“Hi,” she said. She seemed more like herself, albeit a quieter version of herself. Her hair was spiked and she was wearing her favorite CROSS YOUR NUTS T-shirt with black spandex leggings.
I didn’t know Ruby nearly as well as Maggie did, but I liked her. She had a kind soul. I still wore the crystal necklace she’d made for me.
“How are you?” I asked.
“Better. Thank you for this morning, for everything.” She stopped and swallowed a couple of times. “I can’t believe Agatha’s dead. She worked so damn hard so she could come home.”
“And she got home.” Maggie’s voice was steady and reassuring.
That made Ruby smile. “That was Agatha. When she made up her mind to do something”—she laughed—“forget it.”
“Oh, so that’s where you learned it,” Maggie said dryly over the top of her mug of herbal tea.
“Yeah, I guess I did.”
It was almost time to start. Maggie took one last drink from her cup and set it down. She held up two fingers to us. The two-minute warning.
“If I can help or do anything, please ask,” I said to Ruby. “Do you know about the service yet?”
She shook her head. “David—that’s Agatha’s son—is in China, of all places. He’s a mining engineer. It’s going to be a week before he can get here. Part of the road collapsed in a storm where he is. Peter Lundgren is in charge of everything, I guess. He’s Agatha’s lawyer.”
“Lawyers are good at working these kinds of things out,” I said.
Maggie moved to the middle of the room.
“Agatha would hate a big, showy service.” Ruby said.
“It doesn’t have to be that way. Peter was her lawyer. He’d know what she would want.” I touched her shoulder again. “I meant what I said. If I can help, just ask.”
Her eyes filled with tears. She blinked them away and after a second’s hesitation threw her arms around me and hugged me.
I gave her my best everything-will-be-okay smile and tried to ignore the worm of doubt squirming around in my head.
“Circle, please, everyone,” Maggie called.
Ruby, as the most accomplished student in the group, went to stand to Maggie’s left. Rebecca was next to Roma on Maggie’s right. She caught my eye and patted the air next to her. I slid into place, returning Roma’s smile as Maggie started the warm-ups.
I worked steadily during the class as Maggie reminded me to bend my knees and shift my weight at least a dozen times, while Rebecca, who was surprisingly fluid for her age, gave me little bits of encouragement.
I wasn’t naturally coordinated, though I had to admit I was getting better since I’d started the class. More than once in the past few weeks I’d caught myself shifting my weight to reach something, instead of stretching too far and losing my balance.
“What do you have planned for tomorrow?” Maggie asked, after we’d finished the complete form at the end of class. “Any chance you could give me a hand changing the lights at the community center?”
I didn’t want to tell Maggie I was going out to Wisteria Hill with Marcus. She’d start telling me it was a sign the universe thought we were good for each other. Okay, so she wouldn’t rub her hands together and cackle, but it’d be close.
“I have a couple of things I need to do first thing,” I said, using the hem of my T-shirt to blot the sweat on my neck. I was the only one who seemed to be sweating so much in class. “When did you want to go do it?”
“Midafternoon.”
“I can make that work,” I said. “Call me in the morning.”
“Okay.”
I went out to get my coat. Rebecca was putting on her own things.
“Would you like a drive, Kathleen?” she asked, wrapping a soft rose-colored scarf around her neck. “Everett is picking me up.”
“Thank you,” I said. “But I have to check in at the library. How is Everett?” I asked, trying not to grin.
Rebecca and Everett had been a couple when they were very young, but had broken up and gone on with their lives. They’d gotten back together during the summer, with a little indirect help from the cats and me. I liked them both and I felt a bit like a fairy godmother invested in the romance. And sometimes they acted like a couple of love-struck teenagers, so it was easy to get caught up in what looked like a happily-ever-after.
“Everett’s fine,” she said, but she couldn’t help smiling that huge smile she got when she said his name.
I couldn’t hold back my own grin. “Glad to hear it.” I waggled my eyebrows at her.
She shook her finger in a mock reprimand. “Don’t start getting ideas. We’re taking it nice and slow.”
I was actually happy they could take it slowly. Rebecca had needed surgery to remove a small growth back in the fall. Luckily it had turned out not to be serious.
The downstairs door opened and Everett Henderson himself started up the stairs. He looked like the actor, Sean Connery, strong and charming with just a touch of ruthlessness. Rebecca’s cheeks flushed pink at the sight of him.
I leaned over and spoke softly in her ear. “Rebecca, if I had a man in my life who made me blush the way you do when you see Everett, I wouldn’t take it nice and slow. I’d wrap him in duct tape, stick him on a sled and take him home.”
She looked at me, shocked. “Kathleen!” she said, shaking her head.
I tried to look innocent as Everett joined us. “Hello, Kathleen,” he said.
I smiled. “Hello, Everett.”
“Thank you for the information on the library renovations,” he continued. “Lita said you sent it over. She’ll call you Monday about a meeting.”
I nodded.
He looked at Rebecca. “Ready to go?” he asked, reaching for her hand.
“I am,” she said.
“Kathleen, do you need a ride?” Everett asked, turning back to me.
“No, thank you,” I said.
They started down the stairs. Rebecca paused on the second step to look back at me. “Give the cats a scratch for me,” she said. “I miss them coming across the backyard to say hello.”
“I will.” I reached for my boots.
“Oh, and Kathleen, I don’t need to use duct tape.” She winked and disappeared down the steps.
I laughed, pulling on my coat and hat and winding the scarf my sister, Sara, had made for me around my neck.
Mary, wearing a blue sweater with a snowflake design, was at the front desk when I got to the library. She hadn’t minded working a split shift. She smiled as I came in through the doors.
“How’s your evening?” I asked.
“Surprisingly busy. A gaggle of twelve-year-olds came in to do research for a school history project. Their teacher said they had to use an actual book for the research instead of the Internet.” She chuckled and shook her head, her gray curls bouncing. “I introduced them to the mysteries of the online catalogs and then just for fun told them that when I was their age the card catalog was actually on cards.”
“And they looked at you like you were a dinosaur.”
“One of them actually used the words ‘olden days.’ ” She gave me a wry smile. “But two of them went home with books that weren’t on the research list. They just wanted to read.”
“I love to hear that,” I said.
Mary had the knack for making the library seem like a treasure trove of adventure. She’d tell the story of how she began her competitive kickboxing career by borrowing a book on the subject by mistake. She’d been looking for craft books on making boxes and hadn’t been wearing her reading glasses.
“Would you like me to stay?” I offered.
“No.” She waved away the idea. “Kate is here. We have it under control. But before I forget . . .” She looked around the checkout desk. “Ah, there it is.” She picked up a piece of blue paper. “Detective Gordon called to remind you about Wisteria Hill in the morning.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I hadn’t forgotten.”
“How are the cats?” she asked.
Over time, Roma had managed to catch and neuter all the feral cats out at Wisteria Hill, but they were too wild to ever be anyone’s pets. A collection of volunteers made sure they had food and water and care when they needed it.