Deadly Notions (27 page)

“Good riddance to whom?”

Tori and Rose turned toward the sidewalk to find Margaret Louise and Dixie approaching. “Has anyone ever told you you’ve got elephant ears, Margaret Louise?”

“All the time.” Clasping Dixie’s upper arm with a pudgy hand, Margaret Louise propelled the retired librarian up the stairs and over to the second rocker. “It’s what keeps me in the know on all things Sweet Briar.”

“And then she tells me, and I tell you, and you tell Victoria.” Dixie nodded toward Rose’s butter pats. “Those will go nicely on my pancakes.”

“Did you finish them?”

“I did.” Dixie reached into her cavernous purse and fished out two small tan-colored circles. “I even made a bagel.” After the prerequisite round of oohs and ahhs, Dixie continued. “Georgina brought over her contributions this morning—a bag of chips, a waffle, and a hamburger equipped with all the trimmings.”

Tori glanced down at her cheese and smiled. “I think this was such a neat idea. Those little girls are going to have a blast with all of this food.”

Margaret Louise dropped onto the swing beside Tori, the motion whipping them both backward. “So what did I miss? Who’s leavin’?”

“No one. Why?”

Rose clucked. “She’s talking about our conversation regarding Milo, Victoria. The part where I said good riddance.”

Margaret Louise stiffened. “Did you two break it off?”

Tori shook her head. “No. Not at all. It’s just—” She shrugged her shoulders. “Everything will be fine. I’m going to see him this afternoon. At his house. That way he won’t have to travel so far when Beth comes up with her latest diversion.”

“Hi, everyone!” Debbie trotted onto the porch with a large gift bag in her hand. “Is Operation Play Food ready to become Operation Birthday Present?”

“I think so.” Tori lifted her cheese into the air then brought it down to rest on top of the pile she’d assembled over the past week. “Beatrice left her food in my mailbox yesterday and Dixie has Georgina’s. And Margaret Louise and Rose are virtually done, right, ladies?”

Rose paused her rocker for a moment and held up her offerings. “One last pat of butter to go.”

“Thank you so much, everyone. Those two little girls are going to love this food.”

“Any word on a job for Colton?” Dixie asked.

“As a matter of fact I saw Eloise just the other day and she said there was a glimmer of hope, though it might mean they have to move out of Sweet Briar.” Debbie walked from person to person, quietly gushing over each piece of food she saw. When she finally reached the lone remaining chair, she dropped onto it. “Seems the ones we want to stay, leave, and the ones we want to go, stay.”

“Who are you wantin’ to go?”

A flash of crimson rose in Debbie’s cheeks. “I probably shouldn’t say. It wouldn’t be terribly kind of me.”

“Aw, c’mon, Debbie, every dog ought to have a few fleas,” Margaret Louise chided. “It’s what binds us together.”

Rose pointed toward Tori. “And see? I always found cheese to be very binding.”

A chorus of laughter rang up around the porch. “Okay, okay,” Debbie finally said. “Well, after everything I’ve been hearing, I’d like to see that Beth Samuelson leave town.”

“It ain’t gonna happen.” Margaret Louise shifted in her seat, the wooden structure creaking beneath her weight. “That little thing has her sights set on Milo. Saw it just myself at the bakery this mornin’.”

“This morning?” Tori echoed.

Debbie confirmed the woman’s words. “I saw them, too. And Margaret Louise is right. You can see it in every bat of her eyelashes when she looks up at Milo.”

“And what does Milo do in return?” Rose snapped.

“He really doesn’t respond. He just acts like his normal self.” Debbie pulled a package of tissue paper from the gift bag and held it up for everyone to see. “I figured I’d wrap each food grouping in tissue paper before placing it in the bag. That way, when Abby and Sophie open the package, they’ll see the complete pancake set, the complete BLT, the”—she glanced over at Rose’s lap—“complete peanut butter and jelly sandwich set, et cetera.”

