“You sent me an SOS to discuss my bathing habits? Come on, Livie, what’s up? We’ve only got half an hour before we have to be at Tammy’s, and Lucas made it crystal clear that he did not want to arrive unaccompanied by his date.”
“Understood.” Olivia handed her Clarisse’s letter. “Here, read this while I start emptying the drawer.” Kneeling on the floor, she lifted out cookie cutters one by one and secured them inside a padded basket.
“Odd letter,” Maddie said. “You knew Clarisse way better than I did, but this doesn’t sound like her. Too dithery. Are you sure she didn’t have a drinking problem?”
“Quite sure.” Olivia stowed the letter in the basket of antiques. “I suspect the packet she left for me is in this drawer.”
Maddie hitched up her dress and knelt beside Olivia. “I see something.” She removed a red-handled Scottish terrier cutter made of tinplate steel during World War II. “Looks like the corner of an envelope.”
Olivia pushed aside a few remaining cutters and lifted a business-letter-size envelope out of the drawer. It was unsealed and addressed simply to “Olivia Greyson,” in Clarisse’s handwriting. Olivia reached inside and withdrew a folded piece of wide-ruled lined paper, the kind a schoolchild might use. She unfolded the paper and held it so Maddie could see.
“The light in here is terrible,” Maddie said, leaning in closer. “What does it say?”
Squinting, Olivia said, “The pencil mark is faint, as if the writer wasn’t bearing down hard enough. Let’s go over to the register. There’s a flashlight in the drawer.
Maddie checked her watch and groaned. “I have exactly six minutes to rescue Lucas from Tornado Tammy, so let’s step on it.”
“You go on ahead. I can be late. I can fill you in later.”
“Not a chance.” Maddie had the powerful legs of a hyperactive dancer, and she used them to shoot to her feet. By the time Olivia reached the sales counter, Maddie had found the flashlight and turned it on. Its bright light revealed no salutation. The letter itself was short, only a few lines, which read
You have a grandchild, and you need to step up and do what is right. It will be out of my control soon, so you need to act fast. Call me as soon as you get this.
Faith
A phone number followed the signature.
“Wow,” Maddie said.
“Wow, indeed.” Olivia whipped out her cell and dialed the number. A few moments later, she closed her phone.
“Well?”
“This number is no longer in service.”
Chapter Eight
“Livie! I was afraid you’d forgotten, and after I invited a date for you, too. It’s lucky he’ll be late.” Tammy grabbed Olivia’s elbow and pulled her into the tiny foyer. “You can hang your coat on a hook with the others, and—oh, you did wear a dress.”
“As I recall,” Olivia said, “I was ordered to do so.”
“Yes, but you usually ignore me and do whatever you want.” A hint of amusement softened Tammy’s comment.
Olivia followed Tammy into the living room, where a subdued group of five sat and sipped coffee. Fine bone china cups clicked on their saucers as Olivia entered the room.
“Everyone, this is Olivia Greyson. You all know her, don’t you?” Tammy directed her question to a young couple huddled together on a deep plush sofa.
“I’m not sure I . . .” The young woman’s voice trailed off into a whisper. She was so petite that her feet lifted off the floor as she retreated toward the sofa’s high back.
“Oh, of course,” Tammy said with a light laugh. “We’d graduated by the time you two started at Heights High. Olivia, this is Dottie and Timmy, my neighbors. They’ve been married for six months.” Tammy announced this information as if Dottie and Timmy were her family and she couldn’t be more pleased. “Olivia owns that sweet little cookie-cutter shop on the town square.”
“Along with Maddie Briggs,” Olivia added, darting a glance at Maddie, whose expression reminded her of a carved stone bust.
Dottie’s face lit up. “Of course, I love that store. I didn’t recognize you at first. All dressed up, I mean.”
Tammy made a faint chortling sound in her throat that Olivia hoped no one else could hear.
As Tammy fussed through her hostess duties, allowing no guests to get anything for themselves, Olivia sat in a wingback chair and observed the group. Lucas Ashford, wearing a gray suit that strained across his broad shoulders, occupied a stuffed armchair. His dark eyes skittered around the room as if he were searching for the exits. Maddie perched on one arm of the chair, leaning into him.
Hugh Chamberlain was the only remaining guest. Olivia had seen Hugh on many occasions during her visits to the Chamberlain home, but they’d exchanged no more than a few sentences. Whenever she looked at him, she thought of the portrait of his father that hung in Clarisse’s study. Hugh had his father’s easy charm and good looks, with a well-proportioned body that always looked good in a suit. Olivia remembered that he had played basketball in high school. He’d looked the part and seemed to enjoy himself, but his playing was mediocre. Yet most of the girls had treated him like a successful jock and longed to stand beside him as homecoming queen.
Hugh caught Olivia watching him and smiled. She noticed that his light blue eyes lacked the dark intensity that shone from the deep blue ones in Martin’s portrait. Hugh looked tired. Hardly surprising, given what he’d been through the last few days. Olivia wanted to offer him her condolences, but it just didn’t seem like the right moment. She found it curious that he’d allowed himself to be talked into a gathering so soon after his mother’s death. Perhaps her mom was right that he did love Tammy.
A flash of green in the corner of her vision alerted Olivia that Maddie was trying to get her attention from across the room. Maddie raised her cup and waved it in a circle. Puzzled, Olivia glanced at her own cup, which was white with a thin filigree design in silver. She gazed around the room and noticed white linen cloths covering the coffee table and two side tables. A white vase of white tulips decorated the bureau under the living room window.
When Maddie casually wriggled her own bare ring finger, then nodded her head toward Tammy, Olivia started to catch on. She squirmed in her chair to get a better look at Tammy, specifically at her left hand. Yep, there it was—a diamond ring. No wonder Tammy wanted her guests to stay put. There was to be an announcement.
Olivia glanced again at Maddie, who rolled her eyes. With the slightest tilt of her head, Olivia indicated that Maddie should follow her. When Tammy leaned toward Dottie to answer a question, Olivia slipped into the nearby hallway, which she knew, from previous visits, led through the study, Tammy’s bedroom, and ultimately to the bathroom.
Tammy’s small study was neat, as always. Even when she was in the throes of lesson planning for her first-grade classes, Tammy kept her materials organized in stacked plastic trays. Her bookcase had four shelves, one for children’s books and three for romance novels. On the corner of the desk, Olivia noticed a stack of women’s magazines, their edges even. The top magazine advertised a special section on “Your Perfect Wedding.”
Sometimes Olivia wondered why she and Tammy had remained friends. They were so different. Her thoughts drifted to her other childhood friend Stacey, and she made a quick mental note to give her a call. Those childhood bonds were tough to break, but she knew that having friends, even ones who didn’t like each other, made her life richer.
Tammy’s bedroom repeated the theme in the study, minus the children’s books and plus a stuffed bear collection. Olivia noticed a new adornment for the Victorian-style walnut dresser—a framed photo of Tammy and Hugh on a rocky shore, possibly in Maine, where Tammy’s family used to vacation. Tammy stood on tiptoe, her face tilted upwards toward Hugh, who held her upper arms as he kissed the tip of her nose. From Tammy’s hairdo, Olivia guessed the photo was recent.