“That might be an improvement,” Judith murmured.
“Sometimes you’re not so hot at using your hands.”
“Funny, coz,” Renie said sarcastically. “Talk to you
in the morning.”
As Renie left via the back door, Judith glanced at
the schoolhouse clock. It was almost midnight, the
witching hour on Halloween.
Maybe she wasn’t losing her mind. Maybe she
wasn’t even losing her nerve.
But she still believed she could be losing Hillside
Manor.
NINETEEN
“THE AIRPORT’S STILL closed,” Joe announced as he
brought in the morning paper. “That’s bad news.”
“I didn’t know it was closed,” Judith responded
with a frosty look.
“It’s the fog,” Joe said. “Haven’t you noticed it
settled in again during the night?”
“I haven’t had time to notice anything,” Judith retorted. “I’ve been too busy figuring out what to
serve our unwanted guests for breakfast.”
Joe rested his chin on her shoulder. “Need some
help?”
Judith jerked away from her husband. “Help? Like
what, plugging in the coffeemaker? I already did that.”
“Hey!” Joe sounded offended. “What’s wrong?”
She whirled on him. “What’s wrong? Are you
kidding?”
Joe held up his hands in a defensive gesture.
“Take it easy, Jude-girl. I know you’re upset, but
this morning I’m going to call Dilys at headquarters
and find out what she’s—”
“Dilys!” Judith exploded. “Where’s she been since
Saturday night? Sunbathing? And what have you
been doing except studying Bill’s stupid chart?”
“That chart’s not a bad idea,” Joe said, still relatively calm. “Woody and I used to put together something like—”
“Woody!” Judith cried in exasperation. “I thought
he was helping you. Has he been kidnapped by Gypsies or did the floating bridge between here and the
Eastside sink again?”
Joe threw up his hands. “Okay, okay! Don’t knock
Woody. He’s been running background checks on
these goofballs all weekend. I expect to hear from him
soon.”
“And he won’t have one single thing that will help
us,” Judith declared, dumping two pounds of bacon
into a skillet. “Toast.” She bit off the word. “That’s it,
toast, bacon, and scrambled eggs. They can take their
weird food cravings someplace else if they don’t like
