Diva Wraps It Up, The by Krista Davis Read Free Book Online

toward Gwen on high heels and held out her arms for a hug. “I feel like I’ve known you forever!”
    “Are you my Aunt Sugar?” asked Kat.
    The woman released Gwen and placed her palms on the sides of Kat’s face. “Aren’t you the prettiest little angel? You must be Kat! Can I have a hug?”
    Gwen pulled Kat to her, interrupting any attempt at a hug for Aunt Sugar. “Honey,” Gwen said to Kat, “why don’t you help your daddy and uncle park that, that bus?”
    Kat eagerly ran toward her father.
    Gwen hustled along behind her to Baxter and said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “They cannot stay here. And move that embarrassingly unsightly vehicle to the alley this instant!”
    Undoubtedly having forgotten all about us, Gwen propelled Aunt Sugar into her home as though she meant to hide her, much like the bus.
    I rubbed my arms against the cold. A glance at Nina reminded me that we wore fuzzy slippers. But I paused anyway for one more moment. Now that they were inside, I dared to look at the ladder more closely. I nudged Nina. “Did you notice the ladder?”
    I knelt beside it and examined the break. The second rung had given way. I didn’t want to touch anything in case the police could get prints off it. The closer I looked, the more convinced I was that someone had weakened the rung by sawing it.
    Nina shrugged. “Old ladders break. I’m freezing. Let’s go.”
    Back home in the warmth of my kitchen, I closed the window, fed Mochie minced turkey in gravy, and pulled out bread for cinnamon- and nutmeg-laced French toast.
    “Seriously, Nina? You didn’t think it looked like someone cut that rung on the ladder?”
    “You’re turning into a buttinsky, Sophie, one of those people who report neighbors to the police. Before long, everyone will run from you, shrieking.”
    I whisked the eggs, added generous doses of cinnamon and nutmeg as well as a drop of vanilla, and dredged the bread through the mixture.
    Had I become overly suspicious of everyone and everything, seeing maliciousness everywhere? Maybe I was wrong and no one had tampered with the ladder. Then I’d have egg on my face and permanently alienate the entire Babineaux clan. What if I
was
right, though? I would never forgive myself if someone meant to harm Baxter, and I could have prevented it. I heated the griddle and added oil. “Baxter could have been killed!”
    “Okay, I’ll grant you that.” Nina poured water for hot tea. “But I hardly think Gwen is trying to knock him off. Not that I know them very well. Besides, we have something more important to do—find Brown-Eyed Girl for Horace!”
    I grinned at her eagerness and handed her a plate with French toast that I had topped with dots of butter and maple syrup. We took mugs of tea and settled at the table. “How are we ever going to find a girl Horace loved thirty or forty years ago? She could be anywhere.”
    Nina cut a piece of French toast and devoured it. “Mmm. So good. We could start by paying Horace a visit.”
    “Think they’ll let us in?”
    “Why not? We’re friends of his. Isn’t that what people do? Visit their friends in the hospital?”
    If Horace was conscious, maybe he could point us in the direction of Brown-Eyed Girl. I supposed Edith had the power to chase us away, but it was worth a try. I couldn’t think of another way to follow up for him, and Horace certainly couldn’t do it himself.
    After breakfast, Nina rushed home to change. I promised to meet her in fifteen minutes. I pulled on a white turtleneck sweater and my favorite stretchy jeans with an elastic waist. My boots were more functional than high fashion, but my jeans fit into them nicely, making me feel quite trendy. I added a warm black suede jacket, and an ultrasoft long white scarf that wrapped around my neck loosely twice and folded over itself in front. After a quick good-bye to Mochie, who lounged happily in the sunroom, I dashed out to my garage. Nina waited for me, wearing a beige