Death on the Coast, M Comley [book club books TXT] 📗

“Tina has her dress, and we’re borrowing chairs from the church. The only thing left is the wedding cake. We were hoping, since you’re such good friends with Sal…”

Lucy waved her hand. “Of course, don’t give it another thought. I’ll talk to her tomorrow. Do you want to come down and pick something out, Tina?”

“No, not necessary. Just a sheet cake so there’s plenty to hand around. Keeping everything simple.”

Lucy nodded. “Consider it done. I’ll take care of it. Now, as much as I love you both, I’d like to unwind and maybe go to bed early?”

“You’ll call if you need us, right?” Tina had always been the more empathetic of the two sisters.

“I promise.”

“Goodbye, dear. Let me know if you hear anything,” Sheila said, leading the way to the door.

Lucy waved and waited until they drove away, then she went back inside, picked up the mugs and rinsed them in the kitchen. After wiping her hands, she reached into the cupboard above and took out the bottle of wine she and Mark had received as a wedding gift. They’d put it away with the intention of saving it for their tenth anniversary. Lucy grimaced at the thought and dug around in the utensil drawer until she located a corkscrew.

The bottle in one hand and a root beer mug in the other, she plodded back into the living room. Lucy fell into the chair and propped her feet onto the carefully splayed pile of magazines decorating her coffee table. It took a while, but she finally managed to get the cork out, and with it, came the tears.

16

“Sal, do you have a moment?”

“Uh, yeah, here, take a cup of coffee over to that table in the corner and wait for me, would you? I’ve got a batch to pull out of the oven and then I’ll be right over.”

Lucy nodded, accepted the coffee, and shoved a dollar bill into the tip jar as payment.

As she made her way toward the appointed table, her hips swung left and right in the pleated, plaid skirt she’d chosen that morning. It made her feel particularly young and carefree. After all, she reasoned that clothing had more than one function.

Lucy sensed someone’s gaze burning into her back, and she instantly knew what they were thinking. One of her friends had been murdered, her husband was missing, and his phone had been found at the murder location with a second noose matching the first. She didn’t blame them for their speculation, but for once, she understood what it felt like to be an outsider. It wasn’t as though they blamed her. It was more that they didn’t want to be tainted by the scandal of it all.

Lucy sighed and sagged into a chair. Whether she was a reporter or not, she’d been pulled into this mess against her will, and it would be some time before things returned to normal.

Sal slid into the opposite chair and pushed across a small paper plate with two brownies. “Fresh out of the oven,” she added.

“Thanks, but I don’t have much of an appetite this morning.”

“What’s going on? I mean…other than the obvious?”

“As you know, my sister is getting married.”

Sal nodded. “Sure, everybody’s invited.”

“Can you make the cake? Please, Sal? I’ve let her down by not helping as much as I’d promised, and now she’s overwhelmed. Maybe just a big sheet cake so it can be cut and handed out easily?”

Sal shrugged. “It would be a pleasure. Flavor? Colors?”

Lucy’s face went blank. “I don’t even know her colors. What kind of a sister am I? Gosh, let me call you on that. Can you make it half chocolate and half vanilla? That should keep everyone happy?”

Sal reached over the table and patted the back of Lucy’s hand. “You’ve been through a lot, and it’s not over. This is where you let your friends pitch in. Call me back with the colors, and I’ll make up something really nice. I’ll even deliver and serve it, with ice cream and coffee, how’s that?”

“Oh, Sal, you’re a lifesaver.” Lucy exhaled with relief.

“Don’t mention it. Now then. Any word on Mark?”

Lucy felt like a heel, but the fewer people who knew about the phone and noose, the better, although she figured Sal and probably everyone in the bakery were already up to date on the details. She shook her head. “Just a stack of strange things that make no sense,” she confessed. “I just want to get Tina safely married and then I can focus more on the other issues.”

“Did you two have a fight?” Sal pressed.

“Not really. We’d been a little cool toward each other lately, but nothing you’d call a fight.”

Sal nodded knowingly.

“What?”

“Nothing. Nothing. Listen, honey, don’t you worry. I’m sure he didn’t kill Angie.”

“Kill? Angie? Sal! What are you saying?” She stared at her good friend in disbelief.

Sal’s chin dipped sideways against her shoulder. “People talk. There was the second noose, you know…” She let the sentence go unfinished.

The heat of indignation rose to Lucy’s face. It was time to leave. “Thank you for the cake, Sal. Just give me the bill. I’ve got to get to work.” She stood and made her way between the tables toward the door.

Gossip rose like an incoming wave behind her. She didn’t blame them. Not really. She had no idea what was going on, although she couldn’t picture her husband as a killer. He was far too… timid for that. He might have done something wrong, but it was more likely he’d had a dalliance with someone than committed murder!

Time would tell, Lucy told herself. Or so she hoped.

Lucy arrived at the newspaper, where the air was thick with cigar smoke.

Len jerked his thumb at the morgue. “Lover boy is waiting for you in there,” he said without preamble.

“Who?” Lucy was literally clueless, but the gleam in Len’s eye filled in the pieces. “Really, Len, don’t start rumors like that, especially at a time like this.”

“Just sayin’.”

“Well, don’t,” she