Peril in Paperback: A Bibliophile Mystery

cried, ‘Yaw-ho!’
    She wrote a great book,
    New York took a look,
    And in lights her name is now all a-glow.”
     
    As groans and moans and laughter filled the room, Ruth smiled primly. She cleared her throat, then continued valiantly through four more silly, hilarious verses, each more groan-inducing than the one before. By the time she reached the final few lines, we were on our feet, hooting and cheering.
    “Amazing how many words rhyme with Tahoe,” Gabriel said. I turned to see him standing right next to my chair.
    “
Chapeau
threw me,” I admitted.
    “What about
big toe
?”
    I nodded. “That was a good one, too.”
    We smiled at each other. Finally I whispered, “I’ll miss you.”
    He raised one eyebrow.
    “When you leave for Antarctica.” I chuckled as he did his best to ignore me. “Really? Polar birds?”
    His jaw moved back and forth as he continued to stare straight ahead. “I didn’t want to hurt her.”
    I studied him for a long moment, then nodded. “That was good of you.”
    From the other side of the room, Kiki called out, “Aunt Grace, you have to do a reading from your manuscript!”
    “Oh no,” Grace demurred. “I already did. Nobody wants to hear more.”
    “Yes, we do,” Suzie said loudly. “Read the sexy parts!”
    Harrison laughed, and Nathan led the prompt “Read it, read it, read it, read it.”
    “Oh, all right. If you insist,” she said modestly, then opened the drawer of the end table nearest her and pulled out her manuscript. “I just happen to have a copy at hand.”
    I smiled. “She’s too much. Isn’t she?”
    “The best,” Gabriel agreed.
    Grace opened the manuscript to a page in the middle. “This scene happens after Greta and Paul have filed their papers of incorporation. They’ve gone back to the office and Paul opens a bottle of champagne.”
    I’d read that part already and knew how it ended, so I sat back in my chair and prepared to watch the reactions of some of the guests.
    Grace cleared her throat and struck a dramatic pose. Then she began to read. “‘I never thought this day would come, Greta.’ Paul handed her a delicate flute filled with bubbly golden liquid and said, ‘Let’s toast to the success of our new partnership.’”
    Grace looked up at us and waved her hand in a circle to indicate she was skipping some words. “So they drink. And they drink some more. And they laugh and giggle and one thing leads to another, if you know what I mean. And I’ll pick it up right here.”
    She flipped a few pages, then continued reading. “‘It’s always been you, Greta. There’s no one else. I want you. I’ve always wanted you. I’ll want you until the day I die.’ Greta stared at him in shock. She didn’t dare give in to the happiness his words filled her with. ‘Oh, Paul, I…we…it would be such a mistake. A glorious mistake, but still a mistake you would regret. Maybe not tonight, but someday. And if I ever had to see the look in your eyes that told me you had stopped loving me, I would die.’ ‘I could never regret wanting you, Greta. I could neverstop loving you.’ He kissed her then, and nothing in her life had ever felt so wonderful, so perfect, so
right
, before!”
    Grace grinned at her guests, then took a sip of her own champagne. “This is getting good.”
    Several of us laughed as Grace turned the page and continued reading. “Then he swept her up in his arms. ‘I want you, Greta. Tonight I’ll have you.’ He carried her into the bedroom and laid her on the—”
    Without warning, a baseball flew across the room and smacked Grace in the side of the head.
    Vinnie screamed.
    Grace grunted, then slumped over the arm of the couch.
    Someone gasped. It might have been me.
    Ruth screeched, “No! Grace!”
    Everyone dropped to the floor or scrambled away out of danger. Sybil had been sitting in the chair nearest Grace, but she was on her feet now, staring in horror at the unconscious woman.
    “Damn you, Grace. Wake up!” Ruth sobbed as she tightened her grip on the woman who lay unconscious in her arms. Wild-eyed, Ruth looked from Suzie to the stunned faces of the guests. “Who did that? Who threw that ball?”
    “Auntie Grace,” Kiki cried. She ran toward Grace but Gabriel caught her around the waist.
    “No,” he said, his voice deadly serious. “Stay back. You could be hurt.”
    My gaze darted around the room as I tried frantically to spot the person who had thrown the ball. I had only seconds to