Murder and Salutations (Book 3 in the Cardmaking Mysteries) (2 page)

She shook her head briefly, and I could see
that she was trying her best not to show any emotion at all.
“Nonsense. I have every right to be here.” As she spoke, I saw
someone approaching us out of the corner of my eye. The relief I’d
felt in seeing someone join us dissipated in an instant when I
realized who it was.

Eliza Glade was heading our way, and it
wasn’t my imagination this time. The room was as quiet as a soft
kiss; everyone was holding their breath. Eliza wore a red dress
that showed just a little bit too much of her voluptuous figure for
a Chamber of Commerce dinner. Her blond hair had been teased and
sprayed, and her makeup was more than just a smidge overdone.
Truthfully, she looked as though she would have been more at home
in a Las Vegas lounge than in Rebel Forge.

Before Eliza could reach my sister, Lillian
disengaged from us and headed straight for the woman, effectively
cutting her off from us. They shared a few whispered comments, then
Lillian said something that rocked Eliza in her tracks. Her face
reddened as if she’d been slapped, and I saw her back quickly
away.

When Lillian rejoined us, there was a look
of smug satisfaction on her face.

Sara Lynn said, “I don’t need you to fight
my battles for me. I’m perfectly capable of handling that woman
myself.”

Lillian just laughed. “What, and let you
have all the fun? That’s hardly fair.”

“
What did you say to her?” I
asked. “You must have really spanked her hard.”

“
Me?” Lillian asked, her
tone as innocent as she could summon. “I don’t know what you’re
talking about.”

Sara Lynn said, “Let’s find our table, shall
we? I don’t relish having this crowd stare at me just standing
here.”

Lillian took her arm. “That’s a capital
idea. Let’s see where the shrew has seated us.”

We found our table, nearly concealed in a
niche in back behind one of the few posts blocking the view of the
stage. I was about to complain when I noticed that our tablemates
were already there. It appeared that Sara Lynn, Lillian and I
weren’t the only Rebel Forge residents on Eliza’s defecation
roster. Savannah and Pete Jones, owners of The Lunch Box—a place
where Lillian and I often ate—were already there.

“
Hi, all,” I said. “Where’s
Charlie?”

Charlie was their teenaged daughter and
part-time waitress.

Savannah said, “She’s off with some boy, if
you can imagine that. I told that girl she has to stay focused if
she wants to be a doctor, but does she listen to me?”

Pete, usually a man of few words, surprised
us all by saying, “Savannah, the girl’s got a right to a life of
her own.”

“
I’m not trying to tell her
what to do,” Savannah said sharply, then noticed Lillian’s grin.
“What are you smiling about?”

The two of them had been friends from the
cradle, and they weren’t afraid to speak plainly to each other.
Lillian said, “Your husband doesn’t say much, but when he does
talk, it might be a good idea to listen to him.”

Savannah’s features clouded up, but
Lillian’s smile never changed. After a long seven seconds, Savannah
reluctantly laughed, and the rest of us joined in. “You might just
have a point,” she added, then looked at her husband. “Don’t think
you won this argument?” she said.

“
No, ma’am,” Pete said, the
smile still broad on his face.

Savannah said, “Now how in the world are
they going to ever serve us if you three don’t sit down? I don’t
get to eat out much, and I’m eager to try some of Jack Hurley’s
fare.”

We sat with them at the table, and I looked
down at the place settings. Besides the knife, spoon and two forks,
there was a pewter letter opener with an anvil at the end of the
handle.

“
How lovely,” I said as I
picked mine up and felt the solid heft of it.

Savannah smiled. “I’ll say this for the
award committee, they always have nice souvenirs. Sara Lynn, is
that your husband over there trying to get your attention?”

We all turned to see Bailey waving
frantically at my sister.

Lillian started to get up, but Sara Lynn
beat her to it. “You sit tight. I’ll take care of him. This is one
battle I’ll fight myself.”

She left the table and headed directly for
her husband. The last thing I wanted to hear was a shouting match
between the two of them, but then I saw Sara Lynn drag him into the
kitchen and out of earshot.

Savannah said softly, “There’s trouble
there.”

