Chapter 2

I wasn’t thinking about blood when I got to Aunt Nora’s house the next Friday evening. Well, I was thinking about my own flesh and blood, which is what Aunt Nora calls us Burnettes, but that’s usually a peaceful thing to think about. Only it wasn’t at all peaceful when we arrived.

Aunt Nora’s middle son, Thaddeous, could have warned us about what to expect when he picked us up at the Hickory Regional Airport, or during the drive to Byerly, but he was too busy asking us about his girlfriend Michelle. He’d met Michelle while in Boston visiting me the previous January, and they’d fallen for each other hard enough that she was planning to move down to North Carolina as soon as she could get a job in Byerly. For now they were separated, and my husband Richard’s month-long trip to England was still recent enough that I could be sympathetic. Besides which, Thaddeous had had so many unsuccessful love affairs that the whole family was relieved that this one seemed to be working out.

So I dutifully recounted all of Michelle’s messages to Thaddeous, and assured him that she wasn’t having second thoughts about him or moving to Byerly. Then I gave him the thick letter that Michelle had made me promise to deliver.

Once we got to Aunt Nora and Uncle Buddy’s house, Thaddeous said we should go on in while he transferred our suitcases to Aunt Maggie’s Dodge Caravan, since we’d be staying with her. Why he didn’t warn us then, I don’t know, but I guess he was thinking about the letter. I knew he wouldn’t be coming inside until he’d read it through at least twice.

I braced myself for a bombardment of hugs as soon as we opened the front door, because that’s what usually happens when I come home, but this time they didn’t even notice we were there. There was too much going on already.

Thaddeous’s older brother Augustus was sprawled on the couch looking angry, which surprised me. After all, Augustus’s homecoming was the reason Richard and I were there, and I’d thought it would be a happy one. Aunt Nora had been beside herself when she found out he was coming home after four years in the army, especially so close to his birthday, and had immediately started planning the biggest celebration she could manage.

Augustus wasn’t the only one mad. Though Uncle Buddy didn’t look mad, he had that blank expression on his face that means he’s mad. Since he was pointedly not looking at Augustus, I was pretty sure that they were mad at each other.

Aunt Nora and Uncle Buddy’s youngest son, Willis, was sitting next to Uncle Buddy, not saying a word. Of course he rarely says a word, so that didn’t prove much.

Aunt Daphine and her daughter Vasti and son-in-law Arthur were over in the corner, talking quietly. Since Vasti isn’t much on being quiet, I could hear her side of the conversation, which consisted of things like, “What on earth is the matter with him?” and, “I hope he’s happy.”

Aunt Maggie was picking up Aunt Nora’s knickknacks so she could check for identifying marks on the bottom. Professional interest, no doubt, since she’s a flea market dealer.

Nobody had noticed us yet, so I said, “Are we at the right party?”

Everybody jerked in our direction, and some of them smiled, but Vasti said, “Laurie Anne, does this look like a party to you?”

“Not yet,” I said. “There aren’t enough people here.” As many as there were, it still wasn’t all of us Burnettes. We were missing Aunt Ruby Lee and Uncle Roger, with Clifford, Earl, and Ilene; Aunt Nellie and Uncle Ruben and the triplets, Ideile, Odelle, and Carlelle; and Aunt Edna with her son Linwood, daughter-in-law Sue, and their kids. Plus there were usually various sweethearts around, like Clifford’s girlfriend Liz, Aunt Edna’s beau Caleb, and Ilene’s new boyfriend Trey. “Are we early?”

“Yeah, you’re early,” Uncle Buddy said. “About a week early.”

“Is that Laurie Anne and Richard?” Aunt Nora called out, and without waiting for an answer, she burst out of the kitchen. “Why didn’t somebody tell me y’all were here?”

Finally I got the hug I’d been expecting. Once she was through, Aunt Daphine was right behind her, with Vasti, Arthur, Willis, and Uncle Buddy coming next. With a roll call like that hugging onto me and Richard, you wouldn’t have expected anybody to notice that Augustus hadn’t joined in, but Aunt Nora did.

“Augustus, aren’t you going to hug Laurie Anne’s neck?” she asked.

Since when did anybody in my family have to be invited to hug somebody else’s neck? “If he doesn’t, I’m going to chase him down and hug him anyway,” I said, trying to make a joke out of it.

“Hey there, cousin,” he said with a little smile, and came on over. His hug was enthusiastic enough to reassure me; at least it was until Uncle Buddy spoke.

“You may as well apologize to her while you’re at it,” he said, “and to Richard, too.”

Augustus stiffened and stepped back, not seeming to notice Richard’s outstretched hand. Then he walked up the stairs without saying a word.

“Well, I never,” Vasti said indignantly, hands on her hips. “After all this, the least he could do is explain to Laurie Anne and Richard. If he’s got an explanation, that is, because goodness knows he hasn’t given one to anybody else.”

“What in the Sam Hill is going on?” I asked.

“Oh, Laurie Anne, I am so sorry,” Aunt Nora said, and hugged me again. “I don’t know how it happened, but I know Augustus didn’t mean to do it. He must have just forgotten to call and tell you, what with the excitement of being home and all.”

“Forgot to call and tell me what?”

“Did Thaddeous not tell you?” she asked.

I shook my head.

Vasti said, “He was probably too embarrassed. I know I am, and Augustus is just my cousin, not my brother. Sometimes I am so glad I’m an only child.”

There are times when we’re all glad Vasti is an only child. Not that my cousin, with her bouncy brown curls and high heels to match every outfit, isn’t charming in her own way, but having one of her around has always been a gracious plenty.

“Could somebody tell us what it is that we were supposed to have been told?” Richard said.

