Deadly Notions (23 page)

“Keep my name out of your mouth, old woman.” Leona lowered her magazine to her lap. “Melissa and Beatrice despised her, too.”

“They did. But no one more than the brunette.”

“You mean Samantha Smith?” Tori sought to confirm.

“If that was the one that went with the mousy little girl, yes.”

She considered Rose’s words, their missing component a needed piece in the puzzle. “I wish I knew what she said.”

“If you really want to know, why don’t you just ask?” Leona tossed the magazine onto the coffee table and looked around the room, her gaze narrowing on the various pieces of food taking shape around the room. “I have to say this food project is one of the cuter ones we’ve ever done.”

“We’ve?” Georgina challenged.

Leona rolled her eyes and grabbed another magazine from the pile. “I am part of this group, aren’t I?”

“
How
, we’re not quite sure.” Rose set her completed piece of ham to the side and reached down to the floor, pulling a piece of dark brown felt from Tori’s pile. “The crust on the bread needs to be darker then the actual top and bottom, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know why I keep coming to these meetings each week only to be insulted for my intelligence.”

Rose looked up. “Your intelligence?”

“Ladies.” Tori quickly teed her hands together. “What do you say we head into the kitchen and sample everyone’s treats before we really get down to business? Abby’s and Sophie’s birthdays are right around the corner and we’ve got a lot of food to make between now and then.”

One by one each circle member rose from their chair and headed toward the kitchen, the conversation of choice switching from murder theories to pies and cakes. Tori trailed behind the group only to be stopped in her tracks by a waiting Margaret Louise. “Melissa told me about your investigation.”

“Margaret Louise, I can’t help it. Chief Dallas isn’t looking in the right place.”

“We’re both sittin’ in amen corner, Victoria. I just want to help is all.”

Help.

“Can you encourage Melissa to invite Zoe Rowen over for a playdate? Perhaps with the right questions, one of you can get a handle on where her mother stood in terms of Ashley Lawson?”

“Okay. And how about Kayla? Do you think we should invite her, too?”

She considered the possibility. “Why don’t you wait on that. For just a little while, anyway. Just in case Caroline might be more willing to talk without Samantha being there. And besides, I think your sister is right.”

Margaret Louise turned toward the kitchen only to stop mid-step. “Now, Victoria, I realize even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while, but don’t you think you’re goin’ a bit far?”

Tori laughed. “Be nice.”

“Why? Leona was positively awful to you about Milo, tonight.”

The smile slipped from her face. “She’s just looking out for me in her own way. You know that.”

“Maybe. But she still has a stingin’ way of doin’ it.”

She couldn’t argue.

“Victoria?”

“Hmm?”

“You mind tellin’ me what, exactly, my twin was right about?”

“The stuff about Regina and Samantha.”

Margaret Louise scrunched up her brows. “What stuff?”

“That I need to
ask
in order to know.”

“So how was your circle meeting last night?”

Tori leaned to the left and peered around the computer. “I hear you, but I don’t see you.”

Two large encyclopedias parted in the middle atop a backless shelf to reveal a pair of large, brown eyes. “I’m right here. Someone put M in front of D, and S in front of R.”

“You’ll have that,” she said. “As to your question, it was fine. Operation Play Food is coming along nicely.”

“Miss Sinclair, I have to admit, I’m having a hard time imagining play food made from fabric.”

Pushing her shoulders back, she took the opportunity to stretch her neck and shoulders, her time spent researching titles for the teen club leaving her more than a little stiff. “I would have said the same thing if I hadn’t seen the things Debbie has made for Suzanna and Jackson over the years. She’s got bread, ham, peanut butter, lettuce, chips, brownies, pancakes with pats of butter, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.”

“Is it hard to make?”

Tori shook her head. “Not really. It’s a bit time-consuming since much of it is done by hand, but to be honest, I like that more than the machine most times. It makes me feel like it’s really
me
making it.”

A large green volume passed in front of Nina’s face, blocking her from view momentarily. “Do you think you could teach me how to make things like that?”

“Sure. I don’t see why not.” She looked back over the list of teen titles one last time before sending it to the printer. As the telltale whir of the machine signaled its completion, she slid off her stool and snatched the still-warm paper from the top tray. “Though, based on the pace everyone was working last night, I suspect these two little girls will have more than enough play food for their birthday.”

Nina stepped out from around the shelf and wandered into the biographies, her voice growing more hushed despite the closer proximity. “I was thinking more along the lines of learning to make things like that for my own little girl. Unless of course, it ends up being a boy.”

“Okay, sure. I can teach you . . .” Her words trailed from her mouth as the meaning behind her assistant’s comment took root in her head. She whirled around to meet the shy smile she’d grown to treasure as much as the Sweet Briar Public Library itself. “Nina? Are you—”

“Pregnant?” Nina whispered. “Yes.”

A squeal of excitement burst from Tori’s lips as she dropped the printout on the counter and ran into the biography aisle, an unending stream of questions firing their way through her thoughts and out her mouth. “When are you due? How long have you known? Is Duwayne excited? How are you feeling? Do you want to sit down?”

Nina laughed and held up her hand. “Miss Sinclair, Miss Sinclair. One question at a time.”

“Oh. Sorry. I’m just—” She stopped, pulled the woman into her arms and held her tight. “Oh, Nina, this is fantastic news! I’m so excited for you.”

“I’m glad. I was afraid you’d be worried about your workload increasing around the library. But I promise I won’t take too much time off. And maybe I can even bring the baby with me sometimes. They sleep a lot in the beginning, right?”

