Free Wisconsin Wedding (Welcome To Tyler, No. 3) by Carla Neggers

anything, including the return of Byron Sanders to Tyler. It would not be a repeat of three years ago. She would keep a level head, unsettling dreams or no unsettling dreams.
    “Nora,” Liza said, obviously surprised. “Well, hi—what on earth brings you out here?”
    “I hope I’m not too early. It’s such a beautiful morning I thought I’d take a ride out. The place looks great.”
    “Doesn’t it, though? Come on inside— I’ll give you the grand tour.”
    “I’m not disturbing you?”
    “Not at all. I was just stewing about this wedding getting out of hand, and Joe Santori isn’t around this morning so I can’t pester him. Cliff’s off somewhere. It’s just me and the cobwebs right now.”
    Liza’s infectious cheer helped Nora recover her own steady manner. They climbed onto the old lodge’s formidable porch, which overlooked the beautiful lake. The long-abandoned lodge was a grand dinosaur of a place, but Nora, as a member of the Tyler town council, was thrilled to see it being renovated. It was a pity the discovery of a body on the premises had put a damper on things.
    “Stay all morning if you want,” Liza said. “I’ve got nothing special planned, except a phone call to my mother tactfully reminding her that it’s my wedding, not hers.” She smiled guiltily over her shoulder. “She’s such a sweetheart, though. We’re both under a lot of strain. I keep telling myself she means well—”
    “And she just wants you to do the right thing.”
    Liza’s smile broadened into a grin. “Isn’t that true of all mothers?”
    “I’m sure it is,” Nora said softly. Her own mother had been dead for twenty years.
    “Oh, drat, me and my big mouth again. I’m sorry, Nora. I forgot—”
    “It’s all right. Gosh, Liza, I can’t get over how much you and Cliff have accomplished in such a short time.”
    Her small faux pas behind her—Liza Baron wasn’t one to beat herself over the head for long—she breezed through the front door into the entry. She seemed cheerful and content, if also somewhat hyper and overwhelmed by all that was going on in her life. Nora thought she could understand. Never mind finding a dead body in your yard, one, no less, that might be that of your long-lost grandmother. Never mind coming back to your hometown to live. As far as Nora was concerned, falling head over heels in love as fast and furiously as Liza Baron had with Cliff Forrester would turn anyone’s life inside out. Even if Liza was used to doing everything fast and furiously. From her own glaring romantic mistake, Nora was convinced that if there was one area in life where a woman should always act with great deliberation and extreme caution, it was in affairs of the heart. A woman should take her time about falling in love. Shop around. Be careful. Romance was not an area in which to be precipitate. If she was feeling reckless, Norawould head to the racetrack before she would dial Byron Sanders’s number.
    “Anything in particular that brings you out here, or did you really just seize the moment?” Liza asked.
    “I guess I wanted to see how you were doing.”
    She shrugged. “On the whole, I’m doing great. A little nuts maybe, but I’ve never been happier.”
    Something only someone madly in love would say. Nora had felt that way when she’d thought she was in love with Byron Sanders. She’d learned, in the years since, that she could be just as happy out of love, if not happi er. It was a matter of perspective and self-discipline. People in love always thought they were happier than people who weren’t. In her opinion, that kind of thinking was just…hormones.
    “Have you ever been up here before?” Liza asked.
    Nora pulled herself out of her introspective mood. “I trespassed once or twice when I was a kid—hunting wildflowers, as I recall. And I’ve canoed by a number of times.”
    “You and Aunt Ellie used to go canoeing together, didn’t you? She was something else. Damn, she used to