Jewels in the Juniper - Dale Mayer Page 0,28

do in the meantime? Spotting the eggs, she hadn’t had an omelet in forever, and she could make a good ham and cheese omelet. She wondered about adding mushrooms and thought, if she sliced them superthin, it might work out. Nothing wrong with having an omelet for a late lunch.

As she got everything out for the omelet, she sliced the mushrooms as thin as she could and cooked her omelet, putting the thin layer of mushrooms on before she folded it over, then put a lid on to let the cheese melt and the mushrooms cook. When it was done, she was happily surprised to see the mushrooms were just the way she liked them. She served herself a plate and sat down at the kitchen table with her laptop.

No mention of the deaths on the local news yet. But, when she went to one of the online newspapers, she found an interesting note about a body discovered. It didn’t say it was an old lady though. Curious about that, Doreen clicked through to see if there was any more information but found nothing.

She wondered if she could now get an address for Aretha. Just something about her struck a chord. Doreen had met so many women like her, and, if not by the grace of God, Doreen could have ended up the same way herself down the road. But, as it was, she would end up more like Nan now. And that was so much more fun.

As if hearing her voice, Nan called on the phone. “Did you hear?” she cried out.

“Hear what?” Doreen asked.

“They found a body.”

And her voice dropped to such a hushed yet excited whisper that Doreen had to settle back and roll her eyes. “People die all the time, Nan. That doesn’t mean anything is suspicious about it.”

“Oh, so you’ve talked to Mack already, have you?” And Nan’s voice dropped with disappointment.

“He told me about it, yes, but they don’t know if it’s suspicious or not.”

“Of course he does,” Nan said, brushing that off. “That’s just Mack, trying not to give you any details.”

With a surprising start, Doreen realized Nan was correct. It was such a Mack thing to do. “Well maybe,” she said, “he has good reason.”

“Of course he does.” Nan laughed. “He’s trying to keep you out of trouble and away from his case.”

“I’m not that bad, surely.”

“Nope,” Nan said, “you’re much better than that. So, when you do find out, let me know, huh?”

“Will do,” Doreen said. “By the way, do you know where Aretha is now? I met her at the grocery store today.”

“Oh. right. I heard about that.”

“What do you mean, you heard about it?”

“One of the five ladies there happens to live here at the home.”

“Which one?”

“The one who tried to turn away,” Nan said comfortably.

“How do you know she tried to turn away?”

“Because she always does whenever there’s any conflict.”

“Definitely one lady was trying to separate herself.”

“Yeah, that’s Hillary,” Nan said. “She doesn’t do well with conflict of any kind.”

“And yet she’s Aretha’s friend? That must expose her to conflict on a regular basis.”

“They were all part of the same group way back when, and they still make a point of appearing in public together. But honestly, I don’t know how much the word friendship comes into play with that group,” Nan said.

“I’ve got the feeling Aretha is just a lonely old lady,” Doreen said thoughtfully. “One who has seen better times.”

“You could say that for a lot of people in here,” Nan said. “You really can’t put too much stock in appearances.”

“Maybe not, but I have to admit, as I sit here and look back on the conversation, I feel a little sorry for her.”

“Don’t get caught up in that,” Nan said, sounding alarmed. “She’s not friendly.”

“No,” Doreen said. “A lot of unhappy people aren’t.”

“Oh, dear,” Nan said. “I was afraid of that.”

“Afraid of what?”

“You’re just too soft-hearted,” she said.

“Maybe so, but, if you can tell me where she lives, I could take a drive-by, and that might put my mind at rest.”

“I doubt it, but maybe if you’re lucky it will.” Nan rattled off the street name not too far away. “She’s staying with a friend of hers who owns a big mansion. It’s just the two of them there.”

“Oh, interesting. So it’s one of those old regal estates then?”

“Yep, exactly,” Nan said. “Likely Rosemoor was just not good enough for her,” she said in a scoffing tone. “Which is just crazy, as you know, because