Page 67 of Murder on the Page

I stared at my pal.Really? So much for keeping a conversation confidential.

Rick said, “It’s true. I was married. For fifteen years. It wasn’t a good fit. I traveled too much. After a while, she didn’t trust me, mainly because her father was a traveling salesman and stepped out on her mother. I never did. And I sure as heck wasn’t a salesman. But . . .” He raised a hand. “But she couldn’t get past it. Today, when I spotted the pawnshop, I decided it was time to sell the ring. Put the memory behind me.”

“What’re your intentions with my mother?” Tegan blurted.

“That’s none of your business, young lady,” Rick said.

“Actually, it is,” she countered.

“Fine.” Rick clicked his tongue in his mouth, another smile appearing. What he must think of the two of us. “For therecord, your mother likes me, and I like her. We’ve been talking about traveling together. She wants to see Italy, and I’m game. It’s one of the few countries I’ve never visited. Does that about cover it?”

“Almost.” Tegan crossed her arms. “I asked about you at the hospital, and nobody seems to know you.”

I winced. I knew my friend could be blunt, but this was so direct even I was stunned.

Rick’s gaze narrowed. “You asked about me, and you”—he regarded me—“have been following me?”

“I told you, I wasn’t—”

“Just teasing you again,” he said. The way his eyes twinkled with mischief, I could see why Noeline was falling for him. He had a feistiness about him.

“My friend is one of the head nurses,” Tegan went on, undaunted. “She knows everyone, and she’s never heard of you.”

Rick smoothed the hair along the right side of his head, trying and succeeding to tamp down exasperation. “I’ve only been in town a short time, Tegan. Previously I lived in Charlotte and before that in Raleigh. I’ve moved around a lot. I rarely mingle with the nursing staff.”

Which corroborated my theory.

“Do you intend to stay in Bramblewood?” Tegan asked.

“I’m considering buying a condo or a small house, if that’s saying anything. I’d like the Asheville area to be my home base. It’s the nicest place I’ve ever lived. Quaint but cosmopolitan. Lots of outdoor activities. Plenty of good theater. And the best craft beer in the US.” He spread his hands. “Look, if you’re worried about my bona fides, ask the kids at the hospital how they feel about me. I read to them a lot.”

“You read to the children?” Tegan tilted her head.

“Yes.”

“So the volunteers know you.”

“Some certainly do.” He held her gaze.

My cell phone pinged. I’d received a text message from J.J. I stepped aside and reviewed the list of jewelers he’d sent. It was so long, I didn’t know where to begin. I made a mental note to ask Noeline if she knew the name of her sister’s favorite jeweler. With all the jewelry Marigold had purchased over the years, she must have had one.

CHAPTER16

“I could easily forgivehispride, if he had not mortifiedmine.”

—Elizabeth Bennet, in Jane Austen’sPride and Prejudice

By the time I got home, I was dog-tired, but I couldn’t go to bed. Not only because it was early—seven p.m.—but because Darcy wouldn’t let me, considering the way he was pacing the floor. He wasn’t starving. He was in need of attention.

“Really, sir?” I grumbled, picking him up and staring into his eyes. “Sometimes I swear you are a dog. Feline lesson number one: Cats aren’t supposed to mind that their humans go away for hours at a time.”

I carried him to my bedroom and told him about my day, filling him in on what Tegan had uncovered and complaining that I was frustrated with the police. Why hadn’t they come up with the killer’s identity by now?

My cell phone chimed. Zach was calling. Had he sensed my dismay? Were we that in tune?No, not possible. Like Tegan would say, “Cool your jets, Allie.”

I answered after one ring. “Evening. Got the killer?”

He sighed. “Allie, murder investigations take time.”

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