“
More than you know,”
Lillian confirmed. She looked around the room, then said, “There’s
a good turnout tonight, isn’t there?”

Savannah nodded. “I think half of them are
here to see that niece of yours onstage with Eliza.”

“
Don’t say that in front of
Sara Lynn,” Lillian said.

“
I’m not about to,” Savannah
said. She looked at Lillian, then said, “I hate to admit it, but
you clean up pretty good.”

Lillian laughed. “I was just about to say
the same thing about you.” She turned to Pete and said, “You look
rather handsome yourself.”

“
Thank you, ma’am,” Pete
said. “I think you look nice, too.”

Lillian clapped her hands. “Why you sly old
dog, you. Pete Jones, are you turning into a talker on us?”

Pete shook his head, but I could see that he
was smiling, caught up in the excitement of getting out of his
kitchen, if only for one evening.

They were just starting to serve when Sara
Lynn rejoined us, without her husband in tow.

“
Are you all right?” I asked
her. My sister looked more shaken than I’d ever seen
her.

She didn’t answer, but it was clear that
further conversation wouldn’t be welcome. We all managed to talk
around her as the servers delivered our food. All I knew was that
it must have been some kind of a confrontation to leave my sister
shaking like she was.

After a pleasant meal of roast beef,
asparagus tips in cheese sauce, and garlic mashed potatoes, our
servers whisked our plates away and replaced them with chocolate
mousses adorned with raspberries.

Lillian studied hers and said, “I’m so full,
I don’t think I can eat this.”

I started to reach for her dessert plate
before she could finish her sentence. “I’ll be glad to help you out
with it.”

She swatted my hand, and the entire table
laughed. “If I can’t handle it, you’ll be the first to know,”
Lillian said.

I dug into mine, regretting the richness of
the dessert for just a second before I gave in to it. Jack had
outdone himself, and I knew everyone at that dinner would be
talking about the meal for weeks. I was just finishing my dessert
when I felt someone approaching me from behind.

“
Jennifer, may I have a word
with you?”

It was Greg Langston, and he was wearing a
tuxedo that made him look like a movie star. His tie perfectly
matched his deep blue eyes, and his normally wild blond hair was
tamed in place. I felt my heart skip despite the current state of
our relationship, and I tried my best to keep my voice level as I
answered. “I’ll try to find time for you later. I’d offer you a
seat, but we don’t have any extras.”

His hand brushed my shoulder, and I felt a
tingle at his touch. “This is important.”

I started to ask him what his definition of
important was when Savannah nudged my elbow. “Girl, go talk to him.
Don’t worry, we’ll save your seat.”

I rolled my eyes at her, then stood up and
faced him. “What is it, Greg?”

“
Can we step away from the
tables and talk about it?” he asked in that soft voice he’d always
used to get to me.

Be strong, I told myself as I nodded my
acceptance. Greg and I might have looked like a perfect match on
paper, but we were constantly out of sync, and I couldn’t imagine
things getting any better between us. I was fully prepared to tell
him no again, because I could see in his eyes that he was going to
ask me out. My speech was all ready to deliver when he blurted out,
“I’m seeing someone new—someone important to me—and I didn’t want
you to hear it from somebody else first.”

“
You don’t have to keep me
informed about the details of your love life,” I said, just a
little harsher than I’d intended.

He started to frown, then said, “Jennifer, I
just thought you should know. I waited for you as long as I could,
but I never seemed to get anywhere with you.”

“
Greg, I’m sorry, but there
was just no way it was ever going to work out for us.” There, at
least I’d been able to deliver part of the speech I’d been ready to
give. While I had been sincere when I’d said that Greg and I didn’t
have a future together, I still wasn’t all that sure I wanted him
dating other people. My own skewed sense of logic didn’t have to
make sense to anybody else. It was just the way I felt.

I saw an attractive blonde staring at us,
tall and slim and rather elegant in a dress that perfectly matched
Greg’s tie. “You brought her here, didn’t you?” I asked.

Greg looked over his shoulder, then waved to
the young woman in question. “Jen, you intimidate the daylights out
of her. It was all I could do to convince her to let me come over
here and talk to you.”

