from Victoria's Secret. Good Lord. "I'll keep it for her," I said reluctantly, and tucked the box under my arm. The mail carrier had thoughtfully put a rubber band around the package to hold the envelopes to it.
"What's your name?" the carrier bellowed.
"Teagarden, and my husband's name is Bartell, but I don't think we'll be getting any mail here," I explained. "Do you just leave it in the mailbox out by the road?"
"Yes, normally, but this box wouldn't fit, and when I saw tracks going in I thought I could be sure someone would be up here," she said. "Well, nice to meetcha."
I thanked her, and clutching the package across my chest and shivering, the heavy pocket of my sweater banging against my stomach, I darted back into the house.
"That was Geraldine Clooney," Margaret said with some amusement. "What did you think?"
"She's one of a kind," I said.
Cindy and Dennis laughed. Luke wasn't in the room. Karl was pouring himself another cup of coffee, and Martin was coming down the stairs. The baby wasn't in his infant seat. Martin must have put him in his crib. I wondered why Rory hadn't come down with his things.
I wondered what Karl and Martin had been talking about in the kitchen. I wondered at the officiousness of Dennis and Cindy. Telling Rory that we wanted to see him was one thing; bundling him up and practically kidnapping him was another. If Dylan or Karl had brought Rory out, I wouldn't have wondered, but Cindy and Dennis?
As often happens to me, my mind began drifting along its own path. There's nothing like being alone in a crowd to spark a really interesting little thought pattern. I wondered how the Corinthians dug graves in the snow. Did the ground actually freeze, like the tundra? Would I get to see a snowplow? Did snowplows clean driveways, too?
"Roe? Roe?"
"Yes?" I gasped.
"I'm sorry," Margaret said, concern in her voice. "But I was telling you that we were going to be going now. You seemed so out of it." "Just daydreaming, I'm afraid," I said, trying to sound matter-of-fact. "Thank you so much for coming to my rescue this morning." "I think I left my purse in the kitchen."
"Of course, let me go get it." I scooted into the kitchen. There was a rifle leaning against the wall by the back porch door. I absorbed all of this in one comprehensive glance, snatched up Margaret's purse from the counter, and handed it to her in the living room within seconds.
"I don't see Karl's transportation out there, Aurora," Margaret said. I looked up at her and shrugged.
"You got me," I said cheerfully. "Men are strange." Amusement crossed the pale face. "Come see me," she said warmly, and waving good-bye to the others, she and her husband made their way through the rutted snow to their vehicles.
Well, that was two fewer things blocking the view down to the little copse. I was loading the tray with used cups when I heard a strange little rustling sound. The oddest thing about it was that the sound seemed to be issuing from my appendix.
I thought about it as I carried the tray to the kitchen, sliding it carefully onto the counter. I looked down anxiously, I admit, and felt like a total idiot when I realized the sound had been issuing from the nursery monitor. Hayden must be moving around in the crib, I figured.
But... rustling? Karl came in just then, politely bringing an empty Equal packet. He looked around, spied the trash can, and dropped in the bit of paper. Since he was a courteous and orderly person, he tried not to ask me what I was doing staring at a nursery monitor as if it were communicating with me, but since he was also the man who'd been outside toting a rifle, he had to ask. Picking up on my concentration, he simply pointed a finger and raised his eyebrows inquiringly.
"Listen," I whispered, as if the receiver could also be broadcasting what I said. I held it up to his ear. Karl's dark face looked puzzled. The rustling had been succeeded by a series of baffling little noises, a little whump!, small rattling sound, the unmistakable tiny noises of a baby fussing in his sleep. Then footsteps, getting a little fainter.
"Eh!" said Hayden, so I knew he was all right. Following the sound of the footsteps, I looked out of the kitchen across the living room to the stairs, down which