boarding pass from Kahului Airport in Maui to Denver.”
“She thought he was a suspect?” I said surprised. “I don’t suppose you saw him. He’s adorable.”
Barry’s lips went into a straight line of consternation. “Adorable people can be murderers. Heather is very thorough. She thinks everybody is a suspect, including the neighbor woman who was trying to get Donahue to renege on letting the production use the backyard. Heather talked to the prop guys who’d been arranging all the plants, too. They said Kelly Donahue was alive when they left to go to lunch. Heather had no way to prove what they said was true, but she put them on the back burner of her suspect list. Where’s a motive?”
“Did they tell Heather they knew Kelly from before? She was a production assistant on a show they worked on.”
Barry appeared surprised. “They didn’t tell Heather about that. I’ll be sure and pass it along.” I was amazed at how much information Barry had shared and how much attention he had paid to what I’d said. It had never been like this when we were a couple.
He leaned closer and checked my expression. “You sounded kind of gushy when you talked about the surfer. Is there something going on between you two?”
I laughed. “What if there was? It’s none of your business. Remember we’re over and done with.”
“Somebody better tell Mason he’s got competition. And what was with that fake detective from L.A. 911? What was he doing coming home with you?”
I just glared at Barry. “Right,” he said. “It’s none of my business.”
“I know you were trying to change the subject when I asked when you’d be moving back home. If you can’t give me an exact date, how about a rough time frame?” Barry drank some of his tea and set the mug down. There was no triumphant smile this time.
“My doctor thinks I should avoid stairs for a few more weeks. And since we’re out of my place, it seemed like a good time to get the floors done, along with painting and a few odds and ends. You know workmen. They say it’ll take a few days and it turns into a few months.” I must have looked stricken because he said he was just joking. “I’m hoping we’ll be good to go in two weeks. If that’s okay.”
How could I say it wasn’t? So, I told him it was fine.
“This was very nice,” he said as we walked inside. “Just two friends having a cup of tea.” He was right we were two friends. But then I blurted out. “So what’s going on with you and Detective Heather?”
Barry laughed. “I’ll give you the same response you gave me when I asked about surfer dude. None of your business.”
CHAPTER 16
“Why don’t you suggest he move into Detective Heather’s place?” Dinah said. Though it was barely nine in the morning, it was already hot walking along Ventura Boulevard. Dinah and I had agreed to eat at Le Grande Fromage and I’d picked her up at her house and we were in the process of walking the couple of blocks to the neighborhood bistro.
I could have eaten at home, but now that Barry was back to work, it was just too weird to watch him come through the kitchen at 8:47 A.M. while I was nursing my morning coffee that he had made. Dressed in a suit and tie, he’d pour some of the coffee into a commuter mug, eat a bowl of cereal standing at the counter and head out.
I never knew how to act. Should I make conversation? Invite him to sit at the table? It was just awkward. He seemed to have adjusted to the situation and always wished me a good day on his way out. I wished him the same, but most of all I wished he was starting it from someplace else.
Jeffrey, like other boys his age, slept in. Barry had tried to talk him into going to day camp. Day camp for a fourteen-year-old? Instead, on his own, Jeffrey had found a summer acting program that he got to and from on his bicycle.
“I wouldn’t do that to Jeffrey,” I said in reference to Dinah’s suggestion. Having Jeffrey at my place was no problem. I had liked the kid from the day I’d met him. Maybe after bringing up two sons, I had a weakness for boys. When the end had come for Barry and me, one of my regrets was losing Jeffrey