Much Ado About Muffin by Victoria Hamilton Read Free Book Online Page A

let go of her hand. “Hey, to change the subject, I heard about problems between Minnie Urquhart and Crystal Rouse. What the heck is going on with all of that?”
    She looked more troubled than I thought she would be. “I don’t like Minnie; you know that.
Everyone
knows that. But I’m almost on Minnie’s side in this. I don’t trust Crystal. I’ve tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, but her simplistic magical positivity message is at the very least a nonanswer for those with real problems in their lives, and at worst a kind of blame-the-victim philosophy.”
    â€œI’m concerned about Emerald; she’s been sucked into the woman’s little group. But Em’s a lot more sensible than people give her credit for. She’ll figure it out for herself soon enough.”
    â€œI hope you’re right.”
    Now that we had the problems of everyone in town sorted out, I went over my plans for the party celebrating one year at Wynter Castle, and she was enthusiastic. “Will people come, do you think?” I asked.
    â€œGive them free food and they’ll come. You could always feature arias by the world-famous soprano Roma Toscano.”
    We ended our conversation on a laugh and walked back to the kitchen, where she showed me a couple of improvements she’d made. I saw a young girl working at the Hobart commercial dishwasher, her hair up in a hairnet, her face shiny with steam.
    â€œThat’s my new hire, Brianna,” Gogi murmured, to the shushing of the hot water.
    Ah, Minnie’s other boarder. “How’s she working out?”
    Gogi shrugged. “All right, I guess. She shows up most of the time and does what she’s told. It’s only part-time. Dishwashers are hard to come by, even in Autumn Vale.”
    I laughed and told her I’d seen Isadore at the café, washing dishes for Mabel.
    â€œI wish I’d thought of hiring her here,” Gogi said. “She’s sullen, but probably not as much as Brianna.”
    I said good-bye to Gogi, who retreated the way we had come, but I stopped to use the staff washroom before leaving. As I exited through the back door, I noticed Brianna off to one side of the parking lot with a guy; it wasn’t one of Minnie’s other boarders. He passed her something, a package. When she saw me watching, she hastily shoved it in her pants pocket, then hustled past me through the door into the kitchen. The guy slipped away, through a line of trees that bordered the back of the parking lot.
    I was left with an uneasy feeling, but shrugged it off and drove back through town. On the off chance it was open, I stopped by the library. Sometimes when Hannah has free time she opens up the library just because: because she adores books, and because she wants people to have access to books, and because it’s what she loves to do. The door was unlocked. I entered and found that Isadore was at one of the tables, reading while eating an apple. I put my finger to my mouth in a shushing gesture, and softly approached the desk, behind which Hannah sat in her mobility wheelchair, thumbing through a picture book.
    â€œDo you have any books on the power of friendship and forgiveness?” I asked.
    She looked up and grinned broadly. “Merry! I heard you were back,
finally
.”
    I circled the desk and bent over, hugging her small, frail body, which held so much courage, compassion, and radiant life. There was a chair next to her, as always, and I sat, glancing at the book she was reading. It was a manga version of
Much Ado About Nothing
. “Aha! Has Pish roped you in for the opera?”
    â€œHe wants me to play Beatrice,” she admitted, a pink tinge coming to her cheeks. “I don’t know if I can.”
    Hannah had a lilting soprano voice, but it was fine and soft, like silk thread, perfect for her part in the inaugural AutumnVale Community Players opera in the spring, when she was