Peril in Paperback: A Bibliophile Mystery

France,” I said. “Or Belgium. Somewhere. He couldn’t tell me exactly where he was going.”
    “So? What happened?”
    I sighed. Gabriel wasn’t going to let this go and I didn’t feel like holding it in anymore. He was a good friend and he was a man, so I told him about the phone call in the hopes that he might give me some perspective.
    “Babe, don’t even go there,” he said, his arm still wrapped around my shoulder. “Take it from me, that woman was pulling a number on you. She’s obviously a drama queen and she means nothing to Stone. She’s an assignment—that’s it.”
    I hated to sound so insecure, but I had to ask. “How can you be sure?”
    “Because I know the man.” He shrugged, then heldme at arm’s length and admitted, “He’s so crazy about you, it’s an embarrassment to men everywhere.”
    I laughed, as he’d probably hoped I would. He eased his grip on me and I stepped back, relieved to have gotten it all out of my system. Gabriel seeing my tears was a little humiliating, but I’d get over it. Apparently the tears had been in there, just lurking behind my eyelashes, waiting for their chance to escape. Now that they had, I actually felt better. “Thank you. I know Derek wouldn’t do what that woman was implying. It was stupid of me to give her any credibility at all.”
    “You got that right.”
    “I was doing fine for a while,” I said, in my own shaky defense. “But I guess I’m overtired. And I just spent twenty minutes trying to find my way out of the maze of hallways, which nearly drove me nuts. But never mind that. It’s just been so tense around here, what with Bella’s murder and the thing that happened to Shelly yesterday and then Kiki’s fall.”
    He took the hint and said, “Kiki’s fine, just feeling a little achy. I checked with her first thing. She’s resting in her room today.”
    “I’m so glad she’s okay.”
    “Me, too.” He gave my shoulder a lighthearted nudge to change the mood. “Look, Brooklyn. I’m no expert, but I think most of your stress came from worrying about your bongo act last night. I know you felt some performance anxiety over it.”
    “I did,” I said, nodding. “There were a lot of high expectations.”
    He took my hand in his and we headed in the direction of the conservatory at the far end of the front hall. “That’s understandable. The bongo is a dying art form.”
    “I’m keeping it alive.”
    “Just barely,” he said with a toothsome smile.
    I laughed. I was so grateful for his counsel and for the fact that we’d become such good friends that he was able to tease me out of my odd moods. “Thank you.”
    “For what?”
    I shrugged. “Nothing.”
    He nodded sagely. “Snow’s getting worse.”
    “I can see that.”
    We entered the glass-walled conservatory and he stopped to gaze out the window. “Power might go.”
    “Grace told us that there’s a generator that’ll keep the whole house up and running.” I glanced at him. “Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”
    “What?”
    “When I first saw you in the breakfast room, you indicated you wanted to talk to me about something.”
    “Nope.” He looked around. “Just wanted to get a move on.”
    “Oh. Okay, we’re moving.” I got the point. Gabriel was usually a man of few words, so I didn’t expect him to get all flowery. It was just nice to know he’d been concerned about me.
    Outside, a thick blanket of white covered every surface. Snow was collecting on the branches of the trees, causing them to sag precariously. If it got much colder and the snow hardened to ice, the branches and the treetops might snap off.
    I yawned.
    “You sleeping okay?” he asked.
    I started along the path and he joined me. “It was rough the first night, but I’ve been fine since then. Slept straight through last night. Why? Do I look sleepy to you?”
    “Not playing that game, babe. You look beautiful as always.”
    I laughed. “I wasn’t fishing for compliments.”
    He gave me a sideways glance. “You’re a woman.”
    “Okay, fine,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I appreciate the compliment. And I’m sleeping okay now. So let’s get back to the topic.”
    His eyes narrowed. “Which was?”
    “Power,” I said, reminding him that if the electricity went out, Grace’s generator would jump into action.
    “Good,” he said. “I plan on winning some money at that pinball game tonight, so I’ll need the power working at full