She knew Debbie’s description of Milo shouldn’t matter. She knew the kind of man Milo was all on her own. But still, it helped to hear that others saw the same thing in his actions.

Without missing a beat, Debbie flitted back to the subject of Beth and Milo. “The first time I saw her, I thought she seemed nice. But I suppose I should have known better when I saw them together. Anyone who can be all syrupy to someone like
that
should be suspect.”

“Saw who?” Rose asked, the question a near perfect match to the one brewing inside Tori.

“Beth and Ashley.”

“Beth and Ashley? When?”

Debbie stopped sorting food sets and looked up, her shoulders rising and falling in rapid succession. “I don’t know. The morning of Sally’s party, why?”

Leaning back in the swing, Tori raked her hair into a high ponytail only to let it fall back to her shoulders. “I didn’t realize they knew each other beyond a vague professional thing.”

“I don’t think they did. In fact, I’m sure they didn’t because that’s how I knew Beth’s name when I saw her the next morning while talking to you. I heard her introduce herself to Ashley when they met.”

“Did they strike up a conversation in line while they were waiting for breakfast or something?”

Debbie shook her head. “No. It seemed more like they had a meeting. Ashley had a leather case with her and Beth was dressed all professional in a tailored suit and heels. She was friendly with Ashley yet very businesslike. Though . . .” Debbie’s voice trailed off as she fixed on some distant place far beyond Tori’s front porch. After a moment, she swung her focus back to the group. “By the end of the meeting it changed. Suddenly the businesslike formality was gone and they were acting like the best of friends. Which, at the time, I thought was neat . . . except for the fact it was
Ashley
she had befriended.”

“Did you hear what they were talking about?” Dixie asked as Margaret Louise leaned closer.

“No. Sunday morning is one of my busiest days of the week so eavesdropping wasn’t really an option. Besides, I didn’t know about Beth’s connection to Milo at that time so I just figured it was a business meeting. Especially since that leather case Ashley had with her was open on the table for most of the meeting.”

Feeling her mood begin to slip, Tori stood and gestured toward the house. “Would anyone like something to eat? Or drink?”

“No. We’re fine, aren’t we, ladies?” Rose completed her last blanket stitch on her final pat of butter and tossed it across the porch to Debbie. “So where are things with the murder investigation? Does anyone know? Chief Dallas seems to have eliminated me.”

“He must think I’m stronger because he’s still sniffing around my place.” Dixie sat up tall, puffing her ample chest outward in the process. “I suppose the party guests are still his hottest suspects, though he probably should be sniffin’around one in particular, isn’t that right, Victoria?”

“What are you talking about?” Rose countered.

Tori returned to her spot on the swing, the change in topic a welcome reprieve. “We’re talking about Samantha Smith. She was one of the other moms at the party.”

Rose secured her bundle of pale yellow floss with a sticker then returned it to her bag along with the purple bundle. “Now which one was she again? I know I should remember this but I don’t.”

Dixie jumped in to the conversation. “She’s about Victoria’s height, short brown hair, large doe eyes, followed her little girl around almost nonstop . . .”

“Ah, yes, I remember her.” Setting her bag on the ground, Rose turned her attention to the scraps of colored felt on her lap. “You think she might be behind the murder?”

Tori shrugged. “I don’t know. But she’s certainly not shy about the positives that have come from the woman’s death. Seems they’d had more than a few run-ins regarding Penelope’s propensity toward bullying, all of which—including the bullying—have now stopped.”

“And it has,” Debbie confirmed. “Even Jackson says it’s a nicer class now.”

Dixie laid each pancake across her lap for a final inspection. “That’s all it usually takes, isn’t it, Rose?”

“Too bad Samantha couldn’t have made the noose just a wee bit bigger and gotten rid of both of them at the same time.”

A collective gasp rose up around the porch.

“Good heavens, Debbie, you can’t mean that,” Margaret Louise protested. “Penelope might be difficult but she’s only five.”

Debbie’s face paled. “I-I wasn’t talking about
Penelope
. I was talking about Beth.”

