Murder in the Marigolds by Dale Mayer (best young adult book series .txt) 📕

and took a bite. She sat back, closed her eyes, and just enjoyed the experience, as her palate rose up and sang. “My goodness,” she said. “These are absolutely delicious, Nan. Where did you get them?”

With a chuckle, she said, “One of the inmates here was downtown at that 360 bakery place,” she said. “And they’re divine. They have the biggest apple fritters ever, and these absolutely wonderful croissants are made fresh every morning.”

“So it’s a bakery where they make their own pastries?”

Nan nodded. “My friend brought back several dozen, enough for everybody,” she muttered. “So I snagged up a bunch and called you down.”

“And the cream?”

“He got it from there too. A big pot of it for everyone. I just took a little bit,” she said. “You just really must have some with these croissants. They also had a lot of chocolate-covered croissants, if you could imagine,” she said, with a sniff. “Who would do such a thing?” she said. “A croissant is meant to be savory. Don’t add sweet to savory.”

Doreen thought it would be a wonderful idea to have chocolate all over it, but she understood Nan’s reticence. “I think it makes it more like a doughnut or a dessert,” she muttered. And she took another bite.

Nan nodded. “And nobody should be starting their day with that.”

“Well, I’ve started mine with leftover pizza and a few other weird things in the last little while,” she said, smiling. “Things that I never thought I would ever be starting my day with.”

“That’s because you used to always get your perfect soft-boiled eggs and a piece of toast or yogurt and berries,” she said. “One egg and one-half piece of toast is not enough to keep a bird alive. You’re looking much better now.”

“Well, I was eating just enough,” she said, “to maintain my figure. After the divorce, I dropped quite a bit of weight, and now I think I’m starting to put some of it back on.” She looked down at her flat belly and shrugged. “The nice thing is, I don’t even think about it right now,” she muttered. “And I don’t want to.”

“How did dinner go last night?”

She looked at her in surprise and then smiled. “Who told you?”

Nan just gave a noncommittal shrug, but her eyes twinkled. “You know there are no secrets in a town this size.”

“No, there doesn’t appear to be,” she muttered. There was a long moment of silence, as Doreen enjoyed her croissant. Bringing herself back to the conversation, she smiled. “It was fine,” she said. “I mean, dinner itself was absolutely lovely. The company, well, not so much. I found it a very strange experience, almost surreal to think that I was sitting there, having a meal with him again.”

“But I hope you didn’t enjoy it too much?” Nan asked, looking at her carefully.

She shook her head. “Nope. Once I told him that I had a USB key of his, he was very anxious to get me out of the restaurant and home, so we could grab it.”

Nan’s jaw dropped. “You have a USB key of his?”

“Well, I found it in my old purse,” she said, refusing to mention the other keys that Mack had taken back with him. “But it turned out to only have my stuff on it. He didn’t believe me though. So I think he was afraid, and honestly, after a lot of contemplation and conversation with Mack, I think Mathew is here because he’s afraid that Robin gave me something before she was killed.”

Nan leaned forward. “Really?” she said. “Tell me more.”

“But, when I gave the USB to Mathew, he ran off really fast,” she said, with a shrug, “and just left me standing there in the doorway.”

“Did he try to kiss you?” Nan asked sharply.

“Of course not,” Doreen said in surprise. “We don’t have that kind of relationship anymore.”

“Never could figure out what you saw in that frog anyway,” Nan said. “Definitely not kissing material, if you ask me. He would never turn into a prince.”

Doreen started to smile, but the image caught her funny bone, and she started chuckling. Soon she was laughing furiously at the comment. By the time she finally calmed down enough and had wiped away the tears, she felt pretty fine indeed. “You do have a lovely turn of phrase,” she said to her grandmother.

“Sometimes,” Nan said comically, “sometimes.”

“So, let’s turn this back to you,” Doreen said, when she could, eyeing the last little bite of croissant on her plate. She quickly picked it up and popped it into her mouth. “What gossip is it that’s going around here?”

“Well, everybody knows your ex is in town.” At that, Doreen stopped and stared in shock. Nan nodded. “He has been seen all over, and people have talked. They also know that Mack took him in and talked to him at the station,” she snickered. “They were all abuzz, trying to figure out what charges Mack would trump up to keep him in jail.”

“I don’t think Mack was trying to trump up any charges,” Doreen said in surprise.

“Then you don’t really understand Mack.”

“Well, he will obviously be fair and would never unfairly harass someone.”

“Are you kidding? Mack would harass that no-good loser in a heartbeat,” Nan declared. “So would I. That’s why he doesn’t dare show his face around here.”

“Well, he already did once,” she said, with a roll of her eyes.

“That doesn’t count. But, since Mack let him go, everybody is trying to figure out how long before he leaves town. Actually everybody is trying to figure out—”

“Oh, Nan!” Doreen said, leaning forward, staring at her grandmother. “Please tell me that you didn’t bet on it?”

“Why wouldn’t I bet on something I knew would absolutely happen,” Nan said. “That’s like, you know, money in the bank.”

She stared at her grandmother, trying to figure it out. “Oh, good Lord, you’re the one who set it up, aren’t you?”

Nan twittered. “Of course I did. The man’s a menace,” she said. “The sooner he