Lust and Lies 04 - Pretty Maids in a Row

faster than she normally drove. April might have heard details from Rachel, which would surely get her more information than she could get on her own at home.
    The sedate beauty of the University of Delaware campus failed to quiet Holly's nerves as she followed the directions April had given her. The MacLeash home was a two-story white clapboard with bright-blue trim. A big picture window had blue shutters on the sides and a blue window box with red begonias beneath it. The front yard showed evidence of meticulous care and the wooden swing hanging on the front porch was a perfect finishing touch. It fit Holly's impression of April exactly—pretty and neat, while offering a warm welcome to passing strangers.
    The only thing that seemed out of place was the number of automobiles parked in the double-wide driveway. Since she doubted that a childless couple would have use for four cars, she guessed that they already had visitors this morning, perhaps some of Professor MacLeash's students.
    Holly was right about visitors, though not about their identity. Sitting in the living room, as April brought her into the house, were Rachel and Bobbi, looking hostile and timid respectively.
    "I hope you don't mind the impromptu get-together, Holly," April said with an apologetic smile. "But after I spoke to you, they both called with concerns and I thought it would be best to air our feelings all together."
    "That's fine," Holly said, thinking quite the opposite, but worry over David's welfare was uppermost in her mind. "On the way here I heard a news report on the radio about Jerry Frampton being arrested and David Wells being wounded, but there were no details. Do you know what happened?"
    "Rachel will fill you in on what she was able to learn." April glanced at Holly's overnight bag. "Good. You decided to stay. Let me give you the fifty cent tour before we get started. Excuse us for a few minutes, ladies." Bobbi nodded and Rachel waved them away.
    Holly would have preferred to forget the tour, but she didn't have it in her to be rude to April. From the living room they passed through the dining room into the kitchen. The decor was predominantly Early American, complementing the house and April perfectly.
    In the kitchen, April knocked on a closed door. "Theodore, may I interrupt for a moment? There's someone here I'd like you to meet." She turned toward Holly and whispered conspiratorially, "He was probably taking a nap, but it makes him feel better if I pretend he's working. Ever since we converted the garage into a library, I think he does more sleeping in here than in our bed."
    The door was opened by an elderly man who did indeed look like he'd been caught napping. April placed her hand on his elbow to urge him forward. Speaking a bit louder and slower than her normal tone, she said, "Theodore, this is a friend of mine, Holly Kaufman. Holly, this is my husband, Professor Theodore MacLeash."
    Holly had to forcibly stop her jaw from falling open while she shook his hand. April's husband? He looked more like her father, or even her grandfather. The balding, bespectacled man whose shoulders were stooped with age appeared to be close to eighty.
    "Holly went to school with me. She lives in Washington, D.C., now. We became reacquainted when I went there recently."
    Theodore squinted at her over his trifocals, until he remembered. "Oh, yes. It's hard to keep track of all your good will missions these days." With a smiling glance at his wife, he told Holly, "April doesn't know how to let go of her patients. It doesn't matter where they've moved to, if they call her for help, off she goes, abandoning me to fend for myself."
    April kissed his cheek. "I only go away so you'll appreciate me more when I get back."
    Holly had the uneasy thought that she could be looking at herself and Philip. Though younger than Theodore, Philip was still a much older, doting man, providing the protection of a comfortable, secure relationship—no risks, no heartbreaks... no excitement. No wonder she and April got along so well. They had apparently chosen the same way to cope with their neuroses. It was just that Holly was no longer certain she wanted such an unemotional, safe life.
    "Will Cheryl be joining you?" Theodore asked.
    "I'm not sure," April replied with a frown. "Will you be having lunch with us?"
    "No, no. You girls enjoy yourselves. Pretend I'm not even here. Say hello to Cheryl for me." He gave his wife a peck on the forehead and retreated