I studied her again, then offered her a
friendly smile I didn’t feel. I intimidated her; I sincerely
doubted that. I knew I was cute enough, but no one would ever
mistake me for the beauty he was with.

“
Tell her she doesn’t have
anything to worry about from me,” I said, then to my surprise, I
saw her start toward us. Suddenly my friendly smile wasn’t all that
friendly any more.

Before I could make my retreat, she
approached and offered a slender hand to me. “Hi. You must be
Jennifer. It’s such a pleasure to meet you.”

“
You, too,” I said, barely
managing not to mumble.

Greg said, “Jen, this is Stephanie
Staunton.”

I managed to nod as I heard a tapping on the
microphone on the stage. My friend Grady Farrar—who ran the best
hardware store in seven counties—was trying to get everyone’s
attention. “If you don’t mind, could everyone take their
seats?”

Greg and Stephanie returned to their prime
position while I rejoined my table in the back of the room.

Savannah said, “That did not look good,
Jennifer.”

“
If it’s any consolation, it
was worse than it appeared.”

Lillian patted my hand, but I couldn’t meet
anyone’s gaze. As I pretended to study the place settings, I
noticed that though there were five of us sitting there, there were
only four letter openers on the table. Funny, I was certain there
had been five there when we’d first sat down.

My attention returned to Grady as he asked
the audience, “Has anyone seen Eliza Glade? Eliza, are you out
there?”

There were a few mutters from the crowd, but
no Eliza. That was extremely odd, since I knew Eliza lived for her
annual time in the spotlight.

Grady tugged on the lapels of his suit,
whose fashion had last been stylish in the fifties, then said, “I
guess that leaves it to me to do the honors.”

He held up a small golden anvil, then said,
“It’s my pleasure to announce the winner of this year’s award. Now
I know Eliza’s probably going to skin me alive for skipping her
thirty-minute windup, but it’s getting late and we all have
businesses to run in the morning.” That brought a chuckle from the
crowd, and I could see that Grady was enjoying the attention. He’d
been vice president forever, but from what he’d told me in the
past, this was most likely the first time he’d ever been called on
to speak.

“
I’m going to read the name
in this envelope, then we’ll hear from the winner and that will
wrap up our evening.”

He tore the envelope open,
and the look of surprise on his face was undeniable. It appeared
that he wasn’t quite able to believe it, but finally he held open
the letter inside the envelope and read it aloud. “This year’s
winner has proven that youth does not necessarily mean unproven
ability. Our recipient took a sound idea, and despite heavy
opposition from her employer—a woman who should have known better,
I might add—she made a success out of something her sister
proclaimed publicly would never work. This year’s winner of the
Rebel Forge Businessperson of the Year award is Jennifer
Shane.”

I couldn’t believe I’d just heard my name
called, even as Savannah tried to propel me out of my seat. I
whispered to my sister, “Sara Lynn, it’s a mistake. It should be
you.”

Sara Lynn shook her head. “Nonsense. I can’t
stand the witch, but she’s right. You made something work that I
thought would fail from the start. Go get your award.”

Lillian said, “Go on, Jennifer. You deserve
it. No one else in the world knows how hard you’ve worked for
it.”

I stood, then started walking toward the
front of the room. When I looked over at Greg, I saw that he was
deep in conversation with Stephanie. I would have liked to see his
smile, if just for a second, but he was otherwise engaged.

I was three steps from the raised platform,
finally believing that it was indeed true that I’d won, when I
heard a scream coming from the kitchen.

“
She’s dead!” the woman’s
voice shouted. “Someone stabbed her in the heart.”

And that’s when all hell broke loose.

Chapter 2

I stood there in shock, not sure what to do,
and then, for some irrational reason, I turned and searched the
crowd for the women at my table. Even though I knew I’d just left
them, I had to be sure that Sara Lynn, Lillian and Savannah were
all right. There was bedlam throughout the room—everyone was out of
their seats and trying to all talk at once—but I managed to catch
sight of Lillian holding onto Sara Lynn. That left Savannah, and in
a moment of panic I couldn’t see her. Then the crowd parted for
just a moment and I found her sitting with her husband, Pete’s arms
around her. Ten seconds ago we’d been a calm group of adults
sharing a lovely meal, and suddenly we were a mob.