not overly demonstrative. And though Mom was born a Quincy, she was a Mac through and through. So were my father, my brothers, and my brothers’ wives. My Uncle Bill and I are the black sheep, and we both are prone to hugs and kisses.
But my boys obliged and kissed my mother on the cheek. “See you later,” Eli said as they fled.
“Now, let’s have a nice girls chat,” Peri said. “I way overbought lunch for me and Quincy, so there’s plenty of food. Honey sent a new dish for us to try. We’re to report back.”
Peri became the cruise director for our little lunch. I don’t know how she managed to eat while she kept up her steady stream of conversation. She told my mother all about the boys and their vacation. I was content to simply listen to her as I ate Honey’s new rice dish, which was delicious, but then Peri said, “And that whole investigation last month. I was never so nervous for our Quincy. The boys have told me about their great uncle and his problems. I understood why she was concerned. I was so proud of her. Not only did she find the murderer, but she managed to subdue him all by herself before Cal could ride in and save the day…”
My mother sat, fork halfway between her mouth and the plate, as she listened to Peri gush about my solving Mr. Banning’s murder.
“…I’d have never been able to handle myself in that kind of situation. And now she’s working with that terribly cute Mr. Macy to turn the whole encounter into a script? It’s going to be brilliant. Jerry’s interested in it, but he said it wouldn’t be right for him to produce his ex-wife’s script, but when it’s done, he said he’d read it and pass it on to someone.”
That was the first I was hearing of that.
Peri clapped her hand over her mouth. “I wasn’t supposed tell you that. He said he didn’t want your first script to be scrutinized because people thought he’d got it because of nepotism. He wants you to have a brilliant career. So far the script is wonderful.”
“How do you know it’s wonderful?” I asked.
“Miles might have shown me a few pages, and I might have shown them to Jerry,” she admitted. “Are you mad?”
I wanted to be annoyed or even angry. After all, the script wasn’t nearly ready to show anyone other than Dick. But Peri looked so pleased, and I knew that she’d only done it out of love, not anything else. I sighed. “No. I’m glad you like it so far. It’s rough. Dick says we have a lot of work to do.”
She grinned. “Good. Now I don’t have to sneak around. If you show me it when you’re ready I’ll show it to Jerry. He really liked it, Quincy.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
My mom cleared her throat and set her fork down with a thunk. “Murder? You found a murderer?”
“Let me start at the beginning, Mom. Theresa, our worst employee, called in sick, so I took over her jobs for the day and accidently cleaned a murder scene. Well, you know Uncle Bill went to jail for a crime he didn’t commit, and he hadn’t even tampered with any evidence which since I’m very good at my job, I’d done and then some. I even scrubbed the murder weapon clean. I was sure I’d end up in prison, so I set out to find out who did it…”
An hour later, the lunch was over, Peri was kissing me goodbye and then turned and kissed my mom. “Judith, it was so nice to finally spend time with you. You have a lovely family. And your daughter is a very special lady. Not everyone would be so kind to their ex’s new wife.”
She left and my mother turned to me. “You went through all that and you never told me?”
She seemed hurt. That wasn’t something I expected. My mother was not the kind of woman to expect or relish confidences. I remember telling her about a boy I had a crush on when I was in fifth grade. She said, “If you want him, go after him,” and left it at that. In her mind, she’d solved my problem.
“I didn’t want to worry you,” I said, though I doubted my mother had
But my boys obliged and kissed my mother on the cheek. “See you later,” Eli said as they fled.
“Now, let’s have a nice girls chat,” Peri said. “I way overbought lunch for me and Quincy, so there’s plenty of food. Honey sent a new dish for us to try. We’re to report back.”
Peri became the cruise director for our little lunch. I don’t know how she managed to eat while she kept up her steady stream of conversation. She told my mother all about the boys and their vacation. I was content to simply listen to her as I ate Honey’s new rice dish, which was delicious, but then Peri said, “And that whole investigation last month. I was never so nervous for our Quincy. The boys have told me about their great uncle and his problems. I understood why she was concerned. I was so proud of her. Not only did she find the murderer, but she managed to subdue him all by herself before Cal could ride in and save the day…”
My mother sat, fork halfway between her mouth and the plate, as she listened to Peri gush about my solving Mr. Banning’s murder.
“…I’d have never been able to handle myself in that kind of situation. And now she’s working with that terribly cute Mr. Macy to turn the whole encounter into a script? It’s going to be brilliant. Jerry’s interested in it, but he said it wouldn’t be right for him to produce his ex-wife’s script, but when it’s done, he said he’d read it and pass it on to someone.”
That was the first I was hearing of that.
Peri clapped her hand over her mouth. “I wasn’t supposed tell you that. He said he didn’t want your first script to be scrutinized because people thought he’d got it because of nepotism. He wants you to have a brilliant career. So far the script is wonderful.”
“How do you know it’s wonderful?” I asked.
“Miles might have shown me a few pages, and I might have shown them to Jerry,” she admitted. “Are you mad?”
I wanted to be annoyed or even angry. After all, the script wasn’t nearly ready to show anyone other than Dick. But Peri looked so pleased, and I knew that she’d only done it out of love, not anything else. I sighed. “No. I’m glad you like it so far. It’s rough. Dick says we have a lot of work to do.”
She grinned. “Good. Now I don’t have to sneak around. If you show me it when you’re ready I’ll show it to Jerry. He really liked it, Quincy.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
My mom cleared her throat and set her fork down with a thunk. “Murder? You found a murderer?”
“Let me start at the beginning, Mom. Theresa, our worst employee, called in sick, so I took over her jobs for the day and accidently cleaned a murder scene. Well, you know Uncle Bill went to jail for a crime he didn’t commit, and he hadn’t even tampered with any evidence which since I’m very good at my job, I’d done and then some. I even scrubbed the murder weapon clean. I was sure I’d end up in prison, so I set out to find out who did it…”
An hour later, the lunch was over, Peri was kissing me goodbye and then turned and kissed my mom. “Judith, it was so nice to finally spend time with you. You have a lovely family. And your daughter is a very special lady. Not everyone would be so kind to their ex’s new wife.”
She left and my mother turned to me. “You went through all that and you never told me?”
She seemed hurt. That wasn’t something I expected. My mother was not the kind of woman to expect or relish confidences. I remember telling her about a boy I had a crush on when I was in fifth grade. She said, “If you want him, go after him,” and left it at that. In her mind, she’d solved my problem.
“I didn’t want to worry you,” I said, though I doubted my mother had
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