Time to reserve my favorite pieces and dispose of the rest. Install a safe for Lydia’s jewelry when the police returned it. And accept that some questions could never be answered.
Through the bay window, I saw Lydia’s car—Tory’s car—pull into the driveway. When she spotted me through the bay window, I hoped she’d join me, and she did.
“I have something to tell you.” My sister-in-law seemed subdued in her dark suit, curly hair restrained by a ponytail band.
“Shoot.” I lifted an empty cardboard box. “Okay if I start packing clothes for the thrift store while I listen? Tell me if there’s anything you want.”
“Lydia’s clothes never fit me,” she said.
Into the box I folded the blouse and skirt. “Dad used this room as an office. Maybe I’ll do that.” Sudden inspiration: “Or you could.”
Tory shook her head. “Dad and I both feel we’ve been intruding. We’re going to rent a place together.”
Her statement shook me. Without realizing it, I’d counted on them staying. “If I’ve created that impression, I apologize. You’re both welcome here.”
“We’ve been underfoot long enough.” No fishing; she meant it.
Two weeks ago, I’d searched for ways to keep her out. Why couldn’t I be equally creative now? “Listen, Tory...”
“There’s something else.” The gravity in her tone halted my protest. “It’s about Lydia.”
“What about her?” I was only beginning to return to normal. Definitely not prepared for revelations.
Tory peered at a pair of dainty shoes jutting from a box, as if fascinated by the glitter. “According to the tour guide, my sister ate lunch with someone in Jerusalem.”
“Who?” Could be a school friend who’d moved to Israel, I supposed, although Lydia had never mentioned anyone.
“She was secretive about it, according to Benjamin, the guide,” she said. “He happened to hear her on the phone making arrangements.”
“I wasn’t aware she knew anyone in Israel. But what’s the big deal?”
“When I tried to track the calls on her phone, the incoming and outgoing numbers didn’t match, and none of them were in service,” Tory said.
“That’s strange.”
“I thought so, too.”
It reminded me of a spy movie, but the notion of my wife mixing in international skullduggery was preposterous. “What do you suppose it means?”
Tory shrugged. “I’m clueless, which is why I didn’t bother you with it. It’s possible she was connecting with a fellow artist or a gallery owner to discuss representation, or renting studio space.”
Lydia had intended to live in Israel? Don’t jump to conclusions. She might have toyed with spending part of a year there.
“Why share this now?” I asked.
“Keith told me about your bathtub incident.” She cast me a hint of a smile. “What a chump. Anyway, I’d hate for you to die without hearing the whole story, such as it is.”
“Your reaction to my near-death is that I’m an idiot?” I kept my tone light.
“If the shoe fits,” she teased, and waved at the sparkly pair. “Speaking of shoes, you can chuck those. In fact, please do.”
I seized on the opening. “In view of my gullibility, you should stay to provide extra security.”
“Eric...”
“Don’t leave,” I said.
She regarded me questioningly.
I had to be frank. “You and Morris belong here. You’re my family.”
Tory’s gaze swept my face. Seeking an answer? To what question?
Finally, she said, “You sure?”
“Unless you’re moving in with Keith again.”
She snorted. “Living with him was a mistake. We both like to be in control and we both have trust issues. We’re friends, that’s all.”
To close the deal, I said, “I’ll throw in Thanksgiving dinner. I’ll cook it myself.” Common sense raised its ugly head. “Or buy it.”
“You host. We’ll cook,” Tory said. “Did you mean it about my using this room as an office?”
She was agreeing to stick around. Warmth spread through me. “Sure.”
“Good. It’s a tight squeeze at Fact Hunter. I’d rather work from here.”
With a quick call to Morris, we settled our living arrangements. As for whatever Lydia’s business had been in Jerusalem, perhaps someday the truth would emerge, but that day wasn’t this day.
A few weeks later, we celebrated Thanksgiving. I learned later that Fred and Danielle set their table for six, including Billie and Celia. They all drank a toast to Heather and Doreen’s engagement, although, I gathered, not necessarily with Fred’s best wine.
In addition to dispensing her investment profits, Heather had offered to buy Rafe’s practice and employ his staff. While it might be a practical business move, it also served as a goodwill gesture. I was sure Billie could use the money.
In my dining room, we were five, including Keith and my brother-in-law, Barry. At Morris’s request, Tory lit candles, bowed her head and said a prayer in Hebrew.
In the timeless glow, for an instant, I saw Lydia’s face. Until then, I hadn’t noticed how strongly Tory’s bone structure resembled her half-sister’s.
No more ghosts were allowed at our table. Only gratitude that we had weathered a difficult year, and that cooks more gifted than me had prepared our food.
The End
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About the Author
For her 101st novel, USA Today bestselling author Jacqueline Diamond launches the Safe Harbor Medical® mystery series with The Case of the Questionable Quadruplet. A former Associated Press reporter and TV columnist, Jackie has sold mysteries, medical romances, Regency romances and romantic comedies, to a range of publishers including Harlequin, St. Martin’s Press, William Morrow and Five Star Mysteries. Jackie and her husband, the parents of two grown sons, live in Southern California.
To receive an email when the next book in the series is published, please sign up for her free newsletter at www.jacquelinediamond.com.
About the Safe Harbor Medical Romance Series
For information on the seventeen Safe Harbor Medical romance novels that introduced some of the settings and minor characters in this mystery series, please visit http://www.jacquelinediamond.com/news1.html. Thank you!
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More Books by Jacqueline Diamond
Here’s a sampling of Jackie’s other books currently available for download. A complete list is available at www.jacquelinediamond.com/books.
