Deadly Notions - By Elizabeth Lynn Casey Page 0,60
with any staying power, anyway. And Milo and me, we have staying power. Which means I have to trust what he says until he shows me differently.”
“Having that woman in his home overnight isn’t showing you differently?”
“No, Leona. It’s showing me what I already know to be true. Milo is a special guy—the kind of man that cares about the people in his inner circle. How can I fault him for exercising the very quality that I love about him?”
“With ease. This is his college sweetheart we’re talking about.”
“His former college sweetheart, Leona. That’s the part you’re missing.”
“Seems to me you’re missing the part about his bed, dear.”
“So what are you going to do?” Debbie asked, her quiet voice a sudden reminder of the evening’s missing members.
“I’m going to bide my time until I feel I should say something to Milo. Doing it any sooner might make me come across as some sort of green-eyed monster. Besides, it’s quite likely she’ll disappear on her own once she releases those designs of hers into the wild.”
“What do you mean?” Dixie asked.
“Her designs are spectacular. And I do mean spectacular. In fact, I’d be willing to say they’re the kind of thing that will jettison her career to the next level—a level that will take her far away from Sweet Briar, South Carolina.”
“Let’s hope you’re right.”
She shrugged in Leona’s direction. “And if I’m wrong, I’ll deal with it at that time. In the meantime, I’m going to focus my attention and my efforts on a much more pressing issue.”
“What? Was he spotted buying a diamond ring for this woman? Is that what it’s going to take to wake you up?” Leona drawled.
“Leona!” Rose stamped her foot again. “Must you be so—so—”
“Rude?” Dixie offered.
“Evil?” Margaret Louise countered.
Rose cleared her throat. “I was thinking more along the lines of awful. Like that woman at Sally’s party.”
“Ashley Lawson,” they all chorused.
“Yes, that one.”
Handing a piece of muted pink felt to Rose, Tori nodded her head at the group. “Which brings us to the pressing issue I was talking about. Melissa and Beatrice are not here tonight because they’re overwhelmed by the stress of this murder investigation and the fingers being pointed in their direction via Regina Murphy. And after the run-in I had with her at Leeson’s this weekend, I can’t say that I blame them.”
“Run-in?” Georgina echoed.
“She’s absolutely convinced one of us killed Ashley.”
“You must admit, the timing of her strangulation in respect to Sally’s party certainly makes you wonder.”
All eyes turned on Debbie.
“Do you think one of us did it?” The surprise in Rose’s voice was tough to miss.
Debbie shrugged. “One of us in this room right now? I doubt it.”
“What are you saying?” Margaret Louise dropped her needle into her lap. “You think Melissa or Beatrice is guilty of murder?”
“No. But the members of this circle aren’t the only ones who were at that party. Nor are we the only ones to come up against that woman’s sharp claws.”
Tori thought back over everything Dixie had said in her office the day before, the woman’s comments about Samantha Smith stirring up more than a few questions and suspicions. “I have to agree with Debbie.”
“You’re thinking about that Smith woman, aren’t you?” Dixie asked as her hand stilled in the middle of threading her needle.
“I am,” she confirmed. “Especially in light of what she said to you after the incident at the library.”
“What did she—”
Rose jumped in, cutting Georgina off. “Said to Dixie? How about what she said to that blonde thing that showed up halfway through the party?”
“Blonde thing? You mean, Regina?”
Rose nodded. “Right after Regina gave the rest of you a talking to about the things that were being said, that short-haired brunette pulled Regina aside and gave her an earful. I wasn’t able to make it all out on account of my hearing disappearing faster than Leona’s youth, but I know this much—she despised that Lawson woman even more than the rest of you.”
“I didn’t despise Ashley,” Tori said. “I didn’t even really know her.”
“Well Margaret Louise certainly despised her, and so did Debbie.”
Neither woman bothered to argue.
“And let’s be honest, Dixie, you weren’t a fan, either.”
Dixie nodded. “Agreed.”
“And Leona, you weren’t wild about her the night of the party—”
“Keep my name out of your mouth, old woman.” Leona lowered her magazine to her lap. “Melissa and Beatrice despised her, too.”
“They did. But no one more than the brunette.”
“You mean Samantha Smith?” Tori sought to confirm.
“If that was the one that