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  “Really? Holly said, a surprised look on her face.

  “Oh, I get that.” Ivy nodded. “I’ve lived in the South for thirty years, and I’m still considered a Yankee. And let’s not forget that you’re a woman by yourself.”

  “Yeah, there’s that.” Kate leaned her head on the back of her chair and looked up at the ceiling.

  “Why does Bascom have it in for Tommy?” Holly asked.

  Kate sat forward again, her brow wrinkled. “That’s a good question. You know, I’m not sure.”

  “You seem pretty sure Tommy didn’t kill Chuck,” Ivy said.

  “Look.” Kate moved to the edge of her chair. “Tommy used to hang out with us when my kids were little. He’s done some jobs for me. I’m telling you, he’s a really gentle soul. Just because he got into some trouble when he was thirteen...” She broke off and leaned back into the cushions.

  “What happened?” Ivy asked.

  “He and a couple of other boys stole some things from the dollar store. But it was Chuck who bailed him out and took him under his wing. Even if I thought he was capable of killing someone -- which I don’t -- he’d never kill Chuck.”

  “Where’s his father?” Holly asked.

  “Nobody knows who his father is,” Kate frowned. “Raquelle, his mother, is kind of the town floozy. She got pregnant in high school and, as far as I know, she never told anyone who Tommy’s father is.”

  “Small towns, big secrets,” Ivy mused, looking out the window. After a moment, she stood up, “Hey, what do you say we go out to dinner? My treat.”

  “I think that’s a great idea,” Holly agreed.

  Kate shrugged. “I don’t have much of an appetite.”

  “Then you can have a glass of wine.” Holly smiled. “You know I always say you don’t drink enough.”

  ***************

  As they waited for Kate in the kitchen, Ivy refilled the dogs’ three water bowls. “I think I’m not coming to visit you anymore,” she whispered.

  Holly blanched, looking as if she’d been slapped. “Why would you say such a thing?”

  “Because every time I’ve visited you in the past year, someone has died.”

  Holly shook her head and frowned. “Oh, don’t be ridiculous. People die every day. This is just a bizarre coincidence.”

  “Call it what you want. All I know is three visits, three deaths.”

  “Hey, don’t they say these things happen in threes? After this one, we’re good.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Ivy said arching both eyebrows.

  Holly grinned. “I’m always right.”

  4 FLO DWYER

  Kate nearly spilled her wine as she roared with laughter. Holly just frowned.

  Ivy slapped the table and leaned toward Kate. “I know. Can you believe it? She actually said she’s always right!”

  Holly sipped her beer and looked across the restaurant as her sister and friend continued giggling. “Are you finished?” she finally asked as the giggles subsided.

  “Oh, c’mon,” Kate said. “That’s the first laugh I’ve had all day.”

  “Yeah,” Ivy said. “Lighten up. I knew getting out was exactly what Kate needed.”

  Holly sighed, an indulgent smile on her face. “Glad to be the source of your comic relief.”

  “You have to admit, saying you’re always right is particularly funny after Lyla Powell’s murder,” Kate chuckled.

  “And,” Ivy added, “I’m sure whatever happened between you and Nick, you were not right.”

  “Oh, no, you didn’t,” Kate muttered, placing her elbow on the table, covering her eyes with her hand. After a few moments of silence, she peeked through her fingers at the two sisters locked in a glaring contest.

  Finally, Holly put her glass down and slid out of the booth. Placing her hands flat on the table, she leaned towards Ivy. “I don’t care what you say, sister dear, I’m not talking about it.” Standing up straight, she sniffed, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to the ladies room.”

  As she disappeared through the doorway marked “Restrooms”, Kate turned to Ivy. “I can’t believe you said that!”

  Ivy gave her head a weary shake. “That time she was right. I was baiting her. I know it sounded mean, but I really just wanted to get her talking. If she didn’t respond to what I said just now, I guess she’s never going to tell us what happened.”

  “I was so sorry when she told me about the split up.” Kate leaned back and took another sip of wine. “I really feel bad for her.”

  “Oh, me too,” Ivy sighed. “But I can’t help wondering if she wasn’t the cause of the breakup. She’s been masterful at self-sabotage since her breakup with Brian.”