“We had to move the party,” Aunt Nora said, looking miserable. “Vasti said there were too many people to crowd in here, and it’d be better if we had it at the church hall.”

“Y’all said it was a good idea,” Vasti said defensively.

Aunt Nora said, “I know we did, Vasti. I’m not blaming you. It’s just that the church hall was already reserved for a Girl Scout sleep-over tonight, so we decided to reschedule. Augustus’s birthday isn’t until Wednesday, so we figured that later would be just as good.”

“So the party is tomorrow?” I said, but I wasn’t hopeful. Aunt Nora wouldn’t be looking so unhappy if we were only one day off.

She shook her head. “No, it’s next Saturday. I meant to call, but—”

“Don’t you go taking the blame, Nora,” Uncle Buddy said. “Augustus was supposed to call right after we found out. There’d have been plenty of time for Laurie Anne to change her plans if he’d called like he said he would.”

“It just slipped his mind, I guess,” Aunt Nora said, but she didn’t sound convinced. “I should have checked with him—”

“A grown man shouldn’t need his mama to check up on him.” Uncle Buddy raised his voice, most likely to make sure that Augustus could hear him all the way upstairs. “And he should be man enough to apologize for his mistake.”

“Laurie Anne and Richard will just have to stay until next Saturday,” Vasti said.

That was easy for her to say. She wasn’t the one who’d already planned a week on Cape Cod when Aunt Nora came up with the party idea. It was August, so Richard had the time off from teaching at Boston College anyway, but my vacation days were nearly used up. I’d had to shorten the Cape Cod trip to be able to come to North Carolina at all, and we were planning to leave early Sunday to head straight for the Cape.

Fortunately, Aunt Daphine understood. “They can’t up and change their plans like that, Vasti. I bet they’ve already got their hotel set up and their plane tickets bought.”

“We did plan around the party being tonight,” I said.

Aunt Nora nodded, still looking mournful. “I wouldn’t expect y’all to change your plans. After I realized y’all hadn’t been told—”

There was an ominous rumble from Uncle Buddy.

Aunt Nora went on. “I tried to move the party back to tonight, but Roger and Ruby Lee had already set up a road trip, and they took Ilene and the boys with them. They won’t be back until next week.”

“The triplets have gone to Myrtle Beach,” Aunt Daphine said. “They offered to cancel, but they’d already put in for their vacation at the mill, and they couldn’t change it. Edna and Caleb went to a grocers’ convention in Charlotte, and Linwood and Sue decided to go along and take the kids to Carowinds.”

Aunt Nora waved her hands around helplessly. “There just wasn’t anything we could do, Laurie Anne. I wanted us all to be together so bad. It would have been the first time since before Paw died.”

I looked at her standing there, her eyes wet with tears. Then I looked at Richard, and shrugged, meaning that maybe we should stay. He shrugged back, which meant that maybe we should, but did I want to? I nodded to say that I did want to, and he nodded to say that it was okay with him.

To those who couldn’t read our shrugs and nods, I said, “You know, Richard and I can go to the Cape anytime. It’s only a couple hours’ drive from Boston.” Of course, we’d reserved a cottage right on the beach nearly a year ago, and paid a deposit, but there was no reason to tell them that. “And we can get our plane tickets changed.” Michelle, who worked at my company when she wasn’t being Thaddeous’s girlfriend, had arranged the tickets for us and had warned me that they were nonrefundable and couldn’t be changed for anything short of a hurricane, but maybe she could trade them in for a couple of seats back to Boston on a Greyhound bus. “There’s no reason we can’t stay until the party.”

“Do you mean it?” Aunt Nora said.

“Are you sure?” Aunt Daphine asked suspiciously.

“We wouldn’t miss it for anything,” Richard said firmly.

I was going to have to do something extra special for my husband to make up for this sacrifice. Not that Byerly isn’t nice, but visiting family in a small North Carolina mill town just isn’t the same as lounging in a beach-front cottage. So much for the new bathing suit I’d bought, and I didn’t think I’d be likely to wear the slinky nightgown either, not when we’d be staying at Aunt Maggie’s house.

Come to think of it, I’d better make sure that it was going to be all right to stay there for the whole week. Aunt Maggie had stayed in the background, but now I turned to her. And blinked.

“Aunt Maggie?” I said, then wished I hadn’t made it sound like a question. It’s just that she didn’t look like herself. At least, her hair didn’t. I’ve always liked the way Aunt Maggie leaves her hair salt-and-pepper colored. I never thought she’d dye it, especially not like that. “You look good,” I finally said, wondering if it was possible to tell a white lie about shoe-polish-black hair.

“I look like a darned fool. Daphine and Vasti have been after me for I don’t know how long to dye my hair, but up until last week, I had enough sense not to listen to them. But I found a box of hair color in a lot I bought at auction and thought I’d give it a try, just to hush them up.” She ran her fingers through her hair like she was trying to rub the color off. “This is what happens when you listen to your relatives.”

From behind her, I saw Aunt Daphine roll her eyes, and I tried not to grin. I asked, “Is it all right if Richard and I stay with you until next week?”

“Of course it is. As a matter of fact, I’ve got something I want y’all to do.”

“Just name it,” Richard said, and I tried not to wince, wishing he hadn’t been so quick to volunteer. With Aunt Maggie, there was no telling what she had in mind.

She must have guessed what I was thinking, because she said, “Don’t worry, I don’t want you to paint the house or clean the attic or anything like that. I just want you to do what you’re best at.”

“You’ve got a computer you need me to fix?” I asked. Though Aunt Maggie had never shown much interest in my programming, if she’d picked up a PC somewhere cheap, I could see her wanting me to set it up for her.

But she snorted. “I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I had it. No, I want you to solve me a murder.”