Grace Among Thieves (26 page)
That was a lie right there, but I didn’t call her out.
She jabbered on. “You wanted to know who he was. Well, now I can tell you.”
“A new boyfriend?” Frances asked.
Hillary shot her a withering look. “No . . .” she said stringing the word out. “Frederick is my new business partner.” Hillary let go of her suitcase handle long enough to hold her hands out in triumph. “I’m an interior designer,” she said with a radiant smile. “Frederick is putting up the money and I’m putting up the talent.” She winked at me. “The wine was one of the gifts I gave him to grease the wheels. And it worked!”
I tried to wrap my head around what she was saying, but the only question I could come up with was, “Why didn’t you tell us this earlier?”
“It was no one’s business but my own.”
“Do you have any idea how much police manpower it took to look for this guy? You should have said something. You cost the taxpayers of Emberstowne.”
She gave a “who cares?” shrug. “Well then, I guess I cost myself.”
My ebullience crashed and I thought I heard Bennett growl. “What do you mean?”
“You know that house a couple of doors away from yours that just got sold?” she asked me.
My stomach turned to stone. “No . . .”
“Turns out I couldn’t afford my place near the coast, after all. But I can afford to live here. Especially now that I have a real job.” She tapped a happy finger on my arm. “You and I are going to be neighbors,” she said. “Can you believe it?”
Bennett said nothing.
Frances said nothing.
“I can’t believe it,” I croaked.
“I have to run. Frederick is waiting. We’re looking at locations for our offices and I’m moving into my new home. See you all later.”
The door closed behind her and we three stared at one another, utterly dumbfounded.
Bennett finally broke the silence. “Gracie, do remember that acquisition trip I mentioned last week?”
I nodded.
“What do you say to taking that trip sooner, rather than later?”
Frances wagged a thick finger at us. “If you think I’m going to stay back here and face all the drama”—she pointed to the door where Hillary had exited—“that’s about to erupt around here, you two are asking a lot.” She looked from Bennett to me, back to him, then picked up the phone. “Fine,” she said, “which travel agent do you want to use?”
“Whoever you think best, Frances.” He turned to me. “What do you say, Gracie?”
I closed my eyes for a moment thinking about Mark’s cruelty, Jack’s abrupt resignation, and Hillary’s unexpected news. Life had been crazy around here, and it wasn’t going to get better anytime soon.
I opened my eyes. “How soon can we leave?”
Berkley Prime Crime titles by Julie Hyzy
White House Chef Mysteries
STATE OF THE ONION
HAIL TO THE CHEF
EGGSECUTIVE ORDERS
BUFFALO WEST WING
AFFAIRS OF STEAK
Manor House Mysteries
GRACE UNDER PRESSURE
GRACE INTERRUPTED
GRACE AMONG THIEVES
