Turquoise Girl Read Online Free PDF Page A

That would wait for another time. Right now there was a more pressing matter. Ella searched her mind for the best way to begin but there didn’t seem to be any right words.
    “Something’s happened, daughter,”Rose said quickly. “I can see it on your face. Is it your daughter, or your brother, or his family?”
    “No, they’re all safe,” Ella reassured her quickly. “But I need your help passing along some really bad news to a friend.”
    Hearing an owl’s mournful cry somewhere nearby, Rose shuddered. “Let’s go inside the house. Owls are spies for evil spirits. We can sit in the kitchen and have some tea whilewe talk.”
    Tea, her mother’s special blend, was a mellow tasting mixture of orange and spices that soothed and warmed at the same time. On a night like this one, it was exactly what they both needed.
    Herman’s home was sparsely decorated. Only one couch and a chair provided seating in the living area and both had been placed near the wood-burning stove. There was a shelf full of books, a floorlamp, and that was pretty much it. Ella followed her mother into the small kitchen, glancing around for Herman.
    While Rose poured water into the tea kettle, Ella paused, wondering how to begin.
    “My husband’s asleep, so speak softly,” Rose said, quietly moving about the kitchen, reaching for the tea, cups, and napkins. “Now tell me what’s wrong.”
    Ella knew that her mother preferred to be givenbad news while she was busy. It was her way of coping, of relying on the comfort of familiar routines to offset the disharmony that bad news brought.
    “The daughter of your best friend is dead,” she said, avoiding the use of names in front of her traditionalist mother. Though Ella’s message had been cryptic, no further explanation had been needed. Lena and Rose were as close as sisters. They’dshared a lifetime of friendship, of births and deaths, and everything in between.
    Rose paused for a second as she poured the tea but then continued. “That one has been dead to her mother for a long time,” she answered in a sorrowful voice. “Her drinking, all the men…” Rose shook her head. “She broke her mother’s heart.”
    “What can you tell me about her?” Ella took an offered cup of tea.
    “Shewas married at least three times, no, four, I think, and she pretty much abandoned her only child. She had a very serious alcohol problem for most of her life, then a year ago, it almost killed her. She was ordered by the courts to go into a rehab program and, after that, it looked like she was finally changing her life around. She went back to school, received some business training, then got ajob at the Morning Stop Café working behind the counter and keeping the books. She wanted to use that employment experience to lead to a better job soon, maybe at one of the Farmington restaurants.”
    “How do you know all this?” Ella asked. “I thought you said her mother had given up on her?”
    “She did. We never spoke about her. It was Boots who’d often tell me about her mother, mostly in bitsand pieces. Boots never stopped loving her mother, though she’s never really understood the woman. Being raised by her grandmother, Boots has had an orderly life—walking in beauty. But her mother…” Rose sighed and shrugged. “So tell me. What happened to cause her death? Since you’re here, I’m assuming there’s a crime involved and it wasn’t just a car accident?”
    Ella nodded. “She was murderedat her home, the apartment behind the café.”
    Rose sat down across from her, and they both drank their tea in silence for a while. “Was it one of her men friends? She saw many, if the gossip can be believed.” Rose looked into Ella’s eyes, then added, “But there’s a lot more you’re not saying, isn’t there?”
    Ella was very good at keeping a poker face. It was part of being in law enforcement. Butshe’d never been able to put anything over on Rose. Ella gave her a sanitized version of