Bittersweet Herbs by Marty Wingate

Author:Marty Wingate [Wingate, Marty]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Marty Wingate

Pru watched Danny drive away. Where would he go? She’d have to hope for the best, because Evelyn’s text had reminded her to stop at the bakery. Ev had also asked if there were to be a centerpiece for the table. Pru put her Mini in gear, but kept her foot on the brake when her phone rang.

“Pru, Rollo Westcott here. I’m terribly sorry to disturb you—end of the week and all—but it’s just come to my attention that Ken … well, rather spilled the beans on my whereabouts that Thursday night.”

“Oh?” Pru kept the engine idling, waiting for the heater to kick in and for Rollo to continue.

“I do own the company, after all,” Rollo said, “and there’s no reason I shouldn’t take advantage of the facilities at Westcott Plumbing. Otherwise, I’d be drawing on the kitchen table, you know? It’s only that … there’s a design competition coming up sponsored by a garden magazine, and I thought well, why not put my name in for it. Couldn’t hurt to try, could it?”

He sounded a bit out of breath, but Pru heard a ring of sincerity, reminding her of how she sounded when she’d told friends in Dallas she was moving to England. Couldn’t hurt to try, could it?

“I’m sure you’ll want to tell the police as well,” Pru said.

“Absolutely,” Rollo said. “It’s only that it didn’t seem important at the time.”

“I appreciate you clearing that up for me,” Pru said. “And good luck to you.”

And now, she needed to get a move on. In Romsey, she stopped at the bakery, panicked at the almost-empty shelves before spotting a good-sized Italian loaf, and made it back at Greenoak just gone five thirty. After handing the bread over to Evelyn, she went straight back outside to cut greenery and trailing stems of ivy. Those she washed off in the mudroom, after which she made a trip to the potting shed, bringing in the last few precious containers of narcissus. She reviewed her dinner instructions with Evelyn, who had written everything out in detail. Peachey arrived to collect his wife and the pensioners’ dinners, and Pru went to the dining room to start on the table arrangement. She got in such a tangle with the lengths of ivy that when Evelyn looked in to say goodbye and saw the state of things, she shooed Pru upstairs to change clothes. By the time Pru arrived back on the ground floor, panting slightly, Evelyn and Peachey had gone, the dining table looked fabulous, the large dishes of chicken marengo sat awaiting a splash of brandy and the oven, and there was a text from Christopher to say he was caught at the back of a queue after a road-traffic accident just before Newbury and might be cutting it close.

Pru poured herself a glass of wine.

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