Read Online Trimmed With Murder by Sally Goldenbaum - Free Book Online

one’s surprise, she made a sizable endowment to Our Lady of Safe Seas. Their food pantry and other causes will be in fine shape for the rest of their life. She asked, though, that the family section of her will be held back until I could get the family together—like they used to do in the old days. And I had some trouble locating everyone.”
    Nell looked up, startled, a piece suddenly falling in place. “You must mean Amber Harper,” she said.
    Rachel laughed. “No secrets in a small town. Do you know Amber?”
    â€œNo,” Ben said. “But we’ve met her, thanks to Izzy’s brother, Charlie. Amber was hitchhiking out on 128 last night and he gave her a lift into town.”
    â€œI didn’t know Izzy had a younger brother,” Don said. He sat back while the waitress uncorked the bottle of wine and offered him a taste.
    Nell stopped short of saying that there were times Izzy wasn’t sure she had a younger brother, either, at least not one who communicated with her. Instead she said, “Charlie is an interesting guy.
Man
, actually, though I sometimes have difficulty realizing my niece and nephews are amazing grown-ups. He’s here to work at Lily Virgilio’s free clinic. They’re ramping up their vaccination program and Charlie is putting his nursing degree to good use by helping out.”
    â€œWe haven’t seen Charlie in a while. Having him here for the holidays is a welcome surprise,” Ben added. “He’ll stay at least through the new year.”
    â€œAmber was the second surprise,” Nell said. “She left something in Charlie’s car last night and showed up at our house this morning to claim it.”
    â€œSmall world,” Don said, lifting his glass. “Here’s to yuletide finds and surprises. Rachel has found the long-lost Amber and you’ve found a nephew.”
    The others lifted their glasses, candlelight reflecting off the crystal.
    Outside, a beastly wind howled in the black night. Nell glanced through the tall windows that fronted East Main Street. Scattered snowflakes and bits of paper danced across the street, glinting in the headlights of passing cars. Horns honked. But inside, all was warm and softly lit. She brought her attention back to the table. “To discoveries,” she repeated. “May they bring us joy.”
    The catch in her voice was followed by a flutter deep inside her chest, unexpected, and for a moment, startling. Nell took a sip of wine and swallowed it slowly, only then realizing that the feeling had not been a pleasant one but one touched with a deep frisson of foreboding.
    None of the others seemed to notice Nell’s discomfort. The taste of the fine Cabernet Don had ordered was a far more pleasant focus. She half listened as Ben expanded on their brief encounter with Amber and the bit of history Birdie had supplied.
    â€œYou’re a step ahead of me,” Rachel said when Ben had finished. “I have yet to meet her in person, although I talked to her briefly today.”
    â€œBut you knew she existed,” Don said.
    They paused while the waitress wrote down their dinner choices and disappeared.
    â€œI did, although Lydia rarely talked about her granddaughter,” Rachel said, “and when she did, it was with a coldness that surprised me.”
    â€œIt’s interesting that Amber carries her mother’s name,” Ben said.
    â€œFather Northcutt told me that Amber’s mother had named her daughter and filed her birth certificate from the hospital, before she became incapacitated. I suppose Lydia could have changed the last name if she had wanted to, once she had confirmed the baby’s paternity, but she didn’t. She said if I had any questions when settling the will, Esther or Father Larry might have the answers. Esther apparently kept in touch with Amber—or at least tried to—after she left Sea