“Well, you’re in for a treat then,” she said. “I also scooped up a bit of cream for the animals.”
Doreen laughed as she walked along the flagstones. It was hard to remember that Fred wasn’t here anymore. “Any news about Frank and Fred? Did you guys hire a new gardener?”
“Fred’s out on bail,” she said. “The management here had a meeting about it, and they decided that he was innocent until proven guilty, so he will be back working again.”
Doreen smiled and nodded. “I’m quite happy to hear that,” she said. “I didn’t really want to see him suffer.”
“Oh, I think that family’s had plenty of suffering,” Nan said with a dark overtone.
“Which is why I didn’t want him to have more,” she said. As she sat down, she studied the plate in front of her with the lovely little buns with cream in the center and little hats of cream too. “These look lovely,” she said.
“Absolutely. I love these. Pick one,” Nan urged.
“It’s hard to pick one,” Doreen murmured. “They look so pretty.”
Nan chuckled, reached over to the plate, picked up one, and put it on her plate. “I got two for each of us,” she said. “I’m not sure if I’ll eat both of mine though.” And she picked it up and took a bite. Immediately whipping cream gushed out on both sides, and she had dusted her nose with icing sugar. Nan laughed and said, “They’re delicious.”
Doreen picked one up, wondering how she was supposed to eat something like that. But, given Nan’s enthusiasm and lack of care, she followed suit. She did a better job of it but still ended up with cream coming out everywhere. She shook her head. “Is there an easy way to eat these?”
“Nope,” Nan said, as she continued to munch through hers. “Just eat them because they’re so good.”
Doreen followed suit and finished licking the rest of the cream off her fingers. She had a big dollop on her plate too. She picked that up and let Mugs lick it off her finger and then grabbed another little bit for Thaddeus. He sat here, staring at it. As Goliath hopped up unto her lap and looked at her plate and then up at her, she took a little bit of cream off the top of the second cream puff and gave it to him. “They don’t need the sugar,” she said, “but apparently the cream is going down just lovely.”
“Of course it is,” Nan says. “Everybody needs a treat.”
“Maybe,” Doreen said with a smile. “I’m not sure I need the sugar though.”
“Don’t go on about your weight again,” Nan said. “Unless it’s to say you’re trying to gain weight.”
Doreen chuckled. “I’m doing much better,” she said. “With Mack feeding me all the time, that’s working out lovely.”
“Yes, but are you learning anything?” Nan asked.
“A little,” she said. “I’m getting quite proficient with omelets. But I definitely need to open my repertoire.”
“Good,” Nan said. “How about pasta?”
“I’ve cooked plain noodles,” Doreen admitted. “But only with Mack there to watch.”
Nan chuckled and reached over for a second cream puff. “I don’t need it,” she said, “but I’ll have it.” This time she opened it, so there was cream on both halves and slowly ate each half.
Doreen looked at it, nodded, and said, “That looks much less messy.” So she cut her second one in half too.
“But it doesn’t taste nearly as good,” Nan said with a laugh.
“I did it this way, thinking I might not eat the whole thing,” Doreen explained.
“In your case,” Nan stated, “you can eat the whole thing.”
But Doreen still preferred it cut open and worked her way slowly through the second one. When she put down the second half and picked up her tea to have a sip, she murmured, “That’s a good cup of tea, Nan.”
“This is a blend of herbs I made for Rosie all the time,” Nan said sadly. “She’ll be missed.”
“I’m sorry,” Doreen said. “It’s so much harder to lose a friend, isn’t it?”
“It is, indeed,” Nan said with a sigh.
“I’m hoping that nobody comes after you,” Doreen said. “So make sure you don’t walk anywhere alone.”
“Unless I call you first and you meet me at the creek,” she said with a decisive nod. “Besides, the drugs could have been given at any time. They could have had tea together. They could have been administered here at the manor,” she said, turning to look around. “It’s hard to say.”
“I know,” Doreen said. “That’s why I’m concerned. We don’t want it to be something that you could be touched with and have it kill you.”
“Rosie used to grow digitalis,” she said.
“Right,” Doreen said. “Didn’t you too?”
“I did for a while,” she said. “We know Penny did as well.”
“Of course, but it’s a matter of making a concoction that’s strong enough to get them to ingest it? And to have it affect them later? Unless they were meeting somebody each time.”
“Well, Rosie was coming to you, but she might have been talking to somebody else.” Nan frowned. “I did hear her voice as she left. She was talking on the phone too.”
“To meet someone?” Doreen leaned closer. “Because I know one of the women, Bella Beauty, was to meet someone. I spoke to her daughter. Bella was to meet somebody. Somebody she was trying to bury the hatchet with.”
“So it’s hard to say then,” Nan said. “But that sounds like something that Rosie would do as well.” And then she stopped, looked at Doreen, and said, “It would be something all us older ladies would likely do too because we’re always trying to clear off our plates and make amends for anything we might have done wrong.”
“But did they do anything wrong?”
“I doubt Rosie did,” she said. “But I know it bothered her that Marsha wasn’t a friend.”
“But why would she be bothered?”
“Exactly,” Nan said with a nod. “I’m pretty sure that, somewhere between those
