Deadly Greetings (Book 2 in the Cardmaking Mysteries) (17 page)

“
Just in times of stress,
maybe?” I asked.

Howard dropped the cigarette to the curb and
snuffed it out with his shoe. “Who knows why any of us do what we
do?” He looked behind me. “Where’s Betty?”

“
She’s helping Lillian with
something at my request. I hope you don’t mind.”

“
Why should I mind?” Howard
asked, still looking back toward the shop. It appeared he was going
to bolt any second, so I had to act quickly. “She told me about the
card you got from Maggie. Do you still have it?”

The color drained from his face, and his
hand went back to his pocket, no doubt reaching for another
cigarette. “How did she know about it?”

“
She got one, too,” I said,
watching his reaction. It wasn’t good. I swear, the man got
physically ill just thinking about the prospect. In a halting
voice, he asked, “What did hers say? Did she tell you?”

I thought about toying with him a little
more, but I didn’t have the stomach for it. “She tore it up before
she read it. So what did yours say?”

The relief that swept over him was palpable.
“What? It was nothing, just a regular card she made.” He paused,
then added, “She was trying out her Christmas cards and asked me my
opinion.”

Now I’ve told some lies in my life, from
little white ones to huge and utter whoppers, but I could swear I
saw his nose grow as he told me that.

Trying my best to hide my incredulity, I
asked, “Do you still have it? I’d love to see it.”

He couldn’t resist the lure of his
cigarettes any longer. As he lit another one, he shook his head.
“No, I threw it out. After all, she didn’t need my input anymore,
did she?”

It was clear Howard was hiding something,
but what? I was about to press him when I heard Betty’s voice
behind me. “Howard Hudson!” she shouted. “Put that out this
instant.”

He looked guilty as he stubbed it out.
“Sorry,” he muttered.

“
Sorry won’t cut it. You
promised.”

Not able to hide the exasperation in his
voice, Howard said, “It was one cigarette, Betty.”

She approached us and pointed to the curb at
his feet. I noticed four butts there at the same time Betty must
have. “Get in the car, Howard; we’ll talk about this later.”

I could see he wanted to protest, but he got
in docilely without looking at me again.

Betty said, “Why were you out here talking
to my husband? Haven’t you done enough already?”

“
I was just getting some
fresh air,” I lied. “I’d forgotten he was out here waiting on you.
So what do you think of the new program? You didn’t take long to
look at it.”

“
It’s worthless,” she said.
“I didn’t need long to determine that. I’d send it back while you
have the chance.” She lowered her voice, then added, “Your aunt
seems to have some trouble with her basic computer skills. You
should send her to the class at the library. Your sister-in-law is
a good teacher, and believe me, Lillian could use the
lessons.”

They drove off, and I was left there staring
after them. I glanced over at Greg’s pottery shop, saw a sudden
movement, and wondered if he’d been watching me. I wished I had the
time to make things right with him again, but I had a funeral to
get ready for. Besides, I didn’t have a clue what I could say to
him to change his mind. I wasn’t even sure that I wanted him
to.

Lillian was waiting for me just inside the
door. “Jennifer, I’m so sorry. She was determined to leave, and the
only way I could have kept her was with the dead bolt.”

“
Don’t worry about it; you
did fine. I heard everything I was going to hear.”

That perked her up. “So what did his card
say?”

“
Now, how did you know
that?” I asked. “Oh, that’s right; you were eavesdropping again
when I talked to Betty.”

“
Jennifer, I prefer to think
of it as being able to confirm your account of the conversation if
you ever need it. I was doing you a service, young
lady.”

“
And I greatly appreciate
it,” I said, fighting to hide my smile. There were days when my
aunt was the only bright spot around, and this one was shaping up
as one of those times.

“
Don’t keep me in suspense.
What did it say?”

“
I don’t think we’ll ever
know,” I said as I took off my coat. “He made up a quick lie about
her trying out Christmas cards on him. It wasn’t the slightest bit
credible, but I couldn’t shake him.”

