Chapter 31

 

 

 

 

“KIDS,” LINDA called. “You’re going to be late.”

They stampeded down the hall. She opened the door and held out their lunch bags.

Jarrod stopped long enough to give her a peck on the cheek. “Bye, Mom!” He snagged his lunch bag and was out the door, bounding down to join friends on the sidewalk.

When Maggie stopped to get her lunch she had added a striped jacket to her already eclectic outfit of polka dotted tights and floral dress. “You look pretty, sweetie,” Linda said.

“Thanks, Mommy.” When Linda leaned down for a kiss, Maggie whispered, “I’m happy again.” Then she skipped away.

Linda inhaled sharply and fought back glad tears to see her kids recovering. In due time she might have the strength to delve into Sullivan’s betrayal to her, but no matter what she found, she would protect the good memories they had of their father.

A landscaping truck and trailer pulled up next to the curb. A man emerged and walked up her driveway. “Mulch delivery, ma’am.”

She frowned. “You must have the wrong house. I didn’t order mulch.”

He checked his clipboard. “No, ma’am, this is the right address. Ordered by Nan Boyd.”

Linda smiled. “Oh… right. Yes, that’s my order.”

“We’re going to spread it for you, too. Sign here, please.”

She took the clipboard. After her first name she automatically wrote “Smith,” then paused, crossed it out and wrote “Guy.”

When she handed back the clipboard, the neighborhood walkers were going by, moving in tandem, pumping their arms. Nan waved, then flashed Linda an “okay” signal and kept going.

“All’s well that ends well,” she murmured as she closed the door.

From the kitchen her phone rang. She walked past the living room and saw Octavia was still sprawled on the futon, wearing ear plugs and a sleep mask, snoring like a bear. Max looked at Linda and whimpered.

“I know,” she said sympathetically. “But we’d better get used to it.”

She didn’t recognize the number on the screen, but she picked up her phone and connected the call. “Linda Guy.”

“Ms. Guy, hello, this is Dr. Nunn from the Fayette County Cooperative Extension Office. You brought in a sample and asked us to run a soil test for you, I believe you said you suspected a neighbor was poisoning your plants?”

She gripped the phone. “That’s right. Did you run the tests?”

“I did. But the only thing I found that would’ve killed the tree was coffee. People think coffee grounds are good for plants, but it’s only good for plants that like acidic soil and only when diluted.”

Linda exhaled a pent-up breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. She chastised herself for being ridiculous, for seeing a mystery where none existed. “Thank you, Dr. Nunn. I appreciate you taking the time to call.”

“But I did find something odd—aconite. It’s not native to North America, it’s more common in the UK. Some people call it monkshood because of the shape of the flower. The only explanation I can think of is maybe it was mixed in with the potting soil in an overseas manufacturing plant and somehow made its way to the nursery that packed the ficus tree.”

“Okay,” she said, confused. “Is there anything special about monkshood?”

“One thing—it’s extremely poisonous to animals… and to humans.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

-The End-