Chapter 8
Cora woke up the next morning, grouchier than usual. As she drank a cup of coffee in her room, she sorted through her feelings.
Cashel’s face flashed in her mind’s eye. She remembered his attitude from the night before and she must have been on the edge of having too much to drink; otherwise, she’d have told him a thing or two. Why couldn’t he tell them what was going on with Adrian? He was just being a brat.
And why wasn’t Adrian out of jail? Why would they have kept the man without good cause?
“You picked another winner,” Cora said as she checked herself in the mirror. She ran a brush through her unruly red hair and pulled it back into a ponytail. Her cheeks still held the sun-kissed pink from yesterday. No matter how much sunblock she used or how covered up she kept, she always got a little burned.
Adrian clearly had a secret. Maybe many secrets.
She fixed the twisted strap on her “granny” sundress, a stunning find for her at a vintage shop in Pittsburgh. Green and blue paisley swirls, an elastic bodice, and a long, flowing, almost sheer skirt. She loved the gauzy cotton so popular in the 1970s.
She clipped on her long, Indian-inspired earrings.
Was she being a bit unfair to Adrian? After all, she had a few secrets of her own. She hadn’t planned to tell him every little thing about her past any time soon. They hadn’t been dating long and hadn’t even been intimate with one another. They were taking it slow. By the time people were in their thirties, most had a secret or two.
But what secret of his could possibly be keeping him in jail as a murder suspect?
The alarm on her phone pinged, reminding her to meet Ruby and Jane for breakfast. She grabbed her purse and slipped on her sandals and left her room.
Ruby and Jane were waiting near the elevators. Ruby shot her a worried glance.
“Good morning. How are you?”
“I’m okay—how about you?” Cora said.
Ruby looked at Jane. “She hasn’t seen it yet,” Ruby said.
“Cora, listen—” Jane started to say.
“Seen what?”
“There’s an article in the local rag,” Ruby said.
“Article? About what?” Cora said, and reached for the elevator button.
“No,” Jane said, stopping her. “Let’s not go down yet.”
“But we need to go,” Cora said.
“Look!” Jane said, and held up the newspaper.
JILTED EX-LOVER HELD IN GRIMM MURDER CASE, read the headline.
“What?” Cora said. “Who are they talking about?”
“Adrian!” Ruby said in a hushed tone as a couple walked by them.
“Adrian knew the woman who was killed,” Jane said. “It doesn’t prove he killed her, though.”
The air whooshed out of Cora’s body. “Of course not,” she managed to say. She sucked in air. Now was not the time for a panic attack or a pill.
Jane took her elbow. “Why don’t we call room service instead of going to the restaurant?”
“Fabulous idea,” Ruby said. “We don’t need a bunch of people gawking at us.”
With London already safely at the child care center, the three of them walked to Jane’s room and ordered breakfast.
“This was a good idea,” Cora said. “With this news, I need some time to gather my wits.”
“I figured,” Ruby said.
“He’s a grown man. Of course he’s had other girlfriends, right?” Jane said. “I’m sure it’s going to be okay, Cora.”
Cora’s stomach growled. “I hope they bring the food soon.”
“Me too,” Ruby grumbled.
“It’s just that . . .”
“What?”
“We watched some of the wedding. We went for a long walk on the beach and stumbled on the scene. Which was gorgeous, by the way.”
“And?”
“Well, why didn’t he say something then? That he knew the bride?” Cora said. “It’s just weird.”
“Have some coffee,” Ruby said. She had brewed a pot in the room while they waited for room service.
Jane shrugged. “Maybe he felt awkward about it. You know, his new girlfriend happening on the wedding of his old girlfriend.”
“I guess,” Cora said.
“Men don’t think like us,” Ruby said after a moment. “Communication is foreign to them.”
“Room service!” came a voice and a knock at the door.
After Cora ate, she felt better, but still slightly perturbed. She needed to shake it off. She was on today. A class of fifty students had paid for her services.
“What else does the article say?” she asked.
“Not much. You know the police can’t reveal all their secrets,” Jane said, waving her hand.
Cora nodded. “I guess I’ll read the details later. I’d like to check out my classroom and see if everything is ready.”
She stood to go. “I’m hoping Adrian will be let out sometime today.”
“Cashel is on his way to the courthouse,” Ruby said.
“Poor guy, we’re making him work on his vacation,” Jane said.
“Don’t worry about him,” Ruby said. “Trust me, he’s loving every minute of this.”
“But why?” Jane asked.
“I don’t know, but I don’t think he’s a fan of Adrian,” Ruby said.
“I’ve wondered about that. What’s going on?” Jane said.
“I don’t know,” Ruby said.
Cora picked up her bag and checked her cell phone to make sure it was fully charged. Then she picked up her camera bag and said, “I’ve got to go.” She must keep her mind off Adrian and Cashel and whatever or whomever else Jane and Ruby were talking about. This conference was too prestigious to mess up by being unfocused, whatever the distractions.
“Okay,” Jane said. “We’ll see you at lunch.”
Cora left the room and headed down the hall to the elevator. Her goal was to keep her thoughts off the situation, so she went over the schedule in her mind. While she was leading her class, Jane and Ruby would also be teaching theirs. The macramé class was more of a workshop and would be going on all day—as was the crochet class. Cora hoped to sit in on some classes after her morning-long blogging class.
The elevator stopped and she stepped on, smiling at the few people in the car.
“Isn’t it awful?” a woman said in a low voice to the man standing next to her. “She had this beautiful wedding and the next day she shows up on the beach dead.”
“There’s more to that story than we know,” the man muttered.
No truer words were ever spoken, Cora mused.