Part 4 (2/2)
”Zoe's diaper bag is by the door,” Lea said, then began bundling her adorable daughter. ”It's the Coach one.”
”Are there any instructions I need to give the daycare?” Celeste asked.
”I have everything they'll need to know written down and tucked in the diaper bag.” Lea placed a knit hat on Zoe's head. ”Zoe has a delicate palate, so I packed her lunch.”
Dale stepped inside and picked up the diaper bags. ”What happened to your over-priced babysitter?” he asked. ”Catch her in bed with your husband?”
”I truly hate you,” Lea said, and picked up Zoe.
Dale chuckled as he left the townhouse. Red splotches developed along Lea's pale cheeks. She looked to Celeste. ”My au pair needed to go home to Germany to be with her family. Her father was in a terrible accident. She's a pretty girl, but my husband would never-”
Celeste held up a hand. ”Lea, you don't need to explain anything to me. I'm not a fan of Dale.”
Lea's lips tilted in a small smile. ”Thank you again for helping us today.”
”I wish I could do more,” Celeste said, glancing around the room and looking for something she might be able to snag before she left. When she saw an angel figurine on the built-in bookshelf adjacent to the fireplace, she remembered Kelly telling her about how she'd received it from her mom on her first Mother's Day. Guilt gave Celeste a jab. While she might be able to use the figurine to gain another vision, she wasn't a klepto and couldn't take a sentimental item from her friend. Which reminded her...
She sat Olivia down on the carpet, then pulled Avery's blanket from her over-sized purse. Kelly entered the room with her daughter bundled up from head to toe. When she saw the blanket, her eyes widened. ”Where did you find that?”
”In Olivia's diaper bag.”
Tears welled in Kelly's eyes. ”When I found out about Mom, I...” She looked away and buried her face against Avery's jacket. After a moment, she let out a deep breath, then looked up at her. ”I'm so glad it's safe. My mom made that for Avery and it means so much to me.”
Guilt gave Celeste a harder jab. ”I'm sorry, I should have called or texted you that I had it.” But she'd been too busy trying to make sense of the vision the blanket had triggered.
”It's not a big deal,” Kelly said, as Dale came back into the room.
”Car's loaded.” He set Celeste's keys on an end table. ”Don't forget to bring the obituary I wrote up last night.”
Lea gave him a cool smile. ”I'm afraid you wasted your time. Kelly and I handled our mother's obituary this morning.”
He gave his wife a dirty look. ”Whatever. I'll meet you at the funeral home. You two can take Lea's Mercedes. Might as well before it gets repossessed,” he said, then left.
”I don't know why you stay with him,” Lea said to her sister. ”He's controlling and mean. I can't stand the way he talks to you.”
”At least my husband comes home.”
Ouch. The loss of a loved one should bring a family closer, not tear them apart. ”I need to leave,” Celeste said, wondering-with the way they'd openly argued-if they'd forgotten she was even in the room.
Both women looked at her, stress and exhaustion clear on their faces. ”I'm sorry,” Kelly began, ”it's been a rough morning.”
Celeste picked up Olivia and replaced her knit hat. ”It's going to be a rough few days.” When she reached her SUV and opened the rear driver's side door, she placed Olivia in her seat. Kelly used the car seat in the middle for Avery, then buckled up her niece in the next one.
”I'll drop the girls off around two.” She closed the car door, then walked to the other side. ”Does that give you enough time?”
Kelly tied a scarf around her neck. ”Plenty. Thank you again.”
Celeste gave her friend a hug. ”I never had the pleasure of meeting your mom. What was her name?” she asked when she pulled away.
”Sandra Welsh.”
”I thought your maiden name was Dyson.”
”It is, but my mom went back to Welsh after her and my dad divorced.”
”I'm wondering if he'll bother to show up at the funeral,” Lea said.
”Doubtful.” Kelly shook her head. ”Even after thirty years of marriage there's no love lost there. He's a hateful man.”
”This is one subject that you and I both agree on,” Lea said, then gave her daughter a kiss before closing the door.
After the two women said good-bye to her, Celeste climbed into the SUV, then turned the ignition. As she let the car warm up, she looked over her shoulder at the three little girls crammed together in the backseat. ”Okay, kiddos, ready to go?”
