Read Murder by Arrangement (Edna Davies mysteries Book 5) for Free Online Page B

said.
    “I don’t need a
new tire?” Edna was surprised and delighted at the news. “Let me pay you
something for your work,” she said, opening the car door to retrieve her tote.
    “Most certainly
not,” Lily said, coming up behind Edna and folding her arms across her chest.
She glared at Clem as if he’d been the one to suggest it.
    Before Edna
could speak, Amanda and Lettie came running up, so after again thanking both
Clem and Lily for the rescue and the hospitality, she drove away from the house
feeling slightly awkward. Maybe it was because Lily was so abrupt with him, but
Edna was determined to find a way to repay Clem.
     

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 5
     
     
    “Lettie seems
nice,” Edna said to Amanda as she headed across town. The comment was partly to
make conversation with her granddaughter, but she also was curious to learn
what Amanda knew of the Beck family.
    The girl nodded.
“Yes.”
    It might be
like a dental extraction to get any information , Edna thought with some
amusement over the reticence of children. Aloud, she said, “How did you two
become friends?”
    Amanda turned to
face her, brow crinkled. “What do you mean?”
    “When people
become friends, there’s usually something that attracts them to each other, or
something that happens to throw them together. Like …” Edna thought for a
minute. “Were you assigned to do a school project together?”
    “Oh,” Amanda
said as understanding brightened her face. “No project. She lives near me.”
    “So you walk home
together?” Edna knew that Irene drove her youngest child to school in the
morning, mainly because Amanda tended to dawdle over her morning routine. Irene
wanted to insure Amanda didn’t dillydally once she was out of the house.
    At Edna’s
question, Amanda merely nodded again, but then seemed to have forgotten the
conversation as she stared out at the passing scenery. After a moment’s
silence, she turned to Edna with serious brown eyes. “It really isn’t far,
Gramma.”
    Taking only a
second or two to realize what Amanda was talking about, Edna bit back a laugh
at her granddaughter’s reassurance that she wasn’t walking miles every day. The
elementary school was four blocks from Matthew and Irene’s house. “It’s nice of
you to make friends with Lettie. I bet it wasn’t easy for her to change schools
in the middle of the year.”
    Amanda shrugged
as if to say “no big deal” and returned her attention to the view. After a
minute or two of companionable silence, she glanced back at Edna. “Can Lettie
come over to play tomorrow?”
    “If it’s okay
with her grandmother, she can.”
    The girl’s eyes
sparkled. “We can go to Mary’s and play with the kittens.”
    Edna laughed.
“If she isn’t too busy.”
    “Oh, Mary’s
never too busy. She likes us to come over.”
    Edna chuckled
again. It was true. Mary did enjoy having children visit. She loved to watch
them play with the cats and Hank. Her animals seemed to like the attention,
too. Benjamin received his share of petting from the grandchildren, but the
newness of Mary’s three additional cats drew the youngsters next door.
    As Edna neared
town and approached the grocery store, she had an idea she knew would please
her granddaughter. “How about flatbread pizza for supper tonight?”
    “Yeah,” Amanda
cheered, quickly adding, “Can I pick the toppings?”
    For the next
half hour, Edna strolled up and down the aisles, deciding what she might buy to
augment her pantry supplies for a nine-year-old guest. While the girl took off
for the produce area, Edna found tiny marshmallows for cocoa, cereal with more
sugar than either she or Albert liked, and an assortment of snacks. She had
reached the pet section when Amanda rounded the corner, holding out a large
tomato. After waiting for Edna’s approval, she scurried away in search of
cheese. Edna was trying to decide which dry food to get for Benjamin when her
granddaughter returned with a packet