Gretchen and Matt Albright." Nina stretched her arms over her head, reminding Gretchen of Wobbles right after a long nap. Nina was very much like a sleek cat. Today, she wore a crinkled ivory peasant skirt and a floral tank top. Tutu wore a scarf around her precocious neck. It matched the material in Nina's top.
"You're making too much of a simple dinner," Gretchen said. "It was strictly business." Which was true. She'd gone about the business of putting Matt Albright in his place. He had treated her like a ditzy female who couldn't take care of herself. She would show him.
Nina squinted at Gretchen with her penetrating hazel eyes. "You have a secret. I can feel it."
Caroline laughed. "Sis, you never fail to amaze me with your intuition."
"But she's wrong," Gretchen protested.
Caroline leaned back, holding her coffee cup with both hands.
"Tell," Nina demanded.
Gretchen looked at her aunt in amazement. "What makes you think I'm keeping something from you?"
The information Matt had shared with Gretchen was bursting to explode. Had her aunt sensed it? Or was it Gretchen's feelings for him that her aunt was picking up on? This was crazy!
"My psychic abilities are at their peak today," Nina insisted. "A good night's sleep and two cups of coffee do wonders for my powers. Now, tell."
"Last night Matt told me to quit," Gretchen said. "He wants us to stop going to Charlie's shop."
"But why?"
"It's that whole guy thing," Gretchen said, wondering if Nina would "see" through to the secret Matt had shared about the deaths of the sisters. What good is having a secret if no one knows you have it? "You know how it works," she continued. "Power plays begin right at the beginning."
"The beginning! Does that mean you've decided to have a real relationship with Bonnie's son?" Nina jumped up and did a little jig. "Wait until the Curves group hears about this."
"They'll do backflips," Caroline agreed.
"NO! Please don't tell them," Gretchen said loudly and firmly. "After Matt's demanding attitude, I'm considering writing men out of my life. They're not worth the effort."
"What rubbish," Nina said.
"I'm through with men for . . . um . . . for a year."
Gretchen said impulsively. She liked the sound of that. A year to get her life in order, a year to heal and regain faith in men. Her conversation last night with Matt had her doubting her ability to establish a real relationship. If it meant kowtowing to some man's demands, forget it. She'd been there, done that.
"I give you six months," Caroline said.
"Three tops," Nina wagered.
"Is that a challenge?"
Her mother laughed, a throaty, husky chuckle just like Nina's. "Not at all. You and Matt are cute together. I'm rooting for him. Stop comparing him to that jerk, Steve. How could you have known he was cheating? He fooled all of us."
Unfaithful, conniving Steve. Gretchen couldn't understand what she saw in the loser with a capital L in the first place. Time had brought out the worst in him.
"Your strength has certainly been tested in the last year," Caroline said. "Life throws curve balls. Look at what happened to me? A malignant tumor. I thought I'd die, but I didn't. You'll come back even stronger."
Gretchen bit into a chocolate croissant and thought about Matt Albright. He was a little too sure of himself, a little too arrogant for her taste. And what was her taste in men? After seven years in a stagnant relationship, did she even know? She wasn't about to rebound with the first man who walked by.
"That isn't your true secret," Nina singsonged. "There's more. Come on," she said, egging Gretchen over the edge.
"I'll tell you what I found out, if you tell me what you know."
"You have a secret, too?"
Nina nodded smugly.
The best part of having a secret, Gretchen decided on the spot, was sharing it with someone else. What could it hurt? Besides, her family members should know all the details so they could decide for themselves if they wanted to continue working on the room boxes.
"Promise not to tell anyone," Gretchen said. But she had also promised to keep the information confidential and here she was, about to blab. But this was her aunt, she reasoned. And her mother. Family.
"I won't tell a soul," Nina said, crossing her heart.
"Ditto," Caroline echoed.
Gretchen gave in to temptation but spoke gently, in consideration of her mother's feelings for the dead woman.
"According to Matt, Charlie was murdered. She was poisoned with a concentrated dose of nicotine. A lethal