Page 45 of Death on Riddle Road
Violet nodded.“Very pregnant.Saw her at Shep’s last week.Must be any time now.”
The delivery of food to Clara and me created a mild disruption.
Clara responded with “He only got married a few years ago?Gosh, you think he was mourning Jaylynn all that time?”Perhaps not the most politick approach to abandon the side issue that had temporarily united Linda and Violet.
Carol stepped in before that brushfire reignited.
First, her skeptical head tip didn’t give Evan Ferguson that much credit.Quickly followed by her speaking — before either of the other two women could.
“You know, I once had a fascinating discussion with Donna about that.And she told me some dogs, especially ones who start off with a nervous disposition, can initially be nervous of things that make sense — loud noises or big animals or such — but then they get in the habit of being nervous and they’ll shy off from things that make no sense at all.A gum wrapper or a leaf.
“That’s what Evan Ferguson makes me think of.For a long time, it was like he thought every female he met was going to be murdered any second.At least any female in the right age group, interested in men, and not running the opposite direction from him.Until Quebec.”
“Quebec?”I asked, wondering how this had traveled to Canada.
“His wife.That’s her name.”
“She’s been good for him?”Clara asked.
Carol chuckled dryly.“Donna had something to say about that, too.She called it an old-fashioned relationship.”
“Oh?What did she mean by that?”
“Old-fashioned like they portrayed lots of marriages on TV in those old sitcoms.She rules the roost by pretending to be delicate and withdrawing, when she’s anything but.But it makes him toe the line.”
“Maybe that’s what he needed,” Clara offered.“A strong woman.One who wouldn’t run away from him and wouldn’t let him run away from a relationship.”
Carol’s head tip this time was sharp enough to cut cheese.“The same way a cowboy roping a steer and throwing it to the ground — not letting it run away — is good for the steer.”
Chuckles from farther down the table proved that end had been listening in, as Clara and I finished our meals and the others moved onto dessert.
Now, Millie asked, “You talked to Rose Gleiner this morning?”
How had she heard about that?Donna?Or were we observed?
“Briefly,” Clara said with a slight smile.
Her not sharing more indicated she was prepared to leave Donna to work her magic and not invite this larger group into the details.
Millie nodded wisely.“That’s smart.Hospices have lots of drugs that could be used to kill somebody.Palliative care doesn’t mean the drugs can’t be dangerous.”
“That’s true.But they’re careful,” Linda said.
“So they claim,” Violet said.
“We have first-hand proof they’re careful,” Linda returned with a bit of a snap.It was gone when she turned to Clara to continue.“Remember I had that prescription after my back surgery—”
“Which you would not take.”Violet used an entirely different tone for that comment — one of fond scolding.“Despite the pain.”
“I got through it.But I knew if it got too bad, I had those pills, thanks to you getting the prescription filled for me.But the point is, I still had them after I healed from the surgery, the whole bottle, and I didn’t know what to do with them, especially considering...you know.”
Clara caught me up with the history the rest of them knew.“Linda had a neighbor, a teenager then, who had issues with drugs.He’d been in her house at least once looking for whatever he could find and she was concerned if he found those pain pills...”
“They were so potent,” the older woman picked up.“The nurse impressed that on me quite forcefully.And if any harm had come to him because of my carelessness—” She pulled in a quick breath, then her expression changed, giving way to a smile.“And now he’s a wonderful young man who has worked so very hard on his sobriety and is doing marvelously.”
Happy sighs came from around our end of the table.“You hear so much about the horrible overdose deaths, but there are successes, too,” Violet said.
“One day at a time.One day at a time,” Linda murmured.“Anyway, the point in rehashing this history you all know and that’s surely boring Sheila to tears—”
