Pushing Up Bluebonnets Read Online Free PDF Page A

her.''
      I grabbed my keys from the hook by the door and brushed his lips with mine before I left. I didn't say good-bye to Doris. She and I would both be better off without further discussion concerning the danger of hospitals.
    Fifteen minutes later, I was looking for a parking spot
    close to Methodist. I realized I'd been on a similar hunt in the Medical Center earlier today—at Cooper Boyd's request. ''Cooper. Oh no.'' I thunked my forehead with my palm before maneuvering into an angled spot on about the hundredth floor of the garage. I'd forgotten to call him with the JoLynn Richter information. I waited until I was off the elevator and walking toward the hospital before I dialed his number from the business card he'd given me.
      He answered before the phone rang even once. ''Yes.'' One word as intense as the man himself.
      ''Sorry I didn't call earlier, but we had an emergency and then I had to—''
      ''You got something?'' he said. I could hear music in the background.
       Blues, maybe? That would be about right. ''I have a phone number and you'll probably want to get a professional handwriting expert to check this letter I matched to the scrawl on the card.''
      ''Like we got a dozen graphologists around here. What's the name and address?'' He cleared his throat. Maybe he had that gravel voice because of a cold or something.
      ''JoLynn Richter, but I must have sent her the card and my tip sheets without recording her address—she sent a self-addressed envelope. Once I send the card, folks usually call me, so I don't keep track of addresses.''
      A long silence followed. ''Richter? You're sure?''
      ''If I'm not, there isn't a white tooth in Hollywood,'' I said.
    ''I'll be damned.''

    4

    ''Do you know JoLynn Richter?'' I said. If so, why hadn't he recognized her in the hospital?
      ''I'm familiar with the family name, but I've never heard of her. Listen, I have to get out to the Richter place, see if they have a relative who's missing. Thanks.''
      He hung up, leaving me staring at the phone and thinking I might never hear from him again. That bothered me. I felt connected to JoLynn Richter since she'd once asked for my help, and I wanted to know more about why she'd written to me. Not your case, Abby, a voice in my head said. But it seemed to be my case, even though no one had hired me. I wanted—no, needed —to know why someone had wanted her dead.
      I rode the elevator up to Aunt Caroline's floor, switching my thoughts to her. She was asleep when I walked in—it was past ten p.m.—and Kate was curled up in an armchair reading a magazine. She looked up and put a finger to her lips.
      I tiptoed over to the bed. Aunt Caroline had on her own lavender nightgown. Five containers of various skin creams sat on the bedside table and her hospital pillow was encased in pink satin. Aunt Caroline must have kept Kate busy running back and forth to her house for things she simply had to have—which meant she was in better shape than when she'd left my house in an ambulance.
      Kate stood and motioned toward the door.
      Once we were in the hallway, she whispered, ''Her blood sugar has dropped to around three hundred, thanks to the insulin. She is a diabetic.''
      ''That's what I figured. Three hundred is still high, right? During my last physical, mine was about ninety and the doc said that's normal.''
      ''Considering it was over five hundred when she got here, I'd say she's made plenty of progress,'' Kate said.
      I gasped. ''No way.''
      Kate shushed me. ''Keep your voice down. Patients are sleeping.''
      But one of them wasn't sleeping anymore, because Aunt Caroline called, ''Abigail? Is that you?''
      We both reentered her room.
      I said, ''Sorry I couldn't get here earlier, but—''
      ''Katherine took good care of me.'' She smiled at Kate as if to say at least one of her nieces cared.
      ''Since she's taken the first shift,'' I said, ''I'll stay with you