Page 52 of Murder on Charity Lane

He opened the door wider. “Do you want to come in?”

“No. I wanted to talk to Sophie. I realized that I haven’t asked how her job is going, or if she’s worried about you two moving in together.”

“She’d like that,” he said.

“That’s what I thought.” Lily-Ann considered. “Life would be much easier if people just said things instead of waiting until they were asked.”

“Less of a puzzle, though,” he said.

“Oh. That’s true.”

“You sure you don’t want to come inside?”

She didn’t have any reason not to enter, and she thought that standing in the doorway was possibly impolite so she went in and said, “If CJ is guilty, what was her motive?”

“Money?”

“Ocean said it was only one hundred twenty-five thousand.”

“That’s a lot of money to most folks, Lily-Ann. People have killed for less. What if she needs the money urgently? Like, it’s not the amount, it’s the deadline?”

“Oh, that’s a good thought.” She wandered farther into his cottage. “Or what if CJ and Karina are in on this together?”

“I’m not sure we should focus on the woman Ocean’s dating.”

“Why not? Though, if they are working together, why would Karina point the finger at CJ?”

“She’s betraying her partner in crime?”

“I suppose any of them could be working together.” Lily-Ann ambled past him. “Or all of them.”

“Hey. Hey!” Nicholas said. “Stay out of the bedroom.”

She paused at the open door and recoiled at the mess. Makeup was strewn across the dresser, necklaces dangled from the standing mirror, and clothes were tossed across the stuffed chair. “She’s only been here for two days! How did she do this in two days?”

Nicholas ran a hand through his hair. “Honestly, I’ve been wondering that, too.”

“Maybe Sophie pushed the old man down the stairs.”

Nicholas gave a surprised laugh. “Lily-Ann, did you just make a joke?”

“I did,” she said, then a thought struck her. “Hold on.”

He waited, but not for very long. “Yes?”

“How’s your work going? Are you worried about Sophie moving in with you?”

“Work is annoying, and I’ve never been happier.”

She considered that. “I like having Anthony around. I don’t know why.”

“Possibly because you love each other?”

“Also, he’s tidy,” she said.

On the way back to her cottage, she thought more about what he’d said. “Because you love each other.” Did they? She liked how Anthony treated her. She liked how he talked to her and how he touched her. She liked how she felt with him: steady, strong, stable. And she liked how she treated him. She liked taking care of him, sharing her thoughts and her world.

She and Anthony made each other happy. She’d never felt that before. Everything just fell into place with them. Talk about tidy.