by Kate Flora
She hesitated before answering, then said, “It needs some work. Well, a lot of work. But it will be nice when that’s done.”
We chatted, in the way women do, comparing our baby’s antics and what we surmised about their personalities. As our talk went on, I realized that while she was a pleasant conversationalist, whenever I asked about her background, or why she’d moved to Addison, or any question that might have given me insight into who she was, she deflected the conversation to a different subject. After a pleasant hour, I realize that she knew a lot about me, and about all I knew about her was that her name was Jessica and she was expecting a baby girl. There had been no mention of husband, boyfriend, or significant other.
Her deflections were skillful. So skillful that I wondered if maybe she was hiding something. For all her attempts to appear casual and easy, once or twice, when Andre’s dad and his cousin, who were working out on the barn, roared up the driveway in a truck, or dropped something with a clang, she was instantly alert and on the edge of her chair.
“My father-in-law and a friend,” I told her. “They’re fixing up the barn so we can put the cars there in the winter. And so Andre—my husband—can have a workshop out there. He loves to make things. He’s made a beautiful cradle for MOC.”
“Mock?” she said. “Is that what you’re going to name your baby?”
“It’s a nickname. Short for Mason, Oliver or Claudine.”
“It will stick, you know.”
“I know. What about your baby. Do have a name?”
Jessica smiled and patted her roundness. “Amaryllis. Amy for short. Her dad picked it out.”
Then she went silent, her small teeth biting her lip, like she’d said something she hadn’t meant to say.
“What does her dad do?” I asked. I didn’t want to say ‘your husband’ because she wasn’t wearing a ring.
“Oh,” she said, giving little Amaryllis another pat, “he’s not in the picture.”
I’ve been reading people for a long time, and it was clear to me that his absence wasn’t her choice, and that it was very likely that his absence was permanent. I changed the subject. “I’m a consultant to independent schools. Private schools,” I said. “My partner and I run EDGE Consulting. Right now, I’m working from home. Actually, yesterday they threw me out of the office and told me not to come back until Monday.”
I looked over at the clock on the wall. In fifteen minutes, I would be calling in and Sarah, my secretary, would be updating me on all the crises that needed my attention. “Do you work?”
Yes. Rude question. But I was too curious to hold it back.
Jessica smiled. “I’m a consultant, too. To . . .uh . . . it’s a government job. I just need to get the cable people out to get the cottage updated.”
She’d almost given something away, though I had no idea what. I wasn’t going to learn it any time soon, though, because she was on her feet and heading quickly for the door, saying, “Thanks for the tea.”
I had no idea what I’d done to upset her, but she was definitely done here. So much for another new mother in the neighborhood. Maybe she was just shy or had something in the oven that would burn. So I tossed out, “I’m going shopping on Saturday to get some baby stuff. Want to come along?”
She hesitated a moment, like it was a big decision, then said, “Sure. I’d like that.”
“Pick you up at ten?”
She looked down at her wrist, where there was no watch. “Sure. Ten. That would be great.” And she was gone.
I stood in the doorway and watched her trot down the rolling green lawn, hesitating at the road and looking around her like she was afraid of hidden bad guys. She was definitely afraid of something. Then she hurried across and disappeared behind the hedge that shielded the cottage from the street.
Page Ahead to Purchase Death Comes Knocking
To purchase
Death Comes Knocking
Click HERE to visit your favorite retailer
OR
visit the Kate Flora eBook Discovery Author Page
Discover more with
eBookDiscovery.com
Also by Kate Flora
The Thea Kozak Mystery Series
Chosen for Death
Death in a Funhouse Mirror
Death at the Wheel
An Educated Death
Death in Paradise
Liberty or Death
Stalking Death
Death Warmed Over
Schooled in Death
Death Comes Knocking
The Joe Burgess Mystery Series
Playing God
The Angel of Knowlton Park
Redemption
And Grant You Peace
Led Astray
A Child Shall Lead Them
About the Author
Kate Flora’s fascination with people’s criminal tendencies began in the Maine attorney general’s office. Deadbeat dads, people who hurt their kids, and employers’ discrimination aroused her curiosity about human behavior. The author of nineteen books and more than twenty short stories, Flora’s been a finalist for the Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, and Derringer awards. She won the Public Safety Writers Association award for nonfiction and twice won the Maine Literary Award for crime fiction. Her latest fiction is Schooled in Death, her 9th Thea Kozak mystery. Her latest nonfiction is Shots Fired: The misconceptions, misunderstandings, and myths about police shootings with retired Portland Assistant Chief Joseph K. Loughlin. Flora divides her time between Massachusetts and Maine, and between cooking and gardening and obsessive writing.