Free Nightmare in Shining Armor by Tamar Myers Page A

collection of armature either of us has ever seen.”
    â€œNot that we spent much time looking at it,” Bob said with a nasty wink. “There were other things to occupy our attention.”
    â€œBob!” Rob said sharply.
    I gave it up as Rob suggested. There was no point in trying to wrench that secret out of them.
    â€œWould y’all be willing to introduce me to the Widow Saunders?”
    â€œBut Abby—”
    â€œI’d like to study a real suit of seventeenth-century armor,” I said quickly. “Just to satisfy myself that the armor Tweetie was found in wasn’t real.”
    They nodded reluctantly.
    â€œAll right,” Rob said, “we’ll do what we can. But it may take a few days to come up with a good excuse. She’s a suspicious old thing. I forgot to tellher Bob was coming with me and she nearly freaked out. Thought he worked for the IRS.”
    â€œTell her I’m a history buff.”
    â€œThat might do the trick. Like I said, I’ll think about it.”
    â€œIn the meantime,” Bob said, “there are fresh sheets on the Queen Anne, and breakfast will be brought to you at eight.”
    Â 
    He was true to his word. At precisely eight in the morning I was awakened by a gentle touch on my shoulder. I sat up to find a lap table astride my hips. Atop the table was a silver tray set with hand-painted Limoges china. A neatly folded white linen napkin sported a complement of sterling cutlery in the Sir Christopher pattern.
    I studied the dishes. A pot of hot chocolate. A toasted bagel with lox and cream cheese. A rasher of bacon. A small plate of fresh sliced honeydew melon. And three tiny poached eggs.
    My sigh of relief cooled the eggs and chilled the melon further. “No more emu eggs?” I said jokingly.
    Bob blinked. “Oh, we still have plenty of those, but as everyone knows, emu eggs are for brunches and late-night suppers.”
    â€œOf course. I knew that.”
    â€œThese are guinea eggs.”
    I smiled. An egg was an egg, wasn’t it? Just as long as it came from a bird smaller than I.
    â€œThey look delicious,” I said sincerely. “Thanks.”
    Bob sat on the edge of the bed. “You need a good breakfast. Especially after what you went through last night.”
    â€œLast night?”
    â€œTweetie,” he said simply.
    â€œOh my God! I can’t believe I didn’t remember!”
    â€œIt’s normal to block things out, Abby.”
    â€œBut I remembered the eggs—”
    â€œKnock, knock.” Rob stood in the doorway holding a cordless phone. He nodded at me. “It’s for you. Buford.”
    The chill that ran up my spine was enough to give Santa shivers. I started shaking all over.
    â€œWhat will I say?” I whispered desperately.
    One of Bob’s warm hands found mine. “Just tell him what you know. He can’t blame you, Abby.”
    Rob handed me the phone. “You want us to stay?”
    For some reason their kindness made me feel like a big baby. “No, I can handle this,” I said resolutely and took the phone. I waited until they’d tiptoed out of the room before speaking into the phone. “Hello?”
    â€œAbby?”
    â€œYes, Buford.”
    â€œAre you all right?”
    I held the phone away from my ear and stared at it. Everything seemed normal to me.
    â€œBuford, is that really you?”
    â€œOf course it is. Who else would it be? Abby, Greg called me with the terrible news and—”
    â€œI’m really sorry, Buford. You have my deepestsympathy. I know you think I didn’t like Tweetie—hated her even—but it isn’t true. Why, we had lunch together just last week to discuss—”
    â€œHey, Abby, I believe you.”
    â€œYou do ?”
    â€œYeah, I do.”
    â€œThen why are you calling?”
    â€œBecause Greg said you were really upset. Look, Abby, I really am in Tokyo this time.