Lindsey pressed her lips together trying not to laugh. She didn’t dare glance at Robbie for fear of bursting out with a guffaw and offending Ms. Cole. It had taken her long enough to win over the traditional librarian.
“Ms. Cole, why don’t you sit and have a calming cup of tea,” Lindsey suggested. “I’ll go out and deal with the . . . situation.”
“That’s not necessary,” Ms. Cole demurred.
“I insist,” she said.
Robbie was already pouring Ms. Cole a cup. He gestured to the empty seat beside his and asked, “How do you take your tea, Ms. Cole?”
His manner was so charming that she couldn’t refuse, and so she sat down and let him fix her a cuppa. Lindsey winked at Robbie before she slipped out of the office to survey the scene outside.
She found that for once, Ms. Cole wasn’t exaggerating. The library was in chaos. Kids were running everywhere at top volume. Utter mayhem ensued. She found two of her staff members, Paula and Ann Marie, hunkered behind the checkout desk.
“I think I’m actually in agreement with Ms. Cole for the first time in our collective history,” Lindsey said. She glanced at her staff, who both nodded.
“Agreed,” Ann Marie said. “These wildings are even making my two boys look tame, and that’s saying something.”
“What’s the haps?” a voice asked from behind them. They all whirled around to find a pleased-looking Beth standing there. “Isn’t this great?” she shouted over the yelling kids. “A scavenger hunt, celebrating all the holidays! I have them searching for Hanukkah dreidels, Diwali candles, Kwanzaa flags, Ramadan lanterns and Christmas stars. Genius, right?”
“It’s something, all right,” Paula muttered.
“I’m not going back out there unless I get hazard pay,” Ann Marie said.
Her eyes went wide as the notorious Collins cousins, Alexandra, Mackenzie, Jared and Shane, went hurtling past the service desk, looking like they were on a seek-and-destroy mission, with their amused fathers, Brad and Greg, hot on their heels. Even though they were all grown up and had left their mischief-making days behind them—mostly—Brad and Greg were still known locally as “those Collins twins.” That just showed how long the memory of a small New England town could be for twin boys who were known for their ability to bounce back up after a fall, especially on the local tennis courts.
“Hold the fort,” Lindsey said to her staff. She looked at Beth and jerked her head in the direction of the library. “We need to contain this.”
“Aw, why?” Beth asked. “Everyone’s having so much fun.”
“You’re giving Ms. Cole an eye twitch.”
“Better than a nervous tic,” she said. Lindsey gave her side-eye, and she sighed. “Fine.”
Beth stepped into the middle of the library and began to clap her hands in a rhythm. She repeated it a couple of times, and slowly but surely, the kids started to pick up on it. Pausing what they were doing, the kids began to echo her clap, even the little ones. Once everyone was watching her, Beth announced that the remainder of the treasure hunt had to be done in absolute silence, otherwise the prizes would be forfeit.
Immediately, the kids became as quiet as whispers. On tiptoes and using hand signals instead of words, they finished searching the library. Lindsey glanced over to where “those Collins twins” stood, leaning against each other as if plotting some mischief of their own. Catching her eye, Greg sent her an impudent grin while Brad offered a sly wink. Incorrigible! She had no doubt that the Collins cousins had learned their shenanigans from their fathers.
As the horde of children and teens made their way back to the story time room, which was command central, Lindsey saw Naomi Briggs with three of her daughters. Two of them were happily following the rest of the kids, but one, the youngest, was looking devastated. As Lindsey watched, Naomi planted a small dreidel on the shelf behind her, then she maneuvered her preschooler right in front of it until the girl saw it and snatched it up in a chubby fist. She skipped off to join her big sisters, and Naomi watched her go with a smile.
“Clever move, Mom,” Lindsey said as she approached her.
Naomi glanced up and smiled with a shrug. “I just hid it in plain sight. You do what you’ve got to do for your babies.”
“I get that,” Lindsey said. She studied Naomi’s face, trying to determine whether she was up to talking, but Naomi’s expression was closed. She decided to err on the side of being polite. “How are you holding up?”
Naomi’s gaze met hers and then slid away. She began to walk to the story time room, and Lindsey fell in beside her. They passed through the tables and chairs where people were studying alone or meeting in small groups. The low hum of voices filled the space again as normal activity resumed.
“I’m fine,” Naomi said. “It’s Nate who I worry about. He loved his brother so much. I don’t know how he’s going to get over this.”
“I know,” Lindsey said. “I saw him this morning.”
Naomi turned to look at her. Although Lindsey knew Naomi from her years of bringing the girls into the library to check out books, she realized she didn’t really know her know her. Oh, she knew that she was a good mom, attentive and kind and encouraging. Naomi was always checking out books of science experiments, crafting, astronomy and whatever else the girls were interested in. She also read to the younger ones every night, fully utilizing the picture book collection.
When Naomi came into the building, she greeted everyone with a smile and a kind word. Because of this, Lindsey had always felt as if there was a closeness between them, but now, she didn’t feel close at all. She felt like an interloper, and Naomi was looking at her as if she expected Lindsey to say or do something that might hurt her or her family.