She stepped back. “My workload? Are you kidding me? Everything will be just fine. And if there are any gaps I need to fill, I’ll call on Dixie.”

“Ms. Dunn will like that.”

“She will.” Slowly, her gaze skimmed down her assistant’s body, lingering on the tiny little belly mound she hadn’t noticed until that moment. “So how far along are you?”

A smile stretched Nina’s face wide. “Almost three months.”

“And Duwayne?”

“He’s beside himself with excitement.”

“Is that why you haven’t been eating very well?”

Nina shrugged.

“And why you’ve been feeling a little sluggish lately?”

“I guess.”

“You guess?”

“I didn’t find out until last night.”

“Last night?” Tori echoed.

Nina nodded. “I wasn’t really paying attention to the calendar, just figured things got off-kilter a bit when my mamma was so sick last month. But then when I realized I still hadn’t started, and put it together with how I’ve been feeling lately, I started to think
maybe
. Just maybe. So I got a test at Leeson’s Market yesterday on the way home from work and took it after dinner. You should have seen Duwayne’s face when I walked into the room and set it on his lap.”

Tori took hold of Nina’s forearm and led her to the information desk. “So, if you’re three months along, this baby should be due in late September or early October?”

“That’s what Duwayne and I have come up with. I guess the doctor will tell us more.”

“Do you have an appointment?” she asked.

“Yes, I have an appointment. I called first thing this morning and set something up for tomorrow afternoon.” Nina waved her hands in protest as Tori guided her to the stool. “I don’t need to sit down. Really, I’m fine.”

She stared in awe at her assistant. “Oh, Nina, I’m just so excited for the two of you. You guys are going to make great parents.”

“I hope so. I’ve certainly learned a lot from watching you this past year or so.”

“Me?” She blinked back the confusion her assistant’s words created. “You mean Melissa?”

“No. I mean
you
. The way you are with every single child that comes into the library.” Nina wandered over to the list and plucked it off the counter. “You’re endlessly patient, always creative, constantly cheerful, and exactly the kind of person that’s going to be a wonderful mom one day. Just like I want to be.”

“You will be, of that I have no doubt.” She willed herself to focus on Nina rather than the uncertainty her assistant’s words had kicked off. “And I consider myself lucky that I’ll have the opportunity to live motherhood vicariously through you.”

“Until you and Milo get married and have one of your own.”

Milo.

Her shoulders slumped.

“Miss Sinclair? Is everything okay?”

She shrugged. “It’ll be fine. Really.” Leaning against the stool, she allowed her mind to travel six months into the future. “So? What’s your gut? Do you think it’s a boy or a girl?”

Nina crossed her arms against her chest. “I think you’re being evasive right now.”

“Nooo. I’m being a good Auntie Tori.”

A smile lit the woman’s dark eyes. “I like the sound of that.”

She clapped her hands together only to have a few curious heads turn in their direction from the computer bank. Lowering her voice, she closed the gap between them in an effort to keep their conversation as private as possible. “Then it’s settled? It’s finally settled?”

“What’s settled?”

“You’re finally going to drop this Miss Sinclair nonsense once and for all?”

A flush rose up in Nina’s cheeks. “I—I always called Ms. Dunn
Ms. Dunn.
I guess I just feel more comfortable that way.”

“Well, I don’t. We’re more than just coworkers, Nina. We’re friends, too, aren’t we?” Without waiting for a reply she touched a gentle hand to the woman’s stomach. “And I most certainly don’t want to be known as Auntie Miss Sinclair.”

“How about Auntie Mrs. Wentworth?”

She drew her hand back. “Let’s not jump the gun, okay? Auntie Tori suits me just fine, don’t you think?”

Nina grabbed her hand and held it tight. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s all good.” She tugged her hand away and wandered back over to the computer. “Really, it’s fine.”

“Whatever you say, Miss Sinclair.”

She whirled around. “Wait. I thought you were going to stop calling me that.”

“And I thought you said we were friends.” Lifting the printout from the counter once again, Nina skimmed her finger down the list of titles. “You’ve got some good ones here. Hopefully they’ll be enough to entice the high school kids to give this club a chance.”

There was no doubt about it, she’d hurt Nina by putting her off and it was easy to see why. While she’d thought nothing of asking the woman details about her pregnancy, Tori, herself, had deliberately tried to hold back details of her own life.

“Look, Nina, I’m sorry. I just don’t want to heap my sad story on your shoulders when you have such wonderful news to share.”

“And I shared it.”

“Okay, I get it. I really do.” She looked around the room, noting the activity of each and every patron—the elderly couple on the computers, the forty-something man perusing the newspapers, the college-aged kid hunched over a stack of research manuals at a corner table. “Okay, yes, there’s a problem. Only it’s not really Milo. Not in the way you must be thinking.”

Nina stepped from behind the counter only to return dragging a chair. Positioning it close to Tori’s stool, she sat down. “What am I thinking?”

“That we’re fighting? Or on the verge of a breakup?”

“You’re not?”

“No. I don’t think so.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

She inhaled the answer into her lungs then listened to it as it poured from her mouth. “He’s being maneuvered like a puppet at the moment and doesn’t seem to see it.”

Nina eyebrows rose. “Maneuvered by who?”

“His college sweetheart. His
drop-dead gorgeous
college sweetheart. She’s back in town on business and has her sights set on him. Only he’s not responding the way she’d like so she’s pulling out all the stops to make sure that he does.”

“Pulling out all the stops?”

“That’s right.” She heard the hint of bitterness in her voice and felt ashamed.

“Like?”

“Like saying she’s afraid for her safety every time she knows we’re together, landing her overnight accommodations in his home in the process.”