Misfortune Cookie--A Noodle Shop Mystery by Vivien Chien

Author:Vivien Chien
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

CHAPTER

25

Aunt Grace returned from the ladies’ room, the whites of her eyes bloodshot, giving away the fact that she’d been crying. I didn’t know what Ernest had said to initiate such a reaction, but maybe she’d tell me about it in the car on the way over to Blackwell’s.

I had a hard time meeting her gaze. Not just because I felt a pang in my heart for how this was so clearly affecting her, but also because she had been keeping a major secret from our family. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but I had a sneaking suspicion that my mother didn’t know the truth about Aunt Grace’s marriage either.

“Sorry about that,” Aunt Grace said as she crossed the room and sat back in her seat. “Now, where were we?”

Ernest continued on as if he hadn’t just dropped a large bomb in my lap. “I was just telling Lana here about Chase Winters and Nora.”

“What do you mean?” Aunt Grace looked between the two of us. “What does Chase have to do with any of this?”

I put a hand on my aunt’s shoulder. Ernest might have wanted to spare Aunt Grace’s feelings but we had a killer to catch. “Auntie, he’s who Nora was having an affair with.”

“What?” Aunt Grace practically shouted the word.

“Afraid so, Gracie,” Ernest said.

“But she and Nick were in love beyond measure,” Aunt Grace insisted. “She talked about him as if he were Mr. Perfect. How can someone do something like that?”

Ernest tapped his pen against the desk. “My guess is that when she was talking about Nick, she was actually referring to Chase. I didn’t hear all the details on how long it was going on, but there have been rumblings in the office for at least a few months. I tried shutting it down, but you know how people are. Takes the spotlight off their own shortcomings for a bit.”

“I can’t believe that Nora would do something like this. And never a word to me about any of it?”

I remained silent. I didn’t want to press the issue or point out the fact that Aunt Grace has repeated that sentiment more times in the last few days than any person should. And now that I knew my aunt’s secret, I understood why this aspect bothered her so much. I also understood why she’d been so determined to convince Anna May to stay out of the picture until Henry’s divorce was a done deal. Clearly, she had not received that same courtesy in her own marriage, and it stung to see Anna May being the other woman.

Aunt Grace stood up yet again, and I feared she would run from the room once more, but instead she said in a calm tone, “I think I’ve heard enough of this. Ernest, we’ll be going now.”

He stood and came around his desk. With genuine sympathy, he patted Aunt Grace’s shoulder. “I really am sorry, Gracie. If you want to take a couple days to yourself, I have some wiggle room with these deadlines.

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