Stork Raving Mad(66)

“At least until you figure out which ones are homicidally inclined and which ones just full of talk when it comes to Dr. Wright,” I said. “Point taken. Actually, I’m heading up to bed. Though I was wondering if I could get my laptop while I’m here.”

“Allow me,” Horace said. He disappeared into the closet and emerged holding the familiar battered carrying case that held my laptop.

The chief was eyeing the laptop with disfavor. Surely he knew better than to think me capable of online sleuthing.

“Thanks,” I said. “If anyone looks for me, I’ll be upstairs, either doing a few last minute searches on those ‘What to Name Your Baby’ sites or taking a long overdue nap.”





Chapter 21


“Finally,” I muttered, as I reached the top of the stairs. I stood there until my breathing slowed down a bit. These days, Hansel and Gretel didn’t leave me much room to draw a deep breath. Then I headed toward our bedroom.

Of course, before I got there, I had to pass the door to the nursery. Since Mother hadn’t gone home in a huff after talking to Michael, I assumed he had approved her plans. Surprising that she hadn’t tried to tell me about them out in the barn. Perhaps she was too busy playing hostess and dancing.

Or maybe I should check on what she’d been doing.

The door was open and I heard a radio softly playing country music, interrupted occasionally by a gentle tapping noise. I took a deep breath, stepped inside, and looked around.

It wasn’t as bad as I’d feared. Not yet, anyway. The walls had been painted a soft bluish-lavender, and Randall, on an eight-foot ladder, was applying a foot-deep wallpaper border with a twining leaf pattern along the top. One of Randall’s cousins was assembling the second of two matching cribs. The first stood already assembled, its white painted wood gleaming, its mattress already covered with a lavender sheet. The lavender walls matched the sheets so exactly that I knew Mother had given someone down at the hardware store fits perfecting the paint color match.

“If you’re looking for your mother, she just left,” Randall said, from atop his ladder. “Brought us some plates from the buffet.”

“That’s good,” I said. “I was hoping to sneak a peek without her around.”

“Not too bad, is it?”

“No, it’s lovely,” I said. “Though unnecessary. Even if either of the kids inherits Mother’s decorating gene, it’ll be a few years before they’re old enough to appreciate elegant nursery design.”

“And by the time they are, they’ll have knocked the dickens out of it and it won’t be quite so elegant,” Randall said with a chuckle. “Hope you don’t mind that we took the job.”

“You needed the money,” I said. “That’s the one thing that keeps me from putting my foot down and telling her to send all this expensive stuff back. We don’t need it, but Mother can afford it, and if it’s helping keep local businesses going, I can live with it.”

Randall nodded. He still looked troubled. He glanced over at his cousin.

“Hobart,” he said. “You mind if I talk to Mrs. Waterston in private for a moment?”

“Sure thing, Randall. I’ll go get some more pie.” Hobart nodded to me and shuffled out the door.

Randall followed him to the door and shut it. I sighed and looked around for someplace to sit, or at least something I could lean against. Randall seemed to guess my intent and fetched a stool with soft green upholstery.

“Here,” he said. “We haven’t assembled the matching rocker yet, but this is better than nothing.”

“Thanks,” I said. “What’s up, Randall?”

“Got something I want to run by you,” he said.

“Okay,” I said.

“It’s about the library.”

“I told you before, we’re just not ready to do the library,” I said. “Actually, we’re ready, but our bank account isn’t. When we can swing it, we’ll definitely give you first crack at bidding on it.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he said. “I know you’re not ready to do the whole library yet, but I thought maybe I’d work up a plan for how you could do it in stages. Get a plan in place, and maybe I could start keeping my eyes out for good deals on the supplies. And yeah, I was hoping if I could come up with a good price, maybe you’d be willing to start the first stage. I could use the work. Work from a client who actually pays, that is.”

“I can understand that,” I said. “We probably won’t be ready to go forward until we find out about Michael’s tenure.”