Read Online Ripple of Secrets: Rose Gardner Mystery Novella #6.5 (Rose Gardner series Book 3) by Denise Grover Swank - Free Book Online Page B

plate on her small kitchen table, across from an identical one.
    I turned the water off and hesitated. I was tempted. Very tempted. But I wondered about the intelligence of spending more time with her than was necessary to do repairs. I was pressing my luck as it was. “I need to get back to…”
    “Poppycock,” she said in a good-natured tone. “You can spare ten minutes. I want to hear about your Christmas.”
    I snorted. “I assure you, you don’t want to hear about Christmas with my family.”
    Her eyebrows rose with a playful look. “Now I really want to hear it.” She grabbed a couple of coffee cups out of the cabinet and filled them before setting them next to the plates. “Did I mention I make the best cinnamon rolls in the state of Arkansas?”
    A warm laugh rumbled in my chest. “I’m sure my old housekeeper Roberta would have a thing or two to say about that.”
    “Then sit down, and you can be the judge.”
    I tilted my head to the side and grinned at her. “It’s hard to turn down a challenge like that.”
    “Then have a seat.” I did, and she took the seat across from me.
    After several bites, I murmured my appreciation. “I think you might have an honest claim to that cinnamon roll title.”
    She grinned and took a sip of her coffee. “So your housekeeper made you cinnamon rolls?”
    I sliced my fork through the gooey baked good. “Roberta was our housekeeper, but she was more than that. I never officially had a nanny, but she pretty much raised me. And while we had someone who cooked when my parents entertained—which was a lot—Roberta was more into comfort food. She could always tell when my sister Kate or I was having a bad day, and she’d make our favorites to cheer us up.”
    “Are you close with Kate? I don’t think I’ve heard you mention her before.”
    “No.” I took a bite of the roll to stall. I wasn’t sure I should tell her anything about my family, but for some reason it felt right. “In fact, I hadn’t seen her for two years until she showed up unexpectedly for Christmas dinner yesterday.”
    “So it was a family reunion?”
    I gave her a wry grin. “Of a sort.” When she gave me a questioning glance, I continued. “My parents weren’t expecting her either, and Kate has always had a mind of her own. My parents can’t control her, which means they don’t know how to handle her.”
    “Why do you think that is?”
    I picked up my coffee cup. “She doesn’t care about anyone or anything, so my parents have nothing to leverage over her. She’s untouchable.”
    “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
    I took a sip of coffee. “We hadn’t heard from her in two years. That sounds pretty untouchable to me. And trust me, if my parents could figure out how to force her to toe the line, they’d do it.”
    “But is she happy?”
    My eyebrows rose. “ That is a good question. I intended to talk to her and find out what she’s been doing, but my father insisted we have a chat before I left.” I’d been so aggravated by my conversation with my father, I’d left before I’d had a chance to talk to her. But I needed to steer this conversation in a different direction because there was no way we were going down that path. “Hilary was there with her parents, and Kate had a field day with her.”
    Maeve paused, then asked, “Your old girlfriend?”
    “Go ahead and say it—the mother of my unborn child? Yes. Hilary’s parents have been close friends with mine since before we were born. We all grew up together, and Kate and Hilary’s mutual animosity goes back to our early childhood. Hilary and I are the same age and Kate’s two years younger. Hilary always saw Kate as competition, and Kate was more than happy to accept the challenge.”
    “So it was an entertaining day, I take it?” She chuckled. “And here you said it wasn’t exciting.”
    “Kate’s one of the few people who can get under Hilary’s skin. That was indeed fun to watch.”
    “I