Midlife Medicine Box Set: Books 1-5 by Anderson Amorette

Author:Anderson, Amorette [Anderson, Amorette]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-09-23T22:00:00+00:00

14

Grace’s knees felt a little more like jelly than she would’ve liked as she made her way up the steps to the stage that occupied one end of the town hall.

Once positioned at the center of the stage, she looked out at the three long tables that filled the hall, end to end. A few faces turned toward her, curious what she was up to. Even more folks looked up at her when she clapped her hands.

However, a hundred voices continued to chatter on, a few dogs barked at one another, and, in general, those who occupied the room were more interested in their food and in each other than they were in her.

I hope I can still do this, Grace thought, as she placed her fingers just so in her mouth. She’d learned the trick from a nice man who had once coached Oliver in soccer one spring back when he thought team sports were cool.

“Tweeeeet!” The shrill whistle ripped through the room.

I’ve still got it! Grace thought, as a hush came over the room. Now everyone was looking her way, which made her knees feel even weaker.

For Grace, public speaking was about as far out of her comfort zone as the moon was from the earth. There were an infinite number of things she’d prefer to be doing, in that moment, than standing on that stage with all eyes trained on her.

Yet, there she was.

“Ahem.” She cleared her throat, readying her vocal pipes. In a way, she was happy for the healthy sip of wine she’d just had before making her way up here. It soothed her jangling nerves just enough so that she could manage to speak. “Good evening, everyone! I have a quick announcement to make, and then we can all get back to enjoying this wonderful meal.”

The crowd waited attentively.

So far, so good, she thought. But then, a little wave of anxiety welled up as if out of nowhere, and made her heart hammer. She lost her train of thought.

“Woof!” she heard Lucky’s distinct bark, and knew instantly that it was her pup’s way of offering encouragement.

Right. On with it. She cleared her throat again and then said, “I -- um -- I have some news to share with everyone, and I thought this was a good time to share it, given that we’re all here together. I -- well, as you all know, I’ve taken over for Maude Crickback as town sleuth. And this past week, I’ve decided to reopen a case that happened here in town five years ago: the death of Brody Brockman.”

A murmur rose up. She waited for it to die down, and then went on. “I’m also investigating Maude’s death. I have reason to suspect that she did not die of a horseback riding accident, as previously thought.”

This caused a real stir, which lasted even longer than the first.

And this time, the frantic murmuring did not die down. Grace had to raise her voice above it, which wasn’t pleasant, but necessary in order to gain control of the room again.

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