Read Online Tattered Legacy (A Nora Abbott Mystery) by Shannon Baker - Free Book Online Page A

accessible, and Nora could see why Lisa had found refuge in this place and with this woman. “Not exactly how I would put it, but you get the idea.”
    They moved to the next folding table, the one that held Lisa’s ashes. Marlene clenched her fists, her face suddenly pasty.
    Nora reached for the box and transferred it to the counter next to the cash register. “You weren’t out at the creek, and you didn’t come out of the back room while everyone was here.”
    Marlene busied herself with clearing the table. “I’ll say goodbye to Lisa in my own way.”
    Fair enough. Marlene seemed a curious mixture between stern and loving, restrained and straightforward. “Did you and Lisa talk about the film?”
    Marlene brought her eyes slowly to Nora’s. “She talked about it to everyone. You know Lisa—whatever churned in her head frothed out her mouth.”
    “She said she only had one more shooting session and she would wrap it up.”
    Marlene dumped the table over and Nora hurried over to help fold up its legs.
    Marlene straightened and stared out the window again. Maybe she waited out waves of pain to keep from breaking down. “Everything she did was the most important thing. The next moment, there would be a new most important thing. She leaped from peak to peak.” Marlene hefted the table across the room.
    Maybe Nora wouldn’t have to bother Rachel. “She didn’t happen to leave a backup here, or do you know where she stored them?”
    Marlene slammed the table on the floor and spun around. “How should I know? If I felt like chatting about Lisa and her life and her work, I’d have joined the gathering at the creek or at least come out of the back room. I lost my friend, and I don’t feel like being social.”
    Nora’s face burned. Her whole body felt on fire from Marlene’s anger. She hurried across the room to retrieve the box. “I’m sorry. I’ll go.”
    Marlene geared up. “You all come in here with your tears and sorrow. You tote around her ashes as if they were a gym bag or yoga mat. You’ll go home to your lives, doing what you were doing before this incident disrupted you. But I’ll be here. Missing her every day.”
    Nora didn’t want to spook the majestic Marlene during her meltdown.
    “She’s not going to fly through those doors, nearly sending the bell sailing across the room. She won’t open new shipments of books and oooh and aahhh with me, falling in love with every title. No more sharing tea in the mornings or a bottle of wine on a winter evening.” The hot tears Marlene refused to shed coursed down Nora’s face.
    Marlene’s shoulders never sagged; her backbone remained straight, chin raised. “You didn’t see her eyes light up and hear her words tumble out faster than she could keep up when she came in after a day of shooting or scouting locations. You don’t know what I’m going to miss. Every. Single. Day. For the rest of my life.”
    Nora’s voice filled the silence. “She loved you, too.”
    Marlene broke. Like an avalanche on a rocky mountain, first one boulder broke loose, followed by a few more, gaining momentum and power. Marlene folded over and gasped, massive sobs shaking her.
    Nora placed a hand on Marlene’s heaving back, keeping watch while the big woman mourned. After several minutes, the sobs tapered off and Marlene straightened, only slightly less regal.
    Nora strode to the sales desk and found a box of tissues. She pulled out several and hurried back. Marlene accepted them and wiped her eyes.
    If it were anyone else, Nora might lead her to the oak library table and sit her down, pat her hand, or rub her shoulders. Instead, she stood silently and waited.
    Marlene focused out the window again. Tourists meandered outside the door. She inhaled deeply. “Lisa was right. You’re a good person.”
    Nora allowed a smile. “You know, she was my best friend.”
    Marlene nodded.
    “And at least a dozen other people who showed up today called her their best friend,