Dateline Matrimony (Hot off the Press! 3)

Dan scowled. “I wish I could assure you that will be soon. But with R.L. out of town and Bud not talking, we’re not making any progress.”

“It is possible that Bud doesn’t know any more than we do,” Cameron suggested.

“Yeah. It’s possible.” Dan didn’t sound overly confident.

“When’s R.L. planning to come back home?” Serena asked.

Dan answered with a grumble. “Beats the hell out of me. He didn’t even tell me he was leaving town.”

Riley shrugged. He didn’t know where R.L. was nor when he would return.

For the next few minutes, they all concentrated on the excellent food Serena and Cameron had prepared for them. Marjorie was off on her regular Saturday night outing with a group of friends, and this dinner party had been planned for a couple of weeks. As she always did, Serena had encouraged Riley to bring a guest and, as always, Riley had declined. Dining with these two blissfully married couples was likely to give a date ideas, he figured. The wrong ideas, when it came to him.

“How’s your new tenant working out?” Dan asked Riley, apparently deciding he needed to stop talking shop and lead the conversation into a lighter direction.

“No problems so far. Half the time I don’t even know they’re there.” Which was, of course, a lie. Riley was always too well aware that Teresa lived in the other half of his house.

Lindsey smiled. “The kids are cute, aren’t they? I’ve met them at church a couple of times.”

“They’re great kids,” Serena said with a smile. “I’ve known them since they were born, of course, so I’m not exactly objective, but I do think they’re exceptionally well behaved.”

“You must have known Teresa’s husband.”

“Of course,” Serena answered Lindsey. “I attended their wedding.”

Riley wondered if the others had noticed a sudden change in Serena’s voice.

If Lindsey had noticed, it didn’t stop her from asking, “What was he like?”

Serena glanced at her husband before admitting, “I didn’t know him very well, really. Teresa and I didn’t get to see each other very often while she was married. I was in law school while she was having her babies—we were just busy with different things.”

Blunt as always, Lindsey concluded, “You hated him.”

“Lindsey,” Dan murmured, shaking his head in resignation.

“I didn’t hate him,” Serena insisted. “I just didn’t particularly like him.”

“Was he a jerk?”

“Lindsey,” Dan said again.

“What? I’m just asking. Teresa’s part of our community now. It’s only natural that I’m curious about her.”

“Gossip,” Cameron stated.

“A fine old Edstown tradition,” Lindsey retorted. “So why’d you hate Teresa’s husband, Serena?”

Serena shook her head. “I’m not going to sit here and gossip about my friend’s late husband. I’ve already admitted that I didn’t care for Darren, but that was just my opinion. I don’t see any need to go into the reasons.”

The young reporter had never been easily dissuaded from a line of questioning, as everyone at the table had good reason to know. “How did he die?”

“He was trimming some tree limbs and he accidentally hit a live wire with the tool he was using. He was electrocuted. Lindsey found him when she returned home after doing some shopping with the kids.”

Riley felt the stark force of Serena’s words hit him solidly in the chest. Hearing the details of Teresa’s husband’s death made him even more aware of all she had been through—losing her parents so young, finding her husband dead, raising two children alone, battling an embittered mother-in-law. It was a wonder she was as positive and upbeat as he’d usually found her to be. And no wonder at all that she was so independent and wary of getting involved with new people.

After a moment of silence, Lindsey asked, “How long ago did it happen?”

“It’s been four and a half years. Mark was in kindergarten and Maggie was just a toddler.”