A Brush with Death: A Penny Brannigan Mystery - By Elizabeth J. Duncan Page 0,13
The curator is coming next week to look at the pieces to decide the order. I think we already know which ones will be included. But I haven’t shown any of the work to anyone yet. Keeping it under wraps.”
She looked anxiously at Emma.
“Of course you’ll come to the opening, won’t you?”
“Just try and keep me away.”
They finished the game, declared Emma the winner, and then watched the television news. With a small sigh, Emma got up from the sofa, switched off the television, and went through the kitchen to make sure the back door was locked for the night. Alys checked the front door, and together they made their way upstairs to Emma’s bedroom.
Alys removed a small box from the pocket of her trousers before hanging them over the back of a chair. She set the box on the bedside table, and when she and Emma were comfortably settled in bed, she put her arm around Emma, pulled her to her, and reached out to pick up the box.
“Look,” she whispered, handing it to Emma. “I’ve got a little gift for you. I hope you like it.”
She handed over the box and watched expectantly as Emma opened it. A slow smile spread across her face and she turned to Alys.
“Do you like it? Do you?” asked Alys eagerly. “I know it’s not much, but it means something to us.”
Nestled inside the box was a glass paperweight in which small purple flowers hung suspended.
“It’s beautiful!” exclaimed Emma. “Oh, thank you so much.”
“I’m glad you like it,” whispered Alys. “I hope it will always remind you of how much I love you.”
Emma set the globe on her bedside table. “I’ll treasure it.”
She switched off the bedside lamp, and the two slid down into the bed and wrapped their arms around each other.
“Alys?’
“Hm hmm.”
“Do you think the day will ever come when we’ll be able to live together openly? When we can really be who we are?”
“I don’t know,” mumbled Alys. “I hope so. At least that way I’d be allowed to sleep here until it was light and maybe I’d even get some breakfast. I hate having to leave while it’s dark just so no one will see me. All this creeping about—we haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Sorry, my darling, but you know how I feel about that. It makes me very nervous, you being here, but I wish you could stay forever.”
Alys turned over and was soon sound asleep. Emma listened to her soft, gentle breathing and then snuggled up behind her.
Shortly before dawn, Alys stirred and came awake. She put her arms around her sleeping companion and kissed her. She held her for a few minutes and then whispered to her.
“Tell me I have to get up.”
“You have to get up,” replied Emma sleepily.
Alys groaned and slid out of bed. She dressed quickly in the cold bedroom and then reached for Emma, wrapped in warmth.
“Bye, then, love,” she said. “See you soon. You will come to Liverpool for the weekend, won’t you?”
Emma murmured and retreated into sleep. Alys tiptoed out of the bedroom and down the stairs. When she reached the bottom, she pulled a coat off the hooks in the small entranceway, made her way through the dark, silent sitting and dining rooms to the back door. Patting her trouser pocket to make sure she had her keys, she unlocked the door and let herself out into the cold darkness, closing the door quietly behind her.
She picked her way carefully through the garden, and as she entered the small wooded lot that gave way to a field, its stubbled grasses frozen and stiff, she swung the coat over her shoulders. As she slipped her arms into the sleeves, she realized that she had picked up Emma’s new red woolen coat in the dark by mistake.
She checked the pockets and, finding only a handkerchief, walked on. We can switch the coats back at the weekend, she thought. Emma’ll figure out what’s happened. And anyway, it might be fun to wear her coat this week, even if it is a little big.
Because of Emma’s fear that the nature of their relationship might be discovered, she insisted that Alys park her car in the lane behind the field at the back of the cottage, never in front.
Alys made her way across the frozen field, came to the verge of the road, and reached in her pocket for her keys.
As she stepped out into the road, keys in hand, she caught a glimpse