The Heirloom Murders Read Online Free PDF Page A

sites gardeners were active participants and big fans.
    “After my parents’ funeral, when I was trying to figure out if I’d come back to Eagle for good, I saw the ad for the head gardener position at Old World. I didn’t really think I’d get hired. But I did.”
    “Everything your mom taught you no doubt helped you get the job,” Chloe said gently. “It’s like she was still taking care of you.”
    “Yeah.” Dellyn fished in her pocket for a tissue, and wiped her eyes. “You want some coffee? I can take a break.” She led the way to a pair of metal chairs against the fence. A red-capped Thermos sat on a low table between them.
    “Thanks.” Chloe poured herself a cup and took a grateful sip. “Listen, is there anything I can do for you? Help with the funeral arrangements?”
    “Thanks, but no. The cops finally tracked Simon down—he was off on some business thing in Lake Geneva—and he came over last night. He’s making all the plans.” Tears welled up and over. Dellyn dug for another wad of tissues and blew her nose. “Sorry. I’m just so angry at myself. I had no idea Bonnie was having problems! How could I not have known?”
    “She probably didn’t want you to know.”
    Dellyn twisted her fingers together. “A few days ago I came home from work and found a carton sitting on the kitchen table. Spooked the hell out of me, actually. But inside was a stack of my mom’s old garden journals. Bonnie had taken them after our folks died.”
    “Did she leave a note?” Chloe asked.
    “Yeah. All it said was ‘You should have these.’” Dellyn’s voice was flat. “It pissed me off that she’d left the box while I was at work, like she didn’t even want to talk to me. But now … Dammit! Why didn’t I just pick up the phone?”
    “Did Bonnie ever act as if something was bothering her?” Chloe mentally cursed Roelke for asking her to pry.
    “I don’t know. She’d changed so much from when we were kids.” Dellyn hunched over, elbows on knees. “I lost my parents without having a chance to say good-bye. I should have made more of an effort to reach out to Bonnie.”
    “She probably didn’t want to add to your burdens.” Chloe sipped her coffee. “Do you and Simon get along OK?”
    Dellyn straightened again, and shrugged. “Bonnie is—was—only a year older than me. We were really close until she got serious about Simon. They got married when she was eighteen. I resented him. I would have resented whoever she married, I guess. It seems stupid now.”
    “Did he try to get to know you?”
    Dellyn added a splash of coffee to each of their cups. “He and Bonnie actually invited me to come on some of their dates. We went to the county fair, and to a couple of concerts. There aren’t a lot of guys who would let his fiancée’s little sister tag along.”
    A bluebird landed on the fence nearby, considered his options, and flew off. “No,” Chloe agreed.
    “And then after they got married, everything just seemed …
weird. Simon was older than Bonnie, and already had this high-powered career.” Dellyn gestured vaguely toward the garden, and the open land beyond it. “Dad farmed until I was ten. That’s when he sold off some acres, and the houses up the way got built. And he and Mom lived and breathed history. So it seemed sorta bizarre to visit Simon and Bonnie at their place, all ultra-modern. It was like she had … I don’t know, turned her back on her roots or something.” She made a derisive noise. “That sounds so cliché.”
    “People change,” Chloe said, and winced. “Now that was a cliché. Sorry.”
    Dellyn waved one hand in an It doesn’t matter gesture. “We had a pretty big fight. Me and Bonnie. Right before I left Eagle.”
    “What about?” Chloe imagined Roelke going rigid, ready to pounce on any new tidbit of information, and made an effort to banish him from her brain.
    “I didn’t like how she was acting. Hardly ever sparing a minute to visit Mom and Dad.