flowers.
A tiny glass vase hid in the corner of the cupboard. She filled it with water. As she dropped the pansies into the water a loud knock sounded on the front door. She set the vase down, walked through the living room and peeked out the window. Her brows furrowed. No vehicle sat in the yard. The rapping grew louder. She tucked her hair behind her ears and opened the door.
Donna Jones stood on the porch, nose pressed to the screen. The older womanâs eyes lit up and her mouth spread into a smile when she spotted Meggie. âHello there, neighbor,â she said in a sing-song voice.
She held up a plate of red, white and blue cookies. âSince you couldnât join us for our Fourth of July celebration, I told myself I must save you some of my delicious sugar cookies all dressed up in patriotic colors.â
The cookies werenât the only ones dressed up in patriotic colors. Donnaâs ruffled apron looked like a flag.
âThanks. How thoughtful of you.â Meggie invited her in and carried the cookies into the kitchen.
âI said to myself on the way over here, âSelf, I bet sheâll make a pot of coffee to go with these cookiesâ.â She giggled a bit and sat down. Her eyes roamed around the room. âThereâs nothing like a nice cup of coffee to go with a special cookie even on a hot day. Donât you agree?â
Meggie didnât agree but she smiled and filled the coffee maker with water.
Donna scooted her chair closer to the kitchen window and stretched her neck over the pile of mail that lay nearby. She inched her hand toward the stack of envelopes and used the tip of her index finger to slide the top piece of mail gently off the pile.
Meggie kept an eye on her nosey neighbor while she changed the filter on the coffee machine and added fresh coffee grounds. By the time she pushed the start button, Donna had worked her way down to the third envelope.
âThe coffeeâll be ready in a jiffy. Do you take cream or sugar?â
Startled, Donna pulled her finger away from the pile of mail and left the envelopes kittywampus. She brushed the gray hair away from her face and blinked rapidly. After composing herself she said, âA little of both please.â
âWould you like some vanilla ice cream with your cookies?â Meggie set the vase of pansies in the center of the table. Laughter bubbled up inside her. She wanted to reach in front of Donna and straighten the mail but remembered her manners and behaved herself.
âI love ice cream.â Donna paused and seemed to gather her words before speaking. âDid you have problems over here last night? I could have sworn a car with flashing lights drove up your driveway.â
Molly had been right again. Donna was a nosy neighbor and right to the point. Meggie now understood the cookies had been a ruse to pump her for information about the previous nightâs activities. But she wouldnât fall prey to Donna Jones and divulged little.
As it turned out, her nosy neighbor was also a walking history book and the best search engine around. She seemed to know all about the neighbors, their children and how long they resided in her neck of the woods. Anything Meggie asked her she had an answer for.
Since Donna seemed more than willing to talk, Meggie thought it the perfect opportunity to ask a few questions. But her guestâs facade changed when she broached the subject of Fred Jackson and Amelia Schmidt. She squirmed in her chair and seemed reluctant to answer any questions about them.
Meggie tried a different approach. âHow well did you know Fred?â She waited on pins and needles to see if the woman would be forthcoming.
âOf course we knew Fred as a neighbor. We lived right across the road from him, you know.â She scraped a dried crumb off the table with her thumb. âWe worried about him. The way he hired men off the street to help him on the farm. Kind of risky, if you