Read Hark! The Herald Angel Screamed: An Augusta Goodnight Mystery (with Heavenly Recipes) for Free Online Page B

noticed, was the green rickrack trim on the woman’s apron. “Louella Tansey,” she said, offering her hand. “Let me get you something to drink. I just made tea.”
    “Thank you, but I can’t stay,” I said, introducing myself. “Iknow it must be close to your supper hour.” Augusta, who stood by the upright piano across the room, brightened at the mention of tea, but I could have told her it was probably iced tea our hostess was offering. Most people where we live drink it all year long. “I really must go,” I said, rising.
    “We’re not going to hear of it are we, Louella?” Preacher Dave lifted the basket at my feet. “You just rest a minute while I take this to the kitchen and Louella’ll bring you a nice glass of tea—or there’s coffee if you’d rather.”
    “Coffee would be fine,” I said, trying to avoid what I knew would be Augusta’s envious expression. I’ve stopped counting the number of cups she drinks in one day. But Augusta, apparently oblivious to our conversation, was examining a large framed photograph on the piano.
    I looked about the room while waiting, and although some of the furnishings seemed worn, the oval hooked rug in colors of green and rose looked bright and new as did the coordinating swag over the front windows. A burgundy Christmas candle sat in a silk arrangement on a lovely mahogany side table. Grayson should be pleased to have such caring tenants.
    I wandered over to look at the photograph that had captured Augusta’s attention. It was a studio portrait of a pretty young woman, whose wide sweet smile made me want to smile, too. Her dark hair was cut in a becoming page boy and her large eyes held a spark of mischief.
    “She’s lovely,” I said, noticing that Louella had come back into the room. “Is this your daughter?”
    She nodded, setting my coffee cup aside. “Dinah. But she’s gone now. Dead.”
    “Oh, I’m so sorry!” How horrible!
Why couldn’t I keep my mouth shut? Having children myself, I could only imagine how tragic it would be to lose them
.
    Louella moved quietly past me and came to stand by the piano.
    “This was hers, you know,” she said, caressing the closed lid over the keyboard. “She did love to play.”
    I looked around to see Preacher Dave standing in the doorway. “Tell your cousin the vet thinks that little heifer we talked about is gonna be fine, and I mended that tear in the fence up there on the main road.” And with that he turned and left the room.
    I drank my coffee as quickly as I could, made my thanks, and left. Louella Tansey, looking frail and drab, a sad shadow of a woman, stood at the door gazing after me as if she wanted to follow.

id you notice Preacher Dave’s face?” I said to Augusta as we drove away. “He was as white as Logan’s cat.”
    Augusta immediately turned on the heater. “Logan’s cat?”
    “It’s a term my grandmother used,” I explained. “Except nobody seems to remember who Logan was.”
    “How sad for their daughter to die so young,” she said. “I can see it’s been a hardship for them.”
    “I wonder how she died, but I didn’t dare ask. I could tell they didn’t want to talk about it. As far as I know, nobody even knew they had a daughter.”
    I pulled up to the stop sign before entering the main road, and as I did, a pickup truck turned in and passed us going in the opposite direction. The young man behind the wheel had straw-colored hair pulled back in a ponytail and he made the turn so quickly he almost went into the ditch. I waved because that’s what just about everybody does around here whether we know the driver or not, especially out in the country, but the driver didn’t wave back.
    Augusta turned to look over her shoulder. “Who was that?”
    “I’m not sure but I think it might have been Jeremiah Tansey.
    Obviously in a hurry.” In my rearview mirror I saw the faded blue truck disappearing in a cloud of dust.
    As we passed the area behind the house at