  Kate’s eyes widened, then darted to the restroom doorway. “Shh. Here she comes.”

  Holly smiled serenely as she slid back into the booth alongside Ivy. She’d just picked up her glass when the restaurant entrance door opened.

  “Oh, wow,” Kate whispered. “That’s Chuck’s wife.”

  The woman stopped just inside the doorway and surveyed the room. A faded pastel blouse served as a jacket over a white polyester shell that hugged her plus-size frame. Her baggy blue denim pants were frayed at the hem that dragged behind her Birkenstock sandals. Her graying hair, cut in a bob, looked as if it hadn’t been combed. When she spotted Kate, she waved and lumbered over to their table.

  “Flo, I’m so sorry…” Kate began.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Flo waved her hand in a dismissive motion. “I heard you were the one who found him.”

  Kate nodded. “These are my friends, Holly and Ivy Donnelly. Actually, Ivy is the one who found Chuck.”

  The big woman cast a glance at Ivy and nodded. “Good thing. The Sheriff said he’d only been dead a few hours. Any longer and he’d a really stunk up the place. As it is, I can’t get in until Bascom says it’s okay.”

  Kate hesitated, fidgeting in her seat. After an uncomfortable silence she asked, “You have a place to stay?”

  “Oh, yeah. I checked myself into the Robin Hood Inn,” she chuckled. “Nobody to stop me from spending Chuck’s money now.”

  Kate picked up her wine glass and took a long swallow.

  Holly looked from Kate to Flo. “They notified you pretty quickly,” she said.

  “Yeah, I was still Chuck’s emergency phone number. Dumbbell.” Flo smirked and shook her head.

  Holly picked up her glass and chugged what was left. Ivy started to say something, stopped and just lowered her head.

  From behind the bar, the waitress held up a small shopping bag. “Your take-out’s ready.”

  “That’s me.” Flo looked down at Kate. “Thanks for saving me a trip to the morgue to identify the body.” Turning to Ivy, she sneered, “And thanks for saving me the trouble of finding a smelly corpse.”

  The three women watched her walk away. After she’d exited the restaurant, Ivy shivered, “What an awful person!”

  Kate slowly shook her head from side to side. “I never really liked her, but I didn’t think she was this cold and heartless. Poor Chuck.”

  “Were they separated?” Holly asked.

  “No. They had this weird on-again-off-again relationship. Whenever they had a fight, she’d go stay with her sister. I haven’t seen her in a few days, so I guess that’s where she was the night Chuck was murdered.”

  The trio sat silently until the waitress came by. “Anybody need anything?”

  “Another round, please,” Holly said. Neither Ivy nor Kate objected.

  ***************

  The sun had nearly set as Holly pulled into Kate’s driveway. They could hear Amy barking as soon as they opened the car doors.

  “Let’s get these puppies walked,” Holly said. “After that, I’m going straight to bed.”

  “Me too,” Ivy said. “I’m exhausted.”

  “Me three.” Kate unlocked the door. “Don’t forget we have the Trout Parade tomorrow.”

  “Oh, my gosh,” Ivy s
aid, “With everything going on, I completely forgot about the parade.”

  After walking the dogs, Holly and Ivy waited in the kitchen as Kate locked up. “Should we move furniture in front of the doors?” Kate asked.

  Holly smiled. “I don’t think anyone will get past these dogs tonight.”

  “They did last night,” Kate said.

  “Yes, but Lucky wasn’t here then. Everyone’s a stranger to her.”

  Ivy sighed. “I wish Nick were here.”

  Without a word, Holly turned and headed upstairs.

  5 MOVING ON

  Nick pulled Holly close and kissed her -- one of those slow, sensuous kisses that left her in a languorous muddle.

  “Stop,” she said, pulling back.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, shaking his head.

  “You always do this.” She tried to break loose, but he wasn’t letting go.

  “Do what?”

  “You start kissing me when I’m trying to make a point.”

  Nick laughed.

  “It’s not funny. You know that’s what you do.” She continued to struggle against Nick’s grip. “Let go of me.”