“You were at the garage with Sully,” Naomi said. “Nate told me. He also told me that Sully thinks he should get a lawyer.”
“Only if he is asked questions by the police,” Lindsey said. “It’s just a precaution.”
“If you’re guilty of something,” Naomi said. She sounded angry. Lindsey looked at her in surprise. Naomi glanced away. Her voice was softer when she spoke again, as if she was trying to sound more reasonable but it was an effort. “We don’t have the money to hire expensive attorneys ‘just in case.’”
“That’s why Sully is contacting a friend of his from the navy to see if he can help Nate out if need be,” Lindsey said.
Naomi sagged a bit at that. “I know, and I appreciate it, I do, but I don’t understand why he would need an attorney at all. Everyone knows how close he was to Steve. My God, it’s killing him to have lost his brother.”
“I know,” Lindsey said. “But he doesn’t have an alibi for that night, and if someone wants to make things difficult for him, she could, because his whereabouts aren’t accounted for.”
“He was driving Matilda, the baby, around, trying to get her croup under control,” Naomi said. “I can vouch for him. I packed her up in her car seat before they left.”
“And he was gone for how long?” Lindsey asked.
“A little over an hour,” she said. “He drives the same route. There have to be security cameras out there that picked him up in the minivan.”
“Maybe,” Lindsey said. “What about the rest of the girls and you?”
“All asleep,” she said. They reached the story time room, where the children were inside, singing a song about Diwali. “No one heard him come home. When I got up in the morning, he was asleep beside me, and the baby was in her crib in the corner of our room just like always.”
Lindsey nodded. “I’m sure it’s going to get sorted out, and Nate won’t be under any sort of suspicion.”
“And yet you still suggested he get a lawyer,” Naomi said.
“Just to be on the safe side.”
“I can’t believe that Steve is making our lives more difficult in death than in life,” she said. The words were barely out when she glanced at Lindsey and said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
“It’s okay. I’m sure this is a difficult time,” Lindsey said.
“Yes, it is. Nate loved his little brother so much, but it was such a complicated relationship,” Naomi said. She glanced in through the window of the story time room. “Sorry, I just have to make sure my girls are okay. Madison, our oldest, stayed home with the baby, so it’s just me and the three middles. You’d think it would be easier to keep track of three instead of five.” She watched the sisters where they shared a story time cushion as they listened to Beth read to them about Hanukkah. Satisfied, she turned back to Lindsey. “What were we talking about?”
“The complicated relationship between the brothers,” Lindsey said.
“Oh, right,” Naomi sighed. “Steve was just so jealous of Nate. It made things very awkward, and I don’t think Nate knew how to deal with it.”
Lindsey blinked. This was not what she had expected. “Steve was jealous of Nate?”
Naomi nodded. “I know it sounds crazy. Nate and I struggle financially, there is no question about that. We have an awful lot of mouths to feed and bodies to clothe and little ones to love on, and it can be scary and frustrating, and sometimes I worry that we’re failing, but I can’t imagine living my life any other way.”
“You have a beautiful family,” Lindsey said.
Naomi shot her a grateful glance before she continued. “I suppose it would seem, from the outside looking in, that Steve, with his law practice, oodles of money, multiple homes, beautiful wife, exotic vacations and so forth, is the one who has it all. But the truth is, the one thing Steve has always wanted above all else is a family, and Jamie has made it perfectly plain that she will not be having any children, ever. So Steve lives in the cold comfort of everything his money can buy, but no family of his own. Or, rather, he lived. I’m still having a very hard time accepting that he’s gone.”
“Me, too,” Lindsey said. She shook her head. She glanced at Naomi and asked, “This is none of my business, and maybe you don’t know, but didn’t the subject of children come up before Steve and Jamie got married? I can’t believe they had such an elemental difference and didn’t talk about it.”
“According to Nate, Steve was positive that he could get Jamie to change her mind,” Naomi said.
“Oh.”
“Exactly. They fought about it a lot, more and more each year. It didn’t help that every time Nate brushed by me, I got pregnant.”
“Do you think Steve was going to divorce Jamie?” Lindsey asked. This would certainly tip the scale in favor of Jamie having a motive to murder her husband.
“Nate never mentioned that as an option,” she said. “I think there were financial concerns that kept Steve from wanting a divorce.”
“She would wipe him out,” Lindsey said.
“And enjoy every second of it,” Naomi agreed. She reached for the doorknob on the story time room. “I’d better get in there. The girls have been good far too long, and I don’t want to push it.”
“One more question,” Lindsey said. “If you don’t mind.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Do you think Steve might have been having an affair?”
Naomi looked shocked. “Steve?”
“I only ask because I’ve had a few people tell me about a mysterious woman in black who was at the Christmas party.”
“Woman in black?” Naomi repeated. She looked bewildered. “I don’t understand. She was wearing a black outfit?”
