Morning Glory Circle (37 page)

Hannah pointed to a tray of food on a rolling cart next to Scott’s bed.

“No, help yourself, please.”

Hannah seated herself on the end of Scott’s bed, pulled the rolling cart over, and started eating Scott’s lunch.

“So I hear you saved my life,” he said. “Thanks for that.”

“It’s a hilarious story,” Hannah said. “I’ll have to tell you all about it sometime.”

“But not now?”

“No, I think it’s a story that will improve with age, along with some embellishments I haven’t had the time to think up yet.”

“I heard there were imaginary snakes involved.”

“I am, as you often remind me, a natural born liar.”

“Tell me, Hannah, have you had enough excitement in your life lately?”

“Not nearly enough. I’m thinking of getting a cape and calling myself the Masked Mutt-Catcher. My super powers are corpse detection and the electrocution of skillet wielding innkeepers.”

“How are you and Sam doing?”

“Not good. Not good at all. That’s another hilarious story I’ll have to tell you some time.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that. Any stories about Maggie you’d care to tell me?”

“That one, not funny at all.”

“She read the letter, I guess.”

“Oh yes,” Hannah said. “But I think I’ll let you two work that out. I’ve got my hands full with my new crime-fighting career. Ed took my picture for the paper. I offered to do a virtual reenactment but he said that was not necessary. He interviewed me and everything.”
             

“Where is Ed?”

“He’ll be over later. He and Patrick are moving Mandy and Tommy into his house today while the sun’s still shining. We’re supposed to get yet another big snowstorm later.”

“That’s a sudden development; Mandy and Ed, I mean.”

“It’s not, not really. You’ve just been busy.”

“Any sign of Brian?”

“He’s been picked up by the FBI for questioning over the suspicious manner in which his Bahamas baby mama died, among other nefarious crimes.”

“So the baby was his, but who was the old lady?”

“We don’t know yet.”

“You know, the low flat line on the Rose Hill crime statistics graph has made a sharp upturn over the past few weeks.”

“I think this crap has been going on for awhile,” Hannah said. “It just hasn’t seen the light of day until now.”

“Thanks, that’s a cheery thought for the new head of law enforcement.”

“Speaking of which, has the tiny paw of the law been to see you yet?”

“If you mean Sarah, then yes, first thing this morning.”

“For what it’s worth, she was really kind to me after the whole breaking and entering and zapping the crap out of Connie incident.”

“That’s good to know.”

“It doesn’t mean I want to be her new best friend or anything, I just thought I’d let you know.”

“What can I do about Maggie?”

“Not a thing,” Hannah said. “Not a blessed thing. You need to leave her be for awhile. And that’s my learned, sage advice.”

“I don’t know if I can take that advice.”

“I can’t either. The longer Sam goes without calling the more I pester him.”

Hannah pushed away the rolling cart and jumped up.

“Thanks for the lunch. You look like hell,” she said, and kissed him on the cheek. “I gotta scoot.”

“Thanks, Hannah, for everything.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” she said, posing with her hands on her hips. “It’s all in a day’s work for this crafty crime-fighter.”

Hannah saluted and left the room, and Scott closed his eyes again. A nurse woke him long enough to record his vital signs again, and then he slept for awhile longer. When he woke next, Ed was in the room.

“Who am I, where am I, how did I get here?” Scott said in a fake, weak voice.

“Tracked mud into Connie’s clean kitchen is what I heard,” Ed said. “She doesn’t put up with that kind of crap. Showed you some discipline.”

Scott showed Ed his head wound.

“Ouch,” Ed said. “You should tell people it was a bad haircutting accident.”

“What time is it?”

“It’s six o’clock. They just brought you some supper. Looks pretty awful to me, but if you’re hungry...”

“No thanks, I’m living on ice chips and painkillers these days.”

“I heard that’s how Keith Richards lost his baby weight.”

“You’re very funny this evening. One might almost say chipper. Love is in the air, I guess.”

“We’ll see,” Ed said, but he was smiling.

“I heard you got two new roommates today. That’s a good indicator.”

“Gossip sure travels fast, even in here.”

“Everybody’s talking about it,” Scott said. “The nurses on this floor think you’re too old for her, but the surgical interns think you should go for it. The pediatricians are just concerned about Tommy.”

“I saw Maggie today.”

“Wow, I did not see that one coming so soon,” Scott said. “Give me a second.”

“She’s really upset,” Ed said. “I offered to bring her so she could talk to you about it but she didn’t want to come.”

“Did she tell you why she’s upset?”

“She said you hid a letter from her, a letter from Gabe.”

“I did. I found it in Margie’s stash.”

“What did it say?” Ed asked.

“I have no idea,” Scott said. “I didn’t read it.”

“But you didn’t give it to her. She said she found it after you dropped it.”

“I was going to give it to her.”

“You had only the best intentions, I’m sure.”

“I didn’t burn it, which I considered doing.”

“So you don’t know what it said.”

“No, do you?”

“No,” Ed said. “She didn’t tell me.”

“Well, she hasn’t been to see me even though I almost died yesterday, so it couldn’t have been too flattering.”

“You want to tell me what you think it said?”

“I don’t know what Gabe said happened, but I can tell you my version, and then you can tell me what you would have done.”

“Okay.”

Ed closed the door, sat down in the chair by the window, and listened. After Scott finished his story, Ed didn’t say anything for a few minutes. The silence deepened in the room as the sky darkened outside and snow began to fall. Silence seemed like the only appropriate response to a story filled with so much regret and loss.

“I would have done the same thing,” Ed said finally.

“Thank you,” Scott said, and then put his head in his hands and wept.

Ed sat with his friend until the nurses threw him out, and then went home to his new family.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you to my mom Betsy. Thank you to first readers Ella McComas, Joan Turner, and Terry Hutchison. Thank you to my friends at the Huntington Museum of Art. Also thank you to Joan Grasser, Jaimie Falls, and all the kind people at Hospice of Huntington.

Books by Pamela Grandstaff

Rose Hill Mysteries:

Rose Hill

Morning Glory Circle

Iris Avenue

Peony Street

Daisy Lane

Lilac Avenue

For Children:

June Bug Days and Firefly Nights

Ella’s New Hat and Her Terrible Cat