  Holly wakened with a start. She couldn’t move. Tangled in her bedsheets she needed to roll over to get free. Sitting up, she realized she’d been dreaming about Nick. It wasn’t the first time. She was sure all the pressure from Ivy and Kate to talk about their break-up caused her to dream about him tonight.

  Reaching to the nightstand, she felt around and finally put her hand on her cellphone. 3:34 AM. This was not good. If she didn’t fall back to sleep, she’d be a zombie by noon.

  When would these dreams end? She hated them. They always felt so real. Or was that just her memory playing tricks on her? One night she actually thought she smelled his aftershave.

  Putting the phone on the nightstand, she lay back down nestling into the pillows. She had to forget him -- move on, as they say. They were simply incompatible in so many ways. Turning on her side, she sighed. But they were compatible in some very important ways.

  Ugh! She tossed on her other side. The dreams about his kissing her were always the worst. She’d actually feel his lips on her neck -- her ear -- her lips. She stretched and curled her toes, flipping on her back, staring at the ceiling in the dark.

  Maybe she should just get up and try to read. Propping herself up on her elbow, she again reached over to the nightstand feeling for her Kindle. She had to stretch a bit to reach it. As she did, she glanced out the window towards the Leggett house. A brief beam of light in a second-floor window caught her eye. How could that be? Didn’t Kate say the electricity over there was shut off? Sitting up she fixed her eyes on the window. Nothing. Just my imagination.

  Leaning back, she turned on the Kindle. Looking at the opening screen, she shook her head. Fat chance Judy Buch’s murder mystery, Venom, was going to put her to sleep. Returning to her home page, she tapped on this month’s book club selection, Ali Smith’s How to Be Both. If that didn’t get her to nod off, nothing would.

  6 THE TROUT PARADE

  “Here comes the Trout Man!” Ivy pointed past the Dairy Fairy Float to a man wearing a rubber trout head waving to the crowd.

  “Only in Reddington Manor!” Holly laughed.

  “That’s right,” Kate chuckled. “Where else could you see an entire town shut down to celebrate the humble trout?”

  “Speaking of trout, I’m hungry,” Ivy said, looking at her watch.

  “Yes, I think it’s time for refreshment,” Kate nodded. “Let’s head to the Trout and Bear Pub before the parade finishes and we have to stand in line for an hour.”

  The three women wove their way through the crowd filling the sidewalks, arriving at the rustic gates bearing a coat of arms with a smiling trout and a growling grizzly.

  “Oh, this is lovely. All these picnic tables out front remind me of those English pubs,” Ivy said.

  A young woman wearing a bib apron with a smiling trout stenciled on it came over. “Would you like to sit outside or inside?” she asked cheerfully.

  Kate looked at the two sisters. “Outside,” Holly and Ivy said simultaneously.

  The hostess grabbed three menus and led them to a table midway between the entrance gate and the restaurant.

  “Perfect,” Kate said as they sat down.

  “Your server will be with you in a moment,” the hostess said.

  The trio immediately fell to perusing their menus.

  “What kinds of desserts do they have?” Ivy asked turning over her menu.

  “I think they have tiramisu and gelato,” Kate replied.

  Ivy’s face lit up. “I’m in heaven.”

  “Can I get you ladies something to drink?”

  All three women looked up at a tall, platinum blonde woman, also wearing an apron with the ubiquitous smiling trout. The apron hugged her curves and her blouse was unbuttoned to reveal her ample décolletage.

  “Hi, Raquelle,” Kate said. “I didn’t realize you worked here.”

  “I just help out on busy weekends,” she said without smiling.

  After taking the drink order, the buxom waitress headed back to the restaurant, when a voice called out.“Hey, Raquelle, honey, c’mere.”

  A hulk of a man in a Buffalo Bills t-shirt waved her over to a seating area positioned outside to the left of the restaurant building. Seated on Adirondack chairs that circled a firepit, he and his friends all grinned in Raquelle’s direction. The curvy blonde stopped, smiled and slowly walked over. An interchange between her and the hulk took place. The entire group burst into loud laughter. She cast a playful grin over her shoulder, as she sauntered back into the restaurant.