“Topped off by a dark veil,” Lindsey said.
“Well, that seems a tad dramatic.”
“I think she was trying to conceal her identity,” Lindsey said. “Which, given that no one knows who she was, was well done.”
“But an affair? That’s not like Steve.”
“No, I didn’t think so either, but Jamie made it pretty clear that she was unhappy in the marriage, and now it sounds as if Steve was as well.” Lindsey shrugged.
“I guess it could be someone from his law office,” Naomi said. She looked uncomfortable even thinking it. “I mean, it would have to be someone from somewhere else, don’t you think? Briar Creek is just too small; everyone would know if he was having an affair.”
“You’re right,” Lindsey said. Her voice was rueful. “Not much happens in this town without everyone finding out or wanting to be a part of it, be it a funeral or a wedding.”
“Speaking of weddings, shouldn’t you be preparing for your own?” Naomi asked. “I know Steve was supposed to marry you, and I know that Sully is probably devastated by his friend’s death, but Steve would want you to forge on. He adored you two, and I know he’d want you to have a long and happy life together.”
Naomi’s voice broke on the words, and Lindsey impulsively reached forward and gave her a quick hug, feeling her own throat get tight as she did so.
“You’re right,” Lindsey said. “There’s an awful lot to be done in not much time.”
“Think about that then,” Naomi said. “Forget about what happened to Steve. He wouldn’t want your special day overshadowed by his death. He’d be the first to say the party must go on.”
With a sad smile, Naomi slipped into the story time room, and Lindsey headed back to her office. She spent the rest of the morning clearing her desk of her to-dos and then spent her lunch hour finalizing wedding plans. Her parents and her brother were arriving in a few days, and she wanted to be able to spend time with them without being a crazed bride. Her mother had already talked her off the ledge from the invitation debacle—twice.
Lindsey hadn’t had the heart to call and tell them about Steve Briggs. She didn’t want her parents to start worrying that the wedding might not happen. It would happen even if Lindsey had to host the wedding in her own home. To that end, she called all her wedding vendors and finalized food counts and paid her bills until her lunch hour was over and she was back on the clock.
Her cell phone rang, and she snatched it up, happy to see Sully’s name on the display. “Hello, husband-to-be,” she answered.
“Afternoon, wife-to-be, what are you doing after work?”
“No plans,” she said. “Other than to take my dog for a walk and eat my body weight in chicken pot pies as I read my book and pretend it’s just another day.”
“That works,” he said with a laugh. “Or you could come with me to interview Donna Dimovski, an ordained minister who might be the answer to the who-is-going-to-marry-us dilemma.”
“Donna Dimovski?” Lindsey asked. “Do I know her?”
“Doubtful,” he said. “She used to live out on the islands but moved inland a few years ago. One of my pickups in the water taxi reminded me about her, so I called her, and she’s willing to meet with us after you get off work.”
“A woman officiating?” Lindsey asked. “I like that.”
“More important, let’s see if we like her,” he said. “I never met her when she lived on the islands, as she was a bit reclusive.”
“Meaning she was odd,” Lindsey said. “Is that what you’re not saying? She was odd? As in, she’s going to perform some sort of ritualistic marriage ceremony that’s going to make my mother faint and cause my dad to have heart palpitations.”
“Easy there, darlin’, you’re getting way ahead of the crazy train.”
“Sorry,” she said. “Who knew wedding planning could take a perfectly reasonable, mature woman and turn her into a paranoid disaster?”
“In your defense, most brides don’t find the justice of the peace who was about to marry them dead on a beach wearing an elf suit.”
“I’ll take that pass,” she said.
“Pick you up out front at six?”
“I’ll be there,” she said. “One question, any idea what sort of ordained minister she is?”
“I believe she belongs to the Church of One Truth.”
“Is it local?”
“Online.”
“Oh.”
“Desperate times,” he said.
“Oh, yeah, we’re there all right,” she agreed. “But that doesn’t mean I want to be married by a cult leader.”
“It’s not a cult . . . er, I don’t think,” he said. “Also, she’s not the leader, just a disciple.”
“And I’m liking it less and less,” she said.
“Let’s just meet her. Then we’ll have a better idea.”
“All right,” she agreed. “If you’re willing, I am, too.”
“That’s the spirit,” he said.
“Have you heard anything from your lawyer friend?” she asked.
“Yes, he’s agreed to meet with Nate.”
“Good. I just had a long talk with Naomi,” Lindsey said. “Did you know Steve wanted kids and Jamie didn’t?”
Sully was quiet for a moment. “I do remember him saying something about it a while ago. He seemed convinced she’d change her mind.”
“She didn’t.”
“So the marriage was not what either of them wanted,” he said.
“Apparently.” Then in a moment of pre-wedding panic, Lindsey said, “I know we’ve talked about this before, but—”
“I don’t want kids,” Sully interrupted. “And I’m not going to change my mind. How about you? Now that Beth is expecting, are you feeling any sudden pangs of wanting to have a baby?”
“Well . . .”