The Path of the Crooked (Hope Street Church Mysteries Book 1) (34 page)

“I need to start doing some research,” Ashley answered with an enigmatic smile.

“On parenting?” Cooper was confused.

Ashley wiggled excitedly in her seat. “Of course, silly. How else am I going to get ready for when the baby comes?”

Cooper’s mouth came unhinged. She stared at the angelic pigtailed child on the cover of the magazine and felt a stab of jealousy. Ashley, who was exactly a year, a month, a week, and a day younger than Cooper, was married to a handsome and wealthy husband and lived in an elegant mansion in the most desirable section of the suburbs. She divided her time between playing golf and tennis, shopping at boutiques and high-end department stores, and organizing an endless parade of philanthropic events. And now, the woman who already had looks, love, and luck was going to have a baby.

What about me?
Cooper stared forlornly at the bubbles surfacing around her feet.
I’m the older sister. I have no husband, no children, and I spent five years of my life with a man who dumped me for another woman. When will it be my turn?

“It feels okay?” Minnie asked as she rinsed Cooper’s feet and began to massage her calves using a fragrant orange lotion.

“Yes.” Cooper forced a smile to her face. She suddenly felt ashamed of being envious of her sister. Touching the cover of the magazine Ashley held, Cooper looked into her sister’s lovely cerulean eyes and said, “A baby. That’s wonderful, Ashley. I’m really happy for you.”

2

Ashley reached over and swatted Cooper with her magazine, causing her nail technician to look up in alarm.

“I’m not pregnant yet, Coop,” Ashley hissed. “Don’t go jinxing me!” She returned her feet to their former position without even glancing at the befuddled technician. “But Lincoln and I have decided it’s time. Daddy and Mama would be so tickled to be grandparents and . . . Oh!” She jabbed her fingernail at an ad in the magazine. “Look at this adorable bassinet! I’m going to have the most beautiful nursery in the whole city! I’ve already brought home a dozen wallpaper samples to try out. I’m leaning toward green toile with the—”

“Aren’t you putting the cart just a bit in front of the horse?” Cooper interjected.

Ashley narrowed her eyes defensively. “Lincoln and I are young, happy, and in love. What’s going to stop us from having the most perfect, precious little baby anyone’s ever laid eyes on?”

Ignoring Ashley’s testiness, Cooper replied, “Nothing, I suppose.”

After all, you’ve always gotten everything you’ve ever wanted,
Cooper thought sourly, reflecting that while the Lees hadn’t had the means to spoil their younger child, Ashley had managed to charm people into buying her sweets and trinkets from the time she could talk. At school, she’d always been the prettiest, most popular girl in the class. With each report card that came home, Cooper waited for her chance to finally outshine her sister, but it had never happened.

After high school, Ashley’s partial scholarship to Hollins University allowed her to cross paths with her future husband, Lincoln Love, at a polo match attended by central Virginia’s most affluent and influential families. A sycophantic sorority sister who also happened to be a congressman’s daughter had invited Ashley. The poor girl had hoped that by bringing Ashley along, the young men who couldn’t get near Ashley would settle for flirting with her. Ashley was in her element and had no difficulty juggling a dozen coquettish conversations until Lincoln rode up on his sleek gray mare. The horse cleared a path through other would-be suitors and Lincoln offered the lovely co-ed a glass of champagne from a bottle tucked in his saddlebag.

“It was love at first sight!” Ashley always said. “He even had a crystal glass in that bag.”

Now Ashley was happily established in a mansion off the elite River Road corridor. From the outside, it seemed like Ashley’s life was nearly perfect. A baby would be the jewel in the crown of an already charmed existence.

“I wonder if I’ll get really fat when I’m pregnant,” Ashley mused, breaking Cooper out of her envious trance.

For a moment, Cooper allowed herself to picture Ashley at three times her normal weight, wearing sweatpants with an elastic waist and a pullover top that strained across her bulbous bosom and belly. “I doubt you’ll get fat,” she said guiltily. “You work out five days a week.”

“You’re right!” Ashley declared. “I won’t let my body control the situation. I’ll enroll in prenatal yoga and follow a strict pregnancy diet.” She rubbed her hands together. “When’s your Bible study group getting together again? You didn’t meet all summer, right?”

