Death, Dice & Southern Spice: A Helen & Martha Cozy Mystery Series by Sigrid Vansandt

Author:Sigrid Vansandt [Vansandt, Sigrid]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-03-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Grace, Arkansas

Wednesday Evening

Deb Sanderson sat behind the Water Department’s counter at her sister’s desk sipping a fancy frozen coffee concoction. Her spirits were low, and she was trying to find enough energy to finish her work. She didn’t want to be here tonight, but during the week she came in late after Peg was gone to do some light cleaning and some filing. Her sister paid her handsomely, and they didn’t have to see each other. It was a good arrangement for them both.

Taking another drink from the caramel latte, Deb flipped through the first of two sales catalogs she’d picked up last week at the Farm and Feed. It was Lucas’s birthday soon, and she wanted to buy him something special.

She’d hinted about giving him another item from her father’s gun and knife collection, but he’d declined the offer. He wanted something new for his birthday, so she’d happily gone to the Farm and Feed to look at crossbows with him.

Deb had enjoyed looking at the variety of weapons with Lucas. It reminded her of going with her daddy and Peg years ago to auctions. Her father had been fascinated with old knives and firearms. Over his lifetime, he’d spent a fortune on them; but for a single woman living on a tight salary, it would be a stretch for Deb to buy something as expensive as the crossbow Lucas finally picked out.

Shaking her head, she closed the gun catalog. It didn’t matter. She was crazy about him and especially after today, making him happy was the most important thing to her.

It had been a rough afternoon at the military park. If she tried to make Lucas happy by bringing him lunch or doing his filing, he brushed her off with a new coldness. It occurred to her he might be thinking about ending their relationship after what happened with the man from Paris, Arkansas. Almost forty and with one failed marriage under her belt, Deb didn’t want to lose Lucas. She was tired of being alone. The gift was more important than ever.

Sighing, she shifted her attention over to the next catalog. Christmas was coming soon and her mama wanted a new bedspread. Deb flipped through the needlepoint and embroidery quilt block options. A tender smile bent the corners of her mouth as she thought about how much she loved her mother; but lately, there had been some strain between mother and daughter. The faint smile faded away.

“Oh, I wish Peg got along with Mama. If she would make time for her, I wouldn’t feel so guilty about wanting a life of my own.”

When their father died, Mrs. Sanderson refused to do anything for herself. Peg and Deb, twins by birth, but utter opposites in every other way reacted differently to their mother’s breakdown. Peg, married with two teenage children, kept working, staying involved in her many community clubs, boards, and hobbies, while Deb became their mother’s nursemaid and companion. It had been a lonely life, and when she'd finally ventured out to work, the only thing she'd found was a volunteer job.

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