Down Home and Deadly

“He’s been sleeping at the c lub and just eating what he gets at the diner. But he needs a place where he can study and relax.” I looked at them and chose my words carefully. I wanted to be sure they knew that helping Marco was something I wanted to do. Not something I wanted them to do.
    They were staring at each other without speaking. It was one of those looks that made me feel as if there was a conversation going on that I wasn’t a part of.
    I continued, “I was thinking that maybe I could pay a reduced fee for one of the cabins. I know you sometimes do a weekly rate , and I’ve even seen you offer a monthly rate to a few—”
    “Hush, dear, so we can think,” Mama said sweetly.
    I hushed.
    “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she asked Daddy, her eyes sparkling.
    He nodded. “It’s an answer to a prayer. Cabin 40 .”
    I just stared at them. “We don’t have forty cabins.”
    Mama laughed. “You remember c abin 40 . We named it that because it’s out in the back forty.” She sipped her coffee and grinned at my still puzzled expression. “In other words, it’s so far from the office we got more complaints than it was worth. So when a storm blew a tree across the porch a couple of years ago, we just moved the tree and closed the cabin.”
    Daddy picked up the story. “We were just talking yesterday about what we were going to do with it. There was some damage to the porch, but the cabin is livable. We can have power hooked back up with no trouble. To pay for his keep, Marco can clean it and work on the porch as he has time. After he finishes that, if he still needs a place to live, we’ve got plenty of other jobs that need doing.”
    I frowned. “So you really do want the cabin fixed up?”
    Mama nodded. “We’ve tried to figure out what to do with it.”
    “It was sweet of you to want to help him, honey,” Daddy said. “But a man needs to earn his own way when he can. Keeps his character strong.”
    “A hand up is much better than a handout,” Mama agreed.
    I smiled at them and gave them each a hug. “I’ll go tell Marco the great news.”

    *****
    I didn’t have to be at work at the athletic club until three, so after I made Marco ’s day, I decided I would do what I had promised Debbie and go visit Lisa at Bob and Wilma’s.
    I pulled into the circular driveway in front of the elegant split - level glass and cedar house. Wilma answered the doorbell. She seemed genuinely happy to see me. When I told her why I was there, she ushered me up the wide oak stairway and to Lisa’s barely opened bedroom door. I turned to ask Wilma if she wanted to go in and tell Lisa I was there. But before I could say a word, she’d retreated down the stairs.
    I tapped on the door , and it opened under my knuckles. My guess was that the room hadn’t changed since Lisa was a little girl. A pink ruffled bedspread covered the bed underneath the white canopy. It made me think of Barbie’s bedroom. And there was Barbie, um, Lisa , in bed propped up on some pillows, a romance novel in her hand.
    “Hey,” I said, giving her my best smile. “How are you?”
    “How do you think I am?” she grumbled.
    “Upset, I imagine.” I nodded toward the closed blinds behind the frilly curtains. “Would you like me to open the blinds and let some sunshine in?” I took a step toward the window , and a tiny white fur ball came alive on the bed. Bared teeth and growling, Fluffy didn’t want me close to her mistress.
    I froze then took a step back. The dog retreated to its pillow but kept its eyes focused on me.
    “No, I don’t need sunshine.” Lisa ignored Fluffy and glared at me. “I just lost a, well, a very good friend. In a brutal way. And now the police think I killed him. I’ll be lucky if I don’t get arrested before I can even attend his funeral tomorrow.” She pinched her lips together. “And I never looked good in orange.” She was probably right ; apparently pink was more her color. “So, yes, I’m a bit upset. I think that’s understandable.”
    “It definitely is understandable. But maybe if you got up and went to the gym, you’d feel better. Sometimes getting that adrenaline pumping—”
    She pushed herself up in the bed. “I’m sure you came to interrogate me about something, so why don’t you just get on with it?”
    My eyes widened. “I came to check on you. People are worried about you.”
    “Like who?”
    “Like Debbie.”
    I watched her face, but she had no