Chapter 11
When Cora and Jane walked out of the craft room and into the dining room, the energy shifted. Cora barely recognized Kildare House, as it was full of tropical flowers and plants, luscious-looking fruit, as well as tempting Hawaiian desserts, which were thoughtfully labeled. There were milky-white haupia squares. Hibiscus mini-tarts. Deep-fried mochi balls. Guava cupcakes. Cora loaded up a plate and nearly swooned at the creamy, sweet coconut haupia squares, so delicious that she had almost forgiven the caterer their error. Almost.
The caterers had outdone themselves with the rented decorations and the Hawaiian theme, all of which seemed authentic. Strains of Hawaiian music blared from the living room, which was kind of pleasant. She ruefully hoped hula dancers would not pop out from somewhere.
She and Jane split up, as they often did at these welcome parties. Afterward they would circle back around at the end of the evening, sharing observations—usually over a glass of wine. Or two.
“Oh my God, this is unbelievable,” Cora heard a voice say. She turned to see three women sipping their drinks out of coconut shells.
“Hi there,” Cora said. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Cora.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Vera,” she said. She was a beauty who carried herself with a certain elegance. “I’m a friend of Beatrice’s,” she said.
“Oh!” Cora said. “You two are from Cumberland Creek! Then you must be . . .”
“Annie,” the other woman said. She was long and lean with big dark eyes that seemed as if they were taking everything in. “Sheila really wanted to participate. She sends her love.”
“I know,” Cora said. “She’d have been perfect for this weekend. I hope her daughter is feeling better.”
“It’s up and down,” Vera said, and grimaced.
“Good drinks,” Annie said, holding up her coconut cup.
For some reason, Cora found herself wanting to tell Annie and Vera everything. The two of them exuded such warmth. This isn’t what I planned, she wanted to tell them. It seemed as if they were enjoying themselves so she decided to keep her mouth shut.
“Drink up,” another woman said. “A weekend without the kids!”
Annie smiled at Vera, who nervously looked away.
“Hi,” the third woman said. “I’m Jo.” She was built like a football player, but her face was soft and feminine, almost pretty.
She shook hands with the other women.
“I’m so excited to do some beading,” she said. “I’ve never done anything like this in my life.”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place,” Cora said, and smiled. “Excuse me, ladies.”
She spied Cashel with Ruby and Lena and wanted to suss him out about Zee. She’d been keeping an eye out for him, but must have missed his entrance. Was Zee home? Was she okay?
She tried to make her way over to him.
“Cora Chevalier! I love your blog!” A short round woman came up to her.
“Thanks so much,” Cora said.
“I’m Judy,” she said. “I hope I can get some pointers from you. I’m thinking about starting one myself.”
“Certainly,” Annie said. “What’s your craft?”
“I’m a silversmith, but I’ve recently gotten interested in beading and maybe incorporating beads into some of my jewelry designs.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Cora said.
Judy beamed. “Have you had the guava cupcakes?” She pointed at the mini-cupcakes on Cora’s plate.
“Not yet,” Cora said.
“Divine,” Judy said in a hushed tone.
Eventually, after chatting a bit more about the food, Cora moved along and found herself standing next to Cashel, Ruby’s son, and everybody’s favorite local lawyer.
“Cora,” he said. “You look wonderful, as usual. Where’s Adrian?”
“Thank you and he’s working,” she said. “Inventory.”
Cashel raised an eyebrow.
“I know, right?” she said, and grinned. “Who would have thought?”
“Maybe he’s got a girl somewhere,” Ruby said, then shoved a mini-tart in her mouth. Her eyebrows raised with delight at the taste.
“He does. Me,” Cora said, and gestured to herself.
“You know what I mean,” Ruby muttered.
“Mom, you know how crazy he is about her,” Cashel said. “Stop teasing her.”
“Humph. I’m going to get another tart,” she said, and wandered toward the food.
“So, Cashel, how is Zee?” Cora asked anxiously.
His face fell. “Not good. She’s a nervous wreck.”
“Is she home?”
He shook his head. “No. I think they will release her tomorrow, in light of the new evidence.”
“What new evidence?”
“Cora, are you taking on another case?” he said with a mocking tone.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Zee is a friend. I know she didn’t kill Stan and I hate to see her accused of such a thing.”
“How do you know? What do you really know about her?” he asked, and took a sip of his punch.
Cora thought a moment. “All I know is who she is now. She’s been so kind to me. It’s hard to imagine her as anything but kind. Funny. Hospitable. Interesting. I enjoy her company. Both she and Lulu are riots.”
“True enough.”
“So, what can you tell me?” Cora said. She’d learned that Cashel was a man who didn’t gossip. He was serious about his business as a lawyer. He clammed up when he was working on someone’s case.
“What do you want to know?”
“I want to know that Zee is going to be okay,” she said.
“I can’t promise you that,” he said. “Things happen.”
“Okay, now you’re scaring me and pissing me off,” she said. “There can’t be much evidence against her. Why are they keeping her?”
“Sure there’s evidence against her,” he said. “Mostly circumstantial. The judge is taking his good old time with setting bail.” He used air quotes around setting bail.
Cora’s heart sped. “What do you mean? Is he a friend of Stan’s?”
“No, the judge is one of the worst, most cantankerous old coots I’ve ever known.”
She tried not to stand there with her mouth hanging open. Cashel was never this vocal about people.
“Close your mouth, Cora,” he said. “Besides the judge, there’s the wealthy ex-husband, who is a friend of the judge,” he said while his blue eyes glimmered.
As she let that news seep into her, anger poked at her. “You mean the judge is keeping her in jail because she divorced his best friend? That’s preposterous!”
“I doubt that,” he said. “Calm down. This is Indigo Gap, a very small town. Everybody knows everybody. Even though this judge is the worst one I’ve run across, he does have to uphold the law.”