Evil In Carnations Read Online Free PDF Page A

hurry?”
    Everything except getting to the point of this conversation, apparently.
    “Whatever happened to church socials?” Lottie asked. “That was a great way for young people to meet.”
    “Abby,” Grace said, “you still haven’t explained why you feel to blame for Nikki’s situation.”
    The big picture at last! “I talked Nikki into attending the event. I even sweetened the deal by offering to go along to help her screen the guys. Because she didn’t trust her own judgment when it came to dates, that cinched the deal. And then, last night, the night Jonas was murdered, I wasn’t home to verify Nikki’s alibi.”
    “Ah,” Grace said. “Now it becomes clear.”
    “To be fair,” I countered, “if Nikki had listened to me, she wouldn’t have gone out with Jonas, but that’s water under the bridge now, because I was the one who set the ball in motion.”
    “Abby, dear,” Grace said calmly, “you’re mixing metaphors. Put the ball down, come out from under the bridge, and tell us how this came about.”
    I blew out my breath. Where to start? “I suppose I should go back to when Marco asked me to go to Key West.” I paused to gauge their reactions, but there weren’t any, so I continued. “That’s where I was this weekend—in Key West.”
    Lottie and Grace glanced at each other but still said nothing.
    “With Marco,” I added, in case they hadn’t gotten it. “We went together.”
    “What are you trying to tell us?” Lottie asked. “Did you elope?”
    “No! We’re not even engaged. We just wanted to reconnect.”
    “They went to reconnect ,” Lottie said, exchanging a look with Grace.
    They both turned to study me. I braced myself.
    Suddenly, Lottie began to whoop—“Woo-hoo!”—then threw her napkin into the air. Even Grace got into the spirit and clapped. Genteelly, of course.
    “Well, dang it, sweetie,” Lottie cried, grabbing me by the shoulders and giving me one of her big Kentucky squeezes, “it’s about time. Me and Gracie thought you two were never gonna get back to the way you were before. We were afraid you wouldn’t open your heart ever again.”
    “I always applaud your cautious nature, dear,” Grace said, “on the rare occasion you exhibit it. However, in matters of the heart, sometimes one must throw caution to the wind.”
    At that she rose and took hold of her sweater as though it had lapels, a sure sign she was about to share a quote. She seemed to have a never-ending supply of them. “As Bertram Russell once said, ‘Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.’ ”
    I blinked at them, wondering if I were dreaming. “So you approve?”
    “You’re an adult, dear,” Grace said as she refilled our cups. “What you decide to do is not subject to our approval.”
    Okay, now I knew I was dreaming.
    “Remember how reluctant you were to accept Marco’s first dinner invitation after your breakup?” Lottie asked. “Well, you wouldn’t be standing here with that smile on your face if you hadn’t taken our advice and gone out with him.”
    “I know,” I said, “and I thank you both for encouraging me to take a risk.”
    “In the words of J. C. Macaulay,” Grace said, “ ‘Keep your heart right, even when it is sorely wounded.’ ”
    Two quotes in five minutes. Grace had set a new personal record.
    “Please keep our trip a secret. Nikki is the only other person who knows. You can imagine what would happen if my parents found out. They’d want to know what it meant, whether we were planning to get married or move in together or what.” I shuddered, imagining the phone calls, the quizzing, the gossiping between my sisters-in-law, and I didn’t even want to consider what my cousin Jillian would do with the news of our little getaway. Put it on her MySpace page? Hire a pilot to fly a banner over New Chapel that says ABBY AND MARCO WENT TO KEY WEST—WHY?
    “Sweetie, I’m not gonna pretend I wouldn’t