Mariah Stewart - Cold Truth

“The second drawer next to the sink.” Cass sank into a chair.

“Where they have been for the past, oh, thirty-five or so years.” Lucy turned and opened the drawer. “No one can ever accuse you of rocking the boat, Cassandra Burke.”

Cass stuck out her tongue at Lucy’s back.

“I saw that. I saw it in the window glass.” Lucy grinned and handed Cass the flatware just as the microwave beeped. In one motion, Lucy removed one plate, handed it to Cass, then slid the second plate into the microwave.

“I already moved my stuff into my room,” Lucy told her. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Why should I mind?” Cass shrugged. “The house is as much yours as it is mine.”

“Only because Gramma’s will left it that way. We both know it’s your home, Cassie. I don’t mind. I’m glad you decided to live here. It keeps the old place alive. I’m grateful for my little bit of time down here in the summer.”

The microwave beeped and Lucy took the plate out and placed it on the table, across from Cass.

“I may want to stay a little longer this year, if that’s okay.” Lucy pulled out a chair and sat down. Her eyes were on her plate. “I mean, if it’s not inconvenient for you…”

“My home is your home. Literally. Stay as long as you like.”

“Thanks. It might just be a few weeks. I’m not sure.”

“Luce, what’s going on?” Cass took another sip of wine. “Are you and David having problems?”

“Problems?” Lucy speared a piece of chicken and studied it. “If you call finding out your husband has been playing footsies with your next-door neighbor for the past six months and everyone on your block knew but you having problems, then, why, yes, David and I are having problems.”

“Lucy, I’m so sorry.” Cass set her fork down on the side of her plate. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Not much to say.” Lucy’s eyes filled with tears. “The bastard.”

Lucy nibbled at her food, sniffing all the while. “I’m sorry, Cass.” She shook her head. “I know you probably don’t really want to know about it. I know you don’t do emotional, and right now, I’m awfully emotional. And am likely to be weepy on and off for the next few months. I’ll try to do most of my best crying when you’re at work.”

“Lucy…” Cass protested weakly.

“It’s okay, honey.” Lucy wiped at her eyes.

“Lucy, you can feel free to cry whenever you need to or want to. I’m so sorry you’re going through this. I wish I could make it better for you.” Cass met her cousin’s eyes across the table. “I don’t know what else to say.”

“You could say, ‘David is a total creep and bastard and he was never good enough for you.’”

“David is a total creep and a bastard, and I never did think he was good enough for you, Lucy.”

Lucy nodded. “That was good, Cassie.”

“I never understood what you saw in him. He’s not worthy of your tears.”

“You’re getting better at this.”

“Actually, I thought you were crazy to marry him in the first place.”

“Nice, honey. Thank you.”

“To tell the truth, he always reminded me a bit of Mr. Janner.”

“Mr. Janner?”

“Sleazy guy who ran the movie theater when we were kids and who always seemed to have teenage boys hanging around him.”

“Okay, perhaps we can ease up a little now. I get the point, and I appreciate it. We’ll reserve the right to reopen the David-bashing at a future time. And I might need a shoulder to cry on now and then. Just a little.”

Cass reached across the table and patted Lucy’s hand. “You can cry on my shoulder anytime.”

“I might take you up on that, you know, so you might want to think twice.” Lucy began to tear up.

“What are you going to do?”

“You mean, am I going to divorce his sorry ass?”

Cass nodded.

“Yes.” Lucy took a deep breath. “One of the reasons I wanted to stay here a little longer was to have some time to get my game plan down, you know? What I want and how we’re going to tell the kids and all that. Oh, I know they’re not babies, but still, it’s going to be a big shock, and I need to find a way to tell them. I just need some space.”

“You can have all the space you want, Luce. If you want to talk, we’ll talk. If you want to be alone, that’s okay, too. And you can stay until you feel like going back. Whenever that might be.”

“You’re still like a sister to me.” Lucy’s eyes filled with tears. Again.

“Hey, you know what they say about blood being thicker, and all that.”

“I want you to know that I appreciate it. I’ll try to stay out of your hair.”

“Truthfully, with this sudden rash of murders, I’m almost never home. And when I am, for the most part I’m asleep.”

“You just go about your business. I’ll do my own little thing.”

“Oh, shit.” Cass frowned. “I meant to change the linens on your bed before you got here. And I was going to go food shopping.”

“I can do the grocery thing tomorrow, not to worry. And you can just tell me where the sheets are. Oh. Wait. Let me guess.” Lucy grinned. “Same place they’ve always been, right? Honestly, Cass, you walk into this house and it’s 1950 all over again. Nothing has changed since Gramma died.”

“I haven’t really had a lot of time to spend decorating, Lucy. For the past few years, I’ve been the only detective in town. We finally hired another one, and his wife decides she hates it here and she wants to go back to Wisconsin. So he, being a good husband, packs it in and leaves us in the middle of a couple of nasty homicides. Long story short, I’m back to being the only detective in town.” Cass blew out a long breath. “Which is a roundabout way of saying I just haven’t had the time.”

“I thought you looked tired. You have dark circles under your eyes. Hey, I have some really good eye cream that takes that dark puffiness away.” Lucy pushed back from the table. “Come on, if you’re finished eating, I’ll get it for you.”

“I’m finished eating-thank you very much for stopping to pick up dinner-but I’m exhausted, Lucy. I think I’ll turn in.”

“No, no, you need to try this cream first. Come on…”

Cass got up wearily and locked the back door. She swung her bag over her shoulder and followed Lucy out of the room.

“Leave the kitchen lights on, Cass,” Lucy was saying as she went up the steps. “I’ll come back down and clean up from dinner. I’ll be awake for a while yet.”

She reached the top of the steps and said, “I’ll just grab that eye cream for you…”

Cass stood in the doorway of Lucy’s room and watched her cousin open a satchel.

“What the hell do you have in there?” Cass laughed. “You clean off the department store cosmetic counters? What is all that stuff?”

“Oh, different products for different things. Vitamin C day cream, it has an SPF of 25. Vitamin E night cream. Makeup. Shampoos. You know.”

Cass, who used one all-purpose face cream-when she thought of it, which wasn’t often-and who had used the same brand of shampoo since she was a teenager, shook her head and took the small jar Lucy held out for her.

“Here, come in the bathroom and I’ll put it on for you.”

“Lucy, I can handle putting creamy stuff under my eyes. I’m assuming that’s where it goes.”

“Don’t be a smart-ass.” Lucy turned on the light in the small bathroom, which was barely big enough for both women. “Give me that jar.”

Cass rolled her eyes while Lucy dabbed the cool white cream onto her skin.

“See, you don’t want to rub it in, you just want to smooth it on a little.”

“Right. Thanks. I’m going to bed now.”