“We start again this Sunday and I haven’t finished the homework yet.” Cooper had bought the workbook called
Joseph: Amazing Dreamer
at the LifeWay Christian bookstore the day after she had received Savannah’s letter in the mailbox announcing the topic of their next study. The following weekend, after spending the morning weeding the vegetable garden, Cooper had immediately settled onto the couch with her workbook and Bible and had completed all of the blanks in the reading with the exception of a single question, which she put off answering day after day.

Still, Cooper had missed the members of the Sunrise Bible Study during the summer and couldn’t wait to resume their meetings. She vowed to fill in that one blank before she saw her friends again on Sunday.

Checking her watch, she quickly eased her sticky toes into a pair of flip-flops. “I need to get back to work.”

“Don’t put your work boots on until the last second and don’t worry about paying, this is my treat.” Ashley patted her purse. “Go on now,” she teased. “You don’t want to keep those copiers waiting. I can practically feel the toner running low somewhere in the city.”

Cooper could hear her sister’s snigger all the way to the parking lot.

“Now she’ll add a baby to all her other blessings? And me? I live with my folks, am thousands of dollars in debt, and still want a cigarette months after quitting. It’s just not fair!” she complained to the heavens.

Eyeing the clock, Cooper realized that her lunch hour was nearly over. She drove back to work, accelerating through two yellow lights—one of which switched to red just as she passed beneath it. Spying a police car in the opposite lane, Cooper’s heart lurched into her throat, but the officer was looking out his passenger window and didn’t spot her transgression. She exhaled in relief and eased her foot from the gas pedal.

I’ve been so unsettled lately,
she thought as she parked at her office building. Even though she was already five minutes late returning from lunch, she picked up her Bible study workbook from the passenger seat and opened to the question she had yet to answer. Gripping a pencil in her hand, she read the italicized words for the tenth time in a matter of days.

What are you seeking most at this time in your life?

Cooper stared at the question for a long moment, remembering a time when she’d been Drew Milton’s girlfriend. He broke up with Cooper nearly a year ago and was now engaged to another woman, but Cooper still missed being a part of a couple.

Taking a deep breath
,
Cooper hastily scribbled:
I want to fall in love again. I’m ready, Lord. I am so ready.

• • •

“What happened to your face?” asked Jake the plumber when Cooper entered the Hope Street Church Christian Academy classroom where her Bible study group met.

Cooper reached up to touch the swath of red bumps covering the left side of her face and neck. The rash had almost kept her from coming to the meeting, but her desire to see her friends—Nathan Dexter in particular—had overwhelmed her embarrassment.

“It’s poison ivy,” she said, her hand lingering on her itchy cheek. She’d covered the area with clear Calamine lotion and had then applied a layer of foundation on top of that, hoping to camouflage the rash. Instead, she’d created a kind of flesh-colored paste that glistened in the morning light.

“I don’t know much about plants, but when I schedule an open house I always check the yard for poison ivy the week before,” Trish said, absently smoothing a strand of her shellacked copper hair.

“You’re still beautiful to me.” Savannah, the legally blind folk artist and leader of their Bible study, reached out for Cooper’s hand. “It’s good to have you with us again, my dear.”

Cooper squeezed her friend’s hand in return.

“So how
did
you end up getting that on your face?” Bryant Shelton, Richmond’s best-known meteorologist, persisted.

“My grammy’s taken in a stray cat. It’s a longhair and I was petting it the other night right after it came back from the woods. The oil from the plant must have transferred from its fur to my fingers, and I guess I touched my face.” Resisting the urge to dig her nails through the prickly skin on her cheek, Cooper slid into a seat next to Quinton, who was furiously writing something on a yellow legal pad. “Are you writing a new song?” she asked, hoping that the questions about her rash would cease if she changed the subject.

Quinton, a portly investment banker with an aptitude for baking and penning praise songs, nodded. “Something just came to me and I wanted to get it down before we start talking about Joseph.”

“Speaking of faces,” Trish said and Cooper held her breath, but the Realtor turned a pair of violet eyes on Bryant. “I think I saw you with a new girlfriend at the movies last week. She appeared to be about the same age as our babysitter.”