Danger Music (mystery)
Eccentric writer Kenny Rubin has an unusual magazine assignment: to solve the strangulation death five years earlier of aspiring actress Melinda Rivers before a TV movie on the same subject airs. But someone, it appears, is afraid the truth really might surface, and he’s targeting Kenny. Allreaders.com said: “The story line is fast-paced … a wonderful Hollywood mystery.” To learn more, click Danger Music.
The Eyes of a Stranger (mystery)
Has she just interviewed the man who’s going to kill her? Diane Hanson knew heart-stopping terror when she witnessed the accident that killed her son and destroyed her marriage. But now she’s putting her life back together with a terrific newspaper job, an exciting new man and the friendship of her teenage “little sister,” Lara Ryan. Writing about a pop psychic who once led police to the body of a murdered teen, Diane soon finds that her investigation takes on chilling implications. A second teenage girl is murdered and—so says the psychic—another is yet to come. When Lara disappears, Diane is cast into a nerve-shattering nightmare of deceit and stark terror. The Los Angeles Daily News called The Eyes of a Stranger “an intensely urgent page-turner.” To learn more, click The Eyes of a Stranger.
Touch Me in the Dark (romantic sus
pense)
In this Gothic mystery, an angry ghost and a brooding ex-cop threaten a mysterious beauty. Injured ex-cop Ian Fanning is obsessed with painting the woman his grandfather murdered. Then he meets his new neighbor down the hall: Sharon Mahoney, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the dead woman. Strange events focus on Sharon, a teacher with a seven-year-old son. An old murder case seems to be playing out with new twists involving the Victorian home’s other occupants and the spirit of Ian’s grandfather, who may have deadly unfinished business. Can Ian save her, or is he himself becoming the threat? To learn more, click Touch Me in the Dark
Echoes (paranormal mystery)
The Earth is being invaded by stealth. In San Paradiso, California, a serial killer preys on young women with all clues pointing to the mayor, despite his foolproof alibis. A senator dies mysteriously, while his widow becomes the target of an extortion attempt based on her secret fantasies. Investigating reporter Laura Bennett finds herself unexpectedly at the center of a demonic plot. The deeper Laura probes, the more she uncovers deadly secrets from her own childhood. When confronted with horrors almost greater than she can bear, will Laura throw wide the portal or will she stand as humanity’s last defense, whatever the cost? A.C. Crispin, author of V and Starbridge, said, “I read Echoes straight through in only two days – what a page-turner. Echoes is an intriguing blend of the detective thriller with a genuinely scary novel of supernatural horror.” To learn more, click Echoes.
Out of Her Universe (science fiction)
A secluded college campus in California holds a strange secret: It’s linked, via an ancient, sentient entity called the pirisma, to a parallel world where history mirrored ours until a shocking change. No one outside a closely guarded research project realizes that most people on our earth have doubles in this other world, some of whom are pursuing deadly agendas. To scientist Carlos Brujo, the elusive and long-dormant pirisma’s return is an object of wonder and excitement. To retired Brigadier Gen. Ephraim Montrose, the reopening may presage an invasion that threatens an unprepared world. But to artist Hannah Fleischer, who’s newly engaged to a police detective, the consequences will be unimaginable. She has no idea she was born in another universe. Now she has to face a past that should have stayed hidden. To learn more, click Out of Her Universe.
One Husband Too Many (time travel romance)
Magic sends her through time…to the wrong man. On the verge of divorcing, Jana Edwards wishes to go back six years, before she impulsively married a rogue. But when an heirloom pendant grants her wish, she’s isolated with the same charming rogue, who’s using another name. What’s he up to, and why is she falling in love again with the husband to whom she’s a stranger? To learn more, click One Husband Too Many.
Daddy, M.D. (romantic comedy)
Five-year-old Spike wants fun-loving pediatrician Chad Markham, who just moved in next door, to be his daddy. But Spike’s Aunt Jill, who’s adopting her orphaned nephew, sees heartbreak ahead. Unable to bear children and still fragile after a painful divorce, she isn’t ready to fall in love with the handsome doctor. It’s surprising how one little boy, and Christmas, can bring a family together. To learn more, click Daddy, M.D..
Designer Genes (romantic comedy)
There was an embarrassing mix-up at the sperm bank. Now L.A. sophisticate Buffy Arden arrives in Nowhere Junction, Texas, to introduce her cute baby daughter to the infant’s unprepared father, auto mechanic Carter Murchison. Carter has only a vague memory of his experiences while attending a conference in the City of Angels. Thanks to the effects of spiked punch, he thought he was making a donation to benefit his local school board. A very strange donation… To learn more, click Designer Genes.
Yours, Mine and Ours (romantic comedy)
Lighthearted dance teacher Robin Lindstrom donated eggs eight years ago, but never knew whether any children resulted. Now, out of work, she reluctantly takes a job as nanny for earthquake consultant Flint Harris, a widower who lives up to his hard-edged name. He’s a strict but loving dad to his mischievous triplets. They’ve driven away all the other nannies, but not this one. The precocious kids have done some snooping and found out that Robin’s their biological mother—plus, they like her. That’s why they maneuvered their dad into hiring her. Unaware of the trio’s plotting, Robin and Flint begin falling in love, but they’re complete opposites. To learn more, click Yours, Mine and Ours.
A Lady’s Point of View (Regency romance)
Being nearsighted in Regency England may not be a crime, but it certainly feels like one. Meg Linley sets off a scandal when she accidentally slights an important figure at a ball. Packed off for home, she enters the wrong carriage and arrives at the estate of handsome Lord Bryn. When he mistakes her for the new governess, Meg decides that as long as she’s in disgrace, why not play along? Special price: 99 cents. To learn more, click A Lady’s Point of View.
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