I’ve had many jobs. It might be tough to find a new one at my age. But I had enough savings to be independent and I could always freelance. I could go anywhere, write anything.
Or I could—my fingers closed around a carnation—I could try a new and different life, a life of leisure in a lovely land with a man I enjoyed.
But I had one more task to complete before I called Jimmy.
The greenhouse was moist, the air rich with the scent of growing things. The tabby lifted her head. Emerald eyes watched me benignly.
Kathryn Nugent sat behind a worn desk. A cracked leather ledger lay open before her. Slowly, she put down the ballpoint pen. Her oval face was haggard. She said brusquely, “I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Mrs. Nugent, I know what happened to your husband.”
Those slender, dirt-grimed hands opened and shut spasmodically, but her face remained empty, walled
against invasion.
I told her, as quickly, as kindly, as gently as I could.
And when I finished, I watched those hands open and shut, open and shut. Tears trickled down her pale cheeks. “If he’d only come home…”
I left then, understanding the depth and breadth of her love.
If he’d only come home…
At the door I paused. There was a vase filled with carnations.
I reached up and broke one off.
I didn’t think she’d mind.
I stepped outside into a dull, raw, gunmetal-gray November day, the carnation nestling in my hand. In the car, I brought the carnation to my face, smelled its rich woody scent.
I thought of Jimmy and sunny days.
I thought of Richard and the incredible joy it had given me to be near him.
I reached for my mobile phone.
“Hello.” Even in that single word, Jimmy’s voice was boyish, eager.
“Jimmy.”
“Henrie O. I’m leaving in an hour. You’ll—”
“Jimmy, you’re a wonderful man. I wish you every kind of happiness.”
“You’re saying no, Henrie O?”
I liked Jimmy. I enjoyed him. I treasured him.
I did not love him.
A man deserves a wife who can say, “I love you,” and mean it with every fiber of her being.
“Jimmy, go to Mexico and be happy. I want you to be happy.”
“I would be happier with you.” But, as always, his voice was kind and reasonable.
We talked for a moment more, old friends and now former lovers, and then we said good-bye.
My hand rested on the telephone after I hung up. My eyes ached with tears.
But if I went to Mexico, it would be for all the wrong reasons.
So I wasn’t going to Mexico.
I wondered where I would go.
Have laptop. Will travel.
About the Author
CAROLYN HART is an acknowledged master of mystery and suspense who has been nominated for and has won multiple Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Awards for her popular “Death on Demand” and “Henrie O” series. She has written two previous “Henrie O” mysteries: Dead Man’s Island (an Agatha Award-winner) and Scandal in Fair Haven (nominated for both an Agatha and a Macavity Award), and has a fourth, Death in Paradise, currently available in hardcover. One of the founders of Sisters in Crime, Ms. Hart lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Resounding praise for Carolyn Hart,
Henrie O, and DEATH IN LOVERS’ LANE
“CHEERS FOR HENRIE O, AN INTELLIGENT, ENGAGING SLEUTH!” Mary Higgins Clark
“AN EXCELLENT STORY…It’s always a delight to find a new book by Carolyn Hart.”
Chattanooga Times
“CAROLYN HART HAS SUCCEEDED ADMIRABLY in fashioning a mystery that keeps the reader rapt. Even more important, she has introduced us to an outspoken, feisty sleuth who pulls no punches while pinching our minds with humor that is sparkling with infectious energy.”
West Coast Review of Books
“THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR HAS OUTDONE HERSELF THIS TIME. Her top-notch skills have become even sharper. DEATH IN LOVERS’ LANE should win another award for Hart. It’s a must for mystery fans.”
Oklahoma City Oklahoman
“HENRIE O FANS WILL SURELY ENJOY THIS LATEST ADVENTURE.”
Publishers Weekly
“CAROLYN HART IS A SHINING STAR IN THE MYSTERY GALAXY.”
Jackson Clarion-Ledger
“A REFRESHING TYPE OF PRIVATE SNOOP is Carolyn Hart’s widowed, retired journalist Henrie O (an American spin on a modernized Miss Marple)…Hart has an unerring aim puncturing the pomposities and pettiness endemic to academic circles.”
Chicago Sun-Times
“COMPLEX AND SUSPENSEFUL, written in a Christie-for-the-’90s style, this is a many-faceted exploration of campus life, ego trips, diverse personalities, and puzzle pieces finally made to fit.”
Kirkus Reviews
“REALISTICALLY RENDERED…Henrie O is not a cute little old lady but sharp and resourceful…She comes across as a bright and interesting person with a true journalist’s need to balance professional and personal issues.”
El Paso Times
“CAROLYN HART IS A JOY TO READ. She is literate, entertaining, and her Henrie O is a delightful addition to the world of the ‘no-longer-as-young-as-they-were’ sleuths…DEATH IN LOVERS’ LANE is a winner.” Glen Cove Record-Pilot
“HART IS A REAL FIND…Her stories look at the feelings, emotions, and passions of real-life people in real-life situations.”
Booklist
“HENRIE O IS A VERY LIKABLE CHARACTER. She’s
determined, dogged, and literally unflinching…Mystery fans need more heroines who don’t dye their hair, and who know how to barricade a door with toilet hardware.”
Philadelphia Inquirer
“SIMPLY GREAT. Carolyn Hart is superb in getting into the heart of her characters, thereby allowing readers to understand and accept them for what they do. Henrie O is one of the top senior citizen amateur sleuths in literature today. This reviewer strongly recommends DEATH IN LOVERS’ LANE.” Feminist Mystery Corner (on-line)
“HART’S SUCH A GOOD STORYTELLER that it’s easy to go along for the ride.”
Provo Herald
“CAROLYN HART IS AN AUTHOR I TRUST WITH MY TIME AND EYESIGHT…She can write unpleasant types so that you understand them, charmers so you don’t resent them, and plots you can get lost in…Make some cocoa and head for your favorite comfortable chair.”
Rockland Courier-Gazette
Books by Carolyn Hart
Henrie O
DEAD MAN’S ISLAND SCANDAL IN FAIR HAVEN DEATH IN LOVERS’ LANE DEATH IN PARADISE DEATH ON THE RIVER WALK RESORT TO MURDER
Death on Demand
DEATH ON DEMAND DESIGN FOR MURDER SOMETHING WICKED HONEYMOON WITH MURDER A LITTLE CLASS ON MURDER DEADLY VALENTINE THE CHRISTIE CAPER SOUTHERN GHOST MINT JULEP MURDER YANKEE DOODLE DEAD WHITE ELEPHANT DEAD SUGARPLUM DEAD APRIL FOOL DEAD ENGAGED TO DIE MURDER WALKS THE PLANK DEATH OF THE PARTY
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEATH IN LOVERS’ LANE. Copyright © 1998 by Carolyn Hart. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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