the garden plot thickens

   “Jerry, I’ve been frantic looking for you. Where have you been?”

    “My adored one. What’s up? Just got here on the 8:00 boat.” Catherine was sitting at her desk in the dormer, and the view of the sea made a perfect frame for her gilt hair. He bent over and kissed her quickly on the lips, giving her a hug.

     “I left you a message!”

     “Lost my phone. Got a new one.”

     “You’re always losing your phone!”

     “I’m not good with phones. I don’t like them.”

     “You’re always on the phone, though. I don’t know how you lose so many.”

    “Well, at least I’ve learned to get the throwaway kind. Think how pricey it would be if it was iPhones!”

    “Never mind the phone, Jerry! Malcolm is dead.” She turned away from him and looked at the ocean.

     “Sugar daddy leaves the picture. Heart?”

     “No! I’m in a mess, Jerry. He was killed!”

      “Accident?”

     “Not unless you can shoot yourself full of nails after you’re dead.” She burst into tears. 

     Jerry looked stunned. “What’s the issue? Now the honey pot is yours free and clear.”

     “You don’t understand.” She blew her nose and straightened the collar of her white, man-tailored shirt. “And they’re asking so many questions. How was our relationship. Why did we sleep in separate rooms. Who inherits. When did I last see him. Had he seemed troubled about anything. When did I last speak to him. What was I doing off island the night he died.  I had some trouble with that last question. And I couldn’t find you!”

     “Business came up.”

     “What was more important than me sitting on my ass in a hotel in Providence waiting for you when you said it was urgent that I get there right away! I couldn’t even take the plane, because it was socked in! I had to deal with all the old biddies on the boat.”

      “Business was more important, Kate. An entrepreneur has to be ready to rock when there’s an opportunity.’

      “You could have called.” She didn’t really want to know what kind of business he was in now. Always a salesman of some kind.

      “I didn’t have a phone. What did you say you were doing on the mainland?”

     “I said I had an early appointment with my haircutter.”

      “Did you?”

      “No, but I made one.”

      “Good.”