in his day to take me out."

"That's only temporary. Things will slow down after we close Poppy's case. Hollis is not a huge, organized crime town," Ryan says with a light laugh. I smile and reply, "Let's say we do get married, Ryan. Let's say we decide to stay in this house and you continue to be busy with work. What am I supposed to be doing? What is my next step?"

Ryan stares at me and I think he's finally starting to get it. Even if Ryan and I get married tomorrow, I am still alone while he's gone. I look to him and continue, "You know I realized that I don't want to be a housewife. I'm not minding helping out in particular clubs, but I need more than that. I'm realizing I need something of my own. And this winery could be my something."

He nods along to my confession and then says, "Well, alright then. Whatever you need me to do to help you get the winery, I'll do it."

"You will?" I ask, knowing that I might have to take him up on that offer. He smiles.

"Of course. I already broke the law to help you plan the party."

A laugh escapes me.

"A boyfriend that will break the law to help his girlfriend plan a party is the boyfriend of my dreams."

"Well since I met you, I've included you in top-secret F.B.I business. Manipulated witness protection to put you where I wanted you. Almost punched a high-ranking Air Force officer and stole evidence from a murder case. Helping you buy a winery seems like a walk in the park."

I can't help but laugh again and I shake my head at all the ridiculous things we've gone through together. I smirk as I reply, "You can't say our relationship is boring."

"No Sawyer, nothing about you is boring," he says and he pulls me off the barstool. He holds my face in between his hands and plants a soft kiss on my lips.