“That is lovely of you, Rebecca. Thank you.”
Mom leaned closer to me and whispered, “You help him.” Then she walked back into the kitchen.
Guru Bob laughed out loud. “She has no confidence whatsoever in my abilities.”
“She’s just more comfortable taking care of her guests than putting them to work.” I began to cut into the apple crisp. “Of course, that attitude doesn’t extend to her kids.”
Guru Bob chuckled. We worked together in companionable silence, filling dessert bowls with apple crisp and topping them with scoops of ice cream. The apple crisp went quickly, as always, and Robin’s dark chocolate cake with strawberries and buttercream filling was decimated as well. Mom finished it off by snagging the last two slices. She covered them with a napkin and hid them somewhere in the kitchen for her and Dad to enjoy later.
We stuffed ourselves, all the while asking how anyone could eat dessert after that huge meal. It was a tough job, but we managed.
Derek stacked his empty apple crisp bowl on the tray with the others. “That was her best effort yet.”
“I thought so, too,” I said, rubbing my bursting stomach. “I should take a long walk to work off some of this food.”
Guru Bob touched my arm. “I will walk with you, gracious.”
“Excellent idea, Robson,” Derek said. “I’ll go help Rebecca with the dishes.”
“She’ll be in heaven,” I said. “We’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Guru Bob led the way along the side of the house and out to the front. From there it was a short hike to the top of the hill where the road leveled out. We followed the tree line, walking in silence while I tried to figure out how to bring up the subject of murder to Guru Bob again. But he saved me the trouble.
“I understand that you and your sister were confronted with another violent death recently.”
“Yes, we were,” I said. We stopped walking and I stared out at the rolling, grapevine-studded hills across the wide gully that ran behind my parents’ property. The ground was still brown from winter and the grapevines had not yet begun to grow their leaves back. Come summer, there would be grass on the hills and the plants would be gloriously full of green leaves and plump grapes.
Overhead, the breeze flitted through the quaking aspens, causing the pretty green leaves to flutter and spin and whistle their soft rustling sound. Billowy clouds darted past the branches. Somewhere down in the gully, a dog barked at the rushing water that babbled over the rocks.
It was a perfect moment, except for the frisson of tension grabbing hold of my shoulders.
I glanced at Guru Bob. “You probably heard it was Baxter Cromwell who was killed.”
“I did.”
“Savannah found him. It was awful. They’re old friends and she was really upset. You probably know the whole story.”
“I do,” he said. “And I spoke with Savannah. I think she will be fine. I am more concerned about you.”
“You’re not the only one.”
“Your mother worries.”
“I’m fine,” I lied. I mean, I was fine, physically. But I had to admit that it had been bothering me for a while, this whole murder-magnet thing. Why was I the one who had to stumble onto bodies?
We started walking again, headed for the copse of trees that marked the end of the narrow road.
“Last year,” he said, clasping his hands behind his back as he walked, “after you shared your concerns with me, we did not speak of it again. Recently, though, I found out you have since had two more similar experiences. And now this latest event.”
“That’s right.” I raised my shoulders in resignation and tried to smile. “Guess you were right about that whole Nemesis thing.”
A few months ago, during a particularly upsetting murder investigation, Guru Bob had suggested that, like Miss Marple in the Agatha Christie story Nemesis, I might’ve been chosen to speak for the dead. It was crazy, of course, but what else could explain my odd tendency of finding dead bodies wherever I went?
Robson frowned. It was so unusual to see that expression on his face, I felt a little guilty for causing him any trouble.
“It brings me no comfort to be right,” he said. “I would prefer to be of help.”
“Oh, but you are,” I said immediately. “You have been. Just talking to you last time made me feel better. And as awful as it’s been whenever it’s happened since then, I’ve remembered your words and they’ve helped me. Really.”
He sighed deeply. “That is heartening, although I would rather you never had to suffer this way again.”