An Unexpected Grace by Kristin von Kreisler Read Free Book Online Page B

quiet.”
    â€œWithdrawn?”
    â€œNo. Just hesitant to talk.”
    â€œSo you tried to talk to him?”
    â€œNot exactly. I was polite. I thought he wanted his words to be perfect.”
    â€œAnybody give him a hard time about his English?”
    â€œNot that I know of.”
    Rich scribbled something in his pad without taking his eyes off Lila. “Was he close to anybody in the office?”
    â€œI have no idea.” She shifted her weight in the chair.
    â€œWhat else can you tell us about him?”
    She thought for a second, wanting to help. “He dressed really well for a janitor.”
    â€œSo you noticed what he was wearing?”
    â€œBecause he seemed like he was trying to look prosperous. Janitors don’t usually wear sports coats and ties.”
    As Rich made another note, a delivery truck sped around a curve on Cristina’s winding mountain road. Her grandfather clock struck two.
    Joe crossed his arms over his paunch. His shoulders brushed Cristina’s silver candlesticks on the mantel. “Tell us about your conversations with Makov,” he said, like he was trying to nudge Rich to more fruitful questions.
    â€œThere’s not much to say,” Lila said.
    â€œYou must’ve talked to him,” Joe said.
    â€œRarely. When I started working at Weatherby, I was more aware of him as a service than a person.”
    â€œSo when did you notice him as a person?” Rich asked.
    For a second Lila searched her mind. How was she supposed to answer that? “A couple of months ago, I guess. He showed up in my office after work.”
    â€œWhat’d he say?” Rich asked.
    She leaned deeper into her chair and wrapped her good arm around her chest. She told herself there was no reason to hide the truth. “He asked if I liked his valentine.”
    Rich’s face stayed blank. Joe’s caterpillar eyebrows arched their backs toward the cathedral ceiling, and his earlobes turned pink. “Whadaya mean , valentine? You . . .”
    â€œTell us about it,” Rich interrupted.
    Lila squirmed and wished she were at her easel, mental miles from these men. A plane flew overhead with an irritating hum. For days she’d been wondering about the card. Should she have responded to it differently? “I found it on my desk.”
    â€œMakov write anything?” Rich asked.
    â€œJust ‘yours always’ or something like that. I had no idea who’d left it.”
    â€œMakov must’ve had some reason to think you’d know it was from him,” Joe argued.
    â€œI don’t know what he thought.” But now, thanks to this interrogation, Lila did know how an animal felt when men poked sticks at it.
    â€œYou still have the valentine?” Rich asked.
    â€œI threw it away.”
    â€œThat’s too bad.” Rich glanced at Joe.
    â€œI had no reason to keep it. It meant nothing to me.”
    â€œYeah, sure.” Rich leaned closer, as if he were about to have a whispered, confidential chat over a beer. “Makov have any reason to, uh, think you had a . . . relationship, or something?”
    The question soured Lila’s stomach. “I hardly knew him.”
    â€œHe must’ve thought you’d be glad to hear from him. Why else would he leave you a valentine?” Joe demanded.
    Even though Lila wanted this conversation to go smoothly, she did not have the energy to speculate. Her head felt like a small crowbar was prying off her scalp, and the questions were making her woozy. “I’d really like to help you, but there’s no more I can tell you. Honestly,” she said, then wished she’d not said “honestly,” like she was guilty of something.
    â€œYou said you talked to Makov several times. What about the others?” Joe asked.
    Lila pulled Greg’s flannel shirt tighter over her chest and looked out the window at the redwoods, whose soothing power was gone.