“Ain’t that the truth. Too bad Samantha didn’t know.” Dixie stacked Rose’s butter atop her pancakes and handed the set to Debbie. “Perhaps she’d have considered doubling up.”

“Two hogs for the price of one.”

Tori made a face at Margaret Louise, the visual inspired by the woman’s comments making her laugh out loud. “I feel like I should be disagreeing at this moment, like I’m being an awful person for not coming to Beth’s defense.”

“You’re human,” Rose reminded.

“Besides, I don’t think Samantha was even aware of Beth’s presence that morning.” Debbie wrapped the breakfast food items in the colored tissue paper then placed it in the large gift bag.

Tori sat up tall. “That morning? You mean Samantha was in the bakery the morning of the party, too?”

“She was. But, looking back, I doubt she even noticed Beth. In fact, if I recall correctly, she only had eyes for Ashley.”

“Eyes?”

Debbie shrugged off Dixie’s curiosity. “
Daggered
eyes. Is that better?”

While Leona’s suggestion was tempting, Tori opted to wait for Milo on his front steps. It was safer that way. Besides, the less face-to-face time she had with his houseguest the better. For all parties involved.

It wasn’t that she had a propensity toward confrontation, because she didn’t. What she did have, however, was a need to make things right. And Beth’s constant manipulating wasn’t right.

Milo deserved better.

Unfortunately, in this case, he needed to discover that on his own. She just hoped it was sooner rather than later. For both their sakes.

“Hey, beautiful!” Milo’s long legs closed the gap between them in mere seconds, the smile on his face erasing any and all self-doubt that had left her questioning her decision to take up camp on his front step. “What a nice surprise.”

She stood and stepped into his arms. “It was your idea, silly.”

“One that you seemed to be less than enthusiastic about if you’ll recall.”

“I’m sorry. I really am. It’s . . . Actually, you know what? Let’s just forget it. Let’s try to enjoy us today.”

His arms tightened around her as his lips brushed across her forehead. “Sounds perfect to me. Where’s Beth?”

“I don’t know. I never—”

“Milo? Is that you?” They both turned to see Beth standing in the doorway, her voluptuous curves showcased by the off-white minidress she wore. “Oh, Tori, I didn’t know you were out here.”

She waved. “I was waiting for Milo.”

“Oh.” A cloud passed over Beth’s china doll features only to disappear as quickly as it came, replaced, instead, by the runway smile that turned male heads far and wide. “Won’t you come in? We love having guests, don’t we, Milo?”

“Tori isn’t a guest, she’s my girlfriend,” Milo said not unkindly as he held his hand out to Tori. “She even has a key, don’t you?”

She nibbled back the smile that threatened to make her look too eager. “So how are you today, Beth?”

“Wonderful. I’ve been busy cooking Milo’s favorite dinner—beef stew and homemade biscuits.”

Tori’s eyebrow rose as she met Milo’s eyes. “Beef stew is your favorite?”

Swooping in, Beth extricated Milo’s hand from Tori’s and led him toward the kitchen. “Of course it is. Why, I figured that out on our very first date, didn’t I, Pooky?”

“Pooky?” she echoed.

“That’s been my little pet name for Milo since that very first night, too, hasn’t it?” Without waiting for his response, Beth lifted the lid on her stew pot and beckoned Milo over. “It’s just like it was the first time I cooked for you.”

“Smells great, Beth, thanks.” He leaned over the pot. “And there’s enough so Tori can stay for supper, too. Perfect.”

Beth’s smile faltered a smidge. “I’m sure she has other plans, isn’t that right, Tori?”

Tori shook her head. “No, actually, I don’t. And I’d love to stay.”

“Of course you would,” Beth mumbled beneath her breath.

“I’m sorry, can you repeat that? I missed what you said.”

Beth’s smile returned as she scooted up close to Milo. “I said, I’m so glad.”

She resisted the urge to laugh out loud. Perhaps Leona was right. Given enough time, Beth Samuelson would surely hang herself.