A Willing Murder (Medlar Mystery 1)

Behind her, he smiled at her compliment.

In the afternoon, the women worked on organizing what was needed to feed the people. Caterers, bartenders, more security. There was already too much interest in the event. Jack had brought in half a dozen boxes of Sara’s books from the garage and she would autograph them.

At six, Kate escaped to her bedroom to begin to get ready for an evening out with Alastair. She was looking forward to thinking about something besides a murder scene.

She took time with her hair and makeup, then looked at her clothes, trying to decide what to wear. Not too formal, not evening wear. Casual but nice. She settled on a pair of black wide-legged pants and a white silk blouse with a band of sparkling beads at the shoulder. She pulled back one side of her hair, clipped it with a silver barrette, grabbed her clutch and left her rooms.

Jack and his sister were on the couch, Sara and Heather in the kitchen. They all stopped to stare.

“Do I look okay?”

“Gorgeous,” Sara said.

“I agree,” Heather said.

“Can I hire your mother to sew for me?” Ivy asked.

Jack said, “Glad to see you took a shower.”

Sara and Heather insisted on driving her to the restaurant Alastair had chosen.

“That way you can drink. Later, you can call us to come get you.”

Kate protested. She wasn’t a teenager with a curfew, and if she drank too much, she could call a cab.

Sara looked at her in horror. “Somewhere, there’s a murderer who I’m sure knows that we’re investigating the case. No, you’re not driving around after dark alone.”

“Alastair will probably take me home.”

“No!” Heather said, sounding almost near to panic. “I mean, he might drink, too.” No one needed to mention the recent crash that had taken a life.

Jack was sitting on the couch and she called goodbye to him. “Have fun with your old man,” he said.

Laughing, she got into the car with Sara.

Alastair was waiting for her at the restaurant, and he held out her chair. “Did I see that you were dropped off?”

“Yes. They worry about drinking and driving.”

“Considering what the Wyatt family has been through, I can understand that.” He poured her a glass of wine. “I hope it’s all right that I ordered a bottle of white to start with.”

She took a sip. “Lovely.” She picked up her menu. “What’s good here?” When he didn’t answer, she looked at him. He was staring at her. “Is something wrong?”

“You’re just beautiful, that’s all. I keep thinking of the lu

ck of meeting you. And then finding out that you’re a mover and a shaker. You’re turning little ol’ Lachlan on its ear.”

She put down her menu. “I haven’t meant to. We just stumbled on—”

“I know,” he said. “It’s all anyone can talk about. Those poor women. What makes me angry is that back when it happened no one in this town gave a damn that they went missing.” His voice rose, attracting a glance from the people at the next table.

“It’s all right,” Kate said. “We’re looking into it.”

He lowered his voice. “That’s what I heard and I’m glad for it.” He looked at his menu. “Maybe we shouldn’t mention it again tonight. You must be sick of it all. What do you want to order?”

“Scallops. My favorite. What about you?”

“Calamari.” He put down his menu. “I want to know more about you. Where did you go to school? For that matter, where—” He broke off as the waiter took their orders, then left.