Rocky Road by Josi S. Kilpack Read Free Book Online Page A

That is not why I’m here!
    “How did you do that so fast?” Lori asked, interrupting Sadie’s thoughts, which was a relief, really. If she could keep her mind occupied, it wouldn’t go into auto-pilot investigative mode. Sadie had told Caro earlier that she didn’t have a personal investment in this case like she’d had with the others she’d worked on. She was beginning to think she didn’t need a personal connection, though. With the kind of experience she had, what was to keep her from becoming invested simply because of the fact that she knew what a resolution would mean to the people who did have a personal investment?
    Focus on the fruit!
    Lori was holding a wedge of cantaloupe she’d been cutting the fruit from. Sadie smiled—she used to cut melons that way too.
    “I cut the rind off the fruit instead of cutting the fruit out of the rind. It’s faster and you get more fruit that way. Want me to show you how?”
    Lori nodded, and Sadie used the other half of her cantaloupe to demonstrate the technique. A minute later Lori was cutting the rind off of her own cantaloupe half. “I can’t believe how much faster this is.”
    “A nice trick, huh? I learned it in a cooking class I attended a few years ago. The best part of those classes is when chefs share their tips.” She sliced another cantaloupe and scraped the seeds into the garbage can while making a note to be sure the garbage got taken out tonight. No one wanted a pervasive cantaloupe smell to permeate the church building.
    “Do you cook a lot?” Lori said.
    “As often as I can,” Sadie said. “At times it’s been a bit of a problem for me.”
    Lori laughed.
    “Do you cook?” Sadie asked.
    “Not much,” Lori said with a shrug. “I’m a single mom, and working, and going to school. I’m afraid we eat a lot of bagels.”
    “Been there,” Sadie said with a nod. “I look back now and wonder how I ever did it.” She kept to herself the fact that, for her, things like cooking and cleaning were sanity-savers and fulfilling in more than just a role-playing way. But she realized not every woman had the same experience, even when circumstances were similar.
    “I wonder every day how I’m going to do it,” Lori replied as she went back to cutting. After several seconds, she spoke again. “It’s not my business, but were you divorced, too? I should have told you—I’m the ex-wife of Dr. Hendricks.” She said it as though confessing something that should be said in whispers.
    “I was widowed, actually. And I knew who you were,” Sadie said, giving Lori a quick smile to alleviate any awkwardness. “I came with Tess—I don’t know what her last name is, sorry—to help set up. Tess said that the two of you led an art project when your sons were in a class together a few years ago. First grade, I think.”
    “Tess Callbury?” Lori said, smiling, and glancing toward the door leading to the hallway. “I haven’t seen her in ages. I didn’t know she was in Nikki’s ward.”
    It took a beat for Sadie to remember that “ward” was the word for a Mormon congregation. “I don’t think she’s in this ward,” Sadie said, trying to remember what Tess had said earlier. “But she’s friends with Nikki, and Nikki needed some extra hands.”
    “I didn’t even know they knew each other—small world,” Lori said, still slicing. “I like Tess quite a lot.”
    “Me, too,” Sadie said, even though she wasn’t sure what she thought about Tess right now. She’d been warm and wonderful until Sadie shot down the investigation, and then she’d been rather rude. Passive-aggressive maybe? Sadie hated dealing with passive-aggressive people.
    “I’m sorry to hear about your husband,” Lori said, turning the conversation in an unexpected direction. “That must have been hard. Has it been a long time?” It was a perfect segue into the questions Sadie was trying not to ask and, even though Sadie tried to resist, after holding her breath