Page 19 of Beautiful Harmony

Nora’s jaw dropped. “Are you fucking - sorry, freaking - kidding me?”

“Nope,” Cora said. “Doris was a real piece of work.”

“Is she from Harmony Falls?”

“No, she was originally from New Cassel. She moved here with her husband but returned to the city when he got caught dick deep in Shelly at the Walgreens.”

“Shelly, the cashier?” Nora asked. “The one who can’t count?”

Emma laughed. “That’s the one.”

“It was literally at the Walgreens,” Cora said. “Like, in the stockroom. Sean walked in on them.”

“I still can’t believe Sean didn’t fire Shelly,” Emma said.

“Pretty sure she has something on him,” Cora said. “She’s terrible at her job and was caught screwing a married man in the store. She has to be holding something over Sean, right?”

“Maybe,” Emma said.

“So, I assumed you fired Doris?” Nora asked.

Before Emma could reply, Cora said, “She quit after I maybe, kind of, yelled at her.”

Nora’s jaw dropped. “You yelled at her? You’re, like, the nicest person in Harmony Falls.”

“She tore a strip off of her,” Emma said, “for almost twenty minutes. It was beautiful. Doris was sobbing by the end of it.”

“She shouldn’t have said what she did about your birthmark,” Cora said with a shrug. “She deserved to hear the truth about what a horrible person she is.”

“Remind me never to piss off Cora,” Nora said to Emma.

Cora laughed and put her arm around Nora’s shoulders. “Are you kidding? We’re Nora and Cora, best friends and secret crime-fighting yarn nerds.”

“It’s not a secret if you keep telling people,” Nora said.

“Fair point. Hey, did you hear about the new family that bought the Thorson’s farm?” Cora asked. “They moved in a couple of weeks ago.”

“Someone finally bought it?” Emma said. “It’s been on the market for nearly three years now.”

“I think it would have been four this December,” Cora said. “Liza and Edgar have lived in the assisted care facility for the last three years. Their kids started thinking they might have to auction off the property. Anyway, it’s a husband and wife with twins - a boy and a girl.”

“Ooh, I met them!” Nora said. “They came into the coffee shop the other day. They’re super nice. Their names are Morgan and Gabriel, and their kids are Alice and William.”

“How do you know that?” Cora asked.

“Because I’m super friendly?” Nora said, the inflection in her voice making Emma laugh. “Plus, their kids are about Eva’s age, and kids that age freaking love me. Pretty sure it’s the tattoos and piercings.”

“They bought those sheep from Solomon Whitaker,” Cora said.

“Whitaker Ranch is a horse ranch. Since when did they have sheep?” Emma asked.

“Oh, you know how Solomon is. He can never say no to an animal in need. They were on the auction block, and some were in bad shape, so he bought them. Doc Brandt went out to examine them, and I guess the one cost Solomon a pretty penny to treat.”

“Okay, so how do you know they bought the sheep from Solomon?” Emma asked.

“Solomon’s wife, Heather, was in the other day picking up some yarn for a baby blanket she’s making,” Cora said. “She said they were a nice couple. She’s a school teacher, and he does something with computers but runs a sheep farm as a hobby. I guess they have a flock of about fifteen sheep they brought with them. Heather didn’t say anything about his face to me, but Seo-Jun had plenty to say when I ran into her at Albertsons the other day.”

Nora made a face. “She was working at the coffee shop the day they came in.”

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