Lillian frowned. “Jennifer, perhaps he’s
telling the truth.”

“
What do you
mean?”

Lillian paced around the shop. “You know as
well as I do that Maggie liked to experiment with her card making.
Is it that unreasonable that she wanted to field-test a few of
them? She could have mailed the card to Howard before she decided
to mail the ones to you and Hilda. I’m wondering about something,
though.”

“
What’s that?”

Lillian bit her lip, then said, “I don’t
mean to sound petty, but it appears that everyone in the club got a
card but me.”

“
That is odd,” I said. “You
and Maggie got along, didn’t you?”

“
As far as I was aware,” she
said.

“
Don’t worry about it,
Lillian,” I said. “I’m sure she wasn’t in her right state of mind
when she sent those cards. I’m going to break one of our rules, if
you don’t mind.”

Lillian perked up. “I’m always up for
rebellion, you know that. What did you have in mind?”

I flipped the sign
from
open
to
closed
.
“We’re shutting the shop down so we can both go to Maggie’s
memorial service.”

“
I don’t mind staying
behind,” Lillian said. There was a tinge of hurt in her
voice.

I took her hands in mine. “Listen, I’m sure
she didn’t mean to slight you. Besides, I need you there to catch
anything I might miss. I loved Maggie, but I’m not going to this
thing for her. I want to see who else shows up, and how they
act.”

Lillian nodded suddenly. “I’ll go with you,
then. It did surprise me that you were willing to attend, given how
you feel about funerals in general.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, fighting
the tears before they could develop. “It’s no secret how I despise
them,” I said, trying to fight off the images of my parents after
they were dead, laid out in finery some stranger had chosen for
them. “We’ll say our proper good-byes to Maggie after we figure out
what happened to her.”

“
I’d be honored to do just
that,” she said. “I hope you have something more appropriate to
wear than what you had on last night.”

I thought about my closet and tried to come
up with something I could wear. “I’ve got a charcoal gray dress;
it’s close enough to pass for black,” I protested.

“
Jennifer, Jennifer, you
simply must let me buy you a basic black dress. It’s the answer for
so many different social occasions.”

As we walked back outside, I said, “We’ll
worry about my fashion sense later, if it’s just the same to you.
Right now I have to get home and change. If we both don’t hurry,
we’re going to be late as it is.”

Lillian said, “You drive home. I’ll change
as well, then meet you back here. That way we can go together.
Fifteen minutes, Jennifer.”

“
I’ll make it if you can,” I
said, knowing my aunt’s penchant for trying on a dozen outfits
before finding one that worked.

“
Count on it,” she
said.

Back at my apartment, I was tempted to have
a conversation with Jeffrey Wallace, but there wasn’t time if I was
going to make my deadline. I changed as quickly as I could, sparing
a few minutes to say hello to Oggie and Nash, then dashed back out.
Despite my tight schedule, I rapped on Jeffrey’s door, but he
didn’t come out.

Barrett opened his, though.

He looked startled to see me there.
“Jennifer, are you going to Maggie’s memorial?”

“
I am,” I said. “I was just
checking on Jeffrey.”

“
So you’re on a first-name
basis with both of us already,” he said with that slightly smug
smile of his.

“
I do my best to get along
with the people around me,” I said a little too stuffily, even for
my taste. For some reason, Barrett brought it out in me. “Will your
girlfriend be attending with you?”

That got him, and I secretly celebrated the
point. “I told you, Penny’s not my girlfriend.”

“
That’s right; you did say
that, didn’t you? If you’ll excuse me, I’m late.”

I heard a man chuckling inside Barrett’s
apartment, and realized that his father was taking great joy from
my zingers. Him I could get along with.

I couldn’t believe it, but Lillian was
waiting for me in front of the card shop, dressed in an elegant
black number that probably cost more than my monthly rent at Custom
Card Creations. “Don’t you look lovely?” I said.

