Free Plaster and Poison by Jennie Bentley Page B

I couldn’t even imagine having my mother cut me out of her life, and certainly not for something like getting pregnant. Surely these days, and even twenty years ago, that wasn’t such a big deal? “Derek mentioned that your grandmother had died recently. Has your family never met Shannon, then?”
“They have. A few times. Not very often since we moved up here, though.”
I hesitated. “Do you miss them?”
“It’s been twenty years,” Kate said with a shrug. “And it’s their loss. They’re the ones who missed seeing Shannon grow up.”
I nodded. She didn’t seem upset, but it was still a relief to hear the sound of tires crunching on the snow in the driveway. Kate glanced out the window, her expression wary for a second before it smoothed out. “Here’s Derek. Bright and early, as usual.”
The truck’s engine shut off, and a door opened and closed. After a moment, the kitchen door opened and Derek stuck his head in.
“Kate . . . oh, hi, Avery.”
I smiled. After six months, I should be used to Derek, but sometimes, when he shows up unexpectedly—or even when I know he’s coming, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen him, like, overnight—I get giddy. Some of it may have been nervousness about having to introduce him to my mom and Noel later on, but some of it was just seeing him, too. Knowing that that melting smile was for me and the way those blue eyes warmed was because he was happy to see me.
The proprieties dispensed with, he glanced at the coffeemaker. “Anything left in there?”
“Help yourself.”
He opened the cabinet, found a mug, filled it, and sat down at the table, where he nudged my foot. “You’re up early.”
“I’m excited.”
“Did your mom and dad call last night? Did they get in OK?”
I nodded. “The flight from Santa Barbara was delayed about an hour, and then the flight from San Francisco was delayed some more, but they got to Boston and checked into their hotel. This morning, they’ll be having breakfast, and then they’ll be picking up their car and hitting the road. She said they’d be here by lunchtime.”
“We’d better get busy, then.” He drained the coffee in a couple of gulps and reached for my chair. “C’mon, Tink.”
“Coming.” I gathered my and Derek’s mugs and carried them over to the counter.
“We’ll see you later, Kate.” He guided me toward the door, snagging my coat from the hook on the way. “Here. Put this on. It’s nippy today.”
“No kidding,” I said, the words making a cloud in front of my face as we entered the frigid air.
“It’ll get worse before it gets better. Get used to it.”
But he put his arm around me again and hugged me closer. I snuggled in, greedily grasping any warmth I could get.
It didn’t last long, unfortunately. Upon reaching the carriage house, Derek dropped his arm from around me to fumble for the key under the eave. “Jill called last night,” he said over his shoulder. “You two talked about getting together for dinner?”
“We touched on it. But it’s probably not the best timing, with Mom and Noel coming. I wasn’t thinking about that when I suggested it.”
“Your mom and her husband might want some time to themselves one night,” Derek said, “and we could try to get with Jill and Peter then. She sounded like she could use some cheering up.”
I hugged myself, stomping my feet. This was taking a long time. “She did mention that business was slow. I think this whole thing with Carolyn Tate and the police coming around asking the same questions over and over is bothering her, too.”
“I think she knew Carolyn,” Derek answered. “She was a lot older than Jill, but I think they went to Barnham together. Carolyn raised her kids first, and then went back to school and got an education.” He lowered his arm. “The key isn’t there.”
“Maybe it fell.”
We both crouched and started peering around the stoop. It was Derek who put out a hand to brace himself against the door, and who toppled sideways when the door opened. I giggled, and then tried to stop,