Free Seven Threadly Sins by Janet Bolin

Dora said in a surprisingly soothing voice. “All cleaned up. No harm done.”
    “Except to the glasses—” Loretta began.
    Dora interrupted her. “Glasses can be replaced. They weren’t good ones, anyway.”
    Loretta argued, “Yes, they were. Antonio buys only the best.”
    Dora shook her head. “Trust me.”
    I did. Dora had been an interior designer before her retirement, and she had an encyclopedic knowledge of nearly everything that could go into a home.
    Dora added, “Arguing about fifty-cent glasses is not important. If you heard other screams earlier, it’s because your boss fainted and his wife screamed, and they’re both on the way to the hospital.”
    Loretta faltered backward. And landed conveniently against Clay. “Screams?” she whimpered. “Earlier? Antonio and Paula? What’s wrong with them?”
    Vicki spoke from behind me. “You didn’t hear a scream about forty-five minutes ago?”
    Loretta shook her head. “No, I was busy.” She turned her head and smiled up at Clay. “Getting reacquainted with my first love.”
    Clay’s voice was as flinty as his face. “We were discussing renovating the carriage house so it could be used as an apartment, either for TADAM staff or as a source of income for TADAM.”
    For over forty-five minutes?
If the mansion had a subbasement, my heart was somewhere in it, and sinking fast.
    Dora looked out the back window. “Let’s do it!”
    That seemed like a rather enthusiastic reaction, considering that all I could see through the back window were shadows of shadows. But then, Dora was always eager todesign. I felt a pang. What if she liked the mansion’s carriage house better than Blueberry Cottage and decided to rent it? I’d need to find a new tenant, and although she could be a little too snoopy about what might be going on in my apartment, I liked her, and we looked out for each other.
    Besides, my hopes of anything interesting
ever
going on inside my apartment were in smithereens. Was Clay as excited about finding Loretta again as she was about finding him?
    He had never acted like he was having trouble getting over a first love.
    Then again, I was never sure where I stood with him.
    At least I knew that he and I were friends, and I’d hoped we were becoming more than friends. I should have been less dedicated to my career. I should have put more time and effort into romance. Making that decision now could be a little late, though.
    While I was debating with myself and carefully not looking at Loretta and Clay, Vicki was explaining that Antonio had become ill and that Paula had gone to the hospital in the ambulance with him.
    “And so did my son-in-law, Gord,” Dora proclaimed. “He’s a doctor.”
    Loretta sagged farther into Clay. “This is very upsetting. I should go, too, but I’m not in any shape to drive.”
    Of course not, if she insisted on pasting herself so closely to Clay that she’d have to sit on his lap in her driver’s seat.
    Vicki waved the notion away with one hand. “You’d just be in the way. I’ll give you the hospital number. Do you have a pencil and paper?”
    Samantha grabbed a magnetized notepad and pen from the fridge and thrust them at Loretta. “Here.”
    Ashley’s phone jingled. She read a text, then asked, “Can we go home now? My dad’s getting worried.”
    Vicki nodded. “You’re all free to go.” She recited a number to Loretta, who wrote it down.
    I touched Dora’s shoulder and told Ashley, “We’ll walk you home.”
    Clay eased around Loretta. “Mind if I join you?”
    I didn’t mind, but my mouth refused to open.
    Dora answered for all of us. “Of course not!”
    “Clay,” Loretta wheedled, “you can’t go. I’m sorry, but I got lipstick on your shirt. Because of my extensive education in textiles, I can wash the stains out. Piece of cake.”
    “I can do it.” Clay’s voice was still surprisingly stony.
    Loretta pouted. “I don’t know how to lock up the mansion and carriage