Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Alarmed, Lydia sat down beside her. “Can you breathe?”
Rory nodded.
“You have to stop doing that.”
Rory took the inhaler away from her mouth. “She loves it and she talked to us, Lydia.” She whispered it, trying not to cry. “Ellen, you love to play horsey with Auntie Rory and Auntie Sally, don’t you?”
Ellen transferred her hug from Rory to Lydia, nodding enthusiastically. “I love playing horsey, Mommy,” she confided in an overly loud whisper. “Auntie Rory is the best horsey.”
“She is, isn’t she, Princess Bo Peep?” Lydia asked.
Ellen laughed and squirmed away from Lydia’s teasing kisses. “I’m not Bo Peep. I’m Ellie May Rider,” she declared, rolling around on the carpet between her mother and Rory.
“You are?” Lydia asked as if shocked. “Let me see. Sally, come look. Does she look like Princess Bo Peep or Ellie May Rider to you?”
Rory managed to sit up gingerly and draw air into her lungs. She glanced toward the table where Detective Larrsen was now taking Pam’s statement. It looked as if they were finishing up. He had his eyes fixed on Lydia and Ellen. Then he raised his gaze to her and smiled. He did have a very nice smile. Rory couldn’t help but smile back.
She stood up. “If I promise to hurry, do I have enough time to shower? I have somewhere I need to be this evening.”
“By all means. I’m going to be taking photographs and dusting for prints,” he replied. “I’m also going to check the footage in the security cameras. I’ve got plenty to do.”
Cindy stood. “I promise to talk slow when I give my statement, Rory. Take your time.”
“I’ll fold your laundry for you and bring up your clothes,” Sally volunteered. “I set my alarm, so don’t worry about anyone taking over the machines. I can bring them to Lydia’s apartment, and you can choose which outfit you want to wear tonight.”
Rory looked around at the friends she’d made. It was hard to blink back tears. “Thank you. All of you. It means a lot that you’d help me.”
“You’ve certainly helped every one of us multiple times,” Janice pointed out. “We know you like Gideon, and we don’t want you to be late for your date. Go take your shower.”
“The hair dryer is under the sink,” Lydia said. “Do you want help with your hair?”
“No, but . . .” She broke off, glancing at the detective. She really did detest showing weakness, but he’d already seen her on the floor wheezing, using her inhaler. “I did put my nebulizer just inside the cabinet where all the magazines are kept. Would one of you mind getting it out for me? It’s in a cloth bag right on top. It’s a little heavy.”
If Sally was going to fold her laundry and bring it to her at Lydia’s, she would have time to give herself a treatment before she went to Gideon’s. She could leave her machine at Lydia’s, knowing it would be safe there until she got back.
“I’ll get it for you,” Pam volunteered. “Get moving.”
“It’s nice to see that you’re all such good friends,” Larrsen said, holding out his hand to Lydia to help her up so she wouldn’t have to let go of Ellen.
Rory couldn’t help smiling as Lydia took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. Ellen buried her face in Lydia’s neck. That didn’t seem to bother him at all. He just smiled down at Lydia.
“The cookies are the best I’ve ever eaten. Seconds seem appropriate under the circumstances.”
“What circumstances are those?” Lydia asked.
She tried to sound challenging, but Rory thought she sounded breathless. She wondered if she sounded like that when she talked to Gideon.
“I came down on the side of Miss Ellie May Rider, and I was right. That should earn me cookies.”
Ellen turned her head sideways, and for one moment, her little white teeth flashed at the detective, and then she buried her face again in her mother’s neck.
“If that little smile she just gave him is anything to go by, I think Miss Ellie May concurs,” Rory said, wanting Lydia to know Ellen wasn’t above succumbing to the detective’s charm.
“What do you think, Princess? Did his vote earn him more cookies? He is working hard, and he did say they were the best cookies he’s ever had. That was truly a nice thing to say. What do you think? Should I say yes?” Lydia feathered a series of light kisses over the side of her daughter’s face and neck.
Ellen nodded vigorously even as she giggled and squirmed. She was obviously ticklish around her ear and neck, and her mom was hitting every sensitive spot.
“Thank you, Miss Ellie May Rider,” Detective Larrsen said in a very solemn tone as he scooped more cookies onto his plate and returned to the table to join Cindy.