A Willing Murder (Medlar Mystery 1)

“Six,” Sara said. When Trent hesitated, she turned her back on him. “Let’s go. We have those storage units to bid on this afternoon.”

She got only two steps before Trent yelled, “Yes! I’ll take it. Clean it out. It’ll be my gift to my wife.”

It took only minutes for Sara to write a check and Trent to give them the garage code.

“I’ll be at the hospital with my mother,” Trent said, “so come at any time.”

The three of them got into the new truck and drove away.

“Wow.” Kate hugged her aunt and kissed her cheek. “You were wonderful. Wasn’t she?”

“Totally brilliant. What do you think is in that box?”

“Photos of Cheryl with the boy who impregnated her,” Kate said.

“And Verna with her daughter’s father,” Sara said.

“You two are real dreamers.” He pulled his cell out of his pocket and handed it to Kate. “Call Gil and tell him to get the men to pick it all up and take it to the Morris house. Put everything in the bedrooms and shut the doors. And don’t flirt with my foreman.”

“Even if he talks about my smelly hair?”

Jack glanced away from the road long enough to give her a warning squint.

“Let’s lie about this,” Sara said. “Too much info is getting out. We can tell Gil there’s some good furniture in there, but we had to buy it all. And don’t let him take any of it to the dump because that’s what men with trucks like to do.”

“Men with trucks, huh?” Jack murmured, shaking his head. “Talk about typecasting. Okay, I’ll talk to him.”

Kate held the phone while Jack told Gil what they’d decided, then hung up.

“By four today everything should be in the Morris house. We’ll go over there and start going through it all. Text Gil to set up some stand lights so we can see.”

“This should be interesting,” Kate said.

Sara agreed eagerly. “I think so, too.”

Jack said, “Let’s stop at a Lowe’s and get a lot of bug spray. Cockroaches love old boxes. Wait until you see a palmetto bug! The size of the palm of your hand.”

Kate looked to Sara for verification that he was joking, but she nodded. Kate groaned and Jack laughed.

After they got back to the house, the three separated. Jack took off in his new truck to visit his work sites and to just plain be with men.

Sara said she wanted to write some things down. Kate had learned that her aunt Sara was like a watch that had to be wound daily. And her way of rewinding was to spend time alone with pen and paper. A true introvert.

Kate went to her suite and called her mother. It took a while to reassure her that Aunt Sara had shown no signs of a bad temper. Yes, she would soon go back to work.

Kate did her best to talk around what they were doing. Not lie but avoid.

She emphasized helping Jack choose a truck. But this upset her mother. Spending so much time with a Wyatt might cause “the young Stewart” to be lost. So Kate talked about Alastair and how he’d come to the house and had dinner with them.

“And my sister-in-law was nice to him?” Ava’s voice was full of disbelief.

“Very, very nice. Aunt Sara is kind to everyone.” At that, Kate crossed her fingers. Sheriff Flynn sent her aunt into a rage. But that was understandable.

There was a scary moment when she slipped and came close to telling how Jack and Sara had almost crashed into each other. Kate had to cover herself by saying that a tree branch had dented Aunt Sara’s car. She just left out the fact that Aunt Sara was driving at the time.

When she finally got off the phone, Kate was so sweaty she took a quick shower. She wasn’t used to lying.

At two, the doorbell rang and she met Sara in the foyer. Three big boxes had been left on the front veranda.