Murder on a Starry Night: A Queen Bees Quilt Mystery (25 page)

“Halley, I’m so glad you’ve come,” Po said, giving her a quick hug.

“I guess you haven’t heard, Po.”

“What’s that, dear?”

“Adele has hired me to organize the library that she’ll have for the guests. It’s going to be wonderful, and I’ll work here when I’m not needed at the college. It’s kind of a dream,” she confessed. “I can pick the books I want, organize it, make it cozy and wonderful. I can’t imagine the guests will ever want to leave.”

Po knew that Adele and Halley had talked, but she didn’t know the outcome had been so generous and forgiving on both their parts. They’d each been hurt terribly by a man, and they had both loved another man whom they couldn’t bring back to life. They certainly had a framework for friendship, Po thought. She was pleased to see it had begun.

When Adele called them all into the living room a short while later, Po was prepared for a toast. What she wasn’t prepared for was the president of Canterbury University’s announcement. “There will be a new printing of
A Plain Man’s Guide to a Starry Night,”
he said, “with Oliver Harrington’s name on the cover.”

Adele stood beside him, her eyes damp. She wiped the tears aside and took her place in front of the fireplace. “In addition to the book,” she said, “there’s something else we’ve decided to do in my brother’s memory.” She nodded toward P.J. and Max.

The two men walked in from the foyer, carrying a folded mound of fabric. With the Queen Bees standing proudly by, they unfolded and held up a hanging that Susan and Leah had designed, and all the Queen Bees had stitched together in these four short weeks. A gift for Adele. A tribute to Ollie.

The background blocks of mottled midnight blue held a brilliant galaxy, created from small crimson and gold and deep orange-colored strips. The design was a swirl in all shades and hues. The swirl spread out against the deep background, bigger and bigger, flying upward, until the largest star of all—a brilliant blend of bright orange and yellow and white fabric, filled the top of the quilt.

Ollie’s starry sky.

While champagne glasses clinked around the room, Po edged in beside Kate and Max. She looped an arm around each of them, her heart about as full as she could ever remember it being. There was a magic in the air tonight, and she suspected she wasn’t the only one who felt it. She hugged her goddaughter close and spoke softly.

“A wedding, Kate?” she asked. “Is that what I heard you say? A wedding on a starry night…I think I could handle that just fine. Just fine, indeed.”

Sally Goldenbaum is the author of over two dozen published novels, including a mystery written with Nancy Pickard. She is an editor at a veterinary publishing company, mother of three grown children, and lives in Prairie Village, Kansas, with her husband, Don, two dogs, and a cat
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