“Missy? She’s a grad student. I met her here at church a few weeks ago,” Bryant said casually. “That’s a better start than most of my relationships have had.” In addition to his incredibly vague forecasts, Bryant was notorious for his series of failed marriages to young blondes half his age. Though he wasn’t her type, Cooper could see why women were attracted to the handsome meteorologist. Still, she knew that Bryant’s Bible study friends were worried about him rushing into one more doomed marriage and often prayed for him to proceed with more caution before pursuing yet another young woman.

“Does the future Mrs. Shelton know you wear makeup?” Jake teased.

Before Bryant could respond to Jake’s good-natured barb, Nathan Dexter walked into the room carrying a large bakery box.

Quinton forgot all about his song lyrics. “What did you bring us, Nathan?”

“A very special treat, my friend.” Nathan smiled. Cooper studied his kind, open face and then her eyes drifted over his wide shoulders and down his long, lean body. She felt her blood surge through her veins as he turned his amiable, intelligent gaze in her direction.

“What happened to you?” His tone was filled with concern.

“A cat gave her poison ivy,” Trish answered in Cooper’s stead. “What’s in the box?”

“I’ll let our fearless leader tell you.” Nathan opened the lid and held the box under Savannah’s highly sensitive nose.

“Strawberry cupcakes from the Mixing Bowl!” Savannah cried and the Sunrise members clapped in delight.

Jake stared at her in awe. “Lady, your nose is a fine-tuned instrument.”

“Coffee, cupcakes with real pieces of strawberry in the icing, and my dearest friends gathered around me . . . Who could ask for more?” She smiled. “I can. My motto for this study is to pray big, my friends. Let’s ask for a session this morning that will really wake us up. Will you join hands with me?”

As Savannah prayed aloud, Cooper couldn’t keep from stealing little glances at Nathan.
Does he think I look totally hideous?
she wondered.

“Any announcements before we begin discussing the amazing, and sometimes not-quite-so-amazing, Joseph?” Savannah asked the group.

Trish raised her hand and a trio of thick gold bracelets clanked on her wrist. “Tyler Fine Properties will be sponsoring a Door-2-Door Dinners route for two months. It’s a great program that serves needy people here in Richmond.” She put both hands over her heart. “Because of the sponsorship, a magnetic sign with my business logo will be placed on the delivery vehicles and dozens of housebound people will receive home-cooked meals.”

“That’s wonderful, Trish,” Quinton said.

Trish nodded. “Yes, but Door-2-Door needs more food packers and drivers. Would any of you be interested in helping with some of the weekend preparation and deliveries?”

Everyone readily offered to help.

Trish grinned at her friends. “Visiting the elderly isn’t everyone’s forte. I’m good at it because I know how to talk to all kinds of people, but if anyone prefers not to do the deliveries, you can still make a difference by packing food at the distribution center instead.”

“We might all be more comfortable volunteering in pairs,” Nathan suggested. “I know I would.”

“Could you guys imagine what a treat it would be if we brought those folks some of these cupcakes?” Quinton said through a mouthful of strawberry cupcake.

“Door-2-Door delivers
healthy
foods to those in need,” Trish retorted.

Nathan finished serving cupcakes and settled into the chair next to Cooper. While Trish talked about food, Nathan leaned over Cooper’s desk and whispered, “My sister is really allergic to poison ivy, too. I’ve seen worse.” He brushed her hand with his fingertips. “Once, she had such a bad case that I had to take her to the ER. Her face was all puffy and her eyes had swollen shut. She couldn’t even open her mouth all the way. I had to cut up pieces of hot dog for her lunch and push them into her mouth with a toothpick. Do you need me to cut up your cupcake?”

Cooper smiled and swatted Nathan’s arm with her napkin. She then looked up to find that she and Nathan were being watched with great interest by the rest of the Bible study members.

Savannah must have sensed that the weighty silence meant she should proceed, for she cleared her throat and placed her hand on her worn Bible. “Let’s start our discussion, friends. My goal this session is to not be late for worship service. Please help me stop by ten twenty-five so we can find seats in the auditorium before the first song begins.” She opened her workbook. “Now, I don’t know about you all, but I find Joseph fascinating! Who wants to talk about the first feature question—about parents playing favorites?”