A Justified Murder (Medlar Mystery 2)

Jack blinked a few times, then laughed. “Nice to think I’m wanted by so many.”

It was getting dark outside and they’d been talking for hours.

Chet closed the notebook. “Mind if I keep this? I’d like to go over some of these facts.”

“Please do,” Sara said.

Chet stood up and stretched. “So where’s a good motel nearby? Not too fancy but clean. And cheap.”

“You can stay here,” Sara said. “In Jack’s room.”

Jack gasped. “I don’t think—”

Sara cut him off. “You’ll have to bunk in with Kate. On her sofa.”

Kate stood. “He cannot possibly stay with me!”

As though Kate hadn’t spoken, Sara stuck her arm inside Chet’s. “Let’s go get your bags.” They went out the front door together.

Jack turned to Kate, grinning, then frowned when he saw that she was truly upset. “I promise I’ll behave. I won’t sneak into your bedroom, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ll—”

She waved her hand. “Do stop fantasizing. I’m not in the least worried about you. Aunt Sara likes him. Really, really likes him.”

“In the least?” Jack quoted. “You’re not worried—?” When Kate walked down the hall to his bedroom, he followed her.

“Get your shaving things and I’ll get your clothes.” She opened his closet door and stepped inside. “Why don’t you ever wear this shirt?”

“It’s pink. Ivy bought it for me.”

“Your sister does have taste.” She tossed it onto the bed.

Jack had grabbed some shaving gear and put it in a leather bag. When he saw Kate frantically flinging his clothes onto the bed, he tossed the case down and went to her. He took her by the shoulders, set her down in a chair, then knelt in front of her. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”

She took a moment before she spoke. “It just hit me that someday I may have to move into my own place. Alone.”

Jack put his hand under her chin. “You won’t be alone. You won’t be abandoned.”

“It’s just that I grew up so isolated. It was just Mother and me. Then I went to college and it was great being with other people. But Mother needed me so I went back home and we were alone again. When Mom told me that I had an aunt I was jubilant. And I came here and now...”

“And now you have a family.”

She looked at him. “Yes.”

He took her hands in his. “You won’t lose it. If I have to I’ll build you an apartment building and fill it with my relatives. You haven’t met half of them. You’ll have so much family that you’ll crave peace. You’ll call me and say, ‘Jackson! You better get me out of here or I’ll send my mother to move in with you.’ But by then I’ll be living upstairs in the penthouse so that means your mom will be just above you. She...”

Kate was laughing. “My mother would straighten you out in two days.”

“One call with her just about did it. She is a bit of a terror, isn’t she? I was scared to death. Started sweating.”

She put her hands on his shoulders and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.” Jack stood up.

They heard a door close, then laughter. Jack looked at what Kate had thrown onto the bed. “We better move these things.” He picked up a white shirt. “I am not going to wear this.”

“It’s nice.”

“It has lace on it.”