told Barry about it, but I don’t know what he’ll do with the information.” I had opened my eyes and Mason urged me to close them again.
No sooner had I shut them when out of nowhere, I remembered Kelly going to answer the door. “Kelly said it was a real estate agent handing out brochures. Wait,” I said in an excited voice. “Kelly had us go out through the yard. I bet she didn’t want us to see who it was.” I laughed out loud. “And Adele, super detective that she claims to be, never even noticed.” I put my hands up in a triumphant Rocky pose. “I’ve got an important clue and she doesn’t.” Maybe I sounded a little childish, but then she’d sounded that way first.
“You’re a genius,” I said to Mason throwing my arms around him. “All I have to do now is figure out who came over.”
CHAPTER 18
As soon as I walked through the door of my house, I called Dinah and told her about my recollection of the last time we’d seen Kelly.
“It never occurred to me that Kelly didn’t want us to see who came to the door,” Dinah said. She reminded me that we’d thought of Kelly answering the door while on our trip to the dollar store, but in all the commotion over the dollar-of-the-hour special, we’d gotten distracted and dropped it. I’d hoped she could add some new observation, but she seemed a little distracted and I could hear Commander in the background. “Let me sleep on it,” she said. I would have liked to talk about it longer, but I certainly understood.
Since I didn’t have Dinah to talk to, I began to replay the evening in my mind. Dinner with Mason had been fun. Once we stopped talking about weddings and murders, we told each other funny stories and laughed a lot. Afterward, he’d driven me back to the bookstore to get my car and then followed me home to make sure I got inside safely.
I’d pulled into my driveway and expected him to drive on, but instead, he parked at the curb and walked to where I was standing. “This is so sweet and romantic,” he said taking me in his arms and kissing me good night. “I feel like I’m in high school all over again.” As he said that the motion sensor light came on. Mason laughed and said it was like in the old days when someone’s parents ended a makeout session by turning on the porch light. He gave me another quick kiss and bid me good night.
* * *
But now that I was home I still felt wired. I went into the kitchen to make a large cup of tea, figuring I would take it to my room and spend some time crocheting. There was nothing like the repetitive motion of the craft to iron out the kinks and get me to relax.
“Having tea again,” Barry said and I jumped. I hadn’t realized he’d come in the kitchen. “Just to let you know, the trash has been taken out, and I let the dogs out in the yard for a last hurrah before bedtime. The cats have been fed and their box attended to.” This time he didn’t even ask if he could join me and just took out two mugs. He checked the basket that held my assortment of teas. “What shall we have tonight?” He held up a box of Earl Grey and I nodded. He filled the mugs from the hot water dispenser. The air filled with the unique fragrance of the tea laced with oil of bergamot.
“Go on outside. I’ll bring it,” Barry said. When I looked up, Jeffrey had come in the room and was standing behind his dad. When we made eye contact, he started doing elaborate hand gestures and there was a touch of panic to his expression. I answered with a knowing nod. He didn’t have to worry. I wouldn’t tell Barry about him getting caught trying to sneak in the L.A. 911 scene.
Jeffrey smiled with relief and then announced that he was going to bed. I went on outside and sat down. I heard the door open and click close and a moment later Barry set the mugs on the small round glass table. He settled into the chair next to me, pushing his legs out in front of him before stretching and flexing the leg that had been injured.