Free A Touch of the Grape: A Hemlock Falls Mystery (Hemlock Falls Mystery series) by Claudia Bishop Page B

glad to see Marge Schmidt and Betty Hall, co-owners of the Hemlock Home Diner.
    Selena Summerhill, glowing and elegant in a dark ol ive linen pantsuit, her black hair knotted in a smooth chignon in the back, clasped her hands and murmured, "Terrible, Quill. This is just terrible. I said that to my Hugh this morning, and he thought I should come to offer help."
    "I'm glad you did."
    They were seated in their old, familiar spots around the conference room table. When Quill walked to her own place at the far end, they all stood, and one by one shook her hand as she passed by.
    "Hey, guys." Quill accepted an embrace from Harvey, resisting the impulse to muss up his careful blond hair. She shook hands with the mayor, kissed Dookie on the cheek, hugged Miriam with genuine affection, and squeezed Betty Hall's shoulder. She exchanged significant looks with Marge.
    "Siddown, everyone," Marge growled. Even if Marge didn't have the personality of General Sherman's younger (and meaner) brother, her massive jaw, column- shaped figure, and steely eyes would have made her a commanding presence. When Marge told you to "siddown," you did. Especially Mayor Henry, who felt (not wrongly) that the moment Marge decided to run for mayor, he might as well pack up his Samsonite and retire to Zolfo Springs, Florida, where his older brother ran a trailer park. The mayor sat. Everyone, including Quill, sat, too.
    One of the most important adjuncts to the mayoral office was the gavel, which the mayor carried in a custom-made case in his sports coat pocket. With all due solemnity he withdrew it now and rapped it on the mahogany surface of the conference table. "This meetin' is called to order."
    "Use the rest, Elmer," Marge snapped. "You're going to dent Quill's table yet."
    Elmer chose not to gavel again at all. He put the little hammer back in its case and said kindly, "We're here to apologize. Quill. And to he'p you if we can."
    "Apologize? What for?"
    "Kinda let you down," Marge said gruffly. "Switching the Chamber meeting to the Legion Hall, and all."
    "I knew why," Quill said. "And I understood completely. Lunches here were getting very expensive."
    "We can find the money. You can always find the money." Marge drummed thick fingers on the table. "Thing was, I was kinda thinking maybe you didn't need the customers, know what I mean? That maybe we should give somebody else a chance at the income. And the Legion's a good cause."
    "That's okay, really."
    "Thing is, we didn't know how tough things was for you. Not that our once a week lunches dropped all that much to the bottom line."
    They helped, Quill said silently. Paid a good portion of poor Dina's salary for the day. Quill was alert, last night's fatigue gone. Marge was up to something, and she wanted to know what. She had engineered the switch to the Legion; why the change of attitude now?
    "Anyways. What's done is done. Thing is, we wanna start meetin' here again—right, folks?"
    There was general assent among those present.
    "And we thought as how you might wanna be seketary again. Although Betty don't mind it, do you, Betty." This wasn't a question, just as the decision to make Betty secretary had nothing to do with what Betty wanted. Betty, the thin, silent partner to Marge's bulky voluble one, cast Quill a look of appeal. Quill resisted it. She hated being secretary.
    "Gosh," Quill said. "Well, actually, you might as well know by now. In addition to the—the—" She searched for an appropriately diffident word. Hemlock- ians were notoriously diffident. "… ah—fuss here last night, John's had to take another job. In Long Island. With a bank. It's a great opportunity for him," she added unhappily. "He'd be crazy not to take it."
    To her surprise—although given the nature of the Hemlock Falls bush telegraph, she shouldn't have been— her announcement of John's departure didn't seem to be news to anyone at the table. "Anyway, that means I'll be taking over the accounting function."
    "You