Part 9 (2/2)
Zandy patted her stomach and sighed. ”Not to mention the fact that no one can afford the calories.”
”Well, I still think it's a shame that it stopped.” Chloe shook her head sadly, then turned toward Lauren. ”Speaking of shame, how are things going with your neighbor?” Chloe took a sip of tea, her pinky finger extended for effect.
”About the same. Although she has condescended to allowing her maid to ask me if I could do a little work on a couple of her gowns. She insists on paying market rate and will not accept anything that might be regarded in any way as a favor or gift. But her maid did inform me yesterday that there will be some leftover purple sage later in the week. I will be allowed to plant this outside her fence, if I so choose, as long as I use only her own gardening materials.”
”Really? I'd say that's progress, then.” Rhonda leaned forward and squeezed Lauren's arm. ”I knew you'd break through that barrier.”
”I hope so.” Lauren started to take a bite of scone but then added, ”Her maid told me she thought that I've been a good thing for Miss Montgomery, although I certainly don't see it yet.”
”I told you that you were there for a reason.” Rhonda's face beamed with happiness. ”I actually thought of you during my quiet time this morning. I'm reading the book of Galatians. Did you know it was written because of a mishap? Paul said sickness had brought him to them, and that sickness had been a burden to them, but they had not treated him that way. You know that he was a go-go-go kind of man, so you can only believe that his getting sick and having to stop and have people take care of him would not have been something he sought. Somehow, Lauren, that whole thing with Marisa Remington, it was supposed to happen, and I believe that a big part of the reason might be your new next-door neighbor. That woman is your mission field, I feel it with every fiber of my being.”
”I'm not there with every fiber yet, but I will say that I'm beginning to believe that you may be right.”
”Aren't I always?” Rhonda offered a cheeky grin and took another sip of tea.
Lauren got back to the cottage late Wednesday night with both her heart and her stomach full from the afternoon tea event. She carried in her fabric and spread the wedding silk across the couch. It would be beautiful, and the gold brocade would bring out the golden highlights in Priscilla's hair. Not that the girl needed any sort of encouragement about how beautiful she was, but Lauren's job was to make her as beautiful as possible.
She looked at the sketch she'd made and began draping muslin across the dress form to create a pattern. Her phone buzzed that she had a text, and she walked over and saw that it was from Chloe.
Saw Cody tonight. He keeps asking about you. He is great, don't you think?
As I've said before, Cody's very nice, but I'm just not there right now. There are too many other things I've got to work out before I even think about seeing someone.
Party p.o.o.per.
Lauren returned to her work, thankful that Chloe had backed down so easily. That girl was nothing if not persistent, and sometimes it took a little work to get her to drop an issue.
Lauren had completely lost herself in the work and was surprised when her cell phone buzzed again. She picked it up, ready to see what counterargument Chloe might have dreamed up. Kendall's name appeared at the top of the message.
Any more sightings of your neighbor?
I haven't seen her. I've been out of town.
That, at least, was the truth.
Anything at all you want to share?
She decided a quick yet truthful answer might work well here.
No.
That truly is unfortunate.
Her phone went silent then.
nineteen.
The next morning, Lauren was still troubled about Kendall. More and more, she seemed to be implying that she was only willing to help Lauren bring out the truth if Lauren was willing to give up information on Miss Montgomery. Surely not, though. The Marisa incident would be a big news story. Surely any reporter would want to be the one to break it. Lauren had just grown suspicious because of all that had happened to her recently.
As she made her way back up from her morning beach walk, she glanced toward the Victorian and saw Miss Montgomery herself on the back porch. Lauren waved briefly, then made a point of turning her attention in the other direction. No need for a confrontation about snooping this morning.
When she glanced back toward the house a few seconds later, Miss Montgomery was gesturing toward her. Lauren walked over closer to the fence, and Miss Montgomery slowly made her way across the lawn. She wore medium-height heels and a lovely dress. It was coral in color, just below knee length, with a flowing skirt and a knit top with white flowers.
”Good morning.” Miss Montgomery walked up to the fence, her face almost showing a smile, but not quite.
”Good morning.” Lauren made a point of smiling all the more brightly. ”How are you?”
”I wanted to say thank you for the work you did to repair that dress. It was rather remarkable.”
”You're welcome. It was a privilege to spend time with that gown. It is a true work of art.” Lauren stopped herself from gus.h.i.+ng on and on about it, even though she easily could have. She simply concluded with a shrug and said, ”I couldn't stand the thought of throwing it into the bin at the high school theater.”
Miss Montgomery nodded once, appearing thoughtful. ”You could have sold it.”
”Sold it? It wasn't mine to sell.”
Miss Montgomery stared at Lauren, hard, for the course of several seconds before she continued. ”The reason I called to you is that I seem to have lost a necklace. I wear it quite a lot, and the last time I remember having it was during dinner a couple of nights ago. I did a little walkabout that night, and I'm concerned it might have landed in the gra.s.s or the landscaping. When you're walking along the path there, or if you do some more planting, will you please keep an eye out for it?”
”Of course I will.” Lauren glanced down around her feet. ”I'm usually pretty good at finding things-my roommate used to always call on me when she dropped the back of an earring.”
”Good, we could use a little bit of that talent right now. That necklace holds great sentimental value. It's worth more to me than any cash value attached to it.”
”Don't worry, I'll keep my eyes open. What does it look like?”
”It's short, not much more than a choker really. The entire length is sapphires encircled by diamonds.”
”Yes, I think I've seen you wearing that one.” Actually, she knew she'd seen it but didn't want to sound like a snoop. ”Where might you have walked on the path? I'll go search for it now, before the workers arrive.”
”Mostly right around where you are. I went out on the road in front of the house and down to the end of the lane. Richard has already walked all those places looking, but since you do walk around a fair amount, I'm just asking you to be on the lookout.”
”Of course I will.” Lauren knew that she would walk all through those paths before returning home.
”Good,” Miss Montgomery said. ”Thank you.” She started back toward her house, then paused and turned. ”By the way, Richard brought the sage earlier. He said you'd find the leftovers in the potting shed, if you want them.”
”Sounds great. Thank you.”
Lauren walked slowly all around the dirt path, to the end of the lane, closely examining every place she believed a necklace could have fallen. She found nothing, but she had trouble giving up.
Finally, she returned to her cottage, disappointed and troubled. She hoped that the necklace had been located inside the house by now. Probably it had. Why couldn't she rest easy about it?
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