Page 13 of Amazing Grace

Molly nodded and phoned the Whitewater. “Hello? Hey, it’s Molly. Somebody called and…okay. Yeah, I’ll hold.” She rolled her eyes to the ceiling, obviously thinking she knew what was coming. “Hello? Yes, I. I’m not… Yes. Yes. Okay. Sure. Thank you so much.” She sighed and looked at the phone in her hand. “They were really nice about all this. They told me to take a few days off until everything gets sorted out, and they didn’t want me to have to worry about getting mobbed by curiosity-seekers at work.”

Grace put her arms around Molly and hugged her. “That’s great. It’s going to be okay, Molly. You still have your job, and I’ll help you find an apartment. Your life will be back on track before you know it. Now, let’s get your stuff upstairs, then figure out what we want for dinner. I’m starving.”

Molly looked a little gray but offered up a wobbly smile. “Okay.” She turned to Zoe and Emily. “Thanks again for letting me stay. I really, really appreciate it, and I’m grateful some people in town believe me.”

Emily and Zoe both came forward for a hug. “Of course, we believe you. You’re very sweet, and we don’t think you’d hurt a fly, let alone kill somebody!”

Zoe looked at Grace. “Are you going to hire an attorney?”

“If it comes down to that. Right now, we’re just ‘persons of interest.’ If I think things are going south for us, I’ll hire thebest in the state.” Grace turned and urged Molly upstairs. “Let’s go and try to be quiet. We don’t want to wake the baby.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Lily can sleep through a stampede.” Zoe smiled at them.

Nonetheless, they crept up the stairs and once in their room, kept their voices down to whispers.

“Okay, this is what’s going to happen,” Grace said. “We’re going to get dinner, then we’re going to get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow, we find Ginny Windom and figure out what she has to do with all of this.”

“Do you think that’s wise?” Molly asked. “Maybe we should just let the cops do their thing.”

“Like I said before, they’re focusing on us. The real murderer might get away while they’re trying to tie us to the murder.” Grace said. “Look at what’s happened already. You lost your apartment and your job in one day because of rumors. We need to find out who did it and clear us.”

Molly nodded. “Okay then. Let’s go.”

Chapter 6

Morning came, seemingly innocuous and commonplace with bright light and birdsong. But for Molly and Grace, it was like no other morning. The heaviness of the rumors that they’d murdered Jeremy Prada hung like funereal wreaths around their necks and cast everything with a gray pall. One that Grace was fighting hard to shed.

“Come on, Molly. Everything’s going to be fine.” Grace sat on the side of the bed, dressed in her pajamas and thick socks. Molly lay in bed yet, seemingly unable to get out of it.

“I feel like my life is over, Grace. Alone. No apartment, no job, no prospects.”

“You’re not the first one to have to start over, Molly. And you’re not alone. You’ve got me. You’re going to be fine.” Grace cupped Molly’s chin in the palm of her hand. “I like you, Molly. A lot. We’re going to get through this, together.”

Molly nodded but still looked so sad that it broke Grace’s heart to see her so down. She leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on Molly’s lips. “It’s going to be alright. I promise.”

Molly gave her a tiny smile. “I want to believe you. I want it so bad.”

“Then believe.” Grace broke into a wide grin and tore the covers down from over Molly’s body. “Okay, enough feeling sorry for ourselves. We’ve got work to do today. Let’s go. You hit the shower, and I’ll go downstairs and make breakfast. Meet you in the kitchen in twenty!”

Thirty minutes later, Molly, dressed in jeans and a soft-looking pullover sweater was seated at the kitchen table eatingeggs, bacon, and toast, with a cup of steaming hot coffee on the side.

Zoe and Emily had taken Lily for a walk, so Grace and Molly were alone in the house. It was quiet, peaceful, and relaxing.

Grace finished cooking and joined her at the table. She took a sip of her coffee and smiled. “Ah, the Goddess Caffeine, she sings through my veins!”

Molly giggled. “You’re so weird sometimes.”

“I know. It makes me interesting. And speaking of weird, we’re going to talk to Ginny Windom today. I found out from Zoe that she runs a vintage clothing shop on Third. We can head up there after breakfast.”

“What do we do when we get there? We can’t just push her up against the wall and demand answers.”

“Of course not. You get more flies with honey than vinegar. We’ll be sweet and amicable. Look at her clothing and get her talking about her passion for vintage and for her cats. See where it leads us.” Grace sopped up the last bit of egg with a piece of toast and ate it. “Do you have the dishes? I’d like to grab a shower. Oh, and by the way, Zoe and Emily gave us the code to the house lock so we can come and go as we please.”

“That’s so awesome of them.” Molly nodded. “And don’t worry. I’ve got the dishes. Take your time. I’ll be here.”

Grace trotted upstairs and grabbed her clothes and a towel and locked herself in the bathroom. A long, hot shower was just what she needed, and when she was done, she felt like a new woman who could face the world. Even when that world thought she was a murderer.

She dressed in jeans and another button-down flannel, and her comfortable boots, then hurried downstairs.

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