“
As do you,” Lillian said.
“Shall we?”

“
We shall,” I said as I got
into the passenger seat of her Mustang. There was never any
question about who drove when Lillian and I went anywhere together.
She wouldn’t be seen in my Gremlin, while I enjoyed being squired
around in her vintage sports car.

As we drove to the grave site for the
service, I said, “I bumped into my neighbor Barrett outside his
door.”

“
You’re collecting admirers
like some people collect stamps,” Lillian said.

“
I’d hardly call him an
admirer,” I said. “Who else are you talking about?”

“
Greg, of course. He came
out to keep me company while I was waiting for you.”

“
What did he say?” I asked,
trying not to hold my breath as I waited for her reply.

“
He’s troubled,” she said.
“Jennifer, you know I don’t like to meddle.”

She broke off as I laughed out loud. After I
managed to contain it to a dull whoop, Lillian asked, “Are you
quite finished?”

“
I’m just glad I wasn’t
drinking a Coke,” I said.

“
I believe I’ll keep my
advice to myself,” Lillian said.

“
If you can manage that,
I’ll be more stunned than you will be,” I said.

She wanted to be mad; I could tell by the
firm way my aunt grabbed the steering wheel.

There was just one thing that might work. I
pushed harder. “Come on, you’ve got to admit that butting out would
be completely out of character for you.”

She sniffed once, then said, “How can I
stand idly by while people I love are constantly making mistakes?
Isn’t it my obligation to help them find their way?”

“
I know you mean well,” I
said, ducking the question altogether.

“
It’s true; I’m simply
misunderstood.”

She drove a few minutes more, and we were
almost to the cemetery when I asked her, “So what’s your
advice?”

She hesitated, then replied, “No, you’re
right. I do have a tendency to meddle in your life, don’t I? I’m
going to make a resolution to do better, starting right now. How
you live your life is going to be up to you from now on,
Jennifer.”

I could barely believe what I was hearing.
“Does that mean you won’t give me advice if I ask for it?”

She frowned. “Of course not. Don’t be a nit.
But you’ll have to ask for it from now on.”

She parked among several other cars and
started to get out when I touched her arm lightly. “Okay, I’m
asking. What advice do you have for me?”

“
Do you really want to know
what I think?”

“
I do,” I said.

“
Very well. Jennifer, I know
Greg has made more than his share of mistakes in the past, but you
either need to forgive him once and for all or move on. It’s not
fair to him this way, and it’s not fair to you.”

I started to protest when she held up a
hand. “Don’t talk; just think about what I’ve said. My, my, we’ve
got an interesting crowd gathering already.”

I was about to say something about her
earlier advice when I noticed someone standing in the shadows.
Bradford had shown up for the memorial, and I wondered if he was
there in his official capacity. His squad car wasn’t around; then I
spotted it tucked behind the trees and out of sight. I started to
walk toward him when Lillian grabbed my arm. “Where do you think
you’re going, young lady?”

“
I spotted my brother, and I
want to talk to him.”

“
You’ll do no such thing,”
Lillian said, her voice suddenly a firm line. “It took bribery and
begging to get him to show up, and I won’t let you ruin
it.”

“
You called him?” I
asked.

“
I did. Jennifer, what does
it cost him to be here? He can claim he showed up for crowd control
if he has to, but I want our suspects to squirm a little. When they
see Bradford attending dressed in his uniform, the guilty party
might do something stupid to give themselves away.”

“
You’re absolutely
brilliant,” I said. “Now why didn’t I think of that
myself?”

“
That’s why there are two of
us, my dear,” Lillian said, unable to hide the pleasure she was
feeling.

“
I just hope it works.” I
caught my brother’s glance, offered a quick smile of thanks and
received a nod acknowledging it, all accomplished without a
word.

As Lillian and I walked forward to the grave
site, I noticed that the service was being held in the cremation
area. That didn’t surprise me; Maggie could always be counted on
for doing the unexpected.