  “I’ll bet she does very well on tips,” Holly said, a droll expression on her face.

  “Yeah,” Kate chuckled. “I’m sure she does.” Leaning forward she whispered, “That’s Tommy Cranston’s mother.”

  “The boy the Sheriff blames for Chuck’s murder?” Ivy asked.

  “Yep.” Kate sighed.

  In just a few minutes Raquelle returned with the drink order.

  “You heard about Chuck?” Kate asked.

  Raquelle’s eyes narrowed as she shot a grim-faced glance at Kate. “Hard not to.” She pulled out her note pad and asked, “Ready to order?”

  “Yes, I’ll have the trout special,” Holly replied.

  “Me, too,” Ivy added.

  “Make it three.” Kate handed Raquelle her menu.

  After she walked away, Holly grimaced. “Awkward.”

  Kate leaned in. “I’m sure the Sheriff has been to see her. I just want her to know I don’t think Tommy had anything to do with Chuck’s murder.”

  “Maybe you should just say that,” Ivy suggested.

  A look of uncertainty on her face, Kate hesitated, then finally nodded. “You’re right. I’ll wait until we get the check.”

  Kate made no further attempt to talk to Raquelle as she served the meal and replenished their drinks. After Ivy finished her tiramisu, the waitress stopped at the table and asked, “Anything else?”

  “No, just the check,” Holly replied.

  When she returned, Kate looked up. “Raquelle, the sheriff asked me if I’d seen Tommy around the day of Chuck’s murder. I told him absolutely not. I want you to know that I don’t think for one minute Tommy had anything to do with it.”

  Raquelle stiffened and stared coldly at Kate. “That’s not what Bascom said.”

  Kate’s eyes widened. Before she could respond, Holly did. “Then he’s lying. My sister and I were with Kate when he questioned her and we had to actually hold her down when he asked her about Tommy.”

  Kate shook her head. “Raquelle, I know your son and I know he’d never hurt Chuck.”

  Raquelle’s stance softened. Under her breath, she said, “I should have known that bast… Bascom was lying.”

  “Is there anything I can do?” Kate asked.

  Raquelle bit her lower lip, then shook her head. “Don’t worry abou
t Tommy and me. We can take care of ourselves.” She put the check down on the table and walked away.

  “Can you believe that Bascom? Why would he lie like that?” Kate banged both fists on the table.

  Holly frowned. “Cops -- even good cops -- lie if they think it will help their investigation.” Before Kate or Ivy could reply she reached for the check, stood up and said, “Let’s go.”

  7 BOYD LEGGETT

  Sunday morning Holly followed the aroma of freshly brewed coffee downstairs.

  “Good morning,” she said as she entered the kitchen. She froze in the doorway as Kate turned to her with a look of distress on her face. “What’s wrong?”

  Kate held up the milk pitcher. “I used up the milk in the pancake batter and now there’s none for coffee.”

  Holly laughed. “Relax. Is the supermarket open this early?”

  “Yeah, they actually open extra early on Sunday to sell newspapers.”

  Holly grabbed her handbag and car keys. “I’ll just run downtown and get a gallon of milk. Do you need anything else?”

  “Maybe a dozen eggs,” Kate parted the café curtain and looked out the window towards Chuck’s house. “I was counting on getting them from the chickens next door, but now I’m afraid to cross that yellow police tape.” Letting go of the curtain, she turned back to Holly and frowned. “I’d call downtown to see if I could at least go over and tend to the hens, but I’m not sure I could control myself if I had to talk to Cyrus Bascom.” Kate leaned over the sink and spit right after saying his name.

  “Let me guess. Your Italian grandmother used to do that.”

  “Yeah.” Kate nodded. “Nothing expresses utter disdain better than spitting.”

  “In that case, I definitely think it’s best you avoid any contact with Bascom.”

  Kate narrowed her eyes and peered out the bay window facing the back of her property. “You know, I could cross over to Chuck’s yard behind the barn. They didn’t tape all the way to there.” She smiled and snapped her fingers. “That’s what I’ll do. Forget the eggs.”

  “You’re sure?” Holly asked, with a skeptical raise of her eyebrow.