If Catfish Had Nine Lives(40)

            “I’ll be. She’s funny as heck. I think Orly and Norman mentioned her name in whatever argument they were having. I think.”

            “Maybe both of the men liked her,” I said. She was a year or two older than Cliff, which would probably make her too young, conventionally, for Orly, and too old, conventionally, for Norman. But, whatever works.

            “No,” Teddy said quickly. “Not that kind of argument. I’ve been in on plenty of those myself; I would have recognized that. It was something else, but I know she was somehow the reason for it . . . or maybe just standing close by. Dangit, Betts, this is going to drive me crazy.”

            “I understand. Don’t fret about it, but did you, by chance, mention the argument to Cliff?”

            “No, I just remembered. Good grief, how much do you suppose got knocked around in there?” He tapped his head lightly.

            I smiled sympathetically. There had been more than one moment in my life when I would have joked about there not being much to be knocked around in the first place. But not now; not today.

            “Hey, how about some soup? Chicken noodle?” I said as I stood and moved toward the small galley kitchen.

            “That’s Gram’s cure for colds, not concussions,” Teddy said.

            “Nope, that’s Gram’s cure for everything,” I said as I opened the cupboard above the small counter to the left of the small sink. As expected, there were a few cans of the famous soup. Of course, Gram had her own homemade recipe, but even she admitted that the healing properties of the reliable canned variety were not to be doubted.

            “I’d love some soup. Thanks, Betts.”

            “You’re welcome,” I said.

            I wanted Teddy to relax for a while, but that didn’t stop my own mind from turning over the list of things I felt compelled to do. Of course, I’d let Cliff know what Teddy had now remembered, but I really wanted to find out more about a few women visiting Broken Rope: Esther, Vivienne, and even Jezzie. Then there was the research I needed to do to find Joe’s letter recipient and more about Astin Reagal, not to mention try to figure out if Jerome had left yet. As I poured a can full of water into the pot with the soup, I realized that the best way right now to find some answers would be to talk to Jake. I’d call him as soon as I made sure Teddy was comfortable.

            But first things first, I thought as I heated the soup and then poured it into a mug—because a bowl just wasn’t the right way to handle the business of drinking a healing soup.





Chapter 12




            Jake blinked and looked at the list. “Wow, Betts, you’ve finally taken a liking to our history.”

            “You’re my only hope,” I said with a smile.

            Jake returned the smile and rolled his eyes. “Where should we begin?”

            “With your date, of course. How’d it go?” I scooted up to the same stool I’d sat on the day before. Jake had been happy to hear from me, but he hadn’t immediately offered any details from his dinner with Esther. Of course, I hadn’t yet told him that I’d already talked to her.

            “It went well, surprising even the attendees. First dates are torturous endeavors, but this was one of the easier ones I’ve ever participated in.”

            “Good. You like her?”

            “Sure, but only in that way that I don’t not like her, you know. We had a fun time and I don’t think either of us repulsed the other. That’s not a bad first-date report.”

            “Make more plans?”

            “Maybe,” Jake said coyly.