men she’d met since moving to Sweet Briar. “But guys never seem to see it, do they?”
“Colby does.”
She nodded, suddenly aware of an uncharacteristic slump in her mood. “Hey . . . I better get going. Nina will be wondering what happened to me.” She took a few steps toward the door only to have her progress thwarted by the sound of Debbie’s voice.
“Victoria?”
She turned.
“Milo loves you. Remember that.”
And so she tried, Debbie’s words replaying their way through her mind as she walked to work, the early morning temperatures hinting at the gorgeous spring day looming on the horizon. Traditionally one of her least favorite months, March was gaining favor now that she lived in the south.
Her feet slowed as she approached the library, the hundred-year-old moss trees that lined the grounds suddenly calming her troubled heart. Here, she could be herself—the same Tori Sinclair she was whether a man was part of her life or not.
Rounding the building’s western corner, she stopped short, her gaze riveted on the tire lying in the middle of the grass. Glancing up at the tree, she searched in vain for the rope that had hung there just the night before, giving flight to Sally Davis’s friends as the tire it held spun round and round.
“What on earth?” she mumbled to herself before opting to rephrase the question for someone who might be able to offer an actual answer. She pulled open the back door and stepped inside the hallway. “Nina? Are you here?”
“Right here, Miss Sinclair.” Nina popped her head out of the tiny office they shared behind the main room. “So how’d the party go last night?”
“Great. The kids had a really good time.” Tori stopped outside the entrance to the children’s room, the tension in her shoulders beginning to dissipate. “They loved dressing up, loved having their little performances taped, loved playing outside.” She turned and met her assistant’s eyes. “Hey, Nina? Do you have any idea what happened to the tire swing Milo hung for the party?”
Nina shrugged. “I saw the tire, too. I just figured you cut it down.”
“No. I didn’t. And the rope is missing, too.”
“Maybe one of the board members decided to take it down before we opened this morning? Maybe it’s a liability issue or something.”
“Maybe but I—”
The sound of the office phone cut short any further conversation.
“Should I get that?” Nina asked.
“No, I’ll take care of it. Would you just do a quick look through the main room and make sure everything is ready? Doors open in five minutes.”
“Of course, Miss Sinclair.”
Tori strode into the office and over to her desk, the phone’s ring echoing throughout the tiny room. Grabbing the receiver from its base, she held it to her ear. “Good morning. This is the Sweet Briar Public Library. How may I help you?”
“Victoria?”
She strained to pick out the whispered voice on the other end of the line. “Melissa? Is that you?”
“Yes.”
Sensing the stress in her friend’s voice, she gripped the phone still closer, a sudden and inexplicable chill making her shiver. “What’s wrong? Has something happened to one of the kids? Or to Margaret Louise?”
“No.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“It’s Ashley. Ashley Lawson.”
A sense of relief flooded her body and she dropped into her desk chair, the morning sun streaming through the window and warming her body from the outside in. “Phew. You had me worried for a minute.”
“She’s dead.”
Tori sat up tall. “What did you just say?”
“She’s dead,” Melissa repeated. “Ashley Lawson is dead.”
“What—when? How?”
“They just found her in her car.”
“In her car?” she echoed in disbelief. “But how? What happened? Was she sick or something?”
“No. She was strangled to death.”
Chapter 6
Tori was standing behind her desk, looking out over the town square, when he showed up, the squeak of his shoes and the pace of his gait solidifying what she knew to be true—the police car parked in front of the library was not a coincidence.
Not by a long shot.
Word had gotten out about the party moms and their feelings toward the victim. Of that she was sure. But it was the who behind the crime she couldn’t figure out, particularly in light of the fact that each and every person at Sally’s party had uttered a derogatory word under their breath where Ashley Lawson was concerned.
Including her.
“Here we go again,” Tori mumbled as she blew a strand of light brown hair from her forehead and turned to face Sweet Briar Police Chief Robert Dallas. Sure enough, he was standing just behind a wide-eyed