Chapter 12

The crack of dawn came early, my ribs still hurt, so with a sigh I rolled out of bed and into the shower. Rewrapping my ribs by myself afterwards was a bitch, but I managed, and after a quick bite, I headed for Hardesy's. I was almost there when I realized that Mr. Hardesy might be able to shed some light on things. His family had been the grocers in Ridgemont for generations.

I was a few minutes early, but I didn't have to wait long till I saw Mr. Hardesy give me a wave as he turned the corner to park his car. A few minutes later and he was there. "Morning, John," he said as he unlocked the door. "How are the ribs?"

I stared at Mr. Hardesy. I had no idea how he always seemed to know what was going on in town.

"What? You didn't think I'd find out about the antics at the dance last night?"

"Well, at least not that quickly, Mr. Hardesy," I replied. "My ribs will be fine, though, thanks. The doctor said they're just bruised."

"You sure stuck your nose in a hornet's nest, John," Mr. Hardesy said as he guided me into his office. "Sit a moment."

I sat and looked at my boss. I knew he was in his sixties and was getting ready to retire. He looked tired this morning.

"Are you okay, Mr. Hardesy? You look tired."

Mr. Hardesy waved my concern off. "Tom's finally back from Houston. We were up late talking."

I knew that Mr. Hardesy wanted Tom to take over the store, but that Tom had resisted and they'd fought. It sounded like things were better between them.

I took a deep breath. "It seems like you know everything that goes on in this town, Mr. Hardesy. I heard some things last night that have been bothering me. I was hoping you could clear some of them up."

"Well, I don't know, John. What I know and what I tell can be entirely different. What exactly do you want to know?"

"Well, I'm not asking you to break any confidences, Mr. Hardesy, but I was wondering about Harmon-Morris. Last night, I overheard Charles Langley talking to Junior Bishop about taking back control of some company. Mr. Langley also said that marrying Missy's mom wouldn't get them control, but that Junior getting Missy pregnant would. Tracey said that it had to be the Factory they were talking about, but she didn't know how the Langleys and Bishops fit into the picture."