“So I’ll leave him the money.”
“Gotcha.”
Of course Phillip had been listening to my conversation, and he seemed half-excited and half-scared at the idea of spending the rest of the afternoon with kids his own age who didn’t know him. I could understand that. But I knew what Phillip was capable of-taking off cross-country alone-and I wanted him busy. I peeled some money out of my purse, and while Sally and Phillip talked about southern accents, I worked on a grocery list.
After Phillip vanished into the bathroom to spruce himself up, Sally and I made sandwiches from the cold-cut tray, which had enough processed meat and cheese for maybe ten people. I rummaged in the refrigerator for mayonnaise, mustard, and pickles; meanwhile, Sally was being complimentary about Phillip’s manners and looks. We had a pleasant conversation while we ate, though it was strangely nonspecific. I noticed that Sally said things like “my boss” for Macon Turner, whom I knew well, and “last week” instead of Wednesday or Thursday. But this was hardly conclusive. I was just thinking maybe I had imagined Sally’s earlier reality blip, when she said, “I really ought to be getting back to work.” We had put all the food away, and I fished my keys out of my purse.
“Okay,” I said. I needed to be getting back to work, too. “Where’s your car?”
Sally’s face went blank.
For a moment, I thought she just didn’t understand me. “I mean, is it at the newspaper, or did you drive down to the library?” I asked.
For one horrible moment, Sally looked frightened.
“Oh, just take me back to the library,” she said with a nonchalance assumed so swiftly and smoothly that I almost didn’t catch that moment. If my back had been turned, I would have swallowed her act.
Sally really didn’t know where her car was.
Chapter Five
I had taken a circuitous route to make sure Sally’s car was indeed at the library. It was, and I dropped her off right by it with some relief. I watched her unlock it and climb in the driver’s seat. I wondered what to do, and then I realized that it wasn’t up to me to do anything. This situation was Perry’s responsibility, and all I could do was be a friend to him so he could talk if he needed to.
I patted him on the shoulder when I passed him in the employees’ lounge, and he looked up at me and nodded, a short, jerky nod of acknowledgment.
“I made an appointment with Dr. Zelman for her next week,” he said. “She tries to cover it up, and she’s pretty good at it, but it’s getting worse and worse.”
There really wasn’t anything else to say.
The two remaining hours of work flew by. There were lots of people coming in and out, lots of computer use, and the book order to complete. When it was time for me to clock out, I was actually glad. There were so many ways for me to go, I couldn’t pick one.
My plans for the rest of the afternoon took an unexpected turn when I went to the employee parking lot and found Bryan Pascoe leaning on my car. His office was within easy walking distance of the library; it was in the old, ambience-laden, inconvenient Jasper Building, which also held Cartland Sewell’s office. So it had been easy for Bryan Pascoe to get where he was. The question was why he was there.
“Ms. Teagarden,” he said.
“Hello, Mr. Pascoe,” I said, and even I could hear the question clearly in my voice. It was a relief not to have to tilt my head back to look Bryan Pascoe in the eyes.
He held out his hand, and I shook it. He had fine bones. “Please call me Bryan,” he said politely.
“Bryan,” I murmured, and retrieved my hand. “Aurora,” I said after a moment.
He nodded.
“My brother, Phillip, said you tried to call me? I would have returned your calls.” I wanted to be sure Bryan Pascoe marked the fact that he was pushing.
“Yes, but I wanted to talk to you face-to-face.”
“All right,” I said hesitantly when he’d been at a full stop for a long moment. “Did you want to go to your office?”
“Can we walk around the block? I’ve been shut in my office all day.”
It was brisk, but not truly cold. “Certainly,” I said after an uncertain pause. What the heck was going on here? “My legs are short, I don’t go at a very quick pace.” Robin always seemed to be two paces ahead of me. Thinking about Robin instantly made me feel bad.
“Your legs are fine,” he said, again catching me off balance, and off we went.
“Has something come up about John David?”
“Of course I’ve talked to Miss Burns. For the moment, she backs up John David a hundred percent. She says he was doing legal work for her.”
I glanced sideways at Bryan, and he smiled at me. He had gleaming white teeth. “She’s been drawing up her will, she says,” Bryan added in an absolutely neutral way.
“If Poppy were alive, Romney Burns’d need it.” I found myself smiling back.
“That’s interesting. Did you see your sister-in-law as a jealous woman?”
I mulled that over. “I don’t think she would have wanted to be humiliated, if John David decided to divorce her, or something about his little relationships became flagrant. Like him taking Romney to the company Christmas party, or something like that,” I said finally. “I guess that’s different from being gut-jealous.”
“How do you feel about that?” the lawyer asked.
I felt like that was a strange question.
I stopped and faced him. Luckily, we were on the sidewalk by the side of the little downtown movie theater, and no one was going in or out at the moment.
“What difference does that make?” I could feel my eyebrows drawing together in a frown.
“Personal curiosity,” he said.
“I don’t know why you want to know.” But I could see no reason to refuse to tell him, either. “I thought it was really… distasteful,” I said, selecting the mildest word that would fit. “Though I’m not an angel myself, for sure.”
“Why are you giving me your opinion in such a tentative way? You don’t have to attach disclaimers.”
“I don’t know you. For all I know, you cheat on your wife every day,” I said bluntly. “I hate to sound holier- than-thou.”
“Why did you call me yesterday?”
“John David thought of you. You’re the best, I hear.”
“I am, Aurora.”
I felt like I was missing something here. “I’m glad to know you’re so confident,” I said a little dubiously.
“I was glad to hear your voice on the phone yesterday. I’ve had my eye on you for quite some time.”
“You think I’ve done something illegal?”
“No, I want to date you.”
“I thought you were married, Bryan,” I said, genuinely astonished. Come to think of it, he had mentioned “ex- wife” yesterday.
“I was, for five years. We got divorced over a year ago.”
“Uh-huh,” I said, feeling like he’d just smacked me in the head with a dead fish, or something equally startling. “Well, Bryan, I’m real flattered, but I’ve been dating Robin Crusoe.”
“I know.” He smiled again. His smile managed to be confident, predatory, and hopeful, all at the same time. “But my sources tell me he’s been flirting with Janie Spellman.”
“Ouch,” I said sharply. “That was below the belt. Who’s your source?”
“I’m not bound by law to cover for her. My source is Janie Spellman herself, who is my cousin once removed.”
“Janie is not too particular about whom she flirts with.”
“I’m sorry you’re angry, but you can’t deny it,” Bryan said unequivocally.
