“Good.” She cut her eyes at him. “Now go shower. You’re whiffy.”
He shook his head as he went to the bedroom. If talking to Harper was Joyce’s best advice, he might be in more trouble than he’d thought.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Harper made a pot of coffee, took Archie out, then set herself up on the couch with a cup of that coffee and her laptop. She wanted to get her notes on Kyle’s book written up and sent over to him first thing. She sipped some coffee, which was still really hot, then opened up her laptop.
Water shushed through the pipes somewhere over her head. She glanced toward the ceiling. Someone was showering. Early. Couldn’t be Willa. She usually slept in. Maybe Frankie was off to see Lucas? She hadn’t mentioned anything about it, but it could have transpired after they’d all gone to bed.
Harper opened a new Word document and started writing. At first, she just put down her general thoughts. All about how great the book had been, how hard it was to put down, what a compelling read and how much she liked the characters.
She went into detail, picking out some of the strengths of each character, and even some of the lines of dialogue she’d really enjoyed.
Then she talked about the plot and the twists and how the story had kept her guessing in the best possible way. She elaborated on what a shock the identity of the killer had been, how cleverly Kyle had handled that and how ingenious it was.
Pausing, she took a few drinks from her cup and read through what she’d written. She changed several words, added some sentences, and cut one entire line out.
She set her cup down and was about to discuss how the female characters all sounded so similar, and detail the passages that could be tighter, when footsteps came down the stairs behind her. “Aunt Harper?”
Harper set her laptop aside and turned. “Morning, Willa. What are you doing up so early?”
Not only was she up early, but she was dressed nicely in a sundress and sandals, her hair and makeup done.
“I just have some errands to run this morning. Mom’s still asleep. Could I borrow your car? I can put gas in it.”
“You can borrow it, but you don’t need to put gas in it unless you plan on using it all. Keys are over on the counter by Archie’s leash. Will you be gone long? I don’t need it back, really. Just curious.”
“I don’t know yet.” Willa shrugged. “I guess I’ll be gone as long as it takes. But probably not more than a couple hours.”
“Okay, no problem.”
“Thanks.” With a quick smile, Willa grabbed the keys and headed out.
Harper sat for a moment. What was that all about? What errands could Willa have to run that would require her to look that nice?
Harper had no idea. She picked up her laptop and went back to work. Frankie didn’t come down until an hour later.
“Hey,” she muttered as she shuffled into the kitchen in her robe and slippers.
“Hey.” Harper smiled. “Late night?”
Frankie got a big mug down and poured coffee into it. “Yes, but it was agoodlate night.”
“Oh? Did Lucas come over?”
Frankie turned, made a face at her sister, then drank from the mug, holding it with both hands. “No, I worked. I got a lot done, too. It was fantastic. I was in this super focused zone.”
“I love that. Good for you.”
“Yeah, working at night might be my new thing. It was so quiet and peaceful in the house. And there was no feeling like I was missing out on anything.” Frankie came over and sat down.
“I could totally see that. You working more today?”
Frankie nodded. “I am. I am so close to being done with those book illustrations. Turning them in means I’ll get paid, too.”
“Even better.”
Frankie tilted her chin at Harper’s laptop. “What are you working on?”
