Key Lime Pie Murder. Joanne Fluke

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СКАЧАТЬ didn’t want her to start something with…” Hannah stopped, not quite sure how to phrase what she’d been thinking.

      “Weirdos, perverts, and creeps?” Michelle asked. “With a few con artists thrown in?”

      “Exactly.”

      “I wouldn’t worry too much. I think Mother learned a lot from what happened last spring.”

      “I hope so! It just makes me so mad that somebody tried to take advantage of her!”

      “Me, too. But it’s over now, and Mother’s smart enough not to fall for somebody like that again.” Michelle gave Hannah a little shove toward the office that Delores was using. “Do me a favor, okay?”

      Hannah knew better than to agree without knowing what Michelle wanted. “That depends on what it is.”

      “It’s snooping. I tried to see what Mother was working on, but she’s got one of those privacy screens. One keystroke and all you can see is a bouquet of flowers, or pine trees in a snowy forest. See if you can find out what she’s working on. I just hate it when people say that it’s personal and they won’t tell you what it is.”

      “Okay, I’ll do it,” Hannah agreed. And then she headed down the hallway to see if she could figure out what secret their mother was hiding.

      “Mother?” Hannah called out, tapping on the door and then opening it without waiting for an invitation.

      “Hello, dear.” Delores looked up when Hannah came into the room. “Sit down and wait just a moment, will you? I really need to finish this paragraph.”

      “Sure. Michelle said you were working on something personal.” Hannah sat down in the old leather chair that had been moved to a spot near the window. It had been her dad’s desk chair, but Delores had replaced it with a smart-looking model upholstered in blue tweed. It was clear at a glance that her mother’s new chair rolled, reclined, and swiveled, while the old leather chair merely sat there.

      “That’s right.”

      “I’m curious. What is it?”

      “Nothing you’d be interested in, dear.”

      Delores went right back to typing, and Hannah gave a little sigh. She’d struck out. So much for being forthright. She’d have to think of some other way to find out.

      “You were always the best speller in the family,” Delores said, pausing with her fingers poised over the keyboard. “Recommendation has one c and two m’s, doesn’t it?”

      “Recommendation?” Hannah repeated, not sure she’d heard her mother correctly.

      “That’s right. Yes or no, dear.”

      “Yes,” Hannah said, and then she spelled it out. “Are you writing a letter of recommendation for someone?”

      “No, dear. Just give me a moment more and I’ll be through.”

      Hannah’s curiosity reached new heights. Her mother had told Michelle it was “personal,” and it wasn’t a letter of recommendation. Asking politely hadn’t worked, and she’d promised Michelle that she’d snoop if she got the chance. Feeling a bit like someone cheating on an exam, Hannah craned her neck to try to see her mother’s computer screen. Unfortunately she was off-axis, and all she saw was a faintly lighted screen. She inched slightly to the side to get a better view, not an easy task with a heavy desk chair that didn’t roll, but the only thing she could make out was faint lines of double-spaced type. It was definitely not a letter. Letters were single-spaced.

      “Almost through, dear,” Delores said, her fingers beating a staccato rhythm on the keys.

      Hannah gave a lurch, and the chair slid another inch to the side. That was better! She could almost read something! She was leaning forward, squinting to make out the words, when a huge bouquet of flowers replaced the words on the screen.

      “It’s time for a break,” Delores stated, leaning back in her chair. “You looked a bit upset when you came in the door, dear. Does it make you sad to see me using your father’s office?”

      “A little,” Hannah admitted.

      “That’s what I thought. You spent a lot of time in here with him.”

      “You got a new desk chair.”

      “Yes. I tried using his, but it just wasn’t right for me. So I ordered a new one, and then I kept thinking of what he’d say if he saw me replacing his desk chair. I was going to give it to charity. It’s really too big for this small room. But…I couldn’t just throw it away. He spent so much time in here, sitting in that chair. Sometimes when I’m working late, I’ll turn, and for just a second I think I can see him there. Is that crazy?”

      “No, that’s love. And memories.”

      Delores blinked several times, and then she gave a little smile. “You’re right. But I really do need to put a file cabinet in here, and there won’t be room with that chair. Would you like to have it?”

      Hannah was tempted. She’d always associated that leather desk chair with her father. Then she thought of her condo and how it was already full to the brim with other things that Delores had given her. “I don’t think so, Mother. I’d like it, but I don’t have anywhere to put it.”

      “That’s what I thought. I’ll ask Andrea and Michelle, but I don’t think they’ll want it, either. And I really hate to just…toss it.”

      “I don’t want you to just toss it, either. Do you think it’d help if we found it a good home?”

      Delores thought about that for a moment. “I think it would. Do you have any prospects in mind?”

      “Not really, but I’ll think about it and…Norman!”

      “Norman?”

      “He might want it. His new house has an office, and as far as I know, he doesn’t have any furniture.”

      “Oh, that would be perfect!” Delores looked delighted. “I’d like to give it to Norman.”

      “Even if I don’t end up marrying him?” Hannah couldn’t help asking.

      “Even if you don’t. When can you ask him if he wants it?”

      “I’ll ask him tonight. He’s waiting for me at my condo. I’m going to help him pick out a dishwasher.”

      “That’s wonderful, dear.”

      Delores gave another smile that rang alarm bells in Hannah’s mind. Her mother seemed much too pleased about the fact that she was helping Norman pick out kitchen appliances. “It’s just a dishwasher, Mother. It’s not any more than that.”

      “That’s all right, dear. Good marriages aren’t made overnight. Your father and I dated for several years before we married.”

      Hannah bit her tongue. Sometimes it was better not to say anything.

      “Is that СКАЧАТЬ