A Groom With a View by Jill Churchill Read Free Book Online Page A

said.
    “Yes, people change," Mrs. Crossthwait said, not willing to let a general lack of interest from her audience keep her from explaining. "Kitty's gained weight since I did the cutting and Layla's lost a bit."
    “I have
not
gained weight," Kitty said with her teeth gritted.
    “And I'm afraid I haven't lost any," Layla said. "Anyway, the dresses are going to be just beautiful, I'm sure. Now, where are the sandy-colored pieces that are going to be the sidewalk part of the picture? Kitty, help me find all of them."
    “What a lovely brush-off," Shelley whispered to Jane.
    Mrs. Crossthwait recognized it as such and wandered aimlessly toward the aunts, thinking perhaps that she'd get a better reception from them. But this hope was dashed when they saw her coming and gave two cold, unblinking stares. Still, she persisted in asking if anyone had died here lately. She felt an aura of death.
    “Certainly not!" Iva exclaimed, as though dying was a breech of good taste that couldn't happen to such as the Thatcher clan.
    The seamstress dropped into the nearest chair to the aunts. "You don't seem to remember me," she said.
    “Are you speaking to me?" Marguerite asked haughtily.
    “I made your wedding dress."
    “That was a long time ago and something I don't discuss with strangers," Marguerite said. She adjusted herself in her chair so that her back was to the seamstress, indicating quite clearly that the discussion had concluded.
    Mrs. Crossthwait stared at Marguerite for a long moment, then pretended an interest in her surroundings for a few minutes longer, before getting up and trudging as slowly and carefully as a condemned prisoner up the stairs to her prison.
    “I should feel sorry for her," Jane said quietly to Shelley. "That was a really formidable snub. But I'm too annoyed at her dawdling to feel any sympathy. She's being paid an absolute fortune to make the dresses. She's so damned annoy- ing.”
    Within the hour, another storm front moved in with thunder that shook the house, made the radio squawk, and put the lights out for a few minutes. When they came back on, they were oddly dim for a while, then went out again.
    “Phooey, I almost had the sidewalk finished," Layla said in the darkness.
    “I think we might as well give it up for the night. It's almost nine-thirty anyway," Eden said. "I have a flashlight in my purse and I think we all have small kerosene lamps in our rooms. Anybody want to follow me? If we still don't havepower tomorrow, we'll go into town and buy more flashlights.”
    The idea of the power being out for the wedding was something that had never crossed Jane's mind. How would Mr. Willis cook? How would Livvy see her way down the stairs? It would be like having the ceremony in a cave! She leaned over to Shelley. "Do you suppose there's a church anywhere near? I need to do some heavyweight praying “
    Shelley just patted her hand.
    “There's a town nearby?" Kitty asked.
    “Well, sort of a town," Eden said. "A motel, Wanda's Bait and Party Shoppe, a bank, and a gun shop.”
    Kitty and Layla took her up on the offer to lead them into the darkness of the monks' cells hallway. The aunts had their own flashlight and followed along. Uncle Joe had disappeared into the darkness. Mr. Willis, still in the kitchen cleaning up from dinner, was cursing.
    Shelley was doubled up in a chair, laughing herself silly about Wanda's Bait and Party Shoppe. "I love it! You can get your party accessories
and
your minnows without having to run all over town."
    “My dears," Larkspur trilled from somewhere across the room. "What adventures we could have. This is like one of those country house mysteries, where everybody's locked up together. I do wonder who will play the victim. What if I found the body? I wonder if I'd faint?”
    Somebody, Jane thought it was Uncle Joe, said, "Shut up."
    “Could you make anything of the weather reports on the radio?" Jane asked Shelley around a mouthful of toothpaste when they got to