When all three of them repeated, ”Go, go,” Celeste smiled, then s.h.i.+fted into DRIVE. As she wound her way through the busy streets, and the girls chattered and giggled amongst themselves, she replayed what she'd witnessed inside Kelly's townhouse. From the moment she'd snapped out of the first trance-like state, she'd known in her heart that whoever murdered Sandra was someone the woman had-at one time-loved. Now that she remembered an important part of the vision, she could rule out Sandra's friend, Ann. While Sandra might have remembered her friend in her will, Celeste doubted Ann would kill for it. But she couldn't rule out Lea or Dale, or maybe Lea's husband.
Whatever was in the safe had to do with money and the child Sandra had been forced to give up for adoption. Lea would obviously receive an inheritance, but Dale and also Lea's husband would be able to get their hands on the money through their wives. Dale was clearly worried about their finances. What husband would give his wife a hard time about taking a few days off from work to bury her mother? Then there were Dale's comments about Lea's maxed-out credit cards and repossessed car. If any of that were true and Lea was hard up for money, could she kill her mother to maintain the charade that all was well in her world? Could her husband?
And how was she going to do a reading without another object?
Celeste pulled up to Kid-doodles Daycare, then called Nina to let her know she was outside and could use help carrying in the three girls. While Nina and another worker took Zoe and Avery, Celeste brought Olivia inside, then went back to the SUV for their diaper bags. She opened the SUV's back end and stared at Lea's over-stuffed Coach bag for a second, debating whether she should go through it or not to see if she could find something to use for a reading. She supposed it wouldn't hurt. The daycare workers would have access to the bag, too, so it wasn't as if she was nosing around something more private, like Lea's purse. Plus, she'd return whatever she had taken before dropping the girls back off at Kelly's.
After talking herself into snooping, she began going through the bag. Other than the necessary baby gear, there was a wooden pen. Unsure if the pen would help with a reading, she slipped it into her pocket anyway, then took the diaper bags into the daycare. Once she made sure the girls were settled inside and Lea's instructions had been given to Nina, Celeste left.
Her stomach grew nauseous the closer she drove to Maxine's. Whether the queasiness was due to sneaking Lea's pen from the bag, an approaching vision or lack of breakfast, she couldn't be sure. Maxine had suggested she listen to her body and use the scribble technique to keep her grounded. Since Lea's pen was the only writing instrument she had in her car, she placed all of her energy on the most important man in her life-John. After listening to how horribly Dale had spoken to Kelly, she was thankful for John. Although she'd been upset by a few of the things he'd said last night, John had never treated her like she was incapable. He'd never tried to control her or tell her how to live her life. Instead, he showed nothing but constant support and love.
By the time she reached Maxine's, the nausea had abated and awareness settled around her. She realized scribbling wasn't the only thing that could keep her grounded. Her husband could, too.
Anxious to share this revelation with Maxine and to perform another reading, she rushed to the door, once again bypa.s.sed the lion's head doorknocker, and rang the bell. ”Good morning,” she said when Maxine opened the door.
”It's a beautiful morning.” Maxine ushered her in from the cold, then took Celeste's coat. ”A little gray for my taste, but that's okay. Come see what finally bloomed.”
”Bloomed?” she asked, and followed Maxine to the parlor.
”Yes. I've had this orchid since Christmas and haven't been able to get it to bloom. The buds were there, growing bigger and bigger. But today, they finally burst to life to show off the beauty they've been hiding.”
Celeste looked from Maxine's smiling face to the blue orchid. She liked Maxine, but it obviously didn't take much to make her excited. ”It's beautiful. I've never been good with plants.”
”I haven't either, which makes this special to me. I feel somewhat triumphant.” Maxine chuckled. ”Silly, I know. But it's okay to be silly once in a while and remind ourselves that, just because we're adults, we shouldn't neglect our inner child. When was the last time you were silly?”
”Yesterday.” Celeste smiled at the memory. ”I got down on the floor with Olivia and pretended I was a puppy. I picked up one of her toys with my teeth and crawled around so she could chase me.”
”I love it. Even after the disheartening reading, you were able to separate what you saw from your personal life. That takes strength.”
”I hadn't thought about it that way,” Celeste said, taking a seat in the unicorn wingback chair. ”But I'll admit, even after I finished playing with Olivia, I still couldn't stop thinking about Sandra.”
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