War and Peas

and marry her. This was supposedly the reason I’d been sick all evening, you see? And because I couldn’t live without him, I’d tried to kill us both. There were no skid marks on the road and that added fuel to the rumor. Daisy told me about it and we had a good, if rather cynical, laugh out of it.“
    “How would Whitney have known?“ Jane asked.
    “Oh, he’s part of the same crowd. His grandmother gave one of my wedding showers. And fifty-year-old gossip is as good as a recent scandal among the old families. Now, I’m starting to feel my age. I’d better get on home. I’ll see you both tomorrow. Stay and finish your desserts.”
    And with that, she put a twenty-dollar bill on the table, gave them a quick glance defying them to object, and left.
    Jane and Shelley stared at each other for a minute. Finally Jane said, “Shelley, I don’t think you can be her when you grow up.”
    Shelley shook her head. “No, I don’t think so, either.”

Seventeen

    Jane and Shelley entered the boardroom Wednesday morning just as Lisa was coming in for a cup of coffee. Lisa was looking distinctly haggard, a bit wrinkled, and angry. Sharlene was already in the room, filling a cup herself.
    “Sharlene, I just got a call from that Harriman woman about her mother’s wheelchair that she’s determined to donate to the museum,“ Lisa said. “I thought Derek was going to take care of it.“
    “He was supposed to. I put her on the list of calls to return yesterday,“ Sharlene replied, rummaging in a cabinet for more sugar packets. Today she was wearing a shimmery dark purple blouse and a black skirt. Whether by intuition or by study, she made the very best of her stunning coloring.
    “Did he return any of the calls?“ Lisa asked irritably.
    “I don’t know,“ Sharlene said. “I didn’t see him all afternoon. I put the list on his desk. I’ll go see if it’s still there.“ She was back in a moment. “No, sorry. The list’s right where I left it and nothing’s checked off.“
    “And he’s not here yet this morning?“ Lisa asked. —
    “Apparently not,“ Sharlene said, emerging triumphantly from the cabinet with a rather elderly box containing individual sugar packets. “At least his car’s not here. I checked. Of course, he lives close by and usually walks to work unless he has a lunch appointment. Do you want me to call him?“
    “No, don’t bother. But I hope you’ll make sure Babs and Jumper know that their acting director isn’t doing his job.“ She glanced at Sharlene. “I’m sorry. I’m not cranky with you. It’s just that everything’s so difficult. You’d think the least Derek would do is show up for work. I was hoping to get away for a while myself this afternoon and rest a little, but if I have to take up the slack for him—“
    “Lisa, go back home now, why don’t you?“ Sharlene suggested. “You look so tired, and if you wear yourself to a nub and get sick, it’ll be harder on everyone. I’ll return his calls and explain that due to what’s happened, we’re a little behind this week.”
    Lisa smiled weakly. “Not now, but maybe later I’ll take you up on that.“ She patted Sharlene on the shoulder, picked up her coffee cup, and left.
    Sharlene approached the table, and as Jane backed up to get out of her path, she bumped into the counter where the computer was. The stuffed cat tumbled off and she barely managed to catch it before it hit the floor. “Poor old Heidi,“ Jane said, standing it upright and back in place. “Your stuffing must be clumping up to make you rattle that way.“ She gave it a pat on the head and adjusted it so that the base was a little more firmly set and wouldn’t take another header.
    “I really wish Lisa would go home,“ Sharlene remarked, stirring two packets of the slightly lumpy sugar into her coffee. “She looks exhausted and miserable. And it’s not like her to be snappish, even about Derek.”
    Jane thought back to Lisa’s suggestion that Derek might be responsible for Regina’s death and then trying to deny it. “Has she never gotten along with him?“ she asked.
    “Oh, not to say didn’t get along. But they’ve never been friendly.“
    “Did he make passes at her, too?“ Shelley asked.
    “Maybe. I don’t know. She never mentioned it. I think she just found him distasteful. And being friends with Ms. Palmer, I’m sure she knew what trouble he’d been to her.“
    “Trouble. I hear the word and think of Derek,“