Read Tried & True (Mayfield Cozy Mystery Book 5) for Free Online

wasn’t hiding from his disease. We all knew he was dying. But the fact that he’d updated his last wishes meant he knew the end was near. Probably nearer than he’d admit to anyone because he wouldn’t want us fussing around him.
    I’d try to wrangle a private chat with Loretta tomorrow. As his caretaker, she had an intimate view of his physical deterioration. Maybe there was something I could do to help—both her and him. Tears sprang up, and I was grateful for the darkness as I rubbed them away with the heel of my hand.
    Des reached over and silently patted my knee.
     
    oOo
     
    It’d been a rough day. So the cheerful warmth of Mayfield’s kitchen was a welcoming scene. Two of my favorite people were engrossed in domestic activities when I walked through the door.
    Clarice was just pulling a turkey—all brown and glossy with a crackly skin and lots of rosemary sprigs—out of the oven. I just about fainted from the olfactory awesomeness.
    Emmie was attempting to fold cloth napkins into some kind of origami animal shape, but they weren’t cooperating. She had an adorable concentrated scowl on her face as she fiddled with the obstinate fabric. Her new pixie haircut was starting to curl a bit at the edges, and she was quite possibly the cutest little girl I’d ever seen, if I do say so myself. But I was going to have to ask her to explain her art project to me because if I ventured a guess as to the subject matter, I was sure to be wrong.
    “You should have invited Des to stay for supper.” Clarice whisked the gravy on the stove and bumped her hip against a drawer to close it, performing her usual vigorous kitchen ballet. She holds internal contests with herself, trying to rack up the total number of people she’s fed.
    “Not tonight,” I said quietly.
    She shot me a stern glance over the tops of her burgundy-framed cat’s-eye glasses. “Had a long talk, did you?”
    “Rather short, but sufficient.”
    Clarice grunted. “Thought I saw that coming.”
    “Do you have any more insight you want to share with me?” I asked.
    “In due time.” Clarice slapped potholders down the center of the table in preparation for our feast. She tipped her head toward Emmie and gave me a meaningful glare.
    “I don’t blab,” Emmie announced without lifting her head. She had all eight of her fingers tucked into creases in the napkin and was trying to maneuver another fold with her thumbs.
    I couldn’t help grinning. “I know, sweetheart. But wouldn’t you like a carefree childhood?” I scooped my arms around her and added my fingers to the mix. “Show me what to do.” Honestly, it was already too late for her to have a completely carefree childhood, but it was my mission to make the rest of her young years as pleasant as possible even though they were bound to be highly unusual.
    Emmie heaved a mighty sigh and applied one of my forefingers to a particularly vexing crease in the fabric. “I’ll be grown up soon. Sheriff Des likes you, doesn’t he?”
    “He has been the very best kind of friend to me. And to you,” I replied.
    “You know what origami design I like best?” Clarice bellowed. She snatched up a napkin and tucked it into the top of her ruffled red apron so that it spread across her ample chest. “It’s called a bib and is perfectly positioned for its function.” She lifted the edge and daintily dabbed it against her lips. “All your hard work will go for naught in about two seconds, squirt.” She winked down at Emmie.
    Emmie shoved her handiwork away with a disgusted exhale that sounded startlingly similar to a noise I’ve often heard from Clarice. It was terrifying how much Emmie absorbed from us. But I nodded a thanks to Clarice for her diversionary maneuver.
    “What did you learn in school today?” I cracked an ice cube tray and dropped ice into our glasses.
    A little smile crept across Emmie’s face. “Swear words.”
    “What?” I’m afraid I almost shouted.
    “Odell knows a lot