“That must give you two a lot to talk about. Did you meet during the course of one of your investigations?”
He wiped his mouth. “This food is very good.” Tessa put a glass of tea down in front of him. Will took a long drink, and Sara wondered if he was wishing there was something stronger in the glass.
Cathy kept up her subtle pressure. “I wish my daughters had been interested in cooking, but neither one of them took to it.” She paused for a breath. “Tell me, Mr. Trent, where are your people from?”
Sara fought the urge to drop her head into her hands. “Mama, really. It’s none of our—”
“That’s all right.” Will wiped his mouth with his napkin. He told Cathy, “I was raised in state care.”
“Bless your heart.”
Will didn’t seem to know how to answer her. He took another long drink of tea.
Cathy continued, “Mr. Trent, my youngest daughter reminded me that the hotel is closed for renovations. I hope you’ll accept the offer of my home while you’re here?”
Will choked on his tea.
“There’s an apartment over the garage. I’m sorry to say it’s not much, but I wouldn’t feel right making you drive all the way over to Cooperstown in this weather.”
Will wiped the tea off his face. He looked to Sara for help.
She shook her head, helpless to stop the onslaught of her mother’s southern hospitality.
THE LINTON HOME renovation had not extended to the laundry room. Sara had to go down the stairs into the unfinished part of the basement to get some clean towels for Will. The dryer was still running when she turned on the lights. She checked the towels. They were damp.
Sara turned the dryer back on. She started up the stairs, but stopped halfway and sat down. She had been acting pretty dimwitted throughout most of the day, but she wasn’t crazy enough to offer herself up to her mother right now.
She rested her chin in her hand. Her cheeks had been beet red from the moment Cathy welcomed Will Trent into the house.
“Sis?” Tessa whispered from the top of the stairs.
“Quiet,” Sara admonished. The last thing she needed was more of her mother’s attention.
Tessa gently pulled the door to. She held one hand under her stomach and grabbed the railing with the other as she descended the stairs. “You all right?”
Sara nodded, helping Tessa sit on the stair above her.
“I can’t believe they didn’t move the laundry room upstairs.”
“Her sanctuary?”
They both laughed. As teenagers, Tessa and Sara had studiously avoided the laundry room for fear of being ordered to help out. They’d both thought they were so clever until they realized their mother was actually enjoying the lack of company.
Sara placed her hand on her sister’s stomach. “Hey, what’s this?”
Tessa grinned. “I think it’s a baby.”
Sara spanned both of her hands across the width. “You’re enormous.”
“I love it,” Tessa whispered. “You wouldn’t believe all the shit I’ve been eating.”
“You must be feeling it kick all the time now.”
“She’s going to be a soccer player.”
“She?” Sara raised an eyebrow.
“I’m just guessing. Lem wants to be surprised.”
“We could go to the clinic tomorrow.” Elliot Felteau had bought Sara’s practice, but she still owned the building. “I can just pretend I’m doing something landlord-y over by the ultrasound machine.”
“I want to be surprised, too. Besides, I think you have enough on your plate right now.”
Sara rolled her eyes. “Mother.”
Tessa chuckled. “My God, that was epic. What a shakedown!”
“I can’t believe how awful she was.”
“You kind of sprung him on her.”
“I thought …” Sara shook her head. What had she been thinking? “Hare wasn’t any help.”
“He’s taking this harder than you think.”
“I doubt that.”
“Tommy used to cut his grass, too.” Tessa shrugged. “You know how Hare is. He’s been through a lot.”
Hare had lost many friends as well as his longtime lover to AIDS, but Sara thought she was the only person in her family who remembered that his casual attitude had predated the epidemic. “I hope he didn’t embarrass Will.”
“Will took care of himself just fine.”
Sara shook her head as she thought about the mess she had made. “I’m sorry, Tess. I didn’t mean to bring all of this to your doorstep.”
“What’s ‘all this’?”
She thought about the question. “A vendetta,” she admitted. “I think I’ve finally found a way to get Lena.”
“Oh, honey, will it make a difference?”
Sara felt tears in her eyes. She didn’t fight them this time. Tessa had seen her in much worse shape before. “I don’t know. I just want …” She paused for breath. “I want her to be sorry for what she did.”
“Don’t you think she’s sorry?” Tessa tread carefully. “As awful as she is, she loved Jeffrey. She worshipped him.”
“No. She’s not sorry. She won’t even accept that she’s the reason Jeffrey died.”
“You can’t really think that she knew that bastard boyfriend of hers was going to kill Jeffrey.”
“It’s not what she wanted to happen,” Sara admitted. “But it’s what she let happen. Jeffrey would’ve never even known that the man existed but for Lena. She put him in our life. If someone throws a grenade, you don’t say they’re innocent because they never considered that it’d actually blow up.”
“Let’s not talk about her anymore.” Tessa wrapped her arm around Sara’s shoulder. “All that matters is that Jeffrey loved you.”
Sara could only nod. This was the one truth in her life. She had known without a doubt that Jeffrey had loved her.
Tessa surprised her. “Will’s nice.”
Sara’s laugh didn’t sound very convincing, even to her own ears. “Tess, he’s married.”
“He was looking at you all googly-eyed at the table.”
“That was fear you saw.”
“I think he likes you.”
“I think your hormones are making you see things.”
Tessa leaned back on the stairs. “Just prepare yourself for the first time being awful.” Sara’s look must’ve given her away. Tessa’s mouth dropped. “Oh, my God. Have you already slept with somebody?”
“Shh,” Sara hissed. “Keep your voice down.”
Tessa leaned forward. “Why am I trekking all the way to the only pay phone in Oobie Doobie to call you if you’re not gonna tell me about your sex life?”
Sara waved her away. “There’s nothing to tell. You’re right. It was awful. It was too soon and he never called me again.”
“What about now? Are you seeing anybody?”
Sara thought of the epidemiologist from the CDC. The fact that this was the first time all week that she’d really considered the man said it all. “Not really. I’ve been on a few dates, but … What’s the point?” Sara threw up her hands. “I’m never going to connect with anyone like that again. Jeffrey ruined me for everybody else.”